The Sound of One Mind Emptying

Last night marked a year since me and Guy drunkenly stumbled into the monthly storytelling at Milgi's (every third Tuesday of the month) and I got up and told a story. Since then I have been every month and have only not told a story maybe three or four times when the floor spots were otherwise taken. I've probably told more stories at that event than the guests who get a cut of the donations and a free drink. Ho hum.

I've also been going (not quite every month but very regularly) to the Storytelling Circle at Chapter Arts Centre (every first Sunday of the month) and been telling stories there - usually, but not always, the story that I would later tell at Milgi's.

Since I have told a different story every month, I'm slowly building up a repertoire that I should, at some point, probably make a note of so I don't lose track of what stories I know.

It's been a fun year getting involved in storytelling. In December, Cath Little, who has been giving me encouragement from day one, paid me a compliment when she said that I always seem so confident when I'm telling stories. Of course, when I'm telling I feel the exact opposite and the entire time that I'm telling stories at Milgi's (ironically except for that very first time), I am always wracked with nerves. This is something that I feel a lot less at the Storytelling Circle, far more informal and you don't have to stand up, but I still get a wave of nerves when I know that I'm next to tell a story.

Of course, even the most experienced thespian will tell you that they get nervous before going on stage, so I don't think it's anything that will ever change, but the nerves really stem from how well I know the story. For instance, the story I told last January was one with which I was intimately familiar, having told it so many times (under very informal circumstances) that I could recite it backwards. However, last night was possibly the first time that I've ever told a story at Milgi's that I only read the night before. Not only that, but I also presented it in a unique manner that I'd only thought up that morning.

I was nervous as hell telling it, but everyone seemed to really like it. While they compliment me to my face, I really have no idea how the professional storytellers truly rate me. I'm obviously not a bad storyteller, but whether they actually consider me a good storyteller is another matter. I don't mind because I know that I've not yet made these stories my own (except for the ones I told in January and February last year and one or two others which, while not particularly well known, fell into place very quickly). Over time, I guess, I'll really get to grips with it. Not sure I'm anywhere near ready to go hiring out a room at Chapter to invite people to come listen to me all night, though.

I'd been looking forward to Avatar but in no way as much as Guy who at times was literally driving me nuts going on about it. Yes, it was going to be awesome and, yes, it is frickin' awesome, but what it lacked in me was that true bouncing in my seat like a little schoolgirl squee-like glee of anticipation. Something which, however, this film has me doing:


More so because it's going to be in 3D! When I originally saw the ComicCon trailer (which did not mention it would be in 3D), I thought "Wow, that looks awesome. I'm relatively excited." However, seeing it again, this time noticing that it's going to be in 3D, I thought "Squeee!!"

Yes, folks, you read it here first. Nimrod did a squee. In a manly way, of course. So it was more of a... um... "squaaaah!" or someshitlikethat.

Of course, the problem is that the Tron camp is divided in two, really. Those who at the mention of Tron go "That piece of shit?" and others who go "HolycrapthatfilmwasawesomefirstfilmtoreallyusecomputergraphicsIownthe20thanniversaryeditionthatfilmrocks". And then there's the technical third camp of "What's that? Never seen it." who aren't a real camp because they're yet to fulfil their destiny in becoming one of the other two camps.

Yes, it's a little dated now, but with the sequel (not remake!) coming out at the end of this year it doesn't matter that it's dated. Sure, Wargames is dated, but it was a film of its time, just as Tron is and was. Tron was never meant to be set in the future - it was set firmly in the '80s - and what it provided was a film that was both refreshing and original. Let's take another look at it 1982:


OK, so trailers have also come a long way... For anyone who actually needed to watch that to find out what all the fuss was about and is wondering what the hell is going on in the Tron Legacy trailer, or for anyone who either doesn't yet own a copy of Tron or just loves seeing one of the most defining reasons to love this film, I'll leave you with this (and, yes, it's multiplayer snake - I remember re-coding a Turbo Pascal version of Snake in school to be a two-player Tron Lightcycle game):

Let's do a very "British thing" and talk about the weather.

Just before Christmas we had a bit of snowfall in Cardiff. Not a massive amount, but enough to stick and make things a little white. In Caerphilly, it was heavier and since that's where I spent my Christmas I had an almost White Christmas in that there was still white (though it wasn't actually deep, nor crisp, nor even) though most of it had turned to ice except on the grass where it was still crunchy snow.

