Eeenglaaand!

That was one very funny part from an otherwise very forgettable movie.  I thought of it instantly when I saw the following trailer for a new BBC America series- The Last Kingdom.

I've been enjoying the abundance of historical and quasi-historical shows that have been popping up since the overwhelming popularity of  HBO's Game of Thrones.  It's just another fountain in the  "Geek Renaissance" to splash around in.



From the BBCA site:

The Last Kingdom premieres Saturday, October 10 at 10/9c. It is a contemporary story of redemption, vengeance and self-discovery set against the birth of England. This historical drama comes from BBC America, BBC Two and the Golden Globe® and Emmy® award-winning producers of Downton Abbey, Carnival Films.

Adapted from Bernard Cornwell’s best-selling series of books “The Saxon Stories,” by BAFTA nominated and RTS award-winning writer Stephen Butchard, The Last Kingdom combines real historical figures and events with fiction, re-telling the history of King Alfred the Great and his desire to unite the many separate kingdoms into what would become England.

Alexander Dreymon (American Horror Story) heads up the international cast from eleven different countries. Emily Cox (The Silent Mountain) stars as Brida, David Dawson (Peaky Blinders) as King Alfred, Rune Temte (Eddie the Eagle) as Ubba, Matthew Macfadyen (Ripper Street) as Lord Uhtred, Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner) as Ravn, Ian Hart (Boardwalk Empire) as Beocca, Tobias Santelmann (Point Break) as Ragnar the Younger, Peter Gantzler (Italian For Beginners) as Earl Ragnar, Adrian Bower (Mount Pleasant) as Leofric, Joseph Millson (Penny Dreadful) as Aelfric and Henning Valin Jakobsen (The Bridge) as Storri.

Set in the 9th century AD, many of the separate kingdoms of what we now know as England have fallen to the invading Vikings, only the great Kingdom of Wessex stands defiant under its visionary King Alfred the Great (Dawson). It is the last kingdom.

Against this turbulent backdrop lives Uhtred (Dreymon). Born the son of a Saxon nobleman, he is orphaned by the Vikings and then kidnapped and raised as one of their own. Forced to choose between the country of his birth and the people of his upbringing, his loyalties are ever tested. What is he — Saxon or Viking? On a quest to claim his birthright, Uhtred must tread a dangerous path between both sides if he is to play his part in the birth of a new nation and, ultimately, recapture his ancestral lands.

The Last Kingdom is a show of heroic deeds and epic battles but with a thematic depth that embraces politics, religion, warfare, courage, love, loyalty and our universal search for identity. Combining real historical figures and events with fictional characters, it is the story of how a people combined their strength under one of the most iconic kings of history in order to reclaim their land for themselves and build a place they call home.

Awesome trailer time!

You have nothing to fear, but...

I happened to catch this horror series back in 2008. It was a summer replacement show that only lasted one season, but several of the episodes were really good.  I just ran across "The Sacrifice" on You Tube, it was the first episode and my personal favorite. Check it out-

I vaguely remember "The Secret Empire"

Saturday morning in the 70's

Every Saturday I woke up to these lovely ladies.

And of course...

Tales of the Gold Monkey DVD set- FINALLY!!

After many years of waiting, the DVD gods have finally released Tales of the Gold Monkey on DVD here in the US!

I can finally retire my old home made pirated DVD copies I got off of Napster years ago.  

They served me well but the DVD set is a thousand times better.  

Although, all is not Champagne and Starlets with this DVD set. There are no Subtitles or  a Closed Caption option.  I don't really NEED them, but they are nice to have,  especially when you're trying to watch the show with a house full of screaming Minions running around. 

My other minor gripe is that the sound quality is not the finest. I guess I shouldn't complain too much seeing as I've spent the last two decades waiting for this to come out.

All in all I'm a happy Geek. Now if we could just get Thundarr the Barbarian and The High Chaparral on DVD I'd truly be at peace.  

Defenders of the Earth and Huck Finn

My buddy Karl just sent me this link and caused me to almost have a Nerdgasm. 
Defenders of the Earth  the complete series. 
Have any of you guys seen this series? 
I'm a big fan of the Phantom, but I must admit I'm not too familiar with this series.  One more thing to buy.


