Boards o' Magick - Blogs

Eighth Dimension: #55 Why does Vista do this to me?

8people — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:45:04 GMT

Am currently having epic level trouble patching and modding games now I have installed all four programs for the BG Trilogy and am attempting to patch TotSC, get about three errors and it closes. May have to hunt down the patch I have on CD and see if I have better luck with that. Also seems Firefox doesn't appreciate downloading .exe files and screws them up in interesting fashions.

Book #2 - Son of Khyber

Fabius Maximus — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:11:34 GMT

Book 2 � Son of Khyber, by Keith Baker

If you followed the development of the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons in the past several years, you probably know the name Keith Baker. In 2002, he won a contest in which D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast sought for a new original RPG setting. In 2004, the new Eberron Campaign Setting was published and since then spawned several other related books.

Of course, WotC expanded on this new and relatively successful setting with starting a novel line. There are some 20 novels on the market to date, and the line continues. Naturally, the setting's creator was asked to contribute. Baker's first trilogy � The Dreaming Dark � was well received by the fans, as his writing got better with each book. In 2008, Baker started a new series called Thorn of Breland, of which Son of Khyber is the second book.

The trilogy centers on Nyrielle Tam, also known as Thorn. She is an agent of the Dark Lanterns, the secret service of the nation of Breland. As the situation between the various nations of the continent of Khorvaire is pretty volatile (the Last War ended just a few years ago), her assignments are usually very dangerous. Recently. Thorn developed a reputation for finishing such missions to the full satisfaction of her superiors. But she also did not remain unscathed, both bodily and emotionally. In one mission, she not only lost her lover. The explosion that he triggered left two magically imbued crystals embedded in her spine. They are a constant reminder of her loss and cause her considerable pain. Also, Thorn seems to have developed a new set of abilities after this incident. They frighten her, as she can barely control them.

In Son of Khyber, Thorn's task is to infiltrate a criminal organization called House Tarkanan. It is an unusual gang, because it's members all bear so-called Aberrant Dragonmarks. These marks look like tattoos, but develop on their own and give their owners an array of magical powers. The origins of this organization lies in the War of the Mark, a conflict fought hundreds of years ago.* House Tarkanan has a new leader, the Son of Khyber, who supposedly is very charismatic and changed the outlook of the organization.

Thorn manages to gain access to the House and meets the Son of Khyber. She know has to determine whether he is a genuine threat to her nation and if she has to kill him. Or are his motives related to her personal struggles and will she abandon her mission?

Keith Baker uses Thorn as the lone focus of his book; he has no other protagonist. The result is a pretty personal story, in which Thorns internal struggles with her mission, her constant pain, and her identity are the main issue. Baker describes them convincingly and keeps them in relation to the world he created.

Thematically, the book (as the world) uses both pulpy and noir themes, as well as the typical fantasy standards mixed with quite a bit of something that can only be described as magipunk. (That's like Steampunk, only with magic instead of steam power.) There is no black or white, only shades of grey. Every being has it's own motives and is ready to backstab others to gain what they want. Corruption is wide-spread.

Son of Khyber certainly is not a great book. But it is good read nonetheless. Baker knows how to write an engaging story and characters you can relate too. If you like the fantasy genre, this book is an enjoyable, albeit short read. But if you like it, you can always buy or lend others of Baker's Eberron novels. (Rich Wulf and Don Bassingthwaite are also very good writers.)

*There are two kinds of Dragonmarks. The regular ones look always the same (blue and green lines in various sizes) and give their owners powers that can be used to heal, repair, defend themselves, and other useful stuff. The Aberrant Marks are more destructive and often come with deformations. They are also unpredictable in what powers they grant. In the past, the bearers of the regular Marks banded together according to the powers the Marks gave them. These 'families' became economic powerhouses that dominate the economy on Khorvaire. The War of the Mark started when the Dragonmarked Houses began to see the Aberrants as a danger. The latter were defamed and hunted, until a General Halas Tarkanan organized them. But the Dragonmarked Houses had the support of the then-unified kingdom of Galifar on their side. When all was lost, Tarkanan and his associates brought down a whole city around them with the combined power of their Marks.

