Rest in Peace, Keith Parkinson...

Keith Parkinson is admittedly one of the best cover artists I have known in my choice of books, having graced me with vivid images of the heroes of my two favorite fantasy authors: David Eddings and Terry Brooks.

Keith passed away last October 26th, due to Lukemia.

Here are a few words from one of Keith's fellow artists and friend, Larry Elmore:

IN MEMORY OF
KEITH PARKINSON
OCT. 22 1958 – OCT 26 2005

Keith had been battling Leukemia for the past 16 months. Because he had such a spirit for life, and love of his family, he fought it every step of the way. He never gave up, his will to live and fight was so strong that I really believed he would win the battle, and at times it look liked he had. His lovely wife Donna kept his friends and fellow artists aware of his ups and downs with a constant flow of emails. She is a wonderful lady. I knew Keith for over twenty years. I met him when he was only 22 years old. Eventually I became to feel as if he was my younger brother. We were brothers at heart. We worked together at TSR and later shared a studio as freelance illustrators. As we persued our careers, we moved to separate parts of the country but, through the years, we kept in touch and would see each other several times each year at conventions. We would have dinner and talk for hours, we grew even closer as we got older. I always looked forward to our dinners, and conversation. I watched his two sons grow into fine young men. He was a good, honest, man and a great artist. All my memories of Keith are good. His death will be a great loss to all his family, friends, and the art world. He leaves a void in our lives and in the world.

Larry Elmore

It's sad to think that such a masterful painter with a beautiful eye for detail is gone, but at least his work endures. If you guys are interested in seeing more of his work, do drop by his website at www.keithparkinson.com

Silktide says...

Interesting. This blog ranks fairly well in user usability.

I never would have guessed. :p

Conversation Piece

Pool Baby, from Verabee



Fascinating in a cartoony sort of way.

Romanian prisoner sues God

From Here

ATHENS, October 18 (RIA Novosti) - A prisoner in a Romanian jail is suing God, Greek state television reported from Bucharest Tuesday.

"God received different material valuables from me, as well as prayers in exchange for promises of a better life. In reality, this did not happen - I found myself in the devil's hands," the plaintiff said.

The convict is serving 20 years in the west Romanian city of Timisoara. He apparently blames God for the troubles in his life and wants God brought to account for failing to fulfill the commitments He undertook and for taking bribes.

The plaintiff said that when he had been baptized in childhood, he concluded a contract with God that had legal effect - God was supposed to protect him from evil.

The plaintiff said the Romanian Orthodox Church, which, according to him, directly represents God, should compensate him for the alleged God-inflicted damage.

In line with the law, the lawsuit was submitted to court. However, as the defendant is neither an individual nor a company, and is not subject to a civil court of law's jurisdiction, the case is unlikely to be heard regardless of how justified the plaintiff's demands may be, court officials said.

Fantastic.

I used to think this lawsuit craziness was restricted to the United States of America (no offense to Americans, but that aspect of your country baffles me). Apparently it's some sort of pandemic.

I dunno about this guy, but personally, there's no point to filing a lawsuit against God.

I dunno what this guy is in prison for of course, perhaps he was wrongly accused? Maybe he should talk to Job and swap stories.

If I wanted violence, I'd make my own.

Things are iffy as of late. I've got a great running HERO game on at the moment centered on young adult Superheroes struggling to balance responsibility for their powers, peer pressure, school and their personal lives. The characters are slick, personable, and admittedly the most complete I've ever run for.

But not all is well in my little patch of RPG real estate. You see, despite the campaign guidelines for the game, there are still character concepts knocking at my door asking to be let in, but just don't fit

In a land where Spider-Man is the norm, the last thing I need is Spawn beside him, tearing people apart.

It won't work.

Sometimes it makes me wonder why some people are so fascinated with violence. Is it a hidden psychological hunger to see pain and suffering? Maybe.

As I said, if I wanted violence, I'd make my own. I'm a flexible GM and even if I'm running a game where cliche is part of the fun, just wait until I get into the mood to run a game where the main purpose is to stay alive.

Wait until I get to running the new World of Darkness.

Hi, I'm Jay, and I am Recreationally Retarded

It just occured to me that I am actually Recreationally Retarded.

A conversation with a friend of mine who just came back from the beach sorta brought it to mind. For one thing I don't swim.

Okay, I admit it, I can't swim.

I also can't ride a bike, or fly a kite either.

I'm not really bitching about it or anything, but it is something that I've noticed about my childhood. As a kid, I spent most of my time at home either a) reading b) fiddling with the computer (which could have been anything from the Commodore 64 that my Uncle sent me to any number of PCs).

I don't really regret it though, I was never really raised to go out and play and do the stuff that kids usually do, like play in the street with the other kids.

To my benefit, I guess I'm the only kid I know who actually read the entire World Book encyclopedia set from A-Z over the period of 2 years.

La-la-lalalala, Sing a happy song...

la-la-lalalala, Bombing all day long!

There's a new advert from UNICEF showing The Smurfs village being bombed by warplanes to help in their anti-war effort.

Apparently, it was given the green light by the Smurf's creator, "Peyo".

To quote the article:

The short film pulls no punches. It opens with the Smurfs dancing, hand-in-hand, around a campfire and singing the Smurf song. Bluebirds flutter past and rabbits gambol around their familiar village of mushroom- shaped houses until, without warning, bombs begin to rain from the sky.

Tiny Smurfs scatter and run in vain from the whistling bombs, before being felled by blast waves and fiery explosions. The final scene shows a scorched and tattered Baby Smurf sobbing inconsolably, surrounded by prone Smurfs.

The final frame bears the message: "Don't let war affect the lives of children."

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Personally, I like the ad. I don't fancy seeing the smurfs die horribly, but it does drive home the message. Besides, if Smurfs dying sends the message and stops real people from dying in war then you have my blessing to inflict genocide on as many Smurfs as you want.

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I imagine Gargamel having a heyday after the bombing though.

"Ho-hoo! Dead Smurfs! This is my lucky day! Let's just hope that they work just as well when I make my first ingot of gold!"

Orson Scott Card give his 2 cents on Serenity

Here's the September 30 OSC Reviews Everything article about what the author of Ender's Game thinks about the movie, Serenity.

To summarize, it is a great film.

Personally, I find that statement to be the gorram truth.

When Serenity comes rolling along to Philippine cinemas, do yourselves a favor. Grab a friend (or fifteen), then drag them all the way to see this movie.

:)

Law's Game Style: what kind of gamer are you?

You scored as Storyteller. You're more inclined toward the role playing side of the equation and less interested in numbers or experience points. You're quick to compromise if you can help move the story forward, and get bored when the game slows down for a long planning session. You want to play out a story that moves like it's orchestrated by a skilled novelist or film director. Storyteller 92% Power Gamer 67% Tactician 67% Specialist 67% Method Actor 67% Butt-Kicker 42% Casual Gamer 17% Law's Game Style created with QuizFarm.com

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Ayep, can't agree more. :p