Within the space of 15 minutes last night, snow fell in Cardiff and made things white (well, orange by the streetlight) and it pretty much didn't stop snowing for any real length of time through the night. While I knew we'd be getting a bit of snow, the forecasts I read didn't predict actual, proper snowfall. When I woke up my garden looked like this (and still does):

Only a couple of minutes before I started this post did it finally stop snowing outside since I got up at 9am. This is unusual for Cardiff. Only once have I seen Cardiff white for this long and I'm pretty certain that by now it was mostly fading. That said, it could be that last time was when I still lived right next to a main road, so the roads didn't remain as white for long whereas the quieter street I'm on now doesn't see a great deal of traffic and so remains undisturbed for longer.

As picturesque as it is, it does cause problems. Today I was supposed to be getting use of my mother's car while my folks fly out to Israel for a few days. Gatwick is closed, but fortunately Heathrow still appears to be operational. However, when my Dad popped out in the morning and very slightly lost control of the car on the road which serves as the only entrance/exit to my parent's estate, they have no desire to come to Cardiff to drop off the car and will be happy just to be make it to Heathrow and fly out today... As such, this doesn't stop me going to Caerphilly, myself, and picking up the car (since I'd delayed doing a big shopping trip for today when I'd have the car), but it's something that in this weather I have no desire to do. Having seen how much snow Caerphilly Mountain can normally get and the pictures of Caerphilly entrenched in snow that my mother sent me this morning, it's not something I'm in a hurry to do... hopefully it will have cleared a little over the next few days enough that I can get the car and do some proper grocery shopping.

So it snowed last night and the temperature has remained cold enough that some of it is still around, which isn't that common for Cardiff, but mostly turned not to slush but ice. It's currently about 1°C and looking to get to -3°C in the night. So does this mean we may be in for a White Christmas? Unlikely. At least, here. So far forecasts are promising rain, but on the plus side, it'll be a precious few degrees warmer.

Having just written and run quite successfully a new scenario for Qin: The Warring States and currently editing a forthcoming supplement for it, I found myself suddenly purchasing (really cheaply) a whole bunch of Chinese films, so I figured I'd do something of a quick review of each of them. Ironically, it started with me watching (not yet owning) Warlords because it was set in the 1860s and I was just finishing editing a Victoriana supplement at the time. Anyway, though I don't own it yet, I'll include the Warlords review as well.

I list the films not in the order I watched them, but in chronological order to the periods of Chinese history they are set in.

Battle of Wits (2006)

( A film about a Mohist defending a city under siege, set during the early Warring States Period )

The Emperor and the Assassin (1998)

( An epic film about the assassination attempt made on the King of Qin, set towards the end of the Warring States Period )

Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon (2008)

( A film about the life of Zhao Zilong (a.k.a. Zhao Yun), set during the Three Kingdoms Period )

(For anyone wondering, the wu xia film House of Flying Daggers (2004) comes here, chronologically, set in the 9th Century.)

Seven Swords (2005)

( A wu xia film about seven warriors defending a village during the Martial Arts Ban of the Qing Dynasty )

(For anyone wondering, the wu xia film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000) comes here, chronologically, set in the 18th Century.)

The Warlords (2007)

( A film about the doomed blood-brothers and an unsovled crime in 1870, set during the Taiping Rebellion )

I shall expand on this more in the Dragonmeet report (which I have 95% written on the train home), but I shall mention briefly here that the gods of public transport are officially off my Christmas card list for unappreciated fictitious deities. Perhaps today has been a premptive punishment from them.

At 2pm I have just got home from London. By train. Epic train Fail on so many levels. I suspect, however, that I have been cruelly denied a 100% refund via complaint because I was on a train just ten minutes under the two hours. Grr. Damn you, foul demons!

Collapsy sleep now.

I've finally caught up with the last four days' correspondence and web-comics, so onto the IndieCon report.

It's a good thing I'm not married with kids otherwise I think I might be risking a divorce. Not two weeks after OddConUK, I've gone to IndieCon and not two weeks later there is Dragonmeet to come. Though clearly I must marry a gamer and raise my children on a diet of games - then we can all go. As it is, this is the middle convention, but the last of the long weekenders with Dragonmeet just being a one-day event.