On a related note I scored a DVD with the old TV series "The New Adventures of Huck Finn"
Unless you're a "baby boomer" like me you wont remember it.  Hell I can barely remember it. but I remember wanting to go to the cartoon land they were trapped in. I think I also had my first "fanboy" crush on the girl who played Becky. Oh, and "Injun Joe" (Ted Cassidy) scared me so much I almost spilled my bowl of Quisp while watching it.

Bittersweet Serenity

Every year I get my DVD collection of Firefly and Serenity and watch the whole saga. Today was that day. And as always it was a bittersweet experience for me. I love everything about this series from the haunting melody of the theme to the "Grrr, Arrgh" at the end. Its safe to say its my favorite TV show of all time. And as much as I enjoy watching it, I also get mad when I think of its too short life. When I think of all the crap that gets renewed season after season- ah there I go again. 


 I suppose all fans feel that way. I'm sure there are "Model Latina" fans out there campaigning for a new season who could care less for Captain Mal and his crew.
I can at least take comfort in the fact that I have the DVD set and the movie to console me (There are fans of the High Chaparral and Thundarr the Barbarian who don't even have that).

Smallville + JSA = I'm not a fan yet, but color me interested

While my allegiance to Marvel is pretty solid (except when they do something incredibly stupid like kill Captain America),  I have always been a fan of the Justice Society of America. My favorite DC hero is Wildcat. 


So when I heard they would be appearing in this seasons Smallville premiere I had to skip watching my Kings take a drubbing by Steve Nash and the Suns. I never watched Smallville before (I never particularly cared for Supes), but I caught on quick enough. I wasn't disappointed. 


Off the top the writers  killed off a couple of JSA'ers just to show they weren't fucking around (thank god neither one was Wildcat). The show was fun. There were a couple of pleasant surprises (Ma' Hunkle and Foxy Brown make appearances). I'm sure the hardcore fanboys will find fault (they always do), but all in all the minions and I enjoyed it and I got to give a block of instruction on who and what the JSA were to my boys. We will be watching in the coming weeks in hopes of more JSA action-and crossing for our fingers for a possible spin-off.

Man, I hope they do a good Wildcat, I dig Wildcat.

Manly Monday- The Rat Patrol -Brought to you by Camel Cigarettes.

Rat Patrol. I used to live for re-runs of this show. It ran right after "The FBI (a Quinn-Martin production)."





I loved that cool theme and the jeeps jumping over the dunes. 
Once again, a six-year old Evil DM could be found on the living room floor strewn with Aifix soldiers- re-creating battles that never were. 

The Rat Patrol wasn't real. But these guys were-   

Is that a shot of a group of Badass Nazi Killers or what?

Strike a very cool pose

I've never watched Smallville. I've never been much of a Superman fan. And the young Superman in a small town thing didn't appeal to me at all.

But now I hear that other DC type characters are appearing. Any of you guys seen it recently? The photo looks cool, but do the super-guest appearances deliver?

Bible Battles on History International this Saturday

In light of our usual Friday night festivities, Saturdays here at the Lair are pretty relaxed. This Saturday night we'll most likely be curled in our furs watching a little History channel (International).

This looks particularly cool.

Bible Battles
In one of the most hostile lands on the planet, an ancient people called the Israelites forged an army and carved out an empire. Their ancient military exploits are described in one of history's most famous religious texts--the Old Testament of the Bible. But by reading between the religious lines, military historians unlock the soldiers' secrets of the Bible by examining the weapons, strategies, and the commanders, some of whom are not always thought of as warriors, like Abraham, Moses, and Deborah. In this 2-hour special, we explore the biblical world from a military perspective from the time of Abraham until David's ascension to the throne. Blood often flows more freely than holy water in the days of the Old Testament, and the military secrets of the Bible have yet to be revealed...until now

It's all coming together

A few weeks ago I posted that the Minions and I have really gotten into Heroclix. Part of the Heroclix experience is explaining the powers and backgrounds of the various characters, which is really cool for me because I'm suddenly, once again the Comic Guru that I was many, many years ago.
"Who is this guy dad?"
"How did she get her powers dad?"
"Hey dad, why doesn't Quicksilver like the Vision? I thought they were both Avengers?".