Who did the what now?

Kitrax — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:46:30 GMT

I keep forgetting to post to my blog... :doh:

So here's to remembering! :beer:

Warriors at the Gate: #21 We have Gamage!

8people — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:03:23 GMT

Yesterday after the delightful announcement of PS:T on DVD I skipped merrily to the realms of Amazon and purchased it along with the BG four disk compilation.

Am installing it now.

Will commence moddage shortly :)

Also how many people associate Amazon with a shopping site compared to a blonde-haired, one breasted hot chick?

Eighth Dimension: #54 Ugh...

8people — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:05:00 GMT

Gave in and had to take more meds than usual yesterday, meaning I took a Meloxicam which has so many side effects it takes a page and a half on the leaflet.

So now I have nightmares, when I lie down I feel like I'm going to be sick and when I am sat up or standing I feel like I'm going to faint. Lovely.

Also Kev has gone home so am stuck feeling very ill and am on my own for it. To be fair it's probably best I don't keep him awake at night or bother him during the day. I know he doesn't mind when I feel ill and will just lie and hold me for hours until I smile or feel a little better, but I hate being a burdon, even if he doesn't feel I am one.

Eighth Dimension: #53 Finally back online!

8people — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:27:00 GMT

After much struggle I return to the land of the interwebs. I have arranged university (I have it once a week on Tuesdays) I am also in a gaming group for roleplay and wargaming (On Mondays) I have been tidying my new flat and am aiming to very much keep it tidy and arranged nicely. Though how long this resolution lasts for remains to be seen. I miss Kevin dreadfully, he was here for my first week in the flat and being in the place without his just feels wrong. He should be moving to Southampton soon enough though as he's hoping ot get transferred somewhere south, will be lovely! :) Without internet I've been moving on with some more of my mods and writing, unfortunately I cannot find my ToB CD currently so I cannot properly test games yet :( but also reading CJs thread where he's updating a topic as he plays appeals to me, something I intended to do when I saw Deathmage doing it as well. May have to do a journal style one some time, as I update my IC journal with disturbing regularity.

and yes I've been writing blog updates while offline - so sue me :p

Book #1 - German Lesson

Fabius Maximus — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:01:01 GMT

German Lesson, by Siegfried Lenz

This book was on my to-read list for a long time. I even started reading, but couldn't bring myself to finish it. Not because it's not good. In fact, it's excellent. But it is also quite complex, and I hadn't the stamina to finish it. It turns out that the Cannonball Read is a great motivator.

German Lesson is a true German classic of post-war literature. The novel belongs to the canon of books read in schools, and gets quite a negative reputation because of that. Being forced to read something makes you hate it, it seems. I didn't read the book in school. Maybe that's why I like it so much.

Lenz tells the childhood story of one Siegfried 'Siggi' Jepsen, a young man interred in a correctional facility for difficult youths. In other words, a prison. The year is 1954. Siggi got a three year sentence for being an art thief, which makes him an oddity among the other inmates that mostly consist of petty thieves and thugs.

One day, he and his German class are tasked to write an essay about 'The Joys of Duty', and Siggi returns an empty sheet. But not because he is unable to come up with anything, but because he doesn't know where to start. The young man has to report to the director of the facility, where he explains his dilemma. His head swims with memories of his childhood, the strongest being of his father, a police officer. The director seemingly understands and decides that Siggi has to write the essay, no matter what. The youth gets solitary confinement until he has finished his work, a condition to which Siggi wholeheartedly agrees.

As Siggi starts to write, the reader is brought back 11 years. Siggi is 10 years old and lives with his parents and his older sister Hilke in a small house close to the Danish frontier. Of course, the frontier doesn't really exist anymore, as the Nazis rule Germany and conquered Denmark. The father, Jens Ole Jepsen, is �Germany's northernmost police post�. Since the landscape is sparsely populated, Siggi's father is the only police officer in a radius of several kilometers. His only means of transportation consists of a bicycle.

