loonyblog.

Through Audible, I’ve been listening to the audiobook of Kurt Vonnegut Jr’s classic Slaughterhouse-Five recently. It’s a great reading by Ethan Hawke (seriously, he does a great job), and I’ve read the book before, so this is my second time through the world of the book, and that always offers up a different experience (particularly in this case, as it’s an audiobook). In any event, something hasn’t been sitting quite right with me.

(From here on I’m going to be talking in very abstract terms about extremely large casualty reports from World War II…if the thought of this kind of destruction disturbs you (as it rightfully should), stop reading now).

In recent years I’ve casually done a bit of World War II reading, and Vonnegut’s first-hand account of the firebombing of Dresden certainly sounds accurate (and other research backs him up as to the extent of the destruction), but his argument that the attack caused over 120,000 casualties (many of whom were refugee women and children) didn’t seem right. If you consider that the bombing of Hiroshima caused 80,000, this would make Dresden significantly more destructive than the dropping of an atomic bomb (Vonnegut even says as much in the book).

Now, when this book was written in 1969, the bombing wasn’t widely known or reported, making this an extremely important literary work, and outside of that, it’s one of the most significant of the 20th century. However, as I suspected, Vonnegut’s casualty figures came from a questionable source. I poked around a bit, and sure enough, his source was David Irving’s The Destruction of Dresden. David Irving is a Holocaust denier, and a writer who at one point (such as when Slaughterhouse-Five was written) was considered to be a respected historian. Since then however his figures are generally assumed to be overstated across the board as part of a political agenda (read the Anti-Defamation League’s file on Irving for more on that).

The more accurate assessment of the casualties at Dresden is in the 20,000 - 30,000 range. Does this change the impact of the book? Not really. Certain passages take on a different tone, and the general argument that Dresden was a potential war crime has less of an impact now than it did when the book was published with these figures (personally I think more substantial arguments can be made for either the firebombing of Tokyo or the dropping of a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, but that’s just me).

So yes, it’s still a great book, but one that needs to be read with an ear to historical accuracy. I’m between Stephen Ambrose books at the moment (I just finished Band of Brothers recently, and am moving on to D-Day next), and this makes a good counterpoint to his accounts of the war, which certainly don’t shy away from the ugly side of things, but focus more on tales of heroism and camaraderie than potential crimes against humanity.

Well, it took me seven months (almost exactly), but I finished building and painting all the units in the Battle for Macragge set. That’s no small feat, mind you, particularly since I’d never done this sort of thing before.

In all, I painted 18 Tyranids (10 Termagents and 8 Genestealers), 8 Spore Mines, 3 Infestation Markers, 1 Hive Node, a 5 piece Ruined Shuttle, a Fusion Core, 4 Power Field Projectors and 11 Space Marines (7 bolters, 1 flamer, 1 with a rocket launcher, a Sergeant and a Lieutenant). Obviously some came out better than others, but I painted every single one, which is pretty cool.

Next for me is a Dreadnaught (’cuz I think they’re really cool), followed by a full Space Marine Chapter. I’m going to take my time with the Chapter though, as I want to try and do a uniform painting scheme across all the different models (with Macragge they more or less look alike, but the symbols vary from model-to-model). Plus I want to try and come up with something cool for the standard-bearer.

Anyway, here’s a look at my newly painted armies. Again, apologies for the blurriness. My camera really isn’t made for close-ups of small objects (at least it isn’t super Vaselined like the Working Designs photo).

Very sad news today, as Michael Vale, the actor who portrayed Fred the Baker on a series of Dunkin’ Donuts commercials (”It’s time to make the donuts”) over the course of 15 years, has passed away at the age of 83 (thanks Augie).

A little fun fact: I have had a computer named Fred ever since he retired in 1997. The computer keeps changing specs of course, but its network name has always been, and will always be, Fred. The reason for this is I started a new job (at a company that has long ceased to exist) on the very day Fred retired. I was sitting there with my extra-large cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, when I had to name my machine on the network, and of course, I named it Fred. It’s stuck, and we’re coming up on 9 years since then.

Good bye, Fred, or Michael, whichever you prefer. You’re serving them up in a better place now (or not, if you hated that sort of thing).

This story on News24.com claims that “Hollywood executives” (ooh, they’re a crafty lot, those executives) have decided that Brandon Routh is so well endowed that the makers of Superman Returns will actually need to digitally de-enhance his, you know…in order for it not to pose a problem for insecure audiences.

While it is entirely possible that it’s true, I’m willing to bet that it’s not. It just smacks of a story dreamt up by the studio’s PR department. Or Routh’s publicist (what vain male actor in Hollywood wouldn’t want a rumor like this circulating?). Besides, this is the company that brought us bat nipples, so it’s probably not too far fetched to imagine the studio actually chose to emphasize that particular body part.

Either way, it’s completely silly. Thankfully it’s not even a remotely credible source (the story’s attributed to Ananova.com, so you know it’s BS), so it’s not like Inside Edition had to soil their name by reporting this (”cheerleaders who sell” and “granny tasered” clearly are more important this week).

