Apr

18

The Secret Lair Comic 0004: Fresh Out of Minions

Filed Under Comics | 4 Comments

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Popularity: 24% [?]

Apr

17

The Secret Lair Episode 0010: What makes a good…ohh, shiny!

Filed Under Books, Introspection, Monologuing | 3 Comments

This episode of The Secret Lair was recorded in an unnamed coffeeshop somewhere in an eastern suburb of the largest city in northeastern Ohio. No baristas were harmed during the recording of this episode, but Kris did some serious damage to a blueberry muffin.

Your Overlords are Old Men or “Infirmateam Assemble!”

  • Decaffeinated coffee? Non-dairy creamer? Artificial sweetener? Who wants to rule a world where such things exist?
  • We do.

Turning Pages

  • Chris has high praise for The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, which was recently nominated for the Compton Crook Award.
  • Kris is reading Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock.
  • We are still reading The Sky People by S.M. Stirling for The Secret Library. Kris is very nearly finished. Are you?

What Makes a Good Novel?

  • Chris wants to be engrossed and transported.
  • Chris likes the poetic style of the 1960’s. Poetic style doesn’t necessarily require the ingestion of psychotropic pharmaceuticals…but it can’t hurt.
  • Chris would like Patrick Rothfuss to rewrite Robert Jordan’s entire Wheel of Time series. Bring on the hate mail.
  • Chris prefers dialog to description.
  • Chris says, “Tolkien was a hack.” I’m paraphrasing.
  • Kris likes lighter fare; what he calls “beach novels” (see James Patterson’s Maximum Ride series).
  • Kris also wants good description, something he feels is lacking in Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series.
  • Chris wants a good mystery novel. The last one he read was by Ellis Peters (Brother Cadfael Mysteries).

Promo!

  • Max Quick: Book Two - The Two Travellers by Mark Jeffrey premieres 01 May 2008 on Podiobooks.com. You can subscribe to Max Quick: Book One - The Pocket and The Pendant at Podiobooks.com, and you should: it’s the first podiobook selection for The Secret Library. More information on the series is available on the official web site.

Books Into Movies

  • Chris doesn’t think The Name of the Wind should be made into a movie; there’s simply too much that would not survive the translation.
  • Kris thinks that translating Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind to film was ill-advised.
  • Kris also hopes that there are no plans to adapt Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides to film.
  • Chris wanders off into Touchy-Feely Land for a few minutes. Someone give that man a hug.
  • …aaaand we’re back. Kris is glad Jurassic Park made the jump from pulp and ink to celluloid.

Evil Experiments

  • The overlords will be meeting each morning at a local coffeeshop for more decaf, powdered non-milk and aspartame.
  • And writing.
  • Chris wants to write flash fiction.
  • Kris wants to write a horror story based on his exposure to countless hours of children’s television. There’s an animal in trouble somewhere.
  • During our daily writing experiments, we will likely make use of resources like Plotstorming.com.

Miscellanea

  • Batman & Robin: Clooney had rigidity issues.
  • Kris ruins The Empire Strikes Back for everyone.
  • Wesley Clifford: not human? You decide.

Lairkeeping

 
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Apr

10

The Secret Lair Episode 0009: No Fools Allowed

Filed Under Books, Games, Introspection, Monologuing, Software, Villainy | 4 Comments

Overlord KrisDue to an unfortunate accident, The Secret Lair’s official stenographer was eaten by a crocodile last week.1 While our search for a replacement continues, it has fallen to me to provide show notes for The Secret Lair Episode 0009.2 Unfortunately, I’m a very busy overlord lately and rather than delay release of the episode and further,3 I’m going to post the scraps4 I’ve got now and fill in the rest once I get an hour or so to myself.

April Fool’s Day

WordPress 2.5

  • …has a new administrator interface. Chris isn’t a fan.
  • …has a new image/media management system…which doesn’t seem to work on The Secret Lair.
  • …has a redesigned Write Post screen. We don’t much care for it.
  • Kris has more to say about WordPress 2.5 on his blog.

Unquiet Desperation

Minion Recruiting Board

  • Thanks to P.G. Holyfield and Scott Sigler, we have a number of job openings at the Lair.
  • Fill out our super-secret minion application form, if you can find it.

The Secret Library

  • Our current novel is The Sky People by S.M. Stirling.
  • Our current graphic novel is Shooting War by Anthony Lappé and Dan Goldman .
  • NEW! At the request of our minions, we have decided to add a podiobook section to The Secret Library. Our first selection is The Pocket and the Pendant by Mark Jeffrey. Subscribe at Podiobooks.com.

RPGs

  • The Dresden Files RPG bleeding edge beta continues.
  • Gunnar scored some WarHammer RPG 2nd Edition sourcebooks and Half-Price Books recently.

Movies and Television

  • Kris saw Spider-Man 3 and wishes he hadn’t.
  • Chris says it was worse than Batman and Robin.
  • Check out How It Should Have Ended. (YouTube)
  • The Spectacular Spider-Man is on the Kids’ WB and is far more entertaining.

Housekeeping

  • We have a feedback address, where you may send us feedback. At The Secret Lair. Dot Com.
  • There’s also a contact form, which no one has used yet. Will you be the first?
  • It is entirely possible to join our official community, should you be so inclined.
  • Our theme music is “Skullcrusher Mountain” by Intertroubadour extraordinaire, Jonathan Coulton.
 
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  1. Let’s not be concerned with who may or may not have forgotten to engage the magnetic couplers in the holding environment. Pointing fingers isn’t going to get us a new stenographer and playing The Blame Game isn’t helping morale. [↩]
  2. Writing the show notes is not punishment. As co-overlord, I’m above punishment, even if you could prove conclusively that it was me. Which you can’t. [↩]
  3. What’s that? Maybe I should have delayed release of the crocodile? Oh, great. That’s very mature. How about this: maybe you should think twice before you go hiring your relatives, okay? People get eaten, gassed, disintegrated, mutated and shunted to other dimensions around here all the time, but when it’s your cousin it’s suddenly a big deal. [↩]
  4. Shut up. Just shut up! [↩]