Wandering to the stars

It's a slow day at work.  Basically, my job is to provide admin support.  Primarily to our Bureau Director, secondarily to one of our regional offices (which is two buildings over and consists of two people) and thirdly to the Bureau in general.  Today the director and both of the regional people are out of the office.  And the Bureau in general rarely asks much of me on a daily basis.  The result is, I have little to do.

When this happens I invariably spend an unhealthy amount of time on Facebook (though lately I'm also on G+ a bit more).  I also let my brain wander to my various and sundry writing ideas, the nature of which is greatly dependent on my current mood.  Today, that mood is Science Fiction, and more specifically, Space Opera.

I am finding myself fascinated with the ideas of space travel, aliens, futuristic weapons, and all of the other things that make up Space Opera.  I tend to like my SO to be a bit gritty and realistic.  I don't mind mystical elements, such as The Force, but really the focus should be on the technology and how the characters interact with it.  Well, that and a decent story.

A lot of this comes from having been a huge Star Wars fan for years, long before I started reading for fun, let alone writing.  Some of my earliest non-D&D role-playing was in TSR's Star Frontiers game.  Although it had the potential to be more "clean" or "hard" sci-fi, like Star Trek, at its core, SF was gritty Space Opera.  I could easily see running and playing in something similar to Firefly using that game.

A few years back, I ran a pretty successful campaign of DragonStar with my gaming group in San Diego.  For those who don't know what DragonStar is, let me summarize:  Take D&D and put it in space.  Keep all of the races, tropes and stereotypes, and add in technology (often mixed with magic), and you have DragonStar.  A lot of people made comparisons to TSR's old SpellJammer games, but it's really a different kind of animal.  My game was very Firefly-esque, and I downplayed the magic somewhat.  In essence it was just a Space Opera game, that also happened to have Elves and Orcs and whatnot.

So, what does all of this mean?  It means that my brain is unfocused and wandering about alien stars today.  So far I have spent an average of about fifteen minutes each on several writing projects, as well as doing lite internet reading into the genre.  I'm also reading an Alpha-Test version of an RPG called Cascade Failure by Greg Christopher.  Really cool stuff here.

Now, when am I going to get a new Space Opera movie or TV series, dammit!?!

I'm still here!

Wow, this place is still here? It’s been an off couple of weeks for me, so this blog has kind of fallen by the wayside. After my 5-day blogging marathon, I think maybe I was a bit burned out. Of course, last week I had my first overnight trip for work, and all of the stuff that went along with that. But really, there just hasn’t been much to geek out about for me lately. At least, nothing I haven’t covered in spades before.

One thing did occur recently. A friend of mine invited me to become a founding member of a guild for the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. So, that got me all jazzed up over Star Wars again. Still haven’t had the urge to watch the movies, but I know that will come soon. In the meantime, I’m thinking of the game, and what kind of character I’d like to play. Right now, I’ve settled on a Republic Trooper. Heirs to the Republic Grand Army from the Clones, these are highly trained “Special Forces” types of soldiers. I considered going with some kind of Jedi, but I think there will be a glut of those, and since we’re playing the “good” faction, the Trooper seemed like a great fit for me.

I’ve also taken my Stargate pastiche idea and began modifying it into an original setting and premise. Had a huge flash of inspiration the other night, and wrote a bunch of notes in my notebook. I think it could be cool, though it will take some tinkering to get it to work on its own, and to not be a blatant Stargate rip-off.

My brain has gotten pretty derailed from fantasy and S&S lately, and though I still have occasional thoughts about those (particularly about Orcs), nothing in those genres is really pulling on me lately. Mostly I’m thinking about Space Opera and military sci-fi. I think I need to write something in that vein, just to see where it could go.

My computer is still on the fritz. Basically, the NVIDIA drivers stopped working, and I can’t reload them. I’m not sure if it’s a software issue or a hardware issue. I’m leaning towards software, as some of the Windows (Vista Home) elements have malfunctioned as well,. In particular, the Windows Updater. I can’t get updates to download and install properly, and I have had to shut off the updater, since it kept locking up my system. So, basically my computer is using a standard VGA driver, which restricts me to 1024x768 resolution, thus negating me playing any of my games. The plan is, when I get my disbursement from student loans, I will be buying myself a new laptop, and making my old desktop a “family” computer for the kids to use. That should all happen late next month, I hope.

