May 26, 2009
May 18, 2009
Feb 14, 2009
Dec 23, 2008
Dec 3, 2008
Jack & Wendy Torrance
Wendy Torrance: [crying] Stay away from me.
Jack Torrance: Why?
Wendy Torrance: I just wanna go back to my room!
Jack Torrance: Why?
Wendy Torrance: Well, I'm very confused, and I just need time to think things over!
Jack Torrance: You've had your whole FUCKING LIFE to think things over, what good's a few minutes more gonna do you now?
Wendy Torrance: Please! Don't hurt me!
Jack Torrance: I'm not gonna hurt you.
Wendy Torrance: Stay away from me!
Jack Torrance: Wendy? Darling? Light, of my life. I'm not gonna hurt ya. You didn't let me finish my sentence. I said, I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm just going to bash your brains in. [Wendy gasps]
Jack Torrance: Gonna bash 'em right the fuck in! ha ha ha
Wendy Torrance: Stay away from me! Don't hurt me!
Jack Torrance: [sarcastically] I'm not gonna hurt ya...
Wendy Torrance: Stay away! Stop it!
Jack Torrance: Stop swingin' the bat. Put the bat down, Wendy. Wendy? Give me the bat..
.
"What can change the nature of a man ? "
Modern computer games are a narrative wasteland.
Oh, there are exceptions, I know. But nowadays most games emphasize better graphics, faster, more frenetic, gameplay, and a healthy dose of the �old ultraviolence�, to quote Anthony Burgess. An actual storyline more complex than �kill the badguy� has gone the way of the dodo and OS/2.
But a brilliant storyline is just one of the things that placed �Planescape: Torment� among the greatest games, and made it perhaps THE greatest computer role-playing game ever made.
�Torment� was a commercial flop, regrettably. The game was set in the obscure Dungeons & Dragons �Planescape� setting, which lacked the popularity of the �Forgotten Realms�. Add ugly cover art and an ineffective marketing campaign to the mix, and �Torment� failed in the marketplace.
But the game itself was unlike anything else, before and since.
The player character was the Nameless One, a gray-skinned, black-haired, tattooed, hideously scarred giant of a man. At the beginning of the game he wakes up on a morgue slab, with no memory of how he got there, and no guide but a wisecracking, floating skull and a paragraph of cryptic instructions tattooed onto his back. Soon the Nameless One (and the player) learns part of the truth; he is immortal, and cannot permanently die. Yet with every death he loses his memory anew. In previous lives he has been a conquering general, a desperate thief, an archmage of power, a noble hero and a despicable villain. Yet why has this happened to him?
And why do vengeful, murderous shadows chase him from life to life?
So the Nameless One�s quest is simple. He must find himself, and to do that, he has to answer the riddle at the core of the game: �What can change the nature of a man?�
And yet it�s the player who will answer that riddle, not the Nameless One. The Nameless One begins as an empty shell; it�s the player�s choices that will make him good or evil, weak or strong. In most D&D based RPGs alignment means nothing. Good or evil, the goblin hordes still need slaughtering. But in Torment, the Nameless One can make actual moral choices. He can befriend his companions, freeing them from their doubts and torments�or he can sell them into slavery. He can listen to and learn from other characters in the game�or he can dominate and terrorize them.
What can change the nature of a man? The player�s choices will determine the answer. That alone takes “Torment” from a mere game, almost to the realm of art.
And the Nameless One makes his choices fantastical, phantasmagoric world. Most of the game is set in Sigil, a perfectly round city set atop an infinitely tall spire, a city ruled by an enigmatic, all-powerful figure called the Lady of Pain. The city lies in the Outer Planes, realms ruled not by physical laws, but by belief itself. If enough people believe in dead trees, they can bloom again, and belief can reshape reality itself.
Some wags nickednamed the Planescape setting “philosophy with dice”, and “Torment” carried that tradition admirably. While there’s combat aplenty, the game’s most dramatic, exciting, and thought-provoking moments lie in the conversational trees. The Nameless One can argue a despairing warrior-mystic back to faith, for instance, or speak with a living weapons factory bent on destroying the universe. He can argue with a riddling skeleton among a nation of Undead, parley with a collective of psionic rats, and convince a fallen angel to repent and turn back from leading an army against the gates of Heaven. Belief, philosophy, and good and evil are not intangible concepts in “Torment”. They are real and powerful and shape the fabric of the universe.
