GrindDAMN IT!

It was announced a while back, but in case you missed it (like I did):

Grindhouse is being released as two seperate DVDs. Planet Terror will include everything from the beginning (including the Machete trailer) to the end of PT’s credits, and Death Proof will include the “half time” trailers, and the whole film (probably the longer version that ran at Cannes).

That’s what was announced, at least. However, checking Amazon, I see nothing in either films DVD release information entries that indicates that the trailers are there….and it appears that Death Proof is being released FIRST.

So, those of us who saw Grindhouse in the cinema when it briefly played are the only ones who will have gotten the true experience.

MotherFUCKERS.

Time to search for a bootleg on Bittorrent, methinks.

New Podcast: The Digital Front

Daniel Perez ( ) has launched a new podcast, The Digital Front, concentrating on the electronic-distribution side of the games industry — one of the fastest growing segments of the RPG business.

The show will be featuring news from e-publishers and e-retailers, as well as anything having to do with the market; interviews with publishers and retailers doing business in the e-distributed gaming market; reviews of digital gaming products for tabletop gaming; and general editorials exploring the state of this segment of the industry, and where it is headed.

The first episode is available at the above-linked site, featuring Daniel’s introduction to the podcast, his plans for it, and a featured GenCon interview with Steve Wieck (co-owner of OneBookShelf, the company behind RPGNow and DriveThruRPG, the market leaders in electronic delivery of RPG material). From what I understand, an interview with me from GenCon should probably be appearing in a future installment.

We’ve needed a reliable source of info like this for a long time, in my opinion, and I’m pleased as hell to see that Daniel has taken the opportunity. It’s also gotten me thinking about an idea that I’ve had kicking around for a while — a possible podcast devoted to how-to and advice for electronic publishers: sort of a podcast version of the ePublishing 101 series that and I did last year.

Red Seas Under Red Skies

This past weekend I finished reading ‘s second novel in the Gentlemen Bastards sequence, Red Seas Under Red Skies.

I had high hopes for this book — I loved the previous novel, The Lies of Locke Lamora (my review can be found here), and I knew from Scott that this time around, the Gentlemen Bastards would be leaving the confines of the city, to experience some Pirate-y goodness on the high seas. Now, as you well know, I LOVES ME SOME PIRATES. So, unfairly or not, when I opened the cover of this book and began to read, I was waiting to be blown away.

Damn me if the bastard didn’t pull it off.

wow.

Brilliant book.

It’s roughly divided into two halves — the first half details a new city, the island city-state of Tal Verrar, and the scam that Locke and Jean are currently attempting, interspersed (initially) by flashback scenes which take us from the end of the previous novel, up to the “present day”, explaining how they got where they are. After involving the reader in the scam, Locke and Jean get drawn into a larger plot involving the politics of Tel Verrar, which spins the book into an entirely new direction — seaward.

The second half deals with Locke and Jean getting involved with the pirates who ply their trade upon the Sea of Brass. Lots of piratey goodness abounds, including the introduction of one of the most anticipated characters — the black, single-mom pirate Zamira Drakasha, mere mention of whom resulted in one of the funniest bit of frothing-at-the-mouth nutjob fan-criticisms ever leveled at an author, and the far more brilliantly funny response (recounted here at the author’s LJ in “Touched by a Crazy Person.”).

I won’t spoil any plot points or any of ‘s brilliant turns of phrase. Go ye forth and read.

Can’t wait for the next one!