VagaJammer

The Last Outpost is open for business!

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:11:29 GMT

Those of you who know have known me for a while are aware that I've been on-again-off-again writing a RPG scifi setting called The Last Outpost. The time has come to put it on the web for people to play with. You can access it at http://christianfrost.proboards66.com

Look forward to seeing you there :)

The WrestleCrap Book of Lists reviewed

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 06:37:18 GMT

Let's get one thing straight right off the bat. I love pro wrestling. I've been watching wrestling since around WrestleMania 3. I stopped watching wrestling because I feel my intelligence is being insulted by the current product, but still keep tabs on what's going on just in case the writers start putting out storylines I want to care about.

I have been a fan of RD Reynolds' Wrestlecrap.com for most of its eight-year run. I eagerly log in every Friday to see what new nugget he's dug up (still waiting to see his post on the Rick Rude/Big Boss Man "Big Boss Man's Mom" feud). I listened to Wrestlecrap Radio for over a year and a half (at that point, my poor dialup couldn't take the time it took to download the broadcasts on a weekly basis). I have the interviews with John Tenta, Vince Russo, and Lance Storm, as well as the April Fools episode from 2006 (sorry, 2007 just wasn't that good, guys) stored on my computer. I now own all three books.

It's the latest book, The WrestleCrap Book of Lists, that I wish to discuss.

I enjoyed this book. I really did. In fact, there are a number of lists that had me giggling. But when placed alongside the first two, it really wasn't that good. There were a number of list that had me feeling like RD and Blade were saying "We need to fill some space. What should we put in? I know! Worst hairdos!"

A lot of the lists did require that you have a lot more knowledge of wrestling than a fan from the WWF Attitude era. Which isn't a bad thing, as both WrestleCrap, the Worst in Professional Wrestling and The Death of WCW had a great deal of material from the era of Hulkamania and before, but the difference is that the previous two books took the time to explain why the characters and angles were so horrible, and the format of Book of Lists meant that such explanations were not forthcoming for the most part. This is not a fault of the authors as much as the format, but the format does require the reader to have read at least one of the first two books, or at least been watching wrestling since the 80s.

Another fault with the book is that I feel I've read all this before in the first two books. Again, not a fault of the authors, but when you write three tomes from the same source material, it's gonna feel like, as the late Gorilla Monsoon loves to say, you've gone to the well once too often. There's still a lot of material that wasn't iun the first two books, but most feels kind of out of place.

Faults aside, it is still a good book, and while I wouldn't recommend it to a casual (or non-) wrestling fan as I would the first two, I can think of a few people who would benefit having this in their library

My score (depending on what rating system you prefer)
3.5 out of 5 stars
B
7 out of 10

Chris Benoit

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 01:04:19 GMT

I was caught completely off-guard by the news of Chris Benoit's death. I have just started getting back into wrestling after more than a year's hiatus, and Benoit was one of my faves when I last watched, so hearing about his passing was a blow to the solar plexus for me.

I hope they find out exactly what happened to Benoit and his family, and whoever did this gets exactly what they deserve.

signing off

Movie Review: Casino Royale

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 04:23:17 GMT

Daniel Craig (AKA "James Blond") did a good job as a "rookie" Bond in this restart of the Bond franchise. The two issues I had continuity-wise were minor: the fact the M was played by Judi Dench, who was the second M in the series; and the fact that she said she "missed the Cold War". However, as was pointed out to me, the film was not a prequel to the established films, but a new beginning for a modern audience.

Craig's Bond is a recruit who is so full of himself that he'll take incredible risks (including some rather cheeky ones toward his boss), thinking he's immune to failure, which makes the failures he makes all the more jarring to him. This Bond is not at suave as the one we're used to, nor as athletic, stumbling in places we are not used to seeing Bond stumble. I was constantly reminded that Craig's Bond was not Pierce Brosnan, Roger Moore, or even George Lazenby, but an earlier version. Yet at the same time, I did not feel like the director was beating me over the head with the fact.

The film flowed very well, except for the final twenty minutes, which I knew what was going to happen and was sitting there wondering when they were going to get it over with.

Overall, I would rate this at feature-worthy. I am looking forward to the next installment of Craig's Bond

Movie Review: Stranger Than Fiction

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 04:16:05 GMT

OK, it's time for me to actually do something with this account, so I'm gonna do movie reviews here.

Here are my grades:

Feature My highest recommendation. Worth the full $X you have to pay!
Matinee Worth seeing ASAP, but not necessarily worth full price.
Discount Theater See it on the big screen, but not necessarily a must-see.
DVD If you have to see it, wait for the DVD release.
Cable If you have to see it, it'll eventually be on cable, so you won't have to actually have to spend money to do so...
Movie of the Week It'll show up on the networks eventually...

Stranger Than Fiction

Let me start by saying I do not like Will Ferrell films. Much like Adam Sandler or early Jim Carrey films: They rely too much on making the hero look like an idiot.

That said, I think this was Ferrell's best film to date. This reminded me of the Truman Show on so many levels. I think Ferrell should take on more roles like Harold Crick, in which he's a regular guy as opposed to a moron or egomaniac.

Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson were, as always, great. And Queen Latifa keeps improving as a dramatic actress with every role she takes on.

Overall grade Matinee. While the film was great overall, nothing about it screamed "I have to see this film" Indeed, while I saw the preview a few months ago and decided I wanted to see the film, it didn't stay with me until I saw the preview again a week before its premiere

OLRP?

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 02:28:42 GMT

OK, since I know there are a lot of roleplayers out there (glances at friends list and their friends lists), what kind of interest is there in doing an online RPG-style thread? We've had some success in the past with it (while interest was there), and it would be good to keep our creative juices flowing (in ways that don't involve fanfic... *grins at Chichuri*)

So consult with your friends to see who might be interested and what we might wanna do for a system. I have a few ideas...*evil grin, citizens...*

Greetings

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 10:28:27 GMT

Hello all.

Not much to say here. Just giving a shout out to my peeps.

chirp chirp

Oh yeah, gotta get me some peeps first.

signing off