Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Forbidden Planet Vs. Stranglers Of Bombay


* = Whose that guy Bloggin' over here, it's ME, it's ME!

Last night I finished Swords Against Wizardry (*** ½ out of 5). As all the other Leiber Fahfrd & The Grey Mouser tales I enjoyed it, however I didn’t enjoy it as much as some of the previous. In some ways I felt that Lieber was simply recounting some of his earlier tales just slightly altering the details. Now all that being said it’s still a fun, witty, and sometimes spooky set of tales. There are only two books left in the run. I’m hoping to see some type of direction towards an overall narrative. I’m not sure it will, but either way I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.

I’ve also started that infamous tome, The Yellow Sign. It’s bizarre, but very intriguing & enticingly strange. I know it’s supposed to be off putting and sort of an exercise in creepiness, and to that I can only say; mission accomplished. I’m not sure what to expect, but thus far it’s drawn me in. In addition I’m going to be rereading Cabal by Clive Barker as a peripheral part of a Book Club. It’s a good time to be reading.

Painting. I had every intention to start painting last night, but I didn’t. I did however pick up two little painting helpers off the evil-bay though. These things set on your table, have two alligator clips, and a magnifying glass to help you get a better view of what you’re trying to do. I think this will really help out with the detail work. In addition I think it’ll help rope Cassandra get back into it. So I’m going to hold off until those two little gems arrive, which according to UPS it’ll be today!

All that and I sat down and watched the first episode of Game Of Thrones (I’ll hold my review until the end of the season).

Make no mistake, I’ve not read a word of George R.R. Martin’s work although I have many a staunch friend who swear by it. I’ve refrained because it’s not done yet, and I’m not sure I’d enjoy Martin’s ‘Dark Fantasy’ setting & tales. I did however become enthralled last night with HBO’s adaptation. I have to admit it’s dark, brooding, and full of sex, incest, & violence. There aren’t many characters that are likable and yet I was completely drawn in. I was intrigued by Jon Snow & just who is his mother (I think I have an idea), just how messed up Queen Cersei is, whose head will roll over the incident with Bran, what are the ‘White Walkers’, how important are the portents of the Direwolves being found south, who is going to off that smug fucker Jamie Lannister, what the HELL is going on in the south, & just how is Tyrion by FAR the most interesting character. Oh and Ned Stark is B.A. They have hooked me. I am intensely looking forward to what happens next.

ADDENDUM
The actress who played Sarah Jane Smith on Doctor Who and the Sarah Jane Smith Adventures, Elisabeth Sladen, has died from complications in her battle with cancer.

Understand that I came to Doctor Who in the 'modern' era, so Rose was "THE" Companion to me. That was until I started to watch all those old episodes. Then I realized just how incredible the actress and the character was, how important she was/is to the Who Mythos, and more than anything else just how Sarah Jane Smith is "THE" Companion to the Doctor. It's really sad to know that's she gone and her tale is at it's end. Sad indeed.

RANDOM CRAP!

