Kathy Paulk

http://www.paulkusa.com/

Facebook Fraud

     One thing that I discovered today on Facebook is a button labelled "Friend Requests."  Naturally, I assumed that these were all friend requests that other folks had made of myself.  So, I clicked on the button and discovered hundreds of what were represented as friend requests involving folks who I have never met or even heard of.  Of the people involved that I had actually encountered, they were all from individuals who I just barely knew.  There was not a single friend request from anyone who I knew even halfway well.  All of these people were represented as being friends of folks who I had already friended (is that a word?) or individuals who were friends of other persons who had friend requests in.

     After looking over the list, I picked out a couple individuals to approve and clicked on one of them.  To my great surprise, instead of saying something like, "Friend Request Approved," it instead said, "Friend Request Sent."  In other words, all these so-called friends requests were not made by actual persons, but instead by some kind of weird algorithm of persons who Facebook feels ought to be my friends.

If that isn't completely fraudulent, then I don't know what is.  What's even worse is that I don't have the slightest idea just why they would do this in the first place.

Trial

The Liberation of Grenada

     Note:  The following was originally written in the Freshman Composition class taught by Mr. Robert Olsen at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in Spring, 1984 as an in-class Final Exam.

     In November of 1983, the U.S. Marines, Army Rangers, and troops of various Caribbean democracies  stormed ashore the  isle of Grenada.  Their mission was to free the American students living there from terror, to safeguard our interests, and to, above all, reestablish democracy in Grenada.

     This action was instantly criticized by certain liberal elements, and the criticisms ended only when it turned out that the students believed that they were endangered and the Grenadians were happy that they we had liberated them.  There still has been criticism of the invasion, but it has been weak and indecisive.

   My own view of the invasion is that it was moral and just due to previously unmentioned factors.  First, the communist government had come to power in early 1979 in a coup d'etat that overthrew the democratically elected government of Sir Eric Gairy.  The victors, lead by Maurice Bishop, refused to hold elections,; and  just prior to the invasion, Bishop was overthrown by his fellow Marxists and executed.

     Secondly, thee new government, consisting of the anti-Bishop faction, instigated a reign of terror that caused great suffering to the Grenadian masses.  The above should be enough to prove that the communist government of Grenada was unfit to rule in the best interests of the people.

     The above facts have not been enough for certain groups as evidenced by this recent Wisconsin Federation of Teachers resolution:

          Resolved, that the Wisconsin Federation of Teachers deplores the U.S. invasion of Grenada
     and calls on the President of the U.S. immediately to withdraw armed forces from the island
     of Grenada, and be it finally

          Resolved, that the W.F.T. communicate to the President of the U.S., the Secretary of State and        the Wisconsin Delegation to Congress that it supports the fundamental principle embodied in the
     U.S. Declaration of Independence that sovereign nations have the right to governments of their            own choosing without intervention from other nations."

     My viewpoint on the W.F.T. resolution has several basic points each of which will be gone through here.

     The first basic point I wish to make about the W.F.T. resolution involves this question:  how could the Declaration of Independence be against foreign intervention?  France, Spain and Holland intervened on our behalf so we could gain our independence.

     The second basic point is that one of the reasons the Declaration of Independence was originally written was to gain foreign intervention in support of the American Revolution.

     The third basic point is that the Declaration of Independence does not embody the W.F.T. 's principle.  Dr. William G. Rector, of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville history department, states,  "The W.F.T. seems to believe that sovereignty lies in the nation, whereas the Declaration of
Independence holds that sovereignty lies in the people."

     In summary, we as both a nation and as a people need to fight tyranny.  When debates, such as this  one, are held at home over foreign intervention, this fact about the Declaration of Independence should be raised .

   

Intro Movies That Need to be Remade

 There are certain films that hold a unique place in cinematic
     history.  These are movies 
that were great conceptions, but when the movie was actually made,
something went wrong.
Great ideas became movies that were, at best, lackluster.  These are the
movies that most need 
to be remade.  Hollywood needs to take another shot at putting these
ideas into celluloid. 

Who or What is Cthulhu?

Cthulhu is a fictional character created by H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft also created 
a body of work known collectively as the "Cthulhu Mythos" that also includes the dreaded
book The Necronomicon as well as the most learned institution of higher learning in America, if 
not the world, Miskatonic University. This mythos originated in a series of stories mixing horror and
science fiction. As for Cthulhu himself , he is an evil being from outer space who sleeps in his temple on a sunken island.

Several of Lovecraft's friends, such as August Derleth, also wrote stories about this evil octopoid being.
These tales form the "Cthulhu Mythos." Cthulhu stories are still being written by fans and friends of Lovecraft.

How much of D&D was "borrowed" from J.R.R. Tolkien?

How much of D&D was "borrowed" from J.R.R. Tolkien? 

For what was supposedly an original idea when it first came out, Dungeons &
Dragons (D&D) heavily depended on other sources for its material. Most notably,
D&D's co-creators Dave Arneson & Gary Gygax made heavy use of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

For instance, the "Halflings" were the Hobbits from Tolkien's work. Actually, the word Hobbit was 
originally used in D&D until the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien demanded that they cease and desist. Additionally, 
the varieties of elves in D&D has a distinct resemblance to the elf races in Tolkien's works.

For all practical purposes, D&D was an outgrowth of Tolkien's fantasy works. 

What all this goes to show is that D&D just simply was not all that original. Or at least not as original
as advertised.

Gary Gygax Post-TSR Essay

Gary Gygax Post-TSR Essay

Mr. Gygax and TSR parted ways in the mid-eighties due to the poor and
erratic way that he was running the company. 

After leaving TSR, Gygax immediately created the gaming company 
New Infinities Productions with the idea of gaining revenge against TSR.
Gygax wrote the outline for what became the game Cyborg Commando.
Published in 1987, the game garnered poor reviews and sold poorly.
New Infinities was poorly run and it went out of business in 1989.

Following this setback, Gygax next tried to get revenge on TSR by partnering
with Games Designer Workshop to create a game to compete with Dungeons &
Dragons D&D). At first, this project was known as Dangerous Dimensions, however TSR
threatened to sue over the initials being DD, almost the same as that for Dungeons & Dragons.
The new role-playing game was now renamed Dangerous Journeys, but TSR sued anyways.
Eventually, TSR gained ownership of the new game and Gygax was out in the cold yet again.

In 1999, Gygax took another stab at creating a game to gain revenge upon TSR with. This was 
Lejendary Adventure (LA) that was published by two companies thaat were run by friends of Gygax, Hekaforge
Productions and Troll Lord Games. LA has fared better than Gygax's previous non-TSR games, but it still has not
been much of a rival to D&D.

In 2004, Gygax had a hand in the creation of the RPG Castles & Crusades. Its not known how important 
this role was, but his name was used in promoting the game. This game has only been a limited success.

Additionally, after leaving TSR, Gygax wrote two books, "Master of the Game" and 
"Role-Playing Mastery." He also wrote some fictional works as well. None of these books
sold well. Gygax's books were of generally poor quality. They were derided by the hard
core gamer members of the Little Rock Science Fiction Society of which I was a member during the years 1997-2000.

Gygax spent the last three decades of his life in Lake 
Geneva, WI, where he led aquiet life marked by being a frequent guest at 
gaming conventions. He passed away in 2008.

Power Point Presentation: Felony Squad

Slide Notes:

 http://www.tvobscurities.com/men-against-evil/

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony_Squad

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1966/10/11/page/48/article/nielsen-ratings-are-dim-on-new-shows#text

http://www.tvobscurities.com/2010/11/how-men-against-evil-became-felony-squad/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059983/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=felony+squad+tv+series

http://www.tv.com/shows/the-felony-squad/

;

The Kennel Murder Case (1933)

Wealthy gentleman about town Philo Vance (William Powell) solves yet another case that the stupid cops led by Detective Sergeant Heath (Eugene Pallette) and District Attorney Markham (Robert McEwan) are too stupid to solve.  The Philo Vance series of movies set the pattern for how the police would be protrayed in cenema for the next two decades.  It was not until Dragnet came along that a correction in popular culture was made.

Book Review: The Chaplain's War by Brad R. Torgersen

  Brad R. Torgersen is an author who has made quite a name for

himself in a very short  time.  He has written a few short stories for  Analog Science Fiction &
Fact magazine.  He has also been published in such leading webzines as 
Galaxy's  Edge and Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show .
In 2015, Torgersen gained a great deal of notoriety as the creator of a
slate of science fiction works that succeeded, in conjunction with a slate created by his good
friend and collaborator Theodore Beale aka Vox Day, in sweeping the nominations for the 2015
Hugo Awards awarded by the World Science Fiction Convention.  

       Subsequent to this feat, Torgersen has gained notoriety for other 
actions.  For instance, he has likened himself to Theodore Roosevelt.  
He also created the smear term "Cliquish, Holier-than-thou, Obnoxious,
Reactionary, Fanatics" or CHORF for short.  He and his friends have 
used this term to trash anyone who disagrees with them or with their
tactics.

     Now that we know who Torgersen is and the kind of people he
associates with, what does he bring to the table of science fiction?  Previously, he
brought out two collections of short fiction, Lights in the Deep and Racers in the
Night.  Both of these are generally very good.  That being the case, you would think that a
novel by him would also be a good read.  

     However, such is not the case.

     The single most disappointing aspect of this novel is the way that
the author handles religion.  The treats the Christianity of 190 years in the
future just as if it is the exact same thing as the Christianity of the present day.  This
shows a lack of historical awareness by Brad Torgersen.  Over the years, the level of
religious fervor combined with how much of the population embraced Christianity has ebbed
and flowed.  Religions and religious devotion can change drastically.Some periods such as the Dark Ages and the Reformation saw notable for the level of  popular devotion to the discipline and teachings of organized religion. Other times, such as the present day, not so much.

