No no, get your mind out of the gutter, I’m not talking about THAT sort of dungeon. I’m talking about that bastion of geekery, Dungeons and Dragons. Now, I don’t play myself, but many of those whom I have been privileged to call friend over the years have played, so I am somewhat versed in the culture that is the role-playing game. However, even if I was coming to it cold, unaware of any of the language or cultural touchpoints involved, I would still have enjoyed the book “Confessions of a Part Time Sorceress” by Shelly Mazzanoble.

This book follows the birth of a brand new gamer- a woman who works for Wizards of the Coast and yet has never rolled a 20-sided die before in her life. She takes you with her from her initial spark of interest (’hmm, maybe I should learn something about this thing we do here’) to her attempt to force her newfound passion upon her friends (ok, so homemade chocolate volcano cake is a pretty good bribe, I think.)

I really enjoyed this book, I have to say. I liked her sense of humor about the whole thing, and her attempts to dispel the myriad stereotypes that swirl around this game. My S.O. (who has played so far as to even DM games himself) even found it amusing to read through, so there seems to be something to satisfy even experienced players while being a pretty good read for those who perhaps have someone in their lives that they love, but don’t quite understand when they go on about loot drops and tanking. Hey, it might even spark enough interest to inspire conversation- I know I actually managed to deepen my understanding of the game, which has helped strengthen my knowlege base for my WoW playing.

So there you are, an actual book review. If we get really energetic over here at Chez Spwug, the next book review will be on the new 4th edition books…. Once I get my DM, I mean my sweetheart to explain them to me.

Share This

Waugh!  Yesterday was Wednesday wasn’t it?!  Don’t you hate it when one day transposes itself over another?

Anyways, quite a few things going on worth mention:

 -The Demon Mages, Issue #2 is on the threshold of completion.  Took a little extra time, but significantly less OT than before.  Look for that in and around the time of…

 -SAN DIEGO COMIC CON!  I’ll be happy to give you readers the extended post-con coverage (August 2nd.  Let’s be fair; jet-lag) , but in the meantime, a few lead-up articles will get passed around, starting next week.  There’s not much to say here, except that packing for ten days in two bags will be… interesting.

-Almost directly afterwards is Otakon 2008.  This blogger lives moments away from it, so like the event horizon of a black hole, it seems many individuals may be drawn into it’s vortex.  Convention roundup on that one as well will be posted, come August 13th. 

-Pixiv.net & Nico-Nico Douga are neat!  Even if your Japanese is lackluster, it’s easy navigation & content abounds!  I’m there most every day!  Google searches readily turn up non-native registration instructions, so there’s little chance of getting lost.

-BONESAW IS REA-DY!!!  Tough as heck with a keyboard, a little imprecise, but still an impressive game and I chuckled at most of the humor.  A cool homebrewed time waster.

-In the spirit of our nation, I watched Paul “John Adams” Giamatti in probably my most favorite role I’ve seen him play — as the whip smart, buck-nasty Mr. Hertz in Shoot ‘Em Up.  Funny to me to see commercials for his HBO special, and super-impose Mr. Hertz’s cellphone ringing.  Or maybe an extended gunfight with Ben Franklin. 

And now, some new art!  Both done by hand, with markers & pens — the second from back on June 13-15th for the Anime-Mid-Atlantic weekend.

That’s all for now!  See ya next week!

Share This

(Many apologies for last week, folks!  I thought it’d posted, but something must have fouled up along the way.  Still relevant info though…)

Japan rolls out the first robot girlfriend.  So soon?!  Man, trying to get up to walking & talking PVC models by 2010, I see.  Robots.  Destined to be our steel plated, glowing-red-diode-eyed apocalypse.  And the first step, to win the hearts and minds of humankind.  Or at least, charm the hell out of us with plastic perfection.

 Now, considering the idea is not even remotely new, I was entertained by how matter-of-fact, the news blurb seems.  It’s barely even two pages of text!  Nothing to see here, folks.  Wait for the Mac OS version; she’ll be a lot more stylish and have a punchy on-camera role in the Mac vs. PC commercials.  To be honest, it’s amazing to me that the premise of artificially intelligent, robotic companions isn’t a far fetched idea.  Heck, here we see the concept is already commercialize-able — SOMEBODY out there bought those robotic toy dogs!  It’s only a matter of time, I tell you!  Only a matter of time till Asimo is tooling around our homes, plotting our demise!

Share This

As many people know, the earthquakes that happened last month in China have been devastating. We have seen the reports, and know of the horrors that have happened.

But I believe that this page of comics (http://www.paulgravett.com/articles/133_china/133_china.htm) shows us some stories that we haven’t seen here in the U.S. (and possibly in other countries as well)

Warning: The stories are very moving, so if you’re someplace where you don’t want to have people see you cry, you may want to wait until you’re home.

Our thoughts go out to the people in China affected by these tragedy, and to all of those people in other places (like Burma) who are dealing with their own tragedies.

Share This

It’s been rough for a lot of people.  Money’s tight.  Work is fleeting, and when it’s not, it’s a punishing rain of stupid.  In this time of disarray, the geek nature thrives.  GUILTY PLEASURES, my friends.  Guilty pleasures.

-The frothy quadruple cream & sugar of this cup of links: “Kamen No Maid Guy.”

