Open that box and hand me my cigar...

Samuel L Jackson is Nick Fury?

Sweeet.

New Trailers

First up, Hellboy 2, followed by Hancock, and a spectacular finish by Axe Hero.

Maybe later, I'll pontificate upon the comic series The Runaways, which I think could make a cool movie.

Fan Films

While "Grayson" is IMO the best fan film in existance, I feel the need to share the love for some others.

Keeping in the superhero theme, I recently watched "Worlds Finest" by Collora Studios and "Batman Dead End" by Montauk Films & Level 7. While not as good as Grayson, they are still pretty cool endeavors. I was quite surprised by where "Dead End" went.

Switching speeds to the genre that originally got me into fan films (Star Wars), there's "TROOPS." I would rate this as my 2nd fav. "Broken Allegiance" does a good job, but there's something about it that never sat right with me. "Revelations" is pretty good, potentially better than BA, but it was completely over-hyped by the time I saw it. I've downloaded "Seeds of Darkness" 1-3 and I've watched the first one. So far, so good. They haven't done much to attempt to botch it, but we'll see what happens in the other two parts.

So, if you've the bandwidth, I'd suggest checking out any of these fan films.

Continuing on the comics theme

I'm not necessarily up to date on things. This is me we're talking about here.

T Gallows
Red Sky Diaries still isn't being made. However, Tim Bradstreet is working with Thomas Jane on a movie called Dark Country. Too bad they didn't work on P2 together. I'm still not convinced P2 will be that great without Jane as Punnie.

With Punisher Max #60, Tim is leaving The Punisher. While I've been a fan of the Pulverizer since his days as a guest star in such fine comics as Spider Man and Capt. America, it was the knowledge that Bradstreet was doing the covers of new Punisher comics that got me to start picking up the trade paperbacks (like I said, I'm not exactly timely).


RPGs into Movies
Matt Forbeck's rpg Brave New World is in the process of being made into a movie. I saw his "fan film" style trailer at GenCon this past summer. It was okay, nothing special, though. My bro Foster clued me into the fact that it's been picked up.

Mutant Chronicles is being made into a movie, as well. Filming is in England, I do believe. Thomas Jane, John Malkovich, Ron Pearlman, Devon Aoki, and Anna Walton are all starring in it.


Comics in Person
I'm off to one of my local comic shops today. Buddy of mine is doing a signing for his comic book series and I need to pick up a fig to use in edige's Crescent City: The Heroes of New Orleans Mutants & Masterminds game. I'm working on the netbook for the game. I'm hoping to get more artwork into before posting it for the world to see. I'm also hoping the other players will send me information on their characters so I can include it in the book.

Batman Begins comment

I've been watching Batman Begins the past two nights. With edige's M&M game starting soon, I find myself in the mood for superhero/vigilante action.

As I watched the chase scene with the "Bat-tank," I took notice of the landscape. I recognized a lot of the scenery and buildings. Lower Wacker, below Lower Wacker, the various bridges, the buildings in the Loop, it's all there. I've always liked knowing such insider knowledge, as much as is it is insider knowledge. No, it isn't insider knowledge, but it kind of feels like it and let's face it, we all like being one the inside.


One side note, today is Of Masks and Men's birthday. If you have a chance, swing by and wish him a happy birthday! I already did so, over dinner.

Heroes - not the tv show

(ed. note: I've added at least two new links to other blogs today. Check 'em out!)

First, picked up Guitar Hero 3 after playing Rock Band at edige's over Thanksgiving brak. RB is a way awesome game. It was much fun to play with Kaiju, Mrs. Kaiju, edige, and everyone else! However, as I don't own a PS3 or 360, I went with GH3. I've nver played any of the GH games, but I'm slowly making this one my bitch!


Second, I finished up my draft background for my character in edige's M&M game. Domino will be in that game, as well. If anyone knows where to find or has the old Korean M&M paperdoll program, give me a holler, we'd love to use it, but don't have it. I thought I'd actually share somethign with you folks that I wrote, that isn't "my life drama." So, if you are interested, here's the character background. (And if that's not your schtick, stop reading, now. There's nothing else to this post!)

