It’s the end of the year, and you know what that means. A week ago I had every intention of doing my part for blogging tradition by posting a top 10 list or two, but try as I might, I couldn’t really think of any category of stuff that I had 10 things worth recommending or punditizing. I love video games, for example, but considering that I still haven’t played GTA4, Fallout 3, Metal Gear Solid 4, Gears of War 2, Left for Dead or Wrath of the Lich King, would a top-10 list mean anything? So I guess I’ll buck the list trend and post my very personal highlights and trends of the past year. Nothing too formal — just a chance to reflect in public. Part 1 covers food, music and books. Part 2 will recap highlights in movies, games and life.  Even though there aren’t any rankings to dispute in the comments section, please do share your own highlights and hopes! Read more…

I’m sorry to interrupt Dragonlance Week with non-Dragonlance news, but this is just to good not to share:

The year is 1988. The place –Santa Maragarita, California. The time—recess. Paperback in hand, I set forth on a quest of discovery. My destination—Krynn! In the village of Solace, beneath the branches of a Vallenwood tree, I met my companions: Tanis, Half-Elven, the Majure brothers Raistlin and Caramon, wily Tasselhoff Burfoof, Goldmoon the Barbarian Priestess, and many many more. Our fellowship would take us to many fantastic places across the continent of Ansalon, but alas, it was a journey bound by the limits of imagination. I could not hear the grumblings of Flint Fireforge, nor feel the mustache of Sturm Brightblade with my pre-teen fingers. At least not with any earthly senses.

Meanwhile, a continent away in the forests of Brazil, a young man had a dream. If he could not himself travel to Krynn himself, he would bring Krynn and its questing heroes to our world! Three movie trailers did he and his friends forge!

This first trailer introduces us to the cast of characters:

The second… well, it’s usurped by 1 and 3.

The third focuses more on the journey:

And so Dragonlance Week begins…

Every so often I troll youtube for Labyrinth clips, and today I found this lovely pencil animation and original comic book stills piece by Aiijuin. The Jareth and Sarah dancing scene looks absolutely beautiful! And the creator gives a shout out to the Return to Labyrinth manga at the end, which is incredibly humbling and encouraging. Thanks for sharing your work with us, Aiijuin!

It’s been a while since I shared any behind-the-scenes Return to Labyrinth writing dirt, so it’s high time I change that. Let’s talk about music, okay? After all, the music is one of the reasons why Labyrinth is such an enduring film. From the moment the Labyrinth manga series was just a seed of an idea, I knew that music would have to play a pivotal role. In Volume 1, I chickened out and left music to a merely instrumental role (which in a graphic novel means a few musical notes in the background). In volume 2, movie soundtrack lyrics pop up in two key scenes (one comic, one dramatic), and the Wiseman spouts classic rock wisdom. It isn’t until volume 3 that I took the plunge and dared put lyrics in Jareth’s mouth. It could be the best thing in the series, or the the thing that puts me on the outs with Labyrinth fans once and for all. Fingers crossed it’s more of the former.

My first pass on writing a Jareth song were decidedly silly. Those lyrics actually found their way into the “Goblin King’s Revenge” story, so most readers here have probably alread seen them. The song is decidedly broadway/Disney Musical in structure, which works in the context of the silly story it’s in now, but wouldn’t work for the decidely darker chapter that the final song appears in.

The final song, which you’ll have to wait until May to read, I’m afraid, is much more informed by Bowie (at least it is in my head). This is a song sung by the Jareth of “Within You,” only with longing that has crossed into resentment. It’s called “Shadows of  a Dream” (which has nothing to do with this blog), and I hope you’ll like it in spite of the doujinshi-esque name. I wish I had the skills to set the lyrics to music. Maybe next year, some enterprising reader will do just that!

Volume 4 will have at least one musical number, this one inspired not by the Jareth/Sarah relationship, but by the nonsense logic of Lewis Carrol and M.C. Escher. It’s the manga equivalent of “Chilly Down.” I haven’t gotten farther than a few random notes, but hopefully I’ll figure out how to pull it together over the holidays. Of course, the lyrics are only half the challenge — somehow Chris will have to draw a chapter inspired by this:

This week is Dragonlance Week on Gobblin.net. And it will be a glorious week indeed!

Writing a book set in the Star Wars universe — even a young adult one — was an incredibly intimidating experience. As somone who has read and edited “shared universe” fiction before, I know just how tricky it can be to tow the canon line while trying to stay fresh and relevant. I will always love Star Wars, if only for the Empire Strikes Back, which is possibly my very most favorite film (the art direction of Bespin and Williams score for this film are cinematic perfection, and the actors were never better), but truth be told, I’ve only dabbled with the franchise in recent years, sticking mostly to video game incarnations. I was terrified that when The Way of the Jedi came out, it would be torn apart like an ewok in a Rancor cage by fans more intimately versed in all things Star Wars. How happy I was, then, to find out that the folks at TheForce.net really liked it!

Way of the Jedi is a well designed adventure that is true to the spirit of Star Wars. Depending on the choices you make, enemies can become allies, and vice versa. You can win by engaging in a starfighter dogfight, leading your army of clone troops to victory, turning your friend back from the dark side, engaging in a lightsaber duel, or even just negotiating with hostile aliens. By choosing different paths, you can learn different things about the characters. And of course, Way of the Jedi includes many entertaining ways for your character to fail on his mission.

The book was so much fun to write, so I’m glad that star wars fans young and old are enjoying it. The best compliment  the book received, however, came from a girl who was happy that the main character isn’t called out as a boy or a girl. Hooray for gender-neutral 2nd person fiction!

