Some Paizo related "news"

Since Paizo is apparently moving, they have a sale on old Dungeon/Dragon/Polyhedron magazines. When the sale was announced, the deadline was March 1st. Procrastinator that I am I went to the site to figure out what I wanted. Apparently, the deadline is April 1st. April Fool's Day suits me just fine as a deadline. Now I have plenty of time to determine my wants. So around the last week of March...

Other interesting news is that the Planet Stories line is now available at B&N locations. While one could order them online, now brick and mortar stores are offering. On a non B&N front, a local bookstore in my area is carrying select Planet Stories books for the time being. Last but not least, SFBC has offered one of the titles, forgot which one, as an exclusive hardcover. I will probably order it at some point although I don't know when.

Finally, I downloaded the latest two updates, magic items and prestige classes, of the Pathfinder rules. I'll comment on them at some point. May also download the primer for the latest adventure path. But that will be at a later date.

Learned about Veoh - watch old D&D cartoons

Over at RPG Blog II, there is a post that links to a page where one can watch episodes of the old D&D cartoon. For simplicity's sake, here's a link to the actual page. I have fond memories of watching the show. So I'm quite happy that there currently is a means of viewing the '80's D&D cartoon sans DVD.

In addition, I have learned about Veoh. Now there's a site where I can watch shows that I can't with Hulu. One downside that I can determine is that not all the shows list the given episode number. So unless you know exactly where an episode falls during a season its hard to watch in order. For example, Lost.

Interesting News: Feb 21 ScienceDaily Links

Once again, here are some links to articles on ScienceDaily. I may or may not comment on them at a later date.

Since I know of at least one person that suffers from Bipolar Disorder, I'm interested in any research. One recent study concerns TEM.

Another report shows that coastal wetlands are suffering a net loss.

Some nano goodness concerning a silver-based nanoparticle ink.

As a Wisconsinite the drinking culture surrounds me. The British did a study on what positives emerge from binge drinking.

How video games can be educational.

Material that can improve computer chip and solar cell efficiency.

Plastic from plants?

University of Wisconsin-Madison has released a press release on a two step chemical process that converts biomass to fuel.

Thoughts on Marvel's May '09 Solicitations

One feature I miss was thefourthrail's commentary on the latest Previews catalog. For quite a while, I have meaning to do something similar on my blog. I was going to start with April solicitations but since May solicitations are on the web I changed my mind. Rather than cover the "entire" catalog at once, I figured I'd break it down into four parts. The four parts are Marvel, DC, other comics companies, and games/videos. The latter two I'll provide commentary once I have a copy the catalog. Keep in mind this isn't necessarily a wish list on my part. Its basically me commenting on whatever provokes discourse. Today, I'm going to provide my thoughts on what Marvel is soliciting for May.

On with the show:
Halo Uprising HC - I might be remembering things wrong but I thought this was offered earlier..

Comics based on novelists' fiction - I'm glad that Marvel is continuing the Raymond E Feist adaptations. The original Dark Tower stories are continuing which is cool. Alas the biggest appeal for me is in book and not pamphlet form. On a less positive note, I don't quite see the appeal of a comic version of the Stand. But considering I have bought comic adaptations of Conan stories I probably shouldn't be throwing stones.

Marvel's 70th Anniversary - I really like the concept of the index. What I'd really like to know is whether or not it will be collected in trade. Same for the special one-shots Marvel is releasing. If their not collected into a trade, the one-shots would have an aura of specialness. As for index, I'm waiting for the trade. But even if its, I feel sorry for those that bought it in pamphlet form.

Soleil Imprint - Absolutely love the fact that Marvel is bringing these European comics to the States. Problem is that I'm not quite ready for four or five dollar comics quite yet. Or at least not if they are going to wind up in book form.

Trojan War - Wonder if this going to be a much, much shorter version of Age of Bronze. Definately interested...

Spider-Man the Short Halloween - Cause three times a month wasn't enough. Here's a one-shot for more solo Spidey fix.

And on that note... Amazing Spider-Man Family is now monthly. Yep. Another monthly. On the bright side it features more than just Peter.

New Avengers 53 - Wow, Carol Danvers appears to be on the New Avengers team! Ok, I don't actually read this title but I wasn't aware that she is now on this team. Plus I consider it to be more noteworthy than what the story is about. New Sorceror Supreme? Must be a new decade.

Dark Reign: Young Avengers/ DR: Hood - Hey more stories about villians. How unappealing. Guess Ellis's Thunderbolts is now a franchise. The Hood story seems to have promise but the character is on verge of being overexposed.

Black Panther 4 - Cool. Morlun's back. Glad that he hasn't gone into obscurity. Just wish Marvel wouldn't be coy about who the Panther is. Its getting old...

Ms Marvel 39 - Oh ... it appears Carol Danvers is actually dead. Confused now. As for the switch, not sure how much it will actually help the title.

Punisher 5 - Hey, another title where the Hood appears in. At this rate, he might actually rival Wolverine!

