tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20953958195518127292024-03-13T21:52:29.173-05:00Walking Strange Corners"They are lean and athirst! All the evil in the universe was concentrated in their lean, hungry bodies."
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Honestly, Frank. We're just misunderstood.Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-14274183568573751402020-03-03T15:28:00.002-06:002020-03-03T15:28:26.152-06:00Color Out of SpaceThere are two types of adaptations. Well, three if you count "bad". But just dealing with the good ones, there's two types. There's the ones that are extremely faithful and are basically the source on the screen. For instance, the HPL Society's version of The Call of Cthulhu is not only extremely faithful to the source material, but is even faithful to the time period, as it was filmed as a black and white silent movie.<br />
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And then there's Richard Stanley's Color Out of Space, which is the second type. It's faithful to the core of the story while changing things as needed, either to improve for the new medium or to flesh out the story. The original story certainly didn't have The Thing-style body horror, for instance. However, it fits in the story.<br />
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So, for those unfamiliar, The Colour Out of Space was a short story written by HP Lovecraft about a secluded farmer and his family. A meteor crashes into the farm and Weird Stuff starts happening. Crops grow massive while being rotten inside, people get sick, people die, etc. And then, as inexplicably as it arrives, it goes back into space. It was described as a color that couldn't be quantified, a color nobody had ever seen before. It was, very clearly, an allegory for radiation.<br />
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Color Out of Space hits all the major beats of the story while updating it for modern times and changing things as needed to be a film. The film itself is gorgeous, keeping the indescribable beauty of the Color and the changes to the landscape. While it obviously couldn't actually show colors that aren't real, the mixes of pinks and blues and purples keep the otherworldly feel of the entity.<br />
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This adaptation also delves into the madness caused by the Color. It seems to take the failings of the family members and augments them, from the mother's attachment to her youngest son to the father's anger issues. It doesn't have too long, though, as the movie steams ahead into the body horror and the climax of the film. But it's still pervasive throughout.<br />
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Of course, no review of this film is complete without a discussion of Nicolas Cage. Cage has become something of a meme with his over the top acting in some films (see: Wicker Man remake). Here, he turns in a fantastic performance, whipsawing back and forth between Crazy Nic Cage and Dramatic Nic Cage. It's almost like flipping a lightswitch at times. So while many people were cheering him being crazy and over the top, I thought it was very good. He's not just an unhinged lunatic, he's a man trying desperately to do the right thing while losing his mind and having his body falling apart.<br />
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The rest of the cast works quite well, too. I quite enjoyed the film, and not just because I'm a huge nerd for Lovecraft. Earlier, I mentioned the movie uses body horror for some of its scares and the creepy factor. While that's true, it's less horrifying than the term "body horror" usually implies. Yes, there's separate beings being melded together in kinda gross ways, but it's still not as gut-churning as, say, The Thing. It's not goopy or slimey, for one. Which seems a minor thing, but certainly makes a difference.<br />
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In conclusion, I think this is an extremely good adaptation, and it's great to see Richard Stanley charging back with a really solid film. And even those who really don't like gore or grossness can enjoy it.Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-86064277629654400532019-10-18T21:30:00.003-05:002019-10-18T21:30:57.260-05:00JokerWell. This was a movie.<br />
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I watched Joker earlier today and I'm still kind of processing what I saw. It's something of a difficult thing to work through. Because of that, and because of the structure, it's almost impossible to review this movie without spoilers. But, briefly, a spoiler-free review first:<br />
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This is a heartbreaking character study of a man on the edge falling over. Much has been written about how it's drawing from <b>King of Comedy</b> or <b>Taxi Driver</b>, but the movie I kept thinking of was <b>Falling Down</b>. However you slice it though, this is a very uncomfortable movie to watch, but it's just breathtaking and amazing. The other movie I kept thinking of was <b>Requiem For a Dream</b>. Yeah, this movie is a bit of a gut-punch. It's very, very good, but it's a tough sit at times. You've been warned. This also isn't so much a comic book movie as a psychological horror movie.<br />
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Now for more depth. Spoilers ahead and sprinkled throughout.<br />
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Right from the opening, you know you're in for a strange ride. Literally. Before the movie really even starts, we get the old Warner Bros. icon and it opens like a movie from the 80s. Which is fitting as it's set there. Also, after our opening scene setting the stage -- including a garbage strike that just hovers over the whole movie, almost reminiscent of the game <b>Dishonored</b> -- we get the title of the movie, just in massive block letters, almost filling the screen; almost like the horrorshow that was <b>Funny Games</b>.<br />
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The movie continues just cataloguing all the horribleness of Arthur's life. Little bits and flashes of things maybe, possibly, going well only for the rug to be yanked out from under him. We see his visit to his state mandated psychologist, his crummy job, his invalid mother, and how easy he slips in and out of fantasy. We also see that Arthur smokes. A lot. Something I haven't seen anyone touch on is the smoking. I think it's more than just Hollywood coding that he's a bad person because smoking. We know that he has mental issues (more on that in a minute), we know that he's on medication, and he clearly thinks the meds aren't especially effective as he asks for an increased dose (only to be told that he's on 7, and that should be enough). Regardless, the point is, <i>he's self-medicating because the meds really aren't working.</i> It didn't fully click for me until the end, but I think that's something they were going for. And I hope that's the case, because it's one of the few really subtle things in the movie, sadly.<br />
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Speaking of Arthur's mental issues, the movie seems unsure if it's because he was born with an imbalance because of his similarly unbalanced mother, or because of the brain trauma he received as a kid. His uncontrollable laughter (which is a very real disorder: pseudobulbar affect) is very likely because of the trauma, but the movie is vague about the rest. Further, giving the Joker PBA somewhat grounds him and makes for some horribly uncomfortable, almost heartbreaking, scenes. I don't do well with movies that lean heavily on uncomfortable situations (<b>Meet The Parents</b> was slow torture for me), but this movie wields those scenes like a scalpel. I don't think anyone can watch his attempts at standup without squirming. Personally, I had to close my eyes and cover my ears for that scene, it was that bad. And then we get callbacks to it later in the movie. It's like a knife to the gut, and it's very well done.<br />
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Less well done is the resolution to the whole... situation... with Sophie, his girlfriend. Or, "girlfriend". So, there's plenty of hints that this might be part of his fantasy life as them being together makes very little sense in how Actual People Actually Act, especially considering how he bombed at the comedy club. The film outright confirms it in a very good scene as the film is charging towards its climax. After Arthur has pretty much completely snapped and been subsumed by the Joker, he walks down the hall to Sophie's apartment and lets himself in. She sees him in her living room, looking shocked to see him, asking why he's there and saying something like "You... you're from down the hall, right? Um... Arthur was it?" Great, good. We know she wasn't really his girlfriend. But then the movie has to be completely explicit by flashing back to the scenes with them together and having her fade out of each one. Nicely shot, but completely unnecessary. We already understood movie. She was a minor character, not Tyler Durden.<br />
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Although, I didn't think about it until now, but do you think he killed her? I don't, but...<br />
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After that scene, we plow headlong into the climax which is both incredibly powerful, but also somewhat mishandled. On the one hand, we have Joker saying that he's apolitical, and has no opinion on the rage that's building in the city. The social unrest that's building started with the garbage strike and catalyzed by his murders in the beginning of the movie. For all the handwringing of this being some kind of rallying point for INCELs or MGTOWs, it's really more dealing with class warfare and Occupy Wall Street than SJWs and cancel culture ruining things. Feel free to continue to ignore the stupid clickbait articles written by people that clearly haven't seen it (also, ignore the pearl-clutching about Gary Glitter and the use of Rock n Roll Part 2: he's not getting any royalties). That said, despite him claiming to have no interest in the politics of what's going on, he gives a long speech when he's on the Tonight Show stand-in about just that sort of thing. About what's socially acceptable and what isn't, what's humor and what isn't, and the horrible way the mentally ill are treated. Hell, he's yelling his political thesis when he shoots Robert De Niro's Murray Franklin in the face. Make up your mind, movie. Yes, he's insane, but it just feels like the screenwriter lecturing through his character. It doesn't ruin the movie, but it's not well placed. It's not a bad speech, it just feels unearned.<br />
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This is the spark that's needed to start a full-on riot, sending the city into eat-the-rich chaos. It also adds a completely unnecessary scene of Bruce Wayne's parents getting killed (was that a studio mandate? It felt completely out of place) and then... he's in Arkham.<br />
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Was the whole thing a delusion? Was he just arrested again off camera? Was he never released (his earlier conversations with his case worker imply that he was institutionalized at some point).?<br />
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Honestly, the idea of it all being a delusion is kind of interesting. Perhaps he was just unstable and went full on psychotic because of events that never actually happened. This movie is clearly inspired by <b>The Killing Joke</b>, and the idea that he sort of drove himself completely insane is intriguing. But I'm probably reading too much into things.<br />
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This is a helluva movie. I'm not sure it's one I could watch again, but at the same time, I'm glad I watched it. It's a very difficult movie to watch. Joaquin Phoenix is absolutely brilliant and effortlessly carries the movie on his frightfully thin back. Honestly, I almost wish this movie was just a character story and wasn't tied to the Joker at all. It really works just fine as an exploration of one man's descent into psychosis and all the Batman stuff (limited as it is) feels superfluous.<br />
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A tough film to watch, a tough film to review, a chilling, horrifying, unflinching film. Worth watching if you're willing to brave it.Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-52385444935092884902018-08-14T10:00:00.000-05:002018-08-14T10:00:01.566-05:00Thirty Years OnBack in the hoary days of 1985, a game was released that was, originally, designed to be a Wizardry-killer, it quickly turned into a mammoth beast in its own right, even if it didn't have nearly as many sequels. This game is, of course, Tales of the Unknown: The Bard's Tale. Over the years, it spawned two sequels, a spin-off, and recently, a successfully crowd-funded fourth entry.<br />
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But we're not here to talk about that.<br />
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We're here to talk... Remaster!<br />
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The Bard's Tale remasters have had a bit of a rocky life. Originally, they were going to be <a href="https://youtu.be/HXRD-8JH-Rc" target="_blank">a bonus provided by Olde Skuul games</a>, but the project languished. As a beta tester of those builds, I could see the promise, even if the project was slow. But as the gaps between builds grew and grew, you got the feeling that it wasn't going to happen.<br />
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Then, out of the blue, some oblique messages hinting at things from inXile. After quite a bit of curiosity and wondering, I had in my hands the very first beta build of The Bard's Tale Trilogy by Krome studios. I was stunned. The amount of work they had already done was amazing and their goals and intentions were about as perfect a match to my own as possible.<br />
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So now, after months of work (more on their part than mine), we've crawled our way to a release build and it's finally going live. And I couldn't be more excited.<br />
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The game looks gorgeous, runs smooth, and has many quality of life improvements that modern computers allow for. Even small things like spelling out the class name instead of a two character abbreviation, or tooltips to explain what icons mean and what various spells do.<br />
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There's changes that might be controversial too, like removing the Special Slot for monsters, adding ranges, or party gold. But there's good news on that front too: this is the release build, not the final build. Right now, we've got the first Bard's Tale, but 2 and 3 are coming, as is Legacy Mode.<br />
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Legacy Mode is the version for all us crotchety old players, the mode that most closely mirrors my personal philosophy on Remasters: Pretty up the graphics, pretty up the sounds and music, make it run natively (instead of through a wrapped or hidden emulator), fix the bugs, leave the rest alone. The Legacy Mode will give us that, or near to it as possible.<br />
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That said, even though I think I prefer the Legacy Mode, firing up the new version for<a href="https://youtu.be/smrlFPSo3iU" target="_blank"> my video first look</a>, I find the changes really aren't that bad. They really are, for the most part, minor. And they really do make the game flow a bit better, a bit easier. Don't get me wrong, the game is still a bloody meat grinder that chew up your party as a light snack, but at least you won't be fighting the UI while it happens.<br />
<br />Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-10236687220147740642017-12-30T15:37:00.001-06:002017-12-30T15:37:22.046-06:00Star Wars: The Last JediYeah, I decided to skip the cute title.<br />
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So, I saw the new Star Wars movie, and like everyone else on the internet, I happen to Have Opinions about it. I'll keep things spoiler-free up front and then move on to specific spoiler stuff later. The very brief review is: I liked it. I'm not entirely sure where it fits on the list of movies, it'll probably land squarely at 4th. It's not as good as original trilogy, but it's better than the prequels, better than Force Awakens, and certainly better than Rogue One. So... yeah, I guess it's fourth.<br />
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No, I'm being serious here. I think much of the hate is more fan anger than anything. It did things differently, so it's bad. I think it's fair to remember that not all reviews of Empire Strikes Back were especially glowing at the time. I think time will tell here and it'll settle into its place. The zeitgeist for Force Awakens seems to have downgraded its quality and appeal, and I think time will elevate Last Jedi.<br />
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For one, I believe that Last Jedi has done a better job echoing its predecessors. In Force Awakens, it felt more like a weird remake of A New Hope. On a bad day, you could say it cynically aped A New Hope to try and cash in on fans' dissatisfaction with the prequel movies. In Last Jedi, it feels more organic, more honest. Instead of copying or "homage", it feels more like a motif; the more things change, the more they stay the same. Hell, they all but directly say that at one point, but I'll leave that for the spoilers.<br />
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But it's not all sunshine and roses here. The movie is too long. Way too long. Frankly, there's an entire scene that could have been completely excised with absolutely no impact on the plot that would, conveniently, also cut about 30 minutes from the movie. Unfortunately, it would also remove the only thing two characters have to do, and it would also eliminate a hamfisted message about war profiteering (or capitalism in general if you're feeling salty).<br />
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The other major problem is bathos. Bathos is something we all know about, but I only recently learned the actual name for it. While it has a few definitions, but the one we care about here is where you undercut a dramatic moment by making a jokey-joke. You ruin your dramatic build up, you dispel any tension, and you demonstrate that you have no confidence in your material. In some movies it fits. It's fine in Guardians of the Galaxy, because those are comedies with sci-fi action in them. In Star Wars? Not so much. Just imagine the scene in Empire where Luke is below Cloud City, his hand has just been cut off. Vader leans in...<br />
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"Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father."<br />
"He told me enough! He told me you killed him!"<br />
"No. I am your father."<br />
"Well, thank the Force I got my looks from mom!"<br />
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Personally, I blame Joss Whedon. He started this nonsense in his Buffy show and it's just been a long, slow slide ever since. Regardless, that's irrelevant to my central point. Comedy is fine. Light-hearted moments are fine. Han Solo on the Death Star is basically one joke after another; "We're all fine here, everything's fine. How are you? <blam> Boring conversation anyway." But he wasn't saying, "Saves on funeral costs!" when Obi-Wan sacrificed himself. No jokes about Vogons when Alderaan was destroyed. The jokes were in the appropriate place.</blam><br />
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So... at this point... I think I'm going to get into spoilers. Ahem, I mean...<br />
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I think I'll continue with the bathos, but giving specific examples here. There were many examples of really bad jokes undercutting drama, but the worst was towards the end. Luke has finally returned and is meeting with Leia before walking out to what will likely be his death. He sits with the sister he hasn't seen in twenty or thirty years since his self-imposed exile. She smiles sadly at him, saying, "I know what you're going to say... I changed my hair." Who talks like this? Who does this? Who thought that was in any way appropriate? It's not a funny joke. It completely takes you out of the movie. It's a wink at the audience. "Whew! We almost got serious for a minute, there, but don't worry, everything's okay, folks!"</div>
