Inspired: Ys Book I & II

Gentle Reader,

Ys Book I & II
Publisher:  Nihon Falcom & Hudson Soft
System:  TurboGrafx-16 CD, TurboDuo
USA Release:  1990
 
It can be a struggle in this day and age to remember just how primitive home gaming systems were in the late 1980s.  It was very much still the world of Mario Brothers and Donkey Kong, of simple games with simple graphics, basic sound effects, and little if any story.  Games of this age were certainly fun, and some of them were even brilliant.  Zelda, Dragon Quest, Phantasy Star, and others were pushing the boundaries of just what games could do, and even of what they were expected to be.  Yet, there is no denying that we've come a long way, and that the games of today have a complexity we could have scarcely dreamt of twenty-plus years ago, when the medium was still new and rudimentary.

So, I have to wonder if a modern gamer can really understand the utter astonishment that I felt when I first saw Ys Book I & II, the flagship product of the TurboGrafx-16 system's CD add-on.  The TurboGrafx itself was a bit of an also-ran system in an age when Nintendo and Sega were king.  It was the first 16-bit home gaming system, and for that it did gain some notoriety, yet it was still dwarfed by its juggernaut competitors, whose own 16-bit offerings were just over the horizon.

I was fortunate to receive the base TurboGrafx system for Christmas in 1989.  It came as a total surprise.  I had gotten my NES about 18 months earlier and was completely enthralled by it (as was the entire household).  I'd barely discovered game magazines by that time and had no concept of what the future of gaming would entail.  My dad somehow came across the TurboGrafx and decided to pick it up, to my delight, though in retrospect I think he did this for his own enjoyment as much as my own.

I was impressed right away by the graphics and sound of the TurboGrafx.  The presentation was light years ahead of what the NES could do.  I was also blessed with an awesome assortment of games with which to begin my exploration, including the likes of Dungeon Explorer and Neutopia.  But the big shock would come a while later, when we saw the TurboGrafx-CD add-on at an electronics store.  The proprieter had a demo reel going, showing some of the best of what this remarkable new device could do, and the game featured most prominently was Ys Book I & II.  We'd never seen anything like it:  voice acting, gorgeous anime-style graphics, incredible animation, and a mind-blowing Redbook CD soundtrack.  All this in addition to a haunting opening story that set the stage for an exciting, mysterious, dramatic adventure unlike anything seen in a game up to that time.  My dad and I were transfixed by it, and we wanted it, but it was simply out of our price range.  CD technology was the latest thing then and it was anything but cheap.

This longing was fulfilled at last on Christmas Day 1992, when I got my TurboDuo, the next-gen model of TurboGrafx, in which the CD unit was built in.  Best of all, the TurboDuo came with Ys as one of six pack-in games.  It was, of course, the very first game that we popped in, and time had done nothing to dull its glitter.

Everything about the opening of Ys is perfect.  It virtually screams, "This game is brilliant and you are going to love it."  And indeed, especially for its era, the game is a masterwork.  No adventure game or RPG could match its storytelling and complexity, and no other game, period, could hope to outperform it in terms of graphics or sound.  Surprisingly, even the voice acting is top-notch, with a cast almost exlusively made up of first class voice acting talent, including several famous names.

Sadly, I really don't enjoy playing Ys anymore.  I'm a little surprised by this myself, being the big retro-gaming fanboy that I am.  The problem with Ys is that at least a third of the game is spent within Darm Tower and Solomon Shrine, the big final areas of Ys I and Ys II, respectively.  These areas are repetetive and require tons of backtracking, and the thought of slogging through them dulls my desire to play through the game again.  Yet, I find that this is one of the games that I most enjoy watching playthroughs of online, and it's the only game that I ever pop into my computer just for the sake of watching the beautiful opening sequence.  This way, I can avoid the gameplay annoyances but still relive that giddy excitement from so long ago, when I first realized the untold promise of what games would eventually become.

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy

Bigotry and Pigotry on Parade

LOOK AT THE FIRST AND LAST STORIES IN MY GOOGLE NEWS FEED.

THIS IS THE PROBLEM, PEOPLE.