In the same venue as Conception, this year seems to be the year of freaky weather when it comes to that venue. In February, the area was hit by a severe snow storm. With the risk of roads becoming blocked or unsafe, lots of people left early and there were many people frequently checking weather alerts. The drive home was quite a spectacular array of different weather conditions (snow, fog, rain and dazzling sunlight). On Thursday the rain was coming down quite heavily and on the way to my chalet the heaven's opened and were intent on soaking every single fibre of my clothing and soaking all the way through my bag to my packed t-shirts. After a quick partial change of clothing, I prepared to head back to the main hall to find that the weather gods cruelling mocking me as it had now stopped raining. However, there were severe flood warnings through much of the early weekend for the area. Hmm. What next? Do we get tornadoes, earthquakes or volcanoes for the next Conception in January?

( Read the rest of the IndieCon review )

Another year, another OddConUK. This is now the third year for OddConUK and it's really starting to feel like a convention. While the past two have been lots of fun, the small numbers really meant that it often felt like just a few mates getting together to play some games - much like the local university roleplay society's all day events.

After previous years falling on the same weekend as Spiel at Essen, we decided to move the weekend to fall over Halloween. Whether because of this or just because more people are hearing about OddConUK as the place to be!

This was our second year at the Park Inn at Telford and unlike last year, we had the entirety of the main room (i.e. no partition) which made a massive difference. Considering that last year we had a total of 38 attendees, this year that went up to 58, with 42 residents. In total we raised £350 for charity compared to last year's £180.

( Read the rest of the report - warts and all... )

We'll be looking at getting the details for next year up soon on the website, though we may have to move it to earlier in the month because the hotel has already booked Halloween, but we won't do it on the same weekend as Spiel again, however.

I have within arm's reach of me a very small plastic tub. In that plastic tub are aniseed balls. On the plastic tub is a label, this label simply has three words on it:

Ingredients
Sweets
70p

Having decided to push ahead with the secondary theme to The Game That Shall Not (Yet) Be Named, just prior to OddConUK, I printed a fully themed version of the game on some temporary cards so the game had a nicer deck, easier to understand without looking at the printed rules, and to finally get the game closer to the final version. (Although a few incorrect rules slipped onto some of the cards - oops!)

However, after spending an evening cutting out all of the "cards" and putting them into card protectors with Mythos cards to give them weight, as I was going to sleep I thought of a whole new aspect of the game.

At OddConUK, I had some really great feedback from the game and most people responded positively to the concept of the extra aspect of the game. I've now tried out the game with the new aspect twice now and I realise that what I now have is two games in one: a "Basic" game and an "Advanced" game, and there are at least a couple other optional rules that can be applied to either to make it fairly scaleable.

I've still not really playtested the "Advanced" game quite as much, but so far it doesn't seem to have quite as detrimental an effect on the gameplay as I feared, and certainly does add a new aspect of consideration to the cards you play. I certainly wouldn't want it, however, to be the only version of the game that I make available since there's a lot to be said for the "Basic" game which is easily played by simply ignoring the text on the 42 cards with the special "Advanced" rules abilities.

I'll have the game with me at IndieCon and Conception for anyone who is going to be there and want to try it out.

So, I'll write up about OddConUK properly soon, but in the meantime, I just received this in my inbox and thought I'd share.

To put a bit of context, one of the raffle prizes was an awesome cake made to look like Oddball (our mascot). This Flickr photostream shows his adventures after OddConUK!

http://flickr.com/gp/ferbray-photos/E2A00T

Enjoy!

OddConUK is almost here and I've been doing the final push to get prepared. Unfortunately, prepared is anything but how I feel right now. Maybe it's due to the fact that I was ill for the first half of the month which meant I couldn't do any prep work like read/write scenarios, work on the website, sort out my travel and what I'm taking with me. I've just started on the game part of that today. Tomorrow I'll be doing the packing side of it since I've booked quite an early ticket to get there by lunchtime to help Sad set up and generally make sure I'm there from when people are turning up. Last year people were turning up from nearly midday onwards.

About the only convenience is that I can go from the nearest station (under 10 mins walk away) all the way to Telford Central, which itself is about 10 mins walk from the hotel so if my bag turns out to be heavy it shouldn't be too much trouble to lug it. Inconveniently I need to be back by Monday morning which does mean travelling on Sunday at not very late a train.

