Dreamhounds of Paris on pre-order!

Excellent. Quick primer: this is is a supplement for Pelgrane Press’s Trail of Cthulhu, which is an investigation-heavy cosmic horror game set during the 1930s.  As for the focus of the book, well, look at the title for guidance:

From the 1920s to the coming of the Occupation, a new breed of artist prowled the fabled streets of Paris. Combative, disrespectful, irresponsible, the surrealists broke aesthetic conventions, moral boundaries—and sometimes, arms. They sought nothing less than to change humanity by means of a worldwide psychic revolution. Their names resound through pop culture and the annals of art history.

But until now, no one has revealed what they were really up to.

In this comprehensive campaign guide for Trail of Cthulhu, you recreate their mundane and mystical adventures as you stumble onto the Dreamlands, a fantastical realm found far beyond the wall of sleep. At first by happenstance and later by implacable design, you remake it in the fiery image of your own art. Will you save the world, or destroy it?

The more-or-less predecessor to this – Bookhounds of London – is an excellent supplement in a game line that generates excellent supplements inthe same way that people generate dandruff; so I have high hopes for this one, particularly since the authors look to be using contemporary artists for NPCs and PCs*. As you can see from the date on the post, we’ve been waiting on Dreamhounds for quite some time; but it looks like it’s finally kicked into high gear.

Moe Lane

PS: Yeah, I’m seriously considering a pledge drive on this one.  Oh, what the heck: here’s the button.





*Something that Trail of Cthulhu has previously used to great effect.

Pet peeve of mine here on this Vox tweet, OK?

Yes, yes, it’s looking exceedingly likely that we’re taking the Senate back. Or, rather, it’s looking exceedingly likely to everybody else, now (I knew this back in March*). Still:

Continue reading Pet peeve of mine here on this Vox tweet, OK?

I believe that what Tom Harkin did here is called ‘objectifying.’ Or just ‘being an jackass.’

Hey, how do you refer to a state Senator and National Guard war veteran who served in Iraq? Well, if you’re retiring Senator Tom Harkin, you apparently ignore those parts of the resume and zoom in on physical details:

Retiring Democratic Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin says that Iowa voters shouldn’t be fooled because Joni Ernst is “really attractive” and “sounds nice.”

“In this Senate race, I’ve been watching some of these ads,” Harkin said at the Story County Democrats’ annual fall barbecue last week honoring the retiring senator. “And there’s sort of this sense that, ‘Well, I hear so much about Joni Ernst. She is really attractive, and she sounds nice.’”

…Course, when your party is running the trial lawyer who goes around insulting the next Senate Judiciary chair and suing people over chickens, I suppose that you don’t have much to work with there.  Still. Don’t these people pay attention to their own agitprop? …Pathetic, really.

A bunch of the celebrities in that Rock the Vote ad didn’t, in fact, vote.

Unsurprising

Rock The Vote released a public service announcement last month with a parody of Lil Jon’s “Turn Down For What” that featured public figures who explained why they planned to vote in the midterm elections, but according to public records, a number of them didn’t vote in the last midterm election.

At least five who appeared in the PSA — “Girls” actress Lena Dunham, comedian Whoopi Goldberg, “Orange is the New Black” actress Natasha Lyonne, “Rich Kids of Beverly Hills” star E.J. Johnson, and actor Darren Criss — did not vote in the last midterm, records from Los Angeles County and New York City show.

…and THANK GOD. Every name I recognize on that list is someone who shouldn’t be let out without a keeper, and I expect that the rest life up to the others’ standards.  Or, I guess, down to them.  You know what I mean.

I’m not sure who I got this from: it’s making the rounds of Twitter. Continue reading A bunch of the celebrities in that Rock the Vote ad didn’t, in fact, vote.

Book of the Week: ‘Multiverse: Exploring Poul Anderson’s Worlds.’

Multiverse: Exploring Poul Anderson’s Worlds is an anthology of stories set in Poul Anderson’s universe, written by a cross-section of the biggest names in science fiction (particularly alternate history).  I’ve read a lot of books by Poul Anderson, and I’ll be damned if I can think of one that I didn’t like. He was just consistently that good. Anderson’s books were often a little sad – like H. Beam Piper, there was a melancholic streak in much of his works – but they were always worth the time to read. Seeing what a bunch of other crackerjack writers could and did do with his source material was fun.

Farewell, Ruled Britannia.  Note that Harry Turtledove has a story in this anthology.