According to SciFi Wire, Warner Bros. is the latest studio to pick up the adaptation of Alan Moore’s Watchmen (previously discussed here and here). While David Hayter had previously been intended to write (and possibly direct) the project, WB is said to be interested in finding someone new for the project.

Hopefully (and I doubt this will ever happen, but you never know), someone, somewhere, will realize that the only way it’ll ever work is if it’s done as a 12 part HBO miniseries. It’s a long shot, but at least it’s at the right studio for such a thing to happen.

SciFi wire is reporting that Bryan Singer has teamed up with Kevin Burns to produce a special feature-length documentary called Look Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman. It’s unclear from the news item if this is specifically about the making of Superman Returns, or something that covers the complete history of Suoerman, but it’s pretty cool nonetheless. Kevin Burns directed Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood, which is one of the best documentaries about a single movie I’ve ever seen. He also did the excellent Behind the Planet of the Apes, a great retrospective of the complete franchise (except for the remake, as it mercifully predated it).

Singer wants this documentary to have its own theatrical release or airing on television, and possibly even a separate DVD release. Either way, it should be interesting to see what he comes up with.

…but this is great. It’s a poem read by Rep. John Dingell (Democrat, MI) on the floor of the House of Representatives in response to this rediculous proposal to stave off an “attack on the symbols of Christmas.”

The poem, in its entirety:

‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through the House,
no bills were passed `bout which Fox News could grouse.
Tax cuts for the wealthy were passed with great cheer,
so vacations in St. Barts soon should be near.

Katrina kids were all nestled snug in motel beds,
while visions of school and home danced in their heads.
In Iraq, our soldiers need supplies and a plan,
and nuclear weapons are being built in Iran.

Gas prices shot up, consumer confidence fell.
Americans feared we were in a fast track to ….. well.
Wait, we need a distraction, something divisive and wily,
a fabrication straight from the mouth of O’Reilly.

We will pretend Christmas is under attack,
hold a vote to save it, then pat ourselves on the back.
Silent Night, First Noel, Away in the Manger,
Wake up Congress, they’re in no danger.

This time of year, we see Christmas everywhere we go,
From churches to homes to schools and, yes, even Costco.
What we have is an attempt to divide and destroy
when this is the season to unite us with joy.

At Christmastime, we’re taught to unite.
We don’t need a made-up reason to fight.
So on O’Reilly, on Hannity, on Coulter and those right-wing blogs.
You should sit back and relax, have a few egg nogs.

‘Tis the holiday season; enjoy it a pinch.
With all our real problems, do we really need another Grinch?
So to my friends and my colleagues, I say with delight,
a Merry Christmas to all, and to Bill O’Reilly, happy holidays.
Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas.

The second V for Vendetta trailer is out! Go check it out at Apple.com. Go for the HD-quality versions if you’ve got the system for it (my iBook can’t handle it, and my desktop just squeaks by with the 1080 version). Anyway, go watch a version and come back after the jump for my thoughts (which may contain a minor spoiler or two).

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We lost a great company this week, as the news hit the web that Working Designs has shut down. Working Designs has published some great titles over the years that would have gone otherwise unreleased in this country. Just some of their titles include Dragon Force for Saturn, the two Lunar titles for PSOne and Saturn, Silhouette Mirage for PSOne and most recently, Growlanser Generations.

I’ll always remember WD for the Lunar games, but also for producing the most lavish special edition game releases we’ve ever seen in this country. While in Japan special edition releases can include such oddities as a life-sized pillow or extremely detailed statuettes, here in the states we get much more subdued packages. But not Working Designs…both the Growlanser Generations SE and the Arc the Lad Collection included game themed wristwatches (among other various other things they managed to cram into the box), and I will never forget the bonus item I got for pre-ordering Lunar 2: Eternal Blue (even if it sadly did not survive my last move).

This is very sad news indeed. As a tribute, I present a picture of all the crap that comes with both Lunar titles (plus Dragon Force for Saturn, just ‘cuz I feel like it). Just look at all that stuff! Real hardcover books as manuals (with developer interviews!), a pendant (that’s really quite heavy), character standees (okay, I never quite got those), soundtrack CDs…just amazing stuff. Farewell, Working Designs. You will be sorely missed.

(Don’t ask me why it looks like I put Vaseline on the lens…my camera’s battery was dead, so I used Heather’s)

Against all expectations, the campaign to revive the fan-developed King’s Quest IX (as mentioned here) has succeeded. Here’s the statement from Vivendi:

After extensive evaluation, Vivendi Universal Games is pleased to announce that the fan developed trilogy project ‘The Silver Lining’ (previously known as King’s Quest IX: Every Cloak Has A Silver Lining), based on characters from Sierra Entertainment’s ‘Kings Quest’ series, has been given approval to continue development. We look forward to seeing the first of its three upcoming chapters, ‘Shadows’, completed soon.

As a result of the negotiating period, the game has been delayed slightly, but hey, at least it’s coming out now!