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Again, jokes are fine. Rey's comment to Luke about the Force being "making people do what you want and... lifting things" is fine. It's kind of a lame joke, but it's also in character. It's pretty much all she's seen of the Force. The ending call back where she mutters, "lifting rocks" is also fine. It's amusing and it kinda fits. Her training specifically told her that the Force wasn't about lifting rocks and yet... here she was. Lifting rocks. A nice payoff.</div>
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But new hair? No. Stop it. Bad writer.</div>
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Speaking of callbacks, the circling back to previous movies were (mostly) well done. Aping Empire with the last stand wasn't very good (even though the red salt made for a neat visual), but other times were very well done. The previously mentioned part with Luke going out to meet Kylo was Obi-Wan meeting Vader playing out all over again (albeit with more sfx). In fact, you get the feeling that Luke has made this connection as well, even before he all but quotes Obi-Wan at the end of the fight.</div>
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Likewise, earlier in the film, the scene with Snoke, Kylo, and Rey is Return of the Jedi replaying all over again. The lone, not-fully-trained Jedi going to meet the ultimate evil while attempting to save the soul of the ultimate evil's enforcer with whom the Jedi has a link with. The cuffs, the final confrontation, the unexpected betrayal. It was remarkably well done. Again, much bigger special effects budget, but well done and felt more honest than, say, Starkiller Base in Force Awakens.</div>
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But let's deal with the elephant in the room. That casino scene. Oh boy. That's bad. It's almost hard to know where to start with this mess. I suppose we can start with the fact that it is completely superfluous. The whole point was to get a slicer to get onto Snoke's ship to disable the tracker to let the fleet escape. But they fail. They don't disable the tracker, the fleet doesn't get away, and the slicer betrayed them. I mean, I'm all in favor of Benicio Del Toro being in more movies, but I'm sure we could find a better way to use him.</div>
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So, aside from giving Benicio another chance to act rings around everyone anywhere near him, why do we have this casino scene? I have a few theories: 1) "We gotta give Finn something to do!" 2) "It'll show character development!" 3) "We gotta set up that kid at the end!" 4) "We just pointlessly introduced this Rose character and we gotta explain her falling in love with Finn."</div>
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"We gotta give Finn something to do!" Yeah, you probably do. And sure, I guess it was nice seeing Cpt. Phasma come back, but pointlessly Boba Fetting her didn't do anyone any favors. Part of the problem, honestly, is character bloat. In this movie, as major characters, we had Rey, Luke, Finn, Poe, Rose, Kylo, and Leia. That gives us seven characters and four major plotlines in this movie. Yes, Finn needed something to do, but this wasn't it. Again, had he never done it, the outcome of the chase would have been <i>exactly the same</i>, especially since escape wasn't the intention in the first place!</div>
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"It'll show character development!" Sort of? But did Finn develop much during that? Didn't he really just retrace his arc from Force Awakens? He was craven in Force Awakens and then found his courage. Why did we have to go through this again? The very first thing he does is try to jump ship. Maybe if we'd kept character development from the previous movie, we wouldn't have had to do this song and dance all over again.</div>
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"We gotta set up that kid in the end." No. No you do not. In fact, not setting him up might have worked better. The scene would have worked just fine if all we saw was him walking out the door, Force-grabbing the broom and so on during the voice over. Show that yearning to be free spreads across the galaxy, not just to those who have a direct encounter with members of the Resis^H^H^H^H^HRebellion. Let him watch a double sunset and you could have shades of Luke in A New Hope.</div>
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"We just pointlessly introduced this Rose character..." Oh man, Rose is just a whole bag of wrong. Being the sister of the bombardier in the beginning? That's good.</div>
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Hold on, an aside that I've gotta go on. What is wrong with the First Order if a single fighter can completely destroy a Dreadnaught's point defense system leaving it completely helpless against the payload of a single bomber. Furthermore, why that massive flat area with a huge "kill me zone" in the middle? How on earth are they "fleet killers"? And if they are, then most any loss would be worth it. And why in the world did the bombers arm so early? And if the loss of a single bomber could effectively destroy <i>the whole wing</i> via chain reaction, why the hell are they in such a tight formation? I can handle bombs <i>falling</i> in <i>space</i> (at least B-Wings were more like missile-boats in that the bombs were guided and powered as opposed to dropped), but just about everything else in that scene makes very little sense the more you think about things. I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it. That scene was just chock full of fridge logic.<br />
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<i>Anyway</i>, back on topic. Rose would have been fine as a side character. As a central character, she was awfully lacking. In many ways, her nameless, dead sister had a deeper character than she did, largely because she was just, "the dead bombardier's sister". Sure, she was, apparently, good at her job, and dedicated to the cause, but not much else. Furthermore, she's a pretty disturbing voice for mindless obedience.<br />
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Okay, let me unpack that: during much of the movie, Poe is the hotheaded pilot (in Force Awakens he was cocky, but not a headstrong lunatic). He makes rash decisions that are dangerous, risky, and often fatal. Towards the end, with the, sigh, "battering ram gun", he becomes the voice of reason, having been taught humility by the whole casino debacle (which could have been entirely avoided had the Vice-Admiral not been Hellbent for mystery and just <i>told him the plan, especially after he said she was going to kill everyone</i>). He realizes that, sometimes, personal heroics aren't the best for the greater good. Thus, he tells everyone to break off the attack when it's looking to be an abject failure.<br />
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Finn, however, wasn't around for that lesson, so he decides to suicide the gun. This is actually in character for him and his arc. He's been exceptionally selfish for two films and has finally come to the point where he's willing to give everything to the cause, even if that means dying. He's willing to lay down his life to save everyone he cares about. It's a noble idea, and seeing him flying into the beam, his ship falling apart around him, seeing the determination on his face, and seeing that he was at peace with himself and his place in the world, was one of the points in the movie that gave me chills. It was wonderfully done. It was great.<br />
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And then Rose slams into him, almost killing them both to save his life. Apparently, you're only allowed a noble death (ie: her sister) when Those In Charge order you to do so (ie: Poe). But since the authority said not to, a heroic sacrifice is not allowed. Nevermind the fact that the gun was about to fire, destroying the blast door. Nevermind the fact that they still believed there was no back door. Nevermind the fact that they didn't know that Luke was about to show up and be Captain Badass. Nevermind the fact that <i>she almost killed them both</i>. No. The heroic sacrifice is bad because they were ordered to peel off.<br />
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Oh, and nevermind the fact that they just might be killed going back to the base, or the fact that while they were laying there in the salt, one of those goofy ass walkers could have blasted them into ash. Just... just absolutely awful. Rose kept Finn from running away (which he shouldn't have been doing in the first place, as mentioned above), then she became his tour guide in the casino for... reasons. Then she almost killed him and herself keeping him from... potentially saving the life of the remaining rebellion. Good job, Rose.<br />
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What a worthless character.<br />
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So, as mentioned above, the only reason Poe hatched this stupid plan that involved the casino (which, apparently, was quite close, since they had less than a day, round trip) because he didn't know about the abandoned rebel base. He didn't know that the plan was to use the cruiser as a stalking horse for the transports. So once again, we have an entire subplot solely because people won't just explain things. Perhaps operational security would have prevented it at first, but when he's <i>starting a mutiny</i>, perhaps an explanation is in order, hmm?<br />
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And speaking of this whole tracing thing. It's never well explained. We know that Snoke's ship is doing it, but I really don't understand how. And why they couldn't block it from the ship. And while we're at it, what's with the cloaked transports? Is cloaking technology been micronized at some point between A New Hope and now? After all, "no ship that small has a cloaking device!" And once the transports are discovered, how are they being shot? The cruiser was out of range, but they weren't? The movie doesn't do a good job giving us the geography of that section of space.<br />
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Wow. Looking over all of that, it seems like I really didn't like this movie. But I did. It felt like Star Wars. I like the echoes of the earlier films (for another, the Dark Place on the island was very similar to the Dark Place on Dagobah). I like the stupid physics in space: the shots from the capital ships <i>arced</i> in flight like artillery. I loved the reveal of Rey's parents. I liked the additional emphasis on the mysticism of the Force in the movie. I really did enjoy it, and my serious problems were largely about a few small things. Eliminate the entire casino scene and most of my complaints (undoing Finn's development, Rose's idiocy, movie length, the Poe/Vice-Admiral nonsense) will likewise evaporate.<br />
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So it's a good movie heavily marred by one really bad idea. And considering where in the film the casino is, it's fresh in your mind when you leave the theater. Excise the casino, dial back the bathos, and make the dreadnaughts make sense, and you'd have a fantastic movie. As it is, you just have a pretty darn good one.<br />
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But who knows? Maybe some of the shine will come off on a second viewing. Or maybe I'll see the brilliance of the casino. But I doubt it.</div>
Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-55535562158047427562017-08-14T07:30:00.000-05:002017-08-14T07:30:01.823-05:00Five Sides of the Same CoinSome random shower thoughts about the current situation that we're... enjoying.<br />
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Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are both symptoms of the same problem going on the country. I mean, seriously, the 2016 election was nearly a contest between an orange-faced blowhard and an 800 year old socialist muppet. In fact, the only reason that wasn't the case was because of side three of our coin: Jimmy Carter.<br />
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Carter was likewise a manifestation of a mad electorate. The DNC didn't much care for that, so they changed their rules, which is why the DNC has so many super delegates. Were it not for that change, it's very likely that Sanders would have won the nomination. The Republican party, largely being free of super delegates, didn't have a party-boss panic button to prevent him from taking the nomination.<br />
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The other two sides are, broadly, the Alt.Right (which I'm using as a blanket term here to include the self identifying Alt.Right as well as the Alt.Light, Alt.White, and various other hard right/nationalist groups) and, broadly, Antifa (being used here to reference various Black Bloc, violent hard left protest groups). For what it's worth, I'm <i>not</i> including groups like Black Lives Matter in this discussion; they're just a run of the mill Marxist front group that's been around forever.<br />
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So what on earth do Trump, Carter, Sanders, Alt.Right, and Antifa all have in common? I'm glad you asked, and the answer is pretty simple: people are furious with the political class, the media, the elites, the establishment; whatever you want to call it.<br />
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The real problem here is that people are mad as Hell and they aren't taking it any more. You'd think Trump and Sanders would be a wake-up call, but it hasn't been. When faced with a furious electorate who was sick of being ignored and condescended to, the politicians and media responded by... ignoring and condescending.<br />
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So now we have riots in the streets.<br />
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I think we're facing a sea change here. 2018 may very well be a metaphorical bloodbath for sitting politicians. The problem is, this may not be a good thing. The current political class are horribly ineffectual, milquetoast, and mostly just concerned with hording their own power. I'm not sure replacing them with lunatic firebrands will be an improvement. <br />
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Of course, the current environment of war in the streets isn't particularly good either. All this stuff just has me re-reading <a href="https://status451.com/2017/07/11/radical-book-club-the-decentralized-left/" target="_blank">this fantastic (and long) post</a> and shaking my head at how everyone just wants to jam the gas pedal down harder.Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-36043821316851872912017-03-05T14:59:00.001-06:002017-03-05T14:59:21.191-06:00Rolling With the Tides<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSS_VfH5zmSw9b4UFKCcOQ494JUYzXRK1hAoN1Uzjxr6E0D1fLohGq66-svkibGwbJ9oE9GUJukivDGZ6Z9q2tRA26SZs8DEpZNYMP6xdxgFwD9L9IjHeEZo9PpBruZ-R2x1xcwVvM1nVm/s1600/TormentToNcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSS_VfH5zmSw9b4UFKCcOQ494JUYzXRK1hAoN1Uzjxr6E0D1fLohGq66-svkibGwbJ9oE9GUJukivDGZ6Z9q2tRA26SZs8DEpZNYMP6xdxgFwD9L9IjHeEZo9PpBruZ-R2x1xcwVvM1nVm/s200/TormentToNcover.jpg" width="138" /></a></div>
So, I've logged about three or so hours in Torment: Tides of Numenera, so I figured that's enough to present a review. That's how this works, right?<br />
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More seriously, this is the kind of thing you don't want to spoil, so reviewing early seems reasonable. I can't really spoil anything because I don't know much of anything yet anyway.<br />
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The fact that I'm caring about spoilers should say something. Normally, I don't care, but this is one of those times where it feels like it matters. Not necessarily for the plot, but because of the <i>setting</i>.<br />
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Yes, the setting. Numenera is a weird place. It's a bajillion years in the future, in the so-called "Ninth World". Each "world" is like an era of mankind. Mankind rises and then falls and then a new "world" happens. From our 21st century perspective, we might be on the second or third world now, right? Fall of Rome, World Wars one and two? Something like that? Nope. We may not even be the first world yet. <br />
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Yeah, we're talking huge gulfs of time here.<br />
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Consequently, the world is very weird. Not surrealistic by any stretch of the imagination, but certainly weird. Odd. Off kilter. Not quite right. As I play the game, I feel like an intruder. Everything is weird and different, but somehow not quite to the "weird for weirdness's sake" that happens a lot. Sure, there's some of that, but that's also part of the world. Just weird crap floating around being weird. The regulars just ignore it.<br />
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So this leaves us with a fascinating world to explore. And the more I explore, the more I realize I have no idea what's going on. I say something to a merchant and my Silver Tide increases "a tiny amount". What does that mean? I'm not entirely sure. I know it's the game's version of a morality system, but that's it. I don't even know if I can see my tides on my character sheet. I could probably learn that by reading the manual, but I think that hurts things in this case.<br />
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I <i>like</i> that I have no idea what's going on and that I'm walking around gawping like a tourist. Now, the game isn't as heartless as, say, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_%28video_game%29" target="_blank">Hacker</a> which just threw you in with nothing more than "Login please". There's little tutorial things and popups explaining most of the basic mechanics and UI elements. The rest? The rest is discovered through dialog. Lots and lots and lots and lots of dialog.<br />
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F'instance, I spent close to twenty minutes the other night, chatting with a nice fellow called "The Genocide". It took me close to twenty minutes to explore all of what he had to say -- without exploring if repeated questions gave new information, mind you, because that's a thing here, too -- before finally wishing him a good day. As near as I can tell, he's not a recruitable NPC. He doesn't appear to tie into any quest. His information hasn't been a secret to any puzzle. He's just some dude they put in the game and then devoted a few thousand words to. Just. Some. Dude.<br />
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Which leads us to the caveat section of the review: this is a wordy game. In those three or so hours that I've played, I've had two combats. The first a tutorial in how combat works and the second a fight I ended five seconds in by talking to the main bad guy and convincing him to leave. There's no scrub "kill ten rats" stuff here. This isn't a game about combat, which you really, really, <i>really, <b>really, REALLY</b></i> need to keep in mind. I've seen people complaining about the lack of combat, but combat was never, ever, intended to be a major portion of this game. Buying this for the combat is like buying a moped for the acceleration and protection from rollovers. Frankly, this is more like an adventure game with RPG elements than anything.<br />
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That said, I've really been enjoying myself. It's peering through the looking glass, but everything there is certainly interesting. I don't know how much I particularly care about the Last Castoff and his problems and issues, but I'm certainly enjoying exploring the world I've been given. It's a strange, strange world, but so far, I'm really enjoying it.Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-58042527475015769022016-05-03T16:59:00.001-05:002016-05-03T16:59:12.513-05:00Please Don't Tell...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm a sucker for superhero books. Not, like, DC or Marvel, mind, but the kind of weird superhero book of oddball characters. Like, say, <a href="http://www.tindalos.com/2014/08/one-well-two-more-superhero-books.html" target="_blank">girls who animate plushies</a>, or a <a href="http://www.tindalos.com/2014/08/superheroing-on-budget.html" target="_blank">supervillain who can't get it right</a>, or even the considerably darker <u>Soon I Will Be Invincible</u>. Hell, the pulp noir of Larry Correia's Grimnoir Chronicles scratches the same itch.<br />