THE DUCK DYNASTY FAMILY IS RICH, POWERFUL, CONNECTED, AND SAFE.  THEIR ABILITY TO LIVE AND BELIEVE AS THEY CHOOSE IS IN NO JEOPARDY.  I’M SO VERY SORRY THAT THEY’RE HAVING TO LEAN ON THEIR FAITH DURING THESE “TOUGH TIMES.”

MEANWHILE, GAYS CAN BE IMPRISONED OR WORSE, JUST FOR BEING GAY, IN MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD.

GIVING A MEGAPHONE TO A HOMOPHOBE EMBOLDENS HOMOPHOBES EVERYWHERE.  IT ISN’T “JUST AN OPINION.”  PEOPLE ARE HURT.  PEOPLE DIE.  CALL OUT BIGOTRY WHEREVER YOU SEE IT.  WE ARE WINNING THE WAR, BUT WE CAN’T STOP NOW.  FIGHT ON!

The Modern Ghost Town

Gentle Reader,

We're on a road to nowhere.

A while back I took a day trip to visit three malls in my local area:  the Center Mall in midtown Omaha, the Brandeis Building in downtown Omaha, and the Southroads Mall in Bellevue.  These malls were built in different eras and in neighborhoods with very different personalities, yet they all have one trait in common.  Though each of them is still open to the public, they are all essentially dead, at least as far as retail business is concerned.  This has been the situation with each of them for well over ten years now.  Of the three, the Center has found a successful second life as an office complex.  Southroads briefly enjoyed such an existence but is now on its way to total abandonment and collapse.  All the while, the historic and quite beautiful Brandeis Building has been trying to reinvent itself as a desirable mixed-use complex of residential and business space, but with decidedly mixed results, at least so far.

A typical hallway at the Brandeis.

Let's look first at the Brandeis.  It was the original home of the JL Brandeis & Sons department store chain, and a destination in itself back when downtown Omaha was a shopping mecca.  (It's actually a great shopping area again, though only due to herculean efforts, following about 25 years of utter neglect and rot.)  Brandeis was bought out by Younkers in the 1980s and the store slowly faded from local consciousness.  I remember visiting the Brandeis many times in my youth, visiting the big store and the rare coin dealer and other shops, as well as eating at the McDonalds downstairs.  A few shops held on for a time after the big store moved out, but these were eventually replaced by office space.  I had to go there a few times in the early 2000s to pay my internet bill, and though there was no shopping to do by then, the place at least felt occupied.

Vacant business fronts at the Brandeis.

The Brandeis today is not in good shape.  The food court on the lowest level is pretty jumping during the week, and the top floors are now home to upscale condos, but woe upon anyone brave enough to explore the other areas of the building.  The first thing one notices is that it is VERY DARK.  These images are lightened up quite a bit because the originals came out almost black.  I can understand the management not wanting to waste money on lighting, but it creates an eerie atmosphere.  The other thing one can't help but notice is that the place bakes in the summer and is freezing cold in the winter.  Again, it's understandable, but it certainly doesn't make the building feel like a welcoming place to be.

Another road to nowhere.  (It's a theme.)

I understand that the condos at the Brandeis are absolutely gorgeous, and I can believe that.  The building itself is exquisite to look at, with lots of gargoyles, external lighting, and frilly decorations that give it a very Victorian feel.  The rest of the place though is foreboding and creepy, and also a feng shui nightmare, due to the way that the originally expansive areas have been divided up.  I was very surprised, while climbing a staircase that was labelled "ROOF ACCESS," to round a corner and find my face just inches away from a dark ceiling.  It really gave me a shock, like something from the Winchester Mystery House.  So, good luck to you, Brandeis.  I hope you can turn it all around, but...

Not much to do at the Center, really.

