http://grimfinger.net/forum/ Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:05:12 +0000 MyBB http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=562 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:56:48 -0600 http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=562 buy cheap Viagra leVITRA]]> buy cheap Viagra leVITRA]]> http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=12 Sat, 31 Dec 2011 11:23:38 -0600 http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=12
Then why would a Sentinel of Semi-Silence create it in the first place ?

Because he can (for now).


  marvel-comics-retro-silver-surfer-comic-panel.jpg (Size: 67.17 KB / Downloads: 3) ]]>
Then why would a Sentinel of Semi-Silence create it in the first place ?

Because he can (for now).


  marvel-comics-retro-silver-surfer-comic-panel.jpg (Size: 67.17 KB / Downloads: 3) ]]> http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=11 Wed, 07 Sep 2011 02:39:25 -0500 http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=11
I been adrift, me has, upon the Sea 'O Internut, separated from me trusty GlueShip and disanchored from me trusty Isle. Aye, the Isle of Gluebeard, what I call home, the consarned thing an island adrift upon the Seven Seas. Blast her coconuted hide!

I be a bit too tired to go a scourgin', these days. Me bones be needin' a rest. It's a good thing that me Isle found me, just driftin' about, floatin' wheresoever the waves be takin' me. I wash ashore, and fancy me that, it be me Isle. Arrrr!!

It be takin' a lickin', all growed over and a bit disorientin', but it be me Isle. Blast yer coconuts! I recognize the place, but I don't be recognizin' the place. Aye. I be lost on me Isle, once more. It be needin' a fresh coast of paint. I be lookin' fer a few deckhands what be handy with swabbin' the paint.

Now, where's me rum?!]]>
I been adrift, me has, upon the Sea 'O Internut, separated from me trusty GlueShip and disanchored from me trusty Isle. Aye, the Isle of Gluebeard, what I call home, the consarned thing an island adrift upon the Seven Seas. Blast her coconuted hide!

I be a bit too tired to go a scourgin', these days. Me bones be needin' a rest. It's a good thing that me Isle found me, just driftin' about, floatin' wheresoever the waves be takin' me. I wash ashore, and fancy me that, it be me Isle. Arrrr!!

It be takin' a lickin', all growed over and a bit disorientin', but it be me Isle. Blast yer coconuts! I recognize the place, but I don't be recognizin' the place. Aye. I be lost on me Isle, once more. It be needin' a fresh coast of paint. I be lookin' fer a few deckhands what be handy with swabbin' the paint.

Now, where's me rum?!]]> http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=10 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 08:34:09 -0500 http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=10
Big Cody, fresh back from seeing some movie, didn't want to go. So, my son's disappointment in tow, we headed off to the park, anyway.

A few minutes later, and we were there. There were a few people practicing softball, but no kids crawling all over the playground equipment. After a bit, a little girl happened along, and my son and she played for a while.

Either today or tomorrow, I will try to cut our grass. It got put off a few days ago, because I felt bad. So, oh so soon, the Grass Piper must be paid. I will declare war, once more, and countless minions of the Grass Lord will fall before my blade. In the short time that I have been upon this world, I have slain millions of his minions. Yet, even still, they march, Hell-bent on overcoming all of mankind. These are the Greenkin.]]>
Big Cody, fresh back from seeing some movie, didn't want to go. So, my son's disappointment in tow, we headed off to the park, anyway.

A few minutes later, and we were there. There were a few people practicing softball, but no kids crawling all over the playground equipment. After a bit, a little girl happened along, and my son and she played for a while.

Either today or tomorrow, I will try to cut our grass. It got put off a few days ago, because I felt bad. So, oh so soon, the Grass Piper must be paid. I will declare war, once more, and countless minions of the Grass Lord will fall before my blade. In the short time that I have been upon this world, I have slain millions of his minions. Yet, even still, they march, Hell-bent on overcoming all of mankind. These are the Greenkin.]]> http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=9 Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:37:50 -0500 http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=9
My time over on Lloyd's Road of Kings website, today, was largely dominated by my interest in an American Civil War thread recently started there. No need to rehash that here, though. I like such topics of discussion, although they do tend to be time gobblers. But, it is a fun way to pass the time.

