And the rain rain rain
Came down down down...

Sweet baby Jane, enough with the weather already! Today it absolutely poured for five or six hours, and most of the state of Maine is looking at a flood watches and warnings into tomorrow.

The wet is really starting to take its toll on people. After several months of short-daylight winter, we were looking forward to the long, warm days of late spring and early summer. Instead, we've got gray, wet, cold, misery.

I hope things clear up soon; I want James and Dammi to have a positive impression of our lovely state when they visit next month. At this rate though...

There's a short story by Ray Bradbury called All Summer in a Day. It's about the one day every twenty years (or whatever) where the perpetual storms on some alien planet (Venus, if I recall correctly) break and let the sunshine in. I'm starting to get that vibe here.

Oddly enough, I've been feeling rather... elemental the last day or two. I want to walk outside in this weather, embracing it... kind of a nautical 'sea spray on the face' kind of thing. I love wind and water... and while the seemingly perpetual gray is a bit of a bother, there's a certain primal vibe that I'm pulling off of it.

I wish I were down at the lake, watching the whitecaps dance (well, not right now, because it's dark out, but you get the idea). I find a certain peace of mind there... one that has, in some ways, been missing from my life recently. I've tried not to dwell on it too much (thre's too much other stuff to get done!), but it keeps rising from my subconscious, and I can't shake it.

That deep part of my brain is telling me there's something I need to deal with. I'm just not sure what it is.

*sigh*
- posted by Josh @ 10:46 PM (0) comments

 
Revenge of the Sith
I finally saw Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith last night. It didn't totally suck... in fact it was pretty good. Not great, but not bad either.

By the way, some spoilers may follow. I don't think there's anything that fans of the series wouldn't know, however.

The one thing I noticed was how... sterile it felt. Especially the opening battle sequence over Coruscant. It reminded me of the massive starfighter sequence over Endor from Return of the Jedi, but it lacked the charm and drama of the sequence in Jedi... at least in my opinion.

Not to be nitpicky, but speaking of Jedi... in the Ewok village, Luke asks Leia about her mother; her answer ("She seemed very sad" or something like that) gives the impression that she's talking about their mother, Padme.

But then, in Sith, Padme dies in childbirth and the infant Skywalkers are given to their respective adoptive parents -- Bail Organa and his wife, in the case of Leia. That being the case... why would Leia's adoptive mother be so sad?

And if Leia is talking about Padme... how the hell would she have any impression of her?

I don't know... I guess I'm generally unimpressed by the newer films, and my storytelling brain is picking apart the inconsistencies.

There is some good stuff in the movie, don't get me wrong, and I enjoyed it, but the pacing is rushed, and it lacks a certain something that I feel in Episodes IV-VI.

Unleashed, on the other hand... is a good movie. But that is a post for another time.
- posted by Josh @ 11:23 AM (0) comments

 
Ever have one of those days...?
We've had bad weather here in the northeast for the last few days... cold, rainy, and generally unpleasant. Not exactly the greatest motivator in the world.

In ED Classic news, we're finishing up the Player's Compendium. A slight delay cropped up when I reviewed the chapter of Illusionist spells, and had a "Gah!" moment where I realized the chapter needed the heavy hand of an editor.

Still, that's now out of the way, and I'm into reviewing the last five or six chapters (out of 30-something). We probably won't have the book on the market in time for Origins, but we hope to have a preview copy or three that folks can drool over.

Here's the scary thought; as soon as we finish the EPC, we do this all over again with the Gamemaster's Compendium.

Ah well. Noody said the life of a game designer would be hookers and blow.

(Actually, somebody did... if I can dig up the link, I'll share.)

Edit: Wow... a post over at the RPGnet forums, and in less than 10 minutes I'm supplied with a link (thanks to Alka-Seltzer). Greg Stolze on why he writes game books.
- posted by Josh @ 1:24 PM (0) comments

 
For you 8-bit fogeys...
Work continues on ED Classic. We're almost done.

I swear!

I'm not wasting any time at all watching video of an a capella group performing classic Nintendo theme music!

Really!

(Honestly though, click the link and watch the clip. It's a hoot -- particularly the accompanying choreography.)
- posted by Josh @ 8:27 PM (0) comments