Friday, September 21, 2012

Schoooool's out...for...a week!


(Thanks to Alice Cooper for that parody title)

I just handed in (as in uploaded) my final essay exam for my current class a few minutes ago. And having no further concern, I and my companions will seek adventure...wherever we can find it...

This was a difficult term for me. I found it hard to concentrate on school most of the time, mainly because it ran through the Summer when my daughter was visiting. Plus, I found it hard to relate to the Romans for some reason. That seemed odd, but there you have it. Eventually I came around and kind of enjoyed the last few weeks, despite the amount of catch-up I had to do. My next class starts on October 1st, and takes me back again to Ancient Greece.

So, what am I going to with this whopping nine days I have off from school? Why, write, of course! I will attempt to get as far as I can into the initial draft of my S&P story. I have it plotted out, and even have a hearty approval from Scott Oden on the storyline. It should be fun!

I'm also dabbling with some lingering projects as well. Today my mind is on a modern tale that started out as a failed attempt at NaNoWriMo last year. It's a mystery with a dark and action-packed edge. Well, more like a revenge tale than a mystery. I will probably have one of my friends who is a martial arts instructor proof read the fight scenes for me. I'd like it to be technically accurate in that respect.

And finally, I would like to further the adventures of Gortek and the Red Reavers (and Pekra, too!). I need to hash out some stories, and figure out where they are going to go. I can't decide if I want these to be "slices of life" where the world around them doesn't change much, and the Orcs just live their lives like Orcs. Or if I want there to be some big, over-arching plot that will culminate in some epic event. Thoughts from those who have been following Gortek and Pekra?

We're headed up north this afternoon to hang out with some friends, and so my wife can run a 5k tomorrow. Should be relaxing for me, since I have no homework to be worried about. I will be taking my laptop, though, just in case the writing bug hits me. We're coming back early on Sunday so we can play D&D that evening.  Pretty excited for that too.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Feet in the pool


These days, despite my desires, my involvement in tabletop RPG’s is akin to saying I’m going swimming, then sitting on the edge of the pool and putting my feet in the water. Currently I have a single game of D&D every other weekend (which sometimes gets preempted). Add to that the fact that the game has been the same campaign for a couple of years in real time now.

We had an old-school AD&D game going for a bit, but it kind of fizzled out. It might come back, now that fall is here. But it might not. I’d be happy if it did, but I’m not holding my breath.

Basically, being a 40-something gamer with a family and a job makes gaming much more difficult than it used to be. We have to be choosy about when we can play, and as you can imagine, that limits the possibilities. Normally, it’s not a bog deal. But every once in a while, I get a jones that I just can’t fill, and it frustrates me a little.

I should point out that I hold no one responsible for this. Among my local friends, I’m probably one of the most fanatical about RPG-ing. If I had my way, I would be involved in at least two games every week. But, I’m not in my 20’s anymore, so there are a lot of factors beyond my (or anyone else’s) control that prevent that.

Still, I can dream.

As I said, my current game is D&D, and even the occasional game is AD&D. So, I often find myself longing for something else. Something with guns. Or spaceships. Or psychic powers. Or all of the above. In my group in San Diego, we changed games often. We would run a campaign in one game that would last a few months, and then we would switch to another game, sometimes under a different GM. Even ran a few myself.

My wife has expressed interest in running various games, and I even bought her a copy of Shadowrun so she could run it. But, again, things keep getting in the way, and between kids, work and school, neither of use really has time to prepare and run it. And then, of course, is the problem if finding players who are available on our schedule. Let alone players willing to play Shadowrun.

So, I get my gaming fix where I can. I read gaming-fiction, I follow gaming-related blogs, and I have even contributed to a couple of Kickstarters. It works, and I should really just accept my gamer lot in life, I suppose. It could be worse. I could have no game.

Oh, wait. That’s something completely different…

Friday, September 14, 2012

Six Craptacular Martial Arts Movies


Craptacular: (adj.): The state of being enjoyable/entertaining, despite overwhelming technical and/or aesthetic flaws.

For my 200th post (Yay me!), I decided to do another list. As always, these reflect my own opinions, and YMMV. That being said, I’d love to hear others’ choices that I might have missed.

In no particular order…

The Last Dragon
When I first got interested in martial arts, I was immediately drawn to Bruce Lee. Well, who wasn’t, really? In 1985, Barry Gordy’s The Last Dragon came out, and I was hooked! The journey that “Bruce” Leroy Greene takes in this film was my fantasy. I wanted to reach that final level, and to know without knowing. The acting was questionable at best, ranging from deadpan and talentless, through some decent performances, up to the overacted and over-the-top Sho Nuff and his posse. But the fights were done well, and Taimak (and his stunt double) was a real talent to watch. But, my favorite character was Johnny. This guy cracked me up with his knowledge of “the art of fighting without knowing how to fight.” And his skill with the nunchaku was awesome. I still make it a point to watch this one on a regular basis.