Howling Commandos 1 - Guess we know former Heroes producer Jesse Alexander has been up to. Ok, dark humor aside, I'm a big fan of the Howling Commandos and WWII war comics. Provided this actually is a one-shot, this comic is a good deal coming in at forty pages for four dollars. I may actually have to pick this up.

Hulk 12 - I'm only interested because its a Defenders story. Waiting for the trade.

Incredible Hercules 129 - At last, why death is so temporary in the Marvel universe. This one of those titles that I wish I could add to my list. One of the disadvantages of wanting to start from the beginning...

Marvel Zombies 4 issue 2 - Another Hood appearance...

New Mutants 1 - The New Mutants are back. Um, guess X-Infernus was important after all. While I read a handful of issues of the old run, I never did get into. Unless I make changes to pull list, this going to be tough sell for me.

X-men Forever Alpha - Yay! Chris Claremont returns to the X-men of the old 1991 continuity. Claremont's first X-men run means a lot to me and this particular time period does as well. Looking forward to this title. Although I don't know if I'll pick up the Alpha book. I have all the issues.

Deadpool Suicide Kings 2 - Uhm, Deadpool has a healing factor that rivals Wolverine. How is the Punisher too much for him? Glad I decided not to read this.

I'll discuss the graphic novels in a later post this week or next. Same with DC.

Link to an article that's an IP primer

ComicMix posted a primer of sort on copyright and other IP concerns. Since I consider IP laws an interesting topic, I figured that I'd link to the page via this entry.

Finally...I have had an actual gaming session

After a long dry spell, my gaming fast has come to an end. That's right, I actually got to game Tuesday.

And it was good.

The game in question was Mike's Rifts "campaign". Commentary will come later. I'd prefer to do so after Mike posts his session report.

Another plus is that more of the gang from the Tuesday night circle may start blogging. Or at the very least read blogs.

A petition to remove the Joker from future films..

ComicMix has reported that an online Ledger fan club is circulating a petition to eliminate the Joker role from any future live-action films. The link to the news snippet and petition is here.

Honestly, I disagree with the petition. Yes, I agree that Ledger did a wonderful job portraying the Clown Prince of Crime. Would I accept a different actor playing the Joker? Not in the near future. But never? Not a chance. Of all the Bat-villains, the Joker is the big kahuna. Everyone knows who he is. Culturally, he is the nemesis. Joker is too important to the Bat-mythos to be removed permanently from any live-action Bat-film.

As an aside, I feel twenty years is adequate time without the Joker. Although if a film version of the Dark Knight Returns was made, I'd accept a different actor playing Joker much sooner.

A manga dealing with RPGs

ComicMix has reported Del Rey's new manga releases for 2009 that was announced at New York Comic-Con. The link is here.

One of their slated releases is an American manga that concerns the interactions of tabletop role-players and their online counterparts. Ought to be a hilarious commentary on the two groups of gamers. Hopefully, I remember it. December is a long time ahead.

The other two manga that attract my attention are Negima and Samurai 7. Of the two, Samurai 7 is the one I'm most interested in and more likely to follow. Its a sci fi version of Seven Samurai. An anime version already exists. Don't know which version I'll sample though.

Comics Haul 2/10/09

Went to the comics shop today. Overall, a much cheaper week than others since no hardcovers or trades arrived for me. Weather permitting, I'll probably be able to go to the shop twice during the next two weeks. So these Comics Haul entries will be weekly for at least a couple weeks. Based on purchases from a comics shop that is.

House of Mystery 10
Buffy the Vampire Slayer 22
Amazing Spider-Man 585
Tales of the TMNT 55
War of Kings Darkhawk 1
X-men Vs Hulk One-Shot
Agents of Atlas 1
Astonishing Tales 1
Marvel: Your Universe 1

Comics Haul 2/6/09

Ok, haul isn't an accurate term. A purchase is more like it. One thing I have liked that Viz is doing is compiling some of their manga into three-in-one editions called VizBig. Tonight, I picked the first VizBig volume of Dragonball Z from Wal-Mart. Dragonball Z ushered in my personal Second Age of anime/manga fandom. Now, that my Third Age has started its only fitting that it includes the manga of DBZ.

What I'm currently reading

I figured I might as well mention what books I'm currently reading. Definately, the sections of the Rifts UE book as I'm making a Mystic for Mike's Rifts campaign. Mongoose traveller will have to wait. Stephen King's It has occupied my attention on and off for almost a year and a half. The anime Basilisk has not only reawakened my interest in anime/manga but the phenomena of the ninja as well. So I have started reading two books on that subject. A book I'm currently reading at work is Mario Puzo's Omerta, which I have had since I believe 2002. Yes, it sometimes takes me that long to read something. Speaking of things I haven't done in awhile, I went to the library at the beginning of the week. There, I checked out an interview book of Alan Moore and Tarzan of the Apes. As I need to return the Alan Moore interview book on Tuesday, that particular book is occupying a lot of my time at the present. So far its a very fascinating interview. I plan on commenting on it.

