First, I'd like to offer my sincere condolences regarding the untimely passing of college acquaintance Miles C.'s wife Kim after a battle with cancer, as reported by the Binghamton University Magazine. I forwarded that announcement to the "Bellevue-Camelot" cohort. Also, I hope that onetime gamers David A.H. and James B. are able to overcome their recent legal troubles.

On a lighter note, good luck to David I.S. on his relocation from Ithaca to Rochester, New York, and to Corbin A.Y. & Andria K.Y. on moving again! I also hope that Steve M.R. & Aleece Z.R. and young Connor enjoyed their recent travels and have fun in their new home… This coming weekend, Janice and I will be with her family in Upstate New York for the wedding of our niece Jesse. I look forward to seeing all of our nieces and nephews.

Last night's D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains" Arabian fantasy session went better than the previous week's game, and we had a full house: Paul J./"Rache," Alex J./"Karril" (& Serena), Beruk A./"Kunal," Greg D.C./"Killian," Brian W./"Mumtaz," newcomer Ben R./"Slink," and "virtual" Byron V.O./"Kemosh." The current Player Characters encountered a mysterious Viking-style longhouse and assorted monsters in the Halmed Desert.

We also briefly discussed Wizards of the Coast Inc.'s (WotC) planned release of "Dungeons & Dragons" Fourth Edition next summer. Some role-players are reluctant to shell out more money for new books, while others are eager to see streamlined rules and potentially reinvigorated interest in our hobby. EnWorld.org has been my primary source of information after WotC's Web site.

Sure, there are numerous other "tabletop" systems — I like the version of the D20 Open Game License used in Green Ronin's "Mutants & Masterminds" 2nd Ed. and True20, as well as Steve Jackson Games' Generic Universal Role-Playing System, but the latter hasn't been as well supported lately — but most people who don't solely play collectible or computer games are still familiar with D&D.

Unfortunately, the D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: Holy Steel" team will miss another week because Byron/"Ibrahim" must travel for work. Last week, as CW and other news outlets reported, Skype's teleconferencing was down after Microsoft Corp.'s "Patch Tuesday." If, as WotC says, D&D4 has a significant online component in addition to the print sourcebooks and plastic miniatures, that may help me stay in touch with remote gamers such as Byron and Dexter V.H./"Faelonia." It's only a substitute or an addition to the camaraderie of proper face-to-face, pen-and-paper, pizza-and-dice role-playing.

Still, a week off from one party isn't a bad thing, enabling me to catch up on reading and television before tomorrow night's "City of Heroes" multiplayer online game and this weekend's travel.

Speaking of superheroes, BrokenFrontier.com has an excellent two-part recap of the history of Green Arrow, one of my favorite DC Comics characters. Elsewhere on the Web, SyFy Portal has a retrospective on short-lived but entertaining genre television shows: "Smallville"-like "Birds of Prey," "The Chronicle" (and similar "Special Unit 2"), horror/detective show "Witchblade" (like "The Dresden Files"), supernatural bounty hunter "Brimstone" (see also "Supernatural" and "Ghost Rider"), and cyberpunk "VR5" (does anybody else fondly remember "Max Headroom" or "Total Recall: the Series?").

This past weekend, Janice and I watched the direct-to-DVD "Doctor Strange," which successfully continues Marvel and DC's animated adaptations. Of course, some have been better than others, and it appears that Marvel is using them as test beds for ideas for full-blown movies, while DC is trying to bring classic storylines to the small screen.

Casting is under way for the second season of "Heroes" (I'm pleased that "Veronica Mars" star Kristen Bell chose that over "Lost," which I don't follow), the "Star Trek" relaunch, Frank Miller's cinematic take on Will Eisner's classic "The Spirit," and a possible live-action "Justice League" movie (see Alex Ross art above), so genre fans have lots to look forward to! Superhero Hype is a site I recently found that has decent coverage.

And that's not to mention next summer's "Batman: Dark Knight," featuring "Roar's" Heath Ledger as the Joker; Ron Perlman returning in "Hellboy 2: the Golden Army"; "Iron Man," with Robert Downey Jr. leading another all-star cast; and Edward Norton's reboot of "the Hulk," as well as the gestating "Superman" and "Watchmen" films! I thought that the trend of Hollywood studios raiding comic books and graphic novels for ideas might have already crested, but we'll see how good these and other flicks turn out.

