I wouldn’t doubt it. Artists are always being screwed. Especially those without much business savy. Here’s a nod to you Peter. Loved the book. Loved the movie. Loved the soundtrack (even if that wasn’t you…) Even danced to it at my wedding. I’m quoting the entire original newspost rather than snipping it down. Sorry if it makes my post longer.

Last Unicorn author ripped off by filmmaker, struggling and penniless

Cory Doctorow: A couple days ago, I blogged about the unabridged author-reading of Peter S Beagle’s classic novel "The Last Unicorn." Now, Connor Cochran, Beagle’s business manager, writes in with this grim news about Beagle being ripped off by the British company that adapted his novel for animation, and Beagle’s difficulty in fighting back due to his general pennilessness: London-based Granada Media has sold more than 600,000 DVDs and videotapes of THE LAST UNICORN worldwide, made multiple cable and satellite deals for same, and sold the live action remake rights for a quarter of a million dollars. Yet despite this great success, they refuse to pay Peter what he is owed under his contract. After two years of trying to reach an amicable settlement, with no progress, it is clear that Peter will only get what he is due by going to court. Unfortunately, there is no way for Peter to do so without outside support. Just about everything he earns right now goes to take care of his 100 year-old mother.

Anyway, right now he has nothing with which to hire the attorneys and accountants he will need to either beat Granada in court or force them to negotiate. So we need to get the word out to as many professionals and fans as possible, to generate public support, contributions to the legal fund, letter-writing campaigns to Granada execs, etc. (We’ve just gotten started, but so far both Christopher Lee and Rene Auberjenois, two of the voiceover actors from THE LAST UNICORN, have agreed to help. That’s exciting.)

Beagle’s written a limited-edition sequel to The Last Unicorn that you can buy here. Link

Current Mood:  annoyed

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Nothing to say… just an FYI for Muppet fans:

In Memoriam: Jerry Juhl, Muppets and Fraggle Rock writer/producer

Xeni Jardin: Jerry Juhl, who wrote for the Muppet Show and served as creative producer for Fraggle Rock, died Monday from cancer. Link to a remembrance by Ken Plume. (Thanks, John "Widgett" Robinson)

 

Current Mood:  sad

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Ok. So what category do I put this under? At first it was Odd, but this truly is a game, so it’s going to be here instead.

Hrm. Decisions as an author… Do I start with the end, and then work back to the beginning for my intro.. or do I start at the beginning (which I only learned about after the fact) and talk about it sequentially.. Yes.. that’s what I’m going to do.

I’m guessing that made no sense to you.. Let me start over…

Rock, Paper, Scissors (RoShamBo). It’s a classic game. In fact, they have World Championships, though I’m not really sure if that validates the game as a true competition or not. One time in the past I had read about a computer competition based around RPS. The problem here is that I couldn’t find the original article or a link to a more recent competition (at least not in the 4.7seconds I spent trying). But that link gives you the idea anyhow..

There are also numerous variations that have arisen throughout the world. Yes, it’s an international game.

So speaking, of variations.. that’s the entire reason for this post. RPS with 25 different gestures. Of course, you have to know what to say when your Monkey Flings Poop at Man.

So that was my intro, but in reading about it, I found out the author started much smaller. With RPS7, based on an idea of RPS5 (Adding Spock and Lizard). He also has RPS9, RPS11, and RPS15.. None of which I’m going to bother to link to.. cause if you haven’t followed a link by now to go to his site, another 3 aren’t going to get you there.

I think if Steve and I try to do RPS25, we’re going to kill ourselves.. hell, we might die trying to read the interpretation. Start with RPS7 and understand how the circular notation works. Understand what beats what, and then you’ll understand the larger number gestures more easily.

Now you should understand where the title of the post comes from, as well as my initial rambling on whether to start with RPS25 (which I learned about first), or start with RPS5 and build from there.

You know what this is? This is a Friday post.. This means I need to go home and sleep…. A whole lot…

Current Mood:  lethargic

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I’m a big fan of Angry Alien Productions and their 30 second movies enacted by bunnies. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, please visit that site.

So the latest movie is Highlander in 30 Seconds which I think would really appeal to a lot of folks that I know, all of whom (should) have seen the original Highlander.

I’m actually interested to hear what your favorite episode is.

There are more coming in the future, as Starz hired Angry Alien to make a bunch of shorts for their channel. Part of the agreement is that they will eventually be allowed to be put on the website, after having their run on the Starz channel. For example, Star Wars is coming December 16th…. ba ba ba, ba ba ba, ba ba ba <— that’s the Imperial March if you weren’t paying attention.

