Meeting of the Minds

This weekend will mark a momentous event - the first annual Spycraft Design Summit, in which the brains of Spycraft come together to talk shop, play some games of the CCG, and enjoy a weekend of ideas and good food while looking to the future for 4 days. This year, I'll be hosting the summit in my humble abode, along with Patrick Kapera and Scott Gearin. Should be a blast - Scott arrives in a few hours and things kick into high gear tomorrow with Pat's arrival. Whee!

Wish I updated more? Got a blog of your own?
Well, now the lazy and impatient can use the Semi-Automatic LiveJournal Entry Generator to create blog posts without the muss and fuss of topical conversation or personal input. Thanks to Rum & Monkey for this one.

Nazi Shortcuts
A genius send up of the cinematic Nazi, of great interest for those of you using German baddies in your game.

Sheer Genius

The life of a post-college bachelor, graphed for your pleasure.

Pulp and Noir

I preface with an apology to Jason Olsan - dude, it's not you, it's the industry. You just got me thinking about it :)

The newly overused term "pulp-noir" has really started to grate on my nerves of late. It all started with Eberron's massive marketing campaign, and has crept from there into gamers' vernacular, and on into new media just describing Eberron computer games, and other "old" 20's-40's themed pieces. This must stop - my hate for this phrase is nearing my disgust for the use of cat-people in games (as described in this post).

Pulp and noir are two very different genres. In fact, I would go so far as to say they are on the polar opposite ends of the story telling spectrum, thesis and antithesis.

Pulp, particularly the Golden Age of pulp as recounted in characters like Doc Savage or more recently Indiana Jones and the Rocketeer, is about adventure and epic encounters. The stakes are always high and the heroes define what's right and good in the world. Very often, the characters of these stories are modern incarnations of Greek epic heroes like Odysseus - bright, gifted, powerful men who are as good with the ladies are they are with a quick gun or a firm sock to the jaw. Pulp characters change the world, explore exotic new lands, and ultimately overcome all challenges laid before them by the end of the reel. They are what their audience should aspire to be, for they represent possibility and adventure and romance.

Noir, particualarly the Golden Age of film as exemplified by characters by Jeff Bailey of Out of the Past and Sam Spade of The Maltese Falcon, is about corruption and dangerous encounters. The stakes are always risky and the heroes and villains alike blur the line of right and wrong. Very often, the characters of these stories are modern incarnations of the players in a Greek tragedy - inherently flawed, cursed by fate, as much a sucker for the ladies as an easy score or an old habit. Noir characters are suffocated by the world, explore the darkest reaches of modern urban society, and ultimately succumb to the vagaries of fate by the end of the reel. They are what the audiences should be afraid to be, for they represent the basest actions, dark thoughts and foolishness in all of us.

I think the confusion stems from two factors.

1) Both were created in a past that seems lost to us, a time of world wars and hooch-smugglers and gangsters. The hard boiled novel, the foundation for the noir hero, is a contemporary of the pulp novel and likely shared the same dimestore racks. But pulp and noir are products of two different ages: pulp novels were immensely popular in the 20's, a time of progress and prosperity, where everything was blue sky and the stock market couldn't be stopped; noir came about after the depression and the horrific revelations of the second World War, a time when we came to know the heart of darkness in men, the destructive power of the atom, and that things can always get worse.

2) Many people think of noir as an aesthetic. It is, but not just a visual one, with deep shadows and black and white film, which is often confused by modern films that want to incorporate noir imagery into a pre WWII style. Noir is an attitude, a cynicism about the world that pulp never shared. Its take is essentially negative, that human beings are frail, flawed, and easily drawn towards self-destruction. Its aesthetic penetrates storytelling, character development, expression, and yes, lighting. Where pulp is about hope, noir is about fate. Where pulp aspires, noir wades. Where pulp glamorizes, noir sullies.

So in the end I say - don't use the adjective 'pulp-noir'. It only makes you look like a dumbass at worst, or an ignoramus at best. At least, to noir snobs like me ;)

P.S. - Incidentally, I own 9 of the 10 most cynical films, as listed by this IMDB user. Is it any surprise that I love noir?

R.I.P. Judy Gleason, 1944-2004

Though I only had the pleasure of meeting my good friend Marty's parents on a small handful of occassions, I can say that Pat and Judy were some of the most earnest, pleasant, and passionate people I've ever met. Though cancer took Judy's life, as well as her husband's, it never robbed her of her wonderful spirit. We are worse off for your being gone, Fleurette, but know that you are better off for the trip. Send good thoughts/karma/prayers/donations to cancer research towards Marty and Tony - they've had a rough year and a half.

