While various games continue to occupy a fair amount of my time and attention, changes are afoot. The D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains" Arabian fantasy group, which meets on Tuesday nights, is gradually winding down and looking ahead to Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition. Fellow Game Master Tim M.B. in Virginia (we played GURPS together in the 1990s) provided some insight into the revised role-playing game from the D&D Experience demonstrations.

Although I think the current Boston-area role-players get along better than their predecessors — in the "Liberators," "Dragonslayers," and "Seekers of Lore," among other parties — the old hurdle of "name level" (Experience Level 10) is still an issue. The Player Characters' increasing power and complexity, plus divergent goals, are hampering their ability to choose or prioritize quests in the Halmed Desert. I tend to run a free-form homebrewed campaign rather than the more linear style of adventure modules.

The first local face-to-face D&D4e party — assuming that Beruk A., Greg D.C., Brian W., John C.M., and Sara F. & Josh C., plus returning college students Paul J. & Bri and Alex J. & Serena C., can agree on what race (subspecies)/occupational class/role combinations to play — will begin in the barbaric Gusorin Confederation after a series of one-shot scenarios in other games during May.

In the meantime, the D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: Holy Steel" teleconferencing team of Byron V.O. in St. Louis and Dexter V.H. in Brooklyn is moving its virtual sessions from Thursday nights to Mondays. Their higher-level heroes have been engaging in side missions while on their way to the distant empire of Khemet (New Kingdom Egypt). Byron plans to visit the Boston area in mid-April, and other alumni are always welcome, with some advance notice.

We've also had online cameos by Paul and Greg, and I want to keep the goodwill of our spouses, Janice, Cindy, and Linda, respectively. The role-play by e-mail group of Paul, Byron, Greg, and Gabe C. still hopes to raid the Temple of Elemental Evil, but that's only one of several possible one-shots, including a D20 Mutants & Masterminds 2nd Ed.: "Drake's Port" superhero game, Dex's D20 Star Wars: Saga Edition space opera scenario, and Brian and Josh's ideas.

In addition, the City of Heroes supergroup, which includes David I.S., Kim A.G., Steve M.R., Thomas K.Y., and Shari S., has been logging in on Thursday nights and Sunday mornings, with some members playing more often. This group has players in Massachusetts, Upstate New York, and Northern Virginia, and I've been friends with most of them since my college years. I've been participating on Sundays, but I may move to Fridays if Dave becomes more available then. As with the D&D3.5/D&D4e update, we've started considering other computer games.

Of course, we also have work, family obligations, reading, and genre television shows to juggle, hence the ongoing struggle! With the weather getting nicer, we'll have evening walks, yard work, and other outdoor activities as well. As I've said before, it's probably a good thing that I don't have a console video-game system, or I'd never get any sleep!

Friends, I hope you had a good weekend. On Friday, 7 March 2008, I caught the latest episodes and season finale of Stargate: Atlantis, which was O.K. I like the space opera's characters (especially the returning cameos) on the Stargate SG1 spin-off, but the plot was predictable. I am looking forward to catching the SG1 direct-to-video Ark of Truth.

Although I missed the latest Legion of Superheroes, I did watch the series premiere of Spectacular Spider-Man. The animation was a bit simplistic and kid-friendly (like that of the recent Teen Titans), but the writing was close to that of the original comic book during the Lee/Ditko era, in which adolescent Peter Parker struggled to juggle being a broke nerd in high school with being a new superhero. The angst of Spidey's later misadventures is mercifully missing or yet to come.

I also enjoyed the series finale of the WB's The Batman, in which the nascent Justice League regrouped to fight an alien menace. Again, a standard plot, but it was nice to see that version of DC Comics' superteam get together, just as the proto-League has helped Smallville. I look forward to the upcoming Batman: Gotham Knight and Brave and Bold.

Since it rained hard early in the weekend, I continued catching up on reading comic books, watched a few episodes of Attack of the Show and The Women of Ninja Warrior on G4, plus some episodes of Food Network Challenge and Ultimate Recipe Showdown. Speaking of food, Janice and I tried out "Gabriella's Bistro," a new restaurant in Needham, Massachusetts, for a decent brunch on Sunday.

