Saturday, March 17, 2012

WORD OF THE DAY! 3/17/12

Today's subject is an attempt to reach a more academic look at a concept that is important in science fiction and fantasy. This is the first part of an awesome project to divulge history and opinion on the subject of story-telling with a fair bit of nerdly entertainment thrown in the mix for good fun.

archetype [ahr-ki-tahyp]
noun
1. The original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or on which they are based; a model or first form; prototype.
2. (in Jungian psychology) A collectively inherited unconscious idea, pattern of thought, image, etc., universally present in individual psyches.
 EX. In order to look over too staple theories that have done more to shape the way we look at story-telling, myth, and the human character, this is the first part of a two-part look at one of my favorite fantasy series Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender. First, we're going to talk about the cast that makes up the epic fantasy story by looking at the main characters and how they fit into the archetypes defined by Carl Jung, the great psychiatrist and father of analytical psychology.

THE BEST OF WORD OF THE DAY & A NEW MISSION!

A portrait of your benevolent blogger
Starting this month, I will be trying to pull this blog back to some of its roots. Looking back to last year, I found that my Word of the Day's used to be a lot more in-depth and analytical. In order to continue to improve my blog, and to explore the world of science fiction, fantasy, and story-telling theory, I am going to pursue loftier heights with some of my Word of the Day Articles.

In the future, expect the articles to get a good bit wordier.

Also, expect to see more articles like this as the blog gets bigger to help bring new readers up to date and share some of the best content I have in my archives. Expect a round-up of the more touching/fantastic/bizarre Word of the Days in the future. For example a round up of Pokemon articles, Unicorn articles, and a round-up of my most creative uses of the Word of the Day.

To celebrate this new chapter or milestone or pointless moment in the march forward (or in any relative direction) here are links to some of the more interesting and intellectual Word of the Day's I've done. They are less about creative or funny flights of folly and more analytical. Check them out and make sure to leave comments. Expect the whimsical and the witty.

Friday, March 16, 2012

WORD OF THE DAY! 3/16/12


narc [nahrk] / nark [nahrk]
noun
1. Slang. A government agent or detective charged with the enforcement of laws restricting the use of narcotics
2. Slang. A police informant.
3. A stool pigeon, a tipster, an informant.
verb
4. To act as an informant to the police or to report a crime and/or criminal activities.

EX. "I am appalled by the accusations against our new compatriot, Steve. He is hardly a narc. Look! He is wearing a Music Band shirt. No narc would know about Music Band. They're so underground."

Thursday, March 15, 2012

TABLETOP TALES. SHADOWRUN RUNDOWN #1 A Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Day

TABLETOP TALES PRESENTS:
THE SHADOWRUN RUNDOWN #1


“Frippity Froopah Frippety Fray! 
I got a frickin’ feeling it’s gonna be a fabulous day!”

I love Dungeons and Dragons and I love pen-and-paper roleplaying. I have been playing these games, more or less, once a week for over three years and I don't ever plan to stop playing. Most of the times I've played Dungeons and Dragons, I have been the Dungeon Master. For those who don't know, a Dungeon Master, a term that is expanded to Game Master for various kinds of games, is the guy who is in charge of telling the story, determining what monsters and characters the other players come across and, in essence, is the god of the world the players explore. As an author, it gives me a chance to flex my creative muscles.

 Yet, while Dungeons and Dragons and other role-playing games can breed a lot of original ideas, it doesn't hurt to fall back on familiar ideas, tropes and characters inspired by works of sci-fi fantasy. I find myself borrowing/parodying from all masters of the imagination; from L. Frank Baum to Frank Oz. Today's subject is a twisted parody of one of one man and the empire he built that defined family friendly entertainment for a generation, Walt Disney.

What is it about Walt Disney that draws inspiration and attention? I suppose it is for a number of reasons: arguably Walt Disney was a genius who managed to tap into the fairy tale world of the past and create timeless films that exude nostalgia. Or maybe its his impressive ability to create/manage a lucrative media empire that grew to be one of the largest controllers of entertainment but control a number of other businesses. Yet, I think what draws me and many others to satire his squeaky clean image is the cult of personality that surrounds him. Walt Disney created an image for himself and his company. The ideals he pursued are quite admirable, but his methods of maintaining this image seem like small-scale fascism with a special security force, strict rules and regulations (for example, if you have tattoos on your arms you have to cover your arms with long sleeves), and a number of secrets and technologies cooked up by a cadre of creative engineers or "Imagineers" that build mechanical men.

