Friday Foto dump

Time to clean out the misc. Photo file again.

Pulp Thursday

Have you noticed that Pulp Thursday hasn’t exactly been coming out on Thursdays?
Well it’s not you, it’s me. I have lots of irons in the fire at the moment both professionally and personally, so for the time being please bear with me. One day we’ll bet back on schedule, and with that said:



Dial “P: for Pulp!
It’s that time again. Time for you to get over to the Dial P for Pulp! Site and download the latest episode!




My buddy Paul Schultz presents: The serial Squad.
Paul Schultz is an illustrator and a friend of the Lair. His latest project- Serial Squad looks very promising

I’m looking forward to this. Paul, please keep me in touch on your progress.



Young Indiana Jones
It’s out! It’s on the shelves! It’s at my Amazon store! (*wink, wink nudge, nudge*)
No more downloading pirated episodes on EMule only to find out it’s a dubbed episode from Russia. You can actually, honestly own a copy of your very own!

Now if they can just get a DVD set released for "Tales of the Gold Monkey" and the "Conan the Adventurer" cartoon series, I’d be a happy geek!.




Solomon Kane
The Solomon Kane movie is moving along nicely. James Purefoy is aboard to play the grim Puritan. I enjoyed the hell out of Purfoy’s portrayal of Mark Anthony in the awesome HBO series Rome, so I have only happy thoughts for this film. *fingers crossed*




"Night Calls the Green Falcon"
Robert McCammon is a wonderful writer of horror and suspense. He has stories about aliens that terrorize a small town in West Texas and an OSS agent who just happens to be a Werewolf. One of my favorite stories from Mr. McCammon is a short story of a former serial movie star who has on last adventure hunting a killer in modern day Hollywood. It’s a great story and it’s on the web for free. Invest a few minutes and read about the final adventure of the Green Falcon – you wont regret it!






Crimefighters RPG
Call of Cthulhu is generally regarded as the Granddaddy of the pulp RPG genre. There is no doubt that it is a classic. But did you know that in 1981 in a gaming magazine called The Dragon, a young game designer by the name of Dave Cook came up with the first “Two–fisted” Pulp RPG? Before Spirit of the Century, before Hollow Earth expeditions, before Justice Inc, and Daredevils, there was – Crimefighters! Check it out and let me know what you think.

And THAT is your Pulp Thursday report!

Dragon Fist

I keep forgetting I have a Tripod account. I never use it. Until now!
Remember Dragon Fist? I blogged about it here a while back. I put it on the site as a fan download. Have at it.

Motivational Monday

Sunday Funny

So true.

Theo Spark

Theo Spark-"An Englishman's view" is a blog I ran across a few months ago. It's a highly-charged and opinionated political blog, with some funny features, hard-core satire
and some really hot Babes (I snag stuff from there all the time).
The reason I'm mentioning Theo Spark is because recently Google slapped an objectionable content label on his blog. For what reason I don't know. The last time I looked, Google was all about freedom of speech and open communication. The politics on Theo Spark are a certainly to the right of Google's but none of it is grotesquely offensive. The gals show a little more than they do here, but in no way is it as graphic as I've seen on other Google sponsored blogs. So my only answer is that someone over at Google doesn't care for Theo Spark's politics. And they are using their position at Google to harass the blog. That's not right. That's not American. And last time I checked Google was still an American company.

GAMER ALERT! Green Ronin D20 BLOWOUT sale!!

Prices from $2.00-$10.00

Thieves world
Black company
Mythic Vistas
a skidoodle of D20 stuff

check it out!

http://www.greenronin.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7110

Friday funny -Street Fighter: The Later Years

This is a crack up!

Pulp Thursday

Pulp goodness for a new generation!

“Planet Stories™ presents classic fantasy, science fiction, and science fantasy novels and short story collections to a generation of new readers and lifelong fans. Unforgettable tales from acknowledged masters like Michael Moorcock, Leigh Brackett, C.L. Moore, and Henry Kuttner stand side by side with lesser known but no less worthy yarns from tomorrow's superstars. Introductions from popular modern authors like Joe R. Lansdale, Ben Bova, and Michael Moorcock provide amusing and informative entry points to each book. With new releases every month, Planet Stories promises a master class in the genre aimed at building the greatest fantasy and science fiction library ever assembled.”





