The Meme-Mandated, Semi-Regularly-Updated, Occasionally Coherent Thoughts of G.M. Skarka
For those folks interested: In about a half an hour, I’ll be appearing on the Geekerati podcast show.
I hadn’t mentioned it earlier because I thought it was going to be recorded and sent out later, but no, apparently it’s live.
It will be available for play and download at any point thereafter, however, so check it out!
For those who want to listen now:
Over the past few days, I’ve had my own little Zombie Apocalypse!
Reviews:
I Am Legend: Ah well, 2/3rds of a good movie is better than nothing. Smith is great, the CG is crap, they tacked on a Hollywood Ending, and missed the entire bloody point of the title.
Resident Evil: Extinction: Mad Max meets Dawn of the Dead, with eye-candy aplenty (Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, Ali Larter). Not enough actual zombies (although some nice shots of a huge horde in the desert), but plenty of action scenes. Not a good film by any means, but fun in a brain-dead kinda way.
Best of all, though was World War Z:
A novel written in documentary style, as the “after-action report” from people all over the world, ten years after the end of the so-called “plague years.” The book is organized chronologically, from the initial outbreak (and cover-up) in China, to the flood of refugees spreading the virus world-wide, and the reactions of various nations as they realize what is happening.
The book details the initial panic, the apocalypse (including a limited nuclear exchange between two countries who lose their shit), and the eventual re-grouping and reclamation. Perhaps even more intriguing are the glimpses of the post-war world, where Tibet is the world’s most populous nation, the Russians have reverted to a “Holy Empire”, China has had a civil war, and Cuba is the world’s leading economy.
Brilliant stuff. Brooks manages to convey familiar, panicked realism to something inherently unbelievable. There are sequences that are positively chilling, and others that are just plain COOL. I can’t recommend this one enough. It’s in paperback now. Run out and get it.
I thought about writing a long essay about the year, but I find that I don’t really have the interest. I’m eager to get 2007 done with. Bring on 2008.
Instead, I’ll just give the powerpoint-presentation highlights:
WORST PART OF 2007: Being diagnosed with cancer.
BEST PART OF 2007: The success of the treatment for the cancer.
WORK ACHIEVEMENT OF 2007: Adamant’s sales increasing by 20% over the previous year.
FAVORITE BOOK OF 2007: Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch.
FAVORITE FILM OF 2007: Grindhouse, by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez.
FAVORITE RPG OF 2007: It pre-dates 2007, but that’s when I got it, so: Spirit of the Century.
FAVORITE ALBUM OF 2007: There were a bunch of good ones. If I had to pick one: Mark Ronson’s Version.
FAVORITE TV SHOW OF 2007: A tie between Doctor Who and Mad Men.
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Plans for 2008: Expansion of Adamant into non-RPG entertainment fields (fiction, and some other stuff — more on this in a “state of Adamant” post on the company weblog later this week), and a more concerted effort on my part to devote time and attention to my own writing as well.
Beyond that? Who knows — 2007 felt like a lost year, spent in reacting and recovery, which had me missing opportunities. My plan in 2008 is to re-boot and take advantage of opportunities as they come.
Happy New Year.