There is something about poking fun at the idealistic post World War II America that crumbled under the backlashes of anti-Vietnam sentiment, Water Gate, and the civil rights movement. It is my opinion that the main villain of Bioshock borrows some characteristics from Walt Disney's charismatic personage. And so when it came time to create a unique setting for my Shadowrun game, I decided to create a cyber-punk version of Disney world ruled by a tyrannical animatronic cyborg that is the version of Walt Disney that gives hapless hipsters and sarcastic sotts an intellectual hard-on.

Before we get to the introduction to my first Shadowrun campaign, I should probably explain what the game is about. Shadowrun is is a role-playing game, similar to Dungeons and Dragons but running on a d6 system, set in a near-future fictional universe in which cybernetics, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy and crime, with occasional elements of conspiracy fiction, horror, and detective fiction. It is a mix of inspirations ranging from Blade Runner to Ghost in the Shell to the Matrix into an rpg that bubbles with personality and complexity. In fact, the game was and is so complex that I would say learning to run a game, making characters, and just running a single session was one of the most difficult trials of my career as the GM.

Rather than review the game, which is quite advanced but interesting, I want to just expose you guys to some of the material I wrote for the setting. This following is something I acted out to begin our first session.

WORD OF THE DAY! 3/15/12


paku paku [pah-koo-pah-koo]
verb
1. Japanese slang. To munch, to snap at, to gobble, to devour, to eat voraciously.
noun
2. Japanese slang.The opening and closing of a mouth.
3. Japanese slang. Nom nom.
4. Japanese slang. A seam or opening in the bag that gapes partly open and partly closed.

EX. "Did you know that the original name for Pac-Man was Puck-Man? You'd think it was because he looks like a hockey puck but it actually comes from the Japanese phrase 'Paku-Paku,' which means to flap one's mouth open and closed. They changed it because they thought Puck-Man would be too easy to vandalize, you know, like people could just scratch off the P and turn it into an F or whatever." -Scott Pilgrim, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World



Wednesday, March 14, 2012

WORD OF THE DAY! 3/14/12


hippocratic oath [hi-pok-raht-ik-ohth]
noun
1. an oath embodying the duties and obligations of physicians, usually taken by those about to enter upon the practice of medicine.

EX. Every Nurse Jenny takes a hippocratic oath before being assigned to one of dozens of active Pokemon centers throughout the Pokemon world. If free medical care is good enough for Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova, then it should be good enough for 'Merica.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

WORD OF THE DAY! 3/13/12


dolor [doh-ler]
noun
1. sorrow, grief, anguish, heart break, despair.
2. melancholy, depression, down in the dumps, glum, misery.

lachrymose [lak-ruh-mohs]
adjective
1. suggestive of or tending to cause tears; mournful.
2. given to shedding tears readily; tearful.
EX. You could hardly understand true dolor until you understand the lachrymose moment of Pikachu's life. Sadder than the time he had to fight his own clone, sadder than the time Ash was turned to stone, and sadder than the time he found his fossilized dog under his old pizza joint-


The death of Pikachu's ketchup bottle at the drive-by slash of a Scyther. 

Still a better love story than Twilight.

Monday, March 12, 2012

MUSICAL MONDAY! BATMAN & ROBIN THE MUSICAL!

MUSICAL MONDAY PRESENTS:
THE KAPLAN BROS. BATMAN & ROBIN THE MUSICAL


First, a little about the artists behind some of my favorite youtubers, the Kaplan Bros. I remember the first time I saw one of their videos on youtube. It was Silence! The Musical: Put the F***ing Lotion in the Basket. Silence! The Musical actually got a full treatment. The Brothers Kaplan generally stick to doing spoof musicals of such action films like Robocop and Rambo but Arnold Schwarzenegger is their favority subject. In fact, my favorite youtube video of last year is probably their video, Conan: The Musical or Fright Night: The Musical ("Amy Awake").




But today's subject for ridicule and amusement is not based on Conan the Barbarian (my favorite film soundtrack and Schwarzenegger movie) or Fright Night (my favorite vampire movie). Today's subject is based on arguably the worst thing to happen to Batman since his parents died- and we know how he likes to whine and bitch about that. No, the worst thing that ever happened to Batman can be summed up in two words:

WEEKLY ROUND-UP! 3/5 -3/11 2012

WEEKLY ROUND-UP:
CAPTAIN PLANET WEEK DEUCE



7. WORD OF THE DAY. 3/6/12. Edutainment.

Captain Planet was the first topic of my WTF WEDNESDAY articles and is arguably one of the most popular subjects on my blog after Call of Duty, Magic The Gathering and Pokemon.

