Monte Cook's Blog, page 155

Two Hastily Thought Out Theories on Comedy

Two Hastily Thought Out Theories on Comedy

After attending an amateur sketch comedy show with Sue and my friend Kent tonight, I have two new theories about comedy. These are not comprehensive, just two more to add to the list.

1. Comedy is best when it is spontaneous and immediate, or when it is honed and well-thought out. It's at its worst when it's somewhere in between.

Spontaneous = great improv, Christopher Guest movies, snappy one-liners, Eddie Izzard
Well-Thought Out = 30 Rock, Arrested Develo

A Week of Twitter

A Week of Twitter

No, this isn't one of those blog posts where someone just reprints all their Twitter posts. It's my views on Twitter after being on it for a week (a bit more, actually).

I like it a lot more than I thought I would. It moves fast and is always fresh. It's more dynamic than other similar social networking opportunities like, say, Facebook. That doesn't make it better, just different. It's like listening to music with a much faster beat.

Some people use Twitter as a way to simply tex

Happy Anniversary, Malhavoc

Happy Anniversary, Malhavoc

Starting Monday the 25th, we're having a 30% off sale at DriveThrurpg.com and RPGNow.com to celebrate our 8th anniversary of launching Malhavoc Press! All our pdfs are included in the sale. The sale lasts through Friday the 31st.

Tesseracts

Tesseracts

The fourth level of the dungeon I'm creating for Dungeonaday.com involves a tesseract. I'd made a "dungeon" based on a tesseract once before, in college, but it had been a long time and frankly I didn't even fully remember how the whole concept worked. Thanks to a quick question I put out on Facebook, I got it worked out. Basically, I just needed my memory jogged a bit.

I first read about four-dimensional cubes in junior high, in the Best of Dragon, Vol. II, one of a short list of game

I'm a Twit

I'm a Twit

I'm on Twitter now, as MonteJCook. I resisted Twitter for a long time because I didn't see the point. Friends kept bugging me about it. But I finally came up with a way to distinguish what I'd use my Twitter account for that I wouldn't use my blogs or Facebook page to do (not to mention the two different websites, montecook.com and dungeonaday.com, my messageboards, and probably other stuff I'm forgetting).

I'll be using my Twitter account to recommend things. Music, books, games, comic

Podcasts

Podcasts

It's almost summer, and that means that it's a good time for me to ramp up my activity level. I'm not really into sports much, and I'm not a jogger, but I like to go on long walks. Which is a good quality for a dog owner, I figure. In the winter, my walks are short, fast, and not too fun most days. But I live close to Lake Michigan, and my ability in the other three months to stroll down to the lake is really nice.

Even with beautiful scenery, however, walking around the same area for yea

Stephen King's On Writing

Stephen King's On Writing

When I was a teenager, and somewhat into my 20s, I liked a lot of art rock bands like Yes, Rush, Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, and so on. And if you asked me, I'd still say that I liked them quite a bit. But I almost never listen to them anymore.

Similarly, when I was a teenager, and somewhat into my 20s, I read a lot of Stephen King's books. I don't really anymore, but that's not to say that I don't think that Salem's Lot, the Shining, or the Stand aren't great. They still

I Love Chicago

I Love Chicago

Sue had a conference in Chicago last week, so I tagged along. We have a lot of friends in Chicago, but we didn't tell them we were coming because we wanted to keep to ourselves mainly--it was an anniversary trip.

Our hotel was right on Michigan Avenue in the heart of the city, and we took the train so there were no driving hassles. (Chicago is like an egg--it's great in the middle but to get there you have to pass through a tough shell in the form of car-clogged tollways.)
 
May is a

Gran Torino

Gran Torino

While I've little doubt that this will get lost in the flurry of reviews of the new Star Trek movie (hey, I'm excited too!) last night Sue and I watched the Clint Eastwood movie from last year, Gran Torino. This was a fairly low-profile release, and I suppose in the scheme of things it is a "little" film. But wow was it good. Some of the tightest scriptwriting I've seen in a while. Elegantly directed and visualized, Gran Torino is too-easily dismissed as a "cantankerous old guy bonds

Lucky Thirteen

Lucky Thirteen

Sue and I have been married thirteen years as of today.

Thirteen really good years. I'm a lucky guy.