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I've found that books like these are wellsprings of creativity. In Velveteen, McGuire was able to explore the idea of what would happen to society if super powers existed (and the political ramifications thereof) while having fun creating ridiculous power sets. Bernheimer's D-List series is a little less serious and has more fun with power sets, but it still deals with how the government would react, especially in the third book. Grossman's Invincible was far more cynical in its dissection of the superheroing world. Regardless, I love all these books for different reasons and in different ways. Needless to say, when <a href="https://curiosityquills.com/" target="_blank">Curiosity Quills</a> sent me a notification that <u>Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Super Villain</u> was available for free on Kindle, I all but tripped over myself making sure I snagged a copy.<br />
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And then I bought and read <u>Please Don't Tell My Parents I Blew Up The Moon</u> and <u>Please Don't Tell My Parents I Have Henchmen</u>. Yes, I can be a little obsessed with this weird little genre.<br />
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These novels tell the story of Penelope Akk (they're all first person), the thirteen year old daughter of two retired superheroes. Her father, Brian, is a technological genius who can make, modify, and repair almost anything, while her mother claims to have no powers, she just understands statistics to a frightening degree. The best way to describe Beebe "The Audit" would be to imagine the Grammaton Clerics from Equilibrium, and then imagine someone who makes them look like a bunch of rank amateurs. In the Please Don't world, The Audit was one of the most feared heroes.<br />
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The novel starts when Penny learns her powers are developing and things kind of snowball from there, especially since she's a far better fit for Mad Science (a villainous route) than super science. The distinctions aren't too clear, but Penny's power seems to involve a lot more cackling and mad laughter than is strictly heroic. The books largely follow the exploits of Penny and her two friends Rey and Claire and their exploits as The Inscrutable Machine, a frightfully efficient and effective supervillain team.<br />
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The world building here is very nice, and opens up at a nice pace. In this universe, the supers seem to be largely self regulating. There are certain agreed upon rules between heroes and villains, and breaking those rules (such as "getting personal": the super version of doxxing, essentially) is a great way to get <i>everyone</i> to come down like a ton of bricks. The lines between hero and villain are also much more malleable; Claire's mother, "The Minx", started as a cat burglar before turning hero while active... person... Lucyfar switches between hero and villain as her whims dictate.<br />
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There is also a very wide range of powers, although there's a <i>lot</i> of mad science. It could just be that Penny focuses on it, but I think it's a grouping issue. There's also a lot of matter manipulators, but they're not categorized as such. Psychic powers and mad science are the only ones that are name checked like that. That said, it's also less centralized than Velveteen's highly structured power system. It's more... grab bag. This leads to a lot of fun, like the girl with control over hair beads, or The Librarian who is just what she sounds like, and she has complete, reality shaping control, over the library she's at.<br />
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So, yes, as I'm sure is quite apparent, I really enjoyed these books.<br />
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I was a little hesitant in getting the second or third book due to the reviews I read on Amazon. While they are certainly not as good as the first (and the years gap between 1 and 2 followed by months between 2 and 3 is worrisome), they're still quite solid, and I think the complaints are overblown. At times, Moon certainly feels like a book that, in the outline stage, was intended to be something different and was retroactively reworked into its current form, I don't think that's what happened. Also, Henchmen certainly has issues with an explosion of characters (also, Richard? You need to pick names that don't start with C. The two Claires was fine and amusing, but when you start having Cadence and Cassie and Claire and Cassandra and so on, it gets hard to keep people straight), I was mostly okay with it, especially because it expanded the world.<br />
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I think my biggest complaint is that there's a bit too much in here that's unexplained. Some of it is probably intended for further reveal (like what the hell happened with Marcia), but other stuff feels like he played with it and then dropped it, and we're left blinking in confusion. What's with the Puppeteers? What the hell was that with the Jovians? Anyone want to explain the colonists, anyone? What about that cursed statue (or the cursed book)? How was a half-height robot supposed to fool anyone? Some of these are probably because of the first person perspective, but little things like that tend to fester and become really annoying if not addressed.<br />
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Still, these issues are minor. I really enjoyed these books and would be more than willing to plunk down full price for a fourth book. It's a really fun universe, and Penny is a great character. If you're even vaguely a fan of the superhero genre, check it out.Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-69410284217557679392016-01-30T16:17:00.002-06:002016-01-30T16:18:35.717-06:00Welcome, Tenno<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_vZhbw8kMYBUik1gse-Tohjr2I_28jIWfLmlhoMCB_91F2nlooPO8_DJwvr3vY9tYEZmvEU7O5rzdCFJFRqCBipJ3t-dwmCt7GaK-CIpmDK9aVWN5cW21AQ-Qrk_Gcgn_frIU7o74xM_/s1600/Loki_Wallpaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_vZhbw8kMYBUik1gse-Tohjr2I_28jIWfLmlhoMCB_91F2nlooPO8_DJwvr3vY9tYEZmvEU7O5rzdCFJFRqCBipJ3t-dwmCt7GaK-CIpmDK9aVWN5cW21AQ-Qrk_Gcgn_frIU7o74xM_/s320/Loki_Wallpaper.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Having let my Final Fantasy 14 subscription lapse, and seeing as how I've got about 3 months of Pool of Radiance videos left to be posted, I've been whiling away my life playing Digital Extremes' free to play MMO Warframe. You may not have heard of Digital Extremes, but they're responsible for one of the forgotten gems of gaming: the ridiculously fantastic Dark Sector. While I'm at it, Dark Sector is also available on Steam, and you should probably buy it. It's an over-the-shoulder shooter type game. You can upgrade weapons and kill horrible mutants in it. I haven't played my copy in a long time, but it's a really fun game. Oh, and there's another reason you should play Dark Sector: your primary weapon is a <i>glaive</i>. Just like Corwin in Krull. Except that, unlike Corwin, you actually use the damn thing. Sure, it's slowly killing you and turning you into some kind of horrible mutant, but still. Come on man. Glaive.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAIXZMNfRGysWk-_5piM40LGduOAfDAYrn-Z2ijIhiPqmI6HQbL8KsOj8g_hfD_JvtSEgI6NdvtlNRp-fszY8-eLO746o4CG8u750m2ptJVl4xAjfT6K3ds1Arnq8U5FDSWo62IxdAdovo/s1600/glaive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAIXZMNfRGysWk-_5piM40LGduOAfDAYrn-Z2ijIhiPqmI6HQbL8KsOj8g_hfD_JvtSEgI6NdvtlNRp-fszY8-eLO746o4CG8u750m2ptJVl4xAjfT6K3ds1Arnq8U5FDSWo62IxdAdovo/s200/glaive.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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Anyway, we're not here for my rambling, I'm here to talk about Warframe.<br />
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Warframe takes place some time in the far future. There's plenty of lore that you can unlock and learn as you progress, and it's interesting, but I've only a passing familiarity with it. What comes across right at the outset is that you're a race known as the Tenno. Essentially, you're a space ninja. You're even wearing split toe shoes. You can even flip out and kill people with a sword. The game trucks along nicely, giving you plenty of options for gather materials and experience (er, "affinity") while also giving you a questline to follow that unlocks more stuff for you to see and do. There's a nice balance between faffing about and nose-to-the-grindstone quest work.<br />
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As you progress through the game you unlock more planets to visit, more materials to gather, and more and tougher foes to fight. In keeping with their good pacing, many abilities and such things are hidden behind levels and progression. And I say hidden, not locked. Many of these things you won't even know are possible or exist until they're unlocked. Effectively, this helps you avoid information overload, as opposed to, say Path of Exile (which I like, make no mistake), but that humungous map of abilities can be a little intimidating. The fact that you have a total of 4 powers also helps.<br />
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So speaking of powers, your powers are determined by the battle suit (the eponymous Warframe) you're wearing. When you start the game, you can pick between three basic Warframes and you go from there. There's dozens in the game, but I'll get to that in a minute. So, for instance, I started with the Mag Warframe. Unsurprisingly, the Mag frame deals with magnetism. The four powers it has are: Pull, Shield Boost, Bullet Attractor, and Crush. So, you can pull enemies to you (hurting and <i>as a player</i> is very different than mastering it numerically in game. In other words, it's narrow but deep as opposed to wide and shallow.<br />
stunning them), power up your shields (or cause enemy shields to explode), make someone attract projectiles, and, well, crush foes in an area. There's plenty of strategy that goes along with this, and mastering a suit <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1adWk0ebMzhD-ekSAHJDBtk5lR26_vqJ31o77Pu0uK29XS90C98ow1I8zsReYJgKG_-Ul_NJsiZhMuWghrJHW0TEDfWO1UZQIUeON-dascXeDqeOhl-LgS4qnR7PF4HZpP7VW-yPqbPyS/s1600/mods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1adWk0ebMzhD-ekSAHJDBtk5lR26_vqJ31o77Pu0uK29XS90C98ow1I8zsReYJgKG_-Ul_NJsiZhMuWghrJHW0TEDfWO1UZQIUeON-dascXeDqeOhl-LgS4qnR7PF4HZpP7VW-yPqbPyS/s200/mods.jpg" width="200" /></a>In addition to your powers, you also have a melee weapon (sword, knife, axe, scythe, etc), a primary weapon (smg, sniper rifle, shotgun, etc), and a secondary weapon (mostly pistols). In addition to leveling up your Warframe, you can also increase your affinity to the weapons you use. Increasing that affinity lets you add more mods to the weapon. Mods can do any number of things from increased attack speed to increased ammo to increased penetration. It also allows for elemental attacks to be added to the weapons. Needless to say, this continues the "narrow but deep". Oh, and Warframes get mods too... For what it's worth, I'm only about 12 hours into this game, so this is just what I've found, experienced, and what little I've seen looking at the Wikia for the game.<br />
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Oh hey. Did I mention this was multiplayer? It is. You can prebuild a party of four with friends and wreck havoc, or use the game's automatic party builder. As long as the mission isn't complete, you can join a game in progress or have people join your game. For popular missions, this can be handy. Start up a game and ten seconds later, you'll go from solo to full party. Also, aside from a couple types of mission, there's not much a goofball can do to screw you up. Thus your cost of entry as it was, is quite low. It doesn't much matter if you're a bad player because you aren't likely going to be responsible for a TPK. And while we're at it, the community is quite friendly.<br />
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So this brings us to the elephant in the room: the game is Free To Play. Which means you're going to have two classes of player: those who pay and those who don't. Platinum, the premium currency is used for a variety of things to make life easier. Say you want a new sword. You can spend, say, 200 platinum and get the sword. Or, you can spend credits (the generic currency) to buy a blueprint and then gather materials and construction time (usually around 8-12 hours real time) to build the item. A premium sword and a blueprint sword are exactly the same aside from one being considerably faster to get than the other.<br />
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However, there's also a limit on how much stuff you can have. For instance, when you start playing, you have room for two Warframes. If you want more than two, you'll have to spend platinum to unlock more slots. If you're fine juggling just two slots, like if you're going to focus on just one Warframe or whatever, then you can use your starting platinum elsewhere. Most inventory slots are similarly limited. You appear to have unlimited room for blueprints, though, so you could get a bunch of weapons ready to go, and then cycle through them. On the plus side, platinum <i>can</i> be traded between players. Thus, if you find a rare item that you don't want, you could trade it to someone else for platinum and use it for whatever.<br />
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There's very little in the game that can <i>only</i> be acquired through platinum. Slots would be one thing, and aesthetic customizations are the other. For instance, you can add these translucent, ethereal-looking cape-like things for your Warframe. Those can only be bought with platinum, but they don't do anything at all except look pretty. I'm fine with that. If I want to make my gun jet black, I need to buy a color pack. But if I don't care what my gun looks like (I don't), I can just ignore that functionality.<br />
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In other words, while you can spend real money on the game, it is <i>not</i> a pay-to-win model. Someone could certainly drop hundreds of dollars on the game to unlock elite frames and sweet weapons, but that doesn't give them an advantage over a long-term, dedicated player who spent nothing. You'd have an advantage over a free newbie, but... well... that's not much to brag about, frankly. Furthermore, the really good weapons are XP locked, so it doesn't matter how much money you have, you can't get them out the gate anyway.<br />
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<b>Cutting to the teal deer chase</b>, Warframe is a surprisingly good game. It looks gorgeous, the gameplay is smooth, it's quick to learn while being slow to master. The difficulty curve is properly aligned. The plot is interesting without being too prominent so as to be annoying. It allows you to speed things up with real money without requiring it. And, most importantly, it's fun. If you're looking for a fun MMO but don't want to pay a monthly subscription, you should check out Warframe.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Crossposted from <a href="http://www.badideagaming.com/?p=590" target="_blank">Bad Idea Gaming</a>.</span> Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-67575422369284605762015-12-25T16:41:00.001-06:002015-12-25T16:41:57.283-06:00Yup. Star Wars.<i>Spoiler-free section:</i> <br />
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Yeah, so Star Wars came out a little while ago, and I finally got around to seeing it. Yes, it was only a week, with with all the hype and all the talk, it feels like I waited an eternity to see the thing. Needless to say, this was a Very Big Deal. But you knew that.<br />
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Frankly, that degree of hype is dangerous for anything, be it movie, television show, book, what have you. The greater the hype, the harder it is to avoid crushing disappointment. Even a good, or fantastic, or great movie can feel like a letdown if it doesn't reach the lofty goals expected of it. A friend of mine experienced that with Dark City. It didn't live up to what he was expecting, so we walked out of the theater with him feeling disappointed, even though it's an excellent movie. It truly is. You should go watch it, actually. Get the Director's Cut if you can. That doesn't have an opening voice-over full of titanic spoilers.<br />
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But, back on topic. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (henceforth TFA) actually manages to live up to its hype. And yes, I was hyped and looking forward to this. I was six when Return of the Jedi came out, and I have vivid memories of seeing it in the theater. Sure, it was the worst of the originals, but that's still going to have a huge impact to the mind and imagination of a six year old. Unsurprisingly, I became a huge Star Wars fan, and have remained a fan, even as I've grown old, bitter, and curmudgeonly.<br />
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That magic hope was still there when I spent two hours standing in the middle of a line-turned-mob as we waited for the re-release of A New Hope in 1997. That opening fanfare and text crawl sent a chill down my spine as I watched A New Hope on the big screen like it was meant to be. Sadly, the Special Edition was mostly just a bunch of worthless trash added to clutter a perfectly fine movie, but you take the memories you can get. It didn't quite reach the hype, but as a link to something I couldn't have witnessed, it was still magical. Not magical enough to wait in line forever for the Empire or Return re-release, but I still saw them in the theater.<br />
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Skip ahead a bit more and we have Phantom Menace. Again, my hopes were up. How could they not be? New Star Wars! And the trailers looked great! And... well... we know how that turned out.<br />
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So I waited a week for TFA. Now I kind of wish I hadn't. It was really that good. From the opening text crawl to the end. <i>This</i> is how you make a new Star Wars film, George. <i>This</i> is everything the prequels should have been. George Lucas may have invented Star Wars, but JJ Abrams clearly understands what it means to the fans more than Lucas does.<br />
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So, let's start with that text crawl, shall we? Unlike Phantom Menace which talked about trade negotiations and geopolitics (or whatever its galactic analog is), this crawl was brief and to the point: the Empire is gone and the evil whackjobs have formed the First Order. There's a new Republic and a Resistance against the Order. Luke's gone AWOL and everyone wants to know where he is. A hotshot pilot has a lead and is looking into it.<br />
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Boom. Done. There's your backstory. There's the really important events of the past 30 years. On with the story.<br />
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From there we... don't put the hammer down. Don't get me wrong, the movie moves and doesn't waste (much) time, but it isn't all balls-to-the-wall. It breathes when it needs to, and gives you character moments when it needs to in between the fantastic action set pieces. The movie does many, many things right. I think it might be easier to focus on the characters than scenes.<br />
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<b>Poe Dameron:</b> Poe, played by Oscar Isaac, spends half the movie "dead", but easily steals every scene he's in. He's the ace mentioned in the opening text crawl, and the movie doesn't leave it at that. It actually <i>shows</i> him being an ace pilot. He is clearly our replacement for Han Solo, and I think he's more than capable of filling that role. The character is engaging enough, and Oscar has more than enough charisma to make it work.<br />