Next up is the Center Mall.  The Center was another Omaha landmark for decades.  It was actually one of the first enclosed malls ever built.  The DNA of the typical indoor mall is evident here, but one can also see that the whole concept was still in its early stages, as the setup of the Center is a bit off.  The mall consists of several public spaces over a 5-story structure.  What's odd is that some of the public spaces were originally connected only by the anchor stores, meaning that to get from one wing to the other one had to pass through the anchor stores.  This would have made good business sense for the anchors, but those anchors are no longer there, so to explore the place thoroughly, one has to go outside and walk around to one of the other exterior entrances.  One is at least shielded from the elements while doing so by the Center's other odd feature:  the entire structure is enclosed by a cage-like parking garage that winds along the outside of it.  This makes parking very convenient as all spaces are essentially right outside one door or another, but it has the side effect of giving the interior a sort of murky lighting level.  It always feels like a cloudy day inside the Center.

But at least it's clean.

With all of that being said, however, the Center was easily the happiest point on the tour.  It's sad to see all of the stores gone, as many of them were still hanging on even into my teen years, including a semi-prosperous Younkers anchor store.  Still, the entire mall is at a very high level of occupancy due to a large number of office-type businesses that have moved in.  There's no food court, but I did find self-serve snack stations, as well as a convenience store and a flower shop.  The place was empty on the weekend, but even with the lackluster lighting, it felt alive and upbeat.  Perhaps not as much as when there was both a bowling alley and a movie theater on site, but still, it's not bad, and not even slightly spooky.

The monolith.

I really wish I had a better camera.  My flip phone just can't capture the degree to which the Center is a veritable time capsule of 1960s aesthetics.  Wood panelling and dark brown tile abound, and all of the original (and quite distinctive) Center signage is still proudly in place.  The best part for me was the directory.  While the listings have been kept up to date (near as I could tell, anyway), everything about it screamed 1960s.  Today we're used to upright directory displays that are brightly colored and lit.  The Center's directory is a flat, black slab covered in tiny white backlit lettering.  It looks very much like a background prop from 2001: A Space Odyssey.  What a find, just so awesome!

Former anchor store entrance at Southroads.

The last stop on our tour is Southroads Mall.  This was by far the saddest point for me.  The Brandeis and Center were blips on the radar from my childhood, but Southroads, throughout my childhood and teen years, was THE mall in my world.  I suspect this is the case for most people between, say, 30 and 80 who live or lived in southern or eastern parts of the Omaha metro.  It was easily the smallest mall in the region, but dammit, it had heart.  Southroads was the little mall that could.  It was dwarfed by Crossroads, didn't have the ritzy appeal of Westroads, and was hopelessly dated next to the sparkling Oakview, but it remained the best place to shop for a huge section of the community.  The other malls were just too far away, so Southroads filled an important niche, and it did it well!

Just me and the tumbleweed.

There's been a lot of talk locally about what it was that killed Southroads Mall.  It's not difficult to explain the decline of this mall; the only controversy is in how great a role was played by each of the major factors.  For one, Southroads is on the extreme east side of the metro, whereas Omaha is always growing explosively to the west (as necessitated by geography).  So, as West Omaha grew and people moved west and new malls were developed out there, business shrank at Southroads.  There's also the fact that even with multiple ambitious facelifts, with bright paint and large exterior windows, the Southroads building could never be made to really feel like the newer, sleeker malls.  The most important factor, though, at least to my mind, was the development of the Kennedy Freeway.  It used to be that all traffic south, toward Kansas City and other areas, passed Southroads.  The final spiral of Southroads began after the construction of the freeway, and a quick drive down Fort Crook Road will show that the entire area has been economically blighted ever since.  That area is essentially an appendage on the south side of town, and with the cross traffic cut off, there was little to keep people coming through the area.  So, perhaps the death of Southroads was inevitable.  I tend to think so, much as I hate to say it.

Remember when...?

I moved away from southeast Omaha years ago, so I probably wouldn't shop at Southroads anymore even if it was still like it used to be.  Still, I get a little bit misty-eyed when I think back to the hubub of Southroads at Christmas, or eating lunch with my granny at the Woolworth's diner, or being treated to a new toy at Kay Bee and a gluttonous lunch at Pisa Pizza afterward.  Southroads was also the initial haunt of my teenage mall escapades, as it still had a lot of its old life left back in the mid-90s.  Even then, though, I think we all knew that the writing was on the wall.

Sorry, we're closed.  No, really.

