Thursday, July 27, 2006

Monkey Do, Monkey See

Probably the most aptly named blog in the entire world.

Monkey Do, Monkey See
We’re making something good, you dig? It’s like the fucking Beats (with less serious drug problems) or Parisian Bohemians circa 1890. We’re making something new, something that changes the way people see. We’re making art and the art is good.

Ok. This is going to piss people off but I don't care. This has to be the most retarded comment about gaming that I have ever read or heard. Frankly I would feel that way regardless of whether or not it was about game designers and games that I like or not.

Comments like this make me weep for the educational system in our country, the state of ignorance of literature and the arts that makes people think that comments like this one are cool. Like I said, this is going to piss people off but I don't care. See, the cool thing about this is the fact that this is my playground and I can talk however I want.

This is similar to my encounter with some art school students at a local art festival. It turns out that they said they were doing Outsider Art.

Wikipedia on "Outsider Art"

Here's a relevant passage:
While Dubuffet's term is quite specific, the English term "Outsider Art" is often applied more broadly, to include certain self-taught or Naïve art makers who were never institutionalized. Typically, those labeled as Outsider Artists have little or no contact with the institutions of the mainstream art world and they often employ unique materials or fabrication techniques. Much Outsider Art illustrates extreme mental states, unconventional ideas, or elaborate fantasy worlds. Since 2000 the EUWARD, the European Award for painting and graphic arts by mentally handicapped artists, is providing this art with an international forum.

Outsider Art has emerged as a successful art marketing category (an annual Outsider Art Fair has taken place in New York since 1992); thus the term is sometimes misapplied as a catch-all marketing label for art created by people outside the "art world" mainstream, regardless of their circumstances or the content of their work.

The bolded part was emphasized by me. See, Outsider Art isn't something that one does it is something that one is. In my mind, one of the foremost Outsider Artists would have been Harvey Darger.

Wikipedia on Harvey Darger

See, kind of like being an outsider being revolutionary isn't something that one wakes up in the morning and decides to do. Sure, if you're Picasso or Tristan Tzara or Dali or a handful of those people who were the true Geniuses (deserving of being capitalized) of our world. Did those people talk about how they were revoltionizing the art world? Well, Picasso might have but then despite the Jonathan Richman song he was a pretty big asshole.

So, yeah, this sort of attitude pisses me off. It has pretty much always pissed me off and it will always piss me off. I am sure that if this little rant gets out into the big bad world (which I seriously doubt because I have no delusions about the limits of my audience...although from the sales figures that I have seen this blog has had more unique visitors than many of those revolutionary games have sold copies of) I will be besieged by the holy warriors and proslytizers who will seek to defend the faith from barbarian insurgents. I don't care.

I am tired of the preening. I am tired of the self-aggrandizing attacks against those who "Don't get it." I am tired of the charges of brain damage and being unable to do something as simple as tell a story. You know what? The last time that I tried I was able to tell challenging and engaging stories during my games sessions without the aid of mechanical "innovations" that actually take a gamer by the hand and force them to tell the kinds of "stories" that their designers think are cool. I am tired of people being told that the way that they game is "a myth" or that they are somehow "deluding themselves." I am tired of the whole bloody thing.

It is truly sad that people think that the only way that they can make themselves "cool" is to deride others and/or puff themselves up and prance about like silly little fops, or children who have touched their genitals for the first time and thought that they are doing something revolutionary...something that no has every done before.

I think that is all, that that is enough on the topic for now. Comment at your own risk.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

The 95 Theses of Geek Activism

I think that this is a very important thing to read. Now, more I think than ever, you really can't isolate yourself and do nothing about what is happening in the world around you. It is that attitude by the majorities that has gotten this world into so much trouble.

The 95 Theses of Geek Activism
Geek activism has not taken off yet, but it should. With the gamers recognizing the need for a louder voice, EFF gaining momentum and Linux taking on the mainstream on the one hand and recent severe losses in privacy, freedom of speech and intellectual property rights on the other, now seems to be the best time to rally around the cause.

Geeks are not known to be political or highly vocal (outside of our own circles)- this must change if we want things to improve. So here is my list of things people of all shapes, sizes and sides of the debate need to know. Some of these are obvious, others may not be meant for you. But hopefully, some of these will inspire you to do the right thing and others will help you frame the next discussion, debate or argument you have on these topics.