Biography
Clayton Oliver is my new biographer. The book will be titled From Russia with Nerd: the Alex Flagg Story and will be published by Random House next fall. Here's an excerpt:

"Actually, Alex is a rogue Soviet experiment melding android physiology with bio-engineered pheromones who was raised to adolescence on a steady diet of early-Cold War Americana. The result was a tireless pop-culture-obsessed sex-and-writing machine with a yearning for free expression who escaped his Kamchatka compound in early 1992 and stowed away on a FedEx flight to Boise."

And it's all TRUE!

Shaun of the Dead
A-frikkin'-mazing. Easily the best movie I've seen in the theatre all year, and certainly in the top 3 of my 2004 viewings. Genuinely funny jokes and sublime sense of humor, excellent knowlege of the genre (with plenty of homages), and written with characters you actually care about. Find a local theater in your area and make an effort to see it - this movie is the definitive zombie love comedy of our time. Go.

Dark Inheritance is Out!
That's right, kids - the infamous DI has hit the stands, and is ready to fill all your Spycraft 'weird stuff' needs. I'm pretty proud of the result - there's just more book there.

For those of you who have 1st edition Dark Inheritance (back when it was using that other modern d20 system), the changes are tangible at all levels: the binding, paper and production values are much higher; the art is clearer and better distributed; the index is tighter; the information is better presented, edited, and organized; there are more classes, races, rules and things you can do with the game; the magic system is awesome; the titans make more sense; et cetera, et cetera. This is simply a better book, and well worth your $35. Check out the previews on the new Dark Inheritance website.

I think those of you looking to blend in or convert more standard d20 stuff(particularly critters and spells) for your campaign will find this a quintessential resource. For SFA fans, it provides you a new world where mysticism, espionage, and the supernatural touch. For the completionist, it provides upgraded classes of nearly all the SFA base classes, the long-lost Edgemaster class and accompanying feats, and new and cleaned up mysticism rules. It's got a lot of potential, and a lot of attention from all of us here on the Design Team.

Do yourself the favor and get it. You know you want to.

My next Weird Campaign Idea of the Month (should probably become "...of the Quarter" at this rate") will feature Dark Inheritance in some way or another. I've got quite a few ideas to share...

New Obessions

Here I am in my 8th day of work this week, and after working through my weekend on a variety of events at what was treated as the institutional version of the Second Coming (the inauguration of our new president), I can say with confidence that WORK SUCKS. Only cool thing to happen all weekend was when the video presentation I had worked on for 3 months was falling apart at the last minute, to hear myself introduced to others as "the show's producer." That, and seeing the thing come together with the live music after nearly dying on me 15 minutes before the gala. Whew.

But I'm not here to bitch - much - but rather to share with you the utter obsession I've developed over Call of Duty: United Offensive and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. Dear GOD man, what an amazing pair of games. CoD: UO is hands-down the coolest shooter I've played since the first CoD was released last year, and makes a fun game even more entertaining with the additions of LMGs, bazookas, new carbines, flame throwers, tanks, jeeps, satchel charges, a sprint function, new multiplayer maps and 4 new multiplayer modes. The new single player is hard, which I like too. Many hours will be sacrificed at the alter of Grey Matter's triumphant expansion. Look for SodomyShotgun on West Coast servers and you'll find me ;^)

Just as cool is Dawn of War, which brings 4 armies from the 40k universe (Marines, Orks, Eldar, and Chaos) to the computer in what is hands down the best Warhammer 40k game ever made, and one of the best RTS's I've ever played. Developed by Relic Entertainment (the geniuses behind the Homeworld and Riven series), this game shows an incredible familiarity with the material, as well as a keen eye for what makes RTSs cool and what makes them suck. Changes to the basics include: you only typically need 1-2 builder units the whole game (!!); there's no resource gathering - rather the infantry units take 'strategic points' and 'critical locations' both of which provide you with greater resources as time passes, and act as victory conditions to boot; unit upgrades and casualty replacements happen in the field, and each unit has an upgrade queue similar to a unit producing building, allowing you to outfit and reinforce a squad in the midst of combat; a simple but logical tech tree; time slowing and zooming to watch the gore fly; unit behavior control to determine their preferred method of attack; and an army painter to develop your own unique paint schemes and army logos. Plus, gameplay is fast and furious - a great feature for a guy like me who rarely has 5 hours at a time to get a tabletop game in. Great stuff.

Gerry
On the film front, I got to see Gus Van Sant's Gerry for the first time yesterday. God, what a weird movie. Basically, 2 college kids get lost in the desert. They lose their way and don't stop to get their bearings. They are stupid and fuck themselves over. They walk fast everywhere. They don't talk much. The end. What fills the other 100 minutes I didn't cover is loooooooooooooooong tracking shots of the ruggest Soutwest landscape, quiet moments of clouds forming and evaporating as the sun rises, and incredibly oppressive periods of silence. I think the script of this movie might fill 20 pages. Maybe. Not recommended.