I established contact with a former PBM company moderator, today. That was a big plus on today's accomplishments. There was a lot that I didn't get accomplished, that I wanted to, but that is partially off-set by accomplishing this contact with a figure from play by mail's past, that I had not intended nor counted on doing, when I awoke, this morning.

I pondered part of the day trying to figure out in my head how to approach a play by mail game set in the Old West. This was prompted by me reading an old PBM ad for a game called Stand and Deliver. I posted at greater length about such a game over on the PlayByMail site.

When my wife asked me what I had had for supper, after she arrived home, this evening, it dawned upon me that I don't think that I had eaten, today. Ack!! She wanted tuna for her dinner, and so, I fixed us both tuna sandwiches. It was pretty good, actually.]]>
My time over on Lloyd's Road of Kings website, today, was largely dominated by my interest in an American Civil War thread recently started there. No need to rehash that here, though. I like such topics of discussion, although they do tend to be time gobblers. But, it is a fun way to pass the time.

I established contact with a former PBM company moderator, today. That was a big plus on today's accomplishments. There was a lot that I didn't get accomplished, that I wanted to, but that is partially off-set by accomplishing this contact with a figure from play by mail's past, that I had not intended nor counted on doing, when I awoke, this morning.

I pondered part of the day trying to figure out in my head how to approach a play by mail game set in the Old West. This was prompted by me reading an old PBM ad for a game called Stand and Deliver. I posted at greater length about such a game over on the PlayByMail site.

When my wife asked me what I had had for supper, after she arrived home, this evening, it dawned upon me that I don't think that I had eaten, today. Ack!! She wanted tuna for her dinner, and so, I fixed us both tuna sandwiches. It was pretty good, actually.]]> http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=8 Sun, 28 Aug 2011 21:36:28 -0500 http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=8
I made some chili, earlier, today. I had some leftover chili, just now. It was pretty good. Very tasty.

I found out, tonight, that an old friend of my daddy's had died a couple of days ago. I didn't know it, until tonight, on the way home. He and my daddy hung around a lot, together, once upon a time ago. The last time that i recall seeing him, though, was when he came here to our home, after my daddy died. He was crying, then. That's what I recall, as I sit here thinking back on things off the top of my head.

I decided to try some ice cream. Good choice! It makes me feel a bit better, already. I'm still tired, though. I need sleep, but there's several things that I want to get done before I go to bed, tonight.

But, I'm going to eat this ice cream, first. It's a matter of priorities, you know.]]>
I made some chili, earlier, today. I had some leftover chili, just now. It was pretty good. Very tasty.

I found out, tonight, that an old friend of my daddy's had died a couple of days ago. I didn't know it, until tonight, on the way home. He and my daddy hung around a lot, together, once upon a time ago. The last time that i recall seeing him, though, was when he came here to our home, after my daddy died. He was crying, then. That's what I recall, as I sit here thinking back on things off the top of my head.

I decided to try some ice cream. Good choice! It makes me feel a bit better, already. I'm still tired, though. I need sleep, but there's several things that I want to get done before I go to bed, tonight.

But, I'm going to eat this ice cream, first. It's a matter of priorities, you know.]]> http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=7 Sun, 28 Aug 2011 05:45:00 -0500 http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=7
It ran the gamut from one individual's unpersuasive lamentation about evil people to an unexpected, albeit very brief, encounter with a friend from days gone by.

Looking forward, and trying to discern where I am going from here, the honest answer is, of course, that I really have no clue. Nor, for the most part, do I really care. By this, I mean, in an online sense.

For the most part.