Retro space with Atomic Rocket
Here’s a cool page that has a lot of information on Rockets and other space goodies. Atomic Rocket is great place to go for inspiration for a retro space pulp game.




The Golden Compass
A little Victorian era pulp heading to the theaters this winter. Sam Elliot? I’m there.




Blade Runner: The Final Cut.

If you haven’t seen this movie on the big screen, then you haven’t seen this movie.
Here’s where it will be playing for a lucky few.

11/16 - Detroit (Main Art, Detroit - 35mm)
11/18 - Austin (Paramount, Austin - 35mm)
11/30 - San Francisco (Embarcadero, San Francisco - 35mm)
11/30 - Dallas (The Inwood, Dallas - 35mm)
11/30 - San Diego (Ken, San Diego - 35mm)
11/30 - Minneapolis (Uptown, Minneapolis - 35mm)
12/7 - Denver (The Landmark @ Greenwood Village - Digital)
12/7 - Philadelphia (The Ritz 5, Philadelphia - 35mm)
12/25 - Boston (The Brattle, Cambridge - 35mm)
1/2/08 - Austin (The Paramount, Austin - 35mm)
1/4/08 - Nashville (The Belcourt, Nashville - 35mm)
1/18/08 - Durham (Carolina, Durham - 35mm)
2/1/08 - Columbus (Drexel Gateway, Columbus - 35mm)
2/15/08 - San Francisco (Castro, San Francisco - 35mm)
2/29/08 - Sacramento (Crest, Sacramento - 35mm)




Coming in Summer of 2025!

They’re still working on it.

And that is your Pulp Thursday report!

Free Games!! All week!!

Over at RPGNow they are having a special Pre-thanksgiving offer.
Here is the ad:

RPGNow and over 60 of our publishing partners are offering the dozens of FREE titles listed below for our very own ThanksGiveAway holiday, Monday, November 12 through Friday, November 16. Check the site after 10 AM EST each day to find exciting new gifts from us to you, and please email, Blog and post to your gaming friends to let them know ThanksGiveAway week is here!

Of course I went there and checked it out. There are some real hidden gems, not to mention some guys who just want you to take a look at what they have to offer- It’s a great way to have a look at some stuff you may not have considered before and ALL FOR FREE! RPG's, supplements, tools, music, adventures.

So get over there, download some freebies, and if you happen to like what you see then support the publisher and buy some games!

Motivational Monday

The State of the Lair

I mentioned a few posts ago that despite the accident, I wasn’t gonna turn this into an “Oh woe is me” blog. But there have been a few requests as to my well-being (and by the way thank you for the thoughts). So okay, a small update: I’m off work (doctor’s orders), convalescing. I had an MRI the other day and was diagnosed with Severe Spinal Stenosis. It sounds bad huh? Well it ain't life threatening but it sure hurts like hell, especially after a long day. I have an appointment to see a Neurosurgeon to see if anything can be done to help the pain. I hope so.


LoS
I had planned a big play test of LoS for the weekend following the accident. Since the accident that session has been put on hold indefinitely. I’m still working on LoS, mostly campaign and GM stuff. The game itself is ready to play. Art, editing and formatting are all that needs to be done.

Broadsword
The Broadsword expansion is about done. I was stuck for the longest time on a section but Tim K (Heropress Blog) helped me out and rescued me from the rut I was mired in. Many thanks good Sir Knight.

So far the Broadsword expansion has:

*6 new Advantages

*A color map of “The World of Broadsword”

*A gazetteer giving a brief overview of over a dozen realms and locations for running adventures. Now keep in mind this is a 1PG project okay? What I mean is don’t expect nation write ups that go on for three pages. I give a brief look at the realm in question and do a S.W.O.T analysis that offers adventure opportunities and hooks.

*A bestiary that offers 1PG write-ups for over forty common and not so common creatures.

*I’m also thinking of tossing in a little something about coinage and equipment lists, since that seems to be something quite a few people felt was lacking (equipment lists-oh joy).

Idyll
My adventure for the Idyll 1PG, “For Love and Honor” an ode to Romantic adventure in the vein of “The Mad King” and “The Prisoner of Zenda” is still in the works. If all goes well it might even be released to coincide with the DVD release of Stardust.

