Anyone remember the good old days? Nude erynes, sylphs, and succubi in the Monster Manual, nude women in advertisements in Dragon magazine, nudes in articles in Dragon magazine... nudes in the Dungeon Master's Guides sigh...
Then of course people decided nudity was sexist or evil (depending on ideology) and everthing got cleaned up... but oh for the innocence of my youth in the 70's...
I was lucky enough to have a father who loved Tales from the Crypt, The Haunt of Fear and The Vault of Horror back in the 50's when they tried to ban comic books. He never fell for that hype (neither did my Mom, but she loves Anne McCaffrey so it is to be expected.) However, they would occaisionally run into people who would say, "You let your kid play D&D? Did you the 60 Minutes episode on it?" Of course, I had problems in school over it...
My letter on the subject is forever preserved in the Dragon Magazine Archive on CD-Rom. To find it just put in the words, Sally Jesse Raphael in the search engine (it is in a later issue, up over 100)... see if you can guess which letter is mine! ^_^
Knight of the Living Dead which was somewhere between a Which-Way book and a solitare module was pretty cool. It was about a plot by the undead to destroy Waterdeep, and required a 12-sided dice to play, but was lenient compared to real AD&D rules and was really more like a Which-Way book (though in looks and presentation it was more like a module and the writing and pictures were more grown-up.)
Of course, solitary, scary loners who were really into this sort of thing (not me of course... I just heard about it. Really, I don't have whole box full of such solitare modules...) knew enough to buy the Tunnels and Trolls games in which solitare modules were a speciality. Ah! Sorcerer's Solitare, Sea of Mystery what fun... the best part was when you cheated and read a "cheater's paragraph" in which a Troll bashes in your head for reading out of turn... Ah! Those were the days...
Of course, the couldn't compare to Zork or Enchanter but you could play them on family camping trips out in the woods...
I really love my D100 and I think it was an interesting piece of engineering. Unfortunately, it doesn't match my two crystal dice sets because it isn't translucent or the right color. It really rolls too... it resembles a golf ball.
The Eidolon For the Atari 800 XL had cool looking dragons, especially for those days. It was a LucasArts game and the first FPS I ever played. I thought the Black Dragon had the scariest look.
.. I mean, I want to see civilians going into space someday, but this story seems far fetched. Now, to be fair, there are important elements of the current Russian power structure who would probably be willing to do something like this for that kind of money. However, I think the PR risk is too great, imagine:
Visionary Internet tycoon Steve Case died today on route to the Russian space station Mir when the craft carrying him exploded. This devastating tragedy has sent shock waves around the world, we now go to Wolf Blitzer to see if the technology stocks will be able to survive this loss....
Replace Steve Case with your.com or computer billionaire of choice and you'll see what I mean. I mean, I've always wondered if the Challenger explosion would've set back NASA's image as much as it did (I still think that MTV's abandonment of the moon flag logo was a sign of a downturn in NASA's pioneering image) if the member of the crew were all hardened soldier types and didn't include a perky school teacher. Not that we can afford to lose hardened soldiers, just that the public perception might have been different if these were professional soldiers who might just as easily have risked death in Somalia and the Persian Gulf.
It was NRA 4 Ever, and Groening was portrayed as some sort of right winger (and lunatic, though I'm not relating the two.)
The true evidence, though, if you watch the show (and Futurama) is that Groening is some sort of third party person. If I had to guess it would be Libertarian, but it could also be Green. It is possible, though, that I'm just reading to much into his distaste for the two major American political parties. (Still, the episode Citizen Kang could be shown as propaganda for anyone opposing the two-party system.)
The tragic and untimely death of Frank Grimes. Especially the slightly annoyed look on Mr. Burns face as "Grimey" goes on the rampage that lead to his death, and also most of what happened at his funeral:
"Or, 'Grimey' as he liked to be called..."
"Marge, change the channel"
...and everyone laughing as Grimey's corpse is lowered into the Earth... It is because of episodes like this that the Simpsons will endure forever...
I also liked the fact that the evil slurm factory boss was based on Gene Wilder's truly sinister portrayal of Willy Wonka. It shows that whoever scripted the episode really understands what it was like to watch Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory as a kid.
Re:I love the Simpsons but damn them for Cosby
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The Simpsons Turn 10
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· Score: 1
You really shouldn't be mad at the Simpsons for this, the people behind the show considered it dangerous brinksmanship and wanted to stay in their cozy Sunday night timeslot. Some corporate types at Fox made this decision, and the Simpsons cast and crew were seriously worried it would finish them to go up against Cosby.
Hmm, actually they expressed this thought on the Simpson's Spinoff Showcase episode, which pointed out that they were beating the show to death (or would be soon). But there are two things:
1. I'm not sure Groening has Seinfeld level creative control. You remember the episode in which The Critic from the unsuccessful Fox cartoon of the same name visited Springfield? Groening hated that episode, yet they made the Simpsons do it anyway, I understand he had his name removed from the credits. Possibly it is as simple as this, if Jerry left Seinfeld as an actor, the show probably couldn't survive. On the other hand, the Simpsons can survive the loss of just about anyone. (I think it is Duchovny's decision to leave the X-Files that is really why it is almost over. Chris Carter probably would continue to do it, once it ends his career will probably be in big trouble.)