So, I’d heard of this Krampus guy before — you know, the naughty fellow to St. Nick’s nice? I just never realized that the horned one was such a…thing. In some alpine towns, young folks get super competitive making elaborate Krampus costumes, then run around tormenting little kids with branches — they even have parades! It’s like the Nightmare before Christmas reimagined by Fangoria. And ladies, let’s not forget Perchten.

This sure beats the Christmas parades I remember from growing up. Of course, the parades of my youth were horiffic in a whole different way. One year, my mom basically forced my sister and I to sell mistletoe to strangers at the parade, and when we didn’t sell it all, she dropped us off in front of a grocery store on the weekend before christmas and had us sell it there. For a less than merry introvert, it was a pretty awful job, especially considering that the only thing that mistletoe is good for is making people kiss (or poisoning babies), which is pretty gross when you’re a ten-year-old boy. The only good thing about the whole mistletoe fiasco was watching my stepdad blow the parasitic plant out of treetops with a shotgun. When you’re a ten-year-old boy, using shotguns as a labor-saving device — pretty cool. Not Krampus cool, but cool enough.

A gem on craigslist today. I dont’ know what’s scarier — that I understand most of what this guy is writing, or that the lurid prose gives me a half-elven half-chub.*

So first date.
I’d be in red robes when you showed up.
They’ll be black after I’m done with you.
A dark room. The scent of black roses and sulphur.
The door opens.
Crysania.
White flowing robes. You burn my eyes.
“Ast tasark simiralan krynawi!!”
Small effervescent bolts shoot from my finger tips and ignite the fireplace.
You climb over the bed as if to pounce. A woman of your faith shouldn’t be attracted to men like me. I know what you want.
The Staff of Magius.
Not yet. I have a few more spells those Qualinesti elf bitches showed me.
I flip you over on your back and kiss you hard. You taste of Otik’s spiced potatoes. You scratch down my gold skin and feel my frail ribs. You look deep into my hourglass pupils and run a hand through my white hair.
”If you’re going to be God someday – you have to know how to handle the people who bow before you. I bow before you. Rule me.”
I smile.
It’s crooked.
I show you the cataclysm.
I make you call me Par-Salian.
I fill you with the essence of Fistadantilus.
And when we’re done.
Dalamar brings us a joint, we put on some Dimmu Borgir and read the Legend of Huma together.
I’ll even share my bitter tea with you.
And you can fall asleep to my racking cough shrill shrieks of the night.
Oh.
And Caramon can’t watch.
Bupu can.

*Just kidding. No, really. Not arroused by sickly wizards!

** Actually, the title should be Single Gold Wizard, huh?

It’s been a busy week, what with trying to wrap things up at work before the holidays while attending festive gatherings at night, so I appologize for the slow posting week. There are a few topics I’ve been meaning to write on, but in the meantime, this was the LOLiest thing I’ve seen today… Read more…

So a week after my promise to try to keep the posting momentum going, I’ve fallen behind again. I haven’t been idle, tough. In addition to the day job and the freelance work (which takes me longer and longer to do, the less of it I have, ironically enough), I’ve been making soup. Lots and lots of soup! The weekly soup pot is my new cooking obsession. It’s simple, healthful, there are new options with every season, and there’s no better way to stretch your dime with good home cooking. And as things get chillier outside, nothing satisfies like a hot bowl of soup! (Skub would agree)

Ever since reading Michael Polan’s excellent The Omnivore’s Dilemma, I’ve tried my best to stick to seasonal and local foods whenever possible, which is not only good for the Earth, but it’s great for improving your cooking skills as it keeps you from falling into culinary ruts. Last week, the market was overflowing with fresh Dungeoness Crabs, so I decided to make a crab gumbo served over wild rice. (Okay, so I cheated the seasonal thing here with out-of-season Okra…) This week, it was the fresh greens that moved me, so I made a Kale/Lentil/Soyrizo soup with yogurt that fused Indian and Spanish tastes to remarkably good effect. I started with a recipe on Epicurious, then went to town with some variations that I’ll share here:

A recipe, for you:

• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 bunches of fresh kale, stems trimmed away, coarsely chopped
• 1 package of Soyrizo
• 1 cup red or green lentils
• 1 can garbanzo beans
• 2 large carrots, sliced
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 10 cups vegetable stock
• 1 tbps each curry powder, garam masala and cayenne pepper
• Plain Yogurt (1/4 cup per serving)
• Cilantro (for garnish)
• Salt and pepper to taste (preferably grey salt, right, Michael Chiarello?)

1. Sautee the onion and garlic in the olive oil until tender
2. Stir in ½ the Soyrizo and the spices
3. Stir in the Kale and cook until wilted ( 5 minutes)
4. Add everything else!
5. Simmer for about half an hour, with a lid on the pot, until the lentils are tender
6. Heat up the rest of the soyrizo until crumbly
7. Serve soup with a healthy dollop of yogurt on top, sprinkled with soyrizo and a few leaves of cilantro.

I know, I know. Actually reading recipes is so old fashioned – but we can’t all do our cooking with the Nintendo DS like Lisa Kudrow. But if you’re looking for a new tastesplosion of the soupy kind, this recipe’s a keeper. I’d post a picture, but right now I’m camera-less. It looks something like this, though (only tastier). I wonder where the farmer’s market will lead me next week? As long as I don’t stuck with just persimmons for my soup, I’m sure it’ll be okay.

PS, Wordpress 2.7 is great!