4Color Adventure!
I was complaining a few weeks back about the whole FASERIP fiasco, feeling that it was never gonna come out. Well it did, so I can shut up now. And more than that, I can actually DO something with it. And the something is 4Color Adventure! Or, as its affectionately known here at the Lair, the “Not another damn Pulp game” project.
That’s right, I’m taking the 4-C “toolkit” and I’m gonna see if I can shoe horn some pulp style rules into it. Including an attempt to get out of the 1930’s pulp box and try some post WWII pulp adventure Ala- Johnny Quest, GI Joe, Man from U.N.C.L.E, and the Destroyer books.

Motivational Monday

Sunday Funny

Star Frontiers-still going strong!

A few months ago I wrote about the Star Frontiers game getting a well deserved face lift thanks to Mega- Fan Bill Logan. Since then not only has Star Frontiers seen a revitalization but Bill has also managed to release a series of PDF fanzines whose quality and frequency would make quite a few game publishers avert their eyes in shame. Star Frontiersman Magazine, which first appeared in March of this year is now on issue #7!

But the newest "cool thing" in the Star Frontiers universe is Bill's brand new Star Frontiers website! You have got to see this place- every thing you could possibly want for Star Frontiers can be found here- links, downloads, message boards, even a chatroom. Not only is it chock full of resources it's probably one of the slickest looking fan sites I've ever seen. If you are a fan of Star Frontiers, if you played it years ago and have fond memories, or if you just want to see how a fan site should be done, you owe it to yourself to check out this site.

I don't really follow the gamer awards thing closely at all but for what its worth I think Bill Logan deserves to be flown out to Gen Con and given some type of fan award for taking an old classic and shining it up. Star Frontiers looks like a Million bucks due to Bill putting in some serious hours and brain cells on this project.

Pulp Thursday!

First off there has been a bit of discussion in several forums I hang out in as to what is pulp or when does pulp start or stop. For me I see pulp as a constantly evolving genre. Pulp is El Borak and Mack Bolan- Commander Cody, and Turk Madden. I consider the Green Hornet in all his incarnations as pulp. Pulps are short adventure stories, some times stand alone stories, other times serialized. Well hell, “Three the hard way” was a stand alone story with pulpish elements. Xena: Warrior Princess is every bit pulp as Radar men from the Moon. Pulp is about excitement, adventure, fun and escape.
More than anything else the Pulps were about Location. The pulp magazines were in their heyday during the great depression. Folks needed to escape from the drudge of daily life. The pulps offered this escape to exotic far away places where a man could make a difference.
The keyword here is: Exotic.
Whether the locales were natural; Tropical jungles, Arctic wastelands, volcanic islands – or man made; underground labyrinths, lost temples, ancient libraries, hidden tombs, and ruined cities.
With the right use of description and the proper tone just about any locale can be made mysterious and exotic. Director John Carpenter did a masterful job of this in his film “Big Trouble in little China” where a modern day truck driver finds himself battling Tong warriors, ancient wizards, and magical beasts in an underground Fortress in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
Like I said earlier, I think pulp rather than beginning or ending at a set point, constantly evolve –much like comic books. Comic aficionados have accepted the premise that there are different “ages” that define the comics- “The Golden Age” 1940’s and 50’s, “The Silver Age” of the 60’s, “The Bronze age of the 70’s (My personal favorite) etc. I feel the same about Pulp.

You may not agree, but this is my blog. So there!



Do you sit in boring meetings all day trying to stay awake? If you do why don’t you click on over to Pulpgen.com and down load some original “Golden age” pulp stories to take with you to your next endless meeting. PDF Formatted Stories from Magazines like “Spicy Detective”, “Crime Busters”, “The Frontier”, “Clue”, “Adventure” and many others. The web site is very no-nonsense and functional. No splashy pictures or fancy fonts- but it does its job and does it well.




A couple of great resources for Pulp gaming can be found here at Pulp Adventure! by Kevin McHale and Michael Blum.



Interested in visiting and exotic port of call? Try: Tales of Old Shanghai
A great site for Far Eastern Flavor.


And that is your Pulp Thursday report!