Since I probably didn't win the MegaMillions lottery, I can't run for president, but I still intend to post some political thoughts soon. In the meantime, as Stan "the Man" Lee says, Excelsior!

Friends, I hope you've had a good week. On Tuesday, 14 August 2007, I ran the latest D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains" Arabian fantasy session. The good news is that prospective role-player Ben R. joined us and that the current party (see "Simpsons"-style portrait above) successfully navigated through the intrigues of the oasis-city of Galko.

On a less positive note, with the absence of Beruk A./"Kunal" and late arrivals of Alex J./"Karril," his girlfriend Serena, and Byron V.O./"Kemosh" (by videoconference), the game could have gone more smoothly and was marred by an argument between Byron and others (particularly Paul J./"Rache") over decision-making procedures, or the lack thereof. Fortunately, I don't think we scared away Ben/"Slink," and the interpersonal conflict was much milder than those that plagued the cohort known as the "the Dragonslayers."

Some context: In the years between the explosive growth of "the Liberators" (2000 to 2001) and the more stable "Mystical Harmony/Seekers of Lore/Drake's 7" (2005 to 2006), the Boston-area social/gaming groups still had regular turnover, and factions based on age, geography, and playing style squabbled regularly.

The "Dragonslayers" did earn their name by fighting dragons and Undead pirates on the Sea of Nagendwa, and that player/character cohort did reach heroic experience levels (10+) for my world. On the other hand, they rarely agreed on goals, wasted time arguing about rules or competing in combat, and hoarded magical treasure. Other past groups, such as "the Paragon/Twilight" in Virginia from 1993 to 1995, have had similar problems.

After a round of telephone calls and e-mails, I hope that the current gamers better understand one another. Each adventuring party, and each role-playing group, has its own personality and standard operating procedures. At the same time, people like Paul, who has been around since "the Liberators," must work well with relative newbies such as Ben.

Greg D.C./"Killian" and Brian W./"Mumtaz" prefer an ad hoc, informal leadership style, while Paul (who attended with his girlfriend Bri) and "virtual" Byron want a more formal one. At the same time, each player seems to have taken turns going off on his own in defiance of the party's wishes (see the Yahoo/eGroups Web club for more details: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/DnD3VanishedLands/). In an "1,001 Arabian Nights"-style game, all of this gives me opportunities for trouble and collaborative storytelling, but I'd prefer that everyone get along, in and out of character. We'll see how tonight's "Broken Chains" and tomorrow night's "Holy Steel" games go.

The other big news for our hobby this past week was the long-awaited announcement of "Dungeons & Dragons" Fourth Edition at GenCon. After 25 years, I'm typically an early adopter of rules revisions and prefer streamlined sourcebooks with good art and style over those that specify how every possible situation must be simulated, enumerated, and adjudicated. I'm cautiously optimistic and have been closely following Wizards of the Coast Inc.'s initial previews, as well as the lively debates online.

Last Wednesday's "Holy Steel" teleconferencing game (with Paul and me in Massachusetts, Dexter V.H./"Faelonia" in Brooklyn, New York, and Byron/"Ibrahim" in St. Louis, Missouri) and this past Saturday's planned D20 "Star Wars: Saga Edition" one-shot had to be canceled. Skype was down, and we've begun looking at alternatives to the "Fantasy Grounds" virtual tabletop software.

Also, Dexter had to postpone his latest visit to the Boston area at the last minute. I'm as disappointed as the other gamers (especially since I had created a character and don't get to play rather than serve as Game Master very often), but I hope that we'll be able to play face-to-face in late September, when Byron and Dex hope to visit.

Janice and I made the best of the pleasant weather this past weekend, however, and we went to the Marshfield Fair. The annual agricultural festival had rides, livestock and fresh produce, and of course, excellent food. We ate a pulled pork barbecue sandwich, steak and cheese spring rolls, a burrito, Polish potato pancakes, chocolate cake and drank birch beer and a mango smoothie.

On Sunday, Aug. 12, after playing "City of Heroes," I caught up on recorded television. This past week's episodes of "Doctor Who" and "Flash Gordon" were decent, but I thought that BBC America's "Robin Hood" was better than average. On the other hand, it suffered in comparison with the classic Errol Flynn movie, which I rewatched on AMC. Janice and I have also been watching lots of "Ninja Warrior" on G4, and I look forward to this autumn's new shows. Look out for Mount Midoriyama!

