Don Herbert, 89; TV's 'Mr. Wizard' taught science to young baby boomers

Don Herbert, who explained the wonderful world of science to millions of young baby boomers on television in the 1950s and '60s as 'Mr. Wizard' and did the same for another generation of youngsters on the Nickelodeon cable TV channel in the 1980s, died Tuesday. He was 89.

Herbert died at his home in Bell Canyon after a long battle with multiple myeloma, said Tom Nikosey, Herbert's son-in-law.

A low-key, avuncular presence who wore a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a tie, Herbert launched his weekly half-hour science show for children on NBC in 1951.

Broadcast live from Chicago on Saturdays the first few years and then from New York City, 'Watch Mr. Wizard' ran for 14 years.

Herbert used basic experiments to teach scientific principles to his TV audience via an in-studio guest boy or girl who assisted in the experiments.

'I was a grade school kid in the '50s and watched 'Mr. Wizard' Saturday mornings and was just glued to the television,' said Nikosey, president of Mr. Wizard Studios, which sells Herbert's science books and TV shows on DVD.

How To Be A Goth'

'Cause nothing is as dorky as a Goth.

Fake H. P. Lovecraft Newsreel Interview

Part of a viral campaign for an upcoming Cthulhu movie. Really, I don't even think he looks much like the pictures I have seen of him.

Changing of the Guard

[Cleveland, OH] Rusttown Press, LLC announces the acquisition of intellectual properties of Seraphim Guard. This includes the Seraphim Guard name, HeartQuest name and properties, various rules systems, and the "Plain Wrap" line of accessories for RuneQuest.

Ownership of Gatecrasher Science Fantasy Adventure reverts to Richard Gazley, and is not a part of the acquisition.

"We are excited about acquiring the properties of Seraphim Guard, and particularly the HeartQuest franchise," said Rusttown Press Creative Director Christopher Helton. "This is a great line, with great potential, and will remain an important cornerstone of Seraphim Guard. We have great plans for Seraphim Guard including expanding the Fudge System properties by developing a robust new ruleset that will power the HeartQuest line and most of our upcoming releases.Currently we are working on a new game entitled 'Bloodlines: Adventure Role-Playing' and expanding our Plain Wrap line into D20 products."

"I'm happy to see the Seraphim Guard properties move to Rusttown Press," said Tim Huntley, former proprietor of Seraphim Guard. "Since purchasing Seraphim Guard myself, my only concern has been insuring the properties continue to get better. Rusttown Press will take them to the next level."

Seraphim Guard/Rusttown Press games and books will continue to be available through the following online retailers:
RPGNow: http://www.rpgnow.com/default.php?manufacturers_id=678
DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/index.php?cPath=1678
Lulu.com: http://www.lulu.com/seraphimguard

Media contact and general questions and comments can be directed to seraphim.chris@gmail.com and the Seraphim Guard website at www.seraphim-guard.com is still in use.

The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia - Available mid 2008

This is good news to hear. I have the second edition, published by Chaosium, and I find it to be an invaluable resource (both in and out of my games). The current edition is great and I imagine that it will only get better.

Elder Signs Press is excited to announce the upcoming title The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia by Daniel Harms, available mid 2008.

This is the third edition of his popular and extensive encyclopedia of the Cthulhu Mythos. Updated with more fiction listings and recent material, this unique book spans the years of H.P. Lovecraft’s influence in culture, entertainment, and fiction. The voluminous entries make The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia invaluable for anyone knowledgeable about the Cthulhu Mythos and necessary for those longing to learn about the Cosmic Horrors from past and present decades.

The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia will be available in signed, numbered, limited edition hardcover, as well as trade paperback. Due to high demand for this book, ESP will begin accepting pre-orders for this title in the coming weeks.

Game Geeks #11 Delta Green by Pagan Publishing

It doesn't get any better than Delta Green. I can't wait for the re-release of the chapbooks this Fall so that I can finally have access to the other two books. I can't wait!