Kogarashi is easily one of the silliest concepts yet.  A 7-foot tall, superpowered, shark-toothed, musclebound, MIT-graduate(!) ninja in a maid costume?!  His ear’s a USB 2.0 interface!  He’s got x-ray vision!  Hair radar?!  It’s not going to change the world, or provide true innovation in any way, but what it does, it does better than most.  I do also enjoy that this male lead is neither waifish, limp-wristed, or TRAGIC.  He’s a monster!

-”Invincible” is a quintessential superhero comic, mixing the teenaged angst and growth of Marvel’s Spider-Man, takes a large part of it’s pacing and structure from DC’s Justice League of America (sometimes even lampooning them), and is deeply integrated with Image’s stable of heroes (Savage Dragon even makes an appearance!)  But luckily, Invincible spins it’s own unique tale of a superhero’s coming-of-age and throws a heckuva curveball too.

“King of Thorns“ is a survival-horror story; afflicted carriers of a deadly virus that’s stricken the world, awaken from cryosleep to find the population devastated and what seems to be dinosaurs (?) roaming the land.  But while ruin and desolation are everywhere, there are a lot of clues that don’t add up.  The story is ripe with both interesting twists and though the story might seem average, it’s polished so well that characters don’t suffer for it, and the pacing is extremely well done.  

-TIME TRAVEL!  “The Guardian Legend/Guardic Gaiden” for the NES/Famicom is a recent replay this blogger is currently going through.  Still one of the best fusions of a vertical shmup (scrolling shooter) and a adventure game in the vein of the original Legend of Zelda.  Unique weaponry, high difficulty, bizarre monster designs, and well.. a cyborg lady warrior in a bikini who transforms into a high speed fighter ship.  Yes.

-My old man pointed this one out: the Maybach 62 Landaulet.  Rampant and aggressive Ebay sales might land you this disgustingly pretty set of wheels.

That’s all for now — it’s time to get back to the grind, ladies & gentlemen!

Share This

Andy Robles, the artist behind http://zeroa.deviantart.com, good friend and associate to Spwug writers, Artist Alley regulars here on the East Coast, and an all around humble guy, passed away last night.  His 30th birthday is in late May.

He had been struggling with cancer for a few years, and amazingly (even while hospital bound) continued producing artwork at great speed, variety and detail.  His presence will be greatly missed.  The staff and artists for Angry Viking Press will dedicate our latest and newest runs of comics to his memory.

Rest In Peace, Andy.  Your work, you plans for the future; comics or otherwise won’t be forgotten. 

Share This

Heyoo, readers. WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE IN MAY!

Heh, kidding kidding. Actually, the Large Hadron Collider isn’t quite a sci-fi disaster movie about a micro black hole or a runaway chain reaction of strangelets. But man if it were, Lance Henriksen’s got a new job! This new particle accelerator they’ve finished that straddles the border of France & Switzerland is said to be the latest means of determining if Higgs-bosons , the theoretical origin of mass exists (and even if they don’t, awesome!) All kinds of exotic galactic soup may bubble up from the near-light-speed acceleration and collision experiments in this machine. Cross your fingers and hope for the best…

But hey, it’s been fun/frightening to think of such galacti-cataclysmic events going on somewhere on Earth. It’s an absolutely PERFECT excuse to throw a Kiss-Your-Butt-Goodbye party!

Totally unrelated artwork to come, bear with me folks!

Share This

Bob Gandy is a talented artist who enjoys painting on just about anything he can find. His work is eclectic with inspiration from traditional Japanese and Chinese brush paintings. He’s also got a webcomic, and has been known to settle disputes through LAN Party Starcraft.

Share This

It’s been a little crazy here in my little ol’ weekend, I’m afraid, and I have to be at a job in 45 minutes, so hopefully I will have time this evening to expand on this, (Assuming that I get to leave this job after a normal workday. It might happen…)

Anyway, I came across this BBC article last week regarding the debate over the best way to regulate video games. There seems to be a proposal to have an official ratings body that will replace the industry’s self regulating rating methods. On the one hand, I feel kinda relieved to know that the US isn’t the only place that this argument is raging (I know, I know, it’s everywhere.) but on the other hand I have to weep a little that we as adult type persons raising children need to be told what to do all the time.

Share This

First, my apologies for being really behind once again. If I get some spare time, I’ll try to catch up on the posts I’ve missed. 

So, a few weeks ago, a coalition of 12 environmental groups from New Mexico suggested that a tax be levied against video game and television entertainment, (link from Kotaku) so that the tax could be used to fund outdoor education programs. These programs would be aimed at getting children out of their homes and into the parks and such. 

I, for one, am both for and against such a tax.

I’m for it, because while I love video games and television, I do believe that education of all kinds is important. Even if I’m not personally a fan of the outdoors, I do think that it’s good for children to experience it for themselves, at least somewhat.

I’m against it because of the way it targets just video games and television, and not other forms of entertainment, like sporting events and movies. I’m against it because it’s trying to blame video games and television for the waning numbers of children visiting their parks and recreational areas, as opposed to themselves.

If they are going to levy a tax on entertainment, it should be on all entertainment, not just video games. That would be fairer, and get them even more funds.

What do you think? Should we tax our entertainment? Why? Why not? What would be fair if we did?

On a happier note, with the Writer’s Guild strike ended, some of favorite shows have come back. In my case, I’d been waiting for Big Bang Theory to come back, along with Heroes (sadly postponed until the next season) and How I Met Your Mother.

What show(s) did you miss the most, if any? Did the WGA strike affect you at all?

Share This