On the other hand, I saw the last bits of Carlito's Way the other day. That movie, I liked a lot. It's a great 70's period piece without being overly 70's, if you catch my drift. Al Pachino's not terribly believable as a Puerto Rican, but Sean Penn is killer as the scummy Alan Dershowitz-like lawyer, and the rest of the supporting cast is good too. Highly recommended for crime film/gangster movie buffs. Look for the Return of King Mortensen as a wheelchair bound, whiny crook...oh how far you've come, Viggo.

Now to convince my paramour to see Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow...

White Jazz
And speaking of great crime stories and great period pieces, I also finished James Ellroy's White Jazz a few days ago, and man what a story! This book is part of Ellroy's "Los Angeles" series of books, which includes the much more popular L.A. Confidential, American Tabloid, and a few other titles I can't remember. At any rate, those of you who have seen or read L.A. Confidential will recognize a few of the characters - particularly some that you wouldn't expect to see. The story is about 1 Dave Klein - a slumlord lawyer, corrupt detective, and former hitman for the LA Mob. Klein is about as dirty as one can get; intimidation, payoffs, torture, legal maneuvering, bribes, and murder for hire are all part of Klein's bag of tricks. Despite his utter contemptability as a human being, however, the book does a fascinating job of making him a believable person. The book is written first person, in a brutally stuccato inner monologue that reminds one of a police dispatch - Ellroy rarely uses the word "I" or "this" or "that", sticking to just the facts as we follow Klein's plunge into the darkest depths of 50's Hollywood. This is an engaging read told in a fascinating style, but is not for the squeamish - Klein is a murderer, a racist, a dirty cop and an all-out bastard. Enjoy the ride.

Quote of the Day
"You could be a writer!"
-- My boss, in another backhanded compliment, to me in front of my supervisor.

Man on Fire

While I may feel in a vengeful mood, I'm nowhere near as angry as Denzel Washington in Tony Scott's Man on Fire. Though the movie was savaged by some critics, I find it a good revenge story, much in the spirit of Garth Ennis short comic book story, Red. The movie has an interesting dichotomy; the first half being a character study of a washed up soldier's attempt at finding work as a bodyguard and finding a friend in his ward, and the second half becoming an extrordinarily brutal revenge story - one that's overly slick and visually glitzy, as many Tony Scott vehicles tend to be - but brutal nonetheless.

Dakota Fanning, who plays the daughter Washhington protects, is fantastic - definate star material, and I understand why she's been compared to Haley Joel Osment.

Though I would say Denzel does a good job as the hard-bitten Creasy, the scripted role of "anti insurgency operative" combined with Washington's natural (and often unavoidable) on-screen charisma makes for a slightly weird pairing. While I think Creasy should be a little more monstrous, especially as he is committing these terrible violent acts of retribution in the second and third acts, Washington's Creasy almost comes off as an assassin-martyr.

Regardless, it's an entertaining film, and certainly worth a rental - particularly for you Spycraft players out there that want some material for a gritty freelancers' game.

Quote of the film:

Creasy: "Your brother wants to talk to you."
The Voice: "Put him on the line."
*BOOM*
Brother: [incomprehensible screaming]

Eye of the Storm

Friends, I'm writing you trying to find the eye of the storm. My life of the last two weeks has been absolute insanity, as we prepare for the inauguration of the new president of the university where I work. And let me tell you, hell is such an utterly insigificant event with so many decision makers. Fortunately, I was able to spend a lovely weekend in the Hood Canal in Washington with good friends beforehand, and now reflections of that trip calm me. Here's my most recent dispatch from that little happy place sheltered from crazy bosses, last minute decisions, and politics politics politics.

Phosphorescence
Night at summer’s end,
Sea’s cool water glowing like
A handful of stars.

Quote of the Day

"I've earned the right to be a failure."
-- George Lucas

Fuming

Apologies for my absence, friends - I've been working on a Gencon write-up in between a few edits and small additions for the Iron Kingdom World Guide (whoot!) - but I'm pissed. Inexcusible is the only word I can think of for this statement by our illustrious vice president that a win of the other guy will equate to a terrorist attack. Not only is such a statement underhanded and devisive, it is also a lie and dare I say, fascist.

Mr. Vice President - we will always have enemies. We will always have people who want to hurt us. But nothing is more dangerous than your attitude. Our political system is one of choice, by the people, for the people. By implying that terror makes only one choice 'safe' or viable for our nation, you are giving these terrorists what they want - undermining the foundation of our country, our principles. You prove that terror is the only tool you have left, that you have abandoned diplomacy and reason for irrational fear and submission to our enemy's desires. I only hope that the people can see you for what you are, and make an educated decision 2 months from today.