I spend a good bit of time online, but even that is a relative thing. If you tried to connect to the Internet in this day and age at my current access rate of anywhere between 14.4K to 21.6K on a slow dial-up Internet connection, then you would quickly find that it tends to take the proverbial forever and a day to do quite a lot of things. In a hyper-paced world, I travel in super slow motion.

I don't know if HW-854, the game of Hyborian War where I am playing the kingdom of Nemedia, will be my last game of Hyborian War or not. On multiple occasions, I have felt that it would be. I don't know, though. I just don't know. I like the game. I've always liked it, ever since I first tried it.

I brought my son home a little treat, last night. He won't discover it until a little later, this morning. It's a small bag of caramels. Make a note to myself: Next time, get two bags. They look very tasty.

It's funny seeing JD's name on the shoutbox. I used to encounter him a lot more, online. Being online is a lot like being adrift on the ocean, in that people just seem to drift here, there, everywhere. I wonder where old Josh has been drifting to, these several years, of late?

He has issues to contend with. Hell, we all have issues. I remember a five year old girl telling me, one time, as I was aggravating her and her siblings, "I've got issues." She had a very serious look on her face. So, clearly, she had issues. Me? I just thought that it was funny.

When I stopped for gas, last night (thinking that might be a much better option than the alternative, which was to see if I could go ahead and drain the very last drop out of my gas tank), which is where I purchased the caramels for my son, as I was going out the door to pump the gas, I ran into an old acquaintance and friend (another one).

One of his sons died a few years back, in an automobile accident. I never knew the kid, but man, I hated that. I really did. I've seen the guy's sister numerous times, over the last many months. It was nice to run into him, again, unexpected though it was. I thought that he looked good. He looked younger than he probably should. Damn, he's aged better than me!

But, then again, who hasn't? Lots of people, I suppose. The world is full of beautiful people. Thank God, I'm not one of them!]]>
It ran the gamut from one individual's unpersuasive lamentation about evil people to an unexpected, albeit very brief, encounter with a friend from days gone by.

Looking forward, and trying to discern where I am going from here, the honest answer is, of course, that I really have no clue. Nor, for the most part, do I really care. By this, I mean, in an online sense.

For the most part.

I spend a good bit of time online, but even that is a relative thing. If you tried to connect to the Internet in this day and age at my current access rate of anywhere between 14.4K to 21.6K on a slow dial-up Internet connection, then you would quickly find that it tends to take the proverbial forever and a day to do quite a lot of things. In a hyper-paced world, I travel in super slow motion.

I don't know if HW-854, the game of Hyborian War where I am playing the kingdom of Nemedia, will be my last game of Hyborian War or not. On multiple occasions, I have felt that it would be. I don't know, though. I just don't know. I like the game. I've always liked it, ever since I first tried it.

I brought my son home a little treat, last night. He won't discover it until a little later, this morning. It's a small bag of caramels. Make a note to myself: Next time, get two bags. They look very tasty.

It's funny seeing JD's name on the shoutbox. I used to encounter him a lot more, online. Being online is a lot like being adrift on the ocean, in that people just seem to drift here, there, everywhere. I wonder where old Josh has been drifting to, these several years, of late?

He has issues to contend with. Hell, we all have issues. I remember a five year old girl telling me, one time, as I was aggravating her and her siblings, "I've got issues." She had a very serious look on her face. So, clearly, she had issues. Me? I just thought that it was funny.

When I stopped for gas, last night (thinking that might be a much better option than the alternative, which was to see if I could go ahead and drain the very last drop out of my gas tank), which is where I purchased the caramels for my son, as I was going out the door to pump the gas, I ran into an old acquaintance and friend (another one).

One of his sons died a few years back, in an automobile accident. I never knew the kid, but man, I hated that. I really did. I've seen the guy's sister numerous times, over the last many months. It was nice to run into him, again, unexpected though it was. I thought that he looked good. He looked younger than he probably should. Damn, he's aged better than me!

