Unlike some people I could mention, the Muppets and Monty Python have chosen to sidestep the piracy issue by posting their own videos on YouTube. So you can enjoy brilliant stuff like this for free: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbNymZ7vqY Why do this? As…
Year: 2010
Comic Book Report: Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance
Strangely overwritten, with stilted dialogue, flat characters, and abstruse plotting. Follows the adventures (so-called) of Super Young Team, a group of inexperienced Japanese superheroes, but I can’t tell how much of this is parody and how much is just bad…
Comic Book Report: Star Trek: Spock – Reflections
This, in my opinion, is a rare example of good fanfic. As the title indicates, it’s a very introspective story about everyone’s favorite Vulcan, and it succeeds by using small moments in Spock’s life to build up a larger, character-revelatory…
Friday Flash Fiction: “You Have One New Message”
I don’t know if spies even use voice mail–I would guess not; it’s evidence, for crying out loud–but the rest of us certainly do. Call it dramatic license. (I will refrain from using the obvious pun, to spare our more…
Comic Book Report: Checkmate Vol. 1: A King’s Game
I was still in high school in 1988, when Action Comics #598 introduced Checkmate to the DC universe, and I remember being intrigued by the high-concept, high-tech James Bond riff. Unfortunately, the execution didn’t quite live up to the promise–from…
SnoutCast #11: “GAME Themes, Part 1: John Lithgow”
Wherein we answer another quizzical question from loyal listener Larry. [ Download mp3 – 28 MB ] 00:00 – Teaser: Bruce Campbell role-playing03:56 – Question: Ever reject a game theme idea because it was too esoteric? Like, say, The Films…
Comic Book Report: Scalped Vol. 5: High Lonesome
I don’t usually think of myself as a specialist, especially when it comes to entertainment. I like to sample media from lots of different genres. Consequently, I know a little about a lot of things, but don’t have true expertise…
Friday Flash Fiction: “State Secrets”
I was having some trouble writing a story yesterday, so D helped me by supplying this idea (paraphrased): “A man finds the Holy Grail in the jungle, then gets killed by a gorilla!” Thus was I inspired, though I did…
Comic Book Report: X-Men: Magneto Testament
This coming Sunday is the start of the Days of Remembrance, so it’s fitting that I just read the excellent X-Men: Magneto Testament. I came to this book by another route–that of researching writer and filmmaker Greg Pak’s oeuvre, the…
SnoutCast #10: Two or More Players
New weekly format! We’re alternating between puzzle hunt and general gaming topics. This week, we discuss the merits of certain tabletop games, especially in two-player versus more-than-two-player configurations. [ Download mp3 – 26 MB ] 00:00 – a snappy teaser02:00…