     According to Torgersen,space is going to be an exciting place with
the invention of Faster Than Light (FTL) travel.  Yet religion is going to
remain the exact same thing.  The same is true not only of Christianity, but of all
the other  major religions  as well.  Nor are there any new religions that have
come into being during the intervening 190 years.  Science fiction is supposed to be all
about speculation about the future, but in this novel, there is none.

     Essentially, The Chaplain's War is a lame attempt at a Starship
Troopers type novel with the differences being that the main character is a
chaplain and that you do have some alien characters.  One gets the feeling that what
you have here is something that could have been a really good novelette surrounded by
an awful lot of padding.  Either Torgersen should get his act together and come up with
a story that is truly worthy of novel length or he  should stick to short fiction.

TSR Trivia

TSR did not stand for "They Sue Regularly." It originally stood for "Tactical Studies Rules" that in turn was derived from the wargaming group to which the co-creators of TSR, David Arneson & Gary Gygax, belonged to, the Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association (LGTSA).  Contrary to popular belief, TSR never attempted to trademark the word Nazi, but that did reflect that company's addiction to lawsuits as a means of defeating their competition.

The Strange Case of the Growth of Roman Historical Mysteries

The Strange Case of the Growth of Roman Historical Mysteries

     One of the more unexpected and  seemingly unlikely aspects in the growth of mystery stories set in historical times is that of the popularity of Roman historical mysteries.  This is a mystery in and of itself since there was no such ting as a Roman police force, to say nothing of a Roman Imperial Bureau of Investigation.  There is no mention in the writings of any ancient Roman historians of real life mysteries or of investigators into these mysteries. There would seem to be but little basis for mystery stories set in Roman times.

     And yet, these mystery novels and original anthologies of mystery stories set in Roman times do exist.  This is especially striking since so many of these stories seem to have little basis in historical reality.  For instance, in any mystery novel set from the far ancient past to the Enlightenment, there is little or no mention of torture.  And yet in real life, torture was the means most used to solve mysteries.  How historical is to have a mystery novel set tin times when torture was the preferred method, if not in fact the  only method really used to "solve" cases and the very word torture does not even come up?

     One wonders why the popularity of what appears to be non-reality based mystery stories that seem more like fantasies than anything even remotely historical.  And we have not even come to what is the central problem of so many historical mystery works in general.   Namely, that so many of these stories all too often have nothing more than a thin veneer of history to them and often fudge whatever historical facts make their way in those works.  These works may be great as mysteries, but often they are poor from a purely historical standpoint.

     Its a mystery all right.

Fornax #7 Rough Draft

The Beginnings of the Western:

     It may surprise some people, back when stories were first written about America's frontier experience, they were all set in what is now the Eastern U.S.  This is because until at least the time of the Civil War, 1861-1865, the frontier of settlement was to the east of the Mississippi River.  The term "western" did not even come into being until the early Twentieth Century.

     The earliest frontier stories were works by classy authors like James Fennimore Cooper.  However, the frontier story reached its greatest audience in the form of dime novels.  These works received their  name due to both their length and their price.  They first became a mass marketing phenomenon during the Civil War when bored troops on both sides were desperately in need of escape from the utter dullness of life in the camps.

     Dime novels were the literary equivalent of the yellow journalism that also began about the time of the Civil War.  Dime novels were sensationalistic to the extreme and often featured a great deal of violence.  The characters works were heroes of the Dudley Do-Right variety, the villains of the Snidely Whiplash type and he heroines were always as pure as silk.  The prose was always purple and sentences often ended with multiple exclamation marks.

     Dime Novels were where series fiction got its start.  Previously, it was rare for authors to use the same character in more than one work, such as Falstaff in some of the plays of William Shakespeare.  At least one of these series characters, Nick Carter aka Nicholas Carter, is till around today.  Of the fictional dime novel characters, Deadwood Dick is perhaps the best well known.

     Oddly enough, dime novels used real life people as characters.  Western dime novels used such folks as William F. Cody aka "Buffalo Bill," James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok, Calamity Jane, Annie Oakley and Kit Carson as characters.  By far and away, the most popular real life persons used as fictional characters were Frank and Jesse James.  Of course, all of thee dime novel exploits of real life people were purely fictional.  The laws governing such things have been changes to make this practice flat out illegal.

     Whatever their morality, taste and legal ethics, the dime novel ushered in the western as a literary form and it is still here to stay.


An Introduction to PBEMs:

     PBEM stands for "Play By E-Mail," games. In PBEMs, the Game Master
allots turns to the players who respond with their character's intended actions.
These games were he natural outgrowth of the play by postal mail games of 
pre-Internet times.

     If you want to try out a PBEM, look one up on the search engines. There are 
websites that have information on them. Input PBEM into a search engine 
and just see what you get. Follow the stated rules and email a character.
If the E-Gaming Master selects you, then you are all set.

     If you don't find any PBEMs that appeal to you, then you can create your own game.
However, you will need to know how to create a decent website as well as how to create
a decent game. You should be warned that there are a great many folks who created online
games thinking that it would be a fun project, only to find that it is a pretty time consuming thing.
Its also a lot harder to do than you might think. 

     If you are interested in learning more about how to play and/or operate a 
Play By E-Mail game your own, then one classic reference to read is 
"An Argosy of Play By E-Mail Advice" by Sean K. Reynolds that you can find at:
http://www.seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/gaming/pbem_faq.html

Other places to learn about PBEMs and also find a game to play is:

PBEM2 at http://www.pbem2.com/

PBEM Players at http://www.pbemplayers.com/


The Kennel Murder Case (1933)

     Wealthy gentleman about town Philo Vance (William Powell) solves yet another case that the stupid cops led by Detective Sergeant Heath (Eugene Pallette) and District Attorney Markham (Robert McEwan) are too stupid to solve.  The Philo Vance series of movies set the pattern for how the police would be protrayed in cenema for the next two decades.  It was not until Dragnet came along that a correction in popular culture was made.

Fornax #6 Rough Draft

From the Editor:



Ted White's Screw-Up:

     In the March, 1970, the then editor of Amazing Stories, Ted White, wrote the following note in response to a review by Dennis O'Neil of Michael Crichton's book The Andromeda Strain:

          "Crichton made three earlier forays into our field by which one may attempt to assess
     him.  As "John Norman" he wrote Tarnsman of Gor, Outlaw of Gor and Priest-Kings of
     Gor for Ballantine Books.  He has also written mystery novels under the pseudonym of 
    " John Lange," the name in which the Gor  books are copyrighted."

     This is pretty interesting since when you look up John Norman, the pseudonym of a philosophy professor named John Lange, you will see that while Lange has written books other than the Gor books, none of them wee mysteries.  While Crichton did write mystery novels under the name of John Lange, it was simply a  coincidence that a man whose name really was John Lange was writing the Gor books under an assumed name.  In other words, White really messed up insinuating that the notoriously pornographic Gor books were written by the then 27 year old Crichton who was already one of the hottest sci-fi writers around so much so that its a dead certainty that The Andromeda Strain has sold more copies that all of Ted White's novels combined have.

     From what I can determine, White has failed to acknowledge this error, let alone apologize for it.
   



Question to Kate Paulk:

     One little problem with your concept of fandom as being a monolith under the domination of the Social Justice Warriors (SJW's) is that Laura J. Mixon won the Hugo largely because of her take down of the arch-SJW Requires Hate.  If the evil cabal that you see dominating fandom really has the kind of power that you say it has, then  Best Fan Writer would have been No Awarded.  How then do you explain Mixon's victory?

Note:  I posted the above to Kate Paulk's blog and this time the comment got through.  However, Paulk herself has failed to answer the question.  Hopefully, she will eventually see fit to answer it either on her blog or in the form of a LOC sent for publication here.



Movie Reviews:

Mark of the Vampire (1935)

   

Mark of the Vampire is a significant flick in that it was one of director Tod Browning's last movies. It was also the movie that showcased what was arguably Bela Lugosi's finest performance of all time. The most significant role that Carroll Borland ever had was also featured in this movie.      Mark of the Vampire is a good example of a B feature flick. At 60 minutes long, it was meant to be the centerpiece of a matinee bill that typically consisted of movie short(s), cartoon(s) and a chapter of a serial.      Caroll Borland was a most interesting actress. She got her start because she was a kind of Bela Lugosi groupie. She contrived to meet Lugosi backstage when she was only a teenager. Lugosi took a liking to her and got her the role of Luna Mora in this movie. She then became his understudy. Borland created the costume, look and make-up of the Luna Mora character all by herself. As such, she created the iconic vampiress. Despite the fact that Borland played this role to perfection, complete with fantastic vampire stares and looks like a goth punk of today, this proved to be the most significant role that she would ever play in a too-short acting career. One can only wonder just why she was unable to get more roles as a vampiress.      Mark of the Vampire begins with the discovery of the corpse of Irena Borotyn's father. His body was drained of all its blood through two holes on his neck. Was this the work of vampires as the common folk believe? Or is it something else? A year after the murder, the deceased man is seen wandering through the woods at night. Hysteria grips the countryside while the authorities struggle to make sense of it all while at the same time maintain basic law and order. Meanwhile, there is a creepy old Count Mora and his strange daughter Luna hovering about the scene. Inspector Neumann from Prague is called on the case, but all he can get from the local folks is superstitious talk about vampires.      The best aspect of Mark of the Vampire is the atmosphere. It is positively sturated with cobwebs, dust, fog, howling wind, shadows and Gothic architecture. The sound effects are eerie. The black and white cinematography is excellent. The whole movie plays against a musicless background, just like Browning's previous film "Dracula."      The acting in this movie is first rate starting with Lionel Barrymore as the elderly vampire stalker, Professor Zelin. Unfortunately, Barrymore was already afflicted with the rheumatism that forced him to be seated in most of his post-1930's movies. This limited his character's mobility in the flick.      Elizabeth Allan is great as the menaced young Miss Irena Borotyn. Lionel Atwill contributes a memorable turn as Police Inspector Neumann. Donald Meek does well as the frightened Dr. J. Doskil. Ivan Simpson makes for a fine butler of the manor while Leila Bennett contributes some memorable screams as a hysterical maid.      Another notable aspect of Mark of the Vampire is the twist at the end that leads to a surprise ending. At first the ending seems rather unreal and nonsensical, but when you get right down to thinking about it, it all makes sense.      Mark of the Vampire is on a par with Browning's earlier movie "Dracula." Mark of the Vampire features both a strong cast and a spooky atmosphere suitable for a horror flick. As such, Mark of the Vampire would make a great double feature with Tod Browning's 1930 movie "Dracula."

