In case you didn’t know, I am a big fan of award-winning writer Neil Gaiman. This fall (current release date is September 30) a new movie written by Gaiman and directed by his long-time collaborator Dave McKean will be released.

The film is called Mirrormask, and it looks absolutely gorgeous. It’s produced by the Jim Henson Company, and is in the same vein as Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. You can see the latest trailer here, and learn a bit more about the movie at the official Mirrormask website.

I bought the Illustrated Script Book a couple of weeks ago, and I am really looking forward to this film. The story is fantastic, and the visuals are exactly the kind of unique vision you would expect from the mind of Dave McKean.

September is going to be a busy movie month for me… both Serenity and Mirrormask. With all the other films I’m looking forward to this summer… my entertainment budget is going to be a bit strained.

And the rain rain rain
Came down down down…

Sweet baby Jane, enough with the weather already! Today it absolutely poured for five or six hours, and most of the state of Maine is looking at a flood watches and warnings into tomorrow.

The wet is really starting to take its toll on people. After several months of short-daylight winter, we were looking forward to the long, warm days of late spring and early summer. Instead, we’ve got gray, wet, cold, misery.

I hope things clear up soon; I want James and Dammi to have a positive impression of our lovely state when they visit next month. At this rate though…

There’s a short story by Ray Bradbury called All Summer in a Day. It’s about the one day every twenty years (or whatever) where the perpetual storms on some alien planet (Venus, if I recall correctly) break and let the sunshine in. I’m starting to get that vibe here.

Oddly enough, I’ve been feeling rather… elemental the last day or two. I want to walk outside in this weather, embracing it… kind of a nautical ‘sea spray on the face’ kind of thing. I love wind and water… and while the seemingly perpetual gray is a bit of a bother, there’s a certain primal vibe that I’m pulling off of it.

I wish I were down at the lake, watching the whitecaps dance (well, not right now, because it’s dark out, but you get the idea). I find a certain peace of mind there… one that has, in some ways, been missing from my life recently. I’ve tried not to dwell on it too much (thre’s too much other stuff to get done!), but it keeps rising from my subconscious, and I can’t shake it.

That deep part of my brain is telling me there’s something I need to deal with. I’m just not sure what it is.

*sigh*

I finally saw Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith last night. It didn’t totally suck… in fact it was pretty good. Not great, but not bad either.

By the way, some spoilers may follow. I don’t think there’s anything that fans of the series wouldn’t know, however.

The one thing I noticed was how… sterile it felt. Especially the opening battle sequence over Coruscant. It reminded me of the massive starfighter sequence over Endor from Return of the Jedi, but it lacked the charm and drama of the sequence in Jedi… at least in my opinion.

Not to be nitpicky, but speaking of Jedi… in the Ewok village, Luke asks Leia about her mother; her answer (“She seemed very sad” or something like that) gives the impression that she’s talking about their mother, Padme.

But then, in Sith, Padme dies in childbirth and the infant Skywalkers are given to their respective adoptive parents — Bail Organa and his wife, in the case of Leia. That being the case… why would Leia’s adoptive mother be so sad?

And if Leia is talking about Padme… how the hell would she have any impression of her?

I don’t know… I guess I’m generally unimpressed by the newer films, and my storytelling brain is picking apart the inconsistencies.

There is some good stuff in the movie, don’t get me wrong, and I enjoyed it, but the pacing is rushed, and it lacks a certain something that I feel in Episodes IV-VI.

Unleashed, on the other hand… is a good movie. But that is a post for another time.

We’ve had bad weather here in the northeast for the last few days… cold, rainy, and generally unpleasant. Not exactly the greatest motivator in the world.

In ED Classic news, we’re finishing up the Player’s Compendium. A slight delay cropped up when I reviewed the chapter of Illusionist spells, and had a “Gah!” moment where I realized the chapter needed the heavy hand of an editor.

Still, that’s now out of the way, and I’m into reviewing the last five or six chapters (out of 30-something). We probably won’t have the book on the market in time for Origins, but we hope to have a preview copy or three that folks can drool over.

Here’s the scary thought; as soon as we finish the EPC, we do this all over again with the Gamemaster’s Compendium.

Ah well. Noody said the life of a game designer would be hookers and blow.

(Actually, somebody did… if I can dig up the link, I’ll share.)

Edit: Wow… a post over at the RPGnet forums, and in less than 10 minutes I’m supplied with a link (thanks to Alka-Seltzer). Greg Stolze on why he writes game books.

Work continues on ED Classic. We’re almost done.

I swear!

I’m not wasting any time at all watching video of an a capella group performing classic Nintendo theme music!

Really!

(Honestly though, click the link and watch the clip. It’s a hoot — particularly the accompanying choreography.)

Another PDF release is available from DriveThruRPG. This time around it’s Denizens of Earthdawn Volume 1. Like Horrors, it is scanned from the original text and OCR’d, with bookmarks and a hyperlinked table of contents.

We’ve also made some new Earthdawn swag available at our various online outlets. Several items are available at our Spreadshirt store (with United States and European affiliates), as well as some items at Cafe Press.

Pay a visit, and give us your cash!

For those of you who are interested, RedBrick is running six events at Origins. I’m running three, and James is running three.

I’ll be running a revised version of the old FASA demo “Journey to Lang” Thursday at 9am (Event #6888), Friday at 7pm (Event #6863), and Saturday at 1pm (Event #6856). James will be running his own custom introductory event “The Woodcutter’s Cottage” Thursday at 1pm (Event #6852)m Friday at 9am (Event #6853), and Saturday at 7pm (Event #6854).

Sign-up for these events is available now at the Origins website, www.originsgames.org. We’ll be there all weekend, so if you’re in Columbus, pay us a visit!

In the “Look guys, we are doing something!” department, a watermarked-PDF of the old Earthdawn sourcebook Horrors is available for purchase from DriveThruRPG.com.

Put together from a scan of the original book, the book is more than a simple scan of the pages. The text has been OCR’d, allowing the book to be searched.

You can purchase the book (the first in our line of electronic reprints of First Edition material) from DriveThruRPG. Here’s a handy direct link to the specific page. Spread the word!

The MST (Master Storyteller) of the Camarilla recently posted an excellent essay on the nature of Vampiric existence in the framework of the Requiem venue. I encourage anybody who has an interest (passing or otherwise) to read the essay and give it some thought. Here are links for you:

HTML/Webpage format

PDF Format

I’d like to take an opportunity to share a couple of the websites I visit on a regular basis.

First of all, Hitherby Dragons, by the brilliantly eclectic Rebecca Borgstrom. Rebecca is responsible for some of the more creative RPG products out there. Exalted: The Fair Folk is hers, as is the incredible Nobilis. One suggestion with Hitherby, go back and read all the archives. It’ll take some time, but the overall picture that takes shape is amazing.

Second, Wil Wheaton’s Blog. If you don’t know who Wil Wheaton is, he was in Stand By Me, and played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He has turned into a solid writer, and his blog is not the typical “celebrity blog” you’re used to seeing.

Third, Neil Gaiman’s Journal. Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite writers, and he writes a good journal, updated regularly.

I also read the online comics Blade Kitten, Order of the Stick, and VG Cats, and try to keep up with Neurotically Yours (aka Foamy the Squirrel) and the Strongbad E-Mail at Homestar Runner. If you aren’t familiar with any of these… visit, read, and enjoy.