Robin D. Laws's Blog, page 54
March 27, 2014
March 21, 2014
Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff: If I Were an Otter
In the latest episode of our numinous podcast, Ken and I talk imaginary psychogeography, elastic vampires, word clusters and Ioan Culianu.
March 20, 2014
March 14, 2014
Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff: Vulnerable to Attack by Panzer Leaders
In the St. Patrick's Day edition of our green and defiant podcast, Ken and I talk Aaron Allston, genre emulation, Octagon City, social media and Ireland unconquered.
March 11, 2014
Special ID
If you watch action movies for the storylines, you will find much to deride in Special ID. If on the other hand you want to see Donnie Yen direct some inventively punishing martial arts sequences, you can now catch it in a limited theatrical release in North America, or grab it on iTunes. Yen plays an undercover cop caught between his triad boss (Collin Chou) and his triad protégé (Andy On.) At one point the case takes him to the mainland where he meets a winsome/comically strident female counterpart (Tian Jing.) Other than that it's, shall we say, loosely plotted. But what you’re there for is the action--particularly the climactic car chase/martial arts battle which is possibly the best combo of those two elements you could hope to see. The subtitling is tad iffy for a Hong Kong flick getting an English-language theatrical release nowadays. Weirdly, at one point the translator drops in a line from Glengarry Glen Ross. Yes, you’re right, triad guy. You should keep your mouth shut until you know the shot.
March 6, 2014
Digital Tool Use
Right now I am working on Feng Shui schticks specific to the foes the heroes fight. (The new edition abandons the PC/NPC symmetry of the original.) Inventing crunchy bits is a job of fits and starts, ideal for idle thinking while running errands. But without a way of quickly noting an idea, it vanishes. Dictating rules bits into the phone does, however, have its perils.
Level Stick
After a successful attack with an outcome of five or more, the outcome target euro needs to Downeymeade increases by one until Boloco's down.
February 28, 2014
Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff: Elves Don’t Listen to Podcasts
In the latest episode of our half-Usonian podcast, Ken and I talk meaningful F20 fights, animal spies, publishing your homebrew, and building an unbuilt utopia.
