Happy Halloween From Adam Ant

I'm the dandy highwayman who you're too scared to mention
I spend my cash on looking flash and grabbing your attention
The devil take your stereo and your record collection!
The way you look you’ll qualify for next year's old age pension!

Stand and deliver your money or your life!
Try and use a mirror no bullet or a knife!

Wanted Trailer

So, the first trailer for Mark Millar's Wanted. It doesn't appear to have much in common with the comic though.

Japanese Vending Machines: Books & Earthquake Aid : Japan Probe

I wish that Americans were honest enough to have the same sort of vending machine culture that they have in Japan. I really think it would rock.

Here are two examples of what is new in the world of Japanese vending machines.

First we have a video of a new book vending machine at JR’s Ebisu Station. Some customers prefer buying books the old fashioned way, but a poll found that 75% find the new vending machine to be convenient.

Next we have a new model of Coca Cola vending machine that receives news signals and informs people of current events and weather on a news ticker. In the event of a major earthquake, such machines will get a special signal that makes them display emergency messages and converts them into free drink dispensers. There are already 10,000 machines of this type throughout Japan.

The linked article has links to a couple of (Japanese language) YouTube videos.

Four Color: Free and On RPGNow

Philip Reed's Four Color (4C) System is done and ready for the public!

This complete in 34 pages role-playing system is all that you need to launch your own adventures in super-hero universes. An emulator for an old MARVELous game, the new material and old material are all compatible and can be used in each game system.

Enjoy!

Beyond the Groovy Age of Horror

Here's a cool little blog that I found when I was trying to Google up some information on a cheesy 60s "Black Magic" English horror novel that I picked up cheap a while back.

If you're wondering, the book is The Curse of Rathlaw by Peter Saxon (which was apparently a publisher's house name) dealing with a group called THE GUARDIANS who fought against Black Magic and the Dark Arts.

It's actually pretty good. Eventually I'll have to see if I can track down others in the series.

But regardless, check out this site. Not only does it has some good stuff about 60s-70s horror but it's got the goods on the pulps and various hardboiled/noir writings as well. I know that there are readers of this blog that are interested in that stuff as well.

Games for the Brain

In case you're bored.

National Do Not Call Registry

If you signed up with the National Do Not Call Registry in 2003, it is time to re-up your registration. Registration only lasts for five years.

The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint at this Website. You can register your home or mobile phone for free. Your registration will be effective for five years.

A public service announcement from Dorkland.

Pop!Casts

While you will find plenty of interesting people talking about interesting things at this page, I highlighted two that I thought might be of particular interest to the audience. Check it out.

Author, journalist and contributing editor at Wired magazine Bruce Sterling understands why people get confused about new technology concepts. In what he sees as a culture war of web semantics, Bruce gets the audience’s attention with a unique call for a new vocabulary to better describe experiences with technology.

Listen to the Pop!Cast here.

Musician, producer and artist Brian Eno shows how simple things can give rise to complex things—in art and life. See how he uses Darwin’s ecological model of the world as a roadmap for human culture now and in the future.

Listen to the Pop!Cast here.

Gaming Library Update

Well, since I've got the time on my hands I decided to organize things a bit. Today I tackled some of my gaming stuff.











Of course, now I have to find a place to put the books that I had to take off that bookcase.

Youngblood at Heart

I think that I just threw up a little in my mouth.

Liefeld and McFarlane were like the rock stars of the comic world, the two most recognizable of the faces among the new upstarts, having also been instrumental in the creation of such up-and-coming Marvel characters as Cable, Deadpool and Venom.