Since several friends have asked for my review of the SciFi Channel's new "Flash Gordon" series, here it is again. I first posted a version of it on the "Dimensional Corps Online" Yahoo message board: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/dimensionalcorpsonline/.

As a fan of space opera, I'm familiar with the 1930s "Flash Gordon" comic books and serials (which I have on DVD), as well as the campy early 1980s movie, which, like fantasy swashbuckler "Highlander," was made more memorable by a Queen soundtrack.

The cable network has said that "Flash Gordon" is intended to fill the lighter-toned adventuresome slot recently vacated by "Stargate SG1." Although it isn't as dark as the revisionist "Battlestar Galactica," the new "Flash" doesn't have the production values, creativity, or instant cast rapport of shows such as "Farscape," "Heroes," or even "Eureka."

The acting was adequate, but the script was weak, and I was hoping for more ray guns, space ships, and strange aliens of the pulp classic and the pioneering Buster Crabbe cliffhangers. There was a clever bit involving an alien map hidden and sought after called the "Imex," based on a misreading of Flash's father's watch brand. In previous postings, I've pointed out the opportunity for speculative fiction to be both entertaining and provide social commentary through allegory.

Ron J.K. complained that the latest "Flash" incarnation is overly politically correct in making interplanetary despot Ming the Merciless a typical (for this generation, anyway) Eurotrash Caucasian villain, but I'm less upset with the dropping of the racist anti-Asian stereotype (dictators come in all colors) than with the absence of winged Hawkmen and exotic locales (Vancouver again?).

On the other hand, I think that many television critics were overly harsh on the cast and pilot episode, which did show some promise. In terms of overall quality, I'd give this reboot about a 6 or 7 out of 10, somewhere close to the BBC's latest "Robin Hood" or "Smallville" prior to its most recent season. Both the bumbling sleuths on "Psych" and genre veteran Bruce Campbell on "Burn Notice" manage to have a lighter touch with amusing characters.

I'll give "Flash Gordon" a few more weeks to see how it develops, but there are better shows on the air right now, such as animated fantasy "Avatar: the Last Airbender." With the recent cancellation of the decent "Dresden Files" and mediocre "Painkiller Jane," the "SciFriday" lineup this autumn will rely on "Stargate: Atlantis," whose cast recently had some changes, and "Doctor Who," whose current season (Series 3) David I.S. and I are enjoying, despite the complaints of some British fans.

On the latter show, Dave and I feel that companion "Martha Jones" is more the Gallifreyan Time Lord's equal than many of his past companions, and we're already disappointed at the rumors of actor and character turnover in Series 4. Dave and I have also been enjoying the digitally remastered episodes of the original "Star Trek," which is only whetting our appetite for J.J. Abrams' cinematic reboot, but as the Schwartz would say, "We shall see." I'll probably also try "Doctor Who" spin-off "Torchwood."

Already, the mainstream TV networks have delayed or retooled derivative genre pilots such as the vampire private detective show "Midnight" (think Joss Whedon's "Angel") and immortal cop show "New Amsterdam" (think "Highlander: the Series"). There are a number of others in the works, including "Journeyman's" time travel (think "Quantum Leap"), a "reimagining" of "The Bionic Woman," droll horror in "Pushing Daisies" and "Reaper," espionage spoof "Chuck," and the "Terminator" cyberpunk spin-off "Sarah Connor Chronicles." I won't have time for most of these.

In other sad genre news, comic book artist Mike Wieringo died of a heart attack at the age of 44 this past weekend. I liked his work on "Fantastic Four" and the fantasy "Tellos." It's a shame that his life ended so soon, but the outpouring of grief from his colleagues and fans online has been inspiring.

Speaking of inspirational material, I've had some interesting exchanges with Ken G. regarding "Blade Runner," part of genre film's watershed year of 1982, on Showbits.net, and I've been going regularly to Bedrock Comics in Framingham, Massachusetts, with co-worker and fellow comic book fan Brian F.

I do look forward to the so-called Season 8 of "Buffy: the Vampire Slayer" and Season 5 of "Angel," which have moved from television to comic books, thanks to creator Joss Whedon. Speaking of prematurely canceled shows, I'm mildly curious about the "Babylon 5" direct-to-video movies, but I'm more excited about D.C.'s "Superman: Doomsday," "New Frontier," and "Batman" anime projects, as well as the computer-animated "Star Wars." Next time: Dexter V.H.'s visit and gaming updates!

