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28 Aug 08 – Record Your Family's Stories With Famento
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Genealogy's a big hobby. Today's site lies on the lighter end of that hobby, for those who just want to keep track of their close and extended family.
If you sign up at Famento, you can create pages for members of your family, upload photos, and write biographies for each of them. There's also a guestbook where friends and family members can leave comments. The site is entirely free.
Famento was created by two Asian friends, one who wanted to build a permanent memorial of her grandmother, and the other who wanted to record her family's histories.
26 Aug 08 – Ela: Legend of Light!
Just stumbled across a very odd video called Ela: Legend of Light. It's a combination live-action/CGI short film, made in Argentina, that very much evokes 1980's American cartoons. One of its directors describes it as "a weird mix between She-Ra, Tron, and Flash Gordon," a fairly accurate description.
Besides the He-Man/She-Ra feel, I noticed what I think are references to Rescuers Down Under and The Neverending Story. Odd and inventive. Neat to see weird, fun creations like this.
20 Aug 08 – Uncle Morty's Dub Shack
Imagine a bunch of twenty-somethings getting their hands on a dubbing rig and a bunch of old, cheesy kung fu films. Now imagine that they threw out the old audio tracks and completely redubbed scenes from the films.
That's Uncle Morty's Dub Shack, currently airing on ImaginAsian TV. Here are a few YouTube clips to give you an idea of their humor (despite the titles, they're all clean):
Hilarious in strange, postmodern ways.
18 Aug 08 – Brent Gets Blasted with High-Powered Soda
I enjoy making homemade soda. It's usually delicious, and I have no problems.
Except with ginger ale. For some reason, ginger ale gets incredibly carbonated. Explosively carbonated.
So, when I found an old bottle of it in the back of the fridge, I figured I'd do a Diet-Coke-and-Mentos sort of video. I took it outside and filmed myself opening it.
Didn't quite work out as planned.
Soda Fountain - Ginger Ale Version from Brent Newhall on Vimeo.
If that weren't enough, I found a bottle of strawberry soda, and decided to open that. Which worked out even less like I'd planned.
Soda Fountain - Strawberry Soda Version from Brent Newhall on Vimeo.
Ah well.
12 Aug 08 – What is Gunwave?
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I'm developing Gunwave, a tabletop RPG for playing war with giant robots. You get to play the pilot of a giant robot in the midst of a big war.
If you're not familiar with tabletop RPGs: Imagine a game of "Let's pretend," but with defined rules. The hero you play has this much strength and charisma, and that much intelligence.
You play in the traditional tabletop format: a bunch of players, and a Game Master (GM) who describes a scenario, and adjudicates the players' responses.
Okay, now that that's clear: Gunwave is designed for casual gamers. Folks who haven't played tabletop RPGs before, but want to immerse themselves in a difficult era and smash up some giant robots.
As such, Gunwave uses relatively few stats to track characters and mecha (the giant robots). Characters have:
- A few basic stats, like health and charisma
- A race (the universe is full of mutants, psychics, and aliens, if you wish)
- A specialty (spy, munitions, hand-to-hand combat, leader, etc.)
- Skills (perception, diplomacy, martial arts, hacking, etc.)
- Powers (psychic blasts, flash of insight, desperate block, etc.)
Mecha consist of a few attributes, like armor and speed, and their own powers. Plus, of course, weapons; there are 18 of them, plus various kinds of ammo.
I borrowed powers from the D&D fourth edition rules (which was a strong inspiration for Gunwave). Powers replicate the surprising spin, the leap forward to rescue a friend, the psychic blast, and the unexpected resilience of a cool mecha pilot. Some powers can be used as often as desired (they often change the rules of an attack to give you an advantage over certain foes), some can only be used once per fight, and others once per day (these usually do massive damage or provide life-saving assistance).
What's really interesting about all this, though, is the kind of story this supports. I love Gundam because of its stance on war, and showing how powerful and destructive and tragic it is. This lets me tell those sorts of stories, but in an exciting, entertaining way.
I hope.
I've been playtesting the game with a bunch of friends, and thanks to all of you who've helped me so far. It's not ready for a wider release yet, since I'm changing it so much. It's a fascinating little project.
5 Aug 08 – I Love W.H. Auden's Poetry
Been reading some W.H. Auden lately. Breathtaking. I don't read enough poetry.
September 1, 1939
by W.H.Auden
I sit in one of the dives On Fifty-second Street Uncertain and afraid As the clever hopes expire Of a low dishonest decade: Waves of anger and fear Circulate over the bright And darkened lands of the earth, Obsessing our private lives; The unmentionable odour of death Offends the September night. Accurate scholarship can Unearth the whole offence From Luther until now That has driven a culture mad, Find what occurred at Linz, What huge imago made A psychopathic god: I and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return. Exiled Thucydides knew All that a speech can say About Democracy, And what dictators do, The elderly rubbish they talk To an apathetic grave; Analysed all in his book, The enlightenment driven away, The habit-forming pain, Mismanagement and grief: We must suffer them all again. Into this neutral air Where blind skyscrapers use Their full height to proclaim The strength of Collective Man, Each language pours its vain Competitive excuse: But who can live for long In an euphoric dream; Out of the mirror they stare, Imperialism's face And the international wrong. Faces along the bar Cling to their average day: The lights must never go out, The music must always play, All the conventions conspire To make this fort assume The furniture of home; Lest we should see where we are, Lost in a haunted wood, Children afraid of the night Who have never been happy or good. The windiest militant trash Important Persons shout Is not so crude as our wish: What mad Nijinsky wrote About Diaghilev Is true of the normal heart; For the error bred in the bone Of each woman and each man Craves what it cannot have, Not universal love But to be loved alone. From the conservative dark Into the ethical life The dense commuters come, Repeating their morning vow; 'I will be true to the wife, I'll concentrate more on my work,' And helpless governors wake To resume their compulsory game: Who can release them now, Who can reach the dead, Who can speak for the dumb? All I have is a voice To undo the folded lie, The romantic lie in the brain Of the sensual man-in-the-street And the lie of Authority Whose buildings grope the sky: There is no such thing as the State And no one exists alone; Hunger allows no choice To the citizen or the police; We must love one another or die. Defenseless under the night Our world in stupor lies; Yet, dotted everywhere, Ironic points of light Flash out wherever the Just Exchange their messages: May I, composed like them Of Eros and of dust, Beleaguered by the same Negation and despair, Show an affirming flame.