Wednesday, October 1, 2014

October Movie Challenge: Lost Boys (1987)

Lets start this one off with a modern classic.
Lost Boys

I watched this one with my youngest and he loved it.  There is so much here that pretty much all modern interpretations of vampires have used.  True Blood, Buffy, Vampire$, even on to Underworld.  Though not Twilight.  Hell. There would be no Buffy without the Lost Boys.  Though I am sure there would have been no Lost Boys with out Anne Rice.  And...there is a lot of the Goonies in this, but still this is one classic movie.

I remember seeing this in the theaters back when it came out and I was expecting nothing.  Wow was I mistaken.   I pretty much turned around and saw it again.

Yeah there are some issues with how they handle vampire lore, but that scene where the David and the Lost Boys are hanging like bats in their coffin/cave.  That was pretty cool.

And lets not forget about that soundtrack.

It was pretty much a huge influence on me at the time and it came right when I had discovered Anne Rice after moving away a bit from Lovecraft.
So yeah I was a huge fan.

I wore the hell out of that black trenchcoat

Watching it again over 25 years later I noticed the movie had lost none of it's charm and even the parts I disliked I know looked on with amusement.  No one sparkled and the witty "current" language was kept to a minimum.

Normally I like to kick things of with something new, but this was a great way to start.

--
Tally so far:  1 Total Watched / 0 New

What do you find scary?
October Horror Movie Challenge hosted by Krell Laboratories.


Movies Queued up so far

Here are some of the movies I am going to tackle in the next week or so.

Some I have seen, others I haven't.

Alucard (2008)
Alucarda (1978)
Billy the Kid vs Dracula (1966)
Black Sabbath (1963)
Blood + Roses (2010)
Count Yorga (1970)
Female Vampire / Erotikill (1973)
Fright Night (2011)
Fright Night 2 New Blood (2013)
Mario Salieri's Dracula (1994)
Return of Count Yorga (1971)
The Deathmaster (1972)
Zoltan Hound of Dracula (1978)

Should be fun!



Owl & Weasel Wednesday #12 January 1976

Sub-Titled *Special Late Edition* (a few days late according to the editorial).  The start of 1976 was an interesting time for me personally.  I am curious to see how the world looked through the eyes of a gaming zine across the ocean.

From now on when ever I am late for a schedule post I will simply relabel it "special late edition".

D&D-wise we start with a note on the front page that Blackmoor is now out. More on that on page 4.  I don't recall much in the way of fan fare when Greyhawk came out, but that could be due when D&D hit Britain's shores.

Page 3 goes into length about Games Day.

Page 4 details Blackmoor.  On one hand Steve Jackson claims it is Earth shattering, but on the other hand also says it is not quite as good as Greyhawk.  What he seems to like most about it are the revised to hit tables (thus giving characters a reason to wear a helmet) and more details on various monsters. He also claims that Temple of the Frog is a must for any Game Master.  Temple of the Frog was 10 years later republished as a new adventure.

Moving through the rest of the zine there is more on the game Organized Crime and a section of Pub Games (lest we forget this is still a more general game magazine and not yet an RPG one).

The "Orbituary" column is back to review games that have died or are no longer played (really, the idea of spend text space on something no reads or could read anymore...that's a special kind of obsessive!).  This month is Parker Brothers "Take the Brain". Which is described as a chess variant where pieces, Ninnies and Numbskulls, move about the board to capture a brain piece. Reviewer Kendall Johns decides that the game failed due to being marketed at the wrong audience. Aimed at children it really should have been dressed up more and aimed at adults.

Far less ads this issue and we are back down to our regular 12 pages, Page 1 is a page again, not a cover.


Tuesday, September 30, 2014

October is coming...

Starting at Midnight tonight October is here.

I have all my vampire movies queued up on Amazon and DVD.  Though a DVD I bought back in the summer to watch now is missing.  I am sure I will find it. Can't even remember what was on it to be honest.

http://krelllabs.blogspot.com/
My youngest wants to join in with me, so I am going to be watching some vampire movies that are good for him to watch as well.  Maybe some I have already seen. Lost Boys is on the list now.


It is also my oldest birthday coming up and he has requested a midnight D&D game.
It has to be scary (his request) and have vampires (mine).  I am thinking it will either be the original Ravenloft module or the Hanging Coffins of the Vampire Queen.

I am leaning towards the Hanging Coffins of the Vampire Queen.



The module is so gonzo. Plus this is a group of 14-15 year old boys.  So yeah.
I have run this group before and I have taken them through the Pacsetter Vampire Queen modules (here and here).

I am also planning on getting some more reviews done in October/November.

Busy month ahead!

Monday, September 29, 2014

Old Games

Contrary to some belief I am not an obsessive collector of games.  I have things I like and genres I follow and I usually stick to that.  Outside of those I am pretty much open.

This week the Games Plus Fall auction begins and I still have some time to get some of my books in.
I am planning on selling of some of my more recent Tunnels & Trolls purchases as well as the last of the True20 material I still have laying around.

I figure anything I have not played in 5 years is good to go and anything I am not likely to play in the next 3 is also good to go.  

Do ever pare down your collection?
If so, how do you decide what to sell and what to keep?

Friday, September 26, 2014

Kickstart Your Weekend - Gamer Pins

So I have a confession to make.  I love pins. I know, it's not big as far as confessions go.

Since I was in High School I would put pins on my book bags, backpacks or what ever.  I stopped when I started taking my laptop bag to work (save for a pink Breast Cancer Awareness one) but my gamer bag is almost covered in them.

Almost.

Which means I have room for some more!

The Sloping Companion Gamers Series Pin 1.0
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1551544047/the-sloping-companion-gamers-series-pin-10

This Kickstarter, now in it's final hours, have some great looking metal pins.
Frankly I love the d20 and d10 ones.  They even have the oft-neglected d12.





So please do them a favor, they are so close to making it and these look really, really nice.

Don't forget the Amazing Adventures RPG kickstarter is also in their final hours too.
Support them both!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/676918054/amazing-adventures-rpg

Doggerland = Middle Earth?

I saw this map on the internet last night.



It is Great Britain and North West Europe circa 15,000 BCE.

Tell that doesn't just fill you with all sorts of ideas.  This was during the Upper Paleolithic era, or late Stone Age.

NOW.  compare that to this map we all all know and love.



I don't know about you all, but my head is full of ideas!