Real Name: Carson Trudeau
Aliases: nicknamed Kit; no known superhero name
Identities: no known secondary IDs
Occupation: owner, Trudeau Development and Reconstruction, NOLA
Citizenship: USA
Place of Birth: Baton rouge, LA
Relatives: Dennis Trudeau (father), Ruth Trudeau (d) (mother), Charles Trudeau (d) (uncle), Corinne Trudeau (aunt), Terrence, William, Jude, and Delta (Dunbar) Trudeau (all cousins), Walter Trudeau (grandfather), Patricia Trudeau (d) (grandmother)
Group Affiliation: none currently
Education: LSU
First Appearance: Baton Rouge’s defense during the Second Sunder War

Hair: Black
Eyes: Dark Brown
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 195 lbs.

Costume Colors: Dark Green and Dark Blue

History
Kit’s father and uncle owned a successful construction company in Baton Rouge. Kit and his cousins eventually inherited the company after the uncle died (oddly) and Kit’s father decided he didn’t want to keep on after his brother’s death. Kit’s father moved to an old family properly in New Orleans that was not being used.

Kit’s mother died when he was young. Kit was told she died in a car accident. Kit is an only child.

Kit was not overly close to his cousins. They went to different schools and only saw each other during holidays.

While Kit was growing up, his father was aloof. Running the company and being a very competitive man kept him away from Kit. Kit alternately blamed his mother’s death and himself for his father’s absence.

Kit played defensive back (football) in high school and gained a college scholarship with it. Kit studied urban planning and architecture during college in order to carry on the family business.

After the end of the Second Sunder War, Kit decided it was time to expand the family business. He sold his “shares” of the family business to his cousins. He took that money and used it to help start the New Orleans branch of the company. Kit’s cousins contributed the monies that Kit couldn’t front to start the New Orleans branch. He is paying them off through a plan that will result in him being a full partner with the cousins, while owning the New Orleans business.

Kit’s departure from the Baton Rouge office left behind a somewhat bitter rift among some of the employees. Several of the well-liked and efficient employees left with Kit. Some left out of loyalty and friendship, others for the growth opportunity. Rumours ran amock as to why Kit and various employees left to start the New Orleans branch. None of the rumours made it to the media.

Kit immediately began using his family name to land contracts. When the family name didn’t work, he used his contacts back in Baton Rouge. When those didn’t work, he did everything he could to under-cut his competition. Kit’s ambition was fueled by his personal ambition to establish the company in New Orleans and his drive to help the people of New Orleans reclaim their lives. To achieve these ends, he has worked with several different civic organizations to donate work and has purposely taken losses on jobs to guarantee his company gained contracts. On the opposite end of this work, his company has built high-end condos, rebuilding family mansions, and developed retail areas to bring in big sales.

Kit has worked his way into city hall, giving him direct access to the movers and shakers in the city. His day-to-day company operations are more about wheeling and dealing than doing design work. He often continues this into the evening attending galas and parties.

Paranormal
Kit’s experience with the paranormal first began during the Second Sunder War. Kit and several of his employees (complete with their families) gathered in one of the company’s more secure buildings in the Baton Rouge area. As one of Sunder’s patrol units moved through the area searching for “capes,” Kit’s hideout was discovered. The lone Sunder minion that had entered the building was immediately set upon. What Kit and his fellows in hiding did not realize, was that this minion was not alone.

Hearing the cries of their comrade, the rest of the patrol made a grand entrance. The patrol hit Kit’s group hard. Bones snapped and blood splattered. After the first round of casualties, Kit’s group aggressively fought back. Handguns and long guns were brought out, quickly evening the level of lethality being dealt.

After breaking his souvenir baseball bat across the neck of the patrol’s leader, Kit resigned himself to death. Already, the leader had taken two rounds of buckshot to the chest with no visible complaints and the broken bat had no effect upon him. However, when the Sunder lieutenant grabbed Kit by the neck, a dark green aura suddenly enveloped Kit’s body. The leader immediately let out a scream of pain and let go of Kit.

