This blog is primarily about the Appalachian experience as it relates to my work on So Far Appalachia: An American mythology as told by the Bakers of Beckinghamshire. If I do my job well, though, that story will touch on larger American themes. While I haven’t had the chance to watch this Frontline piece yet, it’s […]
When we wrote the first edition of Dungeons & Dreamers, Chris Roberts was a minor character in our narrative. That doesn’t mean we found him unimportant. His story just mirrored our main narrative. As such, he appears mostly in two chapters (as Origin Systems becomes part of Electronic Arts.) When I first met Richard in […]
This PBS Arts video just came across my Twitter stream, and I thought I’d pass it along. Our book Dungeons & Dreamers explores a similar thread although we spend more time focusing on the four decades after the release of D&D. However John and I were in agreement that you couldn’t tell the story of computer games […]
‘Hollow’ debuts on W.Va. Day, screenings Saturday, via the Seattle PI Hollow the Film, via the project’s webste Hollow is a hybrid community participatory project and interactive documentary where content is created “for the community, by the community.” The project combines personal documentary video portraits, user-generated content, photography, soundscapes, interactive data and grassroots mapping on […]
You can now take your D&D game on the road with you by using a virtual 3D tabletop which allows you to create visualizations of a pen-and-paper game. The app will be out later this year so you can both sign up to be alerted when it’s available, and you can follow the development on Google+.
Weight Loss Tips to Kick Off Your New Year Healthy weight loss tips for long-lasting health benefits Weight loss often tops the list of our New Year’s resolutions. Setting a realistic weight loss plan where you’re making healthier food choices and exercising more can help you achieve your goal. If losing weight is your resolution, […]
Since we no longer have our Blu-Ray/DVD player, PBS hasn’t given me any way to watch The Appalachians or Appalachia, two mini-series documentaries on the people and the region. As such, I’m stuck watching part one of The Appalachians (thanks to YouTube). If you happen to know where I might purchase digital versions of these […]
Sometimes you just come across some cool artwork and you want to share it: the Dungeon Master by ~MoulinBleu on deviantART
Robertson: Kids face bulimia, anorexia and suicide caused by ‘demonic games’, via The Raw Story In the late 1970s and early 1980s, parents were told their children faced mortal danger because of Dungeons & Dragons. Many of these concerned folks were Christians, and they believed that the game encouraged children to worship the devil, practice […]
One of the reasons I left the world of daily media is that you so rarely get to tell interesting stories about people. Instead, our little snippets and stories paint an incomplete profiles. To wit, this short vignette of Vin Diesel is entirely unexpected: The question, though, is why is this unexpected? It’s easy to […]
I came across this map at Business Insider, and I had to share it. Linguists have looked at the speech patterns associated with 22 different words, and mapped dialects in the U.S. This is a wonderful way to illustrate how different we are despite our common heritage.
I’ve grown quite fond of fan films throughout the years, particularly clever shorts. “Reality Forgotten” is one that is more clever than film, and anyone who has ever played D&D will recognize this particular scenario. Author Jack Vance Passed Away Author Jack Vance, who had a profound impact on Dungeons & Dragons, passed away. Here […]