Dark Crystal News!

OMG, I am SO excited. The Dark Crystal is coming to Netflix as a new show. It’s a prequel. It’s called The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. I think the book I have is a prequel so it might follow that storyline.

I loved this movie so much when I was a kid. Really, anything Jim Henson did was genius, but The Dark Crystal took it to a whole new level. The detail and love that went into that movie is so obvious throughout. In the teaser trailer below, Jim Henson says that he considers it art. I do, too.

As a lot of people were, I was devastated when Jim Henson died, and I hope he’s with this in spirit. I have high hopes that this is going to be awesome.

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nerd rant: the xbox one devil

I know, I know, today is supposed to be the movie post. I have one written, but I decided to talk about something else today because it’s bothering me.

I’m a gamer. I’ve been a gamer since the dawn of Commodore 64. I still play on an almost daily basis, not the 64, of course. I currently have a wii, a ps3 and an xbox 360. PS3 is my preference.

I was reading about the xbox one today and the direction they’re going has royally pissed me off. I wish I could find the article I read earlier today so I could share the link, but I can’t find it now. I think it was on Yahoo.

So, the used game thing is what everyone is talking about the most, it seems. Obviously, this is about corporate greed. I buy most of my games used. I do not buy all of my games used. Some games, I buy used and then, if I like the series well enough, I buy the subsequent releases new.

Apparently the powers that be have decided that buying used games is akin to shady business. I have a newsflash for them. Those games I bought used? I wouldn’t have purchased them new. Or else I would’ve done that in the beginning.

That aside, this new thing. This new thing has my hackles up, for real. Apparently, the xbox one needs an internet connection every day or so or the game function of the console is deactivated.

Sorry anyone who doesn’t have constant access to an internet connection. For you, the xbox one is an over-priced DVD player, but hey, you have that going for you.

If this is real (and I sincerely hope it isn’t), it’s a move in a very wrong direction. Tell me, Microsoft. What are the advantages of dropping $400 or whatever you plan to charge to have my content so tightly controlled that it’s rendered useless if my connection goes down for a few days? Why exactly would I want this product?

This is one of those times where we get to decide how our culture moves forward. There will be people who will buy this system only because it’s an xbox. They have fans like that.

Gamers need to reject this product with enthusiasm. Vote with your dollars.

If enough people buy the xbox one under these circumstances, that’s a vote for this new system, the iron grip on games we did actually pay money for. It’s an invitation for them to find out how much farther they can push us. Hey, why not charge us an hourly rate? Hell, maybe we can pay a monthly bill just for the honor of having an xbox in our house.

I vote no. Microsoft will not receive one penny from me for xbox anything if this is how they plan to treat their customers.

Done.

naptown roller girls + star wars

It’s Wednesday! Better than Monday! Better than Tuesday! Today I have pictures. Lots of pictures.

Indianapolis has a roller derby team called the Naptown Roller Girls. We have seen them twice. Both times, they kicked much ass. And somehow, both times, we have ended up in the audience for their annual Star Wars themed bout. I love it – both the derby and the Star Wars.

Ok, sorry for the mix of sizes. Some of these are from my phone. Some of them are from the husband’s phone. Apparently, when you select “small” on the iphone, it sends them in postage stamp size.

This first one is the cover of the program. I love the title of the bout: Looking for Love in Alderaan Places. How freaking great is that?

 

This is me! As you can see, I had some blue in my hair. I didn’t get a pic with the legion because I was busy guarding our seats. The bout was sold out, so places to plant the butts were scarce. I had a man almost sit on my arm. They seriously need to hold these things at a place with better seating.

This is the shirt I bought. It’s Boba Fett’s helmet and the Naptown Roller Girls skull logo. I can’t wait to wear it!

 

The roller girls are warming up in this pic.

This is my favorite picture. The 501st did this thing where they pushed the roller girls around the track. The pic shows Darth engaged in this activity. I find it quite hilarious.

The Stars Wars people are from the 501st Legion. They are very nice, always willing to pose for pictures.