Not exactly realizing what was occurring, Kit pressed the attack. This brought about another power. Between Kit’s new-found powers and the firearms, Kit’s crew won the fight. They quickly gathered their dead and injured, stealing away to another safe house to wait out the war.

Kit had no idea how his powers developed. He asked those with him not to divulge this secret to the public. Kit wanted a chance to research these abilities and test for new ones, before letting the cat out of the bag.

With the end of the Second Sunder War, Kit moved on to New Orleans to start a new branch of the company. To those employees who witnessed his powers during the war, he offered lucrative jobs in his new office. He wasn’t fond of the idea of leaving behind people who knew his secret. All of them accepted his offer “they could not afford to refuse.”

In New Orleans, Kit moved into the family home. His father was not there when he arrived and Kit would not see him again anytime soon. Kit made the home his own, including hiring a housemaid to clean and do laundry once a week. He spent time going through his father’s belongings, searching for clues as to his father’s whereabouts. Kit found nothing, moving the boxed up property into the attic.

Two months later, while watching an HBO special on the Second Sunder War, Kit found his father – kind of. The third night of the miniseries included a section on super villains. While his father was not named (real name or nom de guerre), Kit recognized him. (Not sure how – signet ring, domino mask not covering enough to hide the fact of who he was to a family member, ???)

Kit’s father had teamed up with five other super villains to fight Sunder’s army, under the leadership of The Water Bug. The Water Bug was the only super villain in the group named on the HBO special. He and two of the other six group members died before the end of the war. The television special showed them in action in the New Orleans area during the war. Mention was made of the team members’ deaths, but no mention was made of the current activities of the surviving members – or whether any of them were still working together.

It was a fleeting moment, but a moment none-the-less.

Power
Kit’s paranormal abilities that manifested during the fight with the Sunder patrol were most likely Energy Aura or Force Field and Earth Blast or Magma Blast. Since then, he has developed at least one more power and has constantly pushed his limits to discover more.

Potential paranormal abilities include:
Earth Control Ultimate Power page 152
o Dazzle
o Earth Blast
o Density effect
UP 152
o Snare
o Move Object (automatic power for Earth Control per the text)
Energy Aura UP 154
Force Field UP 158
Absorption UP 124
Shield UP 189
Ward UP 200
Spatial Control UP 191

Energy Aura appears to be vines and thorns wrapping around Kit’s body.



Appropriate areas of knowledge:
Acrobatics
Diplomacy
Drive
Escape Artist (low level at most)
Gather Information
Intimidate
Investigate
Knowledge
Civics
Business
Notice
Profession
Engineering
Architecture
Search
Sense Motive
Stealth
Swim

Shrimp E'toufe'e Day

Yes, you see, no turkey here. Nope. Instead, we had:

Shrimp E'toufe'e
Pork with rum glaze
Red beans and rice
Yams
Waldorf Salad
Croissants
Pumpkin Pie
Peanut Butter Pie

And daaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmn it was good.

On top of that - SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good day.

Star Wars reference and Comic

For those of you that know where I live, you'll get this. Everyone else, nope.

My hotel room for the past two nights here in Grand Rapids is in the "E" wing of the building.


Picked up The Punisher: In the Beginning, as well as, Runaways #2-5 tonight. I'm not sure if I like Mike Bradstreet's covers or Garth Ennis' writings more, but I think Punisher (old, older, and new) may be my favourite "super hero" of all time. When I was a kid, I loved Spider Man. By the time I was a teenager I was enjoying Judge Dredd, and the Batman. During all of that, I watched for all sightings of the Punisher that I could. These weren't the only comics I was reading, but they were the comics I looked forward to the most.

And here I am, preparing to play in my second ever rpg. The first one was run by Malric. It was a Champions game and I started as a guest star. He knew I was free the night of his regular game and needed another player to round out the group for a couple of nights. I played a hero named Shackle. I could control chains and cuffs and the like. No sharp pointy bits like Hellraiser, but close enough. It went okay and I asked to be let in on a regular basis as Shackle. I don't remember how long I played. In time, the format (Friday night fights) and the rest of my life led me to move on.