  1. Reclaim the term ‘hacker’. If you tinker with electronics, you are a hacker. If you use things in more ways than intended by the manufacturer, you are a hacker. If you build things out of strange, unexpected parts, you are a hacker. Reclaim the term.
  2. Violating a license agreement is not theft.
  3. All corporations are not on your side.
  4. Keep in touch with everyone you can vote for and make sure you know where they stand on the issues you care about.
  5. More importantly, make sure they know where you stand on the issues you care about.
  6. Everything will enter the public domain some day- even Mickey Mouse.


[via Boing Boing]

Yunyu - Lenore's Song

After Seeing this on Warren Ellis' website, I decided to post it here. There's some interesting imagery that may be useful for Urban Horror games.



Here's a link to the artist's website.

DIRTY HAROLD?

This is just screaming out to be used in someone's Urban Fantasy campaign. Come on, you know that you want to use it. Share your stories if you do.

A strip club's anatomically correct gargoyle flusters county officials
An anatomically correct gargoyle outside a suburban West Palm Beach strip club has been a moving target of intrigue for county officials who've been snapping photos, debating the creature's artistic merits and commenting on its proportionality.

"Harold," a 1,200-pound, 7-foot-tall statue made of hardened clay, is a fanged, winged creature with a long tail.

T's Lounge owner Gary Odle has moved his 7-foot statue, called Harold, to different spots to allay county concerns.

But they're not the anatomical features getting all the attention and causing T's Lounge owner Gary Odle to move the gargoyle again and again around his property to allay the concerns of county oglers.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Seanbaby's Super Friends Page

Just a random link to Seanbaby's Super Friends page, a website that makes "Superman Is A Dick" look like a Russian Drama.

Seanbaby's Super Friends Page

"For example, people like you can see an oven and grunt outloud, 'oven is hot. hot things hurt. hurt is bad. it is bad to touch oven.' The Super Friends see an oven and shout, 'oven... heat... lava... Great Gotham! The Legion of Doom's headquarters is in the heart of a volcano! Let's roll!' But the most insane part is that they're usually right. After they're done spitting out nonsense, they jump into the volcano (sometimes in protective lavaproof jumpsuits), rescue Aquaman, stop the bad guys without punching them, make a joke about how it was a 'HOT TIME!' and the only thing you did was sit in a room next to an oven and not touch it. You suck."

Fawlty Towers gets a 4-star facelift

Like Monty Python, Fawlty Towers holds a special place in the hearts of geeks everywhere.

Fawlty Towers gets a 4-star facelift

"Check into the Hotel Gleneagles in Torbay these days and you will no longer be confronted with out-of-date kippers or senile Majors. For despite inspiring cult TV comedy series Fawlty Towers, the property has undergone a £1m refurbishment and plans to relaunch as a four-star boutique hotel.

"Under new ownership since February, the hotel's luxury facelift has ushered in a new ground-floor swimming pool and al fresco dining area, a luxurious lounge and a conservatory. Ceilings have been raised and Italian chandeliers installed, while over 40 skip-loads of rubbish have been removed.

"The character of Basil Fawlty was inspired by a former manager at the hotel; he gave John Cleese and the Monty Python team a frosty welcome when they booked in 1971. The ferocious host berated them for not holding their knives and forks correctly and threw one of their briefcases over a wall believing it could be a time bomb."

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

The Original Flatland Role Playing Game

After hearing about this on a mailing list, I thought that it was a really good idea to pass it along to as many people as possible. If you haven't checked out one of Marcus Rowland's RPGs already, you really should and because of the charity element this is a really good place to start.

I did see an early version of Marcus' Flatland game and it was really intriguing. The guy comes up with some really cool concepts.

The Flatland Page

Imagine a world of two dimensions and plane geometry, in which the very idea of height is considered insanity and the darkest heresy. Where the only thing that matters is the straightness of your sides and the regularity of your angles. Where the slightest deviation from the norm can lead to arrest, imprisonment, execution (and consumption by your peers) or a lingering death by starvation.

Welcome to Flatland. Enjoy your stay…

Action and adventure in a world where characters are supposed to be two-dimensional!

Whether your adventures take you to the criminal classes of The State and an encounter with legendary gang leader “Scarside” Al Gebra, across the border to Polygonia and an attempt to rescue Mad King Euclid, or into the glamorous world of politics and diplomacy with the multi-faceted polygons of the aristocracy, there’s something here for you. Best of all, by buying this game you’re supporting charity: All of the author’s income from this game will be donated to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)!