On Saturday, 4 August 2007, Janice and I drove south to visit my family. We avoided metropolitan New York but still hit some traffic in New Jersey before arriving at my younger brother Peter's new home in Burke, Virginia.

The suburban sprawl around Washington D.C. has continued to worsen since Janice and I moved to New England almost a decade ago, but we had little difficulty finding Pete and his wife Kelly's place, which is spacious. Their deck overlooks a nicely landscaped backyard, and their young daughters Ava and Lili will have plenty of room to grow up. Even cat Riley has settled into their new digs.

I helped Peter wrestle a new armoire into his master bedroom, and we enjoyed playing with the girls, both of whom are precociously smart and cute (well, I'm biased). Ava is toilet-trained and is becoming quite the conversationalist, and Lili is sitting up unaided and is as alert as ever. As with all my nieces and nephews, I look forward to seeing how their personalities and talents continue to develop and diverge.

After a pizza dinner, we watched the premiere of ABC's "Masters of Science Fiction" anthology. The first episode featured Sam Waterston as an amnesiac in a postapocalyptic world. Like the "Twilight Zone," the television show is hit or miss in terms of stories and acting, but this one was properly depressing.

On that Sunday, my parents joined us from the Blue Ridge Mountains in western Virginia. We celebrated their birthdays with a steak and salad lunch followed by a chocolate cake that Janice had baked the night before. As always, our time together as a family was too short.

That evening, we took advantage of Verizon's FiOS on-demand and rented "Children of Men," starring Clive Owen and Michael Caine in an adaptation of P.D. James' dystopian novel. Although Janice noted that the movie's end differed from that of the book, we liked it (I'd give it about an 8 out of 10, or an B+/A-), even if it was as depressing as the previous night's "Masters of Science Fiction."

On Monday, Peter drove Janice, Ava, and me to the Udvar-Hazy Center, an extension of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport. (Kelly had to work, and Lili stayed with nanny Linda.) We were impressed at a century's worth of aircraft and spacecraft, including the Concorde, a variety of helicopters and fighter planes, and the prototype space shuttle "Enterprise."

Having studied the military history and U.S. space policy in graduate school at the George Washington University in the early 1990s, it was interesting to see the actual artifacts in a larger hangar than available on the National Mall. Peter's favorite design is the SR-71 Blackbird spyplane, while I like the clean lines and muscular engines of the P-51 Mustang and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Ava's favorite was orange… :)

On the other hand, humanity's ingenuity is equaled by our ability to destroy, as evidenced by the presence of the Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, killing thousands and hastening the end of World War II. As it happens, we were at the museum on the anniversary of that bombing, and security was heightened.

Janice and I later drove to visit Corbin A.Y. & Andria K.Y. at their current apartment in Shirlington, the neighborhood in Alexandria, Virginia, where they and Peter had once lived! Their place was nice (they plan to buy another townhouse in the area soon), and their cat Pandora was also friendly. Unfortunately, Janice and I didn't get to see other friends from when we lived in the area ourselves.

We then went out to dinner at "Aladdin's Eatery," a very good Middle Eastern restaurant. Corb, Andria, Janice, and I caught up on the affairs of our college acquaintances, commiserated on politics and the high cost of living, and chatted about genre entertainment. After that, Janice and I managed to find our way back to Peter & Kelly's despite getting turned around, and we watched a more cheerful episode of the now-classic "Justice League Unlimited" on Boomerang.

Janice and I left toward the end of the local rush hour for the long drive back to Massachusetts. We encountered relatively little traffic, dined at "Olive Garden," and reluctantly returned to work on Wednesday, Aug. 8. It took a few days to catch up on e-mail and telephone calls, newspapers and magazines, and recorded television shows (more on those in coming posts). This past weekend was one of the few in recent months where we didn't have houseguests or travel planned, and we took advantage of the state's tax holiday by going to the outlets in Wrentham.

Although I was glad for the break from the busy regular schedule of gaming, I did meet with prospective role-player Ben R. at "Tennessee's Barbeque" for lunch. He recently moved to Framingham, near where I work, and I look forward to seeing his Zarendo Islander (proto-East African) human Illusionist join "the Broken Chains" at tonight's D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands" Arabian fantasy session!