Other than that, life is ok. My wife has some exciting things coming up. More on that as time goes on, but right now it’s a bit hush-hush for legal and financial reasons. My daughter will only be here for the week after Christmas, thanks to my ex-wife being…well, she’s an EX-wife for a reason. Let’s just leave it at that. My stepdaughter is getting to be handful. Love her dearly, but sometimes I want to give her a brain-duster. And my nearly-3 year old is way too smart for his own good. We’ve discovered that if we don’t engage him intellectually in public, he turns in to Jack-Jack’s demon form. Guh!

Oh, and I want one of the new Kindles for Christmas.

Speak Out With Your Geek Out – Day 5

So, here we are, the final day of my blog series for the Speak Out With Your Geek Out event. I’ve tried to bring some new ideas to my blog, and avoid the tired subjects that have been staples of mine for going on three years now. So, what should I talk about today?

Honestly, I have no idea. I guess I’ll just ramble in a geeky way.

Last night I was thinking that maybe I would talk about the old animated series Gargoyles. There was a time when that was my absolute favorite show. It was during my first year of college, less than a year out of the Army. I was taking Summer classes in 1996, and I would leave class each day around noon or 1:00, pick up my daughter from daycare, and go home to watch an episode of M*A*S*H and then Gargoyles. It was a ritual. Later that year I was introduced to the World of Darkness games, with a Vampire campaign run by my new friend, Chris Blanchard. Interestingly, I could not wrap my head around vampires being the “good guys” in a story, so my first character was a Mack Bolan/Frank Castle-type who hated vampires almost as much as he hated being one. I was the combat monster in the group. It was pretty fun, for the most part.

Anyways, back to Gargoyles. Sometime in 1997 I had the brilliant idea of adapting them for the WoD setting. So, I set about doing just that. The final product was pretty good, considering it was my first attempt to write anything RPG-related beyond a D&D adventure. Gargoyles: the Awakening borrowed a lot from Werewolf, actually, but it was compatible with all of the 2nd Edition WoD stuff. I recently discovered that the whole thing is still available online here (my crappy old website).

Interestingly, if you want to see what kind of stupid shit I used to get into, that website is kind of embarrassing. I should probably just delete the whole thing. But, there’s stuff I want to keep there. Like the Gargoyles game supplement.

Also, you can see the website I built for our long-running Stargate RPG campaign. I loved that game. Chris really outdid himself, and I have often pondered writing some fan-fiction based on those events. But, because I’m a stickler for technical accuracy, I have a hard time coming up with ways to make it fit seamlessly into the show. This idea has been on my mind lately, and I am considering trying to figure out a way to adapt it to an original setting, without referencing the show or Stargate in general. We’ll see.

Well, there you go. A relatively short end cap to the week. I enjoyed this, but I doubt I could sustain this momentum for long. As evidenced by this post.

Live long and prosper.

Speak Out With Your Geek Out – Day 4

Unfortunately, there are still guys who
look like this at your local game store.

In trying to figure out what to write about today I started going down my list of geek topics. And I realized that, since starting this blog back in 2008, I have talked about everything I love that is considered geeky. Movies, comics books, games, TV shows; you name it, I have at least one blog about it, somewhere in here. And then there are topics that I could go on and on about, like RPGs or Star Wars or Robert E. Howard…but each one of those has about a bazillion articles on the ‘net at any given time. So, what could I possibly hope to contribute to that?

Then I got to thinking, what if I talked about life as a geek in general? I mean, my first post this week was kind of a general “What is a Geek?” post. But what are geeks like in real life? Do they all eat, sleep, live and breathe geek passions? Well, I’m fairly certain that, with a relative few exceptions, the answer to that would be no.

First, let’s look at what the “stereotypical” geek is like. There are certain traits that seem to be commonly associated with geekdom. Here are a few:

Bad hygiene: Ok, this one is hit or miss. And unfortunately, it is more common than some of us like to admit. The smell of sweaty body odor; yellow teeth with perpetual food in them; oily, uncombed hair. Yeah, we’ve all seen those people. When my gaming group used to meet at the game store on Tuesday nights for an RP session, we would invariably see many people like this. Guys and girls alike. Now, I will admit to not being the most fastidiously neat person, appearance-wise. But I shower every day, brush my teeth, keep my hair clean and somewhat styled (that last part is much easier now that I am sleeping with my hair stylist), and try to wear clean(ish) clothes at all times. It’s really not that hard, folks.