Like Stargate: Atlantis, the latest episode of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood dealt with the lack of finality of death typical in horror and science fiction, but it did so in an internally consistent fashion. Speaking of immortal protagonists, I finally watched the first few episodes of New Amsterdam, which I liked.

Comparisons to the swashbuckling Highlander: the Series are inevitable, but I found the Dutch (actually Danish) detective and his relationships to be compelling in much the same way as romantic fantasies such as Cupid, Journeyman, and Pushing Daisies. Plus, it was nice seeing New York City in New Amsterdam, not to mention the shout-outs to alma maters SUNY-Binghamton and Queens College. In the absence of Heroes or Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles on Monday nights, this will be a good genre television fix.

Fellow blogger Ken G. discussed upcoming movies of note (including The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, pictured above). We're both looking forward to Iron Man, and I'd add Hellboy 2: The Golden Army to his list. Depending on the timing of co-workers' vacations and St. Louis-based gamer Byron V.O.'s visit next month, I may try to get to the New York Comic-Con.

Janice is visiting her parents in Upstate New York this week to help her mother after her knee-replacement surgery. This coming weekend, Thomas K.Y. and I will be getting together with David I.S., who'll be in the Boston area for the wedding of Nate P. Let's hope the weather cooperates!

Friends, I hope you've had a good week. Happy Birthday to my brother Peter, Dexter V.H., Nick F.J.T., and Nicole P.! Although I've been playing phone tag with Stuart C.G. and Robert A.S., I'm glad to report that Janice's mother and Corbin A.Y. are home from their respective knee surgeries.

At work, I washed out of during the second round of our Jeopardy tournament, but CW's editorial division rooted on Ken G. as he made it to the finals. Unfortunately, I've been too busy to keep to my regular schedule of pool/billiards with Bob R. on Mondays and Thursdays and visiting Bedrock Comics in Framingham, Massachusetts, with Ken or Brian F. on Wednesdays.

I'm also still catching up on reading comic books. However, I can say that, even though Marvel's long buildup to "Secret Invasion" and the retcon of "Spider-Man: One More Day" were bad, Amazing Spider-Man and action/espionage-flavored Captain America have been pretty good. Over on the DC side, as "Countdown to Final Crisis" drags on, I'm still enjoying the post-Eisner Spirit and all-ages Justice League Unlimited and Teen Titans Go, which I know my nephews David and Joshua would enjoy.

In independent titles, the new Zorro looks to be a worthy companion to the Lone Ranger and other recent literary adaptations, such as Dark Horse's sword-and-sorcery Conan. Eric Shanower's Age of Bronze, a retelling of The Illiad, is still the most detailed and carefully researched of these that I've seen.

Speaking of multimedia adaptations, this past weekend, Janice and I watched the direct-to-video Justice League: New Frontier. Much of Darwyn Cooke's graphic novel had to be cut or condensed for the woefully short runtime, but the art and animation were clean, since Cooke's style is close to that of the respected Bruce Timm.

Andrea Romano's voice casting was excellent, including Buffy: the Vampire Slayer and Angel's David Boreanaz as pilot/cosmic hero Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, Bionic Woman's Miguel Ferrer as alien exile J'onn J'onzz/the Martian Manhunter, Doogie Howser's Neil Patrick Harris as speedster Barry Allen/the Flash. Also noteworthy were Dune's Kyle MacLachlan as Superman; Brooke Shields as Jordan's boss and love interest, Carol Ferris; and in the role she was born to play, Xena: Warrior Princess' Lucy Lawless as Wonder Woman.

The plot of New Frontier was mostly intact, showing how the idealistic Justice League emerged from the dark days of the early Cold War. We also watched some of the extra features on the DVD, including a brief history of the Justice League. Overall, I'd give this an 8.5 out of 10, four stars, or an B+/A-, putting it with Marvel's Ultimate Avengers (Vol. 1) and the animated Hellboy: Blood and Iron.