For this second game, the rules will be Mutants and Masterminds and the group will be different. Malric will be in the game, as will OfMasksandMen, two other players, the GM, and myself. I'm trying to come up with a character concept that is more hero orientated than the Punisher. It's hard, but I'm trying.

To help with that, I've begun reading Runaways. This comic tells the tale of a set of kids who witness their parents as supervillains and how they react/fight back. It's definetly on the heroic side and the second trade paperback has Cloak and Dagger in it. How crazy is that?

Anyways, work has slowed down long enough for me to think about making this post and actually doing so. Go me!

I may also have a four day weekend...after making my Thanksgiving Dinner ~ more on that later!

AFMBE city book idea

So, I'm thinking about putting together notes for a city sourcebook for AFMBE. Not sure where I'll go with it, keep it to myself or try to sell it or what have you. Anyways, I'm looking for outside thoughts.

First off, what products already out there do you consider good renditions of this idea? Examples that I can think of include City of the Spider Queen, the various Cities by Night, and Castle of Zagyg vol 1.

Next up, which style would you prefer:
1.) One Deadworld
2.) One city, three Deadworlds - Rise of the Zombies, Fall of Humanity,

Think 96-128 page sourcebook. Lots of info and stuff in both versions, but I'm curious what folks would prefer.


(cross-posted all over the place)

Upcoming Projects

I'm listing these here, as they are off the beaten path. Hell, if you read this and your blog isn't linked to from here, speak up. I'm curious as to who else comes here to read. No worries, just curious.

Eden Studios Presents 4 - finish last article and ToC, then send to George and Alex
Eden Studios Presnts 5 - begin work on
PentaCon - bill paid, now to get GMs for the event
Book of Archetypes 3 and press announcement
Return to the Worlds of the Dead and press announcement
AFMBE 2
Zombie Master Toolkit - post needs for charts
Bad guys and creatures manual - again, why do all the work myself. submissions anyone?
Beaver City
Zombie Survival Stories
Book of War
Necropolis Ascendant
Post-Apoc Zombie book

GenCon Days 2-4

I got real busy, real tired, and damned lazy. Here's a summary of the rest of the event.

Picked up Soloman Kane\. SK is just too beautiful to not buy it. I didn't go for the t-shirt and prints package for an extra $50 though.

I picked up gifts for the girls, Jannine, and little Max.

Had a couple of nice dinners, one at St. Elmo's - veddy veddy nice.

Hung out with Tommy at the Safe House. Be sure to keep an eye out for your guardian angel.

Looked in on the Black and White Dance - was veddy veddy frightened.

Met Jaime Chambers. Threatened to steal his employees if he kept using ours.

Thought up more projects to work on, including a genre book we haven't done or started. doh!

George was gyped out of a chance to win the big prize for the Hal0clix tourney. BASTARDS!

GenCon Day 1

Picked up new products - Victoriana (new edition, much larger and more expensive) and Colonial Gothic - check check
Decent day in sales - check
Ate gratuitous dinner at the Ram so I don't have to eat there the rest of the week - check
Met and hung out with two of my authors - checkity check
Drank someone else's beer all night for free - CHECK!


Now, the hall is the same size as last year. However, this year there is a large contingent of electronic companies taking up space and an artists'/authors' row that is taking up 1/4 to 1/3 of the hall. That, to me, is interesting. I think it shows the glut of d20/OGL companies are gone and the "indie" folks who don't realize they are indie are gone. The number of legit looking anime and movie dealers is up. The number of clothing/weapon dealers is about the same. (I believe Pennsic ended last week.)

So, uhm, yeah, very interesting.

Saw Gina, Fritz, and Robbie.

Saw an unopened box of Tannhauser. OMFG it looks beautiful! I want to put the material into an rpg setting.

I'm 99% sure the Starcraft boardgame is sold out.

Soloman Kane won't be available until today at noon. Shane, being the geek he is, hasn't even seen it.

The BSG book looks like ass. They had an intern do the lay out. Picture the Serenity book without some common sense. Very little art. Very expensive book - $45 I think - and maybe 256 pages at most.

Buffy core books are half price at the Eden booth. Magic Box is most likely officially sold out, unless some come back from the book trade. Not likely.