But, then again, who hasn't? Lots of people, I suppose. The world is full of beautiful people. Thank God, I'm not one of them!]]> http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=6 Sat, 27 Aug 2011 10:52:50 -0500 http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=6
As a precaution, I have taken measures to try and prevent pirates from overrunning the place, here, should any of them have actually survived that harrowing encounter with the watery terror of the seas.

Remember the dread curse - only pirates and wenches may wander the Isle, lest some terrible fate embrace them!

Consider yourselves warned.]]>
As a precaution, I have taken measures to try and prevent pirates from overrunning the place, here, should any of them have actually survived that harrowing encounter with the watery terror of the seas.

Remember the dread curse - only pirates and wenches may wander the Isle, lest some terrible fate embrace them!

Consider yourselves warned.]]> http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=5 Fri, 26 Aug 2011 08:41:32 -0500 http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=5
It's quiet, here. I can think better, when it's quiet. My wife had headed out to A.C. Moore, to get God only knows what. Something about some tee-shirts, I think that she said, but I'll wager a hamburger that she'll pick up a Bag of Magic Growth, while she's there, and we'll end up seeing more than just tee-shirts, when she arrives back home.

I am starting to get back into the swing of things, over at the PlayByMail.Net website. I took a little time off from there, but I do have some plans for that site. One of the things that I hope to make progress with there is to get a small scale PBM type of game off the ground. That may eat into my time, even more, and it may even compel me to eliminate something else, entirely, but it is a project that I am very interested in, one which I hope to bring to fruition.

Lest I forget to mention it, Barzimeron is an old Galaxy: Alpha player who has found his way to the PlayByMail.Net website's forums. Galaxy: Alpha player encounters are few and far between, these days, so it was certainly nice to see him mkake an appearance there.

Not a lot of progress on the PBM Wiki site, of late, but I have finally begun to add a few bits and pieces to that site. That project is a long term project, one that will, in all likelihood, takes years to complete. It is tedious. It is boring. But, when all is said and done, I think that it will be both a rewarding experience (from a satisfaction standpoint) and a destination point for PBM players scattered across the Internet. The scope of this project is quite intimidating, even for me. Lots and lots of work - time consuming work. Pah.

The Sol Anctum experiment is progressing. It is something new that I am trying, and it will be interesting to see how useful a tool that it proves to be.

The eye on the PlayByMail.Net envelope is mine, of course. Just a tidbit of trivia for those who wander aimlessly just looking for something new to learn. I needed an eye, and I didn't want one of the existing eyes that I had seen, so I decided to create my own by using my own. Thank you, Mr. Eye, for your cooperation in this matter!

I'm not sure what I will have for lunch, today. My wife asked me earlier about going out to eat lunch, today. We'll have to wait and see, I suppose. Yesterday, after my son came home from school, we went out to eat. I had chicken fried rice. It was so-so. Not as good as usual. The onion rings, however, were very tasty. They have the best onion rings of any place around here, as far as I am concerned. Most places have onion rings that I can't stand to eat.

I don't know who I will be voting for, for President, the next time around. My mom and I had a telephone discussion a few days ago about Obama. I don't mind if she criticizes him. I just tend to disagree with the foundational basis of much of my mom's criticism of him.

Unfortunately, I have yet to see much in the way of notable opposition to him, as far as candidates of appeal from other quarters. At this stage of things, it remains a rather lackluster field. Perhaps this will change for the better, going forward, though.

My son has his first spelling test, today. He may have already taken it, by the time that I post this to the site. He is in the 1st Grade, this year.]]>
It's quiet, here. I can think better, when it's quiet. My wife had headed out to A.C. Moore, to get God only knows what. Something about some tee-shirts, I think that she said, but I'll wager a hamburger that she'll pick up a Bag of Magic Growth, while she's there, and we'll end up seeing more than just tee-shirts, when she arrives back home.

