WickedThought

I think my love affair with Los Angeles is finally over.

And, like most love affairs, it ended long before either party was willing to admit it.

Parking Lot: $3
Movie ticket: $7.50
Popcorn: $4.50
Coke: $4.50

Watching the first movie with a man who deserves to be called “James Bond”…

… Priceless

There are a few things I have to say about Gen Con. One of them is about a movie. I’ll start there.

Oldboy is a Korean revenge film. It is, by far, my favorite movie since Fight Club. It is, by far, one of the most fucked up and disturbing movies I have ever seen.

Recommended by jim pinto and memento-mori, I picked it up at the show, came home, got a Coke and some chips, sat down, and watched it. At the end, I was stunned. Nobody in Hollywood is making movies as daring, dangerous and disturbing as this. I never finished my Coke. The potato chips remained untouched after the first twenty minutes.

The story concerns a man–a pathetic, anonymous man–who is kidnapped and kept isolated for fifteen years. His prison is a locked hotel room where he is slipped food through a slot in the front door. His only companion is his television set.

Of course, there is an escape plan and there are direct references to The Count of Monte Cristo. (There is also a reference to the Philip K. Dick Book, The Man in the High Castle. But I’ll leave that alone for right now.)

The rest of the movie concerns our protagonist’s revenge against those who imprisoned him and the consequences of a ruthless search for the truth. And, as promised by my two recommenders, it has the best fight scene ever filmed. I shit you not, Faithful Reader.

I cannot recommend this movie with any higher degree of enthusiasm. Go rent it, buy it, do whatever you have to. See this movie. It will fuck you up beyond all recognition.

Finally…

They said they were showing up on Teusday. They couldn’t make it.

Then, they said they were showing up on Wednesday morning. Great. They didn’t show up. I called. They said they’d be here by 5:00.

5:00 rolled around. No plumbers. I called. They’ll be here first thing tomorrow.

It’s now 10:38. The plumbers just left. I can finally leave for Gen Con.

(I blame

)

This is a list of the 50 most significant science fiction/fantasy novels, 1953-2002, according to the Science Fiction Book Club. Bold the ones you’ve read, strike-out the ones you hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put an asterisk beside the ones you loved.

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov  *
3. Dune, Frank Herbert *
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein *
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin *
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson*
7. Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick *
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury *
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov *
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison *
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison *
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
22. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card *
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson * (loved and hated; a common response, I hear)
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
27. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams*
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson *
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin *
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny *
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick *
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut*
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein*
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock *
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks (if I didn’t like Tolkein, there was no way I was gonna like this; Alanon?!?!? Alanon?!?!!?)
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer *

pete_darby ran a game of Dragon for his kids. Then, he wrote up an actual play description that’s too adorable for words.

Damn, I love making new gamers.

Thanks Pete!

Act I.
Tuxedos and gowns find their places
But the program gives no warning
The lights go dim, the play begins
The stage is the violet light of morning
    In Carcosa

The sun bleeds in the East
The Hyades sing their dying throes
The stars rise to claim their prize
The Queen’s sad song still echoes
    In Carcosa

Songs of sorrow, songs of pain
Masked and robed and disguised
All hope has fled the Queen in Red
Her Fate still unrecognized
    In Carcosa

The Queen grows weary of wordy games
Her daughter dances delusioned
Her son sings her songs, but her heart belongs
Away from the mists and illusions
    Of Carcosa

The audience shifts uncertain
What is rhyme and what is reason
Uneasy in their seats, deceptions and deceits
They begin to suspect a treason
    In Carcosa

At midnight a stranger calls
The Palid Mask, the perfect disguise
O King in tatters, the clock is shattered
He turns to us with his awful eyes…

Act II.
I am the last and terrible King
    Have you found the Yellow Sign?
    (Yhtill! Yhtill! Yhtill!)

And this is the wisdom that I bring
    Have you found the Yellow Sign?
    (Yhtill! Yhtill! Yhtill!)

The Phantom of Truth dispels
    Have you found the Yellow Sign?
    (Yhtill! Yhtill! Yhtill!)

All the Heavens and all the Hells
    Have you found the Yellow Sign?
    (Yhtill! Yhtill! Yhtill!)

Peel away the mask, the pale facade
    Have you found the Yellow Sign?
    (Yhtill! Yhtill! Yhtill!)

And fall into the hands of your living god
    Have you found the Yellow Sign?
    (Yhtill! Yhtill! Yhtill!)

Sitting in front of my computer,
Drinking Scottish mead,
Typing in my Livejournal,

Listening to the first Awful Lot EP.

Life could not be bette…

wait a sec…

(checks bedroom)

… well, I guess one thing could have made it better. But still…

Some guy dressed in a V costume (yes, from the graphic novel; there was a movie?) walked up to the White House and other DC buildings dropping off “Petitions for Redress of Grievances relating to the Government’s violations of the war powers, tax, privacy and money clauses of the Constitution, and to inform key Government officials that at least 100 more “Vs” would be at their doorstep on November 14th expecting a response to the Petitions.”

He was confronted by police, homeland security and secret service. He calmly stated his case with intelligence and preparation.

There’s an essay, and two videos.

Brave, brave, brave.

And bravo.

I will be a Special Gaming Guest at DarkCon 2007.

Also there will be Jewel Staite (Kaylee from Firefly), Liz Danforth, and Ken St. Andre (yeah for both!).

You’ll want to be there.