Superdickery.com

It all started with "Superman is a dick." Now we have such fun galleries as "Seduction of the Innocent," "Suffering Sappho," "Everything's Better With Monkeys,
and "Stupor Powers" (among other galleries. This is a great website for fans of comics. If you haven't already book marked it, you should now.

In the cards? Upper Deck bids to buy Topps

Personally I would rather see Upper Deck come out over Michael Eisner.

The Upper Deck Co. has made a pitch to buy The Topps Co., a bid that would join two iconic baseball card makers that have sold sports memorabilia to generations of fans young and old.

The offer price of $10.75 a share trumps a bid earlier this year from a group of investors led by former Disney CEO Michael Eisner. Topps, maker of baseball cards and Bazooka bubble gum, said Thursday it was not sure Upper Deck's bid is a superior offer.

Eisner's Tornante Co. LLC and the Chicago-based private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC had agreed to pay $9.75 a share, which represented a premium of 9.4 percent when they first made the offer in early March. That deal received regulatory approval on April 3 and has been scheduled for a shareholder vote on June 28.

The group led by Eisner agreed to let New York-based Topps negotiate with Upper Deck, which is in Carlsbad, Calif.

Topps, founded in 1938, makes trading cards that feature athletes of Major League Baseball, the NFL and NBA. In addition to Bazooka bubble gum, it owns the Ring Pop and Push Pop brands and makes sticker album collections.

Game Geeks ep #1 All Flesh Must be Eaten

I just picked up a copy of this at one of the local Half Price Books. I thought that I would post this for others to see as well.

He does need to wave his hands around a little less though.

June Opens a Busy Summer for Green Ronin

With four releases scheduled throughout the month of June, Green Ronin Publishing has their work cut out for them. First we have the sixth in the popular Bleeding Edge series, Escape from Ceranir, in which a party of 6th- to 8th-level characters must find out what happened to the inhabitants of this once-proud citadel, and quell the evil within before it claims them as new victims. Used alone or as part of an ongoing campaign, this adventure is a descent into horror and madness, redefining the concept of the classic dungeon crawl. This 32-page book by Scott Gray retails for $11.95.

The True 20 Narrator’s Kit provides a much needed tool for True 20. Retailing for $19.95, this handy product features a three-panel hardback screen illustrated by Chris Moeller that puts all the essential game info right in front you. The Narrator's Kit also includes a 32-page introductory True20 adventure by Rodney Thompson, "Last Voyage of the Stellar Galleon." In it a crippled starship crashes on a strange planet that's not on any star chart. Meanwhile, a band of brave explorers is summoned to a wizard's tower and charged with the task of recovering a powerful artifact: a golden orb able to transport people to distant worlds. Take the roles of Stellar Galleon crewmen, trying to recover the ship's power core from mutineers and primitive aliens with unearthly powers, or play the fantasy adventurers, trying to take the power core from the wreckage of the downed alien ship. You can play the adventure either way, or both, making it two adventures in one!

Freeport is Green Ronin's signature city setting and has been home to thousands of RPG campaigns since its launch in 2000. The Pirate’s Guide to Freeport is the definitive new sourcebook for the City of Adventure, set 5 years after the events of the original Freeport Trilogy. This is a pure setting book, focusing entirely on the people, places, politics, and perils of Freeport and containing no game statistics of any kind. The Pirate’s Guide to Freeport can thus be used with any fantasy RPG and Green Ronin will be providing companion products for popular systems like True20 and d20. The Pirate’s Guide to Freeport will carry a retail price of $34.95.

Finally, Iron Age takes gamers back to the grim days of the ‘80s and ‘90s, when super-vigilantes in leather and chains dispensed harsh justice. Iron Age looks at the darkest era of comic book history and how you can bring it to life in your Mutants & Masterminds game. It includes an overview of the period, how to create and run Iron Age characters and games, and details on the Iron Age of Green Ronin’s award-winning Freedom City campaign setting. Iron Age is written by Seth Johnson and Jon Leitheusser, and retails for $26.95. [Via GamingReport.com]