2002.12.05
Good golly, I don't know how I almost let this one slip by...Star Control 2,
about the best game of the early-90s, is being engineered and released
for free as The Ur-Quan Masters
(Toys for Bob, the current company of the original designers, owns everything about the game except the title "Star Control") More information about this incredible series on
The Pages of Now and Forever. For my money it's about the best RPG and head to head deathmatch ever. It's a big download, but worth it.
Bad Writing of the Moment
In one fluid movement Herman rolled forward on to his knees, grasped Dorian by the shoulders, and kissed him. Such suction. They were like two flamingos, each attempting to filter the nutriment out of the other with great slurps of their muscular tongues. Adam's apples bobbed in the crap gloaming.A great (if by great you mean terrible) collection of unfortunate similes and odd apparent fetishes and turn-ons. (via metafilter)
More Bad Writing of the Moment
He pauses, flexing those amazing pecs. "Let's try once more. 'The god ran his fingers through his thick curls; she could only gasp in amazement.' See? Use a semi-colon, not a comma there. If you do it right, I'll consider running my tongue up and down your body."Right after that last link but from an unrelated source, I found a Globe and Mail piece on "Erotic Fan Fiction".
Dreams of the Moment
I went to half.com to order Dion McGregor Dreams Again. In the 1960s, Michael Barr taped his flatmate Dion McGregor as he talked in his sleep, narrating the most funny and spectacular (and sometimes a bit dirty) dreams, with huge vigor and enthusiasm. Assuming it's not a hoax (and as one reviewer put it even if it is a hoax then "Dion McGregor was the greatest poet of the 20th century") it's the most amazing tour of the subconscious imagination. You can hear some brief samples on the Amazon page.
It's interesting to compare this to Jess Reklaw's Slow Wave, 4 panel comics based on the dreams people send in. I remembered a bit from last night's dream, something about being at camp with Mo driving the camp's big old 15 passenger van, and it slowly rolled over at one point, but everyone was ok. Somehow I don't think that's quite Slow Wave material. (Unlike my future self and Yak Man episodes...)
Incidentally, the first Dion McGregor link (the album has been on my To Get list ever since some NPR coverage a long time back) is from a site on Song-Poem Music, services for people to send in their lyrics and get them set to music and recorded. The site presents these companies as scam artists, since they imply they will also provide an in to major labels, but it seems pretty cool to me as long as the writers know what they're getting into.