I am starting to get back into the swing of things, over at the PlayByMail.Net website. I took a little time off from there, but I do have some plans for that site. One of the things that I hope to make progress with there is to get a small scale PBM type of game off the ground. That may eat into my time, even more, and it may even compel me to eliminate something else, entirely, but it is a project that I am very interested in, one which I hope to bring to fruition.

Lest I forget to mention it, Barzimeron is an old Galaxy: Alpha player who has found his way to the PlayByMail.Net website's forums. Galaxy: Alpha player encounters are few and far between, these days, so it was certainly nice to see him mkake an appearance there.

Not a lot of progress on the PBM Wiki site, of late, but I have finally begun to add a few bits and pieces to that site. That project is a long term project, one that will, in all likelihood, takes years to complete. It is tedious. It is boring. But, when all is said and done, I think that it will be both a rewarding experience (from a satisfaction standpoint) and a destination point for PBM players scattered across the Internet. The scope of this project is quite intimidating, even for me. Lots and lots of work - time consuming work. Pah.

The Sol Anctum experiment is progressing. It is something new that I am trying, and it will be interesting to see how useful a tool that it proves to be.

The eye on the PlayByMail.Net envelope is mine, of course. Just a tidbit of trivia for those who wander aimlessly just looking for something new to learn. I needed an eye, and I didn't want one of the existing eyes that I had seen, so I decided to create my own by using my own. Thank you, Mr. Eye, for your cooperation in this matter!

I'm not sure what I will have for lunch, today. My wife asked me earlier about going out to eat lunch, today. We'll have to wait and see, I suppose. Yesterday, after my son came home from school, we went out to eat. I had chicken fried rice. It was so-so. Not as good as usual. The onion rings, however, were very tasty. They have the best onion rings of any place around here, as far as I am concerned. Most places have onion rings that I can't stand to eat.

I don't know who I will be voting for, for President, the next time around. My mom and I had a telephone discussion a few days ago about Obama. I don't mind if she criticizes him. I just tend to disagree with the foundational basis of much of my mom's criticism of him.

Unfortunately, I have yet to see much in the way of notable opposition to him, as far as candidates of appeal from other quarters. At this stage of things, it remains a rather lackluster field. Perhaps this will change for the better, going forward, though.

My son has his first spelling test, today. He may have already taken it, by the time that I post this to the site. He is in the 1st Grade, this year.]]> http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=4 Thu, 25 Aug 2011 11:52:06 -0500 http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=4 NOTE: My comments of August 22nd, 2011 posted to the rehinnercircle Yahoo! discussion group.

I've not seen the movie, yet, and being on a slow dial-up Internet connection, I haven't seen any of the video trailers for the movie - aside from one preview that I happened to catch on television, a few weeks back. From that preview, I recall that it looked visually interesting, but perhaps a bit on the cheesy side. I also recall thinking that it looked better than the previous attempts at transitioning Conan to the big screen.

I don't go to many movies at the theater, these days. I just think that movies, much like comic books, seem pretty much bent on pricing themselves out of business. But, that's just me, of course.

I'll probably wait and catch the flick when it comes out at the Red Box rental box. Early reviews from people that I know online, and who went to see the movie, seem to be largely negative - with a few positive remarks on various individual points or aspects of the movie.

The Conan movie franchise, itself, such that it is, still has a lot of life in it, I think. On a purely personal level, I do wonder why they don't take more of a horror movie approach with the franchise. Conan's life story, if I may phrase it that way, should strike us modern civilized folks as a rather brutal affair. Depending upon which Conan tale one is transitioning to the big screen, I could certainly see epic scale apply. By and large, though, I am more inclined to believe that a mega-million dollar Lord of the Rings approach would invariably leave the audience's interaction with the character as a far less personal - and engaging - experience than it should be.

