Bravo started airing reruns of West Wing today with a six show marathon, so of course I watched the whole thing. Now I really recognize the vibe Mr. Sterling failed to achieve. Yep, that’s Sorkin, all right. I liked it OK. Snappy dialogue, noble and honest politicians and staffers. My new theory is that Democratic resentment (original) of Bush arises from his failure to live up to the example set by President Bartlet. (Sure, I’m joking.) But it’s a good show, and I like the impossibly witty characters. ...

When I read about Bush dissing Schwarzenegger, I can’t help but think of Dana Carvey’s voice. And I know that’s wrong of me. “It is the biggest political story in the country? That’s interesting. That says a lot. That speaks volumes. Oh, I think there’s maybe other political stories. Isn’t there, like a presidential race coming up? Maybe that says something.” He can’t possibly have said that as snippily as I’m imagining, right? ...

What can I say? I thought everyone had read the Narnia books. OK, another Mashup. Rules are here. Your media item of the day is Neuromancer: think ever-speeding pace of change, think future shock, think new types of intelligence. Go.

Let’s take this meme out for another spin. Yep, it’s time for another Monday Mashup. Ryan made a suggestion which I’m going to take up. He pointed out that a lot of respondants were interested in the idea but didn’t know enough about Greyhawk to take a stab at it. He suggested that I should pick a piece of modern media, and let people choose their own game for the purposes of adaptation. I think he’s right. Thus, how to participate: pick a roleplaying world and talk about how you’d use the specified book/movie/TV show/whatever as an inspiration for a campaign or one-shot set in that world. You can post on your own blog or LiveJournal or in the comments here, as you see fit. This week, your mashup subject is Invasion of the Body Snatchers. (The 1978 remake is also valid fodder.) My contribution follows.

So this is an experiment. I like genre-mashing. I also like drawing on the tropes of Western media to give genres a new spin. I also think the Game WISH (original) is the bee’s knees. Thus, I’m kicking out Monday Mashup as a writing exercise. The format is pretty simple: I’ll toss out a roleplaying game/setting and a piece of pop culture, and you write up a brief rendition of a possible campaign that incorporates ‘em both in whatever unhealthy form you prefer. If people dig it, I’ll keep going, and if not, I will continue to chortle about my weird ideas in privacy. This week: the forensic scientists of CSI meet Greyhawk. Go!

Daily Kos asks how best to protest the 2004 GOP convention (original). Gee, I dunno — how do you best protest a legitimate, legal gathering that’s part of the normal flow of American politics when you yourself rest firmly within the political mainstream? It’s not the protesting itself that strikes me as wrong. I’m all for protesting at political events. But Kos is someone who participates quite actively in the two party system; he really doesn’t have any business arguing that the Republican side of the process shouldn’t happen. If he just wants to protest the timing of the convention, he ought to be a touch more explicit in his wording. “What do you guys think would be the best way to protest the timing of the convention,” perhaps. ...

“Couple of days of light posting there, huh?” Yeah, a lot of my creative energies got sidetracked over here (original). It’s a wiki for the Unknown Armies game I’m in. I kind of blame John (original) for reminding me what a cool medium wikis can be. They’re basically Web notebooks — anyone can edit a page, and it’s very easy to create a new page. Active wikis grow like ivy, twining in odd and unexpected directions, creating a hedge maze of hypertext. ...

Time for a risky comparison. In the year 2003, we’ve had three high-profile examples of a minority body using their legal ability to either effect or prevent change. The first is the Democratic filibusters used in the Senate to prevent three (out of many) of Bush’s judicial nominees from reaching the federal bench. The second is the Killer Ds — the Texas Democrats who fled the state to block redistricting. The third is the California recall election. ...

WISH 59 (original) asks: Name three games you might use to get someone who has never roleplayed before into roleplaying. Well, it depends on the someone, of course. The games I’d use for my 12 year old nephew might not be the games I’d use for my mom. But, hey, here’s a shot at it. Feng Shui (original) is a strong first choice. Character creation is really simple, especially if you stay away from the martial artists. The genre is one that’s perfect for cutting straight to the action, and PCs are likely to succeed. The chances of a negative experience right out of the gate are pretty slim. Of course, it’s also a fairly violent game, so maybe not the best for Mom, which leads us to… ...

Short form of the controversy: Dave Winer and Harvard are throwing a one-day blogging convention at Harvard. The entry fee is $500; $250 if you’re a Harvard affiliate. This strikes some people as too high. Today, Dave explained why the fee was $500, as follows: 1. It’s absolutely non-profit. OK, good. Irrelevant to why the cost is so high, though. bq. 2. We will use the money to pay expenses for speakers and students who will get in for free, some of whom will have their expenses paid. ...