I saw the movie Jumper in the theaters. I loved the idea of teleportation enough to brave my doubts about the acting of Hayden Christensen. Besides, it had Samuel L. Jackson in it. How bad could it be? Pretty bad, … Continue reading →
My brother and I had a subscription to Dragon Magazine through most of the 80’s and 90’s. Among the joys I got from those magazines was a full-color version of the Deck of Many Things. As you can see … Continue reading →
Since moving to Portland, I have gotten back into NBA basketball. I haven’t watched basketball regularly since Michael Jordan retired, but Portland has no pro baseball or football teams. One trip to the Rose Center was all I needed to … Continue reading →
Almost exactly twenty years ago Babylon 5’s pilot episode, “The Gathering,” premiered, and I … had no idea. Seriously. I distinctly remember when Babylon 5 premiered on my local channel (KBHK Channel 44 as I recall), and when it did … Continue reading →
Sometimes I miss Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. Technically I mean the second edition, but when it was released I don’t remember anyone differentiating between first and second editions. It was the new edition and everyone I knew made the change. … Continue reading →
Between a plane flight and before-bed reading, I finally got to read Redshirts last weekend, thanks to DunDraCon. If you haven’t read the novel yet, it’s John Scalzi’s marvelous take on the expendable extra in fiction, especially science fiction. Warning: … Continue reading →
Back in the early 1980’s, there was no Open Gaming License. If anyone wanted to publish a sourcebook for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, they had to license it with TSR. Well, in theory, anyway. In practice, third-party companies put out … Continue reading →
Games Workshop recently decided that because 1) it has an established trademark on Space Marines in a game context and 2) it has recently begun publishing science fiction, it automatically has a “common law trademark” on space marines in science … Continue reading →
So, you’re reading a fantasy story and you reach a point where someone has to speak, chant or sing to cast a spell. I’d be willing to bet that the portrayal of that moment will be handled in one of … Continue reading →
When I was a child, if you mentioned vampires most people thought only of Dracula. Heck, to the kids at my grade school, Dracula wasn’t a name, it was a type of monster. They didn’t even know the word ‘vampire.’ … Continue reading →