The most fascinating part of the visit, I thought, was finding that the entire Southroads movie theater is still intact, from the ticket window to the concession area to the individual theaters themselves.  This came as a huge surprise to me, and I flashed back to all of the movies I'd seen there:  The Neverending Story II, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Hocus Pocus, The Rocketeer, Beauty and the Beast, and so many others.  I think the last movie I saw there was The Blair Witch Project, so the theater was still up and running around 1999 or 2000.  Not sure when it closed, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of the last elements to hang on.

Let's end it as we began it.

So what's there now?  Not much, really.  There's a gym that seems to be doing all right, and a restaurant, and a nail salon, and a couple of other small this-and-that.  The legendary Game Gallery arcade is long gone, as are all of the familiar stores, and even TD Ameritrade, who single-handedly propped up the mall for years by using the old Brandeis/Younkers suite as office space.

Is it sad to see these much-loved malls as they are today?  Yes, I have to say that it really is very sad indeed.  These aren't the only subjects I could have looked at, either.  The Crossroads Mall, situated at the busiest intersection in Omaha, died out rapidly in just a few years and is now slated for demolition.  Parkfair, an abortive attempt to jumpstart commerce near the Brandeis in the 1980s, died an early death and is now a parking garage.  Mall of the Bluffs, a very classy mall in neighboring Council Bluffs, also recently imploded.   I guess even the nicer malls are only safe until the next newest mall opens up.  It's really a downer to think about.

Humans seem to have evolved to expect permanence, but permanence is one luxury not afforded by life or nature.  Nothing lasts forever, even though it seems like it might, during the happy times.  That's just the way it is, and how it will probably always be.  C'est  la vie.

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy

Descent With Modification

The Donna Reed Show
Network:  ABC
Aired:  1958-1966

I don't know about you, but I find this video almost hypnotic.  It demonstrates how descent with modification--evolution, in other words--is present not only in biological lifeforms, but in all things.

For those who have yet to watch the video, it is simply a montage of all of the opening sequences from the run of this classic TV show.  The changes to the sequence from year to year tend to be mild, yet there is no denying the ultimate transformation from the demure 1950s culture of Season One, where Mom stays at home, to the much more dynamic mid-60s world of Season Eight, where Mom is dressed for success and headed out the door right behind Dad.

For someone of my generation (I was born 21 years after the show premiered), it is kind of remarkable to sit back and think about the changes that took place in the world while this show was on:  the blossoming of television, the civil rights movement, women's lib, the Cuban missle crisis, the Kennedy assassination, and on and on.  Donna's fictional family was subject to these forces along with everyone else, and we can get a sense of that through the changes in styles and the family's daily routine.  Their world starts out rather quiet and simple, orderly, but it becomes increasingly brassy and complex with the years.  Sure, part of this was due to no more than the basic tropes inherent to sitcoms, such as the constant need to inject fresh dynamics to keep the viewers' interest.  Yet, even those tropes were shaped by the events of the age.  You really can't separate out the parts.

A lot more than Donna's hair changed in those years, and we'd do well to remember that.  The world moved on, and even the blissful denizens of TV Land could not escape the inevitable.  Donna's hair was just the signpost marking the time.

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy

Genesis Does

Gentle Reader,

I was one of those exceptionally lucky children who didn't have to choose between Sega and Nintendo--I had both, not to mention a much-loved Turbografx-16.  So, I was never a big believer in the whole "console wars" thing.  However, I do remember enjoying Sega's rather infamous "Genesis Does" advertisements that showed up in gaming magazines from around 1989-1991 or so.  The cheap shots at Nintendo had zero impact, but I still loved these advertisements, because they did such an excellent job of outlining all of the reasons why the games being showcased were interesting, fun, and yes, cool.

 

Ah, Phantasy Star II...!  I wrote about my love for it on this blog once before.  I know that a lot of modern gamers find it stiff and unforgiving, and it is, but it has to be appreciated in the context of the times.  When this game debuted, gamers were living in a world of crude graphics, nonexistent characters, and barebones storytelling.  Compare Phantasy Star II to the original NES release of Dragon Warrior (i.e. Dragon Quest) and you'll get the picture.  These games were on sale in the same year.  Phantasy Star II represented a quantum leap forward in gaming technology.  So on that score at least, the ad is completely truthful.  And they just did such a great job of making even the most mundane gameplay elements sound fresh and exciting!