Hard to Kill
During the 90’s, Steven Seagal was the man! His use of Aikido, karate, and kendo, all combined to make him a force to be reckoned with on screen. Hard to Kill was and is my favorite of his. The whole revenge shtick is played to the bone, and I really liked how some of the bad guys bought it in the end. The best was when he stabbed the guy from Hill Street Blues in the throat with the broken pool stick, then said “This is for my wife. Fuck you and die!” And then he kicked him in the face. I still get a kick out of that scene.

Revenge of the Ninja
Sho Kosugi made EVERYONE want to be a ninja. And even though I was more of a fan of Bruce Lee, I still loved watching Sho kick major ass. This movie was billed as a “sequel” of sorts to Enter the Ninja, but it really wasn’t. It just happened to be the second ninja movie featuring Sho. It’s always fun to watch a martial arts master use his skills against such unskilled mooks, and this movie does it in spades. The final confrontation is over-the-top and corny, but it still excites me. This is another that I like to watch again on occasion.

Showdown in Little Tokyo
Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee. I could end it right there, and that would be sufficient to explain why I love this movie. It’s cheesy, corny, has some of the most groan-worthy lines, and some of the worst film-editing and technical goofs. And yet, it still manages to be funny, entertaining, exciting, and overall a pretty good action flick. Dolph and Brandon have a real chemistry on screen, with Brandon being a slightly better actor (or maybe he just had a more rounded part). Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is always a great villain, and this role is no exception. He’s evil and ruthless, and even though his death is one of the corniest scenes, I still cheer (inwardly) when it happens. This one fits right in with the whole “karate cop” milieu that ran rampant over Hollywood for several years.

Return of the Dragon (aka Way of the Dragon)
Some may be surprised to see a Bruce Lee movie on this list. But, when viewed strictly as a martial arts/action movie, this one is pretty bad. The dialogue is horrid most of the time (though that may be due to the dubbing process), and the setup and scenes are often not too imaginative. But where it excels is in showcasing just how bad ass Bruce was. Through most of the movie we get treated to scenes of Bruce wailing on talentless (and decidedly nonthreatening) mooks. But near then end, the real stuff shows up. A tae kwon do expert, Bruce Lee favorite, Bob Wall, and finally, Chuck Norris himself, in his first on-screen appearance. Honestly, the fight between Chuck and Bruce at the Coliseum makes the whole movie worth watching. And through it all, the discerning viewer will hear Bruce’s lessons on martial arts and philosophy. This was kind of a trademark of his, and can often be seen in most of his movies.

Lone Wolf McQuade
This is, by far, my favorite Chuck Norris film. Two things make it awesome. 1) Chuck playing a karate-using (or rather, tang soo do-using) Clint Eastwood-type of character, and 2) Chuck kicking David Carradine’s ass. I have no qualms about stating that I HATE David Carradine. He was a dancer who got the role of Caine because he didn’t look too Asian. And he decided to make a career out of pretending to know martial arts. Of this movie, Chuck is on record as saying “David Carradine does martial arts about as well as I act.” You tell em’, Chuck! These days, I’m not as huge a fan of Chuck, mainly because of his off-screen antics and political posturing. But, when he kicks ass, he seriously kicks ass. And Texas Ranger JJ McQuade kicks some major ass.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

A little disheartened


So, I’m looking at sales for my Kindles…wow. I have sold a whopping three copies of my latest. I know that, logically, I shouldn’t really be surprised. I mean, who am I? I’m just some schmuck with a decent talent for writing, but almost zero name recognition. I have no “professional” credits outside an article in Dragon Magazine back in 1996. And besides all that, it’s not like I have put a lot of effort into promoting myself. I blog here, I post on Facebook…and yeah, that’s about it.

This was a fun experiment, but I’m starting to think that maybe I should stop with the $.99 short stories. Maybe I should concentrate on the longer-forms. Maybe I should try to get something professionally published.

The problem is, that takes time and effort that I have difficulty mustering. Admittedly, this is mainly due to my inherent laziness. But some of even that comes from the rest of my life. Kids really drain you of purpose and motivation sometimes. Especially toddlers. And working full time, while struggling through school…it all adds up. Sometimes, despite my best efforts, Resistance wins.

The other problem I face is the fact that there is a glut of self-published stories out there. Amazon and Smashwords have made it so easy for ANYONE to publish their stuff. I think the novelty is wearing off for readers. They are becoming more selective. And with so many selections to choose from, they can afford to overlook a lot of stuff. Also, with so much of that stuff being of poor quality (to put it mildly), how can readers know that one story in a hundred is actually worth the pittance being asked?

I guess the bottom line is, I’m having a pity-party for Tommy. The world is unfair. I suck. I’m never going to make it as a writer. Nobody likes me. Only my friends and family patronize me by telling me how good they think I am.

There, I think I hit all the major ones. Now, to get to work on my latest story.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

For a time, we were gods!

For a long time, this was a very comforting image.
I touched on this yesterday, but I thought I would expand a bit here.  Though I'm not sure I could say anything that hasn't already been said by more eloquent people than I.

As of right now, City of Heroes, the very first MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online RPG) I ever invested more than a half hour in, is going away at the end of November.  I have to admit that I sort of lost my passion for it about a year ago.  I would log in here and there, especially after it went free-to-play, but I wasn't invested in it anymore.  It was a diversion for a few minutes to a couple of hours.  Something to wile time away, and relax my stressed out brain.