A horror or quasi-horror approach would inject a certain seriousness into such films, effectively eliminating campiness and the cheesy feel that Conan film efforts to date have wrought. I don't hate cheesy films, but all cheesy is not good cheesy, where cinema is concerned.

I don't think that going the stud route (and by that, I mean a good looking hunk to portray Conan) is the right way to go. Conan's appeal for the female viewer should be less of an appeal based upon looks, and more of an appeal based upon raw, base carnality (Ack! It's hard to describe.). The first reaction to the character should be revulsion, not attraction. The attraction should come over time, over the course of the film, as the character's inner qualities reveal themselves - but with the revulsion factor continually revisited upon the audience, due to the barbaric nature of the character. The horror genre tends to be revolting - plus it also tends to incorporate suspense. Suspense should dog Conan's trail. It should be something that the character can never distance himself from.

Action scenes should be intense - brutally intense, but not necessarily long. The extremely brutal nature of hostile encounters with a barbarian should largely preclude lengthy battle scenes. Where they occur, they should shock the human sense - even and especially to the point of being overwhelming.

For a future Conan cinematic undertaking, my personal preference would be to cast unknowns, including and especially for the lead character. The audience shouldn't know the character, beforehand, insofar as associating him to a famous actor. Widespread familiarity should disqualify.

And because the big screen is not a book, the person playing the part should be a capable actor. Conan's actions should largely do his speaking for him. But, when he speaks, those should be moments of that herald something of significance about to transpire. In a nutshell, when Conan speaks, it should be eventful, memorable.

I am not what one would properly term a "purist," in Howardian terms. I do think, though, that the Conan character suffers from largely the same fate as the Superman character, where movies are concerned. The best superhero movies are not Superman movies. Superman movies tend to suck. They blow cheese!

Rather than money spent on sets, it should be earmarked for atmosphere. Take Conan and a bunch of Picts, and your set is the forests or the hills. The wilderness! Let the world, itself, take center stage. It can be breathtaking, after all.

Even in an action movie, action should compliment, not supplant, the acting aspect. Some of the later Star Wars movies seemed to forget the importance and relevance of acting, subordinating such to technology and doo-dads, cinematic eye-candy, if you will.

In any event, I would not pay money to see the new Conan movie in 3D. Ack!! I still recall the headache of 3D glasses from a so-called 3D movie many years ago. It wasn't entertaining. It was annoying and distracting.

I guess that the main reason that I feel that this latest installment in the Conan cinema series won't sound a death knell for the franchise is for the very simple reason that the character and Robert E. Howard's writing hold so much potential. It's merely a matter of exploiting it, properly.

I think that high fantasy is much easier to portray in cinema form than sword and sorcery. I don't know if I have ever actually seen an outstanding sword and sorcery movie, thinking back off the top of my head. Are there any?

The closest thing in cinema to how I think that Conan should be portrayed is, ironically, Jaws. Conan, as a barbarian, is akin to a force of nature, when he wanders the lands of the civilized. The music that one hears when watching Jaws is the equivalent of what the civilized should see and feel, when they encounter Conan. He represents the unknown, a lurking danger, something to be wary of. The longer that one is in his presence, the less comfortable that they should become, I think. That sense of danger, like that music that heralds the presence of the shark and its attendant danger, should grow with each interaction - until such time as a barbaric eruption flares, with carnage and destruction following ritualistically in its wake.

I don't see Conan as making quick friends. The barbarian threshold, if I may characterize it that way, should come at some cost to the interested party. It doesn't just happen. The audience should be repeatedly reminded of such. Just as they think that they are beginning to understand and relate to the character, Conan should shock them back to their senses.

