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Every once in a while, I wish that I could experience a normal day. I imagine everyone has their own idea of what constitutes a “normal day”, but for me it would go something like this:
On a normal day, I would wake up when my alarm clock goes off and I would get right out of bed. I wouldn’t roll over and try to pick up my dream again. I wouldn’t stay in bed, distracted by a million ideas, until I absolutely had to get out of bed and rush around in order to get where I was supposed to be five minutes late. I would be on time to work, or service, or wherever I had to be, and my mind would be on the task at hand.
I wouldn’t pause to take a picture of an empty cup holder. I wouldn’t overhear half a second of a cell phone conversation and start imagining the entire context. I wouldn’t spend twenty minutes mulling over the story implications of attaching a time-warping quantum singularity on a mundane alarm clock. I wouldn’t once see a grain of rice on the floor and be inspired to design a card game. When I listened to the lyrics of my favorite song I would just enjoy them as a song, not as the seeds of a sprawling epic adventure saga.
Instead, I would take a walk through a park and just enjoy the breeze. I’d play with a child, and my heart would glow when I saw them smile or heard them laugh. I’d spend an hour in the company of someone I cared for and my mind would be on nothing but her. I would go to bed satisfied, instead of anxious for the next day to come. I would fall asleep quietly, instead of in the midst of tired conversation with an imaginary friend.
To me, that would be a “normal day”. I wouldn’t want to live every day that way, mind you, but just for once it would be a nice change of pace.
Ever feel like you can't experience a normal day? What would constitute a "normal day" to you?
Way back in April, I did an article called "Take 2! Another Take on Titles". That article presented poster images along with a brief description of a fictitious television show. Basically, I took the title of an existing TV show and tried to re-imagine what that show might be based solely on the title. Recently, I've been watching a lot of the Batman cartoon from the 90s, so this time I've taken the titles of (relatively) recent movies and re-imagined them as spin-offs of the Batman franchise. Click on the images to enlarge them.
This movie deals with a very young Bruce Wayne, picking up directly after his parents are murdered. It shows his troubled childhood, as he deals with his grief and guilt which eventually turn into bitterness. All the while, his family's butler Alfred struggles to understand the young boy and become a stabilizing force in his life.
This spin-off follows the events of The Dark Knight. Former District Attorney Harvey Dent survived his fall at the end of that movie. The trauma from losing Rachel and the severe burns he suffered has caused a split personality to emerge. Now, as Two Face he goes about taking over the criminal underworld of Gotham City and building his own empire of crime. However, the real Harvey, a man who upheld justice above all else, is still struggling to regain control. Batman, Gotham City and Harvey Dent are all headed towards one last chance at redemption.
Ducard: If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal and if they can't stop you, you become something else entirely.
Bruce: Which is?
Ducard: A legend, Mister Wayne.
So, there they are. What do you think? Please let me know by leaving a comment below.
I just had to share a couple of pictures I've taken in the last couple of weeks. They both capture unintentional real-world references to Star Wars. Or, maybe it's just a coincidence.
I always wondered what he drank.
The design on this rug looks suspiciously like a small moon. Wait, that's no moon...Hey, I've posted some photos from our recent anime party here.
Enjoy!
Yesterday we had our Giant Anime Super Party! I was really happy that nearly 20 people attended and everyone seemed to enjoy it. This was the biggest event I’ve ever planned and executed. Organizing this event was a big job, but everything went pretty smoothly and without too much stress.
One thing that I learned from this experience is that anytime you plan something big, the key to success is delegation. I had a ton of help making GASP! happen and it was really awesome because of that. So, a big thank you goes out to everyone who helped.
A week ago I got a hair cut. I went to a different place than I normally go, and they cut my hair really short! Considering that I love long hair, I was a little disappointing. It's not a big deal though. It will grow out, and at least I'll be able to go a lot longer between hair cuts.
Here's what it looks like:
And here's what my initial reaction was like:
Here's some more random pictures I took around the house the other day. They're nothing special, I was just snap happy, but I like a couple of them pretty well.