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<b>Finn:</b> The black Stormtrooper that everyone was supposedly freaking out about despite the lack of any actual freakouts outside of the stormfront corridor. Anyway, he was played by John Boyega. He filled a strange role in this movie. In many ways, he was a minor character, despite being the central catalyst to every single thing in the movie. It's kind of a weird duality. All the Big Things are done by other people, but none of them could have happened without him. He's an interesting character, and I'd like to see where they go with him. He's one half of our new Luke-alike. He's the Luke from early A New Hope: the largely clueless kid who kicks events into motion. The other half of Luke, the force-using and proactive half is...<br />
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<b>Rey:</b> ...played by Daisy Ridley. She's also our designated Reluctant Hero. She's confident and capable without projecting an annoying degree of Sisters Doin' It For Themselves. She's human, in other words. She has concerns, worries, frustrations. She feels like a realized character instead of just an archetype. When she refuses to have anything to do with Luke's old lightsaber, I was actually surprised. She wasn't supposed to be <i>that</i> reluctant. And then, in the end, when she calls it to her in the fight against Kylo Ren, my breath caught in my throat. Seeing her catching the saber got a cheer from the audience. Hell, just writing about it <i>now</i> is giving me chills; it was that moving.<br />
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<b>Han and Leia and Chewy:</b> Hell, you know these three. Seeing Han and Chewie again was fantastic. Carrie Fisher, a little less so. But then, she was never as good as Harrison Ford. Still, it was nice to see them again and presumably their roles (especially Ford's, heh) will be much, much smaller in subsequent movies. This worked as a passing of the torch to the new group. Personally, I would like to see Leia becoming a sort of Mon Mothma-type role.<br />
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<b>General Hux and Lord Snoke:</b> Essentially, Grand Moff Tarkin (with shades of that bastard Vader force-choked) and the Emperor respectively, these two, played by Domhnall Gleeson and Andy "Freaking" Serkis, are our secondary villains. Yes, it's yet another mirror to A New Hope (one of the film's primary flaws, frankly), but it still works. Hux treats Rylo Ken like a subordinate; a dangerous and powerful subordinate, but a subordinate regardless. Meanwhile, Snoke seems to all but encourage this red in tooth and claw method of leadership. Snoke's clearly in charge, but he seems to quite enjoy his two secondaries being at each others throats. Dark Side. What'cha gonna do?<br />
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<b>Maz Kanata:</b> Yup, I'm going to mention the bug-eyed female replacement for Yoda. She's played (voiced?) by Lupita Nyong'o, who did a fantastic job of playing the wise old woman who, while she doesn't have the Force, has been around long enough to have acquired enough wisdom to be nearly as powerful mentally, if not physically. She's does, however, represent a bit of a plot hole; perhaps a plot dimple: Yoda was 960-some years old when he died, and was in pretty bad shape. Furthermore, it was strongly implied that only his connection to the Force allowed him to live that long, and perhaps that the Force was keeping him alive to specifically train Luke. Then along comes Maz who is quite sprightly despite having "lived for over a thousand years". Perhaps Han's exaggerating, but this could also be a case of topping what has come before (see also: Starkiller Base). Regardless, she was an enjoyable character and would like to see her come back for small (ahem) appearances in future movies.<br />
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<b>Rylo Ken:</b> Okay, finally this guy. There's been some complaining about Adam Driver and how he's kind of an emo kid with daddy issues, but I think that's missing the point entirely. I liked that he just looked like an angry twentysomething. It made him more human, and far more scary than Hayden Christiansen as Anakin. Revenge of the Sith Anakin had too much makeup making him look shadowed and dark. After all, the scariest monsters are the ones that don't look like monsters, but look like normal people. Also, his tantrums were nothing of the sort: they were a dramatic manifestation of the lack of control and flaring anger caused by the Dark Side of the force. As far as I'm concerned, those tantrums highlight what someone given to the Dark Side would act like. As the Emperor said in RotJ, "give in to your hate". He's outrageously powerful (witness him <i>stopping and holding</i> a blaster bolt in mid air), but has very little control of himself. Thus, when he's frustrated or angry, he lashes out and destroys whatever is around him because he can't do anything productive and is unable to master himself. It's very, very well done.<br />
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Despite what I said earlier, there's a couple scenes towards the end of the movie that I want to highlight and mention.<br />
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I mentioned the lightsaber scene earlier. It was one of the scenes that really moved me. It was brief, but it was so well shot and well done. Rylo reaching for his uncle's (and grandfather's) saber in the snow (shades of Empire), only to have it fly through the air, zoom <i>past</i> him and into Rey's hands. That was such a triumphant scene, and you could imagine the look of betrayal on his face, under his mask.<br />
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There are three other scenes, all wordless, that are triumphs of directing and acting: Leia slowly sinking into her chair as she feels Han's death, Leia and Rey hugging while everyone gives them space, and Rey meeting Luke for the first time. All three are done without any words being spoken, just letting the actors act; everything is done through facial expressions and body language. When Rey offers Luke his lightsaber, it's almost heartbreaking; I actually teared up a little. No wooden, inhuman dialog, no digital creatures, no unnecessary clutter. It truly shows the difference between Abrams and Lucas. Lucas may have been responsible for the seed, but Abrams made it flower.<br />
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One final thought, dealing with the end fight between Rylo, Finn and Rey. Some of the things simply shown were impressive. Rylo wasn't flipping around or doing crazy acrobatics: he was fighting efficiently and effectively. And cruelly; the part where he used the crossbar to dig into Finn's shoulder was a good touch, as was his contemptuous slice along Finn's back. Finn and Rey, for their part, held up better than they probably should have, but their fighting showed their utter lack of training, especially the lunging strikes they kept attempting. They weren't fencing masters, let alone good with a lightsaber. They were able to (mostly) hold their own, but their movements clearly demonstrated their lack of training compared to Rylo's. I also appreciated that the choreographer incorporated glancing wounds. When you're fighting with a laser sword, a glancing blow is still going to be quite painful and worrisome, as opposed to a nick from a steel blade. Also, nobody got their arm lopped off. Finally, that closing scene with the seriously wounded Rylo lying in the snow after his defeat, felt very much like Abrams using his film to show how the Anakin/Obi-wan fight in Revenge of the Sith should have gone. Instead of a 20 minute CGI rollercoaster, this was close, personal, and meaningful.<br />
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In closing, what I'm saying was is this movie was everything the prequels should have been. From personal acting, to a timeline that makes freaking sense (in 18 years, the Jedi went from the power behind the throne to ancient and forgotten... what?!), to dialog that feels natural despite the crazy in-universe lingo and jargon.<br />
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Perhaps it mirrored A New Hope a little too much, but I like to think that's because it was forming a bridge between the originals and this new series. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to the future films, and I hope they rise to the high watermark left by this film.Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-52095360087009185652015-12-04T15:41:00.000-06:002015-12-04T15:41:43.448-06:00Baby, It's Cold OutsideWith Christmastime swinging around again, I found myself listening to a radio station that was playing a version of Baby It's Cold Outside. As always, I started thinking about the song itself, the implications of the song, and the hostility towards the song from many people. Because I like hearing myself talk and seeing myself type, I figured I'd ramble on about it for a little while.<br />
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Over the years, I've come to the belief that there are three stages of listening to this song. Roughly, they are first thinking nothing of the song and either liking it or not on its merits as a song. I wager the majority of people are on the first stage. You may like the song or not, or may prefer certain versions over others, but it's basically just another Christmas song that you hear a million times, no more notable or memorable than Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow or Silver Bells.<br />
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The second stage is an active, often passionate, hatred of the song. This comes about when someone listens closely to the song (or reads/watches/hears from someone else who has) and views the song through modern understandings. It ceases to be a jaunty duet and transforms into That Date Rape Song. Frankly, with this interpretation, the active loathing is pretty understandable.<br />
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However, I think there's also a third stage. This is where the listener is more versed in social mores of 1940s America and more understanding of the mindset when the song was written. Then it ceases to be a song about date rape and becomes a coquettish play between two characters who very much want the same thing but are dancing around it and each other because the tease and the chase are half of the fun.<br />
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I'll admit that I spent a fair amount of time on stage two. I wasn't too active in my dislike, but that was more laziness and grim amusement than anything. It was largely a lark a few years ago that I started reading more about the song, because it seemed odd that such a vile song would be a Christmas standard.<br />
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That's when I discovered <a href="http://persephonemagazine.com/2010/12/listening-while-feminist-in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/" target="_blank">this essay from Persephone Magazine</a>. Frankly, it made a lot of sense. After reading that, I did a little more digging on the history of the song, mainly backing up her factual claims. With that information in mind, her analysis is pretty solid, especially in light of the fact that, when it was released, it was viewed as <i>empowering</i> because the female was throwing social mores to the wind by deciding to stay even though it would be scandalous.<br />
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Indeed, that's what much of the song <i>is</i>.<br />
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She doesn't want to leave because she wants to go home. She wants to leave because the neighbors might talk, or her mother would disapprove, or her father would be mad. A proper girl doesn't stay the night at a male's house, but she very clearly wants to.<br />
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I think part of the problem is that modern audiences have become quite sensitive and, paradoxically, while modern society is sexually liberated, it is exceedingly puritanical in many, many ways. In a world where people question if "constant and enthusiastic" affirmative consent is going far enough, I can see how this song would be misunderstood.<br />
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Which is kind of too bad. Setting aside its merits as a song, as that's a matter of taste, I think this represents a bit of... temporal jingoism, for lack of a better term. Other eras are hard enough to understand when you try to take them on their own merits. Trying to do so through a lens of modern sensibility is just madness. Sadly, I think the madness is a feature, not a bug. In many ways, earlier generations and eras weren't as enlightened as we are now. If you have no accomplishments of your own, at least you can look down your nose at the savages that came before, and maybe pull down some ancient monuments in a fit of pique.<br />
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Baby It's Cold Outside certainly isn't significant enough to be a kind of Chesterton's Gate, but that doesn't mean it deserves to be torn down by people who completely and utterly miss the point. I think the closing from the linked essay sums it up quite nicely:<br />
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<i>The song, which is a back and forth, closes with the two voices in
harmony. This is important — they’ve come together. They’re happy.
They’re in agreement. The music has a wonderfully dramatic upswell and
ends on a high note both literally and figuratively. The song ends with
the woman doing what she wants to do, not what she’s expected to do, and
there’s something very encouraging about that message.</i></blockquote>
I may, and likely do, disagree with Ms. Belle on just about everything political or social, but she and I can agree on this song.Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-71604131710000312632015-11-27T15:43:00.002-06:002015-12-04T14:44:25.537-06:00Leviathan Hit The Snooze<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYBcuh9hXS9G0eSE6WqEme1EnyIi-ZpCdzW3kclsUhHBCpZ7o-UQS1NLRGbWOjQf9YB98VQeyjNV_FTVcJ4OFNrOrzrZtnhrvJI4Xc-M7OmERHzWQ4IvPrcWt5TA7Z_VICMexYWbsD8QEc/s1600/The_Expanse_TV.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYBcuh9hXS9G0eSE6WqEme1EnyIi-ZpCdzW3kclsUhHBCpZ7o-UQS1NLRGbWOjQf9YB98VQeyjNV_FTVcJ4OFNrOrzrZtnhrvJI4Xc-M7OmERHzWQ4IvPrcWt5TA7Z_VICMexYWbsD8QEc/s320/The_Expanse_TV.png" width="320" /></a></div>
So, I watched that first Expanse episode (it's On Demand, it's own website, the SyFy site, YouTube, and probably a dozen other places).<br />
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In an of itself, it did its job: I want to watch the next episode. If you like reasonably hard sci-fi and you're not familiar with the books, you should definitely check it out. Ignore the idiots saying it's "Game of Thrones... IN SPACE!". It's not. For one, it doesn't have nearly enough rape to qualify. For another, it features actual human characters and doesn't feel like an author working out his extensive issues (and his frankly disturbing obsession with rape).<br />
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For fans of the book, it should still be enjoyable, unless you're extremely hardline with your expectations on adaptations, in which case you've probably never seen an adaptation you've liked.<br />
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So, there's been some changes. Some minor, some a little bigger, and some that I probably would catch if it hadn't been roughly 3 years since I read Leviathan Wakes. The two things that stand out:<br />
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1) Belter physiology. Some characters have the tall, lanky body, but they don't seem to have the big heads, and Naomi doesn't have the Belter body. I chalk this up to expense and not wanting the female lead to be a freaky looking Belter.<br />
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2) Thomas Jane is great, but I always picture Miller as looking more like... well... Columbo. He's too handsome for the role. Again, though, I understand the change.<br />
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Otherwise, I don't really have many complaints. I like the casting for Holden. I really liked the high-G burn scene with them strapping into their chairs, the neck supports, and the mouth guards. That whole scene worked really well for me, especially the juxtaposition of the ponderous, almost graceful exterior shots of the Canterbury turning and burning with the people in the ship all but being crushed by the g-forces.<br />
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I'm especially glad that they focused so much time and FX budget on that scene, because it's something that's regularly highlighted in the books. The authors frequently mention the effects of g-forces on the crews. They also don't ignore things like ship weapon ammunition, food, air, and water. Hell, in the second book, Holden and his crew are essentially living hand-to-mouth to keep their ship sufficiently stocked with food, air, and water. Furthermore, there's a couple times where they hope arming and aiming their weapons will be enough to get people to back down because railgun ammo and missiles are <i>expensive</i>.<br />
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There's also a scene in the show where the UN is torturing a Belter (who <i>has</i> the aforementioned Belter body) for information. They do this by... forcing him to stand up. On Earth. He's essentially slouched against a wall with a support under each armpit. But since he's lived his whole life in microgravity, the crushing effect of even 1G is slow torture. While the books didn't linger on things like torture, it <i>did</i> pay close attention to biology as well as physics. It's a nice touch.<br />
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And speaking of Belters, they got the slang. There's no subtitles, but they got the Belter slang down nicely, and naturally with people easing in and out of it. It feels very organic, and I hope they stick with it. I also hope they include Belter hand gestures (they nod with their hands since it's hard to see a head nod in a space helmet). Of course, they seem to have forgotten about Alex's accent. Perhaps they decided an East Indian-looking guy from Mars who talked with a Texas accent might be a bit much for viewers. Hopefully it comes out as he gets more lines.<br />
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So, while "Dulcinea" may have just been the first episode, and thus doing triple duty as an episode, a sorta pilot, and a series hook, I hope this means that they're keeping the crunchy aspects of the books. With only 40 minutes of show to go on, and with the bulk of it being used to just introduce the characters and the rules of the setting, I have to say that SyFy did a very good job. There will always be things to complain about, but if Naomi not being seven feet tall is my biggest gripe, then I think I'm going to really enjoy this show.<br />
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And I can't wait until they get to the second book so we can see Bobbie kicking ass and taking names.Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-50122280293767760412015-11-08T19:39:00.001-06:002015-12-04T14:44:13.546-06:00There's Something Under There<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'll admit, the Tremors series is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. The first is a pretty classic creature-feature and was a great little horror-comedy flick. I've always liked it.<br />
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They, unsurprisingly, got worse as the series went on. 2 was a serviceable direct-to-video sequel. 3 was not particularly good, but that might have just been me really disliking that they named the creature form "assblaster". It felt like they were trying too hard.<br />
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Tremors 4: The Legend Begins was an odd duck, but enjoyable in its own way. I think I liked it a little more than 3, if for no other reason than because it fleshed out the lore of the graboids and I can be a sucker for that kind of thing.<br />