 

 

Fatal Labyrinth wasn't really my thing, but what I remembered most about this ad was the preview for Phantasy Star III.  The single, simple screen shot provided here has no context and says nothing about the gameplay or story, but I was SO EXCITED!  I must have stared at that picture for months.  I remember getting the game just after my birthday after all that anticipation.  My extremely patient mother let me play all night, even though we only had one TV and I'm sure she had shows that she'd like to have watched.  It still makes me smile just thinking about it.

It's said that a lot of people found Sword of Vermilion disappointing, but I really enjoyed it.  The amount of detail that went into this preview was incredible, and once again, it did a fine job of presenting the game as something new and interesting.  It was ages before I had a copy of my own, but I remember renting it many, many times and enjoying every minute of it.

These scans were found online, but what made me think of them was some recent spring cleaning I did.  I found a box of old Gamepro and Electronic Gaming Monthly issues that I had saved from the 1988-1994 era.  I threw most of my game magazines out years ago, but I made a point of it to save issues that had previews, articles, or walkthroughs of my most favorite games.  And, to my delight, each of the ads shown above were to be found in those issues.  We may need to revisit them in a future posting.  For now, thank you for indulging me in this little trip down memory lane!  I hope you enjoyed it!

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy

Bluebeard

Gentle Reader,

It's no secret that many of the most famous fairy tales, in their oldest written versions, are quite violent and dark, and not at all suitable for children--at least, not according to contemporary standards.  The disturbing content of these stories can be excused, to some degree at least, by the stories' obvious purpose as cautionary tales.  Others, however, are more difficult to excuse and, I would argue, much more difficult to explain.

Bluebeard is my personal favorite of the classic fairy tales, and it definitely fits the criteria for being both macabre and inscrutable.  The appeal of this story is precisely its darkness and the vagueness of the overarching lesson or point, which is hinted at in various ways in various retellings, but always seems bizarrely slanted and beyond easy reach.  I also like the fact that, while Bluebeard is unquestionably part of the classic fairy tale canon, it is also one of the more obscure stories (at least here in the United States).

I've seen it speculated that Bluebeard is based on some ancient story only half-remembered, or that it is an exaggeration of real events.  I find this theory compelling, simply because of the incongruent and unusual structure of the story.  For example:  the new husband's blue-tinged beard is a source of alarm for his young bride, yet while we might infer that it is due to some curse or enchantment, the origin and meaning of the color are never revealed.  This is contrary to many other fairy tales, where the characters are either basic archetypes lacking distinguishing features, or where their distinguishing features are key story points whose purposes are made clear.  Also, while it is apparent that Bluebeard murders his wives as retribution for their inevitable betrayal of him, we are given no clue as to why Bluebeard killed his first wife.  The others were murdered for entering the forbidden room and finding the corpses of their predecessors, but this obviously could not have applied to the first.  Did the beard's blue color stem from this original, mysterious murder?  We simply don't know.

As with most fairy tales, there are any number of ways for the story to be understood, and certainly, there is no shortage of scholarship on the subject.  Personally, I think that the most interesting angle is Bluebeard's seeming compulsion to place himself in a situation, over and over again, where his wife is driven to betray him.  He seems to fear the betrayal, but also expect it, seemingly not realizing the degree to which it is all a self-fulfilling prophecy, and therefore needless.  Or perhaps his strange blue beard really is the mark of a curse, where forces beyond Bluebeard's control force both himself and his wives into the same doomed scenario despite the best-laid plans and purest intentions.

I rather like this interpretation.  Bluebeard is undeniably mad, and a figure of terror, but I think that the story works on so many more levels if he is victim as well as monster.  In the end, he dies by the hand of his final wife's valiant rescuers without offering any explanation for what he does, and this is appropriate.  Real monsters rarely provide an accounting that their victims could understand, and those of us who survive are often left to invent our own explanations.  This is, after all, the origin of fairy tales, legends, and all stories, really--the search for meaning, imperfect and elusive, in both the miracles and horrors of the world.