In cinema, while the film should visually depict Conan learning about civilized men through interacting with them, the journey for the audience should be a different thing, altogether. It is their descent towards and into barbarism. At his core, Conan never changes. He embodies a never-changing state of raw barbarism. The horror aspect would be very useful, I think, as a means to an end - to take the audience into the mind and heart of what it is to be barbaric. That's why the horror would grow, as the film proceeds apace. The suspense should precede and attend the horror. The audience should then be lulled back, nudged back towards its preferred default state of "normalcy." Conan should shatter their expectations, sometimes unexpectedly and at other times in a very expected manner, although perhaps with some unexpected side effects.

All in all, I think that Conan cinematic ventures should largely be confined to smaller scale settings and more intimate events. I think that that is one of the key ways to imbue the character with the personal quality that the audience can relate to. Whether fighting Picts or fighting some sorcerous evil, the story is Conan - not that other thing or that other person. The audience's role is to witness the experience. We see it. We should feel it. We might even fear it or dread it.

At the end of the movie, though, I don't think that we should feel particularly good. We should feel some degree of uncertainty. We should not feel as though Conan has won. We should never feel that way. Rather, we should be more like, "What the Hell?!" And it is that feeling, that feeling of something not quite finished, which should make us yearn for the next chapter in this man's life.

Pardon the chatter. Back to the shadows for me, now.

- Charles -]]> NOTE: My comments of August 22nd, 2011 posted to the rehinnercircle Yahoo! discussion group.

I've not seen the movie, yet, and being on a slow dial-up Internet connection, I haven't seen any of the video trailers for the movie - aside from one preview that I happened to catch on television, a few weeks back. From that preview, I recall that it looked visually interesting, but perhaps a bit on the cheesy side. I also recall thinking that it looked better than the previous attempts at transitioning Conan to the big screen.

I don't go to many movies at the theater, these days. I just think that movies, much like comic books, seem pretty much bent on pricing themselves out of business. But, that's just me, of course.

I'll probably wait and catch the flick when it comes out at the Red Box rental box. Early reviews from people that I know online, and who went to see the movie, seem to be largely negative - with a few positive remarks on various individual points or aspects of the movie.

The Conan movie franchise, itself, such that it is, still has a lot of life in it, I think. On a purely personal level, I do wonder why they don't take more of a horror movie approach with the franchise. Conan's life story, if I may phrase it that way, should strike us modern civilized folks as a rather brutal affair. Depending upon which Conan tale one is transitioning to the big screen, I could certainly see epic scale apply. By and large, though, I am more inclined to believe that a mega-million dollar Lord of the Rings approach would invariably leave the audience's interaction with the character as a far less personal - and engaging - experience than it should be.

A horror or quasi-horror approach would inject a certain seriousness into such films, effectively eliminating campiness and the cheesy feel that Conan film efforts to date have wrought. I don't hate cheesy films, but all cheesy is not good cheesy, where cinema is concerned.

I don't think that going the stud route (and by that, I mean a good looking hunk to portray Conan) is the right way to go. Conan's appeal for the female viewer should be less of an appeal based upon looks, and more of an appeal based upon raw, base carnality (Ack! It's hard to describe.). The first reaction to the character should be revulsion, not attraction. The attraction should come over time, over the course of the film, as the character's inner qualities reveal themselves - but with the revulsion factor continually revisited upon the audience, due to the barbaric nature of the character. The horror genre tends to be revolting - plus it also tends to incorporate suspense. Suspense should dog Conan's trail. It should be something that the character can never distance himself from.

Action scenes should be intense - brutally intense, but not necessarily long. The extremely brutal nature of hostile encounters with a barbarian should largely preclude lengthy battle scenes. Where they occur, they should shock the human sense - even and especially to the point of being overwhelming.

For a future Conan cinematic undertaking, my personal preference would be to cast unknowns, including and especially for the lead character. The audience shouldn't know the character, beforehand, insofar as associating him to a famous actor. Widespread familiarity should disqualify.

And because the big screen is not a book, the person playing the part should be a capable actor. Conan's actions should largely do his speaking for him. But, when he speaks, those should be moments of that herald something of significance about to transpire. In a nutshell, when Conan speaks, it should be eventful, memorable.

