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Month: August 2003

Crystal meth on the go

August 3, 2003
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I’m not the only one writing IC UA journals. The Moody Reviews is by Tim Toner, and it is pretty darned good reading, cause that Tim Toner guy can write.

My name is Darryl (*HI, DARRYL!*), and I used to be a doctor. See, I was finishing my residency, when I ran afoul of a little bureaucratic bullshit. I was kicked to the curb, and just like that, I ended a glorious career as a surgeon before I even began it. Now I’m a telemarketer, but that’s not really relevant to what happened. What’s relevant is that I’m living with a drug dealer.

Oh, no, not the gangsta kind, who wants to put a cap in yo ass and all. E’s the best fucked up father figure a fucked up kid could ask for. He’s a chemist of the old school, who believed you could drop a few tabs of acid, and see through time or whatnot. I can’t really complain about the morality of what he does, because it’s meant food in my belly and a roof over my head ever since I was ten. I try to stay out of his way most of the time, and lend a hand with a few unfortunate OD’s. People live their lives before they come to E’s, and if they’re already fucked up when they pass his threshhold and don’t tell him before stepping into the shooting gallery, then that’s just really unfortunate. I’m not passing judgement in any direction. E provides a service and does it in a fair and honest manner. I can’t fault him for anything.

Masochist wanted

August 3, 2003
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Now, that’s a job posting. Pity it was taken down, but luckily someone saved it from obscurity. Since I stole the link from Phil Ringalda, I’m sure it’ll be all over the Internet by Monday at the latest.

It opens like this: “So you were a top Web Developer, once, many years ago, until the ‘correction’. Now nobody cares and you are shunned in public, much as lepers were in the fifteenth century.” From there on in, it’s all uphill.

London crawling

August 3, 2003
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John Tynes claims, accurately, that Dirty Pretty Things is the “best damn film of the year.” So far, true. Stephen Frears has turned out another little gem. He paints the story using the edges of society, creating art with the conventions of the dark thriller genre. It’s not just a thriller, and it’s not just one of his social pieces; it’s an elegant braid of both.

Audrey Tautou kind of slips into the impish Amelie persona once or twice, which is a little odd for someone playing a Turkish immigrant, but it more or less works. The rest of the acting was superb. Benedict Wong was especially good, and got the best line in the movie in the best scene of the movie. Lucky guy.

I kind of want to be more descriptive, but it’d be a shame to rob anyone of the pleasure of letting the movie unfold. The setting is great, and the art direction is very evocative. There are moments, when the lead is suffering from nasty sleep deprivation, when Frears captures that feeling without falling back on the grainy filmstock and heightened contrast that’s already become a cliche.

It makes me want to go back to The Hit (mmm, Tim Roth) and watch all the Frears in order, excepting maybe the one with Julia Roberts.

I answer yes

August 2, 2003
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Don’t let anyone tell you affirmative action is only for minorities these days. I’m thinking Bishop Caldwell is crazy like a fox — he’s picking up a fair amount of attention, which easily assists with both his stated objectives and any yearning for publicity he might feel.

Flashier

August 2, 2003
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I had an interesting discussion with Jere about the whole flash mob thing, with some random musing on dada. I wound up saying:

I’m not sure that there’s not a paradox inherent in the concept. The need to draw in a lot of people conflicts with the need to keep the details under wraps. Once People Magazine does a story on it (which will be next week, I understand), it’s no longer mysterious.

Another effect of cheap communication. But you can’t know until you try, so it’s worth trying to see what happens. Failed experiments are still useful.

Regarding spontaneity, I think we had some in Boston. In the absence of specific instructions, I triggered the Happy Birthday whistle on the spur of the moment, and the crowd was willing to pick it up. Someone else (not an organizer) triggered the applause.

That was what was fun for me. The crowd knew it was supposed to do something, but didn’t know what. Supersaturated solution. It was clear from moment one that the surprise and delight aspect wasn’t going to be so strong. But it was interesting getting the crowd to come together on something that wasn’t preplanned.

In the more general sense, I think it’s healthy for the media to be reminded that sometimes fads grow and fade without their help. The phenomenon indicates that the media isn’t the only vector of information anymore.

Which is probably not the final story, but I thought I’d throw it out there.

Transparent facts

August 2, 2003
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Adam Tinworth points out this and this regarding the Kelly case. The latter is in particular full of pertinent details.

Also, the Hutton Inquiry has a web site. It includes full transcripts of the entire hearing to date. This sort of transparency impresses me. Between Adam and Lord Hutton, one suspects one might get all the necessary coverage and pointers.

WISH 58: Metaplot

August 2, 2003
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WISH 58 asks about metaplots:

What do you think of metaplots (plots developed in the rules and supplements published by the game company)? Are they good, bad, or indifferent? Have you played in a game with a metaplot? What was your experience?

I don’t really like ‘em. They don’t stop me from buying a game, but I don’t have a whole lot of interest in them when you get right down to it, so space used on a metaplot is space I’d like to see used elsewhere.

Now, White Wolf hasn’t devoted a whole lot of space to metaplots in the last couple of years. Sure, there are 16 page sections about the metaplot, and Vampire Revised had a chunk of metaplot in it, but it’s not been outrageous. I do think people overreact to the scent of the metaplot.

But I also think that this overreaction needs to be taken into account when doing game design. You have to be aware that putting forth a metaplot will instantly flip a lot of people into a certain mode of thinking. Some people will be paralyzed, unable to diverge from the metaplot. A lot of people think they have to follow the metaplot.

Bad roleplaying, not to mention lack of creativity? Sure. But there’s no point in trying to pin blame on the consumer; it’s better to say “OK, how can that problem be fixed?” And of course the easy answer is “eschew the metaplot.” So, yeah, if I were running a game company I’d skip ‘em.

Mind you, if I were running a company that was selling a line of fiction in the form of gamebooks, I’d metaplot all the way to the bank. It’s interesting how many people buy sourcebooks not for gaming but to further their understanding of the game world. In one light, the Vampire line is a lengthy piece of fiction exposed in the form of game sourcebooks; the plot moves slowly, but it does move, and there is a semi-coherent narrative that will come to an end next spring.

So if you’re doing that on purpose, you’d pretty much want a metaplot. It’s a tactic which, consciously or unconsciously, has worked well for White Wolf for many years.

Licensed to kill

August 1, 2003
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The Boston Globe reports that we may put out a kill order on Saddam rather than attempt to capture him. The reports come from the infamous anonymous officials, of course. This is pretty much a conspiracy theorist’s wet dream, but interesting nonetheless.

Just bear in mind it could be bad reporting, it could be Bush floating a trial balloon, it could be the CIA honing their knives in the backs of Bush, or it could be absolutely true.