The other day I had a fairly large piece of ice handy, so I decided to experiment with taking photos of it. First I took it out to my backyard and took a shot from below with sun coming down through the ice and a canopy of trees as a background. Then I took it into a dark room and shone a bright beam of blue light into it for another interesting photo. Until recently, I never had a camera and never wanted one. Since I got a phone that coincidentally has a fairly nice camera built in, I've really been enjoying taking pictures of random things.
Here's some random, close up photos I've taken over the last few days. Can you guess what they are? If you think you know, leave a comment!
A couple of weeks ago I went to a music and art show in Deltona. Most of the artists and performers were people I knew, so that was really cool. The art on display varied in style and medium but it was all very interesting. Likewise, the music was a mixed bag of styles, but it was all entertaining. My only complaint about the musical performances is that the lyrics were often drowned out by the music. That seems to be a common problem with live music, however. I tried to take some pictures of the art and performers, but the lighting in the building was not conducive to producing good photos. I really wish my camera had flash. Here are a few of the better looking ones:
On June 20th, 2009, I organized a group of 16 brothers and sisters from our congregation in Lake Mary, FL to go up to Keystone Heights to help with the preaching work there. Keystone Heights is a small, rural area near Gainsville. There were only 5 local publishers who met with us. Their congregation is small in relation to their territory, so they really need the help. I worked with my brother Aaron and my sister Heather in the morning. We had a lot of fun and were able to speak to quite a few people. Other groups had even more success. One brother and sister started a Bible study. For the most part their were very few bad experiences, though one young brother got chased by a dog, and another one got chased by a parrot. Here is a picture of some of the group breaking for lunch:
As you can see, the recent accident that disfigured my face also did some harm to my right arm. The intense heat from the explosion burned away some of the synthetic flesh leaving my cybernetics exposed ("My parts are showing!"). Fortunately the cybernetics are fairly heat resistant, so most of the damage is simply cosmetic. While my face may never be the same, my arm should be repaired within the week.
Yeah, I've been watching too much Batman: The Animated Series.
For some reason I decided to burn half my face. Well, actually I snapped a photo with my web cam and did some photo manipulation to create this. I did a Google image search for "burn victim" in order to get some detailed images of burnt skin, then I "grafted" it on to my own face. Altogether it took about 30 minutes. It's not great, but it turned out about as well as I hoped it would.
In case you haven't heard, I've started a new project: planning the Gigantic Anime Super Party!
Summer GASP! '09 will be a fun-filled, one-day, private anime mini-convention. This will be a party full of anime viewing, cosplay, contests, and anime themed games. For more information you can visit the website I set up for the event here.
If you love anime, you'll love this party! Check out the website and drop me a line if you'd like to attend.
It's been a little while since we finished this project, but I've been lazy about writing for this blog so I'm just now getting around to posting a few more pictures of the (nearly) completed project. These were all taken on the last day I was there. We received and helped set up the chairs that day.
Star Trek is a 2009 film that offers a new take on the classic series. The film features time-traveling Romulans from the future causing events that create an alternate timeline. This allows the movie to go back and explore the early adventures of the original show’s characters without facing continuity restraints. The film focuses primarily on Kirk and Spock, showing bits of their early lives and how each of them ended up joining Starfleet. Things quickly escalate when Starfleet is called on to aid the planet Vulcan – a mission that goes sour quickly, leaving many Starfleet vessels destroyed and the enterprise without a captain. The fledgling crew of the enterprise, most of whom are still cadets, must pull together to overcome the Romulan threat.
This film was very well written. It captured a sense of epic adventure and heroism that Star Trek often seems to lack. They also did a good job writing and casting the characters. I felt like I could be watching younger versions of the original cast. This film actually made me like Kirk. I didn’t much care for him in the original series and movies. It also gave a new perspective on Spock, my favorite character from the original show, which only made him more intriguing. I like how they made Spock’s repressed emotions an actual plot point, rather than just a minor background element.
This film definitely revived the franchise for me. I’m looking forward to a sequel.
Roleplaying
Because of my obsession with roleplaying games, I tend to watch most movies and shows with an eye for what I could take from it and apply to gaming. Here are some ideas from Star Trek.