Super 8 (2011) 

     Super 8 is a ripoff by its writer/director, J.J. Abrams of some of
the movies made by its producer, Steven Spielberg.  A more charitable
reviewer would call it a "homage" or a "pastiche."  Basically, it is an
act of blatant sucking up carried out on celluloid at the audience's
expense.  Just about the only redeeming aspect of this flick is its
state-of-the-art  special effects.  Like so many other science fiction movies, it puts the
monsters and the explosions before the characters.  It is clear from
watching this movie that neither Abrams or Spielberg understand that action and
mayhem have meaning only when an audience cares about the characters in the
movie.

     Basically, Super 8 is an exercise in nostalgia for those who, while
growing up during the late 1970's & early 1980's, were inspired by  the big
budget high box office grossing special effects festivals that were marketed as
being movies.  Often kids who saw those flicks were inspired to borrow their
parents's Super 8 camera and messed around with making a movie.  For a movie
supposedly set in 1979, it misses the mark in terms of the attitudes, clothes,
music and other aspects of the popular culture of the time.

     The plot of Super 8 concerns half a dozen or so teenagers who are
in the wrong place at the wrong time.  These youngsters are engaged in making a
zombie movie that they think needs to be made at midnight to achieve
"authenticity."  They get together at a train station where they think they
can make their flick without parental interference.  All of these
teenagers are the usual cliches in Hollywood flicks.  Just when everything seems to be
going well for the poorly thought out film project, disaster strikes.  There
is a train derailment, causing a big mess.  It appears that there is more to this
derailment than meets the eye given the fact that troops under the command of one
Colonel Nelec (Noah Emmerich) swarm over the area.  There is also a
mysterious creature seen moving around the area.

     One lesson that Abrams has obviously learned from Spielberg is that
when it comes to seeing the monster, less is more.   Throughout  most of
the movie, you see only a few glimpses of the creature.  Even in the scene
where the monster attacks a bus,  the camera avoids lingering on the creature.
With  Spielberg's first blockbuster, Jaws, this was an accident, necessitated
by the fact that the fake shark had numerous mechanical problems that made it
impossible to show it too often without the movie going over budget.

     Super 8 is an obvious "homage" by the apprentice Abrams to his master
Spielberg.  This is not a good movie and as such, it is not worth your time or money.

Purge Newsletter May 7th 2003

Purge Newsletter - 7 May 2003

Well Well... Well its sure been a while since the last Purge newsletter, but now that Purge has been released and Hap has a little more time to contribute to the newsletter it should turn into some sort of bi-weekly newsletter to keep you informed to the happenings of the great game Purge. This week it is just going to be a short newsletter to basically introduce Hap's new Soapbox articles. Soapbox #1Long time no see. Since Purge has finally shipped, I am discontinuing the "By Design" newsletter articles, and replacing them with Soapbox articles. Purge should be in the stores by now. Should. Most stores still don't have Purge or any other new TSI published game for that matter. EB seems to be the only chain reliably carrying Purge. GameStop has shelf signs advertising TSI products, including Purge, but there is no Purge (or Bandits or Knight Rider) stocked. I had hoped to send out the Soapbox article after Purge reached mass distribution. But Nick has been bugging me for a new newsletter for a while now. [How to run a gaming site] Purge has been getting game reviews of varying quality. It is important that people read these reviews with a grain of salt. We've been reading reviews that are blatantly wrong. Where the reviewers just didn't read the manual and doubtfully even played Purge any longer than to take screenshots. I've read how a reviewer claimed the Android was too powerful because he could make unlimited Ion Barriers. Simply untrue. The Android can make 4. It is clearly stated in the manual. He also did not know that a Nuke/Angelfire could destroy multiple Ion Barriers/Wards nice and easy. I've read all kinds of nonsense in reviews that untrue, like the player runs too slow. They didn't know Agility could control the run speed. And then I've read conflicting reviews where one review would complain since XP is saved, people get too powerful and another review where they wish XP could be saved. These writers didn't spend the time read the manual where it explain clearly XP saving (called Persistence) is purely server optional. It this kind of half-assed game review and make you wonder what kind of reviewers they are hiring. Well I have an idea. How? We used to run content websites. We wrote hardware and software reviews and guides. This was back when dot-coms were still hot stuff and web advertising was reasonable. We started during the very peak of the dot-com boom... I think you can figure out the story there. We just came in a little too late. Fortunes, or lack thereof, aside, what it taught me was how gaming content websites are run. And how you can run your own gaming site too. During the height of the dot-com, a common phrase heard was "content is king". The higher quality your writers, the better your articles, the more visitors you got. And the more visitors you got, the more page impressions (known ambiguously as "hits") you would get. The more impressions you got, the more money you made off ads. Remember the huge Thresh Quake Bible? We were no strangers to good writing either. For example, Adam wrote System Shock 2 guide, which generated a large number of new visitors. That was the past. When web-advertising prices started falling so did quality. Now many gaming websites have unpaid writers. They take free labour as often and as possible. One Purge review on a "major" website was written by a high-sophomore. That means a 14-15 year old wrote a Purge review and this site just played it off as if a professional writer did it. And how much did he get paid for the writing the review. Zippo. Nothing. I don't think anyone can make the argument a free article by a 14 year old is going to be a quality. Another "major" US-based website got free German writer to review Purge. The writer demanded we cater a good game at 3 AM (yes our time) or he would give us a bad review. I told him that he was crazy, and his response "not my problem". So this is it pretty much how gaming websites are run now. You've probably noticed that websites lack the quality strategy guides that you saw 2-3 years ago. Those that still write strategy typically are unfinished or worse; require you to subscribe to their service. This is because writing guides are expensive for the gaming website. You can't get free labour for an un-aged kid to churn out guides. They person would actually have to play the game and want to spend days writing 20+ page articles. That means... dun dun dun... full time, paid writers. It just isn't profitable when web ad rates are floating around $1-2 CPM (cost per mille or thousand impressions). (Consider when we first started running websites, ad rates were $10-15 CPM with some big sites getting up to $25 CPM.) Now some ads only pay per unique user. The current content situation is churned out crap as fast as possible. I know all the dirty tricks to do that. I was in the business. Some people don't even write reviews. They don't review games. What they do is read the reviews from two other sites and summarize them into their own review. So they don't ever actually play the game. There are few Purge reviews that the quite suspect of being an amalgam of other reviews. I have an eye for this; I've dealt with writers who have been accused of this. Bottom line, is gaming websites are not run like CNN or Fox News. There is not professional journalism. The number 1 goal is manufacture as much crap as possible as cheaply as possible. Many high profiles, seeming big gaming sites are run with one head guy and bunch of freelance, unpaid writers that submit articles over the Internet. That wouldn't be a big problem, if maybe the site paid the workers to do it full time. But mostly, you just find anyone who will work for free and "some" command of the English language. No Journalism or Communication college degree needed. All these writers get in return a free copy of some game. (This is easy to get once you have a few PR contacts.) Now you know how to run a gaming website. Domain Name: $30. Web hosting: $30. Games: free. Writers: free. Latest News Well there really hasn't been that much news, however one thing that Hap forgot to mention in the Soapbox is that if you think there is a feature that would go well in Purge that you could in-fact request it at the request a new feature thread in the forums. Latest Files If you have not tried out Purge and would like to you can download the Purge demo, which is now version 1.4.4d. If you've bought the full version of Purge the current version is 1.4.4. If you do not have that version you can get it here. Fan site of the week Surprisingly enough there are currently no fan sites that cover purge to our knowledge. If you would like to start one up however we've put together some great images to be used that you can check out by downloading the Purge Fan Kit.

Praise from Paladin

I must say Hftrex, I look fwd to even mixed and bad news in your dispatches. Outside of a small handful of English Majors, and believe it or not, an even smaller group of English Instructors, I find you to be one of the more ariticulate fellows I have come across.

I find your messages to be well worded with verbs tensed accurately, few typos, and a clarity in your messages that most of these trogs and throwbacks could never appreciate.

It has been a pleasure working with you. I will send you a test message for continued email communications re: game progress. Without you in the arena, I now feel like Hannibal Lector must have when he escaped in "The Silence of the Lambs." It's time to eat.
And I do not think White Castle will suffice.

Paladin

College Journalism Experience

As for my writing ability, it unfortunately is not matched by my verbal ability which is affected by an impediment. Also, I have outside of a few websites here and there never been able to get anywhere by writing. I was fired from 2 college newspaper jobs, the first due to left-wing pressure due to the fact that I was the conservative student paper columnist and when I refused my editor's demand that I change my opinions to placate the lefties. The second time was when the editor assigned me to cover a major screw up by the administration that lead to the student ID cards being inoperable for over a month and when one of the administrators threatened to shut down the paper unless it backed off, the editor caved in and fired me to satisfy the administration. The matter was never covered by the student paper, not even in the form of a letter to the editor, even just about all the students were afflicted by the problem. 

Remembering the Chicago Sports Review Website Start (Should I use the name of Mario Scalise or not?)

     Here's what happened between Mario Scalise & myself when he was the
website editor at the Chicago Sports Review (CSR). Back in late 2003/early

2004, he posted to some message boards about how writing for the CSR website was a great
way to open doors towards becoming a professional sports writer. I
signed up and right from the start, he stressed that quantity of
submissions was every bit as important to him as the quality. 