But there was a time a few years ago when I was consumed with it.  I was introduced to it one night at Game Empire in San Diego.  Three of the guys in my tabletop RPG group played, and Chris let me log into his account on a computer at GE.  I made a big rock-dude named Livingstone.  I went through the tutorial, and was pretty hooked by the time my half-hour was up.  That was in the fall of 2004, I think.  That Christmas my girlfriend at the time got the game for me, but I wouldn't be able to play it until March, when we finally got hi-speed internet.  From then on, it was hard to stay away for any length of time.

Several months later that girlfriend and I broke up, and I moved out on my own.  CoH practically became my life.  For several months I alternated between it and World of Warcraft, as I would get a little burned out on each, and would need a break.  During this time, I was a regular poster at CoHGuru.com's forums.  Now that I was newly single, and I felt safe behind the anonymity of the internet, I was an insatiable flirt.  If it was female, of legal age, and even decent looking, I was there with a witty comment and innuendo.  It was fun, but I never took any of it seriously.  Until I met Endless One.

Here was this cute young lady, with a dazzling smile, a rapier wit, and also newly single.  Oh, and she was the leader of an in-game supergroup, which she actually won in her divorce.  While it wasn't exactly love at first sight, there was something there that was pretty cool.  Well, to make a long story short (and to bypass some personal details), we spent a few months "dating" through the forums, emails and on Yahoo! Messenger.  Then in the spring of 2007, I said "Fuck it" and quit my dead-end job at a law firm, packed my shit, and Spaz (my cat) and I embarked on a gypsy-wagon-looking road trip with no return route.  After about three days of driving, I arrived in Middleton, Wisconsin, where I started what would be the happiest days of my life.  Five years, a newborn son, and about four jobs later, I am still here, and still very much in love with my wife, and my life.

My main, Dynamo-Man.
Drawn by me.
And all of this because of a silly little superhero computer game.

And now that game looks to be going away for good.  It will only be a truckload of memories, and a folder of screenshots on my computer before long.  But, I know that no matter what, I will always remember that game.  Certain sound effects and music bytes still conjure up a wave of feelings and emotions.  There is some regret as well.  I never got into task forces, and I think I only ever did one of them.  Out of the literally dozens of alts I made, I only got two of them to 50.  There are still areas of Paragon City that I haven't seen (though not many...I may log in and have Dynamo-Man fly around to see everything I missed).

All-in-all, it was a great experience.  And one that changed the course of my life.  Like graduating High School or ETSing from the Army, this is the end of an era for me. And like those other experiences, it has shaped me, informed me, and expanded my horizons.  And it makes me wonder what comes next...

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Of HALOs and Hobbits

Ever since we got the xbox at the beginning of summer, I have pretty much just played HALO 3 on it.  The kids and the wife are into the Lego games (we started with Indiana Jones, but Michele bought Harry Potter the other day), and Faith was all about Arkham Asylum (which I will probably have to try soon).

Anyways, yeah, HALO.  I have really gotten into the game.  And not just the solo game, but the matchmaking as well.  I figured something out.  When your skill level is relatively low, but your service rank is really high, it means you play a lot, but still suck.  Yep.  That's me.

I also decided to scratch the military sci-fi itch that playing has created by reading a HALO novel.  I read 'The Fall of Reach' and really enjoyed it a lot.  It's the story of how the Spartans, and in particular the Master Chief came to be.  Very hard sci-fi, and very well-written.  I have another one, 'Ghosts of Onyx', but I think I might take a break.

I've kind of been hankering for some High Fantasy.  Been looking around for my own stuff, but all of that seems to be in storage right now.  I have a couple of options, but can't really settle on anything right now.  I might re-read The Hobbit again.  On a whim I was browsing YouTube last night, and listened to the soundtrack for the animated movie.  Then I noticed that someone had uploaded the entire film, so I sat down with the kids and watched it all the way through.  Still love it.

In the meantime, I am still working on my S&P story.  Had an interesting breakthrough there the other day.  The story I have plotted out is a bit long for the anthology.  So, in trying to come up with an alternate story, I thought "Why not go back to the basics?  Back to the original tropes that Burroughs and his followers used?"  So, I think I might try to work up a story about a man from today, or maybe our recent past, who gets sucked back to the time of our setting.  I'm waffling between a soldier or a scholar.  If I go with a soldier, I will probably do a Vietnam soldier.

We're in the last couple of weeks of my school term.  I'm behind on the discussion posts, so I will be working on getting caught up there this week.  I got my grade back on my research paper.  I got 270 out of 300 points.  Not too shabby, I think.  And mostly the points taken off were for technical stuff like citations and things like that.    The bane of my academic existence.  Once this term ends, I will be off for a week or two, then I start the next class on October 1st.

And finally, big news hit this week.  City of Heroes is closing its doors for good.  I will probably do a whole blog post about that, since that game has impacted my life in a huge way.  But, suffice to say for now, I am saddened, and even though I haven't played regularly in several months, I will miss it being there.

Anyways, off to work once Michele gets home from Sydney's orientation in about an hour.