Sometimes the answers come easy, some times they take a while to explain (such as Pietro's problem with his sister marrying an android).
"She-Hulk is not Hulks wife."
"Wonderman is dead, but not really-and he's no relation to Wonder Woman."
"Yes, Wildcats costume looks a little silly, but he was one of the first guys to teach Batman how to fight, so show some respect."

Interestingly the Minions have quite a bit of Superhero/Villain knowledge, but theirs comes from cartoons, hence it's flawed knowledge. the true lore comes from the comic books and I'm quick to point that out to them. Still its a start, and shows like Batman Brave and the Bold do kick ass.

All of this Comic book reminiscing has led me to revisit my collection. and in doing do has irritated "She who must be obeyed" as she is constantly coming across comic books and comic bags all over the house. This predicament has led me to seek a solution in the 21st century-Digital comics.

Thanks to my handy-dandy Asus notebook and my link to The Crosseyed-Cyclops blog (One of the coolest and most useful blogs out there) I've been able to download many of the comics I already have, for instant (and no-mess) gratification. and it's a helluva lot easier to carry full runs of Master of Kung Fu, The Defenders, and Sgt Rock on a thumb drive than in my man-bag.

Of course I'll concede to all the purists out there that nothing compares to holding the real thing in your hand, but at my age and lifestyle I've become more of a realist, and if there's anything I can do to make my life easier, then thats the road I'm taking.

So all in all things are pretty good in the Fanboy area. I'm playing with my kids, I'm their font of knowledge in all things Marvel/DC, I'm embracing new technology and have found yet another use for my netbook, and I'm reading the old stuff again.
Good times.

Yo Joe!

Tip O'the hat to Chris S.

Skypes and Wizards

I tried Skype last night for the first time. I was really impressed. I had a good long conversation with a buddy and the quality was as good as a regular phone call When the calls are between Skype users they're free. since I have a few net friends in Australia, Denmark, and the U.K. I decided to give their world-wide unlimited service a try for $9.95 a month, I'll post on the quality of those calls once I make a few.



It looks like Raimi and Tapert (of Xena and Hercules fame) are back with another sword swinging TV series.

Legend of the Seeker is a new series based on the books by Terry Goodkind. Honestly, this is a series I see in the bookstores everywhere I go but I have never picked it up.
I know its wrong, but I do judge books by their covers and the covers didn't appeal to me at all. But now I guess I'll drop the $2.00 to get the first book and see what we have, for two reasons-

1) I like Raimi and Tapert's work and from the trailers it looks like they are having fun.

2) The author of the stories looks like he's on board with this project, which is always a good sign.

The High Chaparral as an LoS campaign

Back in April of '07 I posted about an idea I had after reading a book called the Spider's Test. The idea was to have a campaign revolving around settlers in a new land carving a new life out for themselves. I made mention in passing that The High Chaparral television series would make a good template for this type of adventure.

Recently I've had the opportunity to watch the complete series from its first episode onward, and my feeling is stronger than ever that this would make a great campaign for a mature group of players who enjoy a little role playing mixed in with their hacking and slashing.

For those of you who may not familiar with The High Chaparral, here is a quick synopsis clipped from The High Chaparral Homepage:

One of the most successful and highly acclaimed Westerns on television was The High Chaparral, the name of the ranch owned by the Cannon family in the Arizona Territory during the 1870's. Stubborn, determined, 50-year-old John Cannon is the patriarch of the family with ambitions to establish a cattle empire while finding a way to co-exist with the Apaches and the Mexicans just across the border. To help him, he has his younger brother Buck, who can out-drink, out-shoot, out-fight, and when motivated, out-work any man alive. He also has his son, Billy Blue, a young man in his early 20's, whose mother is killed in the first episode. In an arranged marriage intended to keep peace with the neighbors, John then marries an aristocratic Mexican beauty, Victoria Montoya, daughter of Don Sebastian Montoya, a wealthy Sonoran rancher. Her brother, Manolito, accompanies Victoria to the Cannon ranch as her guardian, staying on as a member of the household even after the arranged marriage turns to one of substance and trust.
Created and produced by David Dortort, the genius behind Bonanza, the writing was superb with plenty of action and biting dialog. The series strove for realism...the sweat, the dirt, the heat, the desert...even the Apaches who worked on the set as extras were real. And it explored culture and class conflicts among white Americans, Mexicans, and various Indian tribes at a level not attempted before or since by a television Western.

