Currently Watching
Transitioning through a romantic (comedy) movie phase – hopefully this is pre-temporal compensation for crazy testosterone fueled Iron Man 2. Still haven’t figured out how to find people to watch Avatar – I should do that before it’s off all the 3D theaters. Currently plowing through “How I Met Your Mother” – not really so much about meeting the mother, it would seem, but it’s definitely a solid rom-com-slash-sit-com. Doing a lot of wrestling with the digital software acquisition – actually, starting to seriously contemplate “monthly rental systems”. Paying a fixed amount per month for “more candy than I can eat” is starting to sound very interesting.
Still working through my feelings about “Guns, Germs and Steel” by Jared Diamond, and of course the mixed bag of movies I plowed through…We’ll see what happens about “regular blog updates” – probably about on par with the “regular piano practice for my sister’s wedding”. And then there’s going to be random travelling to Toronto…
Cthulhu + Anime = Cthulhutech
In some sense, I’m surprised I don’t see this used more often. Old, terrible horrors beyond human comprehension coming from beyond space and time – Cthulhu and the rest of the the Lovecraft pantheon of monsters would make a great foil to any superheroic team. Anyways, in Cthulhutech they’ve crossed this with the anime action of Evangelion – humanity resorting to giant robot research projects, harnessing powers of things we really don’t know and skirting at the edge of humanity for the sake of the survival of humanity. After all, mixed messages in culture about victory at any cost, by any means. We’re encouraged to try our hardest, and push back when we’re being crushed…but no one likes to talk about the boundary when we start thinking about consequences. Be all you can be…but what of those crushed in your wake?
I guess decisions aren’t tough if they actually have an answer. It’ll be interesting to see how “the Last War” plays out…although the website seems to imply that there’ll be a good number of books for the story. Neverending story of the End times, it looks like…
More Tales from Korval: Fledgling
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller team up again (or really, it’s as usual for this pair) to bring us a side story — Fledgling. Interesting is that this is a side story that’ll be supported by fan donations, with the added bonus of publication if there’s enough support. As an added incentive, $25 into the pot will get you a copy of the final publication if/when it happens. I’d already dropped it in before starting to read, but regardless, the chapters are free for anyone to read, and there’ll be a new chapter each week. Not sure I’m really a fan of the episodic nature — I’m more of a read till you hit then end kind of client — but I won’t turn down any amount of stories of Korval. It’s probably my second-most favorite series, right after the Vorkosigan stories by Lois McMaster Bujold — and the next Miles Vorkosigan novel is currently in the air.
Interesting idea is the “Storyteller’s Bowl” purchase mechanic — the idea that you can tell a partial story, and then get paid to keep on going. It’s got a good sense of incentive for the author/performer — if the story is good, there’ll be more money in the bowl. Then again, the temptation to “blackmail the reader”, and, of course, the classic cliffhanger endings. The “Insert Coin to Continue” trick…
TwinRAM 