In genre television, with major cast changes coming to the young-adult metahuman drama Smallville, long-running time-travel show Doctor Who, the speculative fiction team in Torchwood, and space opera spin-off Stargate: Atlantis, the season finales or midseason runs of these shows take on new significance. It's a pity that supernatural comedy Reaper is "on the bubble" in terms of renewal.

We'll have to wait and see if the quality of these shows is helped or harmed by the changes after several years of each. The first-season finale of pre-apocalyptic Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles was decent, with some belated character development and persistent plot holes. As co-worker and fellow blogger Angela G. has noted, the nightmare of killer robots may yet be realized.

After watching the series finale of French sci-fi series Skyland on Friday, 29 February 2008, Janice and I both observed that the design and computer animation were impressive, but that the writing could have been stronger. I've caught parts of the cyberpunk CGI anime Appleseed on cable, and we're looking forward to the eventual return of fantasy Avatar: the Last Airbender on Nickelodeon.

I haven't yet watched the series premiere of New Amsterdam, which features an immortal New York detective reminiscent of Highlander: the Series, but Janice liked it, and I can only hope that it is more consistent than the swashbuckling Highlander franchise.

Coming soon: Gaming changes!

Friends and fellow role-players, I recently learned from gamer Beruk A. and co-worker and fellow blogger Ken G. that Dungeons & Dragons co-creator E. Gary Gygax has died at the age of 69.

Even as we enjoy D&D3.5 and look ahead to Fourth Edition, I have fond memories of first playing the boxed sets back in the early 1980s and of finding the pamphlets of the original 1970s version of the game. I've also read several of Gygax's fantasy novels, played in the world of "Greyhawk," and used several of the ideas he helped establish in our hobby.

Gygax will be missed, and we'll remember him and other fallen friends at this week's D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains" and "Holy Steel" sessions.

My thoughts are with Janice's mother Linda, who is recovering from knee-replacement surgery, and friend Corbin A.Y., who also has orthopedic work ahead after a spill this week.

Although the writers' strike is over in Hollywood, we'll have to wait until autumn for new episodes of many television shows, including favorites such as Heroes, Reaper, and Pushing Daisies. Still, there has been no shortage of stuff to watch, even for those of us who aren't big fans of reality programming.

On PBS, Janice and I have been following the "Complete Jane Austen," which is airing as part of the retooled "Masterpiece" (formerly Masterpiece Theater) on Sunday nights. We've also been following a ballroom dancing championship on Wednesday nights, and we caught dog breed (Westminster) and agility (AKC/Eukanuba) contests in the past month.

The closest we get to reality shows is watching Ninja Warrior and Unbeatable Banzuke on G4 or Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network. Janice also watches some home-design shows on HGTV and other channels, but I'm usually busy with various games. Thanks to Stars/Encore/IFC, we've enjoyed "samurai Saturdays" and recent movies such as The Queen, and I hope to catch The Tudors on Showtime this spring.

I've fallen behind on military space opera spin-off Stargate Atlantis and cyberpunk prequel Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles, but I've caught up on Smallville and Torchwood. Although the young adult melodrama on Smallville has been drawn out, at least the presence of Oliver Queen/Green Arrow has encouraged belated character development.

I've previously mentioned how I think a lighter tone is helping the paranormal investigators of Torchwood be more sympathetic and interesting. Parent show Doctor Who will return to the SciFi Channel soon, joined by new spin-off Sarah Jane and computer-aided Sanctuary. I won't miss the "reimagined" Bionic Woman or Flash Gordon, which have been canceled.

Although Psych is also off the air for now, the comedic sleuths will return to USA's Friday night lineup this summer. The revisionist Battlestar Galactica will also be returning soon. While I expect to finish the well-made series, I hope the next crop of genre shows will be a bit lighter in tone.

This week, I've picked up the much-anticipated DVDs of Justice League: the New Frontier. I'll try to review the animated video the next week or so. There are a number of animated superhero series in the works, including Spider-Man, Wolverine and the X-Men, and Batman: Brave & Bold, plus the Batman: Gotham Knight and Wonder Woman direct-to-video releases. Of course, there are also numerous genre films coming this summer!