David Carradine 1936-2009

For those of you living under rocks, David Carradine passed away yesterday in Thailand. He’s best remembered for the tv series Kung Fu, and doing a slew of really bad (but really good…) Roger Corman films in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

I won’t sit here and try to say that his screen works were any kind of a big influence on my life, or that he was any kind of terrific actor. But I have had a lot of fun watching them, and I feel saddened by his passing more than any other tv/film celebrity that I can remember.

So, friends, lets all pop in our DVDs of Death Race 2000, open a frosty beverage or three and have a laugh with D.C. for old time’s sake. Don’t own a copy? Well, get to your local Blockbuster and rent one! And turn in your nerd card on the way.

CRAZY IDEA OF THE WEEK: I wonder how much of a logistics and timing hassle it’d be to record movie commentary tracks over Skype… This may require investigation. Any thoughts?

RM26: The Reaction

Holy shit, when did they all regress to 12-year-olds? Ned, love ya lots, but what's up with the tantrums, dude?

Star Trek: I'm Speechless

I need to see the movie at least twice more (preferably in IMAX if the shitheads at the Aquarium ever get over their cranial-rectal inversion disorder), before I'll be able to give a full and impartial review.

In the meantime, y'all go see it. You won't be disappointed. As April said as we were exiting the theater: "Oh my God, Dad, I think I actually like Star Trek!"

One bit of advice though: don't bring your mother. Especially if she's a talker.

And Speaking of Early Sci-Fi...

One of the items in a recent care-package is the first season of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Man, that's a blast from the past (thanks Britt!). Growing up, I loved that show, though I want to categorically state that I'm not that old; I caught reruns of it on Saturday afternoons on the local low-budget UHF station.

You kids won't like it. While it isn't campy per se, it certainly isn't in the same weight-class as today's programming. But it was wonderful Cold War adventure that ripped off--er, I mean borrowed from everything. Jules Verne, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, old World War II movies, spy flicks... Everything got the Irwin Allen treatment. None of this new-fangled moral ambiguity, either; the heroes were heroes dammit! Now, of course, it didn't hurt that I started watching it at around the same time that I first read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Advancing age prevents me from identifying which was first, but for sure there was some large amount of cross-pollination of interests there. And now watching it again, thirty years later what do I think? Two things: One, that here's something that's tailor-made for RPGs. And two: Somali pirates? No problem. Send Harriman Nelson after them, and he'll have the whole mess sorted out in time for Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.

Opening Nights

Opera notwithstanding*, I have never made any kind of effort to catch any form of entertainment on its opening day. It just isn't that important to me go out among a crush of fanboys and get cattle-driven into a crowded theater, or wait among eleventy gajillion folks in Harry Potter costume until midnight at the local Books-A-Million. I can ignore media reviews and spoilers, and wait a week or so.

Apparently not so this time, however. I have purchased my tickets for Star Trek so I can be among the crush of folks getting shoehorned into the theater to see it on Thursday. I'd love to see it in IMAX, but as of now they haven't posted showtimes or opened advance sales (Chattanooga Aquarium/IMAX Theater, FedEx just called and they need someone to come down and sign for your shipment of fail!).

So why is Trek an exception? I've never owned a pair of Spock ears, can't match up episode numbers to names, and I don't speak a single word of Klingon**. But the Trek films have always been special. Even the sucky ones. Probably it is just age; Star Trek was my first exposure to sci-fi, so it would be understandable to have some form of nostalgia. Maybe also it is boredom: here I've got something to get excited about and look forward to that doesn't involve a headset growing out of my head.

Whatever the reason, I'll have my review posted by 2230 EDT on Thursday, so y'all can ignore me until you see it.


*And that's not an issue since the CSO has canceled opera performances until further notice (CSO Guild, would you like an extra side of weaksauce with that?).

**Though I can tell you the name of the three-armed rock alien who sat in Chekov's seat in the animated series--WITHOUT looking it up on imdb or wikipedia. Losers.

The Reading Room

Just finished up The Dakota Cipher by William Dietrich, which is the third novel to feature his hero Ethan Gage.

I'm a bit disappointed, to be honest. It was an enjoyable read, but the author hasn't been able to match the first book in the series, Napolean's Pyramids. I'll not give any spoilers other than to say that Ethan Gage is one of the top five fictional smartasses extant in literature today (and coincedentally, the series would make for a totally kick ass campaign for Colonial Gothic).

Also, I noticed something strange (and perhaps horrifying): as I've been reading the books, I like just about everyone I guess have been projecting my mental image of how the characters look. This inevitably indicates who I think would be perfectly cast in the movie adaptation...which also inevitably leads to disappointment when they actually do make a movie. I'd have never picked Tom Hanks for Michael Langdon, for example. But if they do make a film adaptation of Napolean's Pyramids, I hope they do a better job of reading my mind. It'd be good to see Wil Wheaton get some work again.

What are you reading?

Conventional Wisdom

Today's mail brought me, in addition to the usual array of Pay-Us-Or-Die missives, a very nice letter from the organizers of Chattacon (the local sci-fi convention) thanking me for past support and reminding me that it is time to start planning for next year's bash. Would I care to volunteer? Make my check payable to...

Friends, if you've ever had a great time at a con, consider the folks who organized it. You can't even begin to imagine how much work, heartache, and general-purpose bullshit is involved unless you've been a part of it. I'm talking about smaller, local cons, not the big corporate wank-fests like the one in Indianapolis every August. These local get-togethers truly are labors of love for the organizers, who not only don't make any money off of them, but often bear a substantial burden in the form of lost time on the job and actual out-of-pocket investment.

And if you've never been to a con, I encourage you to scour the Internet for one in your area and check it out. Admission prices are generally less than one of my bar tabs and sometimes include free beverages to boot. Even if (like Chattacon) the main attraction is just a party, how often to you get to party with fellow geeks without feeling self-conscious about it? Guests, vendors, and games are the bonus if you look at it that way.

So will I be volunteering for Chattacon '10? Not this time, I think. Rather I'll watch to see who they line up for guests, then pester someone who runs a certain website that deals in...shall we say RPGmp3s (wink wink nudge nudge) to get me a press pass. What can I say? The Powers That Made Me gave me many gifts. Shame is not among them.

Tell me your convention stories.

Terrible Television...But Soooo Awesome

I have better things to do than watch tv. You've heard people say it. Hell, I normally am one of the ones saying it. Currently, of course, it isn't true so I've been watching a lot of television, and yes, most of it still crap.

One of the crappiest I've found recently is Comedy Central's "Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire" (there's supposed to be a couple of umlauts in there, but I can't be bothered...). This thing is the second-stupidest show that network has ever inflicted upon us to my knowledge.

And it is so freaking hilarious every episode sets my recovery back a week (I really am not supposed to laugh yet). Anachronistic pop-culture references? Check. Eye-candy characters that make fun of the fact that they're eye-candy characters? Oh yeah, baby. Fourth wall? What's a fourth wall?
In-jokes that only a complete nerd could get? You betcha.

Seriously, check the show out. You'll either be laughing along with me or cursing my name. Or both. I'm okay with it.