2. I've liked some of the recent episodes, like the Bart on Focasin episode. My only real problem with the series is that the Simpsons have been the same age for ten years... it worked for a while but now it is starting to get scary. (I mean, think about it, if they flashback to five years ago and everyone is the same age...)
I think Otaku No Video is a solid, hardcore movie about total geeks. Besides, I love that movie, and can relate to the feelings of the stigmatized otaku in that movie as a stigmatized Role Playing Gamer (which is generally considered a geeky hobby), the experience seems to have been very similar.
Of course, Otaku No Video isn't about computer geeks, but it is about "outsider culture" and technically obsessed kids. This ends my commercial for Otaku No Video ^_-
Another thoughtful Geek anime is Wings of Honnemaise, but it is about space geeks not computer geeks. Still, space geeks are important (well, to me anyway). Oh, and perhaps the ultimate anime-geek movie is Otaku No Video, the anime equivalent of Trekkies.
Well, if you want to know what Jon Katz looks like, you can go to the library and look at his picture in one of his novels. I won't try to describe what he looks like, I'm not up to the task...
Ah, the Brothers Karamazov I remember a section of that book, it was about the Grand Inquisitor and the auto de fa. The Grand Inquisitor intended to sacrifice Jesus himself (who had come for a visit) to the fires of judgement, remember? It was because the entity the Inquisitor served was no longer Christ or his Father, but the spirit that offered, among other things, the Sword of Caesar to Christ in the desert. Christ refused that sword, as I recall, but the Inquisitor had taken it up in his name and didn't want Jesus coming around and interfering with the status quo.
Hmm, I wonder what Reverand Wildmon would do if Jesus showed up and started preaching "Judge not lest ye be judged" to him... I doubt it would be pleasant, whatever it was. When religion is mixed up with politics, both get corrupted...
Didn't R.A. Heinlein support Goldwater? To bad Goldwater's brand of conservatism seems to have been forced out of the Republican party along with Newt Gingrich. I was a Republican once, you know, before they dashed all my hopes of limited government to pieces...
Didn't R.A. Heinlein support Goldwater? To bad Goldwater's brand of conservatism seems to have been forced out of the Republican party along with Newt Gingrich.
You're right of course, but the political realities of the US currently are that we don't have free speech period. People just have to do their best to prevent their rights from being eroded to a ridiculous degree. Which is what politicized filtering software like this does. A librarian may oppose my looking at www.lp.org but he/she probably won't throw me out of the library for it. The filtering software will probably block it though, if the creators don't like the Libertarian party.
It's a shame because what you say is absolutely right, it's just not a viable position in most of the US at the moment.
Things are really bad, and Krystalnacht is closer than I'd like to think. It may be time for me to purchase a firearm, lest the religious fanatics decide to "hasten forth the Apocalypse."
It's supposed to be "Life, Liberty and Property" and people are not supposed to be able to deprive you of any of those things. Unfortunately, it was changed to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." That leaves things rather vague. However, the first ten amendments to the constitution are very clear, it is not up to the government to block political speech in a public place (violates the First Amendment) as someone pointed out one of the filtering programs even block the AFA site.
Incidentally, if your family is starving and you have no other choice (which is a very artificial version of American life, what happened to queuing up for surplus cheese?) stealing a loaf of bread is the right thing to do, morally. Letting your children die in that case, is morally close to murder. However, it is still illegal, as morals are more complex than the law is capable of being.
It strikes me that a man who says, "Theft is theft, my children must starve," is despicably evil. But then my right to argue this position is what the First Amendment is for.
Actually, this was suggested by one of the Internet Porn Kingpins to Congress, and quickly rejected. You see, giving out such a domain name would require politicians to accept that pornography is going to continue to exist. No one wants to be the guy who, in his opponents ad, suggested (cue sleazy background music) a.xxx domain name for pornographic sites. This even though the intention was to make them easier to regulate!
Slashdot Mirror
Then of course people decided nudity was sexist or evil (depending on ideology) and everthing got cleaned up... but oh for the innocence of my youth in the 70's...
Dragon's Lair is already available on DVD...
My letter on the subject is forever preserved in the Dragon Magazine Archive on CD-Rom. To find it just put in the words, Sally Jesse Raphael in the search engine (it is in a later issue, up over 100)... see if you can guess which letter is mine! ^_^
Of course, solitary, scary loners who were really into this sort of thing (not me of course... I just heard about it. Really, I don't have whole box full of such solitare modules...) knew enough to buy the Tunnels and Trolls games in which solitare modules were a speciality. Ah! Sorcerer's Solitare, Sea of Mystery what fun... the best part was when you cheated and read a "cheater's paragraph" in which a Troll bashes in your head for reading out of turn... Ah! Those were the days...
Of course, the couldn't compare to Zork or Enchanter but you could play them on family camping trips out in the woods...
