Horizon Zero

Michael Crichton Has Passed Away

The author of Jurassic Park, Rising Sun, The Andromeda Strain and a host of other titles died last night after a long struggle with cancer.

Aside from being a prolific writer, Crichton was a vocal opponent of junk pseudo-science and media fear mongering. He will most definately be missed.

Much Is Taken, But Much Still Abides

First things first, a congratulations to our President-Elect and his supporters. For just as we hope to be magnanimous in victory, so too must we be gracious in defeat.

However.

Take heart, fellow conservatives, for this is not the end! For two long years, we have followed this most important of contests and though it now seems that the cause for which we have persevered has been brought short rest assured that there will be other days. We live in trying times, and the desire to lay down the burdens we carry as a nation and a culture can be strong.

Our opponents have capitalized on that weariness, and so - for the moment - we have stumbled.

But this is not the end. Though we have seen good friends meet defeat tonight, we are still fighting.

But we must be joyous warriors. We must resist the urge to blame those that have lost faith - instead we must show once again that we are worthy of that faith.

This is not the end. We have been in the wilderness before. This is ground we know well.

Keep fighting.

"Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

Not to yield.

Obama Chooses Biden; Dems in Denver

The Democratic National Convention starts today, as Dems gather to officially nominate their Chosen One. Tonight, as I understand it, features addresses by Former President Jimmy Carter, Senator Kennedy and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, topped off by the reintroduction of Michelle Obama to the nation at large.

So what do I make of Obama's selection of Senator Biden to be his running mate? Honestly, I'm a little baffled by it.

All throughout the primary, Obama's chief criticism of Hillary Clinton was that as a pro-war voting Washington insider she was unfit to be the standard bearer of progressive Democrats. And now, now that Obama has safely done away with his greatest rival, he selects as his partner... a pro-war voting Washington insider.

Beyond that, it's hard to see exactly what Biden brings to the ticket. He's a Senator from Delaware - a state that is almost a lock for Obama already, and holds only three electoral votes in any case. Biden's stance on guns is sure to infuriate those voters that might have been willing to take a chance on Obama's more nuanced position. Biden's initial support for the war in Iraq, coupled with his partition strategy - which would have made for an increased presence and meant dealing with three separate post-Iraqi governments - would seem to be the exact opposite of what Obama's earliest netroots supporters want.

There's some suggestion that he polls well in Florida, and that his origins in Scranton will help lock down Pennsylvania, but those are some mighty slim positives.

Overall, there doesn't appear to have been much of a bounce from the announcement, although I don't think anyone was really expecting much of one. The bounce - if it comes - will occur later this week at Obama's rock concert... er, acceptance speech.

Sinking Atlantis and Unleashing the Force

The SciFi channel has decided not to renew Stargate Atlantis after the show ends its fifth season. A variety of reasons have been proffered at the various places on the interweb where opinions are usually proferred. The favorites are declining ratings, continuing cast shakeups and SciFi Execs' bizarre desire to 'move away from science fiction in order to appeal to a broader demographic"...

Which, as one astute associate of mine put it, means daytime soaps. Along with Eureka, Wrestling and 79 plus hours of Lost reruns, I guess.

Atlantis is apparently not completely gone, however. As with the also cancelled Stargate SG-1, Atlantis will be transitioning to the realm of Direct to DVD features, with the first planned movie to wrap up the cliffhanger that ends season five. Beyond that, who can say?

Truth be told, Atlantis was starting to get a little stale - no disrespect intended towards the cast. But many of the stand alone episodes had begun to feel like SG-1 episodes from nine years ago with the serial numbers filed off and the long term plot was hampered by a character that wore out his welcome two seasons ago. And it was something of a retread itself.

While I think the 'series reboot' concept has been overused the last few years (Reimagined Knight Riders and Bionic Women? Really?) I'd be willing to make an exception for the Stargate universe. It occupies a unique niche in modern science fiction television, and I'd like to see a production that maybe goes in for less of an 'adventure romp' atmosphere. The fate of the galaxy doesn't have to be at stake every season.

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In game news, the 360 demo of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed became available today. It's pretty short, and the controls might take a while to get used to (I kept missing with my Force Levitated blunt objects of death) but it's certainly pretty.