Found out why I haven't received the latest Rifter

After coming home and discovering that once more that I haven't received the latest Rifter, issue 45, I was very frustrated. So I check Palladium message board and sit. By all indications, people have received their copies. Maybe something happened to my copy in the mail? I don't recall receiving four issues. In order to ease my fears I decide to check my email. I'm one of those people that maintain a huge archive of old email. However, I do delete email from time to time. Fortunately, I still had the email confirmation from the last super-subscription sale. Upon reviewing it, the start issue was issue 41. Which means the subscription lapsed with issue 44... That explains why I haven't received issue 45 then. Guess I'll have to take advantage of the latest subscription special sooner than later. As for the extra 'gift', I'm leaning towards the Tales of the Chi-Town Burbs anthology. I already own Mutants of the Yucatan. Although I really do want a copy of Mutants in Avalon. Maybe I'll combine the two.

Kudos to Troll Lord Games

As the title says, kudos to Troll Lord Games. While my X-mas order was later than I expected, TLG sent a follow up email confirming I received my order. After I responded that I did, they sent another email. Granted that is good customer service; but I figure they should be given proper credit for it. Especially since few companies send out confirmation inquiries and follow ups. So yeah I was pleasantly surprised.


Now if only the latest Rifter would arrive. Didn't think that my Rifter subscription has lapsed already...?

Speculation on the shortage of area LARPers

Over on Mike's blog, he laments on the lack of LARP'ers. For ease of reference, here's the link.

http://mikelrysk.blogspot.com/2009/01/wod-where-did-you-go.html



I understand where Mike's coming from. Having played and ran LARPs I know firsthand how hard it is to recruit new players for a LARP. However, Mike omits one crucial detail. He's really complaining about recruiting players for the currently on hiatus Werewolf LARP. That's important because there's two layers, both a macro and a micro, to the problem.

I'll cover the micro layer first. First, central wisconsin has low population than other areas that have LARPs. In other words, the population may not be large enough to have the needed diversity. Culture requires diversity and without it fringe cultures such as gaming have a hard time thriving. LARPs require both a more diverse and larger population that other types of gaming. I'm not saying Stevens Point doesn't have such a culture, but a lot of that comes from the university. However, reliance on students is a catch-22.

The worrying fact about central wisconsin, and to extent other places in the country, is the lack of quality game stores. Its sad when I have to go to a book store to see a diverse product mix. So even if the old stuff were still readily available I'm not sure one could actually acquire a copy in this area without ordering it. Which still means one has to become both aware and accept LARP. I knew about LARPs because I read about it in a tabletop book.

Macro layer

Even though I knew about LARP I was still leery about. If it wasn't for a group that came across as both normal and accessible I would never have participated in LARPs as much as I did. That's right, if the people who introduced me to LARPing came across as strange and couldn't communicate well, I would be one of those gamers who refer to their LARP experience with scorn. Granted, as time went by, I discovered that they were as eccentric as any other gamer. However, my first impressions of them were that they normal people who could articulate all the intangibles of LARPing clearly to me.

Another reason is that gamer culture is a fragmented bunch. There are card gamers, tabletop role-players, LARPers. Granted, there are gamers that do two or all three things but the point remains a separation exist. I can go on but that could be its own post/entry.

More commentary later. Although it might be more general in nature. Not so much focusing on why gamers aren't LARPers but LARP and WOD (both new and old). Heck, I have been planning on discussing gaming in general since I started this blog. So my comments may take time.

Comics Haul 2/2/09

Couple weeks ago the Science Fiction Book Club had its 50% off publisher price sale. While I was hesitant to take advantage of the sale, it is the best time to order graphic novels from the club. Otherwise, the cost of shipping reduces the savings one receives when ordering GN's through the club. When I went to the webpage to order, I noticed a section that said 'be like Barack Obama, collect Conan'. As its known that our current president is a Conan fan, I found that section amusing. Needless to say I ordered a couple Conan books. One, the Conquering Sword of Conan isn't a graphic novel. The club version is hardcover though and at 50% off a much better deal than its normal softcover version. Now the only Del Rey Conan I need to get is the second one. Anyway, my shipment arrived today.

Here's the graphic novels:
Savage Sword of Conan vol. 2 TPB
Bat-Manga (although not quite GN, manga comprises most of the book)
Serenity: Those Left Behind HC (even though I own the individual issues...)
The Complete the Great and Secret Show TPB

Interesting News: Several ScienceDaily links

I'm a huge fan of ScienceDaily. However, I don't always have time to read every article that I want to before updates occur. So here's links to several headlines that I find interesting and that others may as well. I may even comment later on.

Why garlic is medicinal
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090130154901.htm

LEDs that may slash electric bill by up to 75% within 5 years
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090129090218.htm

Some cells may be able to mimic stem cells - in plants.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090128132645.htm

Imaging study illustrates how memories change
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090127190432.htm

Is tech impairing critical thinking and analysis?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090128092341.htm

Running out of ways to combat super-bugs
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090128183925.htm

How Ebola evades immune system.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090127152838.htm

A faster way of comparing genomes.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090128160833.htm

Catalyst paves way for Ethanol fuel cells
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090126100645.htm