Horrendous fashion sense: I admit that I like to wear my geeky t-shirts. Most of mine are comic book related, and I have a ratty old Star Trek shirt I still wear around the house. But they are clean and more or less serviceable (no holes you can put more than a finger through). And I try not to wear the really bad ones in public. That being said, that is by far not my entire wardrobe. Generally, most geeks who suffer from bad fashion would be well-served with just buying some clothes that fit, including pants that cover the tops of their shoes. Speaking of shoes, dark-colored tennis/running shoes are a fashion faux-pas. If it were up to me, those would be banned from even being produced. Also, it’s 2011. Try buying something that is up-to-date. Dagger collars are only cool for runway models and rock stars.  And the bow tie?  Only Bill Nye can pull that off.  Sorry.

Mmmmmmmmmmm...

Couch (or Computer Chair) potato: Probably the biggest problem with the stereotypical geek is health and fitness. Now, I’m not saying you should be half-jock. But, maybe if you eat a salad every now and again, drink diet sodas and less sugary drinks, and walk faster than my grandfather. And nothing says you have to eat that entire pizza in one sitting. Bring a veggie tray to your game instead of bags of chips. Take the stairs whenever possible. I admit to being bad about this one too. But I try. I’m not as fit as I have been. And I can feel the difference. When I am in decent shape, everything just feels better. Interestingly, a lot of geeks who are in decent shape look to their geek passions for inspiration. I started weight training in high school because I wanted to be Conan. And I started practicing martial arts because I wanted to be Iron Fist (actually it was more like Bruce Lee).

The point is, it doesn’t really take that much effort to appear “normal.” Now, I know a lot of hardcore geeks will rail against the normal. I mean, after all, what is the point of being passionate about your geekdom if you bury it normalcy? Well, the two don’t have to be mutually exclusive. And trust me, living on the fringes (or in the basements) of society isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Interacting with Muggles can be very rewarding. And you may even discover some who are actually geeks at heart.

My beautiful wife.

And the best part is, if you clean up and shape up, you are more likely to attract a member of the opposite sex. And let me tell you, no amount of Star Trek marathons can compare to the joys of that!

Speak Out With Your Geek Out – Day 3

Guess what, folks? I’m still not going to talk about RPGs today. Ok, that’s not strictly true. I’m not going to talk about tabletop RPGs. Rather, I’m going to talk about Massive Multi-player Online games, aka MMOs. Now, while I have some pretty good experience with them, I’m by far no expert. So, take what I have to say about them with a grain of salt, and know that this is based solely on my own personal experiences, and a little bit of research.

What is referred to as an MMO today has its roots in the games played on the old Bulletin Boards of the Internet’s early days (usually called MUDs, Multi User Dungeons). In fact, the BB game has kind of split into several variations, with the Forum-based RP threads being closest to the original. Now, take a quick step to the right, and think back to the old SSI video games based on D&D. They were first person games (meaning what you saw on screen was what your character was supposed to see with their own eyes). The graphics were primitive, and the game-play clunky, but the stories were excellent, and like the old “choose your own adventure” books, you could have multiple variations on the same adventure, based on your choices.

Well, sometime in the late 90’s, someone had the idea of combining the MUD with the graphic-based RPG game. There were many types and variations of this, like Ultima Online (an extension of the old text-based adventure game). But the field really changed with EverQuest in 1999. From there, MMOs of all genres, some based on established IPs, others wholly original, have sprung up. Though the most popular ones are pay-to-play, there are actually scads of free-to-play games out there. And even some of the P2P ones are developing F2P variations (like City of Heroes).

Dynamo-Man (me) and
Masked Revenger (Chris Blanchard).
I made this based on a picture of
Power-Man and Iron Fist.

