C-File 170 is Posted
June 27th, 2009
In case you wanted to know, here’s C-File 170, written for my friends on the road, moving back to Texas, as I type.
A Theme for RiftMaker
June 8th, 2009
I’ve been struggling over the RiftMaker storyline, but I think I’ve finally hit on what the story of RiftMaker is about, that is, what it’s theme is. Read no further if you want to be surprised by the storyline (provided this one even makes it into the game).
My idea is that RiftMaker should be about will-to-power versus submission. The concept of the RiftMaker as a sword that allows you to cleave realities and visit alternate timelines embodies will-to-power. Without it, the humanity of the world are merely helpless pawns of a great cosmic drama played out by the gods. But with the RiftMaker, a chosen few can escape.
The two intertwining stories (Rile and Tobias) will represent two different ways of approaching the question. Perhaps Rile starts out cocky and a little too charming, only to have his hidden vulnerability and insecurity emerge when he decides that following the “good” Gods and submitting his will to theirs is the only way to know any kind of peace. Perhaps Tobias starts out sweet-natured and gentle, but his underlying self-absorption and concealed arrogance emerge when he decides that the Gods’ story must be defied, and the RiftMaker used. I’m still working out how this will all play out, and what the various alternate realities will look like and do to our heroes, but things feel like they’re coming together. I think.
Geoglyphs
June 8th, 2009
There’s something about enormous, ancient drawings etched into the surface of the earth that give me a wonderfully goose-bumpy eerie feeling. I wish I had seen the Nazca lines when I was in Peru, but that didn’t happen. I guess I’ll just have to watch YouTube videos about geoglyphs instead. Probably better anyway, since you can’t really see the glyphs from the ground. The “Atacama Giant” in Chile is probably the creepiest, although the Cerne Abbas giant in England gets my vote for the silliest (also - probably not ancient).
Now There’s a Stupid Idea
May 27th, 2009
“Reboot” Buffy the Vampire Slayer without Joss Whedon. Say what now?
Amy Adams
May 25th, 2009
So here’s a weird coincidence - “Cousin Beth” in the episode of Buffy where Tara’s family comes back to get her is Amy Adams from Disney’s Enchanted. Just thought I’d share.
The Long Fall Back to Earth
May 16th, 2009
Jars of Clay’s latest album is “The Long Fall Back to Earth” - and so far, it’s not really my favorite effort of theirs. With every album they release they give themselves a new “sound,” but the melodic quality is usually pretty good throughout - up until the self-consciously folksy “Who We Are Instead,” and declining ever since. There are still a few good songs in each album, though.
Mostly, “The Long Fall” sounds like a mellow mush (even more than “Much Afraid”, which is saying something) - you eventually learn to distinguish the songs (some of them) after listening several times, but the first time through it all sounds pretty much the same. This album also breaks new ground for Jars in presenting the first songs I find aggressively bad - and these are ostensible the album’s “singles:” “Closer” and “Two Hands.” The melodies are oversimplistic and highly repetitive, the lyrics ride the melody awkwardly, and there’s nothing really interesting going on in the chord department either.
Nevertheless, “Safe to Land” is an excellent song, and “Weapons,” “Heaven,” “Headphones,” and some of the other tracks are all right. The sound for this album is a dreary 80’s sound, heavy on the electronic mellowness and piano wash. I tend to like minor-key 80s music, of course, but it has its limits. If you can stand that for a whole album with no variation, then the album might be worth it. Otherwise, I recommend getting “Safe to Land” from iTunes and being done with it.
The weird thing to me is how so many of the Internet reviews seem to rate each successive Jars of Clay album as superlatively awesome and groundbreaking. There seems to be no connection whatsoever to the reviews Google calls up and the actual quality of the songs as I perceive them. Maybe music criticism is too subjective? Or maybe these music reviews are designed to sell albums more than gauge quality? I don’t read pop music criticism very often, so I just don’t know. But it is frustrating.
Eddie Sotto on Imagineering
May 15th, 2009
The ImagineeringDisney blog has an interesting post by a former Imagineer named Eddie Sotto on what he would do with the current Disney parks. Most of what he says resonates with me pretty well, but then he comes to how he would revamp Epcot - make the World Showcase pavilions more authentic (Japan would have the neon of Ginza as well as the serenity of Kyoto, etc), make the Future World pavilions be more “legit,” demonstrate by example rather than preach, etc.
This kind of thinking turns my stomach a little - it satisfies the superego rather than the id, so to speak, and that’s not why people go to theme parks. The first and foremost job of a theme park, it seems to me, is the same as that of a video game or a musical or any other number of creative projects - to make an emotional connection with people. Authenticity and political correctness are joyless values - something else entirely.
Castle Graphics
May 6th, 2009
Just to prove I’ve gotten at least some work on RiftMaker done, I’m posting my current draft of my castle tileset master. I’m not terribly good at the graphic arts, so it takes me a lot of effort and study of existing RPG sprites to get even this far.
RiftMaker Castle Exterior Tileset Master
Prodigal God
April 21st, 2009
Someone I took a musical writing class with last year has just released a 5-song demo for a new musical called “Prodigal God,” along with a snazzy website.
There are several encouraging elements to this show. (1) The music is actually enjoyable. It feels a lot like evangelical worship music, but well… I like that kind of music pretty well (within limits). (2) One of the collaborators is evidently a pastor. Exactly what kind of theological perspective this play has is not entirely clear to me, granted, but it’s dealing with Christian subject matter one way or another, and that’s encouraging.
My only real concern is that this demo sounds fairly album-y to me - I really don’t understand how it plays as a theater piece. It might work as sort of a narrative concert, a la Jesus Christ Superstar. But the production values don’t seem easily translatable to, say, an off-Broadway production with 5 instrumentalists. Not to say that it can’t be. The mental image just isn’t forthcoming.