My mood has miraculously improved not at all in the last 36 hours. Definitely Bad Dairy. Probably shouldn’t be blogging publicly at the mo, but there is much to talk about, so off we go with items of interest…
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NO FORMULA
Today on Comicon.com’s The Pulse: a roundtable discussion by all those creators participating in the NO FORMULA: STORIES FROM THE CHEMISTRY SET Volume One anthology Nick and I weren’t invited to participate in. The book’s in the current PREVIEWS, order code: JUN083849
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THE NEW VANGUARD
In light of recent news regarding the company, I really don’t know what to make of today’s announcement that Platinum Studios is starting a new joint comic imprint, Vanguard Comics. Looks like the first title’s going to be ILLEGAL ALIENS, a project Rob Moran created and sold to the company years ago. If nothing else, it’s good that Rob’s book’s finally going to be hitting the stands. It’s been at Platinum for as long as I can remember--I think its acquisition might even predate my starting work for the company.
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YOU GO, SVETLANA!
A glimmer of light in the depths of my oh-so-angst-ridden week: the announcement of Svetlana Chmakova’s animated series MY LIFE ME did perk me up a little. Sometimes good things do happen to good people.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY #1
“I'm going to assume the answer to all these questions is ‘no’ and find something else to pointlessly obsess about for awhile.” Me, venting at my manager.
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THE SHIT GOT REAL
Did I mention Vicious Ambitious’ latest multimedia extravaganza, three trailers for the non-existent film ENTER THE DRAGNET 2: DIRTY BADGES can now be viewed on YouTube? Well, now I have. These have had the really politically incorrect bits I got to see when they were initially unveiled in Calgary edited out, which is probably a good move in regards to everything other than Entertaining Me.
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I’m told the Chimaera Universe Superhero Roleplaying Game rulebook I did a bit of work on is now available for preorder from Mongoose Publishing.
My contribution to the book came in the form of smartass descriptions of skills. One of my favourite things about the old Champions rulebook was the humourous characters used to illustrate how a given power worked. The last version of the Hero System rules I saw had done away with those--with any personality at all, really, which was depressing. So when George Singley asked me to do descriptions for a list of a hundred and fifty or so skills, he got stuff like this:
“Prestidigitation: The first thing one learns with the prestidigitation skill is how to say ‘prestidigitation’. A magician must-have, sleight of hand allows its user to deceive a watcher, making them believe something is where it isn’t while putting it somewhere else.”
and
“Speed Reading: If you had this skill, you’d already know how this game defines the Basic Law skill.”
and
“Pilot Rotor Wing: Helicopters, gyrocopters, ornithopters, other aircraft with names ending in ‘opter’…these are the kinds of things a Rotor Wing Pilot can fly and, more importantly, safely land on top of a skyscraper. Let’s see you do THAT, Mr. I’m So Cool Jetfighter Pilot…”
and
“Poetry: If you had this skill
You’d know this was no sonnet
It is a haiku.”
and
“Basic law: Basically, you know the law.”
and
“Writing: A highly overrated skill. Anybody can do this. At least, that’s what every talentless nitwit I’ve come across says when I tell them what I do for a living. YOU THINK COMING UP WITH THIS STUFF IS EASY?!?! SCREW YOU, YOU PIECE OF--(editor’s note: The publishers of the Chimaera Roleplaying Game would like assure its readers that they do not share the opinions expressed by Andrew Foley in this Skills definition, and that they’re making absolutely sure he’s actually taking his medication before allowing him to continue.)”
Strangely enough, everyone seemed to quite like this approach. I must admit, I’m curious to see how it meshes with the rest of the book.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY #2
“There's only so much shit you can throw to the wall before the room starts to stink.” Someone in a mood as chipper and upbeat as my own.
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Right. I’m off to try to get some work done, fail miserably, and console myself by watching seventeen episodes of Battlestar Galactica.
A
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