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Which brings us to Tremors 5: Bloodlines. The fact that there are five of these movies kind of blows my mind, especially since it's been 11 years since 4 came out. And 25 since the first. Let that percolate a minute. This series has been around for 25 freaking years.<br />
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Anyway, Tremors 5, of course, has Michael Gross returning as Burt Gummer because this seems to be the only thing he does since Family Ties went off the air. Finally leaving the American southwest and northern Mexico, this movie sets most of its action in Africa, where Burt's been summoned to deal with a graboid invasion.<br />
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Along the way, there's the inevitable betrayal, unexpected deviations from graboid norms, big guns, bigger explosions, so on and so forth. Look, these movies aren't exactly breaking new ground here. They might reference Jurassic Park (and not how you'd expect), Predator, and Aliens, but they're still pretty by the book.<br />
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That being said, it's not like it's a bad movie. In fact, it's surprisingly well done. Considering some of the direct-to-video crap I've seen (looking at <i>you</i> Age of Ice), this is pretty good. Easily better than 3 and 4. It's a nice, fun little flick. Then again, you already know if you're going to like it or not. Granted, Jamie Kennedy co-starring is enough to turn anyone off, but he's actually tolerable in this.<br />
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See? I told you it was good. It's made Jamie Kennedy palatable.Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-42140765842127540412015-10-26T16:01:00.001-05:002015-10-26T16:01:28.268-05:00Cal's Back<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A little over a year ago, I wrote a short review for a pair of novels, <u>Confessions of a D-List Superhero</u> and <u>Origins of a etc</u>. Towards the end of that review, I mentioned that I had seen that the author, Jim Bernheimer, was planning a third book. At the time, I said,<br />
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"I'm not entirely sure where he's going to go from here. He can't really
do another prequel unless he plans to spend a couple hundred pages on
Cal's college days, and the story was pretty much wrapped up at the end
of <u>Confessions</u>."</div>
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Well, now we know why Jim's a published author and I'm just a goof with a dopey theme and a Blogger account.</div>
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What I'm trying to say is, this book impressed me.</div>
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Okay, so, in <u>Confessions</u>, we got a first person tell-all book. All the layers weren't perfectly clear at the time, but there's actually a few "levels" involved. Essentially, there's what really happened (in universe, naturally; I know it's a novel), which is then filtered through Cal's perceptions, then further filtered by what Cal decided to write, and finally run through the book's (in-world) editor.</div>
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This took a bit for me to wrap my head around, but you don't really think about it when reading <u>Confessions</u>. The first book just feels like a first-person novel, but it's got this extra layer of in-world editorial editing going on, since it's his tell-all book, not just a first-person story.</div>
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Okay, I'm talking in circles here.</div>
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<i>Anyway</i>, <u>Secrets</u> makes that distinction very clear. It takes place almost immediately after the final epilogue of <u>Confessions</u>. But what's clever about this book is it's not just The Further Adventures of Cal, it's filling in the gaps, and revealing some of the "what <i>really</i> happened" moments from the first book.</div>
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The general structure is Cal telling Stacy about everything that's happened in the previous year, what with him being dead and all. So you have an interesting format of each chapter starting with Cal, in first person, telling the reader about what's going on (making breakfast, changing his daughter, etc.), before spinning into a yarn about what had happened before, like just <i>how</i> he managed to get Imaginary Larry on his team.</div>
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This is both a tremendous strength and weakness. The strength is that it's fascinating. It gives you insight on just how he did all the things he did at the end of <u>Confessions</u>, it also gives you new insight on the characters. That new insight is also part of those editorial levels I mentioned earlier. His views... colored certain depictions, painting people in better or worse light than they really were. <u>Secrets</u> gives us what they're really like. As it were. It's still first person.</div>
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The weakness on the other hand, is something I seem to harp on all the time: copy editing. To be fair, this book must have been a bear to edit, but there were quite a few problems. Some were basic problems: incorrect words, missing words, missing punctuation. The real issue is more keeping everything straight for the storytelling. It's a book, so we can't put a sepia filter or do wavy lines for the flashbacks, so the text needs to be crystal clear.</div>
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<i>Generally</i>, Jim pulls this off. The current storyline is in present tense while the flashbacks are in past tense. Generally. Unfortunately, there are quite a few tense issues, both in the current and in the flashbacks. Add into this an extra layer of italics, which appears to be Cal's internal thoughts, or Cal's directly addressing the reader, even though the whole book is sort of Cal addressing the reader. What I'm saying is, there's a couple times where I had to stop and reread because I got a little lost on what was happening where. This sense of unease greatly ramped up when the "current" events ramped up beyond just Cal and Stacy catching up.</div>
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However, copy editing issues aside, this is probably the strongest book of the three. Jim's writing has improved as he's gone on, and he's creating a much richer world here. He had already started expanding things with <u>Origin</u>, but he pulls out some great stuff here. Sherman the Haunted Tank was freaking brilliant and possibly his best creation to date. He also drops some sinister hints about Imaginary Larry's life before Cal freed/kidnapped him.</div>
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There's some really good stuff here. I wholeheartedly recommend all three books. None are heavy reading, but they're all great fun and very enjoyable. While <u>Secrets</u> is a book without an ending (it wraps up the backstory, just not the Current Crisis), and while he kind of overuses the exclamation point this time around, all three are great reads and I can't wait for the fourth book.</div>
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Now if we could just get some big publishing house to advance Jim a big fat check, he could start cranking out books.</div>
Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-18626308417087679812015-10-25T16:35:00.000-05:002015-10-25T16:35:32.693-05:00Pulp Pile: Nick Carter #216<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So, while on vacation, we went to 2nd and Charles, a pretty neat used book store. A rather huge used book store, in fact. While there, I wandered the isles, looking at spines, hunting for some good old fashioned pulp. One of the ones I found was a series of Nick Carter books. The one I decided to grab was today's subject, Nick Carter Killmaster #216: Terror Times Two.<br />
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Just look at that cover! It just screams pulp, doesn't it? We have Nick Carter in a nice Archer-esque tactical turtleneck, a brunette babe with a gun (who doesn't really appear in the book, she seems an amalgam of two characters), and a tank crashing over either waves or some snow, which <i>really</i> doesn't appear anywhere in the novel. Seriously. There's no tanks in this book.<br />
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This is some glorious spy-pulp here.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The Nick Carter books are a delightful artifact of the 70s and 80s. According to Wikipedia, there were "at least" 261 Nick Carter novels, dwarfing even the highly prolific Remo Williams Destroyer novels or family-favorite punching-bag, Dick Francis.<br />
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These books were all written by "Nick Carter", a pseudonym used by a stable of authors working for the Charter publishing house. This particular book was apparently written by a man named Jack Canon, which sounds like a pseudonym in an of itself. The books are also dedicated to "the men of the Secret Services of the United States of America." I'm sure they appreciated the gesture.<br />
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Nick Carter is, naturally, a spy's spy, who is rugged, handsome, skilled, intelligent, great with the ladies, and speaks pretty much any language a given novel needs him to. He's described as an "American James Bond", but he doesn't rely on gadgets as much. On the other hand, the novel isn't suffused with rampant sexism, so I guess it has that going for it.<br />
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I realize that I'm writing more about the Killmaster phenomenon than the book itself, but that's largely because the broader Nick Carter story is more interesting. <u>Terror Times Two</u> is a rather pedestrian pulp spy novel. Back in the Yom Kippur War, the US was going to smuggle a weapon system, named RPX712 (of course) to the Israelis. The smugglers betrayed the US, but after the betrayal, the Soviets reneged on the deal, so the smugglers faked their deaths and scattered to the winds with the components.<br />
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Fast forward to the modern day (1986), and the Soviets have decided they want it after all, and are going about collecting the pieces. Enter Boris Vandrostov, "the Russian Killmaster". The bulk of the novel involves Carter playing catchup, trying to figure out what's happening and trying to stop Vandrostov from acquiring all the parts to the RPX712 to do... something.<br />
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The RPX712 was supposed to be some kind of missile guidance system, but it was ahead of its time, and not especially useful back in 1973. However, modern technology means it could be used, but I didn't really understand what they were going to use it for, mainly because the terminology was vague. Something about drones(!), but drone was being used interchangeably with both airplane and missile. Honestly, it sounds something like a JDAM, which makes the novel oddly prescient.<br />
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Anyway, the novel is full of misdirects, sex, violence, and tons of tough-guy talk. It also had plenty of weird quirks that stuck out like a sore thumb. See, Mr. Carter likes to name his weapons, so we have Wilhelmina the Luger(!) and Hugo the stiletto. Also, Carter himself is frequently referred to as "the Killmaster":<br />
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Carter held his breath and, at the same time, cursed his carelessness. The note had been a nice touch, put him off guard, made him look at himself as foolish for even thinking that Vandrostov would take the bait.<br />
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Finally, the car came down on all four wheels and the Killmaster slid out the door. </blockquote>
I mean, it's usually used in action scenes, but it seems the primary check seems to be "have I said his name a lot lately?" At least he's never referred to as the Killmaster during a sex scene. That would be awkward. <br />
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I know I'm giving this book a lot of grief, but it's coming from a place of love. I quite enjoy bad movies and I also enjoy bad books. Now, when I say bad, they do have to try. Age of Ice and House of the Dead were nearly unwatchable, while Plan 9 From Outer Space and Yor Hunter From the Future were glorious in their cheese. Books are the same way. Granted, the Nick Carter books were churned pulp, but they reveled in it. It's a quick, light read (196 pages) that moves right along. It also knows what it is and doesn't put on any airs.<br />
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It's not high art, but I paid a dollar for it. In 1986, I would have paid two-fifty. Probably at a Walgreens or 7-11. Is it a good book? Lord no. Was it fun and worth a buck? You betcha.Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-6192274406177478852015-08-24T07:54:00.000-05:002015-08-27T19:47:13.551-05:00The End Is... Well, You Know How This Goes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So this was a neat concept. Three collections of short stories, the first collection set to the lead-up to the apocalypse (whatever form it may take), the second collection being stories <i>during</i> the apocalypse, and then the third collection being after the apocalypse. And, on top of it all, a good number of the authors wrote three stories, giving us a few linked trilogies within the triptych. All in all, it worked out very well.<br />
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I received the first collection, <u>The End is Nigh</u>, as a gift for backing Wasteland 2. One of the editors was a huge fan of the original game, and gave all Wasteland 2 backers a free copy. My original plan was to read it and not pick up the other two. That didn't work out so well. In many ways, I think the first book must have been the most difficult to write for. Post-Apocalypse is a common enough genre, and everyone's familiar with it, especially given the popularity of <i>Mad Max: Fury Road</i>. Likewise, setting something during an apocalypse is easy enough; it's like a disaster movie writ large. But a self contained story leading up to the apocalypse? I think that's probably the more difficult. Perhaps that's why so many authors (something like 80%) agreed to write for all three books. Maybe they figured it would be easier if there was some closure. After all, ending your story with the apocalypse feels unfinished.<br />
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I'm now almost finished with the third installment, <u>The End Has Come</u>, which I had to wait for because there was a Kindle-exclusive period. I can honestly say that, as a whole, this trilogy of trilogies is very, very good, especially if you like apocalyptic fiction.<br />
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Like any collection of short stories, there will be hits and there will be misses. I found the most duds in <u>The End is Nigh</u>, and the most solid stories were actually in <u>The End is Now</u>, the second collection. Some of the stories in Nigh lean a little too heavily on the author's personal politics, which I suppose is bound to happen when you're talking about the end of the world. But it still was a little grating at times as it felt like the author was more interested in their soap box than telling a good story. I believe it was <i>Shooting the Apocalypse </i>by Paolo Bacigalupi that was the most egregious.<br />
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Still, as a whole, very good. And I was impressed with the apocalypses, too. I had been afraid it would just be zombies, but very few of the stories used zombies, and those that did were at least creative about it; like the one where it was a prion disease and very little of the story actually involved zombies -- they were just a background threat propelling the human drama.<br />
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But no, not many zombies. We have general societal collapse, aliens, more different aliens, asteroid impact, poisonous comet trails, the freaking moon exploding, God, and quite a few non-zombie diseases. I suppose that's par for the course, considering some of the authors involved: Annie Bellet, Nancy Kress, Jonathan Maberry, Seanan McGuire, Carrie Vaughn, Chris Avellone, Hugh Howey, and so on.<br />
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And while Nancy Kress is probably my favorite of the authors who contributed three stories (and her stories were quite good and odd), my favorite in this triptych would probably have to be the <i>Deer Camp</i> stories by Scott Sigler. They were just... not what I expected at all. Essentially, they answered the question: "What if they threw an apocalypse and you were in the middle of freaking nowhere?" And then it just continues going off into left field as the stories progress.<br />
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My copies of these stories are all on my Nook, and I think it suffers slightly for it. I think these stories would work best in a big ole paper omnibus, where you could flip around and re-read bits of the previous stories to refresh your memory. While you can do that with an e-reader, it's far easier to do with a dead tree edition. Still, I think it's well worth picking up, especially if you like apocalyptic fiction.Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-51354897069420071932015-04-16T10:58:00.000-05:002015-04-16T10:58:57.214-05:00The Hugo MessSo, the other day, <a href="http://www.munchkinwrangler.com/2015/04/15/a-statement-on-my-hugo-nomination/" target="_blank">Marko Kloos</a> and <a href="https://overactive.wordpress.com/2015/04/15/hugo-story-withdrawn/" target="_blank">Anne Bellett</a> declined their Hugo award nominations. This is bad enough on the surface, but I think it also demonstrates something a little bigger, and represents a need for Kate Paulk to reconsider Sad Puppies 4, and indeed, the entire Evil League of Evil should take a moment to think long and hard about what they want to accomplish with Sad Puppies and where they want to go from here. <br /><br />Now you, dear reader, are probably a normal person; a sane person. I can only assume that the above made little sense to you, so I'm going to go ahead and give some background information about what's going on here. Now, I'll come right out and say that, at the very least, I'm amused by the Sad Puppies hullaballo, if not outright supportive of it. Or at least I was. Anyway, with all that in mind, I'm going to try to be objective here. There's already been more than enough hyperbole and misrepresentation as is (looking at you, EW). <br /><a name='more'></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGNQdc-X11bjWHJm4oNMCfZKSJqD2Doji-oLdfk7iXDEkPZZDhjcc48C8x5Zb9PpvQsYz98bm_Lm9qo5Z0lJrScp59WSiHmXciV2ii3BQYROLIL24RKlAjp1DRuApArOfJ9m2tSSDzzP1i/s1600/sad_puppies_3_patch.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGNQdc-X11bjWHJm4oNMCfZKSJqD2Doji-oLdfk7iXDEkPZZDhjcc48C8x5Zb9PpvQsYz98bm_Lm9qo5Z0lJrScp59WSiHmXciV2ii3BQYROLIL24RKlAjp1DRuApArOfJ9m2tSSDzzP1i/s1600/sad_puppies_3_patch.jpg" height="200" width="176" /></a>The Campaign to Prevent Puppy-Related Sadness (because nothing makes puppies sad like bad message fiction) was started three years ago, somewhat as a lark, by author Larry Correia. Since then, it has grown every year, and the name has been shortened to Sad Puppies. Now, this was never a particularly series endeavor. Larry's "campaign manager" was a manatee named Wendell. From what I've seen, it was about 80% "get stuff we like on the Hugo ballot" and about 20% "poke fun of the people who take this super seriously". Regardless, we're here today in the middle of Sad Puppies 3, which wasn't even run by Correia this time around, but rather by author Brad Torgersen. <br /><br />Which brings us to Rabid Puppies. <br /><br />Last year, Correia included a work by infamous internet boogeyman Vox Day. For those not familiar, Vox Day is something of a provocateur. He holds opinions that are not, shall we say, mainstream. For all the venom spewed around about him, you'd think he was a particularly loathsome KKK Grand Cyclops or something, but I don't think that's particularly accurate. While I don't agree with him on, well, most everything, I simply think he's in error. He's far from evil. Your average ISIS member has a much firmer grip on raw evil that Vox Day would even dream about. No, his greatest sin is that he doesn't care. He's outspoken, willing to wade into the mud, and he doesn't give a damn about what anybody thinks of him. In other words, he's not afraid of ruining his reputation, because he doesn't care what anyone thinks about him. That, and I think he really, really enjoys being a boogeyman. <br /><br />Anyway, last year, Correia included a novella (novelette? One of those) by Vox Day. As Correia puts it, he included the novel(la/ette) because he thought it was good and because "Satan hadn't written anything that year". This caused a predictable freak-out in the predictable sections of the internet. Now, I personally haven't read it (I have a copy… somewhere), but I have read his doorstop of a novel, <u>A Throne of Bones</u>, which isn't too bad, to be perfectly honest. I've also been a fan of Psykosonik since the mid-90s, so I'm not going to throw the man under a bus because I disagree with his views on women's sufferage. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNgvOQmkYTTO285i_T0knRn4J2zBoVZzkeAorunuQ8j4BN-_1qYq2nORc8x5uhEvWx6RjkbxF4PEiU6zP8yOuYVw04fUvPYmZ9ksL90NcuHeped8lFo89HHkdUgGJln3MfnsxGhkKDJScx/s1600/rp.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNgvOQmkYTTO285i_T0knRn4J2zBoVZzkeAorunuQ8j4BN-_1qYq2nORc8x5uhEvWx6RjkbxF4PEiU6zP8yOuYVw04fUvPYmZ9ksL90NcuHeped8lFo89HHkdUgGJln3MfnsxGhkKDJScx/s1600/rp.png" height="200" width="180" /></a>During Sad Puppies 2, Vox Day supported the project, although he offered a slightly different slate. This year, however, he went all out, and submitted his own "official" slate, the Rabid Puppies. I'm not about to speak to what Vox Day thinks, but I get the distinct feeling his interest was less in getting the Hugo awards to recognize the kind of SF/F he liked (or to remember that it once loved more pulpy fiction) than it was his desire to play Nero and burn it all down. Despite the confusion promulgated by many in the media and on the internet, the two slates, while having similar names, are not related. Baking soda and baking powder also have similar names, but they're hardly interchangeable. <br /><br />Also, while I'm at it, GamerGate had nothing to do with this. Yes, a big GamerGate supporter on Brietbart did a story on Sad Puppies, but that was after nominations were closed. Frankly, judging by people's reactions , you'd think they'd just stop talking about GamerGate and Vox Day. What was that about saying the Devil's name? I'm guessing these are the same people who said "Bloody Mary" two and a half times in the bathroom when they were teenagers. <br /><br />So now that I've spent about 700 words on the background, I can move on to the actual point. Hopefully. Assuming I can remember what the hell it was I was wanting to write about in the first place. <br /><br />Oh yeah, the fate of Sad Puppies going forward. I think the news the other day is cause to stop and reconsider the true goals and purpose of Sad Puppies. No, I don't mean the mewling whine from Connie Willis, I mean the two withdrawals mentioned at the top of the post. They're linked, so you can read them for yourself; I'm just going to give my brief impressions, because while they're both in regards to the same thing, they say it very differently. <br /><br />Marko's retraction reads like a statement given under duress. He's a self-published author, and his statement reads very much like a man who wants a contract with a publishing house, but is worried he won't get one if he doesn't sufficiently condemn Goody La^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^HVox Day. Yes, we're going into interpreting one's motivations and subtext, but that's the impression I get reading his comment. That's bad enough. Anne's is far worse. <br /><br />While Marko's post reads like a man with a gun to his back, Anne's reads like a woman with a broken heart. If it was a letter to the editor, I would expect to see tear stains on the paper. It's doubly troubling when you consider the fact that a week ago, she felt the need to post her progressive bona-fides (woman, bisexual, socialist) in order to stave off attacks from the Internet Hate Machine. It seems that the constant bullshit finally wore her down and she declined her nomination. <br /><br />Both wanted their work to be judged based on itself. Marko didn't want his work to be nominated with the taint of Vox Day's Rabid Puppies, and Anne didn't want to be a political football. I think this puts the Puppies in a very awkward position. Or rather, it puts the sad ones in an awkward position; I don't think the rabid ones particularly care. <br /><br />If it really is about getting recognition for people who are normally overlooked by the Hugo Awards, then I think that the Puppies should pack it in and call it a night. It's perfectly clear that deserving authors will be hounded and libeled for the sin of being liked by the wrong people. At this point, it doesn't matter who the Puppies pick or what they say, they're going to be accused of trying to purify the awards for "cishet white dudes". People will be attacked, sniped, and tarred thanks to everyone's favorite: guilt by association. Now, people on the slate like Kevin J. Anderson or Jim Butcher can easily weather such storms. They're both prolific enough and big enough (and rich enough) that all the internet rage in the world won't disturb their digestion. <br /><br />So that leaves us with the Puppies in the awkward situation where new, lesser known authors have to duck and cover, lest their careers be destroyed, and the only people who can accept are either A) already outcasts (eg: Baen authors) or B) titanic popular authors who would just get a new dust collector. After all, the readership benefit of a Hugo win (let alone nomination) is dubious at best, but it seems an unknown would be more likely to benefit than Jim "Godfather of an Entire Genre" Butcher. Sadly, I think this means that the Puppies have proved their point: the Hugo Awards are a tight clique and are only for the people who sit at the cool kids' table; outsiders need not apply. At this point, I think they would be better served closing up shop. Let the vote totals sink back below 1000. Let the person who gets 50 votes beat the person who got 49 votes. Let it go back to being a logrolling circle jerk. <br /><br />Unless they want to burn it all down and salt the earth beneath. In which case, by all means, carry on. Between them, the Sad and Rabid Puppies could easily burn the whole thing down. And you folks advocating a boycott or giving No Award? You're attempting to put out a fire by dropping an FAE on it. You idiots. I truly believe that the Puppies never intended to rip the awards apart, but it looks like that's what's going on here. The clique and the in crowd have decided to take their ball and go home, while putting landmines all over the playing field. Like I said, I was at least amused by, if not in favor of, the Puppies from the get-go, but I think continuing the campaign will accomplish little beyond ripping apart fandom and all but destroying Hugo Awards. Right now, I blame the anti-puppy folk for their scorched earth tactics. I can't speak to what Sad Puppies 4 will ultimately be, but I can't help but think it'll end up being a matter of "Challenge Accepted!" and the start of the mutually-assured destruction carnival. <br /><br />There's been a lot of virtual ink wasted going on about Sad Puppies (yes, I see the irony). There's been a lot of outright falsehoods (it's not about making sure only straight white males win; look at the damn slate), and there's been some downright chilling implications being made by people. Probably the most disturbing is the one about how people should have been notified in advance of their placement. <a href="http://accordingtohoyt.com/2015/03/31/the-scarlet-letters/" target="_blank">Just think about what that implies for a second</a>. I've already mentioned smears based on guilt by association, but this whole notification thing is downright Soviet. Which is ironic considering how many of the people saying these things will be the first to denounce someone else as practicing McCarthyism. <br /><br />In a way, this reminds me of my last post, and how people have forgotten that just because you like different things, or believe different things, or have different opinions on what constitutes good science-fiction and fantasy doesn't mean you need to be at each other's throats. There's room enough for everybody; from the people who want Captain Raygun Rescues The Buxom Blonde From The Drooling Space Mutants to people who want… well… dinosaur revenge fantasies, I guess. The Hugo Awards should be a big tent. The voting rules say it's a big tent: cough up your $40 and take a ride. You might not like slates, but they beat logrolling, and they beat vote totals that look anemic compared to an elementary school's class president election. If people want an award that only the Select Elite can vote on, they have that: it's called the Nebula (or about a dozen other smaller awards in various niches). <br /><br />Personally, I'm kind of sad to see it take this turn. It would be nice if the pulp-lovers and the literary-lovers could manage to share the same genre without worrying about getting cooties from one another, but it seems that's too much to hope for. It would be nice if people could combat Puppy-Related Sadness and have fun with the Hugo Awards without be labeled as misogynists or racists, and without having to worry if they're going to turn the awards into a barren wasteland. <br /><br />And while we're at it, I'd like a pony, too. <br />Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-86175128641795644332015-04-13T15:34:00.000-05:002015-04-18T14:11:03.697-05:00Presidential Campaign Season on Facebook (Oh No!)We now have a handful of people who have announced their intention to run for president. As such, weather we're ready for it or not, it's now Presidential Campaign Season. Yes, yes, it's 19 months away, but that just means we're in for a long 19 months, not that we can hold the line against this. Hell, I'm hearing reports of campaign ads already airing (attack ads, naturally).<br />
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So, like it or not, we're stuck with it. And, furthermore, like it or not, some of us are much more involved and interested in politics than others. Now, we it comes to family dinner, it's likely to be less of a concern, because uncomfortable silences or credible threats of physical violence, tend to blunt the worst of it. And, in theory, you're less likely to make a complete ass of yourself in front of loved ones. In theory.<br />
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But then there's Facebook. Yes, there's other social media, but you're more likely to have your mother and fifth cousin twice removed on Facebook than on Tumblr or Flickr or whatever other intentionally misspelled mish-mash mess of a social media platform you use. Unfortunately, Presidential Campaign Season doesn't play well with Facebook, and it's just waiting to bubble over with invective and hostility.<br />
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So, with this in mind, I've come up with a sort of manifesto or creed for surviving Presidential Campaign Season while on Facebook. Or rather, to make things easier on those on the other side of the political divide and those who don't care (either through apathy or, you know, not living in America).<br />
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<li><b>Politics Isn't Everything:</b> Just because I really care about some political thing, doesn't mean that everyone else does, and I shall keep that in mind. I shall also keep in mind that, just because I disagree with someone on some issue, no matter how important it is to me, it doesn't mean that they are evil, stupid, horrible, or otherwise less of a person. </li>
<li><b>Friendship is More Important Than Tribalism:</b> Connected to 1 above, I will remember that I can have political disagreements with friends and family, but I will still be friends and family with them after the election is long forgotten. The Tribe may be important, and it's certainly insistent about itself, but it is secondary, especially to family.</li>
<li><b>I Will Not Lower The Discussion:</b> I might not be able to elevate things, but I'm not going to wallow in the gutter. Mainly, this means I will not use "cute" insults such as DIMocrats, Obummer, ReTHUGlicans, The New York Slimes, or anything of that nature. That kind of crap wasn't clever when I was 12, and it sure as Hell ain't clever now.</li>
<li><b>Memes Are Not Intelligent Discourse:</b> You've all seen them: a picture with words slapped on it. Your wall will be full of them as the season really gets going. However, you can't distill a position or historical event into a dozen words. They're the lazy man's attack ad, and I'm not going to lower myself to posting them. Ever. Nor will I "share" from some idiot Facebook group that does nothing but post them.</li>
<li><b>Some People Like Memes:</b> The sad twin to number 4 above. Thus, keeping this in mind, I will strive to only block the source of the memes and not the person posting them. However, if you only log on to Facebook every four years to share a dozen memes a day for six months, maybe you should reassess your use of Facebook.</li>
<li><b>Articles, In And Of Themselves, Are Not Intelligent Discourse:</b> Also connected to number 4 above, simply linking to an article in a newspaper or from a blog doesn't necessarily rise much above the level of meme. In keeping with that, I shall strive to add my own thoughts and analysis to whatever I link to. Supposedly, the goal of all this linking is to persuade the undecided. Simply providing a flood of links is just annoying.</li>
<li><b>Primary Sources Are Important:</b> I will remember that all media everywhere has bias. It may be benign bias, or it may be bias that mirrors my own, but it is always there. Whenever possible, I will read primary sources. And as a corollary, I will avoid exceedingly biased or unserious "sources". This includes the entire Gawker empire.</li>
<li><b>Palate Cleansers Are Important:</b> I will keep in mind that not everyone likes politics as much as I do (or is as addicted, since "like" seems a stretch). Furthermore, I know that many friends and family don't have the same political leanings that I do. With that in mind, I shall avoid making my wall a non-stop political screed. Ratios can be difficult, but I will strive for at least 25% of my posts to being non-political, even if it's just another picture of my cat(s) being cute.</li>
<li><b>I'm Far Too Old To Be Passive-Aggressive:</b> This one should be self-evident. But I'm going to include satire, irony, and sarcasm in this. Those things (except passive-aggressiveness) are all well and good, <i>in real life</i>, but it's just too hard to tell online. I'll leave satire to the pros (like Daily Mash or the Onion), and largely leave the others to other people; I don't need the hassle.</li>
<li><b>I Will Not Be Outraged:</b> No matter how awful something is, I will not give in to outrage. Outrage solves nothing, and just drives people away. Nobody cares if I'm offended by something, so there's no point in screaming like a damn fool about it. Again, like point 3, I'm trying to elevate things. Being outraged and offended are lizard-brain reactions; they don't elevate.</li>
<li><b>Politicians Are Idiots, Just Like the Rest of Us:</b> I will remember that politicians are not super heroes, and, no matter how much I might support one, I will never, ever, allow myself to cross the line into hero worship. I will not state that I "love" a politician or some sound-bite they've given. They're just people, and they are not to be idolized. </li>
<li><b>It's Not The End of the World:</b> Unless we get a visit from SMOD (Sweet Meteor O' Death), it won't really matter in the long run. Politicians like to puff themselves up, but that doesn't mean I need to buy into it. No matter how fierce the debate, I will remember that, in the long run, I'm arguing about minor stuff. Especially since the president is the least important election in the nation, and I really should be focusing much more on my state and city elections, since they're the ones that will really impact my life.</li>
</ol>
<br />
This isn't an exhaustive list, and I'm sure I will fall short on some points, and possibly all of them, but I think it's a reasonable standard to strive for; to hold myself to. If nothing else, spending time writing this out has helped firm these ideals in my mind. Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-77998382959587345062015-03-02T00:04:00.001-06:002015-03-02T00:04:06.411-06:00I Kept Wanting To Make It Plural<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiydEnv2UobatpvwMX5jbscOVnvOHZf77QmmGu1kt4tPlov2ed4I4dKOaNF0SSuPOKFfsjo1cuQRjutTZUbtVNjxT42SKHg_sUpv77hy5ZcX_GSn9_Kh1KMnpgmcNPbLWl9PqIAiindcwl6/s1600/kingsman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiydEnv2UobatpvwMX5jbscOVnvOHZf77QmmGu1kt4tPlov2ed4I4dKOaNF0SSuPOKFfsjo1cuQRjutTZUbtVNjxT42SKHg_sUpv77hy5ZcX_GSn9_Kh1KMnpgmcNPbLWl9PqIAiindcwl6/s1600/kingsman.jpg" /></a></div>
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So, last week, I saw <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kingsman:
The Secret Service</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wasn't
entirely sure what to expect when I went to see it, except that it starred
Colin Firth, and that it involved a, well, secret spy agency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Honestly, I don't even think I was aware that
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On the one hand, if you're interested in seeing this movie,
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though I'll be striving to avoid spoilers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
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Essentially, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kingsman</i>
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listless, despite being athletic, smart, clever, and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He's not quite a chav, but he's certainly
rubbing elbows with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Into his world
come Colin Firth's Harry Hart who introduces Eggsy into the world of the
Kingsman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Queue training sequence
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the World.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> a spy flick.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kingsman</i> has its
roots firmly planted in the Bond end of the spectrum, as opposed to the more
"realistic" Bourne movies or films like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That being said, it is more than willing to poke fun at the Bond style
movie, especially the less serious ones from the Moore years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, it gleefully eschews the po-faced
seriousness of the Daniel "Poutiest Bond" Craig years, delighting in
its gadgets and gizmos, such as bullet-proof umbrellas and cigarette-lighter
grenades; however, it manages to take reality into account on such things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There's a scene where Hart is showing Eggsy
the "toy room" and Eggsy asks about a wall covered in smart phones
and tablets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hart, almost sadly,
explains that they're perfectly normal, because they're <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">already</i> ridiculously powerful.</div>
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Circling back, I want to address the fact that this is an R
rated movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's not rated R for
language or for a random topless scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It's rated R because it's almost shockingly violent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keep in mind that this is the same people who
did <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kick Ass</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While it is stylized to a certain extend (not
