Rejected title for the volume: "I Think I'm A Clone Now."
And at last, we've got a cover for the next ps238 trade! Look for it later this summer. It's been a long time coming, and I apologize for the wait; the office re-arranging took more work (and excavation) than I realized. I mean, I found tax forms from when I was in high school. I also came across my old file of rejected cartoons from Dragon Magazine, back when I thought a Bic Pilot flair-tipped pen on typing paper was how one properly drew cartoons (which eventually worked, I suppose, with the right editors). I also discovered that I really need to sell a bunch of stuff on eBay, like this item that I found in a file drawer, next to some old "Lazer Tag" guns.
In my continuing effort to seek out new horror writers who aren't Stephen King (since he can't write as fast as I read), I came across "The Strain" by Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan. While it's pretty obvious that this could be turned into a movie (it had some pretty cliche setups for the protagonist's personal life and never left him completely bereft of the chance for female company to either pursue, protect, or grieve for) I give it props for portraying vampires as actual monsters, something you wouldn't want to be, given the choice. It'll also please the medical thriller fans in the audience, as our hero works for the CDC. If you decide to pick it up, I give you fair warning that this is supposed to be a trilogy, so while the ending satisfies and isn't too big of a cliffhanger, it's by no means over at the last page.
From the "things that may herald the end of the world" department, John Stamos wants to bring his sitcom, "Full House," to the big screen. I must say, there are few things on TV that I'd rather see less get two hours at my local cineplex. You may ask why I should care, since I'm not going to see it. I don't watch the Home Shopping Network, either, but I know that at this very second, a large waste of human potential that could have been building a warp engine or a flying car instead was wasted on a hunk of metal and hydrocarbons that will break in five months for only $19.95 a month. I seem to have strayed a bit, but in brief, I think we need to have safety drills in our schools, just in case this gets greenlit.
Nerds behaving badly is the next topic. I know my geekological studies sometimes fall short, getting a critical detail wrong here or forgetting a pop culture reference there, but there are times when nerds should know better. The ones working at "Cracked" (language warning on this link) did a list of 15 Dungeons and Dragons monsters that they deemed 'most retarded.' I own a lot of the books these came from, and if they'd just put the word 'looking' after 'retarded,' I'd let it go. But they put a demi-lich on the list and claimed "It just kind of floats around, waiting for a party of heroes to smack it out of the air like a pinata." I'm sorry, but that thing was put in the Tomb of Horrors to compensate for anyone that had actually managed to avoid every "no saving throw" event and make the other players feel better by killing the ones who had managed to make it to the end. And yeah, I kind of realize the weird position I'm in of "berating a comedy website for not being dorky enough," but if you're doing anything comedic on the internet without someone at least familiar with second edition D&D, you'd better have a "help wanted +2" sign in your window.
We can still laugh at "The Flumph" while we take in some other points of interest:
- Game theory is applied to the question of does the Joker have any advantage in teaming up with someone to kill Batman?
- Pirate Launch is another one of those "propel an object to earn money for upgrades" game, but it's got pirates!
- Previously, we linked to some "Science Scout" badges. The makers have improved their website and added a few new scientific accolades.
- I just found out there's something tooling around San Diego that I wouldn't mind taking for a spin.
- Can you run an alien invasion on the cheap? In Budget Invasion, you're stuck with just a tractor beam with which you hurl hapless humans at others of matching color to make them vanish before the mob overruns your spaceship.
- If you work in an office (with a good sense of humor), you might find these communication forms useful, hilarious, or both.
- "Woman's Day" (I was kind of surprised, too) brings us 10 'Crazy' Collections. However, I'd like to point out that the collections of Star Wars figures and dice are not crazy, and the Coke can one could just have happened naturally at any computer desk over a prolonged period of time.
- Further compounding a first for the link dump, we have something with Martha Stewart in it: Two M.I.T. students and their 'Automato' robotic ketchup dispenser. There are also outtakes from what I'm assuming was the 'testing' phase.
- And this might not be the greatest game ever, but I loved being a slime monster that could bounce people into the air, then into my waiting maw: Slimey's Lunchtime may just bring a smile to your face, especially if you're eating animal crackers or Gummi bears.