I'm not sure how thrilled I am with this uber-powerful Secret Apprentice, though. All the previews have featured reassurances from the developers about how the Apprentice totally fits into existing lore and how George Lucas provided tons of advice about how to tell the story of the Force Unleashed.

Which doesn't really inspire as much confidence as it used to, actually.

Gencon 2008 After Action Report

I'm back from a successful trip to Indy. My promised photos unfortunately did not pan out - I only had my cel phone and the collection of snapshots I took essentially boils down to a group of bright blurry objects and another group of not so bright blurry objects. Ah, well.

Since I was only there for the one day, I didn't get to see everything, but I had an enjoyable time. Wandered the main hall and spent far too much money on books. Attended 3 hours worth of panels, took a lot of notes, and spent a few hurried minutes eating over priced fast food. (Downtown Indy has one of the best choices of dining experiences I've encountered, and yet I still gravitate to the McDonalds and pizza-by-the-slice joint. Go figure.)

Of course, the main reason I went was the annual Battletech Iron Writers' competition. The rules are simple enough - you're given a topic, keyword, or closing sentence and have one hour to write a story. Easy to contemplate, sometimes harder to actually do. Last year I was down to the last second and clocked in with about 600 words or so - super short even for flash fiction. This year, I had the essentials done in 45 minutes, and had four solid pages of text. I don't expect to win - there were 16 entries and half the professional novel writing team was participating - but I'm pleased that I had an easier time of it this year, and I hope to do better when I participate again next year.

So, all in all, a good trip. Maybe next year I'll actually play a game.

Fourth Genesis

Yeah, I know.

In my defense, there are some really interesting things going on that I'm still not able to talk about just yet, but that are definately coming closer to fruition.

So why the update if I can't talk about the good stuff? Because it's GenCon time, and despite my own fear of being too busy to go I've nonetheless managed to work in a quick two day, "there and  back again" jaunt to Indy.

Just made it into town a few hours ago, so no pictures or floor reports until tomorrow night.

Goodbye, Arthur C. Clarke

HAL-9000: What is going to happen?
Dave: Something wonderful.
HAL-9000: I'm afraid.
Dave: Don't be. We'll be together.
HAL-9000: Where will we be?
Dave: Where I am now.

Lost: Via Domus

I got the Lost game for my XBox360 this month, and finished it this weekend. It looks pretty for the most part, although some of the character renderings are a little... off. (Hurley and Sun are the most egregious, for some reason. Locke, Ben and Juliet look really good.) The voice acting is disappointing. Series stars Michael Emerson, Yunjin Kim and Emilie de Raven voice their characters, although Sun and Claire are in the game so briefly it seems a waste to engage the actors for the effort. Voice over actors are tolerable for most of the other characters, except for the guy cast as Locke, who sounds more like Chris Farley than Terry O'Quinn.

The story was okay, although a little trite, and the ending was a classic Lost style 'clunk'. The main character was a bit of a Mary Sue, however. (He gets to poke around all the DHARMA installations, conveniently witnessed the backstories of both Kate and Locke, met Ben and Juliet way before anyone else and has ties in his past to the mysterious Alvar Hanso?)

What about the gameplay? Well, I don't pick up media tie ins expecting to be wowed by the gaming experience.

It did provide some of the easiest XBox Achievements I've ever encountered, however. Via Domus borrows the Dead Rising/BioShock photographer motif and requires you to capture snapshots of interesting stuff around the island to unlock achievables. This isn't executed as well as in Dead Rising or BioShock, but does allow you to hunt around for interesting stuff taken directly from the show.

How Hillary! Got Her Groove Back

So was it Obama losing his seeming free pass from the media? A genuine upswing in support for the candidate of experienced change who's ready at 3:00AM on Day One?

Or - bizarrely enough - was it the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy riding to the rescue?

A Sad Day for Geek Nation

Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, passed away today at the age of 69.

It's difficult to quantify just how big an effect Gygax had on gaming and the industry, not to mention the social lives and imaginations of millions of kids and adults. D&D was the major influence on the first generation of CRPGs like Ultima, Wizardry and even Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy. Without D&D, would there ever have been such a thing as a MUD? And without the MUD, where would the inspiration for things like Neverwinter Nights, Ultima Online or World of Warcfaft have arisen?

In a very real sense, he was the Godfather of the Age of Gaming, and he will be missed.