 

Here’s a link to their website – http://www.501st.com/

 

Here’s a link to the Naptown Roller Girls on Facebook. The pictures there are way better than my silly phone pictures –

http://www.facebook.com/naptownrollergirls/photos_stream

 

 

in honor of talk like a pirate day, some surly language

Tomorrow is Talk Like a Pirate Day! In honor of the esteemed holiday and the fact that I recently beat both Uncharted 3 and Dance Central 2, I present to you this video of nerd rage. The man just wants to play his game. Damn that error 36.

warning: multiple F words

don’t try this at home, kids.

geeking the funk out

Why didn’t anyone tell me that Disney’s movie John Carpenter was actually A
Princess of Mars?!?!?! How was I left out of this loop? Where was I? Why didn’t
I realize?

I saw some press, but my eyes glossed right over the words. I finally read an
article. Now I am freaking.

I read A Princess of Mars last year and LOVED it. The story is about a guy who
somehow magically ends up on Mars and becomes involved with all the
interspecies alien drama there. The book was written by the same author that
wrote Tarzan.

I…need to get to the movie theater. I can’t believe how awesome this is. The original
book is on Project Gutenberg. It’s free for download.

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62

Also check out the pics from the movie on IMDb.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401729/mediaindex

must go. movie theater.

my little brother is awesome

Before we talk about how awesome my little brother is, I want to announce that MacDowell Sisters and AnnaBeth is officially out of print. That was the first edition of Destined for Darkness with a different title and cover, etc. If you didn’t get it yet, I guess you’re out of luck. lol.

I do plan to put Destined for Darkness into print in the next month or two. More on that later.

One more: The limited print edition of Lair of the White Wyrm should be up on Lulu until about the end of March, then that version of the book will also be out of print.

Why is my little brother awesome? I haven’t seen him since last year. We don’t live that far apart, but his work keeps him busy. That’s not why he’s awesome. When dropping off an older computer for him (he enjoys tinkering), I picked up Christmas gifts from him and the Mrs.

He previously told me that he got me Uncharted 3. I’ve only played the first one, but I loved it. Uncharted is a lot like Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider.

So I pick up the gifts and the game is in a big box. It’s the friggin’ collector edition. Over the course of my decades of gaming and geeking, I have had exactly zero collector edition games. It is so cool. Let us look upon it with awe and wonder.

This is the case. I have it sitting on top of my movie shelf. It’s pretty big, but it’s also very pretty, so I have no problem displaying it.

Here we have the inside of the case. The thing on the left is the actual game case. It’s made of tin. On the right, we have a statue of Nate. I left him in the plastic. In the middle are two drawers.

Drawer number 1 has a reproduction of Nate’s ring on a necklace. The inscription on the outside says “Sic Parvis Magna”, which supposedly translates to “Greatness from small beginnings”. I have tried to figure out what language it is and have determined that they are not real words. My first guess was Latin, but according to Google translate, it is not latin. I think one word came up when I plugged in the phrase. I have decided the game creators made this up.

I did remove the ring from the package so I could make a necklace of it. I removed the leather strap because I would just tear it up. I have the ring on a dogtag chain.

This is a reproduction of the belt buckle that Nate wears in the game. I left it in the package. What the heck am I going to do with a belt buckle? It’s still really cool though.

and that is why my little brother is awesome.

guess what

I got an xbox for Christmas! woo! It was courtesy of the husband and actually intended for all of us, but I got.to install the present, therefore it is mine.

The boy (8 yrs old) was quite impressed with my tennis skills. I have spent a fair amount of time playing tennis on the Wii. The experience was similar. Even though it was a kinect game, I held a controller in my hand because, well, it’s tennis. Youre supposed to hold a racket.

Aforementioned boy is freakishly good at darts, I mean like bullseyes pretty much whenever he feels like getting them. Is there a Tiger Woods of professional darts? I mean like young, promising Tiger, not old, skeezy Tiger. I’m thinking of putting my boy to work. It’s high time he started pulling his weight.

The girl (14) keeps beating me at fitness games, except for a wallbreaker activity. We both like Dance Central 2, which sometimes makes me feel uncoordinated and sort of lame, but at least the music is totally awesome.

Do not love the camera all the time. It insists on taking many pictures, all of which are unflattering. I look slightly large and not very sexy with my hands over my head and my pale belly hanging out from beneath my shirt. The girl agrees the camera is unflattering. The husband has indicated the camera is accurate. He will not be missed when the zombies come and I use him as bait.

Husband has not played the xbox much at all. I’m not sure why that is. Maybe he’s afraid I’m right about the camera.