to the extent of, say, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sin City</i>),
there is quite a bit of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sofia
Boutella plays the part of Odd Job; she's named Gazella, presumably because of
her prosthetic feet (the curved spring style; it's an appropriate name).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">razor
sharp</i> prosthetic feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Odd Job cut
heads off statues; Gazelle dismembers people.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I don't want to scare people away, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While violent, it doesn't really linger
lovingly on it, and while there's plenty of blood, it never veers into the
realm of gore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As someone who has little
stomach for gore, I know what a fine line it can be for a film to walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that this film stays on the safe
side, for all but the queasiest stomachs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And, really, only one fight overstays its welcome, largely because it's
intercut with the reactions of three different people.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This isn't a film that will make you think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It isn't really even a deconstruction of the
genre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is, however, an exceptionally
enjoyable film, and far, far more fun than I've had with a movie in a long
while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kingsman</i> may have its tongue firmly planted in cheek (as one review
put it, "tongue planted so firmly in cheek, it's poking out the other
side), it never winks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's a fantasy,
pure and simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It knows that it's not
serious, but it revels in its violence and silliness, as opposed to sneering at
it aloofly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's well worth seeing.</div>
Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-53774029209209340352015-01-23T14:43:00.001-06:002015-04-18T14:11:47.207-05:00Yesterday's Kin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been a fan of Nancy Kress ever since I first read <u>Beggar's In Spain</u> a couple years ago. Since then, I've slowly worked my way through much of her back catalog, which can be a bit of a pain, since much of what she's done is either A) short stories or B) not available on my Nook.<br />
<br />
That being said, I've read a fair amount of her output, and I can honestly say that I'm quite the fan. For those curious about where she falls on the <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness" target="_blank">Mohs Scale of Sci-Fi hardness</a>, I would place her right around the 4.5 level ("One Big Fib"), but she seems to meander between 4 and 5, which is pretty crunchy, to be perfectly honest, and about as "hard" as I think I could handle for casual reading. For instance, <u>Crossfire</u> and <u>Crucible</u> have near-C travel, but the time dilation effects are actually major plot points, so while she's using high speed travel between stars, she's taking the science into account. She also (generally) places her stories on Earth in the nearish future; there's no blasters, but plenty of genetic engineering, oftentimes at the hands of Highly Advanced Aliens.<br />
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So, for once, I've read a <i>current</i> novel. <u>Yesterday's Kin</u> was published by Tachyon Publications, which, until today, I'd never even heard of. But who cares about the publisher? Let's talk about the book!<br />
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<a name='more'></a><u>Yesterday's Kin</u> tells the tale of aliens landing on Earth and making contact, trying to get the Earthlings help to great a resistance to a deadly disease contained in a spore cloud out in space. It turns out that the aliens are actually humans that were taken from Earth some time in the distant past, thus leaving them very, very similar to humans, but for about 10,000 years of evolution. The story focuses on one particular biologist and her family members as they deal with the aliens, this new information, and all the fallout connected with aliens being on Earth and a death-cloud being six months away.<br />
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Sadly, the idea far out-steps the execution. It's certainly an interesting story, and one that isn't easy to put down, but it's almost painfully short. It's really more of a novella than a novel, despite its description and price.<br />
<br />
It also feels more like a fleshed out outline than a complete work. I'm a big fan of Nancy Kress's work, but this doesn't feel complete. I think it may be that she's one of those writers who works better in the short story arena, and when she tries to stretch things out to novel-length, it doesn't quite work right for whatever reason.<br />
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Still, that being said, it's a compelling story that raises several interesting sociological questions, in addition to the fascinating biology. I think it's well worth reading, just... not at full price.Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-55637894223228445402015-01-07T20:30:00.002-06:002015-01-07T20:42:40.258-06:00First Amendment Principles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If the Barbary wars taught us anything, it's that the worst thing you can do is Pay the Dane-geld. Sadly, in many ways, western civilization is all too willing to do just that. Freedom of Speech is a core, bedrock principle to modern society, yet many governments and many people are all too willing to abandon it as soon as some psychopath decides that his beliefs are superior to all. People are too willing to throw away civilization in the futile hope that someone else will go up against the wall before them; sacrificing everything for a few more minutes before it's their turn.<div><br></div><div>The person behind Draw Muhammad Day is still in hiding. They probably will be for the rest of their life, because the barbarians believe that mass murder is an appropriate and measured response to school yard taunts.</div><div><br></div><div>And make no mistake, these are barbarians; they seek to destroy civilization to bring us all down to their level, scrabbling in the dirt and screaming against reality.</div><div><br></div><div>Not all Muslims are like this, sure. But to hell with that disclaimer. We're not talking about all Muslims; we're talking about barbarians seeking to annihilate western civilization.</div><div><br></div><div>Where's this generation's Charles Martel? Perhaps we'll find him at the Daily Charlie.</div>Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-42110984123887705862014-12-27T18:31:00.001-06:002014-12-27T18:33:07.950-06:00First Thoughts: Might & Magic X LegacySo, taking advantage of the Steam Holiday Sale (obligatory comment on how <i>this</i> time wasn't as good as <i>that</i> time goes here), I decided to open up a portal to the 90s:<br />
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Aww, yeah, baby. Might & Magic. I was first introduced to this series back in the early 90s, with Might & Magic 4: Clouds of Xeen. To say it blew my young mind is an understatement. It was like nothing I'd experienced before. While I would say Bard's Tale 3 was, objectively, a better game, Might & Magic was far prettier and more immersive, even though 4 came out a scant four years after. It was just bigger, more immersive, and generally more impressive. It also introduced me to one of gaming's greatest "joys": waiting for a repeatedly delayed sequel. That being said, Might & Magic 5: Darkside of Xeen more than lived up to the hype, even without getting into the whole "World of Xeen" post-game quest. This was quality stuff.<br />
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Despite how much I liked it, I kind of dropped out of computer gaming for awhile afterwards, and never had much to do with the follow-ups (6-9), nor the Heroes of Might & Magic series, nor the Warriors, Legends, and Ring-Tailed Lemurs of Might & Magic. Looking back at them, I might enjoy 6-9 (well, probably not 9), but I was never terribly interested in the other series. To me, Might & Magic will always be a first-person, grid-based hydra.<br />
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So, along comes X.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>It's a complete throwback to the old style blobber, where you play a party (this time, a party of four). It's completely grid-based and turn-based; you could walk away from the computer to eat dinner and not a thing would change, not even in the middle of combat. I realize that for the current generation, this isn't a bonus, but those of us who remember gaming in the late 80s and early 90s, it's great. In this sense, it's everything I ever wanted from a new Might & Magic game.<br />
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Furthermore, they streamlined character creation in many ways. I remember first playing 4, and being swamped with choices (hell, I'm <i>still</i> swamped when I go back to play). There were half a dozen races and close to a dozen classes, combined with randomly rolling a dozen or so attributes. The phrase "wealth of options" comes to mind. Even without endlessly rerolling stats, it was hard to figure out a good balance. Because you were also making six characters. You could easily spend hours just making a party. In X, on the other hand, you're only making a party of four, and there's only 4 races, each race with 3 classes to choose from. The classes are also similar to each other in that there's a Might class, a Magic class, and a Hybrid class. The available attributes have also been reduced in number, <i>and</i> you're no longer rolling, it's point-buy.<br />
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On the other hand, they've taking a page from the 6+ installments when it comes to skills. Skills are considerably more complicated. In 1-5, skills weren't really "a thing". More accurately, they were binary: you had them or you didn't. You didn't level your One Handed Sword skill to be better at hitting things with a sword, you gained levels and raised your Accuracy attribute. You certainly didn't need to find trainers to unlock higher levels of skills. People who have played 6+ will probably be used to this, but it was a bit of a shock to me. That said, the learning curve on the mechanics isn't too bad, and it didn't take me too long to get my sea legs.<br />
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Unfortunately, there are other things that leave a bit to be desired as well. The open world combined with turn-based combat and grid-based travel can make for some weirdness. Your archers (or spell casters) can just lob off willy-nilly, you have to be engaged in actual combat. Entering and exiting combat is easy enough, but only when you're in a direct line. Imagine two people in a wide open field for an old fashioned pistol duel. They're ten paces apart, but one of them takes a step to the left. No longer in a line, they can't shoot. In a dungeon, this is less of an issue, but it feels silly in a field, or on a beach. The targeting can also be a little wonky at times, but that's a matter of patience than anything.<br />
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No, the biggest mechanical problem is that the game was made in Unity. I know Unity is the darling engine for a lot of smaller releases because their fees are reasonable, it's flexible, and it has native support for Mac and Linux, but it's a wasteful beast of an engine. Games in Unity are almost always horribly bloated both in size and system requirements. <i></i>I really wish Unity would streamline their engine. While this is partially just me being all, "M&M 4 fit on a dozen floppies, that's less than 20 <i>megabytes</i>!" there's also a practical complaint here, mainly that the game chugs and my computer coughs and wheezes outside of dungeons. I've turned the settings down on this fool thing because the overland sections are almost unplayable, because freaking Unity wouldn't know streamlining if it sat on it. My assumption is that the game is loading <i>huge</i> sections of the overworld and trying to keep all that in memory instead of dividing it into smaller chunks (like, say, M&M 1-5 did). Meanwhile, dungeons, even big ones, are smaller than <i>the world</i>, so the game runs smoothly. Thank God it's a dungeon crawler, so much of my time should be spent in doors. It just sadly blunts the impact of having a truly open world when your computer game damn near turns into a slideshow whenever you try to explore it.<br />
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My final two complaints are related. This game was published by Ubisoft. And while nobody's head has been eaten by my AMD video card, I do still have to deal with the abomination of uPlay. Even though I bought it through Steam, I still need to run Ubisoft's ridiculous Steam-ripoff in the background. Further, it means there's no way in hell this game isn't riddled with DRM. <i>And</i> it means that if uPlay shits the bed, I'm unable to play my single-player game. It also means no Steam achievements, because I'm getting <i>uPlay</i> achievements. It's just a mess. It also means that everytime Ubisoft spits out a uPlay update, I have to deal with that before I can play. And, I repeat, it's a single player RPG. I don't need to connect with other players.<br />
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The final complaint is one of story and setting. X is set in Ashan. What's Ashan? Why, it's the setting of Heroes of Might and Magic V. The first M&M game published by Ubisoft. It's a generic high fantasy setting. This may not seem like an issue, but it is. See, the original Might & Magic games weren't just fantasy games. They all (at least the early ones) contained not just science-fiction elements, but <i>superscience</i> aspects. For instance, 4 and 5 dealt with the world of Xeen. More properly, XEEN: Xylonite Experimental Environment Nacelle. It was a completely fabricated seed world. An experiment. In the Might & Magic world(s), the stereotypical ancients weren't just a long-dead race of elves or proto-men or whatever, they were hyperadvanced aliens who could build entire worlds. Darkside of Xeen is actually the conclusion of events set in motion in the very first game. The weird superscience was one of the things, to my mind, that set Might & Magic apart from its contemporaries. Sure, Ultima 1 had you buying a space shuttle, and Ultima 3 had you defeating a supercomputer, but it largely dropped those trappings thereafter. And while Bard's Tale 3 had some tech in some dimensions, those weren't standard by any means (Urmech and his machines were an abomination, and Tarmita was a mashup of periods of war). Might & Magic, on the other hand, fully integrated it, goofy as it was at times. I'm kind of sad to see that jettisoned. It's also a pity that Van Caneghem wasn't involved in this game, even though it's understandable.<br />
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That being said, I still really like this game, warts and all, and I don't want my long winded complaints drown out the fact that there's a lot that was done right here. After all, it's not the game's fault that Ubisoft insists on its games being welded to uPlay, or that the Unity engine is a bloated freak of nature. Even taking into account the somewhat generic High Fantasy Setting of Ashan, the game still shines. It's still a loving homage to the great games of the late 80s and early 90s. While Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon was a riotous send-up of the neon-fueled action movies of the era, this is more like a loving tribute. They may not have gotten all the specifics right, but they were spot on in the gestalt. If you grew up with the early Might & Magic games, or have come to love them, this is a must-purchase.<br />
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Also, I've been laughing myself silly reading reviews and comments from people in their early 20s who have never played a game like this and seem completely lost. It's an interesting psychological... thingie... that it's easy to go forward with technology, but monstrously difficult to go backwards.Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-8847582597422751562014-12-20T14:41:00.001-06:002014-12-20T14:41:23.317-06:00No Classic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So, my brother loaned me this book and I read it. Yeah, an actual dead-tree book. It's been awhile. I hadn't realized how spoiled I'd gotten with my Nook's built-in light. There was a bit of contorting to get sufficient light at work sometimes. Also, it's much harder to eat while reading a book than using a reader. Yes, yes, none of this is earth shattering news, but it's been so long since I read a paperback, I'd kind of forgotten. Also, I needed a bit of filler as this won't be a particularly long review.<br />
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Anyway, <u>No Hero</u> tells the story of Oxford police officer Arthur Wallace who stumbles into the underground realm of MI-37, and their quest to prevent Evil Horrors From Beyond Space And Time from Destroying All Reality As We Know It. He meets a colorful collection of eccentric coworkers, a love interest (two, I suppose), some double crosses, some Chessmaster Gambits and various and sundry things that you'd expect in this kind of book. It all wraps up with a Big Damn Climax, and a happily ever after that leads to the sequel hook for the next book (because all books must now be trilogies, if not longer).<br />
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It's pretty middle of the road, really. The odd thing is, it doesn't feel like it's actually in England. There's the occasional spelling or idiom (such as "electric torch"), but it feels like an American writing a novel set in England with English characters, if that makes sense. There's just a weird disconnect. It's not that I expect every character to have bad teeth, say "wot", and have crumpets every five seconds, but it's still off. The phrasing doesn't feel right. The author's bio says he was born in England but moved to New York at some point, and has stayed there. That's probably the cause of the disconnect. Or at least a contributing factor.<br />
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Regardless, that weird in between feeling wouldn't be an issue if the book was stronger. It's a first outing, and it feels like it. There's quite a bit of cliches and tropes being used throughout. Furthermore, Arthur is just plain unlikable. He has no spine (several characters, at several points tell him to nut up), he's rather inept, and he's full of <a href="http://www.jabootu.com/glossary.htm" target="_blank">Informed Attributes</a>. We're <i>told</i> he's a great cop, but we never really see it. Supposedly, he cracks the case that leads to his involvement, but all that police work is glossed over for a Dr. House ah-ha moment. Everyone tells us that he's the perfect choice to lead this team, but we never really see it. Two women seem to flirt with him constantly, but he comes across as kind of a simp. Furthermore, he's constantly asking himself, "What would Kurt Russel do?" Well, that's a cute character quirk, but it's not really integrated here; it feels bolted on to give this guy some personality or something "clever". Sadly, it's more just an excuse for a couple pop culture (circa 1985) references. For an example of this sort of thing done properly, just watch <i>Hot Fuzz</i>. Nick Frost's media-obsessed character is how you do it.<br />
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The problem with this is that the book is first person. Having someone in way over their head is fine; as the character learns, so does the reader, but familiarity can easily breed contempt. And if your eyes to the world are in the skull of a whiny git who seems to fail at everything, it grows very, very tiresome. I had this same problem with the Temeraire series, where the central characters grew more and more insufferable as time went on, until you just wanted to smack them around and tell them to stop being moping idiots. And then they went to Australia and the wheels fell off. Er, sorry. Back to <u>No Hero</u>. <br />