     My first submission was entitled "NHL Blues" and was published right
away virtually intact. Only problem is that it did not have my byline on it
which is important since if you're not getting paid for it, you do want
to at least be able to show it to your friends with your name on it. I
contacted him about it and he promised that the byline would be added
right away. He failed to do so despite making promises.  

     My next submission was entitled "Cubs Chances Slimmer Than You Think"
that was published minus the paragraphs about how there was a good
chance that pitchers Mark Prior and Kerry Wood would be unable to pitch
at their 2003 form .  Once again, my byline was missing. I
contacted Scalise about it, he made promises to fix it right away and
then did nothing. 

     A bit later on, I submitted a piece about the Chicago Blackhawks and
received no response from him. A week later on or so I wrote a reminder
to him about it asking for what its status was and did not receive a
response back. A bit later, I made another submission and once again,
received the silent treatment. 

     Over a month later, Scalise once again posted to some boards touting his
website as a place for aspiring sports writers. This time, I responded
by posting about my experience with both him and the CSR. He responded
in an arrogant manner in which he made it clear that he saw nothing
wrong with recruiting folks and then leaving them in the lurch and the
like. He also claimed that he was an overworked college student who did
not have the time to read through all the submissions. This makes you
wonder why he made a big deal about how quantity was so important to him
in the first place. Another thing is that, like his email to the group,
he claimed that I was a liar without providing a specific thing that I
was supposedly lying about. His response backfired since he made a
better case for his being an editor that you did not want to work with
than I ever could. 

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2004 Post on the Chicago Blackhawks Coaching Situation

Following the end of this season, the Chicago Blackhawks have at least one and perhaps two important decision(s) to make. Should Coach Brian Sutter, whose contract expires at the end of this season, be rehired? If not, then who should his successor be?

In this writer's opinion, renewing Sutter's contract is the best option. Sutter knows the team and is totally committed to hockey on a 24/7 basis. True, this season's record has been one of the worst in Blackhawks history since Arthur Wirtz bought the club in 1954. However, this was caused by team management's decision to blow up the team and the resulting flurry of trades combined with constantly sending players up and down the Hawks system has resulted in a constantly changing roster. Pretty difficult to win under those circumstances. However, unlike the Bulls, the Hawks have never quit and have kept on trying under Sutter's firm hand. Another reason to retain Sutter is that he has finally found a way to keep Tyler Arnason fully motivated and playing solid hockey. Under a new coach, there is the possiblity that Arnason will revert to his old apathetic self and slack off. Perhaps the best reason is that in between Brian Sutter's tenure (2001-) and that of his brother Darryl (1992-1995), the Hawks coaches were a muddle of mediocrity and given the state of Hawks management, its all too possible that a born loser will be Sutter's successor. 

However, if the Hawks do drop Sutter, there is a path that it should not take. This is hiring the coach of the Hawks primary minor league affiliate the Norfolk Admirals, Trent Yawney. Yawney is a minor league coach whose teams have been quite successful in the regular season, but not in the postseason. The minor league postseason is rather more intense than the regular season in much the same way that the NHL regular season is more intense than the minor league regular season. If a coach can't make it in the postseason at the minor league level, then its a sure sign that he can't make it in a NHL regular season.

Now, if the Admirals were to succeed in winning the American Hockey League championship this season, then that would be proof positive that he's the man that the Hawks need as head coach. Until then, Yawney's just another minor league coach and as such unfit to coach the Blackhawks. 

Instead, the Hawks should consider hiring one of the assistant coaches, such as fan favorite Denis Savard, or someone who's a proven head coach at either the NHL or college levels. One example is the head coach of the University of North Dakota, Dean Blais, who as the UND athletic department website put it, "The winningest active coach in NCAA Division I hockey." If the Hawks choose to take a post-Sutter road, it should be with a coach who is capable of bringing the young Hawks into contention for the NHL Central Division.

Troll Definition

Here's the definition of "troll" that was provided on the Black Hawk Zone forum of which I was a moderator:

A troll  does nothing but attempt to rankle posters and incite
arguments at every turn. They do nothing to add to the discussion.  
Instead they force their views down the throats of others, while
supplying little fact or knowledge to back up their arguments. When asked
to substantiate their opinion with fact or stats, you'll normally see
them either disappear or ignore the question all together.

There's nothing wrong with changing one's mind, as long as the opinion
you're changing is not one that you've tried to beat other posters to
death with.

The State of the Western

Obama's Bad Idea

As of January 2015, federal contractors are required to invite job
candidates to voluntarily disclose disabilities during the application
process via a Department of Labor-created form. The form is meant to
increase opportunities for people with disabilities. Since some
disabilities can’t be seen, voluntary disclosure can help you understand
the needs of employees with various disabilities and better accommodate
their needs while cultivating your own company’s diversity, Otto says.

Diane Clark Remembered (Expand Summer 2016)

    http://www.martinschwartzfuneralhomes.com/Archives/Archive_Cl-Cz.htm

      I recently found out that  my 9th Grade English teacher Miss Diane Clark passed away. You are not supposed to write anything bad about people after they die, but she was such a piece of work, I'm going to write the truth about her anyways.

     Miss Clark was one of those persons who give public school teachers a bad name with her outrageous petting..  For instance, on a 10 point Short Answer on a test, let's say 2 students both wrote the same exact answer.  Her pet would get 10 points while a student, such as myself, who she did not like, would get 5 points.

     On grammar assignments and on the grammar portions of tests, Clark simply wrote down how many points were docked for errors without even so much as marking the errors.  This made you wonder if there really were any errors or she was simply screwing around with you.

     When we had classic works of literature to read such as Bram Stoker's Dracula or Homer's The Odyssey, we had to read dumbed down versions, not the original works.  Also, at the start of each book, she always made threatening statements about how we were not to read Cliff's Notes and if she found out that we did, then there would be serious consequences.  However, when a student asked her a question about one of those books that she could not answer, she would get out her copy of the relevant edition of Cliff's Notes and read aloud from it..  This was one of those things that gives rise to the adage of "unclear on the concept."

     Her favoritism also showed on tardy slips.  At my high school, if a student had was sent to the principal's office for a tardy slip more than 3 times a semester, then that student would get a 3 day suspension.  If one of Clark's pets was several minutes late, there was no problem.  However, if a student she did not like either walked in the room when the bell rang or was in the room, but not seated, they were sent to the principal's office.

     Worst of all, was how she handled writing assignments.  She simply wrote down the grade on the cover sheet without any statements (such as good job!) or corrections to the text.  As for the papers themselves, they looked pristine, just like Clark never folded the pages over to read them.

     One of my friends who had Clark was in a family was moving away from Platteville that summer.  She got all A's from Clark which made her suspicious.  After all, what are the odds that you will receive the same exact grade on every test and assignment?  On the final written assignment, that was supposed to be  a 7 page paper on the theme of "what you learned this school year," my friend submitted a papers that was loaded with all sorts of grammatical errors and misspelled words.  There was also a run on sentence that was about two pages long.  That was on the actual written part of the paper for the last couple pages or so were completely blank.

     And just how did Clark grade this intentionally awful paper?  She gave it an A just like she did with all of my friend's other work.  After the last day of school when all of the grades were sent in and it was too late for Clark or anyone else to engage in grade retaliation, my friend and her parents brought the matter to the attention of the administration.  However,since  Clark had over 20 years of seniority and that  along with her position in the teacher's union, her position was safe and secure.  I doubt if she received even so much as a single black mark in her record.  She went on to continue teaching impressionable youth for another decade and a half.

     With people like Diane Clark teaching our young people, its no wonder so many kids drop out and  so many of those who do make it into college have to take remedial classes.

NOTES:

Fornax #5 Rough Draft

     Fornax is a fanzine devoted to history, science fiction & gaming as well as other areas where the editor's curiosity goes.  It is edited by Charles Rector.  In the grand tradition of fanzines, it is mostly written by the editor.  This is Issue #5 published in September 2015.

     If you want to write for Fornax, please send email submissions to crector@myway.com with a maximum length of 1,000 words.  No fiction, poetry or artwork please.  Any text format is fine.  There is no payment other than the exposure that you will get as a writer.  Of course, Letters Of Comment are always welcome.  If you want to read more by the editor, then point your browser to:  http://omgn.com/blog/cjrector

From the Editor:

The 2015 Hugo Awards

      Have you ever taken a firm position on a subject only to realize later that you were on the wrong side and as time went on, you got to wonder how you ever took that previous position?  That was my experience with

this year's Hugo Awards.  When the year started, I was on the side of the slates.  It seemed that the slates were a good idea given the state of the Hugo Awards.  
          How low is the state of the Hugo Awards  today?  In Alexiad #81,  the infamous  letterhack and author of so-called "historical mysteries"  Eric Mayer wrote about his experience reading four of the short story nominees from the 2014 Hugo Awards.  Quoth Eric:
     At least I thought I was going to be reading short stories. What I
found were...I’m not sure. An extended joke? The author’s notes for a short story just slapped into a word processing file?  Some sort of weird intelligence test? Okay,I’m no literary genius but who actually understands this stuff? Anyone. Really? Is it a matter of the Hugo nominated authors have no clothes? Or maybe the readers who pretend to understand, or think they do, have no clothes either? Beats me. 
Mayer also added that:
    " [T]here’s something dreadful about Hugo nominated short stories. I agree the selection last year was awful. That sort of show-offish stuff is not real literature. It’s sophomoric college lit-mag junk. "  For his part Alexiad editor Joseph T. Major added that he was, "not fond of pretentious neo-New Wave nonsense put out by people with the right selection of victim statuses."

