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Feb. 20th, 2005
Somewhere, beyond the sea...
Feb. 20th, 2005 02:01 pmActress Sandra Dee dead at age 62
Actress Sandra Dee, the blond beauty who attracted a large teen audience with films such as "Gidget" and "Tammy and the Doctor" and had a headlined marriage to pop singer Bobby Darin, died Sunday morning, a nursing supervisor said. She was 62.
Actress Sandra Dee, the blond beauty who attracted a large teen audience with films such as "Gidget" and "Tammy and the Doctor" and had a headlined marriage to pop singer Bobby Darin, died Sunday morning, a nursing supervisor said. She was 62.
Pocket Review: Champions Universe
Feb. 20th, 2005 02:51 pmOne of my gripes about the whole superhero genre is that it is totally illogical. (Bear with me, I know I'm stating the obvious.) There's no way that a human shaped and sized being could lift an oil tanker, flight requires some form of thrust and lifting body, and let's not even start on the marvelous technology that seems to be used only by its inventors!
Then there's the fact that most four-color worlds seem to be just like ours only with people in tights flying around. There's very little impact on the world, which is wrong.
Champions Universe addresses this problem, and does it well. It starts with an overview of the game-world history, covering "men of mystery" from about the Revolutionary War on up to World War II. The rational for the superpowered milieu is a cabal of Nazi sorcerers.. they tried to use a magical ritual to open a gateway, but only succeeded in making the Earth more permeable to the fantastic and unlikely. Accidents that would normally leave the victim comatose now endow amazing powers. Mutants are born. Entities from alternate realities wander by for tea. Inventors build amazing battlesuits, etc.
The best part of the book is the exploration of how society reacts to the presence of metahumans. From the popular media to the government, the effects on day-to-day life are examined. For example, one of the most popular channels on most cable systems is SNN, the Super News Network. Along with news shows reporting on daily super-battles, it has such entertainment as Behind The Mask about the lives of heroes. (I'm imagining that one of their newest hits has to be Queer Eye for the Straight Super...)
Chapter four is a gazetteer-style overview of the rest of the planet. While sketchy, it does provide some useful ideas (in Mexico, the masked wrestlers actually have powers!) This section suffers from having metahumans who have powers and IDs tied too closely to their home regions, but that's to be expected.
After that, we get a closer look at some important fictional places.. Millennium City, MI (built on the ruins of Detroit, which was leveled by Dr. Destroyer), Vibora Bay, FL, and Haynesville, KS (home of the late Captain Patriot and the United States' super-soldier program.) Then were off to the usual Jack Kirby-esque Secret Lands.. Atlantis, Lemuria, Monster Island.
But the book is called Champions Universe! Aliens and their empires are not ignored. Neither are alternate dimensions just chock-full off baddies.
The last few chapters go over organizations, both good and bad, and hints for running games in the CU. There are several characters in the book, ranging from normals to world-smashing villains.
A great treatment of the subject. I'll use this material, but my primal cause of the superhero explosion is different.
I'm stealing from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
isomeme here, a shared universe he played with in college.
A long time ago, in another dimension, the V'reln and (race name?) were at war. In a final assault, the V'reln surrounded the enemy home world with ships mounting the feared Probability Inverter! They fired, and the planet vanished. Alas, the beams intersected and things got very weird.
Several of those beams popped into our universe and hit Earth and various points in our history. Each hit raised the level of improbability on Earth a little, until the final hit in the 1920 just made things crazy. Science, magic, genetics.. all went nuts. Aliens started avoiding us because of the odd things that happen here. They were really put out to find that our weirdness traveled with us!
Then there's the fact that most four-color worlds seem to be just like ours only with people in tights flying around. There's very little impact on the world, which is wrong.
Champions Universe addresses this problem, and does it well. It starts with an overview of the game-world history, covering "men of mystery" from about the Revolutionary War on up to World War II. The rational for the superpowered milieu is a cabal of Nazi sorcerers.. they tried to use a magical ritual to open a gateway, but only succeeded in making the Earth more permeable to the fantastic and unlikely. Accidents that would normally leave the victim comatose now endow amazing powers. Mutants are born. Entities from alternate realities wander by for tea. Inventors build amazing battlesuits, etc.
The best part of the book is the exploration of how society reacts to the presence of metahumans. From the popular media to the government, the effects on day-to-day life are examined. For example, one of the most popular channels on most cable systems is SNN, the Super News Network. Along with news shows reporting on daily super-battles, it has such entertainment as Behind The Mask about the lives of heroes. (I'm imagining that one of their newest hits has to be Queer Eye for the Straight Super...)
Chapter four is a gazetteer-style overview of the rest of the planet. While sketchy, it does provide some useful ideas (in Mexico, the masked wrestlers actually have powers!) This section suffers from having metahumans who have powers and IDs tied too closely to their home regions, but that's to be expected.