The Original Flatland Role Playing Game expands material originally published as part of the Forgotten Futures CD-ROM, completely rewritten and updated. It includes the novel, complete rules for the setting, three adventures and four adventure outlines, a complete wargame by Matthew Hartley (Tusk, Aeronef, etc.), full-colour cut out character figures, extensive background material, and much more.

You can buy a copy of the Flatland RPG PDF here.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Filk Inflicted Horrors


Filk Inflicted Horrors
Originally uploaded by cjh_cleveland.
From my pictures from Origins (finally getting posted). If you look to the far left you might make out "The Great Luke Ski." Consider yourself lucky that "see" is all you get. I hate filking with a passion and this performance did nothing to get rid of those feelings. Perhaps if GAMA hadn't felt the urge to inflict this filking onto a captive audience...


If you click on the name under the photo it will take you to the photos that I took and uploaded onto flickr.com

Friday, June 23, 2006

Hospital with copyright objects to books - Yahoo! News

I'm sure that the Alan Moore fans around the world are going to want me to burn in hell for stating this (of course I doubt if they are the first or last group to want that) but I am so tired of Alan Moore being so damn full of himself.

The guy writes slash fanfic and thinks that he doesn't stink. After his bitching about other people using his characters and creations in shabby manners I think that he should take a good, long, hard look at what he has done to the characters of others as well.

Hospital with copyright objects to books - Yahoo! News

"A London hospital that holds the copyright to 'Peter Pan' has questioned the appropriateness of a series of books that portrays the character Wendy exploring her sexuality.

"The 'Lost Girls' books, by graphic novelist Alan Moore, are about three world-famous characters: Wendy, Dorothy from 'The Wizard of Oz' and Alice from 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.' The characters meet one another and have sexual adventures. Wendy not only engages in erotic trysts but also encounters pedophiles."

Yeah, because these are stories that are crying out to be told. Good God.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Mind The Gap!

Sorry about the gap in posting. Its been a busy month or so with me. Work is work, and that takes up the usual amount of time. I'm going to Origins at the end of the month. The 2nd Cleveland Gamers picnic is this weekend. I'm doing layout and Art Direction for a supplement for Pelgrane Press' Dying Earth RPG. [Edit: Time constraints have taken this off of my schedule. Since it was a step above volunteering, it was the "best" to choose. Unfortunately.] I've got two projects simmering that I can talk about, but they are going to be pretty darn neat.

There's cool stuff on the horizon. Hopefully there won't be another big posting gap, thanks for your time.

Idaho Girl Becomes Superhero for a Day

I think that everybody should be a wish like this one. This is why organizations like Make-A-Wish exist.

Idaho Girl Becomes Superhero for a Day

"Most days, 6-year-old Aubrey Matthews spends her energy fighting a brain tumor growing behind her eyes. But the first-grader managed to foil crimes and chase an arch-nemesis through Boise on Friday, serving the city as the superhero 'Star'' with assistance from the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Idaho, The Idaho Statesman reported."

A video can be found here.

Edit: Thanks to Jeff for pointing out that the newspaper took down the page linked. Wow, not even 24 hours and its gone. I'll see what I can find. Look here, thanks to Google.

Imaginary Weapons

I came across this on a mailing list and knew that I had to share it. If listening to this doesn't trigger some science fiction campaign ideas, I don't know what will. Just name a fringe scientist after me. ;)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5478373

"Fresh Air from WHYY, June 12, 2006 · Sharon Weinberger's new book is Imaginary Weapons: A Journey Through the Pentagon's Scientific Underworld. She looks at some of the wild schemes and fringe science projects under way at the Department of Defense.

"Her articles have appeared in The Washington Post, Slate and Aviation Week & Space Technology. She's editor-in-chief of Defense Technology International."

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Now Where Were The Spiders?

Ladies and Gentlemen, Peter Murphy in a cage....

Ziggy Stardust by Bauhaus

This way, if you're at work Bauhaus doing Ziggy Stardust won't come blaring out of your speakers.

Alex Toth: June 25, 1928 - May 27, 2006

Comic great Alex Toth has passed away.

More information can be found here.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006



Free Comicbook Day is this Saturday! Be sure to check out what your local comic store is offering. You know that your inner dork wants you to do it.

Edit:Lulu.com is getting involved (via Boing Boing):

Lulu's doing Free Comic Book Day too - I've just finished up our brand new Lulu Creators #5 - An Anthology of Independent Creators. Since we're a print-on-demand company and our store is online, we DO have a free comic for Free Comic Book Day, but it gets delivered to your door (so except for a few local comic shops it's hard for us to promote it).