Don't forget Ladyhawk I really liked that one...
I really love my D100 and I think it was an interesting piece of engineering. Unfortunately, it doesn't match my two crystal dice sets because it isn't translucent or the right color. It really rolls too... it resembles a golf ball.
The Eidolon For the Atari 800 XL had cool looking dragons, especially for those days. It was a LucasArts game and the first FPS I ever played. I thought the Black Dragon had the scariest look.
Replace Steve Case with your .com or computer billionaire of choice and you'll see what I mean. I mean, I've always wondered if the Challenger explosion would've set back NASA's image as much as it did (I still think that MTV's abandonment of the moon flag logo was a sign of a downturn in NASA's pioneering image) if the member of the crew were all hardened soldier types and didn't include a perky school teacher. Not that we can afford to lose hardened soldiers, just that the public perception might have been different if these were professional soldiers who might just as easily have risked death in Somalia and the Persian Gulf.
The true evidence, though, if you watch the show (and Futurama) is that Groening is some sort of third party person. If I had to guess it would be Libertarian, but it could also be Green. It is possible, though, that I'm just reading to much into his distaste for the two major American political parties. (Still, the episode Citizen Kang could be shown as propaganda for anyone opposing the two-party system.)
"Or, 'Grimey' as he liked to be called..."
"Marge, change the channel"
o/~ Stayin' Alive, Stayin Alive o/~
I also liked the fact that the evil slurm factory boss was based on Gene Wilder's truly sinister portrayal of Willy Wonka. It shows that whoever scripted the episode really understands what it was like to watch Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory as a kid.
You really shouldn't be mad at the Simpsons for this, the people behind the show considered it dangerous brinksmanship and wanted to stay in their cozy Sunday night timeslot. Some corporate types at Fox made this decision, and the Simpsons cast and crew were seriously worried it would finish them to go up against Cosby.
1. I'm not sure Groening has Seinfeld level creative control. You remember the episode in which The Critic from the unsuccessful Fox cartoon of the same name visited Springfield? Groening hated that episode, yet they made the Simpsons do it anyway, I understand he had his name removed from the credits. Possibly it is as simple as this, if Jerry left Seinfeld as an actor, the show probably couldn't survive. On the other hand, the Simpsons can survive the loss of just about anyone. (I think it is Duchovny's decision to leave the X-Files that is really why it is almost over. Chris Carter probably would continue to do it, once it ends his career will probably be in big trouble.)
2. I've liked some of the recent episodes, like the Bart on Focasin episode. My only real problem with the series is that the Simpsons have been the same age for ten years... it worked for a while but now it is starting to get scary. (I mean, think about it, if they flashback to five years ago and everyone is the same age...)
Of course, Otaku No Video isn't about computer geeks, but it is about "outsider culture" and technically obsessed kids. This ends my commercial for Otaku No Video ^_-
Another thoughtful Geek anime is Wings of Honnemaise, but it is about space geeks not computer geeks. Still, space geeks are important (well, to me anyway). Oh, and perhaps the ultimate anime-geek movie is Otaku No Video, the anime equivalent of Trekkies.
Well, if you want to know what Jon Katz looks like, you can go to the library and look at his picture in one of his novels. I won't try to describe what he looks like, I'm not up to the task...
I spit on the moderator/coward who moderated this to flamebait. You can go to Hell, whoever you are.
Hmm, I wonder what Reverand Wildmon would do if Jesus showed up and started preaching "Judge not lest ye be judged" to him... I doubt it would be pleasant, whatever it was. When religion is mixed up with politics, both get corrupted...
Didn't R.A. Heinlein support Goldwater? To bad Goldwater's brand of conservatism seems to have been forced out of the Republican party along with Newt Gingrich. I was a Republican once, you know, before they dashed all my hopes of limited government to pieces...
Didn't R.A. Heinlein support Goldwater? To bad Goldwater's brand of conservatism seems to have been forced out of the Republican party along with Newt Gingrich.
It's a shame because what you say is absolutely right, it's just not a viable position in most of the US at the moment.
Article about a PUBLIC school in CA
Things are really bad, and Krystalnacht is closer than I'd like to think. It may be time for me to purchase a firearm, lest the religious fanatics decide to "hasten forth the Apocalypse."
Incidentally, if your family is starving and you have no other choice (which is a very artificial version of American life, what happened to queuing up for surplus cheese?) stealing a loaf of bread is the right thing to do, morally. Letting your children die in that case, is morally close to murder. However, it is still illegal, as morals are more complex than the law is capable of being.
It strikes me that a man who says, "Theft is theft, my children must starve," is despicably evil. But then my right to argue this position is what the First Amendment is for.
Actually, this was suggested by one of the Internet Porn Kingpins to Congress, and quickly rejected. You see, giving out such a domain name would require politicians to accept that pornography is going to continue to exist. No one wants to be the guy who, in his opponents ad, suggested (cue sleazy background music) a .xxx domain name for pornographic sites. This even though the intention was to make them easier to regulate!