I am not what one would properly term a "purist," in Howardian terms. I do think, though, that the Conan character suffers from largely the same fate as the Superman character, where movies are concerned. The best superhero movies are not Superman movies. Superman movies tend to suck. They blow cheese!

Rather than money spent on sets, it should be earmarked for atmosphere. Take Conan and a bunch of Picts, and your set is the forests or the hills. The wilderness! Let the world, itself, take center stage. It can be breathtaking, after all.

Even in an action movie, action should compliment, not supplant, the acting aspect. Some of the later Star Wars movies seemed to forget the importance and relevance of acting, subordinating such to technology and doo-dads, cinematic eye-candy, if you will.

In any event, I would not pay money to see the new Conan movie in 3D. Ack!! I still recall the headache of 3D glasses from a so-called 3D movie many years ago. It wasn't entertaining. It was annoying and distracting.

I guess that the main reason that I feel that this latest installment in the Conan cinema series won't sound a death knell for the franchise is for the very simple reason that the character and Robert E. Howard's writing hold so much potential. It's merely a matter of exploiting it, properly.

I think that high fantasy is much easier to portray in cinema form than sword and sorcery. I don't know if I have ever actually seen an outstanding sword and sorcery movie, thinking back off the top of my head. Are there any?

The closest thing in cinema to how I think that Conan should be portrayed is, ironically, Jaws. Conan, as a barbarian, is akin to a force of nature, when he wanders the lands of the civilized. The music that one hears when watching Jaws is the equivalent of what the civilized should see and feel, when they encounter Conan. He represents the unknown, a lurking danger, something to be wary of. The longer that one is in his presence, the less comfortable that they should become, I think. That sense of danger, like that music that heralds the presence of the shark and its attendant danger, should grow with each interaction - until such time as a barbaric eruption flares, with carnage and destruction following ritualistically in its wake.

I don't see Conan as making quick friends. The barbarian threshold, if I may characterize it that way, should come at some cost to the interested party. It doesn't just happen. The audience should be repeatedly reminded of such. Just as they think that they are beginning to understand and relate to the character, Conan should shock them back to their senses.

In cinema, while the film should visually depict Conan learning about civilized men through interacting with them, the journey for the audience should be a different thing, altogether. It is their descent towards and into barbarism. At his core, Conan never changes. He embodies a never-changing state of raw barbarism. The horror aspect would be very useful, I think, as a means to an end - to take the audience into the mind and heart of what it is to be barbaric. That's why the horror would grow, as the film proceeds apace. The suspense should precede and attend the horror. The audience should then be lulled back, nudged back towards its preferred default state of "normalcy." Conan should shatter their expectations, sometimes unexpectedly and at other times in a very expected manner, although perhaps with some unexpected side effects.

All in all, I think that Conan cinematic ventures should largely be confined to smaller scale settings and more intimate events. I think that that is one of the key ways to imbue the character with the personal quality that the audience can relate to. Whether fighting Picts or fighting some sorcerous evil, the story is Conan - not that other thing or that other person. The audience's role is to witness the experience. We see it. We should feel it. We might even fear it or dread it.

At the end of the movie, though, I don't think that we should feel particularly good. We should feel some degree of uncertainty. We should not feel as though Conan has won. We should never feel that way. Rather, we should be more like, "What the Hell?!" And it is that feeling, that feeling of something not quite finished, which should make us yearn for the next chapter in this man's life.

Pardon the chatter. Back to the shadows for me, now.

- Charles -]]> http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=3 Tue, 23 Aug 2011 08:46:16 -0500 http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=3 http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=1 Mon, 22 Aug 2011 20:09:20 -0500 http://grimfinger.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=1
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Anyone else that wants to use the site will need to re-register. That's just how it is.

Now, you know.]]>