I started thinking where and how would I fit the premise for The High Chaparral into one of my own games? I settled on an area south of the city of Al-Khalid right at the foot of the Drujistan mountains.

Here is my outline:

An ex-adventurer from Tyros decides to settle down and try his hand at raising cattle. He finds his opportunity in the Southern Kingdom of Al-Khalid. Using the wealth he has managed to save over the years he purchases a large piece of land at the foot of the Drujistan mountains. His intention is to import and raise cattle for sale to the Southern kingdoms. With him are his brother, and his son and daughter.
In addition he brings a dozen or so trusted men and their families, with promises that after 5 years of service he will help establish each on their own plots of land. The settlers travel by ship from Pyrani to Al-Khalid and then drive their cattle to the land at the base of the mountain.



When they get to the land they discover the following:

* The land is beautiful but harsh, there is sufficient water and grazing land but just enough, and it must be managed wisely.

* There are other more established land owners. Amongst them a powerful Nobleman/Merchant whose fortune comes from raising sheep. his stock has been grazing on the land up until now. As stated before he is powerful and has a small army of henchmen at his command.

* There are mountain tribesmen- The Jaga and the Morgal (AKA Apache & Navajo) they are in constant contention with the land owners the city of Al-Khalid and each other.

* Some of the merchants in the city of Al-Khalid would be very happy to see this venture fail since domestic beef would cut into their profits from the imported beef they now supply the city with. they will use their influence to see that the government and the military give as little aid a s possible to these foreigners.

* Toss in your occasional wandering monsters, beastmen, ancient ruins, skirmishes and intrigues and this could really turn into a sweet little campaign.

"I hear it makes kids worship the devil"

My time in High School was pretty cool. While I wasn’t captain of the football team or valedictorian I had good times; girlfriends, burger job, class council, Jazz choir, rock concerts, football games, prom, partying, joking and toking. And through it all I was a gamer.

I never thought I was a D&D character, I never worshiped demons, I never had suicidal thoughts, I never looked to a game to solve my typical teenage problems.

But shit like this made being a teenage gamer a lot fucking harder than it had to be.




Thank God my mom was intelligent enough to see through all the hype and hysteria that was fueled by her friends, co-workers, and dumb ass talk show hosts.

Thanks to The Geek Orthodoxy Blog, which brought this to my attention.

Blogging strong there Reis!

Funky Friday- Brother Louie

A Blast from the past. I had it in my head for some reason. Children of the 70's, UNITE!!

"We now return to: Cartoon Action Hour!"

A few years ago I ran into a game called Cartoon Action Hour (CAH), put out by a small outfit called Spectrum Games

The game was all about playing in the world of Saturday morning cartoons. Especially the serialized cartoons of the 80’s He-Man, The Thundercats, Thundarr the Barbarian, The Go-Bots, GI Joe:Real American Hero, etc. Unfortunately I was in a place where gaming was not happening anywhere. I still bought it, read it, and loved it.

I even bought a couple of great supplements for it , one called Darkness Unleashed which was about a GI Joe type mission force that battled a cabal of monstrous and undead villains, very reminiscent of Nick Pollota’s excellent Bureau 13 stories.


And another called Star Warriors . It has an amazing cover that just totally reminds me of a "Guardians of the Galaxy" comic from my youth. How cool would THAT campaign be to play?


Truth be told, the character generation rules were a bit clunky, but the premise was totally original and fresh at the time. Unfortunately CAH ended up on my special shelf of cool games that I’ll probably never get a chance to play.

End of story.

Until now…
I just got a heads up that the author of CAH, Cynthia Celeste Miller is ready to unveil Cartoon Action Hour: Season 2

It promises, among other things, a simplified Character creation system, a brand new system of Traits and streamlined combat more in tune with, well…Toons.

I often see messages on various gaming forums asking for recommendations for a good starter game for kids. Well folks, this just may be the one. The focus and the genre sure is the right one. I guess we’ll just have to await its release and see how it plays. This baby is a must have for me, as my minions are now of an age where gaming is a cool thing to do with daddy!

I contacted Cynthia and she has given me permission to publish her company email here at the Lair so that you can obtain your own PDF preview of CAH2. You can reach her at:

cynthia.spectrumgames@gmail.com

Drop her a note. And make sure you let her know the Evil DM sent ya!