There's a new zombie board game out, it's $50. It looks a heckuva lot better than anything Twilight ever put out for Zombies!!!

GenCon Day 0

Arrive and get into hotel room with G and the boys - check
Booth is set up - check.
Discover big announcement will be about 4e - check.
Discuss new ideas with G about future products - check.
Copy of AtZ is mine - check.
Did the Diana Jones Awards - check.
Chased out of Diana Jones Awards due to fire in the building - check.

Oh yeah, this is going to be an interesting year.

Beer!

Haven't blogged in awhile. Life's been bad busy. Work is kicking my ass in a bad way. I ran the numbers and I discovered that I should be doing 84.5 days of work in a 60 day time period. Maybe that's why I'm buring out, neh?

My new game starts on Sunday. I'll be a player. I'm not the greatest of players, but I'm really looking forward to this one.

I came home today to a box sitting on my front porch. It had a company name as the sender's address that I didn't recognize. So, I get it inside and open the box up. Inside, I find a letter and two of these:



It turns out the guys responsible for Beer Advocate (website and magazine!) decided to thank all of us founding sponsers with those glasses. The glasses are awesome and so are the guys from Beer Advocate!

July 4th Vacation Pick Up games

I've got a slow week coming at me and would love to do some gaming. So, if anyone is free today (until 6pm), Saturday, or even Sunday, get in touch and let's play!

I'd even go for a Kung-Fu Fighting or FRAG! tourney!


I know most of you crazy kids have set games, but whatever. Call, post here, email, something. And yes, I know, these posts never generate any luck, but I must try you see.

Oh, and since I'm rambling, I think I have to go to upstate NY next week. Anyone want to be how slow the air travel will be?

Addendum

The rum is gone.

/me sad, now

Iron GM contest at The Village

from edige23:

Once again we will be doing the IRON GM competition. For those of you not familiar with it, contestants are given a set of words and use those to write up an rpg idea.

Anyone on the board can enter. Entries need to be submitted by June 30th.

The basics are as follows:

This is open to people on the Village, or other people generally invited. If you know someone who might be interested—tell me. The contest itself is run off of this board, The Village. The address is http://village.shinies.net/index.php. If you’re not already a member you can join the board easily.

Each participant will get a set of five randomly chosen key-words like: Ronin, Tyranny, Fairies, China, Berserk, Revolutionary War, Mamlukes, Cyborg, Libraries, Golem, Low-Orbit, Vizers, Wrestling, Anchors, Lulliputian, Sewers, and so on. Everyone’s keywords will be different. If you hate your first set of keywords, you may ask for a second, but you must take the second set. There will be no duplication of keywords between participants. Keywords will be sent out individually.

Participants will then have until June 30th to come up with a setting, campaign outline or adventure that incorporates at least three of those keywords as central or crucial elements. Entries should be between 2000 and 3000 words long. All entries will remain the intellectual property of their author, or optionally the author may chosen to place under something like the Creative Commons license. No stats or mechanics are necessary.

Entries will be submitted to me (edige23@gmail.com) and I will then post them on the Village Board—this will keep the entries relatively anonymous. You should note the keywords you’ve used at the start of your entry. Voting will be open through the 4th of July—with everyone able to vote for a first and second place entry. First place votes will get two points and second will get one point. Highest total points will win; in the event of a tie we can do a run off.

The winner of the contest will receive a $50 gift certificate to the online store of their choice (within reason).

If you'd like to participate, just send me a pm or e-mail and I will send you a list of words. Even if you only have a slight interest, go ahead and ask for a set of words in case it sparks your creative juices (or whatnot).

Ahoy, lubbers!

Eleven years ago, six friends came across a treasure map. They followed the map all the way to the mouth of a cave. Being young and impressionable, they turned chicken and called it a day. In time, each take a piece of the map as a souvenir and memory.

Now, two of those friends have turned up dead and those left alive are not exactly the best of friends.

One has signed a charter with the crown to head a Privateer ship. He sails the seas pirating ships of other kingdoms, taking a percentage and turning the rest in to the local governor. Little does he know, but someone has been making the rounds looking for him in all the usual places of scum and villainy.