Last Thursday, 26 July 2007, Thomas K.Y. came by for a little while to demonstrate Mids' Hero Designer, a shareware program designed to aid in the advancement of characters for the "City of Heroes" multiplayer online game. While David I.S. and I haven't had the time or inclination to investigate features such as auctions, salvage, and invention as Thomas and Steve M.R. have, we hope to keep up with our fellow "Dimensional Corps Online" teammates, including Kim A.G. and Shari S.

My primary "toon," Scrapper "Scarlet Saber 2," wears a red fedora and duster coat and wields a magical sword. My secondary character right now, Blaster "Emerald Quarrel," is an homage to D.C. Comics' "Green Arrow" and, of course, legendary archer Robin Hood. We're still playing on Sunday mornings and Thursday nights. For more information about our supergroup, visit http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/dimensionalcorpsonline/

For much of the past weekend, I was following the coverage of this year's San Diego Comi-Con on G4 and online. Of the numerous genre multimedia announcements, I thought the previews of the upcoming live-action "Iron Man" and "Batman: Dark Knight" movies looked most promising. We'll have to wait and see whether the fourth "Indiana Jones" film and Conan videogame are any good, but I do plan to pick up the updated "Blade Runner" cyberpunk DVD.

In addition, Zachary Quinto, who plays villain "Sylar" on NBC's "Heroes," appeared with classic "Star Trek" actor Leonard Nimoy for the announcement that Quinto will be playing Spock in the upcoming reboot of that long-running space opera franchise. I was also impressed to learn that Ed Norton is co-writing and acting in the "Incredible Hulk" film and that he is a fan of 1970s Bill Bixby television show, which I also have fond memories of.

Speaking of television, I'm looking forward to the coming season of "Heroes" (and "Origins," the first episode of which will be directed by Kevin Smith), "Smallville" (Supergirl to join the ensemble), "Avatar: the Last Airbender" (Season 2 of the best animated fantasy on the air will be on DVD later this month), "Legion of Superheroes" (two years will elapse between seasons), and "The Batman" (who joins the Justice League)!

In the meantime, there will also be "Stargate SG1" and "Battlestar Galactica" miniseries, the SciFi Channel's new "Flash Gordon," and more of the BBC's latest "Doctor Who" and "Robin Hood," both of which I've been pleased with so far. I may also try to catch up on USA's quirky mystery/comedy "Psych" and anime on Nicktoons and Funimation, such as "Skyland."

I've recently posted about my favorite comic books, so I won't repeat that here other than to say that I've been enjoying several of D.C. Comics, Marvel, and Dynamite's titles each month. Lots of ideas for my D20 "Mutants & Masterminds" 2nd Ed.: "Drake's Port" superhero scenarios! Fellow bloggers Steve M.R. (http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-zA8iOK8iaalgc0hpoQY-?cq=1&p=382) and Ken G. (www.showbits.net), among others, have also blogged about Comi-Con, and I hope to get to the convention in San Diego or New York in the coming years.

On Sunday, Janice and I had brunch at the International House of Pancakes in Norwood, Massachusetts, and I picked up my subscription at New England Comics. On Friday, we had gone to dinner at "Acapulco's" in Newton and stopped by Newbury Comics.

On Saturday, July 28, I hosted another higher-level "Dungeons & Dragons" Edition 3.5 one-shot because of Byron V.O.'s availability. This time, the D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: Monastery/Ninja Dojo" scenario used the "Oriental Adventures" and related sourcebooks, and Paul J./"Tetsuo," Beruk A./"Sukhov," Byron/"Melchior," and guest Gabe/"Eva" managed to defeat the four evildoers who had taken over a martial arts school!

After a late start and telephone calls by Dexter V.H. and James B., I thought the game went very well. Paul's friend Gabe turned out to be a good role-player and a team player, and despite the rushed ending, I thought the infiltration and duels were properly cinematic and challenging for all involved. The next weekend game will be Dex's D20 "Star Wars: Saga Edition" later this month.

Yesterday, I ran the latest D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains" Arabian fantasy session, in which the current Boston-area party ventured into the swamps while on one Player Character's spiritual quest. Tonight, Byron/"Ibrahim" and Dexter/"Faelonia" should wrap up "Holy Steel's" battle against Beholders to relieve the siege of Palerias in Paul's world! For more updates, visit: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/DnD3VanishedLands/

This coming weekend, I'll be visiting family and friends in Virginia, but in the meantime, I hope all is well with each of you. …