          So what we had here was a problem that needed fixing.  There were some folks who volunteered their services as slate creators who  claimed to have only the best intentions.  Only problem is that their slates, as actually executed, basically consisted of personal friends and professional acquaintances of the slate makers.  There was a also a previously obscure publishing house associated with one of the slate makers.  It  appears that the slate makers were more interested in exploiting the situation for their benefit as well as that of their friends
   

          Additionally, they also claimed some sort of ideological  justification they were stalwart conservatives acting to overturn the tyranny of decadent liberals.  This was apparently done to get people who otherwise would not have cared to support their cause.  This was an interesting strategy given only a few very few of the stories that they nominated could be called "conservative"  in any way.  The end result was a situation where  the Hugo nominees for fiction were of arguably higher quality than they had been in recent years, but they were nowhere near as good as what they could have been.  Given how many sci-fans have an instinctive aversion to slates and with it the idea that there are folks voting on the basis of what they have been told, not on their own reading experiences, this was a foolish move.  

          On top of that, you also had the disgraceful behavior of  Kary English & Rajnar Vajra  both of whom proved themselves of being  capable of saying or doing anything to get the award.  What happened was that they accepted the nominations not realizing just  how upset so many fans were about it.  Then when they did realize how many fans were upset, they failed to withdraw their names from consideration.  Instead, they doubled down on stupid, calling Theodore Beale aka Vox Day all sorts of names as if that would earn them the Hugos that they so clearly coveted.  This was a strategy with no hope of success as shown by the fact that if it were not for Vox Day, neither one of them would have ever made the ballot in the first place.  

     And how did the slate makers and their friends react when their little gambit failed to attract majority support?  They reacted with all sorts of hateful behavior including wholesale name calling.

Its difficult to see how these people consider themselves to be any sort of sci-fi fans when they are so quick to get nasty  

     For instance, Vox Day's colleague in slate making next year is supposed to be Kate Paulk.  And how has Paulk acquitted herself the past week or so?  Well, for starters, she has accused everybody who voted "No Award" for anything as being "communists."  Basically, she seems to think that there is a war going on between elitist "TruFans" (TF) and the "Secret Masters of Fandom" (SMOF) who manipulate them on the one hand and the virtuous "wrong fans" having "wrong fun" on the other.  All this is very interesting given that its always been my impression that   TF's and the SMOF's are basically jokes among the real sci-fi fans.  Evidently, the would-be rulers of fandom like Kate Paulk and her ilk cannot tell the difference between fannish humor and reality.

     In her most recent blog post at:

http://madgeniusclub.com/2015/08/27/yet-another-post-hugo-post/

Paulk doubles down on being a jackass.  For instance, she claims that, "It’s a shame this    year’s hosts showed all the restraint of a Nazi rally along with the morals of a Soviet show trial and the taste and discernment of a cat in heat. "  After going on with one vicious smear after another, Paulk finishes her blog post with the following statement:  "what’s even sadder is this         pathetic collection of power-hungry little Hitlers have destroyed what was once a               genuinely respected award. "  After reading this post, one is tempted to say that if she wants to look at a "power-hungry little Hitler," all she needs to do is look into the nearest mirror.

     What's even more depressing is that if you look at the comments to her post, all you will see is varying shades of complete agreement with Paulk with scarcely any dissent.  There are two ways of interpreting this.  First,  that Paulk and her allies have done a very good job of cultivating an audience that they can sell a complete bill of good to.  Either that or Paulk or someone working with her has been censoring the comments to remove the ones that she can't or won't answer.  And it would appear that the latter is the most likely given my experience in commenting on the pro-slate blogs because with very few exceptions, all of my comments made to these blogs were either disallowed in moderation, or if approved would subsequently disappear.  Even worse, one comment that I did make on a blog  was altered by someone to read almost completely different from what I had posted.  

     Here's another example written by the normally reliable Cathy Young on the Real Clear Politics (RCP) website.  How she can claim that science fiction is under the domination of "progressive authoritarianism," just goes to show how uninformed she is.  What she needs to do is to broaden her horizons by reading such traditional fanzines as Alexiad, Askance, Challenger, Fadeaway, Opuntia, The Pleasure of Ruins, The Reluctant Famulus, SF Commentary, Side Trekked & Spartacus and see for herself just how much diversity there really is in science fiction fandom.  One can only wonder just what the late Forrest J. Ackerman would have made of the idea that sci-fi fandom was under the domination of any sort of mundane ideology, let alone "progressive authoritarianism."

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/08/30/mutiny_at_the_hugo_awards_127934.html

     It might be noted that I did a blog comment that was similarly written to the above   paragraph and unsuccessfully submitted it to RCP.  I also wrote similar comments, addressed to different pro-slate bloggers, and none of those comments were allowed either.  What    this means is that the pro-slate crowd is bound and determined to get their way no matter  how much damage is inflicted on the Hugo Awards, fandom or even Science Fiction itself.    Truly the cure of the slates has proven to be even worse than the original disease.   

Unclear on the Concept

     The August 2015 issue of Popular Science has a lengthy section called "Dispatches from the Future."  Its not clear what these dispatches are supposed to be.  Excerpts from forthcoming novels?  Or super condensed versions of those novels?  Whatever they are supposed to be, they do make you want to go out and buy  any of them.  

The Inconsistent Vint Cerf

     Back during the 2000 presidential race, Vint Cerf was seemingly everywhere claiming that Al Gore was right when he claimed to have invented the Internet.  That was pretty interesting since Cerf had been the self-styled "father of the Internet."  Now that Al Gore is no longer running for public office, Cerf is back to claiming that he is the one who deserves our praise for the wonders of the Internet.  The article by Sarah Scoles in the August 2015 issue of Popular Science offers a look at the bloated ego of this charlatan. 

Why the Surge in Sci-Fi's Popularity during the 1970's?

     Why did sci-fi surge in popularity during the 1970's?  My take:  I'd say that the writings of Erich von Daniken had something to do with it. If it was true that aliens visited Earth in the past, then suddenly those Buck Rogers stories were no so crazy anymore. Its also interesting that the growth of the genre's acceptance came when sci-fi came to be the accepted abbreviation instead of the stodgy old SF. Another factor was the advent of sci-fi on Saturday Morning TV. It was from those shows, especially Jason of Star Command, that I got my love of sci-fi.

The State of Today's Comic Book Business:

     Why are comic books are in a state of decline sales wise? Since the late 1940's, their price have risen more than twice the rate of inflation. Of course there are other reasons for their decline,. For instance, the over-reliance on gimmicks like having the world in mortal peril because of a laser being shot into Earth's atmosphere. Or the fact that during the 1970's, it seemed as if practically every female character shed at least half their clothing. This was especially true of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Another factor was that ti took so long for DC Comics to recognize the popularity of the JSA following the successful establishment of Earth-2. Finally, there were so many stories when, even though it was established that a certain superhero was a member of a band of other heroes, there were ll too many stories where the fate of the entire world rested on just that one hero while the other heroes were seemingly oblivious to the world's plight.

The Roaring Twenties

      The decade of the 1920's were an unique period in American history.  It was the decade following the horrors of World War I as well as the decade preceding the Great Depression and World War II.  It was an age of extremes on the one hand it was an energetically exciting decade of fun & freedom while on the other hand, it was the decade of Prohibition and the rise of organized crime.

     In genre fiction, the 1920's saw the rise of classy post-Sherlock Holmes detectives such as as Miss Maple, Hercule Poirot and Philo Vance.  It was also the decade that saw the rise of hardboiled detective characters such as Bulldog Drummond and Sam Spade  The decade also saw the formation of the science fiction genre with the births of Weird Tales (1923) and Amazing Stories (1926).  

    The Twenties were also a notable decade for scientific and technological advancement.  It saw the birth of sound in movies and the spread of the telephone.  Such other things that we take for granted today also spread during the decade such as the motor car, commercial airlines and hydroelectric electric power.

     The Twenties were an  unique decade in American history and we are all the better for it.

******************************************************************************

Essay:  The ADA at 25

     The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is now over 25 years old.
     On the 25th anniversary of its passage, the establishment in this
country did what it so often does: engage in self-congratulatory rhetoric about 
how wonderful it is and by extension, how wonderful they are for making
it the law of the land. From all the media coverage, you would think that 
the ADA is an unqualified success. In reality, it is anything but that.

     It has been estimated that there are as many as 57 million
handicapped people in this country. In other words, about one in five
of the persons who are here legally. 

     Under the ADA, handicapped folks are supposed to be able to be
able to enjoy the same work opportunities as able bodied people. 
However, the overwhelming majority of the handicapped population, such as myself,
are unable to secure lasting gainful employment. The participation rate
for handicapped people is lower than that of women and minorities. During 
the outbreak of the recession in 2008, handicapped workers exited the
workforce at a faster rate than did able bodied workers.

     From the above facts, it appears that there is a serious problem
regarding employment for handicapped people. However, the
politicians in this country are not even trying to fix the real problem: the fact
that the economy is still arguably stuck in a recession. Instead, they are
talking about measures that could make the situation even worse. 

     Among other things, politicians are talking about the idea of
having mandatory hiring quotas for handicapped workers. Recently, the Obama
U.S. Department of Labor considered requiring federal contractors to 
hire at least 7% of their new employees from the ranks of the
handicapped. Former Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa has long wanted to “make the issue of
disability employment a national priority.” Likewise, Delaware
Governor Jack Markell has also pushed this issue as a top priority.

     The politicians have often talked about how federal agencies need 
to do a better job employing handicapped people like myself. In 2010,
President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13548 that specifically 
set a goal of hiring at least 100,000 additional handicapped workers by
the end of 2015. The Office of Personnel Management has estimated that
handicapped employees constitute 7.5% of the federal workforce. The figures
increase to 11% when you add veterans who are at least 30% disabled. As of now,
more than 200,000 handicapped workers are now employed by the federal
government.

     What is the big picture for handicapped workers? Still
under-employed. The recession that began in 2008 and that is still arguably going on
disproportionately affected employment for handicapped folks. A much 
greater percentage of handicapped workers lost their jobs compared to
able-bodied workers. There are misperceptions about handicapped workers and 
negative attitudes linger. There are also legitimate concerns that
accommodating handicapped hirelings could be expensive or that health care costs could 
spike. Tax policy needs to be changed to alleviate these concerns.