Bluebeard on Wikipedia
Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics, unaired Bluebeard episode

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy

Addendum to Previous Entry

Gentle Reader,

I went back to visit the scene of the accident at Chalco Hills, as described in my previous post.  It's actually a very beautiful park; well-maintained, spacious, bright, and quite friendly.  There's nothing about it to indicate that there was ever tragedy in its past.  I suppose this is by design, since the park is supposed to be a place for people to relax.  Yet, I can't help feeling that it's also a sin of omission.

The construction of the artificial Wehrspann Lake and surrounding nature reserve necessitated the closure of what had been two significant country roads:  Cornhusker Road (which is a still major traffic artery to the east) and 156th Street.  Mapquest illustrates this well.  The Omaha area street system is a tidy grid pattern, which makes getting lost rather difficult.  So, it is easy to see how Cornhusker and 156th, two brackets in the grid, are interrupted by the park.

Here is the western bank of the lake.  There is a small parking lot which is connected to the walking trails that circle the lake, as well as a fishing area.

An aerial view reveals that the fishing area and connecting trail are actually a remnant of what was Cornhusker Road.  The old road disappears right into the lake.  It's difficult to see this in person, but Mapquest's satellite view makes it plain.

To the immediate west is an area where the modern walking trail and the original road run side by side.

The walking trail terminates in a small cul-de-sac in a new, upscale development, where the paved, modern Cornhusker Road picks up.  None of this was here at the time of the accident.  Though not far from town proper, this area was wilderness in 1984.

Here is the view looking eastward, back the way I had come.  The lake itself is blocked out by the hill, but there is a good view to the far side of the lake where the distinctive Sapp Brothers "big coffee pot" watertower stands.  The continuation of the modern Cornhusker Road runs alongside it.

The old 156th Street is a lot harder to find, at least in person.  Portions of it survive as part of the modern walking trail system.  In other places its existence is only indicated by less abundant grass and an unnaturally symmetrical absence of trees.

There's nothing inherently eerie about this place.  Yet, there is no denying the strangeness of walking down a trail that used to be the very road where a tragic event unfolded.  For me at least, visiting that place was a moving experience.

Do you have a place like this in your life, maybe tucked way, way back in your childhood?  If so, go there.  Get back in touch with the things that had an impact on you.  Keep alive your memories of those who preceded you, and also of yourself, the way that you used to be.

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy

In Memoriam

Gentle Reader,

It's funny sometimes, the things that we remember.

I would have been about four years old.  I was riding in the back of my parents' old Duster, as I often did, wishing I could see out the window.  Sometimes my folks would stack lawn furniture cushions for me on the seat so that I didn't miss anything as we drove by, but maybe they didn't think to do so on this particular day.  On this day, though, I was especially wishing that I could see better.  It was a bright spring day that felt like summer, and we were going to the place where the young people had died.

I didn't understand the entire story, but I had picked up enough from overheard bits of conversation.  Two kids from the neighborhood had gone out partying one night and somehow driven themselves into the reservoir, where they died.  At the time, I didn't see how that could happen.  If the car went into the water, why couldn't they just open the doors and get out?  It was a long time before I understood that sometimes things aren't that simple.

I remember my dad driving around for a bit.  Maybe he wasn't sure how to get there, initially.  Soon though we were parked at the top of the dam, looking down into the artificial lake.  I've been back there since and the dam isn't very high at all, but it looked a lot higher at the time.  My mom was telling my dad not to get so close to the edge, and he was ignoring her.  But I can understand why she felt uneasy, considering what had happened there.

I always remembered this event, even though I didn't know the names of the victims or the precise date or any of the other major details.  I never heard about the story from anyone else.  A few times I asked other people my age if they remembered hearing about a young couple who died at the lake, but no one did.  They were probably just too young to remember.  Besides, they had probably never gone to the actual site and listened to their parents argue over it, the way I had.