Personally, I have played in four MMOs with any regularity. I started with City of Heroes, an original superhero MMO. I still play it today, and am somewhat active in the forum community (funny story, I met my wife on that forum…yep, she plays too). I have also played World of Warcraft quite extensively, and for a long time I would split my time by playing CoH for a few months and then playing WoW for a few months. Both are P2P, so I could never justify paying a fee for both games at the same time. Generally, the P2P games run about $15/month, plus the cost of the initial game and, as in the case of WoW, expansions.

I’ve also played Warhammer Online, though it feels like a graphically superior, yet content-inferior version of WoW. Similarly, I recently spent a lot of time playing Sony’s DC Universe Online. But, like WHO to WoW, DCU felt like a graphically superior yet content-inferior version of CoH, but with the added bonus of including iconic DC superheroes like Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman.

One thing that separates MMOs from computer/console based video games is the social factor. During play you can chat with other players, as if you were right there with them. This gives you a very immersive experience when teaming up. Traditionally, this has all been type-written interaction, with voice interaction being an option as well. Although it is sometimes harder to type while playing, especially in the middle of a combat, typing gives you more freedom to Role Play your character. For instance, if I am playing a female superhero, typing what she says is more believable than hearing me say such things. This is actually the biggest weakness of DCU. That game was developed with the PC and PS3 in mind, so it is geared towards voice-chat, which makes it more of a tactical game like Gears of War, but with superheroes.

All-in-all, MMOs are a wonderful distraction. But, make no mistake, they ARE a distraction. If you have a busy schedule already, adding an MMO can be dangerous. However, if you are into role-playing and exploring fantastic worlds first-hand, then they are amazing experiences.

Speak Out With Your Geek Out – Day 2

I’m sure most of my loyal minions…er…readers expect me to talk about Role-Playing Games today. But, in looking back a few pages, I think I’ve said all I need to say about that. For now.

So, today let’s talk about Stargate SG-1. For those who don’t know, this show began as a feature film released in 1994 titled simply Stargate. It starred Kurt Russell and James Spader. Ok, right there you should be hooked. Kurt Russell in a sci-fi action movie? Genius awesome. The premise was that archaeologists found this giant metal ring buried in Egypt during a dig in the 1920’s. It took them 70+ years to figure out what it was, what it could theoretically do, and how to control it. Then they bring in a young archaeologist with wacky theories named Daniel Jackson (Spader) who proceeds to solve the last piece of the puzzle with a sort of book-nerd distraction. What ensues is a trip across the galaxy and a battle with an alien posing as an ancient Egyptian god, in a city of people who were taken from Earth and enslaved millennia ago.

If you’ve seen the movie, you know the details and how it all ends. If you haven’t, I highly recommend doing so. We’ll wait, but hurry back.

Ok, you’re back. Cool, wasn’t it? But didn’t you find yourself wondering what came next? Well, in 1996-97 Showtime started producing a weekly show called Stargate SG-1. The “SG-1” came from the designation given to the first team of explorers to begin using the Stargate on a regular basis, after the whole thing (which had been mothballed after the events of the film) had been “restarted” by another alien/god/being looking for slaves. The team consisted initially (by the end of the pilot) of Col. Jack O’Niell, the character played by Russell in the film, now played by Richard Dean Anderson (TV’s McGuyver), Michael Shanks taking over Daniel Jackson’s character from James Spader, Amanda Tapping as Captain Sam Carter, and Christopher Judge as the alien warrior/defector, T’ealc.

The show ran for ten seasons, surviving several casting changes and a network change (from Showtime to SciFi Channel). It spawned three spin-offs (including a Saturday morning cartoon) and two direct-to-DVD movies. Unfortunately, due to studio decisions, the property is officially dead on-screen. There have been novels, comic books, video games, and even a highly detailed RPG (which I played for quite some time…someday I’ll tell you about Col. Matthew Valentine and SG-4). There are still novels being written, at least I saw one at B&N the other night on the “New Sci Fi” shelf.

So, why should you watch this show? After all of that, you still need to ask? Fine. I recommend it because it is a good sci-fi show, with plausible science, accurate technical details, exceptionally well-conceived and executed characters, and, unlike many sci fi shows, it evolves. The humans of Earth begin as very “young” and “naïve” in the show, but grow through the course to become a major player in a huge universe. It involves military action, ancient history, theoretical physics, and damn good storytelling and character development.

