The Popular Arts Post: Film, Poetry, Roleplaying, Music and Literature

[tcpip]

Went to IMAX for the first time last week to see "300". As the thread on RPG.net suggestsit really isn't good at all (my summary is probably on the last page). Also recently saw The Notorious Bettie Page. Visually cute, it included some excellent thematic considerations and then utterly failed to elaborate on them.

Unitarian service last Sunday was poetry, readings and folk music. As is my norm, I selected Unitarian poets and authors, specifically, Horatio Alger, Ambrose Bierce, ee cummings, and Kurt Vonnegut Jnr.

Easter Sunday was spent, as per last year, playing GURPS Bunnies & Burrows. The Fellowship of Talor journeys in the eleventh scene for HeroQuest. Have managed to convince imajica_lj to run Call of Cthulhu in the near future.

Went a bit nuts on the weekend buying music: Johnny Cash, Velvet Underground, Hawkwind, Gang of Four, Devo, China Crisis, Eels, Elysium. No one can claim I don't have a variety of tastes. Have made a start on the small moutain of books sent to me by Ticonderoga; a seven-part space opera by Kevin J. Anderson. Also should mention that my review of Blackbeard: The real pirate of the Caribbean is available in the latest issue.

Cocktail party for Friday night is shaping up very nicely indeed.

Comments

[kits-the-dm.livejournal.com]

I'm looking at this film interpretation of the 300 much in the same light that I looked upon the 13th Warrior. Sure, its based of a graphic novel which is loosely based on history. :) But it was a fun romp none-the-less.

Its a pity we didn't get the line of "Go marry a good man and sire good children" from Leonidas though ;)

Now I wonder if I need to learn ancient greek to properly apreciate it all. After all, why would I want to read Plutarch in the latin or english versions, when I can obtain copies of the original greek?

Made me want to run a D&D game set in 500BC Greece though :)

Mind you, those greek historians did bump the numbers somewhat (at least according to the line of thought which I kinda agree with - logistics and all) still, even with the smallest numbers of persians (according to modern estimates) the odds were 10:1 which is staggering (and no less intimidating than the 7000:1 depicted by the graphic novel)

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Its a pity we didn't get the line of "Go marry a good man and sire good children" from Leonidas though ;)

Yeah, that would have been a good one-liner - which would have been appropriate to the film. I cannot work out why they didn't use it, unless they were totally unaware of it.

Made me want to run a D&D game set in 500BC Greece though :)

Mongoose's OGL Ancients isn't too bad at all for that period and in the D&D3.x style as well.

But for an earlier time Rolemaster/Fantasy Hero's "Mythic Greece" seriously rocks.

[kits-the-dm.livejournal.com]

I cannot work out why they didn't use it, unless they were totally unaware of it.
I figure its cause Miller didn't know about it (or didn't use it) and as the film is based on the graphic novel...

You want me to play Rolemaster? I don't think I'm well... old-school enough for Rolemaster.

Run, not play ;-)

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

How about Fantasy Hero then? That's old school and appropriate for the game (the PCs start as demigods).