Space Exploration Adventures: This movie got me excited for the idea of playing an RPG about space exploration adventures. I’ve been working on an RPG of my own for a while now that would essentially be Star Trek with the branding removed. Some of the things I like about Star Trek that could make for interesting roleplaying are the galactic politics, the alien cultures, and the random encounters made while exploring new regions of space.
Character Driven Plot: To a large extent, the plot of Star Trek is tied very closely to the characters involved. I think the film did a great job of making the characters matter to the overall story. This could/should be done in any RPG, but this film made me a little more alert to strive for that kind of character involvement in RPGs.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a prequel to the X-Men movie trilogy explaining the origins of the character known as Logan or Wolverine. The majority of the story takes place 10-20 years before the events of the first X-Men film. The movie explains the relationship between Logan and Sabretooth, shows Logan’s involvement with Colonel Stryker and the Weapon X program, and reveals how Logan lost his memories. One minor detail I enjoyed was an explanation for why Logan adopted the name Wolverine.
I went into the movie expecting a lot of action and only enough story to link the various action scenes together. I was pleasantly surprised that the movie had a fairly good plot with a couple of twists and surprises throughout. The writing and acting was pretty good, and the casting was well done. Hugh Jackman reprises his role as Wolverine, and his portrayal of the character was spot on. While the movie featured a number of new characters, for me the most memorable was Wade Wilson portrayed by Ryan Reynolds. The only character I was somewhat disappointed with was Gambit. In the film he didn’t have enough of a Cajun accent to do the character justice.
My biggest complaint against the film is the special effects. Some of the effects were so obviously fake it was distracting. The most notable example I recall is when Sabretooth drags his claws along the hood of a truck and rends the metal as he goes. The tears in the metal were very obviously drawn in.
Overall, the movie delivered exactly what I expected and a little bit more. I’d say it was about on par with X2 in pretty much all respects. I wouldn’t mind seeing the sequel or the Deadpool spin-off, both of which have already been confirmed as in-production.
Roleplaying
Because of my obsession with roleplaying games, I tend to watch most movies and shows with an eye for what I could take from it and apply to gaming. Here’s an idea from X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Playing an Origin Story: When playing a long running RPG campaign, it could be fun to take a session or two to explore each character’s origins. This would especially be true in playing a superhero RPG, but it could really work in any RPG that brings a number of characters with very different and involved backgrounds together. I think you would want to play a few sessions first in the setting’s “present”, but then periodically play a session as sort of a “flashback”. During such origin stories, the other players could take on the roles of new characters that are important to the featured character’s background. It could be an opportunity for character development and a chance for everyone to try something a little different.
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is a short musical film about a super villain’s rise to power. The film consists of three acts, each about 14 minutes long, which were originally released online before being compiled for the DVD release. Dr Horrible was created by Joss Whedon, creator of several popular television shows including Firefly. The story focuses on Dr. Horrible’s efforts to be accepted into the elite criminal organization called the Evil League of Evil, and on the love triangle involving himself, a social worker named Penny, and Captain Hammer – his superhero nemesis.
This film is pure comedic genius from concept to execution. The songs are clever and well written. This film was produced independently, but looks professional. The writing team penned the musical during the WGA writers' strike. The idea was to create something small and inexpensive, yet professionally done, in a way that would circumvent the issues that were being protested during the strike. This effort was a success, and Joss Whedon has announced that a sequel is in the works.
Roleplaying
Because of my obsession with roleplaying games, I tend to watch most movies and shows with an eye for what I could take from it and apply to gaming. Here are some ideas from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.
Playing Villains: Dr. Horrible presents a villain who is relatable and appealing as a character. It would definitely not become the norm for me, but it makes me think it might be amusing to play a game where all of the player characters are villains. Necessary Evil, a setting for the Savage World RPG does this. Another fun idea would be to play a Star Wars campaign where all of the player characters are Sith in the Old Republic or Legacy Era.
Sing-Along Session: OK. Just once this has to happen. For one session of an ongoing game, everyone has to sing. Minor bits of dialog can be spoken, but the majority of it must be sung. That would be very entertaining.