Current Mood:  nostalgic

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So last night I tried joining my friends for a little City of Heroes. We have a supergroup that plays every Wednesday night. In the weeks leading up to the birth of my twins, I found myself having less time to play, but still managing to get my weekly fix.

I haven’t played now in almost 11 weeks. Last night, I thought might be different. I dared hope on the drive home that the kids would hang out with me in their rocker, or on my lap, or take a nap.. whatever.. just to me a little free adult computer time.

Nope. I managed to login. Then Alia starting crying. Managed to calm her down. 5 minutes had passed. Put her down. Talked on Teamspeak for about 3 minutes to coordinate which characters we were going to play. Connor starts crying. Pick him up. Both of these crying fits aren’t the simple ones that can calmed down by a little soothing talking. It requires both hands, and some bouncing and a lot of shushing…

5 more minutes had passed. She stops crying, but gets the wide eyed “I’m going to scream” look as soon as I even hinted that she was going to be put down.

Connor starts crying.

So now both babies are wailing. I’ve been in game for about 13 minutes, but I’ve done absolutely nothing except stand at the train station, and configure Teamspeak for Push To Talk, so the rest of the group doesn’t hear my kids wailing.

Nope. Not going to happen. I excuse myself, tell everyone I miss playing, and that I’ll try it again later. Maybe next week will be better.

Connor really likes his swing, and both kids have a vibration mode in their bassinets that helps to put them to sleep at night. So maybe what I really need to get is this:

Robot feet turn cribs into rockers

Cory Doctorow: Lullabubs are rocking robotic feet that fit under the legs of most baby-prisons, playpens, cribs, etc, and then synchronistically rock your proto-human back and forth without the need for boring adult intervention. Link (via Gizmodo)

Now, I’m going to take offense at the tone of this clip. While I think calling them a proto-human is kinda funny (since we’re talking about robotic feet), and I think the author is genuinely making a sarcastic remark about the “boring adult intervention”. My kids get lots of interaction. Sometimes too much.

My wife and I live from feeding to feeding during the day when the kids are up. We’re both exhausted, and suffer from a lack of sleep. If these things can help me just find 30 minutes to myself, then they are worth it. Unfortunately, they aren’t available for ordering yet.

Current Mood:  exhausted

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I think the difference here is that she’s actually taking a class at a school. I’m not sure your average run of the mill Wicca supplies could be deducted..

Witch wins right to declare cost of brooms
A Dutch witch has won her battle to make the cost of her brooms and spell-making lessons tax-deductable.
Tax officials finally agreed that the un-named woman could declare the cost of her overheads against tax.

Does anyone know the going cost of a few ounces of Patchouli? I think I need a spell to obtain money…

Current Mood:  pessimistic

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Oh Yeah!

Serious Sam II Gone Gold 
Croteam sends along word that Serious Sam II has Gone Gold and will be on store shelves on October 11th.

Quote:

2K Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., today announced that Serious Sam II has gone gold and will be available in North American retail stores on October 11. Developed by Croteam, Serious Sam II features online co-operative gameplay for both PC (with up to 16 players via LAN or Internet) the Xbox video game and entertainment system from Microsoft (with up to four players via Xbox Live online game service or system link). Players will fight through more than 40 levels of insane first person shooter action against wave after wave of enemies, wielding an arsenal of 15 different weapons, plus new drivable vehicles and turrets. Serious Sam II will be released for PC and Xbox on October 11th. For more information and to download the playable demo, please visit www.serioussam2.com.

I must say that I really enjoyed the original game as well as the expansion. It’s one of those games that you can play at a LAN party for 6 or 7 hours straight and still keep going. There’s really nothing like emptying and entire clip from a mini-gun into a charging Rhino to make you have a sense of accomplishment.

Current Mood:  excited

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From Evil Avatar: 

Spider-Man 3 Villians Leak-ed

Looks like that dunce Dunst accidently spilled the characters.

Quote:

While doing press for her forthcoming release Elizabethtown, actress Kirsten Dunst may have finally let the proverbial cat out of the bag about the oft-speculated identities of the villains in Spider-Man 3. Dunst is quoted at Zap2It as saying, "We have really great people though as the villains in this film, Thomas Haden Church and Topher Grace — Venom and Sandman." She added, "Maybe I wasn’t supposed to say that."

Ok, say what you will about blondes. Their stupidity can often be our fortune. As if I wasn’t going to see Spiderman 3 anyway. This is just a nice little tidbit that alot of folks were looking for confirmation on.

Current Mood:  excited

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