After that, we get a closer look at some important fictional places.. Millennium City, MI (built on the ruins of Detroit, which was leveled by Dr. Destroyer), Vibora Bay, FL, and Haynesville, KS (home of the late Captain Patriot and the United States' super-soldier program.) Then were off to the usual Jack Kirby-esque Secret Lands.. Atlantis, Lemuria, Monster Island.
But the book is called Champions Universe! Aliens and their empires are not ignored. Neither are alternate dimensions just chock-full off baddies.
The last few chapters go over organizations, both good and bad, and hints for running games in the CU. There are several characters in the book, ranging from normals to world-smashing villains.
A great treatment of the subject. I'll use this material, but my primal cause of the superhero explosion is different.
I'm stealing from
isomeme here, a shared universe he played with in college.A long time ago, in another dimension, the V'reln and (race name?) were at war. In a final assault, the V'reln surrounded the enemy home world with ships mounting the feared Probability Inverter! They fired, and the planet vanished. Alas, the beams intersected and things got very weird.
Several of those beams popped into our universe and hit Earth and various points in our history. Each hit raised the level of improbability on Earth a little, until the final hit in the 1920 just made things crazy. Science, magic, genetics.. all went nuts. Aliens started avoiding us because of the odd things that happen here. They were really put out to find that our weirdness traveled with us!
Sue me, jerkoff.
Feb. 20th, 2005 03:01 pmGannon's Enemies List
Jeff Gannon is considering suing liberal interest groups, bloggers and others for a "political assassination" that drove him from his job as a reporter for a conservative news outfit called Talon News, he told NEWSWEEK. Gannon, whose real name is James Guckert, singled out Media Matters -- a "well-funded" liberal group headed by longtime "attack dog" David Brock. ("Everything we wrote about him came from the public record," Brock replied.)
It remains unclear how Gannon got routine White House press access for nearly two years; he acknowledged he first began getting clearance to White House press briefings in early 2003 as a representative of GOPUSA, a group headed by Texas GOP activist Bobby Eberle-months before Eberle even created Talon News. Gannon said he had no access to White House aides outside the press room, nor did he try to interview any. When President Bush called on him at a press conference last month-during which he asked a question with false info about Sen. Harry Reid-"nobody was more surprised than myself," said Gannon.
"Gannon" is a male prostitute, Republican shill, and known liar.
If he doesn't like these facts, he can sue me. I'd love to see him on the stand, under oath, explaining a few things...
Jeff Gannon is considering suing liberal interest groups, bloggers and others for a "political assassination" that drove him from his job as a reporter for a conservative news outfit called Talon News, he told NEWSWEEK. Gannon, whose real name is James Guckert, singled out Media Matters -- a "well-funded" liberal group headed by longtime "attack dog" David Brock. ("Everything we wrote about him came from the public record," Brock replied.)
It remains unclear how Gannon got routine White House press access for nearly two years; he acknowledged he first began getting clearance to White House press briefings in early 2003 as a representative of GOPUSA, a group headed by Texas GOP activist Bobby Eberle-months before Eberle even created Talon News. Gannon said he had no access to White House aides outside the press room, nor did he try to interview any. When President Bush called on him at a press conference last month-during which he asked a question with false info about Sen. Harry Reid-"nobody was more surprised than myself," said Gannon.
"Gannon" is a male prostitute, Republican shill, and known liar.
If he doesn't like these facts, he can sue me. I'd love to see him on the stand, under oath, explaining a few things...
Gonzo gone.
Feb. 20th, 2005 08:50 pmAuthor Hunter S. Thompson Kills Himself
Hunter S. Thompson, the acerbic counterculture writer who popularized a new form of fictional journalism in books like "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," fatally shot himself Sunday night at his home, his son said. He was 67.
Damn, Hunter was one of those influences on my life that people are always surprised at (Him and William S. Burroughs.) I loved the man's way with words, and the fact that he lived life by his own damn rules, and the rest of the world was left to struggle in his wake.
Time to reread Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Hunter S. Thompson, the acerbic counterculture writer who popularized a new form of fictional journalism in books like "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," fatally shot himself Sunday night at his home, his son said. He was 67.
Damn, Hunter was one of those influences on my life that people are always surprised at (Him and William S. Burroughs.) I loved the man's way with words, and the fact that he lived life by his own damn rules, and the rest of the world was left to struggle in his wake.
Time to reread Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Since I'm in a Champions mood...
Feb. 20th, 2005 09:58 pmI've been playing with Heromachine. The new edition is one hell of a lot of fun.
( Sunturion )
( Doctor Arcane )
( Iron Horse )
( The Reaper )
Well, what do y'all think?
( Sunturion )
( Doctor Arcane )
( Iron Horse )
( The Reaper )
Well, what do y'all think?