     While the politicians and press both celebrate the anniversary of
the ADA's passage, we need to reflect on what we were promised when the
law was passed. That is, handicapped people were promised 
an equal opportunity to work. Currently the economy is recovering and
veterans are returning from the War on Terrorism, and kids in special
education programs are making their way through public school. What 
we as a nation need to do is make sure that the handicapped among us 

are treated fairly and squarely.

**************************************************************************

Book Reviews:

Colonial Arkansas, 1686-1804:  A Social and Cultural History by Morris
S. Arnold.  (Fayetteville:  University of Arkansas Press, 1991.  xv +
232 pp., index, notes, cloth, $28.00).


     Back before there was there was a territory officially called
"Arkansas," there were settlements in the area of the future state.
These settlers were Frenchmen who lived in the area under
 the jurisdiction of the colonial governors of Louisiana.  These
Frenchmen were primarily engaged in hunting and trapping with the fur
trade their primary line of work.

     Arnold's book centers on the town that would later become known
as "Arkansas Post."  It was a French/Canadian outpost that was 
founded during the early Eighteenth Century.  This town never had
much in the way of population and the area remained a backwater
in the French colonial empire in North America.  

     Colonial Arkansas, 1686-1804 by Morris S. Arnold is not an especially 
good book.  It is weak on matters to both colonial politics and the
military situations that the settlers found themselves in.  It is a
shame that this is still the only book that has been published about this
interesting subject.

The Ironclad Alibi by Michael Kilian

     This is the third novel in one of the most frustrating series of historical mystery novels ever written.  The hero, Harrison Raines, is a slavery hating member of a successful Southern family of tobacco planters.  It is never clear just why he hates slavery.  It is this abolitionist spirit that drives him to serve the Union during the Civil War as an intelligence agent in the Secret Service.  His being a member of the Southern plantation aristocracy gives him a base of operations in the South from where to work.

     Raines has a constant companion named Caesar Augustus, a black man.  Raines supposedly freed this guy,  but the black man hangs around him and acts just like a slave.  Even worse, the supposed abolitionist Raines treats him like a slave.  This is but one of the reasons just why it is difficult to buy into the idea of Raines being a rebel against the Southern plantation aristocracy from which he sprang.  This helps makes Raines a character that the reader finds it difficult to believe in.

     There are other ways that hampers the quality of both this novel and this series as a whole.  In every book, Raines has a top secret mission of the most utmost importance to accomplish.  However, he seems more interested in the ladies than in doing his duty for the Union that he supposedly believes in so much.  This is in contrast to James Bond who, despite his messing around with females, always knew that his duty came first.  Harrison Raines, on the other hand, always seems  to treat his mission as an afterthought.

     Additionally, there is always a murder that complicates things.  Raines always takes the attitude that solving the murder is more important than his espionage mission.  However, he never solves and of these murders and he never really does his duty to the Secret Service either.  The end result is frustration for the reader who expects much better given the fact that author Michael Kilian was one of the most outstanding writers for the Chicago Tribune when that newspaper was one of the best papers in the nation.  As for the title of this particular book, there are ironclad warships, but no alibi.

The Star Rider by Doris Piserchia





     Doris Piserchia is one of the most unjustly obscure sci-fi writers around.  Part of this is because her last work was published in 1983.  The other part is because all of her work is experimental.  This particular novel is about telepathy and telepathic communication.  It is interesting  through its length.

This one is well worth looking for through the stacks at your local library and through the collections at your local used book store.

***************************************************************************

Fanzine Reviews:

http://efanzines.com/Fadeaway/index.htm

Fadeaway #46


     Quite a bit in the latest issue of Fadeaway.  The main article is about The Shadow with an in-depth rundown about both the magazine and the radio show.  There is also a decent amount of stuff about the character, although not as much as I would have liked.  There was also mention of a Shadow comic book, but hardly anything in detail about it or about later Shadow comic books.  



     News about the march of Political Correctness with regards to the HPL and Cecil Rhodes statues. Sad to see Mr. Jennings joining the ranks of those who want to fight alleged fascism with real fascism.

     There is a list of available back issues for $6 a pop.  Some of the pre-E-Fanzines issues look pretty interesting.

     Pretty interesting article about comic books about how, contrary to the reports in mundane news media, comic book sales are not doing especially well now.  

     Some discussion on why sci-fi became so popular during the 1970's.  Mr.Jennings reports that even in the late 1970's, people made unkind statements whenever he evinced a love of sci-fi.  This ties in my experiences at Platteville High School in 1983 where I was run down for reading a sci-fi book during study hall.

     As ususal, the best part of the zine is the Letters Of Comment that this time ran to 

about 20 pages. 

http://efanzines.com/Reluctant/ReluctantFamulus-106.pdf

The Reluctant Famulus #106

     For the most part, Issue #106 of The Reluctant Famulus was just as good as previous

issues.  Only problem was an unfortunate column by Matt Howard that was loaded with all

sorts of errors.  Every factual claim that he made was factually erroneous.  For instance, he claimed that the Saturday Evening Post was founded in 1897 by Benjamin Franklin.  This  

was most interesting since Franklin had passed away 107 years earlier.  


      Gene Stewart writes about "fascist capitalism" without spelling out what exactly he means by that. Does he blame Obama for this? Also, he writes that "magazines are scarce." Is he aware of the huge numbers of webzines of various genres that are being published? Or does he not consider them as being magazines?

     Mr. Alfred D. Byrd's follow-up was every bit as excellent as the first part about what if the South won the Civil War, especially in pointing out that if the Confederacy had won its independence, then there is no more reason to believe that the USA would have been reunited than there is no reason to believe that the USA will ever become reunited with Great Britain.

     Is the letterhack Milt Stevens the same guy who back in 1975 wrote the piece, "Visit to a Pulpy Planet" that appeared in The Alien Critic #12? If so, one wonders how  would have handled himself if, instead of Detective Tom Lange, he had to answer 200 or so questions from Johnnie Cochran pertaining to his house in Simi Valley.

As is the case, with most other long-running fanzines, the LOC's were the best part of the mix.

*******************************************************************************

Game Review:

Masks of Nyarlathotep  Chaosium 1986.

 Back during the years 1997-2000 when I was a member in good standing of the heavily gaming oriented Little Rock Science Fiction Society (LRSFS), they had the attitude that by the mid-1980's, all he innovation in the creation of roleplaying games (RPGs) had withered away.  That being the case, they believed that chronologically, the very last RPG ever created that was worth playing was the 1986 Chaosium effort Masks of Nyarlathotep.



     Although this was originally created for Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu system, it can be easily adjusted to play in other role-playing systems.  This alone makes this an unusually good game.  The fact that it is generally considered the single best game ever  based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft makes it even better.



     This game's background  concerns an archaeological expedition led by a wealthy New York playboy who comes across as a slightly insane 1920's version of Hugh Hefner.  The expedition discovered something big in Egypt, but the leader chose to keep ti a secret while the expedition proceeded deeper into Darkest Africa.  However, the expedition was reportedly destroyed in Kenya by the natives.  An author who is also a respected authority on archaeology has uncovered something about the expedition's true fate has called you up to ask for your help, but before he can tell you everything, the call is cut off.

     That being the case, what you the player and your friends do is trace the path of the  Carlyle expedition and find out what really happened.  This game really adds a wallop to the Call of Cthulhu system.  It adds 29 new magic spells, 11 new monsters, 57 supporting characters, 21 different classes of people as well as a new skill.  This latter is Martial Arts.  It seems strange that the Call of Cthulhu system did not have any sort of martial arts skill prior to 1986, but there you are. There are also hundreds of clues for the travelers to use in this game.

     There is quite a bit of materials included in this game.  It is all done with a nice 1920's period look.  The same goes for the game's packaging and is very tastefully and elegantly done.



     As far as RPGs go, Masks of Nyarlathotep is just about perfect.  If my friends in the LRSFS were right about this being the very last RPG ever created that was worth the bother playing, then this is the very best way for a line of game development to end at.

*******************************************************************************

Movie Reviews:

The Adventures of Pluto Nash  (2002)

     There are some movies that are not meant to be great art. They aim to be nothing more than a fun way to pass time and eat popcorn at the same time. The Adventures of Pluto Nash is one of those movies.

     Eddie Murphy is great as the intrepid hero Pluto Nash as he fights the sinister space mafia. Originally, Nash was a small businessman who the mafia tries to shake down. However, Nash decides to fight the mafia in what turns out to be one of the most slapsticky sci-fi adventure flicks of all time. Thrills, spills and chills abound in this wild and wacky funfest. Pluto Nash is a well-plotted futuristic sci-fi adventure story with a comedic bent.

     It also features a great cast with Rosario Dawson, Pam Grier, John Cleese, Randy Quaid, Peter Boyle and Jay Mohr. Murphy is good in the title role. Randy Quaid almost steals the show as Murphy's robot companion & bodyguard, Bruno. There are other hilarious robot characters such as a prostitute robot. Cleese plays James the chauffeur robot driver of a luxury car. This movie also features great special effects and pretty good music. The lunar environment that it was set in was quite interesting.

      The Adventures of Pluto Nash is set on the Moon in the year 2087 and the Moon is built up like a Las Vegas type settlement in space. There are also some beautiful scenes of Earthrise and exteriors of lunar habitats. The photography in this flick is exquisite. 

     Essentially, The Adventures of Pluto Nash is a science fiction comedy along the lines of 1984's The Ice Pirates. The goofy gadgetry should keep you amused and the one liners only add to the comedy. This movie is also a sharp satire of other science fiction movies.

     Basically, this is what back in the pre-TV era would be called a B movie. It has a fun plot and lots of action. You can tell that the actors really enjoyed themselves while making this movie. The fact that the actors obviously had so much fun helps make it easier for you to have fun watching them. 