Just recently there was a story in our local news about prom season and the Post-Prom Party tradition that all of our local schools are a part of.  The reporter explained how the tradition originated in 1984, when two young people died at Papio Dam Site 20 after leaving the Millard South High prom.  There was a lot of construction around the dam site at that time.  Engineers were building what would eventually become Wehrspann Lake and the Chalco Hills Recreation Area.  There was a gravel road with no street lights, and a "Road Closed, Bridge Out" sign that was apparently missed.  The young people plummeted off of a cliff and found themseles upside down in the water.  They didn't have a chance.

The submerged vehicle wasn't discovered for nearly a month.  Over the intervening weeks the community engaged in a massive search effort which ultimately spanned several states.  Flyers and buttons were produced and passed around the region.  Theories about the couple running off together were dismissed.  Rather, the two were thought most likely kidnapped.

Local schools started hosting Post-Prom events the year following.  It was eventually proven that the young people were not intoxicated at the time of the accident, but if there had been a safe afterparty for them to go to, perhaps the tragedy would have been avoided.

It sounds like an urban legend, a ghost story, but it's not.  I don't recall anyone making a campfire tale out of this one.  What's sad to me is that more people don't remember.  I know a lot of people around my age who graduated from the Millard area schools and none of them recalled the story when asked.  This seems wrong to me.

Beth Ann Brooks would be around 46 years old today.  Brian McEwen would be almost 50.  I understand that their families still live in the area.  I was only a little kid back then but I remember.  I remember looking out the window of our old Duster and squinting against the sun as my parents argued without quite meaning it.  I remember looking down at the clear blue water and wondering what it was like to drown.  This is what I remember, but I wish that everyone around here remembered something about this story.  The least we can do for those who die is to remember them.

Beth Ann Brooks, age 17 in 1984 | Brian McEwen, age 20 in 1984

Archived news story about the disappearance
Archived news story about the discovery
About the Millard Schools Post-Prom

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy

MADtv

Gentle Reader,

OMG OMG OMG.  There are few shows that I have ever loved as much as I loved MADtv.  I missed the first few seasons, which were on when I was in high school, but I became addicted to this show during college and watched it regularly through the end of its run.  It was a different type of humor than SNL or other late night shows, and maybe it wasn't for everybody, but it was definitely just right for me.

I could probably do 25 posts about my favorite MADtv skits, but here are just five of (IMO) the funnest MADtv moments of all time.  If you have more, feel free to post about it in a comment!

5.) Crest Whitestrips
This one might be funnier if you remember the actual commercial that was airing at the time, which would have been circa 2003ish.  But, give it a go even if you don't.  It is hilarious!

4.) Mariah Carrey "Love Muffin"
Here's a great short clip of Debra Wilson imitating Mariah Carey as only she can.  This is a sendup of MTV's (awful) TRL as well as a certain tendency Mariah apparently had back in the late 90's to lose her marbles now and again.

3.) Keeping Up with the Kardashians
Here's one from 2007 or thereabouts.  Normally I would say that the less said about the Kardashians the better, but this skit just hits all the right notes.  Perverse, annoying, and upsetting notes, but the right ones just the same.

2.) Yvoone Criddle on The People's Court
I will never understand why this amazing recurring character only appeared in two episodes!  As you will quickly discover, the deal with Yvoone is that she does not like to be crossed and thinks that virtually any retaliation is justified.  Watch the fireworks and enjoy!

1.) Let's Be Honest
I love this skit so so so much.  This aired somewhere around 2007 but my friends and I quote it to this day.  You have known these girls, or been one, or wished you were one.  And I don't care if it sounds weird, okay?  I'm just being honest...

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy

OMNI Magazine archive now online!

Gentle Reader,

OMNI Magazine, for those not familiar with it, was a futurist-themed magazine published from 1978 to 1995.  OMNI was, without a question, one of the hallmarks of my childhood.  My dad started picking up issues now and again sometime around 1985, when I was about six years old.  I remember thumbing through the magazines eagerly, admiring the bizarre and fantastical pictures and asking my dad to explain some of the loftier articles to me.