People can get it by emailing comics@lulu.com
Subject: Free Comic Book Day!
Body: Your address!

(we are honorable and we won't use your email or address for anything else but sending you a free comic)

Sunday, April 23, 2006

What's behind mysterious booms?

Here's something that may make for some interesting background in your next conspiracy/fortean RPG campaign.

What's behind mysterious booms?

"Life can serve up a good mystery every once in a while. Weird things happen that defy explanation, that make us wonder how much we really know about the world.

"Something of the sort happened in San Diego County shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 4, and so far no one has come forward with an explanation.

"Whatever it was, it caused a woman's bed to shake in Lakeside. It created waves in a backyard pool in Carmel Valley. It set off car alarms in Kearny Mesa and rattled windows from Mission Beach to Poway to Vista. At various spots throughout the county, people reported a rumbling sound or a booming noise.

"Scientists insist it wasn't an earthquake. The Federal Aviation Administration has no record of any planes producing a sonic boom by breaking the sound barrier.

"Camp Pendleton officials say no activities on the Marine base could have created such a disturbance. There were no large explosions in San Diego County that day, and no meteor fireballs were reported in the sky that morning.

"What was it, then?" [via Boing Boing]

Out of the Box: State of the Industry 2005

"At this year's GAMA Trade Show, I managed to score a second copy of Comics & Games Retailer's annual State of the Gaming Industry; my first copy arrived in the mail while I was in Vegas. This will come in handy, because the bitter, salty tears one weeps when reading the State of the Gaming Industry can really wreck a magazine. And the good people at F&W Publications (who apparently purchased Krause Publications, the home of CG&R, way back in 2002) deserve better than to have their fine, fine magazine turned into a moist towelette.

"Sadly, their State of the Gaming Industry numbers still don't deserve much statistical respect, still deriving as they do from self-selected retailer surveys, which is to say, in harsh scientific terms, from nothing whatsoever. But, risible though they are, they are pretty much all the numbers we have, unless we also have the ICv2 Retailers Guide to Games, which as it just so happens, we do, or at least I do, because I snaffled that up at GTS as well. ICv2 gets its numbers from asking around, which although a different kind of statistical noise, is still not what the prudish or the pedantic would actually call 'data.' Still, it is what it is, and that's all that we've got. Both sets of numbers are pretty much solely concerned with the 'core hobby games market,' which excludes sales of games to mass-market outlets like big-box toy and book stores, or Wal-Mart or wherever else people buy games who aren't reading this column."

Out of the Box: State of the Industry 2005

Please Help Save Palladium from Going Under

Edit: I've given this some thought, and in light of Palladium's seemingly ongoing snarkiness towards its fanbase (both from Kevin Siembieda on the Palladium forums...and from Maryann Siembieda (or whatever her un-married name is now) regarding Kevin's snarkiness on RPGnet) I really can't justify to myself continuing keeping up a link to this farce.

So, the original post that was in this space is now gone...never to return.

I just want it known that I don't wish ill upon Palladium, its owner, or its employees. I enjoyed the years of entertainment that I got via my various Palladium games. I just don't think that it is right to outright beg from your fanbase out of one side of your mouth...and then bash parts of them out of the other.

I guess that some fans are better than others, huh Kevin?

It is quite sad, but after this the Dorkland! blog will no longer post anything of support to the company. Let the dice fall where they may.

Whatever: The 2006 Stupidest FanFic Writer Award Gets Retired Early

Yeah, there's got to be an award of some sort in this one. At the time that I posted this, the book was still available on Amazon. Its mind-boggling. Check it out while you still can.

Whatever: The 2006 Stupidest FanFic Writer Award Gets Retired Early

"Via Nick Mamatas, I learn of Lori Jareo, who has written up a Star Wars fanfic novel, published it without the expressed, written consent of George Lucas, and has it listed for sale on Amazon. Oh, but she's not worried about the massive copyright violation; Indeed, let's see what she has to say about it in her 'author interview.'

"Q: Having set Another Hope in an already existing universe, I find myself wondering if there was any concern on your part regarding copyrights?

"No, because I wrote this book for myself. This is a self-published story and is not a commercial book. Yes, it is for sale on Amazon, but only my family, friends and acquaintances know it’s there.

"Let me repeat this, just to savor the juicy cluelessness of it: 'Yes, it's for sale on Amazon, but only my family, friends and acquaintances know it's there.' I feel myself getting stupider every time I read that line, but the good news is that I have a long way to go before I would be actually stupid enough to say that line myself.