- Thursday Dave and I will be embarking on a Battle Lore series of conflicts. I’m going to try and use this as what happened in my Known World setting between Yeenoghu swallowing the lands of the South creating ‘The Maw’ & the current moment the players are in. Hopefully he’ll oblige by A) giving me a great fight & B) helping come up with the story as he has peripherally on ‘The Lonely House’. He is an almost perfect co-conspirator.
- F’ you snow. F’ you.
- A week from tomorrow NFL Draft! Cassandra’s in, who else is going to come on over and watch that blissful 1st round? It should be especially fun with finding out yesterday that the Vikes go to K.C. in the regular season. That game should be SPECTACULAR to watch with M.C.M. & Dave.
- I’ve got to get some more card sleeves soon.
- As soon as I get a chance I’m going to be printing out more D&D Board Game heroes. And as soon as I get a crash course in Photoshop from Ant or whomever I will be making THE HELL out of monsters, adventures, & heroes.
- My Steam Knight heads finally came in! Now I’ve got to figure out if I’ve changed my mind on what I’m going to do with them.
- It’s looking like June, either the first or last weekend, for D&D. I’m starting to put together my outline for the 6-10th levels. It’s gelling in a crazy manner. Oh and I’ll give you a nugget Heidi one that will warm your heart; ZOMBIES! That’s right I’m bending my knee to the desires of at least one of my players and I’m going to take my first big time foray into Zombies in D&D. I think I have a really good take on it, thank you Pathfinder & old Dungeon Magazine issues. It’s fitting in together with the previously established stuff & better than that it’s spinning into something far greater and more insidious than I originally had planned.
- Cassandra is my Co-Pilot!
- Keeping it on the D&D thought train I sent out an e-mail today hoping to entice the players, in the long wait between sessions, to engage in some cooperative narrative storytelling. It’s to further flesh out characters and their world as well as to help me both refine my storytelling and to build more of a rapport with them as players. I think it’ll be fun and if done well will push each of them & their characters in interesting ways. It’s a neat idea that I sort of wanted to do last D&D Group & with the Marvel SAGA Group, but neither group really had the interest or the patience for it. I mean it’s sort of like the Marvel SAGA Teasers. Some of the players love them, some of the players don’t really care, and one of them just leaves to pick them apart for better and for worse. That group has such a vibe where I’ve backed off doing it since it was either met with indifference, complaining, critique, or I had to drag an opinion out of them. That’s not fun or rewarding for anyone. I think the New D&D Group is different and it will pass the time between sessions productively while keeping ‘D&D on the brain’.
- Speaking of D&D & brains, I need the ‘Brain In A Jar’ D&D Mini. NEED!
- It took very little actual talent or time to take all of my bile and hate, channel them into something productive and pound out another set of lyrics for Dave & Gregg to craft into something good & pure. I’m working on something a little more emotionally resonate, but man it’s difficult to write your feelings out in that format. I thought it would be cathartic, but currently it’s just flustering. Maybe a muse or mood will strike me yet.
- This morning Cassandra confided in me that she’d punch Dave for a Chipotle burrito. I won’t tell you what she would have done to Liz. It was to awful.
- WotC is coming out with a board game in December called Dungeons Of Dread, which sounds like their D&D Adventure System Games (Wrath Of Ashardalon & Castle Ravenloft) EXCEPT one of the players has to be the Dungeon Master! So it’s basically Descent, which I haven’t actually played. Now I’m not sure how I feel about this, but if can be used with the Adventure System Games I’m in. See it sucks because they’re already going to soak me for Conquest Of Nerath (A war game) in June, Legend Of Drizzt (the next D&D Adventure System Game) in like October, and now this new board game is enticing me to drop cash in December. It’s frustrating since there are about fifteen other board games I’d love to have. I need to win the lottery just to buy friggin’ awesome board games. Stupid money.
- Patrick Stewart + Jules Verne Story – SyFy Channel = ? I have The Mysterious Island on the DVR. I’m cautiously curious.

And with that…

“Goddamn it I can see them
Crawling just under my skin
They're leaving tracks in my fat
How'm I gonna get rid of them?
There's holes all through my privates
They hide between my hairs
They hang on with their tiny teeth

Take me away from here
Kill me you hookworm
Take me away from here
Drill me you hookworm

Your wings are cold with travel
Your tools are on the way
My mind will soon be leaving here
Just leave my body where you may
Brought to the rim of knowledge
Drilled deep into my skull
The buzzing eats away my mind

Take me away from here
Kill me you hookworm
Take me away from here
Drill me you hookworm

Today my knee split open
Out squirmed a mass of worms
So small and flat and white
Through my dry and rotten flesh
Like a shot from a comet's eye
Silent howls slip in from the sky
It's Yuggoth on the Outer Rim”



* = Indeed Mr. T, INDEED!

13 comments:

  1. I know my audience, so...

    ZOMBIES!

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  2. Thanks for outing me Ben! Sometimes you get hungry for a burrito - it's the nature of the beast. Actually, I think it's much more humane to punch Dave then babies (or old people), as you like to describe. Besides, I never said how hard I would punch Dave. Maybe it was going to be a love tap. ;-)

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  3. See we had this discussion earlier today. Punching unknown babies is a 'victimless crime' in that I don't know the victim.
    Punching or even *shudder* love tapping Dave means that you KNOW the victim. And although I have wanted to punch him the past it was never for anything as transient as a burrito, even one that 'tatty'.
    Oh and Old People deserve it.

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  4. Hey, you never know if Dave would be selfless enough to let me punch him for a burrito. Probably as long as I don't put cheese on it.

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  5. Hmmm, Dave? Would you let me wife slug ya for a cheeseless burrito, and if so where?

    Some questions MUST BE ANSWERED!

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  6. How about you give me a HJ for a burrito?

    I'd let ya do that.

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  7. I don't like pain, but pleasure is fantastic!

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  8. Uh, no 'Handy's' from my wife. Those are mine.
    CONGRATS!
    You've just left the two most disturbing comments on one of my blogs EVER!

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  9. How about Ben give you the handy and I still get the burrito? You two do have a "special" bond going on. ;-)

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  10. I ain't touchin' that hairy monstrosity. Not even for a burrito, and I love(s) me some Mexican food.

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