And as a bonus, if you are a fan of Star Trek, you will no doubt recognize many of the plot devices and tropes. I think many of these were included as an homage to the granddaddy of all space exploration shows. Well, the one that really put the genre on the map, anyways.

So, there you go. All of the seasons are on DVD (maybe Blu-Ray, if not yet, then soon I’m sure), and are currently available for instant view on NetFlix. If nothing else, watch the pilot episode. Oh, and then skip to season four for the episode entitled “Window of Opportunity.” If you do not laugh and cry during that episode, something is wrong with you.

Speak Out With Your Geek Out – Day 1

For those of you who haven’t read my last post, I have decided to honor this week’s event by blogging geek for five days straight. Well, that’s what I am going to attempt. We’ll see if my inner Lazy Bastard wrests the remote from my hands.  It should also be noted that each post will "off the cuff."  I will sit each day with nothing but a basic idea of what I am talking about, and a blank page on my screen.  Let's see if I make any sense...

I thought that I would talk today about what it really means to be a “Geek.” Wikipedia, that bastion of infallible knowledge, has several different definitions on its page (none of which seem very flattering). However, the one that most closely resembles my own view is this:

“A person with a devotion to something in a way that places him or her outside the mainstream. This could be due to the intensity, depth, or subject of their interest.”

Yeah, that about covers it.

The term Geek is often used interchangeably with Nerd and Dork. However, there are distinct differences. The term Nerd, for instance, generally refers to an extreme intellectual who is more interested in academic pursuits over social or physical. Now, a Nerd could very well also be a Geek, as many are. Nerds automatically find themselves on the fringes of society, so their interests will play out accordingly. However, a Dork is an all–together different species. A Dork is strictly a social class. Generally speaking, a Dork is someone with no social graces, no sense of tact, and very little empathy. Additionally, many Dorks are less intellectual than Nerds. It is possible to be all three, but such beings are rare, and generally fall to Darwinian social evolution. Meaning, they cannot stay in that state for long. Either they will take interest in intellectual pursuits, more social Geek pursuits, or just fall out of both and embrace full Dorkhood. Fortunately, full-on Dorks have few, if any, redeeming qualities, and thus are very unlikely to reproduce, thus passing their Dorkness on to future generations.

Ok, so now that we know the differences, lets look at some things that make one a Geek. As a rule, Geeks tend to have a store of “trivial” knowledge of a specific subject. In fact it is this knowledge, and more importantly the pursuit of such knowledge, that often defines a Geek’s life (at least in part). For instance, most Americans (and many others around the world) enjoy watching Star Trek. I mean, who doesn’t like Kirk and Spock, or even Picard and Riker? But the difference between a casual fan, and a Star Trek Geek (often referred to as a Trekkie or Trekker), is the fact that the Geek will know what the maximum Warp Factor of Constitution-Class Starship is (it was Warp 8, though it could reach Warp 9 at extreme risk), and that the reason Klingons didn’t have forehead ridges in the 60’s was due to budgetary constraints of the show.

Generally speaking, Geeks tend to like fringe subjects, such as Science Fiction, comic books and Role-Playing Games. However, it is possible to be a Geek about other subjects. In fact, that jock who used to put nerds in trash cans, and can now quote names and stats of every Superbowl team in history, is a Geek as well. They just don’t get referred to as such, because most Geeks resent anyone not in their circles taking what has become a badge of honor. I mean, even if that math-wiz who plays D&D and can quote every line from Star Trek II can run a 6-minute mile, it still doesn’t make him a Jock.

So, there you go. Geeks, Nerds, Dorks, Jocks; it’s like High School all over again. Me? I’m a pure Geek. I have no abnormal intellectual interests (and I suck at math), I have a beautiful wife and kids and can hold my own in just about any social situation. But, I can’t run very fast, and am a bit overweight. Yet, I can quote Star Wars, Star Trek and Conan all day long, I know the origins of dozens of comic book characters, and I play in a regular D&D game (with my wife and two other married couples).

Yeah, I’m proud of my geek pedigree.

Geeking Out

Ok, I started writing a long, detailed blog about geeks and geek culture, building up to the week-long event going on next week called “Speak Out With your Geek Out”, but I soon realized that every other geekblog was talking about the same thing (a nice, succinct summary can be found here).