And the Nameless One has the most bizarre and fascinating band of supporting characters in RPG history. There�s Morte, a floating, disembodied skull with a wisecracking wit (astonishing, since he doesn�t actually have a tongue). Annah, a fiery tiefling thief with green eyes and a waving tail (superbly voiced by pop star Sheena Easton). Dak�kon, a grim warrior-mystic who has lost the knowing of himself. Fall-From-Grace, a reformed succubus who now runs a salon called the Brothel of Intellectual Delights. Ignus, a pyromanical mage burning, literally, with the force of his madness.
And Ravel Puzzlewell, the witch of the Gray Waste, who grew so wise and so powerful and so mad that she tried to unbind the multiverse itself, the woman who asked the Nameless One the vital question:
What can change the nature of a man?
So play your first-person shooters, if you must, and run down cops in “Grand Theft Auto 37: More Fodder For Incumbent Politicians”, and let your brains rot away bit by bit.But can you answer Ravel’s riddle? Do you know the answer?
Perhaps you should play “Planescape: Torment” and find out.
Oh, there are exceptions, I know. But nowadays most games emphasize better graphics, faster, more frenetic, gameplay, and a healthy dose of the �old ultraviolence�, to quote Anthony Burgess. An actual storyline more complex than �kill the badguy� has gone the way of the dodo and OS/2.
But a brilliant storyline is just one of the things that placed �Planescape: Torment� among the greatest games, and made it perhaps THE greatest computer role-playing game ever made.
�Torment� was a commercial flop, regrettably. The game was set in the obscure Dungeons & Dragons �Planescape� setting, which lacked the popularity of the �Forgotten Realms�. Add ugly cover art and an ineffective marketing campaign to the mix, and �Torment� failed in the marketplace.
But the game itself was unlike anything else, before and since.
The player character was the Nameless One, a gray-skinned, black-haired, tattooed, hideously scarred giant of a man. At the beginning of the game he wakes up on a morgue slab, with no memory of how he got there, and no guide but a wisecracking, floating skull and a paragraph of cryptic instructions tattooed onto his back. Soon the Nameless One (and the player) learns part of the truth; he is immortal, and cannot permanently die. Yet with every death he loses his memory anew. In previous lives he has been a conquering general, a desperate thief, an archmage of power, a noble hero and a despicable villain. Yet why has this happened to him?
And why do vengeful, murderous shadows chase him from life to life?
So the Nameless One�s quest is simple. He must find himself, and to do that, he has to answer the riddle at the core of the game: �What can change the nature of a man?�
And yet it�s the player who will answer that riddle, not the Nameless One. The Nameless One begins as an empty shell; it�s the player�s choices that will make him good or evil, weak or strong. In most D&D based RPGs alignment means nothing. Good or evil, the goblin hordes still need slaughtering. But in Torment, the Nameless One can make actual moral choices. He can befriend his companions, freeing them from their doubts and torments�or he can sell them into slavery. He can listen to and learn from other characters in the game�or he can dominate and terrorize them.
What can change the nature of a man? The player�s choices will determine the answer. That alone takes “Torment” from a mere game, almost to the realm of art.
And the Nameless One makes his choices fantastical, phantasmagoric world. Most of the game is set in Sigil, a perfectly round city set atop an infinitely tall spire, a city ruled by an enigmatic, all-powerful figure called the Lady of Pain. The city lies in the Outer Planes, realms ruled not by physical laws, but by belief itself. If enough people believe in dead trees, they can bloom again, and belief can reshape reality itself.
Some wags nickednamed the Planescape setting “philosophy with dice”, and “Torment” carried that tradition admirably. While there’s combat aplenty, the game’s most dramatic, exciting, and thought-provoking moments lie in the conversational trees. The Nameless One can argue a despairing warrior-mystic back to faith, for instance, or speak with a living weapons factory bent on destroying the universe. He can argue with a riddling skeleton among a nation of Undead, parley with a collective of psionic rats, and convince a fallen angel to repent and turn back from leading an army against the gates of Heaven. Belief, philosophy, and good and evil are not intangible concepts in “Torment”. They are real and powerful and shape the fabric of the universe.
