Culture

Yeah, I thought the first rush of news in the White Wolf v. Sony case was done too — but I was wrong (original). Sadly, I’ve missed the first court session. White Wolf wanted a restraining order to prevent Sony from releasing Underworld, but they got an expedited discovery period and a preliminary injunction hearing in a month. My favorite bit of the press release is the bit where the judge denies White Wolf the restraining order because they can’t post a big enough bond to protect Sony from potential damages.

I read lengthy messageboard threads so you don’t have to. The only useful post on the White Wolf vs. Sony RPG.net thread is a summary of the Nancy Collins story. Probably not a substitute for reading the damned story yourself, but for those us who don’t want to go digging through used bookstores for some old White Wolf anthologies, this is the next best thing.

Today’s item of interest: the Comic Book Idol (original) competition. I wish I’d stumbled on this earlier, but it’s still fun at this late stage. A bunch of would-be comic book pros are lined up a la American Idol to produce their best work for a panel of celebrity judges, and we get to vote on who gets kicked off the island. Martin Redmond and Jonathan Hickman are doing tres nifty work, in my book. I have no idea who keeps voting for Flores, though.

I’ve gotten my hands on the complaint in the White Wolf vs. Sony case. (Link to complaint back, since they redirected it to another server.) Be warned that there are big fat spoilers for Underworld in the complaint. Some notes, thusly. The key White Wolf titles are Vampire: the Masquerade, Werewolf: the Apocalypse, Guide to the Camarilla, Guide to the Sabbat, The Book of Nod, Caine’s Chosen: The Black Hand, Under A Blood Red Moon, Children of the Night, Time of Thin Blood, and Transylvania Chronicles One: Dark Tides Rising. And, of course, Nancy Collins’ The Love of Monsters, which is apparently set in the World of Darkness. ...

I don’t recall if I’ve mentioned EMusic before. It’s the best and coolest deal in music downloads; you pay around 10 bucks a month and you can download all the MP3s you want. While you won’t get the latest releases, you will get a huge indie catalog and a pretty significant chunk of major label backlist. I’ve really enjoyed having a subscription. This site is going to make me enjoy it even more. It’s mix tapes made up of songs you can get on EMusic. Since I can just download the songs, and they include links to make that simple, it’s an easy and convenient way to share mix tapes. Cool.

It just goes on and on. Someone’s who’s actually seen Underworld posted a summary of the movie. Compare it to a summary of the short story (original) upon which, in large part, White Wolf’s complaint rests. I’m far too much of a junkie for this stuff; if it goes to court I want to go watch the trial.

Warren, you’ll be missed (original). He saw that James Bond film, he saw his last album hit the shelves, and he saw his grandchildren born. I guess it was time. Shadows are falling and I’m running out of breath Keep me in your heart for a while

White Wolf is suing Sony Pictures over Underworld. Just thought you’d like to know. Anyone read the Nancy Collins story involved?

Clayton Cramer is fairly unhappy with Amazon because they’re selling a book entitled Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers. It is an apology piece for pedophilia, and I feel pretty comfortable assuming it’s utterly vile. I also don’t think Amazon should stop selling it, because of their position as a huge bookstore. Cutting off the channels by which a book reaches its readers is not strictly speaking censorship, but it’s a kissing cousin. This will become less of an issue as the Internet becomes a better medium for transmitting information, but at the moment I think a bookstore the size of Amazon still has an obligation to sell books without discrimination, however justified that discrimination might be. ...

The Hugo Awards ceremony was last night, and Locus provides us with the winners. I’m surprised by the Best Novel; I enjoyed Hominids, but it was a very strong year for this category and I would have given The Scar the nod. Novel Bones of the Earth, Michael Swanwick Hominids, Robert J. Sawyer Kiln People, David Brin The Scar, China Miéville The Years of Rice and Salt, Kim Stanley Robinson Novella ...