Blog@Newsarama: Alexz Johnson is Saturn Girl in Smallville

As a big Legion of Super-Heroes fan, this gets a big old W00t!! from me.

A fan site for Alexz Johnson has confirmed the Canadian pop singer and actress will play Saturn Girl in an upcoming episode of Smallville, written by Geoff Johns.

The episode, titled 'Legion,' also features Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad. The three come from a future where Clark is the greatest hero.

Oh, and if you aren't already reading it, check out the Legion of 3 Worlds mini that is one of the Final Crisis tie-ins. Both Legion stories are scripted by Johns, who is a solid writer who puts in a good story.

Free Urban Fantasy Tale Written by Monica Valentinelli

Welcome to Book One of The Violet War urban fantasy series. Feel free to read, comment and provide feedback on anything you read here.

Book One is titled, Argentum. This title does carry some significance and weight to the overall theme of The Violet War series, which will be explored more as new chapters and pieces to this story are revealed.

Sorry About The Gap

Hello readers. Sorry about the gap in posting there, I had a sudden family emergency with my grandmother that required that I travel back to Indiana and take care of things with her. Unfortunately that meant no internet while I was gone (outside of crappy mobile internet) and no updating the blog but now I'm back.

Once I'm back in my head again the posting will start up like before.

Star Trek Image

Feral cities - The New Strategic Environment

Imagine a great metropolis covering hundreds of square miles. Once a vital component in a national economy, this sprawling urban environment is now a vast collection of blighted buildings, an immense petri dish of both ancient and new diseases, a territory where the rule of law has long been replaced by near anarchy in which the only security available is that which is attained through brute power. Such cities have been routinely imagined in apocalyptic movies and in certain science-fiction genres, where they are often portrayed as gigantic versions of T. S. Eliot's Rat's Alley. Yet this city would still be globally connected. It would possess at least a modicum of commercial linkages, and some of its inhabitants would have access to the world's most modern communication and computing technologies. It would, in effect, be a feral city.

Geoffrey McKinney's CARCOSA

This is an original "old school" supplement that is being independently produced and published. I'm supposed to be receiving a PDF of the supplement so that I can review it. I'm really looking forward to it.

Supplement V: CARCOSA contains little that you haven't seen elsewhere. Cthulhu Mythos, Space Aliens, Lake Monsters, sorcery, ray guns, human sacrifice, etc. None of this is unique to Carcosa. I do trust, however, that the particular mixture thereof is unique and intriguing.

Phil RetroSpector - Back To Virginity

Phil RetroSpector - Back to Virginity from Phil RetroSpector on Vimeo.

Swords and Wizardry

So, the other day I found a "new to me" retro clone of OD&D called Swords and Wizardry. This game is brought to us by one of the people responsible for OSRIC, another retro clone built under the OGL that emulates the AD&D experience instead.

Not a big game by any stretch of the imagination, which is a plus to me, Swords and Wizardry does a good job of emulating that old school fun that was OD&D. I miss my little booklets, stolen by some visitor to my apartment god only knows when. But I got hours and hours of enjoyment out of that game, which lead into almost 30 years of gaming now.

Frankly, I haven't had the chance to read the rules that thoroughly yet. But, what I have seen I do like. I am probably going to get around to ordering an actual print copy so I can really give the game a reading. What I have seen so far makes me want to read more and (more importantly as a litmus test for an RPG) it makes me want to game. So, for now I wanted to share the existence of this with everybody and I will post more when I have a chance to digest the game more thoroughly.

Interview with Jason Fried of 37signals

It's A Remote World We Live In

I want to talk about interconnectivity and the internet, and for a change I want this to be an interactive topic. Talk to me here, through Twitter or through Facebook...but talk.

Here's the question: With the level of interconnectivity available there days: internet, cell (and smart) phones, and all of the other little things.... Is face to face still the best method for collaboration?

I do expect some skewing of results since the people who will bother to respond are going to be online people but I would still like to hear what you have to say.

If you see this post as it cascades through my various online faces, I would like to hear from you. I want to know your thoughts. I know that this is unusual for this blog, as I don't usually look for interactivity though this place. Most of these things are "fire and forget" types of posts that I think someone might be interested in as I meander through the internet and the world.

Right now, though, I'm looking for discourse. I'd like to hear what you have to say, even if you don't know me or we've never spoken before.