Superman: Doomsday is a direct-to-video animated film about the supposed death of Superman. The story is loosely based on the comic book story arc: The Death and Return of Superman. The plot begins with Lex Luthor’s company, LuthorCorp, accidentally digging up an alien spaceship buried on earth thousands of years ago. The ship opens, releasing a creature called Doomsday, the ultimate killing machine. Doomsday was created as the ultimate soldier, but he couldn’t tell friend from foe so he was conveniently disposed of on Earth. Before long he makes his way to Metropolis where Superman must intervene.
Here is where the biggest mistake in the plot occurs. After a lengthy and brutal battle, Superman finally destroys Doomsday by grabbing him, flying him out into space, and then slamming him back down into the Earth. The reentry through the atmosphere and the final impact kill both Doomsday and Superman. Question: Once Superman got Doomsday beyond the Earth’s gravitational pull, why didn’t he simply hurl him into the sun? There was no indication that Doomsday could fly, so even if the sun didn’t kill him he would have no way of getting back to Earth. I guess Superman just didn’t think of that, which is why Superman will never be as cool as Batman. Batman would have thought of it.
After Superman’s death, we see a little of what the DC Comics universe would be like without him. Crime rates skyrocket, and super villains stalk Metropolis with no one to stop them. Lois Lane and Martha Kent mourn his passing. Then, as suddenly as he was gone, Superman returns. Digging his way out of his grave, he flies to Lois’ rescue as she faces death from the Toyman. All is not as it seems, however. It’s quickly revealed that Lex Luthor secretly removed Superman’s body from his grave and clone him. The returned Superman is actually Lex’s evil clone. For now he is impersonating Superman well, fighting crime and protecting the citizens of Metropolis, but at the same time he is doing the bidding of Lex Luthor.
While the clone Superman genuinely wants to protect Metropolis, he lacks the strong moral center of the original Superman. After seeing a news report that Toyman, one of Superman’s villains, has killed a small child, Superman kills the criminal instead of turning him over to the authorities. Lois Lane becomes suspicious and begins investigating Luthor. She discovers the true nature of the returned Superman, and that Lex is cloning an army of Supermen. The clone Superman has rid himself of Luthor’s control and destroys the unfinished clones along with the cloning facility. By now, however, the government has become concerned about Superman’s recent lack of discretion, and sends the military to apprehend him. The attempt is futile, of course, and it seems that the clone Superman’s reign of terror is unstoppable. Until… The REAL Superman returns from the grave. As it turns out Superman is truly invulnerable and he has merely been in a death-like coma while he’s been gradually recovering. After being resuscitated in his Fortress of Solitude, the real Superman flies to do battle with the clone Superman, and saves the day.
Other than that one HUGE error in the plot near the front of the film, the rest of the story is fairly interesting and coherent. The portrayal of Superman and the other characters was appealing, especially the clone Superman as a foil for the real Superman. Lois Lane almost did more in this movie than Superman actually did. The art was in the action-cartoon style typical of DC’s superhero cartoons. It wasn’t anything exceptional, but it wasn’t bad either. This movie was rated PG13, which is unusual for an animated superhero film. However, the action was quite brutal at parts, with a fair amount of onscreen animated blood. There was also some PG13 rated language that you wouldn’t expect in a Superman cartoon. This Superman may be animated, but it is definitely not a kids’ movie.
Roleplaying
Because of my obsession with roleplaying games, I tend to watch most movies and shows with an eye for what I could take from it and apply to gaming. Here are some ideas from Superman: Doomsday.
The Altruistic Villian: The clone of Superman genuinely believed that he was doing what was best for Metropolis, even in fighting the real Superman at the end. It reminded me of the value of the misguided villain, who wants to do good but goes about it the wrong way. I’ll have to use that archetype more when I’m the GM for a game.
The Danger of Being Invincible: Superman is one of those characters who, in my opinion, are just too powerful. Stories about Superman have a major weakness. The only way to effectively threaten Superman is to resort to a gimmick, like Kryptonite. This means that you either lose the tension in your story, or the gimmick gets old very fast. The only way this kind of character seems to work is if you plan for them to have only a finite story arc before moving on, such as the major villain whose one weakness the heroes must discover before they can finally destroy him. This isn’t so much inspiration for roleplaying, but rather a warning for GMs: Don’t let characters get too powerful if you expect to keep them around.