Siggi describes his family as harsh and cold, feelings that are caused mostly by his mother, Gudrun.seh was the one behind the ostracism of her son Klaas, who shot himself through the hand to not get shipped to the front lines of the war. His father is a bit more lenient and often takes Siggi with him on his rides around the flat and dreary landscape of the German North Sea coast.

But Siggi has a second family. Close by lives the painter Max Ludwig Nansen, a local celebrity, with his eternal fiancee Ditte, his mentor Theo Busbeck and two orphans they took in. Nansen is a much warmer person, and Siggi often sits with him in his atelier, watching the older man paint. Sometimes, the boy models for the painter. Nansen is also friends with the policeman, whose lives he saved when they were children. All in all, Siggi's childhood is quite happy. The war and Berlin are far away, the people stay among themselves and have little contact to other regions of the country.

But Siggi's world gets shaken up when an order arrives from Berlin. Nansen has to turn in the paintings of the last two years and is ordered to stop working. His friend, Officer Jepsen is to be responsible for enforcing the ban. It seems that Nansen was offered the leading position of the national art academy, but refused with the words that he "is allergic to the color brown".

The two men are both bullheaded about their tasks. The painter has no intention to follow the order, and the police man is set to enforce it, no matter what, because he sees that it is his duty. Laws are to be followed, lest everything turns into chaos. He warns the painter several times, while refusing to be blamed for his actions.

Siggi now stands between the two men. His father expects him to help, because of the boy's closeness to the painter. And Nansen trusts the boy not to rat him out. A game of hide and seek begins, in which Siggi's father develops a genuine obsession with controlling Nansen. He even forms a kind of Second Sight. The relationship between him and Nansen deteriorates until they not speak with each other anymore. And to make bad things worse, Jens Ole Jepsen does not stop after the war is over and the nazis are removed from power. Siggi is caught in the middle and has to find a way to come out of the situation more or less sane.

Siegfried Lenz turns out to be a painter himself, only that he uses words instead of brushes and colors. While he keeps Siggi's essay as if the youth describes something from afar, the author develops whole landscapes of people, their actions and relationships, and yes, the landscape, often in combination. The dreary, grey, often rainy country resembles the mood of the persons living there. They are cold and hard, terse and bullheaded, and quite distrustful of strangers (a feeling that is only enhanced by Nazi propaganda). An example of Lenz' writing style follows:

Quote:

The silence made me leery, and I walked silently over to the threshold and believed the living room to be empty and abandoned. I thought: Well, where is the birthday party now, if not here, but then, as I haltingly entered and turned around, I became frightened, as everyone would have become frightened who entered the living room with my expectations. At the small, boundless birthday table, there sat festive, grayed sea creatures that silently drank and gagged, immersed in selfish contemplation, on dry sand cake, nut cake and pale yellow streusel cake. Stilt-legged lobsters, shrimps and crabs squatted on the haughty, carved armchairs of Bleekenwarf; here and there, hard and armored limbs caused dry cracking, a cup clattered, when bony lobster claws put it down; and several of them brushed me with a glance out of indifferent telescope eyes, unswerving, with the monumental callousness of certain deities, I might say.

Lenz also uses this novel to describe how the nazis gained access even to the most remote regions of the country. It was only possible by relying on local authority figures that did their duty above anything else. I would have been easy for police office Jepsen to ignore that his friend Nansen was painting. Yet he tried to catch him at every possible chance. That phenomenon wasn't even caused by the Nazis, but existed before their twelve years in power. As much as it pained him, Jepsen is the type of person who would have enforced such a senseless order no matter who it came from.
And while Jepsen is the most prominent example of this single-minded grasp of duty, there are others in Lenz' novel who exert the same state of mind: the teacher who continues his lesson despite the bombing of a near-by town. The pedagogues of the correctional facility who use the same philosophy, and even Siggi himself, who will not cease writing his essay until he feels that it is finished.

