New Stuff

I've put a chunk of new role-playing stuff on the web-site, mostly having to do with the fantasy campaign that I'm running in a setting called The Land of Neng.  You can access it off the games page. I've also seen a couple of animated movies recently: Toy Story 2 and Princess Mononoke, plus a whole passle of anime on DVD.

Princess Mononoke
Rating: Keen

I confess that I was disappointed in this; I had been eagerly anticipating it for almost a year since I had first heard that it was getting theatrical release in the US.  I absolutely loved the other Miyazaki films that I'd seen (My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service), and even liked the job that they (Disney) did with the dubbing, which never happens.  I'm such a purist (read "snob") that way.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that Mononoke may be the most beautiful animated film ever made, the story falls short on coherency.  Miyazaki's stuff has always been more mood than plot driven, but the simplicity of the story usually lets him get away with it.  I had forgotten, though, how when he is striving for epic scope, as in Nausicaa, he seems to lose sight of the story completely, particularly towards the end. Princess Mononoke is in the Nausicaa mold, rather than Kiki's Delivery Service.   By the time it grinds its way towards a climax of sorts, I had lost all sense of where it was going, or really why I should care.  There are a lot of really cool bits, and if you like anime it's certainly worth seeing once, but I'm not going to rush out and buy the DVD.

My sister Elizabeth's first novel is finally out in bookstores, and I've got to say that even if it weren't by my sister, I would like this book. I'm putting it on my bookstore page, but if you're interested in it, and would like to help her out, it would probably be better if you buy it at your local bookstore.

Precious Passion
by Elizabeth Doyle
Zebra Splendor, a division of Pinnacle
Rating: Neat-O
I'm not a big fan of romances in general, although there have been some that I've read and enjoyed (for one thing, my sister refused to let me read the manuscript until I had read at least three romances of her choosing so that I had a basis for comparison). Since then I've read some others, generally preferring the historicals to the contemporary. That being said, Precious Passion, a historical romance set in 19th century England is, surprise of surprises, a laugh riot. No, really. It's meant to be funny, as well as fulfilling the standard set of romance tropes, and in among the smoldering glances, passionate embraces, and sex scenes hot enough to make me blush there's a keen sense of humor and an eye for the absurd. The hero's butler, in particular, almost steals the show.
   Check it out.