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Got a Secret

I was writing the Slumming sourcebook and stumbled across this little poison pill and it haunted me for hours. I finally broke down, opened iTunes and found it. The song is now swirling around my head as I type.

Perfect.

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Houses of the Blooded: No More Roses Liner Notes (Act 1)

When writing of No More Roses–the opera by Shivon Mwrr–scholars tend to call it one of his “mediocre masterpieces.” Mwrr wrote it in a time of mourning for his lover (the unnamed “Lady V" mentioned in his journals). His heart broken by grief, Mwrr made three aborted attempts to compose the piece, finally completing it five years later. He wrote, “Finished. And rightly so.” It was one of his last pieces before his lost swan song, Shadows and Love.

Mwrr’s opera is a re-telling of the Avreda and Ylvayne tale: two young lovers caught up in a game greater than themselves. In the end, they are manipulated and seduced by powers playing a complicated game of one upsmanship. Their love destroyed, one murders the other in a duel. An ending drenched in blood.

What follows is the rough outline we have for Mwrr’s opera along with the musical pieces he composed. It is not the final draft. Because we don’t know the ultimate resolution of the conflicts in his notes, we can only speculate how the opera may have ended…

Read more in the HotB Design Blog.
Listen to the Opera.

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Houses of the Blooded: The Valet Game

(a preview peek from the pages of Slumming: The Servants, Peasants and City Scum of Shanri)

Let’s assume everyone has a Valet or a Maid. If your character doesn’t already, congrats, you have one now.

First, get everyone in a circle.

Second, everyone turn to your left. That person, that player, is going to play your Maid or Valet…

* * *

More at the HotB Design Blog.
 

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Lieberman and Thompson make misleading claims about Obama on Day Two of the party in St. Paul.

(from Factcheck.org)

Joe Lieberman and his former Senate colleague Fred Thompson both made misleading claims about Obama in their prime time GOP convention speeches on Tuesday. We’ve heard two of them before – many times.

  • Lieberman said Obama hadn’t "reached across party lines" to accomplish "anything significant," though Obama has teamed with GOP Sens. Tom Coburn and Richard Lugar to pass laws enhancing government transparency and curtailing the proliferation of nuclear and conventional weapons.
  • Thompson repeated misleading claims about Obama’s tax program, saying it would bring "one of the largest tax increases in American history." But as increases go, Obama’s package is hardly a history-maker. It would raise taxes for families with incomes above $250,000. Most people would see a cut.
  • Lieberman also accused Obama of "voting to cut off funding for our American troops on the battlefield." But Obama’s only vote against a war-funding bill came after Bush vetoed a version of the bill Obama had supported – and McCain urged the veto.

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Houses of the Blooded: The Blood Opera Suite

You can listen to it here. CDs will soon be available. (The bonus tracks will not be on the CD; those went exclusively to the 100 Limited Edition pre-orders.)

The music is from Shivon Mwrr’s  version of Avreda and Ylvayne: No More Roses (the only complete ven opera we have).

I’ll have a summary of the plot–as well as notes on each track–in a little while. In the meantime, enjoy!

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VS

I’m a registered Libertarian. I believe in less government.
No, less than that.
No, less that that.

To be clear, I am neither a Liberal nor a Conservative. My political beliefs are not that simple. I’ve voted for both Republicans and Democrats based on what they promised me and whether or not they’ve kept those promises.

Last week, I watched the Democratic National Convention. I caught a few things that sounded wrong, checked with my suspicions over at Factcheck.org, and generally enjoyed the speeches. I disagreed with some of the stances, but otherwise found Obama and his supporters to be positive and trying to uphold a sense of dignity.

This week, I began watching the Republican National Convention. I nearly puked after the "USA! USA! USA!" chants. Sounded like a pro wrestling PPV.

(Fair notice: I’m a pro wrestling fan. That doesn’t mean I want my political discussions sounding like a smackdown between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin.)

I listened to Republicans say things like, "The Democrats are scared of our VP choice!" Ugh. No, they aren’t. They’re laughing at you. The spin was making me sea sick.

After a while, I stopped watching. It’s just too sad. Watching the Republican party lie to itself and try to lie to me.

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Dueling Pastors

If you thought Obama’s pastor was scary, wait till you get a load of Palin’s.

critics of President Bush will be banished to hell;
questioned whether people who voted for Sen. John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to heaven;
charged that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and war in Iraq were part of a war "contending for your faith;"
and said that Jesus "operated from that position of war mode."

Yikes.

Anybody else wanna justify breaking down the wall between Church and State?