     If you just want to relax and have fun while eating popcorn and drinking pop, then this is a great movie for you. Essentially, when you just come down to it, The Adventures of Pluto Nash is a kid's flick. And what a kid's flick it is! This movie is heartily recommended for everyone who wants get their rest and relaxation watching a fun family movie.'

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

     The 2012 flick The Amazing Spider-Man is the single greatest
Spiderman movie ever made. It is also a great family film. It is also very
entertaining. A young man Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is bitten by a
spider and acquires incredible super powers. He soon develops a recipe
for making artificial webbing so that he can go about New York City like
a humanoid spider. 

     Andrew Garfield is a marked improvement in the role of Peter Parker
aka Spiderman over Tobey Maguire. Likewise, Emma Stone in the role of
Parker's girlfriend Gwen Stacy is much better than the vapid Kirsten
Dunst who played Parker's girlfriend in past Spiderman movies. Just
these two casting decisions alone make this a much better movie than its
predecessors. 

     At first glance, the story of this flick is not much different than
that of the first Sam Raimi Spiderman movie. Peter Parker gains amazing
powers such as super dexterity and incredible tactile strength after
being bitten by a radioactive spider. Parker also humiliates the high
school bully Flash Thompson. Parker also starts climbing all over New
York City. 

     However, there are some very real differences between The Amazing
Spider-Man and the three Sam Raimi Spiderman movies. First of all, in
the Raimi movies, the bite of the radioactive spider bestowed upon Peter
Parker/Spiderman the ability to shoot organic webs. In the original
comic book, Peter Parker invented his own formula for artificial
webbing. In this way, Parker gained super powers through both accident
and design. This movie restores the original comic book's
version of how Peter Parker created the artificial webbing and the
result makes for a better movie. Additionally, in this flick there is a very
real romance between Peter Parker and a girlfriend who is worthy of him. In the
Raimi flicks, the girlfriends were all a bunch of doltish losers. 
Finally, in The Amazing Spider-Man, the fate of Peter Parker's parents
was presented as a very real mystery while in the Raimi movies, they
were hardly even mentioned.

     While it is true that this movie is much better as a Spiderman
flick than any of the Raimi movies, there are are still some problems. 
For instance, this movie was missing the magical spark that people
have come to expect of superhero movies. The origin story of the 
green lizard bad guy in this movie was patently unbelievable. On top
of that, the reptilian villain looked and acted too much like the
Incredible Hulk. In a way, this is also a way in which this movie stays true to the
original comic book since Dr. Curt Connors aka The Lizard was
always one of the least convincing of all the bad guys in comic books.

     Overall, a good case can be made that this is the very best
of all the Spiderman movies made thus far. If you liked the
Sam Raimi Spiderman flicks, then you will definitely love this one.

Fast Company (1938)

     When you look through Hollywood history, you will find there are

times when movies or movie series came about for seemingly unlikely reasons. For
instance,following the success of the A budget "Thin Man" movies, theater owners
started complaining about the time lag between the production/release of new
Thin Man movies. 

     In order to please these theater owners, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) 
decided to produce/release a series of three B budget movies. These
films were about the husband and wife detective team of Joel & Garda Sloane. 
As you can expect, the Sloanes were a knockoff of the Nick & Nora
Charles husband and wife detective team from the Thin Man movies. Essentially, 
MGM's Sloane detective movies were the Thin Man flicks done on a lower
budget.

     Perhaps the most unusual aspect of the Sloan detective flicks was
the fact that in each one of the three movies in this series, different actors
and actresses played the husband and wife detective team. In first film in the
series, the one that is the subject of this review. Melvyn Douglas played Joel Sloane and
Florence Rice played Garda Sloane. Although Rice is pretty much forgotten today,
back in 1938 when this movie was made, she was a major actress.

     The Sloane detective series were unusual in that the detective
couple were in the rare book business. The husband was widely regarded as an 
expert in the field. Rare books is an area where there are all
sorts of forgeries and other frauds, Also, they are skillful at recovering lost or stolen
volumes for insurance companies. In order to survive in this business,
you have to develop detective skills that are useful in other areas including solving murder cases
that the incompetent cops can't handle. This was a departure from the pattern
set in The Thin Man where Nick and Nora Charles lived off Nora's 
inheritance and did not do any real work.

     Although the Sloane detective flicks were considered B movies, they 
were actually on a similar level of quality as the A movie Thin Man
films. The two main actresses in Fast Company, for instance, were Claire
Dodd and Florence Rice. Both of these actresses were much better than Myrna
Loy in the Thin Man series. Although it has been more than three quarters
of a century since Fast Company was made, both Claire Dodd and Florence Rice
continue to impress as truly gifted actresses. Both Dodd and Rice 
were remarkably beautiful women whose careers faltered as they grew
older. It is a shame that both performers have been left in obscurity.

     The first movie in the Sloane detective movie series was Fast
Company, released in 1938, four years after The Thin Man. The shady rare books
dealer Otto Brockler (George Zucco) was murdered and the list of suspects is
quite long. It is up to the Sloanes to find out who really committed the dirty deed
to prevent an innocent man from being executed for a crime that he did not commit.

     The end result is a fast paced movie that has just the right amount 
of humor thrown in. This movie is quite entertaining even though the
lead actor (Melvyn Douglas) is stiff and unconvincing as a rare book dealer.
Florence Rice has to shoulder the movie with the assistance of
Louis Calhern, Claire Dodd and Nate Pendelton. However, to watch a
movie that fully realized the potential that the Sloanes had for mystery mixed
with comedy, moviegoers had to wait for the sequel Fast and Loose.

     In any event, Fast Company proved to be the first of a series of movies that

you can love for good old time mystery fun.

The House Bunny (2008)

     The House Bunny is a good example of a modern day fluffy comedy. Certainly, its script is well thought out and executed to be a barrel full of laughs for its intended teenage audience. The House Bunny is a flick that includes Hugh Hefner, the Playboy Mansion and a Playboy Magazine centerfold photo shoot in addition to other unusual ingredients for a comedy. In the hands of most directors, this would be the mix for a tasteless piece of trash. However, under the direction of Fred Ward, The House Bunny is a well done comedy that actually veers on the verge of being a comedy for the whole family. 

     The House Bunny stars Anna Faris as Shelley Darlingson, a qunitessentially dumb blonde Playboy Playmate who gets kicked out of the Playboy Mansion by Hugh Hefner himself. Darlingson winds up homeless and wanders around without a clue as to where she is or what she wants to do. Eventually, she meets some members of the local Zeta Alpha Zeta sorority. This local sorority house is in particular danger of losing its charter due to a lack of recruiting new pledges. In a rare display of initiative, Shelley offers her services as a "housemother" for the goofy sorority sisters. The girls hire her and soon Darlingson's bubbly optimism and ability to make homely girls beautiful make Zeta Alpha Zeta the hottest sorority on campus.

     Shelley Darlingson's chief helper in this sorority house makeover is Natalie (Emma Stone) who begins the movie as a rather awkward sorority sister. Under Darlingson's guidance, Natalie blossoms into a flower of beauty and competence. The other girls are all interesting characters with the pregnant Harmony (Katharine McPhee) being the most hilarious. As a group, the girls all have the same problem in that they are all pretending to be what other folks want them to be like instead of being themselves. Shelley teaches them to be true to themselves and to be themselves. 

     Perhaps the most surprising aspect of The House Bunny is the stunning performance of lead actress Anna Faris who previously played the role of Cindy Campbell in all four installments of the Scary Movie series, as well as other movies and guest roles in TV series, without ever hitting the big time. This is because most of her pre-House Bunny roles were as just plain dumb blondes. In other words, Faris's previous roles were basically one dimensional versions of Shelley Darlingson. In The House Bunny, Faris showed that she was capable of both being your basic dumb blonde, but also of playing a much more nuanced character who is also capable of leadership.

     While Anna Faris is surprisingly effective, that cannot be said for the rest of the acting. Other than Faris, the most effecive actor is Colin Hanks in the role of Shelley Darlingson's boyfriend Oliver. Of the remaining acting talent, both Emma Stone and Katharine McPhee are nice in their roles while Hugh Hefner was just being himself. The rest of the acting ranged from average to pretty bad. 

     Despite the inconsistent acting, most of the remaining aspects of the movie were fairly decent. The work of director Fred Ward was good and the cinematography was crisp. The House Bunny is a surprisingly good movie.

     The script was aimed at a teenage audience and it succeeds at creating a movie that is very funny by the undemanding standards of teenage audiences. The best line in the flick was "You're 27? That's like 59 in Bunny years." A great deal of what the producers intended as being humor is of the sexual innuendo variety. For instance, Shelley refers to one's eyes as being "the nipples of the face." Had the filmmakers based this movie's humor around the characters and the situations that they are in, The House Bunny could have been just as funny, but it would also have been a comedy for the entire family. Just why they did not follow this route is subject to speculation, but it would appear that the movie makers felt that including the likes of Hugh Hefner and the Playboy milieu made this movie "sexy" and if you have a "sexy" movie, then you should not go for the clean stuff.

     In the end, The House Bunny is a surprising movie. It works well for the teenage audience that it was made for. It does have a strong, positive message for its targeted teenage audience. The lead actress gives the best performance of her career thus far and director Fred Ward has a strong movie on his resume. This is a movie well worth considering going to the theater for.