Yet, Lenz lets Siggi speak out against the norm. In that, he creates the focal point of his critique of a whole generation of Germans, who served the Nazis out of a misplaced sense of duty and submission:

Quote:

Himpel (conciliatory): But your father only did his duty. Me: He wanted to hunt me down. He said so himself. He did it. And if you want to know why I am here... Himpel (eagerly): That's what we asked of you. Me (I walk slowly over to Kurtchen and sit down on his bed): That I can tell you, that I can tell you exactly: I am here in place of my old man, the police post Rugbuell. And I have the feeling that Kurtchen is here in place of someone else, too, for one aunt Luise or one uncle Wilhelm. Perhaps are even all youths here in place of someone else. Difficult young people: that's what they framed us for in court, and that's what they tell us here every day. Could be that some of us really are difficult, I don't want to say they are not. But I want to ask something: why isn't there a similar island and building for difficult old people? Is that not necessary?

As you can see, Lenz' critique is never crude, and it gets never more outspoken than that. His paintings use subtle color. In that, his words create an immense force, once you see through them. Therefore, German Lesson is not only a very well written book, but also a very important one, as many of the German officals claimed to have only done their duty when confronted with their crimes after the war.

Sci-fi spoofs: an underrated art form?

Caradhras — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:33:57 GMT

Or is it? How does one define art and more precisely how does one define form? Is form bound to shape or is it intrinsically different from an ontological perspective?

1. Neopatriarchial objectivism and cinematical conceptualism as seen in G.O.R.A. (2004)

This cinematic narrative relates to the archetypal struggle of the individual vs society as a whole. Here the aforementioned individual is embodied by a figure of the Everyman or the closest representation of the Everyman in modern society, a used carpet salesman named (interestingly enough) Arif.

Any enlightened viewer is bound to know that the meaning of that name is tantamount to the English word "Knowledgeable." This is no shallow exercise in onomastics as we can see that this is indeed a direct reference to Thomas Moore's Utopia . The parallels between Arif and Raphael Hythloday are certainly intended as are the Neo-Platonic elements borrowed from the 16th century classic. Thus these shouldn't be construed as antinomic to the inner workings of structure in the shifting paradigm that we've already mentioned.

From a Lacanian interpretation we had to emphasize the notion that neopatriarchial objectivism suggests that consciousness is used to disempower the proletariat. Furthermore the name Arif is indisputably of Arab origins thus denoting a break from the Turkish vernacular used in the cinematic narrative albeit a minor one. This rupture is furthered by the inclusion of Arabic songs and music in the movie which create a subsequent displacement that is at the core of the cinematical conceptualism which is defined in the narrative.

A further dsplacement is introduced when the protagonist is abducted by extra-terrestrial humanoids from the planet G.O.R.A. and becomes embroiled in their plans concerning the future of planet Earth. What is at stake is not as much the survival of human life as the exploration and slef discovery of alien sexual identity and even the definition of what is intrinsically a fictional questioning of both genre and sexual identity.

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2. Underlying narratives of cinematic stasis in The Attack of the Giant Moussaka (1999)

Quantum theory implies that space-time is a self-contained continuum without boundaries. In A brief history of time, Stephen Hawking states that "the whole history of science has been the gradual realization that events do not happen in an arbitrary manner, but that they reflect a certain underlying order, which may or may not be divinely inspired."

This aptly applies to I epithesi tou gigantiaiou mousaka (The Attack of the Giant Moussaka) as we are left facing the speculative void that is a major element in the uncanniness that is at the core of the cinematic narrative. Das Unheimliche as defined by Dr Sigmund Freud in 1919 partakes in the creation of what is defined as cognitive dissonance and results from the paradoxical simultaneity of attraction and repulsion on the experiencing subject's part thus leading to the rejection of the aforesaid object.

Thus Freudian analysis would indicate when applied to The Attack of the Giant Moussaka that the topos (as it is understood in post Derridaist literary criticism) is rejected and never rationalized.

