Young Justice Hiatus

Cartoon Network has inexplicably placed Young Justice and Green Lantern on hiatus AGAIN after only 3 episodes. DC Nation is supposed to return in Jan 2013, but at this point, CN has offered no explanation, official statement or apology to the fans.

Not sure why so many are so upset? You can check out my review of Young Justice here.

If you are as irked as other fans of these fantastic shows, check out the petition to bring DCN back.

Petition to Bring Back DC Nation

On Facebook?

End the DC Nation hiatus

Eclipse Chocolat Kickstarter

You've seen me post about Eclipse, you've heard me gush about Eclipse, if you're lucky, you've had us drag you to Eclipse. Now you can get the best chocolate I've ever eaten while supporting my favorite chocolatier with their new expansion.

The new location will have a production facility, cafe and full-service restaurant. For those of you who've been to one of Eclipse's specialty dinners or weekend brunches, you will be able to experience Will's mouth-watering food every day of the week.

Many of the pledge levels include free shipping (with some restrictions, mostly related to making sure your chocolate doesn't melt), but if you live in the San Diego area you can save Eclipse shipping and pick up your pledge in the store. If you do, you'll receive two drinking chocolates as thanks, so bring a friend.

Check out Will's adorable Kickstarter video (make sure to watch through to the credits) and spread the word!

Elephants and Friends: Reprint

Back in 2006, my wife and I spent a few months traveling South East Asia. We spent a few weeks of that time at a small elephant rehab center called Elephants and Friends. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience we will never forget. Unfortunately, the facility as it existed isn't open anymore, though there are other excellent and well-respected rehab facilities in Thailand.

I published an article about the experience in Vision Magazine. It's been six years now and the article isn't available online, so I've been asked by numerous people to repost it here.

Enjoy.

________________________________

Elephant Sanuk

Vision Magazine, 2006

“Rich, why are you not strong?!”

The jibe came at me from Juke Nadee, a 22 year-old Thai mahout who was sitting in the back of a beat-up farm truck next to my girlfriend, Megan. We were in the jungle, several miles from the village of Nonghoi, Thailand. At the time, I was 20 feet up an elephant-sugarcane tree in heavy winds, struggling to hack through limbs as thick as my thigh with Juke’s rusty, but shockingly sharp knife. I could hear Megan snicker.

Blogger Issue

Blogger is having an issue with linked pages. Hopefully it will be fixed soon. In the meantime, you can link to my other pages and blogs here:

Contact
Dreamings
Book Reviews
Game Reviews
Movie/TV Reviews
Links

NOTE: Looks like it's finally been fixed.

Where Characters Come From: Carter Franklin

Carter Franklin
Concept art by Evan Ferrell

"Ideally, the characteristics that were inspired by friends, family and strangers work together to create a new whole, molded by the experiences the characters have when they are dropped into the world the writer builds for them."

Until his father’s accident, Carter was a lot like myself: a kid with an active imagination and a passion for nature, growing up in a beautiful part of the country. Carter’s guilt forces him to put his imaginary life away and try to grow up too quickly. Though I’ve never put my imaginary life away, I’ve always struggled to balance it with the responsibilities of life. At times I’ve taken long vacations from it to bury myself in school or work only to discover that all aspects of my life suffered for it.

Dungeons and Dragons: A Documentary

Me and a friend reading from the AD&D book that kicked a hornets' nest of
Christian fundamentalists into a witch hunt. Circa 1985.

Dungeons and Dragons began back in 1974 and, as most of us old-schoolers know, it changed our lives. I don't mean simply the lives of gamers. Whether you realize it or not, the invention of roleplaying games changed your world.

Numenera: A Kickstarter from Monte Cook

Monte Cook, game design legend, has created a new RPG. Numenera, a distant future RPG, focuses on roleplaying with quick, easy rules and incredible art. Monte started game design back in the Rolemaster and early Champions days and became a household tabletop name after his contributions to 3rd edition Dungeons and Dragons over a decade ago. Monte's independent projects, like the Ptolus: City by the Spire setting, gained him a reputation for quality, detailed products.