Episode 547: Such Things as No
May 12th, 2023 | Robin
In the Gaming Hut we wonder how running games for a streaming audience will change GMing practice in general.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Dan Noland with proceed with extreme caution into the Book Hut for a look at an arsenic-infused volume of 19th century silhouette portraits by peripatetic artist William Bache.
Installment fifteen of the Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series takes to the beginning of the 1980s, which is veritably chockablock with classics.
Finally the Consulting Occultist meets us in the Architecture Hut for a look at the so-called Devil’s Architect, Nicholas Hawksmoor, whose reputation for the arcane might just have been burnished by some of our finest living nerdtropers.
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Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Once Upon a Time the fairy godmothers at Atlas Games offered a special deal on their classic card game, Once Upon a Time. Until May 31st you and your magic beans can claim a free expansion with the purchase of any three Once Upon a Time products at the Atlas Games store. Use the coupon code ONCE2023.
The skies above New Olympus are patrolled by caped crusaders, but these superior beings are far from heroes. They wield their powers with reckless disregard, serving the interests of corporate overseers, and silencing those who oppose their will. You are Klara Koenig, investigative journalist for The Pedestrian newspaper, and you intend to prove the privileged superhuman elite do not yet hold a monopoly on justice. Welcome to Alteregomania: the newest setting for the GUMSHOE One-2-One system.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
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Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
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Science fiction isn’t defined by unrealistic elements – that’s what defines _fiction_.
“The Time Machine” is SF because asks two questions: what would the consequences of moving directly through time be, and what will happen if social stratification goes on? The titular machine itself is irrelevant – there’s not even the slightest hint as to how it works, and it could just as easily be a psychic power.
“Somewhere in Time” isn’t SF because it has no interest at all in exploring the implications of its postulate, that human beings can project themselves into different times. The time travel is merely a means to the end of the romance story, and is given no more focus than is needed for that.
I believe I saw it, as a child, and IIRC it is a pretty good movie. But it doesn’t belong in a list of SF films; it’s purely Fantasy.
There’s a well-known nursery rhyme which sets the scene for the Lion and the Unicorn:
The lion and the unicorn
Were fighting for the crown
The lion beat the unicorn
All around the town.
Some gave them white bread,
And some gave them brown;
Some gave them plum cake
and drummed them out of town.