In good news, however, this year promises to be good. Our resident numbers have more than doubled, and already makes more people than attended last year including day tickets. This is certainly promising for it being a good con.

For anyone who is going, I'll see you there. If not, I'll try to do a bit of a write-up when I get back which should include news about next year.

So, I stumbled upon a blog rating thingy while messing around online and thought "Yeah, let's give it a try - I think I know what I'm going to get, but let's do it!"



So, initially I think "fuck yeah!" and then I look at what qualified this rating:
* hell (5x)
* fuck (3x)
* hurt (2x)
* shit (1x)

"Hell"? Really. You gotta be shitting me. Are we still living in a day and age when saying "hell" is considered a bad thing? Well, apparently, yes.

"Fuck" only three times? Really? Maybe it's because I tend to profanity more in my Friends Only posts than my public posts.

Here's the doozy. "Hurt"? You really gotta be fucking shitting me. "Hurt"? What the fuck? Seriously. Wtf? I hit my toe on the door today. It hurt. Oh dear merciful Lords of Heck! How dare I use the H-word! What shall I do!? - I hit my toe on the door today. It smarted. I have a pounding headache. It really... irks me. "Hurt"? Really?

Obviously, "shit" is as understandable as "fuck" though I can't imagine why I've only used it once in public... not that I make a habit of shitting in public, mind.

The fun part is that as of this post all of those numbers are completely off. Yay! I could go test this blog again and edit in the results but then I would be entering a world of infinite fractal-like repetation because those words would then increment the count yet again ad nauseum...

EDIT: It gets better... just for laughs I checked it anyway and now I have this as a result.



Now there are new words added. Words that were there before, but somehow didn't make the cut. Aside from the above (though not all of them, strangely) it now included:
* zombie (2x)
* death (1x)

Don't ask me what prompted this particular post. I don't know for sure - I think it's just something that's been bubbling inside me and the fuse has run out.

I cannot stand it when people speak in real life in text/IM speak. For anyone living under a rock who doesn't know, this is things like "omg", "lol", "wtf", etc. Now, this is not an irrational luddite at technology rant, because I'm certainly no luddite and I was using emotes like "lol", "afk", "brb", etc, when most of the kids using them these days were still in their nappies.

With the exception of "lol" I don't have a problem with them within their correct context (i.e. in an SMS or IM), but when you're speaking in real life don't use them. Let's have a look why:

lol - this means "laugh out loud". This has become my least favourite even online these days because it gets overused. It's not a punctuation, it's a text-based indicator of just how much you're appreciating, say, a joke. Not an appropriate way to end every single statement you make! Anyway, I digress... The point I'm making is that it's a text-based indicator of the fact that you're laughing. Instead of typing "hahaha" for instance you can say "lol". But if you actual say "lol" (in earnest), then it's the equivalent of saying "I found that joke quite humorous and I'm laughing muchly" when you're not actually laughing. After all, if you're not actually laughing then don't use a text-based indicator that you are, for crying out loud people, it's that fucking simple!

omg - this means "oh my god!" and I know people who actually say this and I'm sure a fair few of you reading this know people, too. Here is the key reason why I cannot stand it when people say "omg": it's the same number of fucking syllables! Saying "omg" does not save time, it's still three syllables and "oh my god" is three syllables! So why the fuck are you saying "omg"!?

wtf - this means "what the fuck?" and in fairness I don't know that many people who actually say this, but I have heard it said. Now, this bugs me more than "omg" for the simple reason that it takes longer to say "wtf" (4 syllables) than it does "what the fuck" (3 syllables). So it's not shorter, it's just stupid. Seriously, people - wtf!?

Don't worry, I'm not going to do every single one out there because I think you get the point. Anyway, those are really the main three that have entered the mainstream.

So, as my previous film reviews might have suggested, I went to the cinema today and had a bit of a nasty surprise. For what seems like an eternity, Cardiff has been one massive building site. While I've not explored much (read: any) of the new shopping areas, the building work is finally folding away from around the cinema. Now the new car park is open and has a new entrance, there are nice wide roads with bicycle lanes that have just been built but nowhere anywhere near the cinema is there anywhere to chain up your bike. There used to be railings (y'know, the kind that are supposed to stop you running into the road), but they are gone and there's nearly nowhere to put your bike except for the odd lamp-post and a little area just around the corner that I found that is less than favourable since it only really holds a single bike.