Hence the reaction of the transexual protagonist who is struggling with self realization and coming to terms with the alimentary predicament embodied by the gigantic Greek dish that threatens Athens physically without any explanation. This thinly veiled reference to the vagina dentata instrumental in gender castration is later reinforced by the shiny grey spandex outfits of the alien bimbos in the flying saucer.

These aliens commonly form a trinity on screen, a structural element which harks back to the the three Fates of Greek mythology and interestingly enough to the three Witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth as well. The bringing together of myths is done in an offhand manner which is in many ways reminiscent of Joyce's early work. In the universality at stake in the narrative we can contemplate the conflation of stasis and movement as the kinetic element becomes cinematic.

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3. SARS Wars (2004) or a postmodern characterization of alienative elements in industrial society

Nobel Prize laureate Elias Canetti described Kafka's The Metamorphosis as "one of the few great and perfect works of the poetic imagination written during this century".

The alienation of the individual brings up the outdated nature versus nurture debates which is represented in Khun krabii hiiroh (SARS Wars) by the importance and relevance of learning and experience through teaching and personal growth in what has been referred to as "Thailand's Citizen Kane" on supposedly more than one occasion.

In L'armata Brancaleone the plague outbreak played only a minor role whereas in SARS Wars it can be said to be a major part in the actual characterization of alienative elements that are brought to the fore as the outbreak spreads to Bangkok. The ensuing depiction of a mythopoetical reality leads to the convergence of various conflicting structural tropes as the Type 4 strain turns victims into zombies, a straight if obvious metaphor for alienated individuals.

It also demonstrates that although the protagonist may postulate that reality is distinct from consciousness in the end sexuality is capable of significance as meaning keeps eluding us. The sword wielded by the non-prosaic hero is yet another phallic symbol hinting that the inner struggle revolving around the protagonist's sexuality is nevertheless never resolved. Such a proposition is not entirely at odds with a more holistic vision as it is propounded and expounded by Gestalt psychologists.

Thereby the resolution is bound to provoke in the audience a cathartic release of emotions akin to Schadenfreude. The conflict with the overwhelmingly sexually challenging transvestite villain is indeed more important than the surface and is a direct testimony to the impact of postmodernism on society as a whole and may explain why this cinematic narrative will undoubtedly permeate Western cultural zeitgeist in the near future.

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Defining art and form is ultimately left to the viewer's discretion who alone is habilitated to make such a decision in a postmodern world in which the individual has no choice but to be at odds with society and can only define one's own self in opposition to others. Or as the Poet once said: "Futuaris nisi irrisus ridebis"

Eighth Dimension: #52 I want to be a scholar...

8people — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:56:00 GMT

Have been reading some LARP suppliments produced by characters on things they have researched and it is something I really want to get into. I can write and write about different elements of fantasy physics and the natures of different creatures for hours and hours and could easily fill the Alchemists libraries allowing us extra revenue on the leasing of books to similarly minded scholars and would also help improve relations between Alchemists and Bards as the Bards Guild is the knowledge and history guild most reknown (though we Alchemists are much richer and better humoured, plus do not wail constantly to ill tuned instruments and oddly timed folk melodies) I would probably focus on Daemonology first as my character is incredibly interested in her heritage and wishes to become a master of both mortal and daemonic minds. A beguiler and mage adept in the arts of beneficial alchemy and remembered through her writings. Focusing more on her scholarly bent than her time in ritual, though the latter is incredibly important in the very nature of her studies.

Eighth Dimension: #51 Argh!

8people — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:55:00 GMT

Went into uni today and was assigned to a group in Group Project... there was one person from the group of four there, she refused to talk to me most the time and didn't even seem to know what the project was. Great. I am currently trying to get hold of the members of the group and arrange a meeting today or tomorrow as we have until Tuesday 3rd to get a presentation put together to perform. On a subject I can only have a clue as to what it is about. I shall have to speak to my lecturer about this I think though I'm not sure I'm in his good books for now!