Friday, February 11, 2005

Death of A Playwright

Death of a Playwright

"Arthur Miller, dramatist, was born on October 17, 1915. He died on February 10, 2005, aged 89.

"The American playwright who wrote Death of a Salesman, withstood the anti-communist witch-hunts and married Marilyn Monroe

"ARTHUR MILLER will be remembered by some as the intellectual who made a famously unsuitable marriage to Marilyn Monroe, and by others as the staunch liberal who risked imprisonment by defying the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities. But his main legacy is the series of plays — Death of a Salesman and The Crucible prime among them — that had established him as his nation’s leading dramatist by the mid-1950s and continue to be revived and studied throughout the world."

Jack Chalker Passed Away

Jack Chalker News

"As of 11:12AM Friday, February 11th, 2005, Jack Lawrence Chalker has now passed away and is now in a greater place. We thank all that have kept Jack in his thoughts and prayers."

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

My Hate of D02 Know No Limit

Does your hat of d02 know no limit? Then you should play d02 RIGHT NOW! When you go here you will learn to have a hat of d02 also.

D02: Know No Limit

"This game is serious! There are ninjas and crocodiles! IF you need a bonus on your role, you can give the D02 master some of you change and buy it. It KNOW NO LIMIT!"

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Steven Shaviro's DOOM PATROLS

An old school Favorite of mine, I am suprised that I never got around to rebookmarking it through my blog. A postmodern novel/criticism of Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol comic, among other things. A reat source for the GM who wants so very deserately to be postmodern, but isn't sure where to start.

Steven Shaviro's DOOM PATROLS

Sunday, February 06, 2005

The long shadow of Dracula

This must be a particularly strong meme, because every now and then you come across a story about people doing this. I'm sure that from time to time the ripping out of the heart of a corpse is required, but I am glad that it isn't my job. Not even for time and a half.

The long shadow of Dracula

"Last week, six men were jailed for ripping out the heart of a corpse they believed was 'undead'. As Monica Petrescu in Bucharest writes, to many Romanians, vampires are not legend but terrifying reality

"It was just before midnight as Gheorghe Marinescu and five of his relatives crept into the graveyard in the small Romanian village of Marotinul de Sus. They knew which plot they were looking for – a simple earth grave with a wooden cross bearing the name Petre Toma – and quickly, but quietly, set about digging."

Thursday, February 03, 2005

When the zombies take over, how long till the electricity fails?

This is an important question that needs to be answered.

When the zombies take over, how long till the electricity fails?

"Dear Straight Dope:

"After watching Dawn of the Dead, I am left to wonder about one thing: If we were to suffer an apocalypse where most of the living became flesh-eating zombies, how long, assuming I survived, would I continue to receive hydroelectricity from my power company? Is it a mean-time-before-failure situation, or would the system automatically shut itself down after a few days? (I am assuming that most of the people who were supposed to be maintaining things at my hydro company would be out looking for brains, and that the surviving hydro employees would be busy digging shelters, etc.) Also, what's the outlook like for people whose chunk of the power grid is supplied by coal, nuclear, and other types of energy? Just wondering how many solar panels I should be putting on my roof! —Jason, Vancouver, BC, Canada"

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Ringo Starr - Superhero

CNN.com - showbuzz - Jan 25, 2005

"Faster than a speeding snare roll: It's Ringo Starr, superhero.

"The former Beatles drummer has undertaken a joint venture with Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment to develop a multimedia franchise in which Starr will play a superpowered animated version of himself."

DELTA GREEN: 1939-1945

I found this site in a link on an old RPG.net thread. Since I am a big fan of the DG setting (I am probably going to have to get some book covers for my copies...since it doesn't look like there is ever going to be a new edition) I am always looking for new material that could be used. While I doubt that I would run a WWII era DG campaign this still has information which could be useful as backstory.

DELTA GREEN: 1939-1945

Monday, January 24, 2005

Gamers For Hope

Gamers For Hope is the upcoming charity project to raise money for the Red Cross' Tsunami Relief effort. I received the cover from comic artist and children's book illustrator Jeff Weigel. I thought that I would post an image of the preliminary cover.



Friday, January 21, 2005

Clark Ashton Smith - The Eldritch Dark

I may have linked to this before, but I think that the contribution of Clark Ashton Smith to the Cthulhu Mythos is very important, and doesn't recieve the attention that many other of the contributors.

Clark Ashton Smith - The Eldritch Dark

"Clark Ashton Smith (1893-1961), perhaps best known today for his association with H.P Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos, is in his own right a unique master of fantasy, horror and science-fiction. While he considered himself primarily a poet, and wrote over 700 poems and prose poems, it is for his short stories that he is best known today. Clark Ashton Smith was also a self-taught artist whose paintings, drawings and sculptures reflect the phantasmagoric worlds of his fiction.

"The Eldritch Dark is a site to facilitate both scholars and fans in their appreciation and study of Clark Ashton Smith and his works."

This sub-page outlines the cycles of Smith's writings.

These works make a great resource for Call of Cthulhu Keepers, particularly those running a Dreamlands or Cthulhu Dark Ages game. His work is well worth seeking out, and there are some very good resources on this page. I think that his work was a big influence on the movie The Brotherhood of the Wolf.

A quick update, I would like to thank John Rateliff for sending me a link to his very engaging article on Smith's writing, from the Wizards of the Coast website.