Another sits in a brig of the capital. He stands accused of theft, impersonating a naval officer of the crown, extorting the wives of good men, and claiming the virtue of more than one lady. The guards claim he’ll be swinging by the neck before dawn. He figures it’s either that or what happened to his two dead mates.

The third sails upon HMS Relentless. He lives for hunting pirates, buccaneers, and privateers. He’s lost many a man to the raiders and slavers, but still sails on. Scars, swords, and pistols make up his life these days – as more and more pirates are seen on the waters and in ports.

The fourth is now a captain of the guard, protecting the governor’s lands and people for the crown. They were unlucky enough to come across their friend while enjoying the virtues of a lady while said lady’s husband was meeting with the governor to discuss banking options for the island. Little does he know, but he’s about to be the nexus of a crises that could have been averted many years ago by six childhood friends.

Running, and GPSing

It looks like Kaiju and I may get the South Bend Run Club up and, well, running. He took the idea from here. I'm really hoping this gets going, because right now I have no rpg game and I'm starting to go crazy from the lack of rp. Kaiju described the run club this way at The Village.


The premise of Run Club is simple. Everyone in the group agrees to take turns running a self-contained game in one session. The GM gets to choose the game. There can be many variations – I suppose a two- or even three-session game isn’t out of the question – if everyone agrees to it.


Because of the time factor involved in planning for each session, the break between is longer – every six weeks, every two months, three months, etc. Again, whatever is agreed upon.


What are the advantages of doing this? I can think of many:


A chance to play in something new and different

A ready-made place for playtesting new material

An easy time commitment. There is the structure of a regularly-scheduled game, but it isn’t frequent enough to interfere with other commitments

And, my favorite, a chance to run something completely wacky and out there. If you have an idea (or several) for something that may not work out well in a traditional campaign, or you have a game you've been itching to play, this is the place to give it a try.








In June, I'm hoping to get a chance to visit the following down in Muncie. Not sure if I will or not. We shall see...


Groundspeak, in partnership with Trimble and Minotaur Maze Exhibits, is pleased to announce the creation of a new exhibit designed to teach people of all ages about navigation, GPS technology and geocaching.


GPS Adventures is a hands-on traveling exhibit that features GPS technology-its history, current uses and future possibilities; and simulates geocaching by leading visitors through a 2,500 square foot maze rich with interactive experiences.


In honor of the exhibit's national premiere on June 2nd at Minnetrista, a museum and cultural center located in Muncie, IN, a geocaching event will be held from 2 - 4 p.m. Join visitors from Groundspeak, exhibit creator Minotaur Maze Exhibits, development sponsor Trimble and technology contributor Magellan for an opening ceremony and meet-and-greet, and enter a drawing to win a free GPS receiver. Then be among the first to experience the GPS Adventures Maze Exhibit!


For those who can't make it we'll be uploading pictures of the event. In the next week we'll also be launching a new web site that describes the traveling maze in more detail.


For more information about this event, exhibit and related activities, please visit Minnetrista's web site below.
http://www.minnetrista.net/

Congrats and images

Congrats to Wojo, as Soozen said, "Yes!" or something to that effect when he popped the question. See their blogs for more details!!!

Now, on to photos. I spent a few days this week in Chicago. I went out one evening walking. I stopped by the Chicago Tribune building and took a few pics of the various things in the walls. Then I moved on to the plaza and took a photo of a bull. This is followed by two pics of buildings across the street. A skywalk connects the two buildings. I oversaturated one of the pics to make it a little easier to see of what I was taking pictures. Next I wandered down to the MilleniuM Park and took a photo of me in the Cloud Gate. And I ended the evening with a pic of R2D2 helping the postal service.

Enjoy~

from a Japanese Shinto Shrine


from the Great Pyramid of Giza


from a bridge in the Forbidden City


from the Edinburgh Castle

Grand River Ledges pics

I took these pictures while GeoCaching (of course) with my cell phone (well duh!).

The view across the river.

Some pictures of the ledges.

Now back to creating a log of which to hit on my 9 day vacation that starts Friday!

Can I get this thing working

Man, LJ seems so much easier to use. Guess I just need to play with this one a bit.