And the Nameless One has the most bizarre and fascinating band of supporting characters in RPG history. There�s Morte, a floating, disembodied skull with a wisecracking wit (astonishing, since he doesn�t actually have a tongue). Annah, a fiery tiefling thief with green eyes and a waving tail (superbly voiced by pop star Sheena Easton). Dak�kon, a grim warrior-mystic who has lost the knowing of himself. Fall-From-Grace, a reformed succubus who now runs a salon called the Brothel of Intellectual Delights. Ignus, a pyromanical mage burning, literally, with the force of his madness.
And Ravel Puzzlewell, the witch of the Gray Waste, who grew so wise and so powerful and so mad that she tried to unbind the multiverse itself, the woman who asked the Nameless One the vital question:
What can change the nature of a man?
So play your first-person shooters, if you must, and run down cops in “Grand Theft Auto 37: More Fodder For Incumbent Politicians”, and let your brains rot away bit by bit.But can you answer Ravel’s riddle? Do you know the answer?
Perhaps you should play “Planescape: Torment” and find out.
Oct 13, 2008
Cliff Burton R.I.P. (February 10 1962 - September 27 1986)
"We heard this wild solo going on and thought, 'I don't see any guitar player up there.' It turned out it was the bass player, Cliff, with a wah wah pedal and this mop of hair. He didn't care whether people were there. He was looking down at his bass playing."
>>James Hetfield<<
>>James Hetfield<<
"When I started, I decided to devote my life to it
and not get sidetracked by all the other bullshit life has to offer"
>>Cliff Burton<<
and not get sidetracked by all the other bullshit life has to offer"
>>Cliff Burton<<
...Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead, Geddy Lee of Rush, Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath and Jazz bassist Stanley Clarke."
"Favorite Composer and Bands...
Bach, Pink Floyd, The Misfits, Samhain, ZZ Top, Thin Lizzy, R.E.M., Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Velvet Underground and Judas Priest."
>>Cliff Burton<<
"People have copied him but nobody ever had his feel or his prowess."
...Jason Newsted, Playboy, April 2001
>>Dave Mustaine<<
>>Cliff Burton<<
Oct 11, 2008
London Beer Flood
The London Beer Flood occurred on October 17, 1814 in the London parish of St. Giles in the United Kingdom. At the Meux and Company Brewery on Tottenham Court Road, a huge vat containing over 135,000 gallons of beer ruptured, causing other vats in the same building to succumb in a domino effect. As a result, more than 323,000 gallons of beer burst out and gushed into the streets. The wave of beer destroyed two homes and crumbled the wall of the Tavistock Arms pub, trapping the barmaid under the rubble.
The wave left 9 people dead: 8 due to drowning, one from alcohol poisoning.
The brewery was eventually taken to court over the accident, but the disaster was ruled to be an "Act of God" by the judge and jury, leaving no one responsible.
Oct 9, 2008
20 Ways To Maintain A Healthy Level of Insanity
1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and Point A Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.
2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.
3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries with that.
4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It "In."
5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone Has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch To Espresso.
6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write "For Sexual Favors"
7. Finish All Your Sentences With "In Accordance With The Prophecy."
8. Don't Use Any Punctuation
9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.
10. Ask People What Sex They Are. Laugh Hysterically After They Answer.
11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go."
12. Sing Along At The Opera.
13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme
14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play Tropical Sounds All Day.
15. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party because You're Not In The Mood.
16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Hard.
17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won! I Won!"
18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking Lot, Yelling
"Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!"
19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner. "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go."
And The Final Way To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity.......
20. Send an Post To Someone To Make Them Smile..
It's Called Therapy...
2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.
3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries with that.
4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It "In."
5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone Has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch To Espresso.
6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write "For Sexual Favors"
7. Finish All Your Sentences With "In Accordance With The Prophecy."
8. Don't Use Any Punctuation
9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.
10. Ask People What Sex They Are. Laugh Hysterically After They Answer.
11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go."
12. Sing Along At The Opera.
13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme
14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play Tropical Sounds All Day.
15. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party because You're Not In The Mood.
16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Hard.
17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won! I Won!"
18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking Lot, Yelling
"Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!"
19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner. "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go."
And The Final Way To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity.......
20. Send an Post To Someone To Make Them Smile..
It's Called Therapy...
Oct 8, 2008
Oct 7, 2008
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