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The world building, such as it is, isn't too bad. It's an interesting take on magic: magic is simply pulling things from alternate realities, using electricity, which is the "universal lubricant". This leads to interesting things such as metallic ink in tattoos to channel electricity more effectively, and people popping batteries in their mouths. The cynic in me thinks he liked the idea of wizards sucking on batteries and went about finding a way to make it work. Still, I kind of like the magic system, it's different, if nothing else.<br />
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But, still, all in all, I'm pretty lukewarm on this book. I don't regret reading it, but I'm kind of glad it was a loan. If I'm killing time in a book store, I might pick up the second one to read while I'm there, but I wouldn't buy it. As a weekend book or an airplane book, you could do worse, but you could also do so much better.Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-87568809117436656252014-12-10T15:35:00.000-06:002014-12-20T14:45:52.973-06:00Lame Ducks and Constitutional Follies<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><b>UPDATE:</b> <i>They've decided that Quinn will appoint a replacement for the remainder of Topinka's current term while Rauner will appoint a replacement for the term she recently won. Quinn wants the legislature to have a special election for the seat in 2016, but he can't force it and it probably won't happen.</i></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/64b29db7cee1444cbb474c0ec4ff200e/IL--Obit-Illinois-Comptroller" target="_blank">Today, Judy Baar Topinka died</a>. She had a long career and was quite popular across the state. She was also the sort to tell it like it is and not mince words. She will certainly be missed. She will also likely have lots of ink used to compare her to Jane Byrne who also recently died. Of course, since I'm me, I'm not going to focus on any of that. I'm going to focus on my (admittedly unqualified) opinions about the issues the timing of her death have left behind.<br />
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We're currently in the lame duck session. For those not familiar, it's the vast limbo between election day (November 4th) and inauguration day (January 20th). The late inauguration is a holdover from Ye Olden Dayes when it took time to gather information and to figure out what was going on and to travel across the state and/or country. When you had to go by horse, this made sense. However, we're now in a world where, nine times out of ten, we know the winner of any given election within hours of the polls closing. Some folks will even make (shockingly accurate) predictions within <i>minutes</i>. There's a whole cottage industry built around seeing who can predict the fastest (personally, I go with the <a href="http://dd.aoshq.com/" target="_blank">Ace of Spades HQ Decision Desk</a> which has been eerily good).<br />
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Regardless, this politically ancient process leaves us with almost three months where people who know they are out of a job still have power. If you've been voted out, you no longer need to worry about the ramifications of your actions. It's not like you can be voted out; that already happened! Imagine being at work and being told, "Hey, in three months you're going to be fired. Keep doing your job until then." What kind of work would you do? How motivated would you be? How many boxes of pens would you steal? Now imagine that you were partially responsible for a multi-billion dollar budget. It's insanity.<br />
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And it's what, finally, brings me around to what's currently rattling around in my head. See, back in November, Ms. Topinka ran for state Comptroller, seeking a second term. She won her election rather handily (49.56 to 45.67 to 4.76); not bad for a Republican in a pretty blue state, wave election or no. At the risk of sounding exceedingly ghoulish, the timing here couldn't have been much worse. Right now, the governor is a Democrat, but he lost his election. Judy was a Republican who had won re-election to her seat. So we have a lame-duck Democrat deciding who replaces a Republican before another Republican gets his job. Since she just died today, nobody's saying anything, but you know it's going to get messy and it's going to get messy fast.<br />
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Because Quinn can totally skunk Rauner on this, and I don't think there's anything anyone can do to stop him<i>.</i><br />
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<i> If the [...] Comptroller [...] office becomes vacant, the Governor shall fill the office by appointment. The appointee shall hold office until the elected officer qualifies or until a successor is elected and qualified as may be provided by law and shall not be subject to removal by the Governor. </i></blockquote>
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That's from the Illinois Constitution. If we want to take a strict reading, Quinn can't even punt on this to avoid it. He <i>shall</i> fill the office. I don't think that's the intent there, but I can't imagine Quinn just sitting on his hands regardless. So, Quinn gets to fill Topinka's seat for the lame duck session, and then it says filled until there's a qualified replacement; in other words, until someone gets elected. Which means, either a special election, or someone gets handed a state-wide office for four years. That's a helluva patronage gift. Or he could appoint himself to pad his pension with four more years.<br />
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Rauner and company will certainly argue it. They'll claim that Quinn's appointment will be for the lame duck session, and thus a new appointment will happen come January 20th. But, I don't read it that way. "The appointee shall hold office until [1]the elected officer qualifies or [2]until a successor is elected..." Well, [1] ain't never gonna happen. The dead only get to <i>vote</i> in this state, not hold office. That leaves the appointee in until [2] a successor is elected. And as an extra added "suck it", we have that trailing line about "shall not be subject to removal by the Governor". That last line adds some extra gunpowder to this situation, as Rauner wouldn't even be able to muscle his way through because he can't remove the appointee.<br />
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Of course, Quinn could diffuse the entire situation by getting in touch with the Rauner camp, find out who they would appoint, and appoint that person. It would be a pretty stand-up thing to do, and I would like to think that Quinn's that kind of a stand-up guy. Unfortunately, the knock-down, drag-out viciousness of this election, and the metric tons of mud that Quinn was flinging make me wonder.<br />
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The problem is, appointing a Democrat to the post is a short-term, petty victory, that will just make things more caustic in the state. Perhaps he figures that the electorate's goldfish-like memory would provide cover, but sometimes the public remembers the damndest things. And with the general popularity of Topinka, it might stick in several craws.<br />
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By my read of it, the ball is entirely in Quinn's court. Not even counting the political makeup of the State Supreme Court (Illinois Supremes are elected; currently it's 4D to 3R), I would expect them to side with Quinn, legally, being able to appoint until the next election (either a special or in 2018). Now, personally, I think it would be a bit of dirty pool for Quinn to appoint a hack (or himself) to the post. Appointing Sheila Simon might seem like a compromise, but if the people of Illinois had wanted Simon as Comptroller, they would have voted for her. Appointing the Rauner pick might seem like a wasted opportunity, but, dammit, it's the right thing to do.<br />
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Everyone complains about how divided everything is. How political everything is. How everyone's at everyone else's throat. How <i>nasty</i> it all is. This is a chance to climb out of the mud; to offer an olive branch. To maybe dial back the bile. Perhaps it's because that olive branch would help "my team", but I like to think I'd be advocating the same even if the parties were switched.<br />
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And, while we're at it, can we please address this archaic inauguration system? There's no reason we can't do this in December. Gives you a month for recounts and for everyone to get their ducks in a row. Outside of extreme situations, there won't be any need to delay. And if those situations come up, we have procedure for delayed inaugurations. And the occasional headaches caused by delayed inaugurations is nothing compared to the indigestion caused by lame duck sessions. Even when we aren't dealing with situations like this.Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-42251050439503255642014-12-07T09:14:00.001-06:002014-12-07T09:14:05.128-06:00Just Another Gig<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim0PuVnUKss1jabgwwWKffCEG4o8B9iECo4WqkR7b8GsSkAZ02AINQiWDr-Qv4W66wBJvxYu5VeWqOTMsnoI4a9OaxqY4mgS5muCmZdn08aAJe0jFmOSdGTX7d5-7qN-177FbBTeiLwpJN/s1600/tempduty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim0PuVnUKss1jabgwwWKffCEG4o8B9iECo4WqkR7b8GsSkAZ02AINQiWDr-Qv4W66wBJvxYu5VeWqOTMsnoI4a9OaxqY4mgS5muCmZdn08aAJe0jFmOSdGTX7d5-7qN-177FbBTeiLwpJN/s1600/tempduty.jpg" /></a></div>
I've <a href="http://www.tindalos.com/2014/07/lunar-descent.html" target="_blank">mentioned before</a> my love of "blue collar dudes in space". <u>Temporary Duty</u> falls into a fraternal-twin genre, "military grunts in space". As you can tell by the cover, this is not a glamorous duty. And I love it.<br />
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A little backstory is required here, I think. I found out about this book because I follow the blog of the person who did the cover image. Ric Locke self published the novel and was working on a sequel while he was in the process of dying of lung cancer. Part of the money from the novel went towards getting him oxygen tanks and such. I gladly bought a copy and then sat on the book for awhile (as I'm wont to do, apparently). By the time I got around to reading the book, I found out that Locke had already died. It was a weird experience, and I mentioned it on Facebook at the time. Anyway, all that aside, the book is well worth tracking down on the eReader of your choice.<br />
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<u>Temporary Duty</u> is set in a nebulous future where mankind has their first contact with aliens. The novel follows two enlisted sailors who are the first humans to go on the main alien ship, to help prep for the rest of the humans that will be arriving. That means lots of scut work, like that chap on the cover is doing. There is plenty of deck swabbin' going on in the first part of the book.<br />
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It's the slow, almost casual start that hooks me. Instead of whiz-bang action or excitement, it's an E5 and an E4 getting fitted for space-coveralls, getting language lessons, learning how to order lunch, getting used to a 30 hour day, and doing work detail. Mostly, again, swabbing decks.<br />
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It's because the aliens are traders. They're using the humans, essentially. The in-world politics are kind of amusing and strike me as perfectly reasonable. The political situation on Earth, though, is odd. It's a kind of runaway government kind of thing with a second depression mixed in and seasoned with a bit of Atlas Shrugged level intrusion. It's odd, to say the least. But, thankfully, it's more a backdrop the world is set against. It doesn't feel like polemic, even though it's pretty clear that Locke didn't think highly of Washington; in other words, his views are likely on display, but he's not beating you over the head with it (cough cough Ringo cough).<br />
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Anyway, around the half way point, the whole thing goes full on space opera, with damsels in distress, space pirates, conspiracies, and the whole shebang. It's great fun. The book wraps nicely, with room for a sequel, but a sequel isn't required. That's kind of bittersweet, since we'll probably never get a sequel as it sounds like Locke died before he was able to get much past the notes stage of his second book. It's too bad, because I would love to read about the further adventures of Peters.<br />
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Still, we must enjoy what we have, and that's a fantastic little military sci-fi book. Despite being about 540 pages, it's a quick, light read. It's great fun, and I really enjoyed it. I'm on my third or fourth read through now, and it's likely to be a go-to book when I need a break for years to come.Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2095395819551812729.post-85188485908318609912014-12-02T20:24:00.000-06:002014-12-02T20:25:46.784-06:00Would You Like a Haunting With That?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRfMXeaZqq8tfPrb3biaB7LGUEtMinZNux0iqkHnWXUwRNI5FiloB2ScKcMWXYNZM3tohvp2Aa90zuvBJURyBfyWfnhtI9mYsG_ISuVoaWw4cMhK6JfgZKALv_Hvz_kGLZ4mtAVxq4k69d/s1600/HauntingOfHillHouse.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRfMXeaZqq8tfPrb3biaB7LGUEtMinZNux0iqkHnWXUwRNI5FiloB2ScKcMWXYNZM3tohvp2Aa90zuvBJURyBfyWfnhtI9mYsG_ISuVoaWw4cMhK6JfgZKALv_Hvz_kGLZ4mtAVxq4k69d/s1600/HauntingOfHillHouse.JPG" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
Not to be confused with the movies House on Haunted Hill (1959) or House on Haunted Hill (1999). However, if you want to watch a film version, there is The Haunting (1963) and The Haunting (1999). Now we just need someone to make a movie called House Haunting Hill and we'll never know what the hell is going on.<br />
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My first exposure to this story was, sadly, the 1999 version of the Haunting. It has about as much in common with the original story as the House on Haunted Hill does; which is to say that both involve a) people and b) a haunted house. So, my short review of 1999's the Haunting is: don't bother. That being said, the 1959 House on Haunted Hill is a perfectly serviceable haunted house picture; I'd recommend it.<br />
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But enough yammering about confusingly named properties that are all to similar to each other in title if not in content. We're here to talk about Shirley Jackson's book! Briefly? It's fantastic.<br />
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In a way, reading the novel makes the 1999 remake all the more offensive. The 1999 version completely and utterly missed the point of the novel. It missed the creeping dread. The uncertainty of anything supernatural actually going on. It missed pretty much everything, in exchange for cranking out yet another overtly supernatural "horror" movie. Sadly, it failed even in that attempt. There's no horror, no suspense, no dread; just jump scares and horrible computer graphics.<br />
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Okay, I promise I'm done talking about the stupid movie now.<br />
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For those not familiar, <u>The Haunting of Hill House</u>, it is, on the surface, a weird little tale of people investigating a supposedly haunted house. However, like many of Shirley Jackson's works, there's a lot more going on that what we see at the surface.<br />
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Despite being relatively short, only two hundred pages or so, it is a powerful work that takes its time, slowly developing the situation. Slowly tweaking perceptions. Slowly changing reality. Slowly drawing the reader in.<br />
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Before hitting you right in the forehead with a hammer.<br />
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This book is kind of an odd duck. At times, I was forced to stop and back up to reread sections, because it felt like either I had skipped a page, or that reality had shifted by a few degrees. Since the story is mostly told from the perspective of one character, the strange shifts make sense. It's almost like Elenore is infected by a contagious madness that is slowly seeping into our supposedly impartial third-person narrator. Honestly, it's quite well done, and the overall effect is rather unnerving.<br />
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Like all good <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_and_terror" target="_blank">terror</a> stories, we're left with questions. Not just about what happens to the other people at the house, but of the house itself. And what is <i>actually</i> going on. Was Hill House actually haunted, or was it just a matter of a damaged and disturbed young woman? If it's an actual haunting, why did it act the way it did? Why did it pick on just one person? Was it satisfied with the conclusion? If it wasn't an actual haunting, how do you explain so many things that everyone saw?<br />
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Or was poor Elenore so disconnected from reality that <i>none</i> of this happened? Apparently, the people behind the 1963 version of the film thought that was the case and actually talked to Shirley Jackson about it. Jackson maintains that it's about the supernatural. And while the author's intent is important, there is something to be said that the reader's interpretation is just as important, <i>to that reader</i>. Personally, I think it's a mixture. Or rather, that the "presence" in the house is somewhat limited in what it can do -- it actually feels like a poltergeist, what with the banging on pipes and closing doors and so on -- but it is perfectly capable of pushing a woman already on the edge over the brink.<br />
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But even with all that, we still don't know much at all. Why was the house evil, or in the book's words, "not sane"? What was it about the place that brought out the worst in people? What evil lurked there, ready to tear into peoples' minds? The book makes mention of the angles of the walls all being wrong:<br />
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<i>It had an unbelievably faulty design which left it chillingly wrong in all its dimensions, so that the walls seemed always in one direction a fraction longer than the eye could endure, and in another direction a fraction less than the barest possible tolerable length;</i></blockquote>
Of course, the Lovecraft fan on me latched on to this description (and other mentions of things being subtly <i>wrong</i>). It spent my mind spinning about things being out of place and designed incorrectly (either intentionally or accidentally). Like the skyscraper in <i>Ghostbusters</i>. It's almost a form of sympathetic magic being done through architecture. Like the subtle wrongness was the source of madness, and the madness fed the wrongness, until it all spiraled into oblivion. An Ouroboros of insanity.<br />
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This is a very good story, and there's reason that it's a standard of the genre. It is not, however, anywhere near as good as <a href="http://www.tindalos.com/2014/09/a-brush-with-perfection.html" target="_blank">We Have Always Lived In The Castle</a>. Then again, there's a reason why one is considered a great novel and the other is considered her crowning achievement and masterpiece. It would be nice if more of Jackson's stories made it to reading lists. <i>The Lottery</i> is pretty standard, and continues to freak out students to this day, but it would be nice if that led people to explore more of what she's written. You want a (somewhat) modern female author to recommend? Give them Shirley Jackson's name. She was a master at her craft, and even though I'm trying to scale back book purchases (and read the ones I've got), I just know that eventually I'll be buying and reading everything she produced.Houndhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03356540228807473877noreply@blogger.com0