"For those publishing novices out there, let me, as a public service, outline all the many ways Ms. Jareo's statement above is ill-informed and/or ignorant and/or just plain idiotic."

The part in italics is a statement by the author of the fanfic in question. This whole thing has a trainwreck quality to it, and it should be fun to see what happens once George Lucas finds out about it. I'm surprised that he hasn't already. [via Jonathan]

Saturday, April 15, 2006

ATF rids Univ. of ninja threat

You know, I wish it were Ninja Day. That would make this story even more powerful.

ATF rids Univ. of ninja threat

"ATF agents are always on alert for anything suspicious — including ninjas."

[via Boing Boing]

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Blackmask Online : Hey, I'm getting sued!

"The good people at Conde Nast/Advance Magazine Publishers have finally decided to take care of the last Doc Savage and Shadow holdout, because they've become aware of the crisis in boys books, attained new respect for the graphic novels market scored a movie deal.

"Now, given that Variety is an Elsevier publication, Conde Nast could perhaps be excused for not understanding the basic realities of the film business. So, they don't grasp that the plethora of comic book and video-game based flicks on our screens these days is the result not of Hollywood's respect for modern-day representations of the Jungian hero archetype, but rather of studio executive's bets on success in producing content for a pre-existing market. CN also don't get that destroying said pre-existing market is unlikely to produce much success at the box office, if the film even gets greenlighted.

"Maybe someone needs to do a 50-word feature on the topic for Lucky.

"Whatever, in CN's defense, they've got a new law firm, and their attorney was mostly professional--apart from his choice of Christmas Eve as an appropriate night to drop bombs, of course. They even sent me rewewal notices on all 506 Doc and Shadow titles.

"The deal offered was, remove the ebooks, stop printing, no harm done. Just walk away. And of course I've got the green books and the pink books and the yellow books, as well as other black books...

"Needless to say, I turned them down. Cold. The deadline for settlement was yesterday (April 7), and we did not settle."

Blackmask Online: Hey, I'm getting sued!

A Fish with Fingers?

An interesting article from the Time Magazine website:

A Fish with Fingers?

"People who doubt the truth of Darwinian evolution love to claim that there are no transitional fossils—no remains of ancient creatures that have the characteristics of two different kinds of organism, mixed together. If evolution were true, you'd expect to see them.

"Actually, you do: transitional forms like Archaeopteryx, a lizard-like bird, have been known for many decades, and more pop up all the time. But casts from a newly discovered fossil, slated to go on display at the London Science Museum tomorrow are, by all accounts, the most impressive example to date of a transitional form. They come from a remarkable creature, mostly fish-like but with some clear adaptations that let it operate on land. It fits perfectly with the conventional tale told by evolutionists the epochal moment when animals first began to emerge from their ancestral ocean." [via Daily Illuminator]

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Self-Referential Loop

Came home from work today to discover that Boing Boing printed my comment about the Triple XXX restaurant in Lafayette.

Boing Boing: Yet another '50s kitsch restaurant called "XXX"

We used to go there a lot back in college, usually in the middle of the night. It was a pain in the ass drive getting to there and back to Rensselaer but it wasn't like there was a lot else for us to do. The place always had an interesting mix of people in the middle of the night -- students like us, cab drivers grabbing meals, truck drivers coming off of deliveries and the second shift getting off while the third shift was eating before work.

It was (still is) spitting distance from Purdue and while there were better places to eat up the street...I wouldn't trade my days and nights "On the hill but on the level" for anything. Those were some good trips. Sometimes I miss those late nights...eating fries or chili and sitting there just talking and drinking coffee. That was when coffee was still good (and cheap too) before there were fancy coffee places on every street corner.

I'm glad to see that the Triple XXX is still around, and still serving that great old dinner food. Some things need to stay around and remind us of when things were simpler.

Yeah, a part of me misses those days but I wouldn't want to go back to them either. Nostalgia makes for interesting hind sight, but it always leaves out the parts of things made up up jagged nights and broken glass. I am glad that I am where I am...just like I am glad that I've been where I've been.

After all, it was the journey through nights like those spent at the Triple XXX that brought me to where (and who) I am today. And a lot of the time I am glad of who I am today.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Cleveland Gamers: Game Day


Edit: Here is a link to the group's email list: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/clevelandgamers/

New Edit (4/15): We have added a new game to the line-up, there will now be a Starship Troopers RPG event being run at noon. Check out the line-up and sign up for events now.