I mean, seriously, what the hell? When they were doing all the work up on Clifton Street making it one-way, they put in plenty of bike racks but outside a cinema? I mean, y'know, a cinema!? It gets better, of course. Chatting with one of the ticket guys about the fact that there were no bike racks, he added that the new developments have left the cinema without a loading area (and they have deliveries every day... well, it's a cinema!).

It's one thing to complain about an absense of this or that for city planning that happened decades ago, but for a completely brand new city planning to miss these things... Really, what the hell?

Last night was the premiere on BBC 2 of new US sci-fi series Defying Gravity. The 13-part series is set nearly fifty years in the future the spacecraft Antares embarks on its six year mission to tour and explore the planets of the solar system with a crew of four men and four women. Internationally produced by UK, US, Canada and Germany, the tone, unfortunately, is somewhat American saccharin despite this. Fortunately, however, the story has enough interest to keep my attention. Namely the mystery: all is not what it seems. After a tragic mission to Mars ten years earlier something else has come back and is integrally involved with the mission, even possessing somewhat mysterious powers over the lives and health of the people involved. As to the nature of this entity, well, this is part of the mystery...

The action is split between the crew of the Antares and the team on Earth, the mystery unravelling at both locations. With only two episodes, it's difficult to give it a solid review, but it certainly has promise and I'm keen to see how it develops.

If you missed it, you can probably find it on BBC iPlayer (link goes to the first of the two episodes that aired, the second is also available).

Surrogates

Extrapolating from real life advances in technology and directions of research, imagine a future where it was possible for you to have a robotic version of yourself (or, in fact, anyone you want to look like) walking around outside while you stay at home. You can never be injured, you can never catch an illness. This is the setting of Surrogates. In a world where the majority of people never leave their homes, choosing to live their lives through their robotic surrogates, mankind is divided into the parts of society that live exclusively through surrogates and those who have segregated themselves and believe that technology has gone too far.

( Read the rest of the review )

In summary, Surrogates is an enjoyable sci-fi, and well worth a look, but there were a few rushed sub-plots and one or two moments when I couldn't help but think "Wait, how the hell did he figure that out?" Nonetheless, I give it a 3.5 out of 5.

The Invention of Lying

Imagine a world in which nobody can tell a lie. For the sake of convenience, it's very much like our world although there's no such thing as fiction. Now introduce Ricky Gervais as the man who discovers how to say things that are untrue.

( Read a little bit more of the review )

While I wouldn't recommend this film to people who don't like Ricky Gervais, I would recommend giving this film a look. It falls short in a few areas, for my tastes, but is otherwise a fairly enjoyable comedy. I give it 3 out of 5.

Zombieland

Zombie films have been done and done and done to death (no pun intended). Then, along came Shaun of the Dead which turned the zombie genre to comedy (and a romantic comedy, no less, hence the whole "zom rom com" marketting). Zombieland somewhat follows in this trend but giving it the US treatment with a road-trip across America.

( Read the full review )

If you liked Shaun of the Dead check out Zombieland and if you didn't but you like zombie films, you should still check it out. I give it 3.5 out of 5.

For those who don't like sci fi TV to be gritty and didn't like Battlestar Galactica for that reason, may not appreciate the newest addition to the Stargate franchise, but for those, like me, who do and did, then you might.

( Read the rest... )

Intended to appeal to both new comers and long-time fans, alike, SGU has got off to a promising start and is well worth a look. And it's got Robert Carlyle in it with possible Baltar-esque potential...

District 9

It's not often you see a South African science fiction film, let's be honest. In fact, I can only think of one South African science fiction series that I've ever seen, Charlie Jade, and that, unfortunately, didn't get a second series. So I was quite interested to see District 9 let alone because of the intriguing premise.

( Read the whole review )

I highly recommend District 9 and will even go so far as to do the unprecedented and give it 5 out of 5!

Funny People

This is Judd Apatow's third directorial contribution following the trials of two comedians. One (Seth Rogan), a bit of a loser, still playing fairly cold gigs at his local comedy club; the other (Adam Sandler), a household name and successful comedy film actor who is diagnosed with a rare blood condition that's killing him.

( Read the rest of the review )