Instead, I plan to blog an unprecedented five times next week. Each blog (Monday thru Friday) will feature me talking about a specific geek hobby I have or had, and why I think you should have it too (though many of my readers and casual lurkers will already be involved in one or more of them, I’m sure).

So, what are my topics going to be? I have no idea yet. Well, I have ideas, but nothing concrete. Here is a list off the top of my head of things I could write about:

• Role-Playing games – A geek standard. This is the mother of all geek hobbies, IMHO.
• Comic Books – Probably the second-largest geek hobby, but also probably the most closeted.
• Collectible Card Games – For a while I played a few of these obsessively.
• Video Games – Probably my weakest geek subject. But I guess I could concentrate on MMOs.
• Star Wars/Star Trek Mania – Each of these could be its own subject.

There are probably several other subjects I could come up with, if I gave it some long thought. But, I’m thinking I might just start with a general entry about what it means to be a geek, and how it is (mis)represented and stereotyped.

So, what do you guys think?

New Directions

Today I have no specific topic to blog about. But, in keeping with my desire to be a prolific and regular blogger, I will talk about various ideas that have been rolling around inside my brain (of course, you have to read that last part using the voice of Madagascar's King Julien to really get the proper effect).

First of all, my orc story of Mahak the Vengeful has stalled. I've kind of hit a creative wall, and the story has stopped making any sense. I'm sure this is temporary, and I will go back and finish, edit and revise it before long. In the meantime, my tastes in writing have been all over the place. I am going through one of those periods where I just don't know what I want to write. As I have stated in previous posts, this all comes back to my lack of focus, and my wide variety of literary tastes.

One thing that has recently caught my attention again is Erotica. Yeah, I know, I'm a perv. So? Anyways, several years ago I had written a couple of short vignettes about a northern barbarian having some erotic escapades. But, being me, I couldn't just let it go at that. I mean the vignettes were well-done (at least all who read them thought they were), tasteful, and decidedly NOT in the Penthouse Forum vein. But, I wanted to link them all together in a cohesive narrative with an actual story, of which the sex was only a small (but somewhat important) part. Well, the narrative died because I couldn't decide where exactly it needed to go. Unfortunately, those vignettes disappeared. So, yesterday I began trying to re-create them. I have the first one done, with plans for two more parts. However, the overall narrative will be much shorter, less involved, and easily handled in less than 10,000 words. I think I can do this. And I even did some research and found a couple of possible markets. So, we'll see how that goes.

Thanks to an article I read today about Raiders of the Lost Ark, I now also have this desire to write some plain old pulp adventure. I have a character in my head (and some of him on paper) that is a direct homage to characters like Doc Savage and Indiana Jones, named Jack Redstone. He was first developed as a character for White-Wolf's Adventure! RPG. Though I never got to play him, I wrote an extensive background for him, and even had a couple of stories plotted out and started. Unfortunately, both of those efforts were lost when my last flash drive mysteriously disappeared. Still, I think I have it in me to start over, and do something cool with the character.

Related to that, a friend of mine told me I need to start a Pulp Revival. There are ups and downs to that. First of all, how cool would it be to have a source for new stories in the Pulp Adventure vein? The downside would be that the audience would be relatively small, as many people don't really have any interest in that era (beyond an occasional movie), and, in the case of younger readers, don't even know about the existence of such literature (see my last blog entry about this). I did have an idea of how to do it, though. Basically, I would set up an eZine, and each story that was published would have a link to a virtual "tip jar" that would link to a PayPal account for the author. That way, people could read the stories for free, and if they liked them, and felt compelled, they could drop a bit of change in the author's account to let them know. I dunno. We'll see how that goes.

Speaking of Indiana Jones, I'm kind of eager to get started on studying ancient cultures. Though, for some reason, I know it's not going to be as fun as I'd like. But still, it will motivate me to read about actual history. I love ancient cultures and hearing about them. I just hate reading that much academic stuff, and usually only do so when forced to. I'm lazy, I know.

I've also been thinking of trying my hand at screenwriting. Mainly because other writers I am friends with keep talking about it. And after the fiasco that was Conan, I wonder how hard it would be to adapt an actual Robert E. Howard story for the screen. Again, we'll see how that goes.

So, there you go. I managed an entire blog post off the top of my head. I know, I astound myself as well, sometimes.