The Rocketeer (1991) 


     The Rocketeer is a greatly underrated science fiction action flick set
during the late 1930s in the Great Depression while the world was
inching toward World War II. This particular movie was made in 1991 and
based on a graphic novel by Dave Stevens.
     This movie is of the same flavor of the Republic serials of the 1930s
and 1940s, and it captures the spirit of the pulp magazines of the time.
This is fitting because the original Dave Stevens comics captured the
spirit of 1930s aviation pulps, as well as Doc Savage and Republic
Studios. Unfortunately, Doc Savage could not be included in this movie,
but Howard Hughes made a great substitution. The film was full of action
and humor, cliffhangers and character, just like Stevens’ creation.
The movie opens in 1938 when air races were as important to the American
people as auto racing is today. Heroes were made out of aviators.
Airplanes that later became famous as fighters in World War II, Curtis
P-40s and the British Spitfires, were originally designed as racers.
Hollywood is at its zenith, and Cliff Secord (Bill Campbell) and his
friend/mentor Peevy (Alan Arkin) are getting their newest stunt plane
ready for a national flying competition. Meanwhile, Cliff’s girlfriend
Jenny (Jennifer Connelly) is a struggling young actress trying to make
it in Hollywood, one bit-part at a time. Cliff finds and dons an
experimental rocket pack.
     Unknown to Cliff, actor/Nazi agent Neville Sinclair (Timothy Dalton)
wants the rocket pack very badly indeed, and when he overhears
bit-player Jenny and her boyfriend Cliff talking about the rocket while
on the set of his latest film, he immediately sets out to seduce the
young actress in an attempt to get to Cliff and his coveted jet-pack.
Although the film does have its credibility stretched pretty thin in
places (why doesn’t Cliff ever run out of fuel or get his legs burned
off?) the story is solid and enjoyable, and the visual effects still
hold up quite nicely. The movie also features a neat explanation for how
the “HOLLYWOODLAND” sign was shortened to “HOLLYWOOD."
     The acting is consistently good. Campbell was perfect for the role of
Cliff Secord. Arkin made a great Peevy, although he's a bit less
cantankerous than in the original comic. He was more of a Connecticut
Yankee than grouchy mechanic. Dalton made a great Errol Flynn type, and
this was the first on-screen hint of Flynn’s involvement with the Nazi’s
during World War II. Much has been written on the subject, but nobody,
until this picture, dared to dramatize it.
     This movie has everything: Hollywood in its golden age, German spies,
G-men and gangsters, elaborate nightclubs, big band music, and best of
all, a hero who flies around like a bat out of hell with a jet-pack
strapped to his back. The fact that during his first few times with the
rocket he kept crashing into everything made Cliff Secord more
believable as the Rocketeer.
     The Rocketeer is a “feel-good” movie. It has an all-American, baseball,
and apple pie feel, to it, and for that quality, it's great. It’s a very
good movie for kids and adults alike. That’s why this movie is
wonderful.
*****************************************************************************

Website Reviews:
http://chivalrysorcery.myfastforum.org/
Chivalry & Sorcery RPG Fan Site is a major forum devoted to the great tabletop RPG of      Chivalry &         Sorcery that many hard core gamers consider to be the best game of its  type  ever made.
http://ericreedmysteries.blogspot.com/
Eric Reed Mysteries is a brand new mystery novel review blog by Eric Mayer & Mary Reed who have announced that they will begin writing mystery novels together under the pseudonym of "Eric Reed."  
http://www.masksofnyarlathotep.net/
masksofnyarlathotep.net/ is a comprehensive resource website for the tabletop RPG Masks of Nyarlahotep.

http://www.medievalists.net/
medievalists.net is a leading website devoted to the study of the Middle Ages.
http://www.medievalwarfare.info/
Medieval Warfare & Medieval Arms is a major website that offers in-depth coverage of the   military history and weaponry of the Middle Ages.

http://skymanbob.com/

SkyMan Bob is the official website of noted astronomer and Astronomy Magazine columnist Bob Berman.
https://texasnavy.org/
The Texas Navy Association exists to document the existence of the Navy of the Republic of Texas during the Nineteenth Century.  Also covers U.S. Navy ships named after persons from Texas and places in Texas.
http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/
TGN: Tabletop Gaming News is a leading website dedicated to covering the world of tabeltop gaming and related subjects.
*****************************************************************************
Letters Of Comment:

The following was from Lloyd Penney's website since the email he sent did not reach my

inbox....its probably stuck in a server somewhere... 

Dear Charles:

Thanks for Fornax 4...this may have to be a fast one, I am so far behind in my loccing. Wish me luck in this...

As a journalism student, I have made complaints to various local media outlets, saying that they are facilitating the dumbing-down of the public by running entertainment stories and similar fluff too near the top of the newscast or front page, while taking their minds off the important news of the day. Rather than do what I learned to do long ago, the only letter I received said that to ensure that the public continues to watch the newscast, get the best ratings and sell the most advertising, they had to run stories that the viewing public wanted to see, not what the newsroom thought they should see. Chicken and egg logic, I'm afraid, but no matter what, the public gets dumber, and their attention span gets shorter, if that is possible.

No one may have responded to the Best Fan Writer/Fanzine discussion because with the names that appear on the ballot, we are totally unaware of their writing and where to find it. Fanzine fandom as we know has truly been passed by Modern Fandom (TM).

My only real experience with D&D is the fact I went to school with Ed Greenwood. While I was taking notes in journalism classes, he was designing rooms of the dungeon that he sold to TSR for megabucks. Who spent his time the best way?

Not much of a loc here, but it is what I can squeeze out of my tired brain at the moment. Send me issue 5, and I will see if I can do better. See you then.

Yours, Lloyd Penney.

[ Well, Modern Fandom, as you call it,  may have more adherents, but fanzine fandom is clearly better.  There is for certain hardly any name calling in fanzines and there is real discussion of the issues going on.  You look at blogs, such as those being written by this year's "Best Fan Writer" nominees and all you have is just so much mean spirited vituperation.  None of those nominees added anything to Fandom. When I suggested to them that they at least try to interact with fans by reading and then sending LOC's to fanzines, all I got was that my comments never got put up. Before you blame the slates for this, the non-slate winner Laura J. Mixner is just as bad as the others and there was an analysis done by the i09 website that showed that if it were not for the slates, the nominees for fan writer and fanzines would have been just as bad.  What this means is that those of us who prize traditional fanzine fandom need to get our act together and promote fanzines to the larger fandom instead of just writing to each other.  Easier said than done. ]

Dave Haren

tyrbolor@comcast.net

Hi Charles,

Seems like I missed commenting on issue 3 by procrastinating which is not the
same as amacrastinating. I haven't finished my application to the procrastinator
guild.

I'm not Canadian according to the white mans weird laws which paint invisible
lines on the ground which turns the first people into Mexicans on one side of
the line and Indians on the other. I did my full obligation service 62-70 as
regular US Navy.

I don't have much to say about anime. I follow One Piece because it has the
sense of wonder quality I remember from early science fiction. I also like
the Railgun and her friends because of the lessons hidden in it about being
loyal and letting your friends help when you have a problem. I spent enough
time around the Japanese to know how alien their society really is. Some
parts of it are admirable and other parts are horrible but both parts are
there for a reason.

I was a gamer before D & D and played it using the original Greyhawk and
Chainmail rulebooks. It was so incomplete it forced players to fix it so
it could be played. High school takes a dump on anyone percieved as a bit
different it is part of the indoctrination schools inflict on people. I
horrified my whole math class once by talking to the teacher as if we were
equals. Ruined my reputation. That's the kind of nitwit behavior students
have been shaped into. You hear a lot of loose talk about being unique
but if you actually are the whole culture converges to pound you into
the slot they have imagined for you. The SF community is the same even as
they pay lip service to idealistic visions, they mean well but viewed
from a distance they aren't exactly mainstream material themselves.

Role playing games evolved quite a bit over the years. The crude attempt
to allow miniature gamers a quick game as individual figures started to
mutate into full blown systems elaborated by all of the added nuamces
of players imaginations. The best version got buried in personal and
business animosity. That was the Fantasy Trip system of Metagaming.
GURPS had to redo the whole thing from scratch with slightly more
awkward mechanics but it is still around while TFT is gone. I did some
playtesting for the GURPS system but now that the new editions are out
I'm probably no longer famous...: ^ ) The amount of dis-information
about RPGs is appalling to those who were there at the time. To hear
the tedious stick in the mud Gygax described as a minion of Satan
luring innocents into celebrating the Sabbat with his witch cult is
so ridiculous that you question the sanity of those who talk about
it with a straight face.

The last time we called up Satan for some ritual abuse he was so badly
battered we bandaged him up out of pity and sent him home without any
more abuses.

Well keep on keepin' on. I do enjoy reading your ezine.

Warm Regards

Dave Haren

The picture is the diversity example from the UNH webpage. Fun to
contemplate as apparently they couldn't find a white student to
pose for the picture... : ^ )

[ That seems so typical of colleges nowadays,  In what way was Gary Gygax a "tedious stick in 

the mud"?  Do you mean his buying Amazng and then failing to do anything to either 

promote it or improve it?  Or do you mean his disastrous appearance on 60 Minutes in 1986?  Also what was TFT? Question:  Did your military service help make you

a better wargamer? ]

opuntia57@hotmail.com

From: Dale Speirs             Calgary, Alberta



I don't play RPG games but your essay on D&D triggered a memory.  Attached to this email is a scan of a newspaper article I clipped years ago about the suicide of a young Calgary boy that was blamed on D&D.  I didn't know the boy or his family but my coworker did; they were next-door neighbours.  The suicide was the talk of the office lunchroom for a couple of days and then forgotten.



I'm never going to do anything with this clipping, so perhaps you might want to reproduce it in your zine.  Other than the family, I am probably the only person left who remembers this story.





[ Interesting thing about that was how after I left Platteville in 1984, the national discussion about D&D shifted from Satanism to suicide.  On that, the critics were on much firmer ground.  

It was reported on 60 Minutes in 1986 that there had been more than 50 suicide cases linked by law enforcement to D&D.  Nearly all of them involved kids whose characters had just died in-game.  One of these was the son of Pat Pulling who became D&D's Number #1 critic.  Its always seemed interesting how no other RPG ever got linked to either Satanism or suicide anywhere near as much as D&D. ]