6. MUSICAL MONDAY PRESENTS: THE MIGHTY MONDAY UNICORN CONTENT DUMP

Unicorns are probably the funnest subject to blog about, though. UNICORN FUN FACT #1 True Unicorns have cloven hooves like deer instead of the single hooves of a non-forest creature like a horse or cow.

5. WORD OF THE DAY. 3/11/12. Hulk.

The adorable mash-up of A. A. Milne's Winne the Pooh and
Marvel's avengers was too much fun not to share with you guys. You should definitely check out the artist, Charles Paul Wilson III. His amusing mix of the cute, the cuddly, and the cruel is truly invokes curiosity.
4. WORD OF THE DAY. 3/8/12. Shadow People.

I didn't that a movie that came out last year titled obtusely The Shadow People that looks like just about any other amateur horror movie and about as compelling as dewy grass. I still think that the concept of these horror archetypes is more compelling than Paranormal Activity 6.


I got to take a swing at the 90's with this pic, BUT, I actually think it is pretty damn cool and would love to see a new Captain Planet show in the future. The only problem? The premise would seem even more vacuous, and would probably be even more misinformed, in today's world of mass media blandness.

2. SCI-FI FANTASY SUNDAY! STAR WARS: THE BROKEN PATH PREVIEW

Another teaser for the potential serial? I've been tossing around the idea of asking all my Star Wars fan friends to submit a character concept of a Jedi, Sith, etc. and then adding them to the series to spice up the influences. Thoughts?


"Day in and day out, the same news on permanent repeat, this world is rotten." -Light Yagami, Death Note

WORD OF THE DAY! 3/12/12



nerd rage [nurd-reyj]
noun
1. An unstoppable fury that builds up in the black cockles of every nerd's heart until it explodes in an often clumsy, destructive, and/or embarrassing outburst over a trivial event.
2. The unearned anger that results from a nerd's sense of entitlement.
3. The deserved result of a film maker or other creative (or arguably) uncreative member of the media's failed attempt at making a franchise produce that doesn't offend its fans.

table-flip [tey-buhl-flip]
noun
1. The violent and inevitable result of a nerd's rage raising to such a boiling point that only a major disruption will diffuse the raging beast within.

EX. I think an example, save the image above and the image below, is unnecessary.



Sunday, March 11, 2012

WORD OF THE DAY! 3/11/12


hulk [huhlk]
noun
1. The body of an old or dismantled ship. 
2. A ship specially built to serve as a storehouse, prison, etc., and not for sea service.
3. A clumsy-looking or unwieldy ship or boat.
4. Abulky or unwieldy person, object, or mass.
5. The shell of a wrecked, burned-out, or abandoned vehicle, building, or the like.
verb (used without object)
6. To loom in bulky form; appear as a large, massive bulk (often followed by up ): The bus hulked up suddenly over the crest of the hill.
7. To lounge, slouch, or move in a heavy, loutish manner.
EX. "Oh bother," the hulking green pudge-muffin let out an exasperate sigh as his chubby emerald bulk plugged the "Werm Hole"with his evergreen posterior.

Hearing the pitiful but husky whimper of the Hulk, the Avengers of Triskelion Wood came to Hank Pym's Science Lab. They all stared at the pistachio green fellow and wondered how they would free his buttox from the nexus.

"Hulk want ham."

SCI-FI FANTASY SUNDAY! STAR WARS: THE BROKEN PATH. CH. 0

SCI-FI FANTASY SUNDAY!


Upon popular request a couple months ago, I am going to start posting some material for a Star Wars fan story I have been thinking up for about four years with special help from my best friend and cohort Zach Stanifer. Darth Solus belongs to Zach Stanifer.

I will be posting a preview chapter to get some initial readings from you guys soon.

STAR WARS: THE BROKEN PATH
CHAPTER 0
Cemi Station 8

             As the diggers and drills of Cemi Station 6 winded down, the Doonium miners found their way out of their work tunnels and back to their homes. The vibration that filled the ten hour shifts ceased to allow some peace before the Alpha teams continued work where the Beta teams had left off. For most, this was a welcome time of rest, where a man could be with his family or get some rest without the constant hum that shook the asteroid to a rhythmic buzz. Yet, for one young man, the pause disrupted his concentration.