My dad kept many of his issues of OMNI and eventually gave them to me.  I am eternally grateful for that, because OMNI was one of the influences that led me toward the writing craft.  Looking back, I can see how the tastes of OMNI's editors had a profound effect on my own fiction preferences and storytelling style.  For those who don't know, pretty much all of the stories are either straight science fiction or some other type of speculative fiction (including a ton of dystopias and alternate histories, which are my favorite, plus a dash of horror, mystery, and plain old weirdness).

I've been wishing for about 20 years that I could go back and re-read all of those classic issues.  I still have a stack of mags from the mid-90's, by which time I had my own subscription, but all of those much-loved 80's issues, the ones that were most critical to me, are long lost.

Well, now my dream has come true!  Archive.org has almost the entire run of OMNI available to read and download on their site.  There are still a couple of issues missing, but it doesn't look like that will be the case for long.

Here are recommendations for just a few of my most favorite stories, all of which are available in the archive:

"Some of My Best Friends are Americans" by Francois Camoin (May 1980)
"Listening to Brahms" by Suzy McKee Charnas (September1986)
"The Evening the Morning and the Night" by Octavia E. Butler (May 1987)
"Forever Yours, Anna" by Kate Wilhelm (July 1987)
"The Legless A" by Patricia Highsmith (April 1988)
"In a World Like This" by Kancy Kress (October 1988)
"The New Floor" by KW Jeter (October 1988)
"His Powder'd Wig, His Crown of Thornes" by Marc Laidlaw (September 1989)
"Kool King" by John Skipp & Craig Spector (April 1990)
"In the Country of Tattooed Men" by Garry Kilworth (September 1990)
"Tower of Babylon" by Ted Chiang (November 1990)
"The Preservation of Lindy" by Samuel Delaney (May 1992)
"The Einstein Express" by John Kessel (December 1993)

Check them out!!!

OMNI Magazine at Archive.org

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy

Rinoa = Ultimecia?

Gentle Reader,

All right, this is a Final Fantasy VIII thing, so feel free to skip if you aren't into that game.

Wow, I just discovered that there is this big controversy among fans of Final Fantasy VIII about whether or not Ultimecia is a future version of Rinoa.  I am really surprised because, when I played this game back in the day, I thought it was pretty obvious that you are supposed to come away from the final battle with this possibility in mind.

I think it would be wrong to say that Rinoa is Ultimecia, or that the game intends for you to believe that Rinoa is Ultimecia.  Rather, I think the storyteller is having a bit of fun with the player.  The storyteller wants to plant the idea of there being a connection, but the question is never really answered.  There isn't necessarily a correct answer at all.  Still, I was really surprised that so many people insist that this idea comes totally out of left field or is otherwise absurd.

I'm not going to recount the entire Rinoa/Ultimecia theory here, but I will remind the reader of just a couple of points.

- Ultimecia's costume is essentially a duster, like Rinoa's, and it also includes a wing motif, as does Rinoa's.

- Ultimecia's castle stands on the spot that Rinoa and Squall promised to return to if they ever had to find each other.

- While on the Ragnarok, Rinoa tells Squall that she wants time to stand still.  This is also what Ultimecia wants, ultimately.

- Squall idolizes the lion, and he has a lion necklace which he calls Griever.  Rinoa is the only person with whom Squall shares the idea of Griever.  Later, Zell promises to make a ring for Rinoa to match Squall's necklace.  Later still, the player can find a GF called Doomtrain that is housed within a ring.  Then, at the end of the game, Ultimecia summons "the ultimate GF," which turns out to be... Griever.  So, the idea is that Griever was more than just an idea, and that it was in fact a GF that came to be housed within the ring, and to which Ultimecia was junctioned.

- As described more than once during the game, junctioning a GF causes the user to lose parts of his/her memory.  This could explain why Ultimecia does not seem to recognize the heroes when they confront her.

It has often been said that Square officially denied the idea of Rinoa being Ultimecia (though I have yet to find a cite for this).  However, even if this is the case, then how does one explain a few oddities that appear in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, in which Ultimecia is a playable character?

Point #1 - Ultimecia's unique weapons are all weapons that were used by Rinoa in Final Fantasy VIII.

Point #2 - When Ultimecia and Squall meet, Ultimecia's way of greeting Squall is to ask him if he wants to dance.  This is similar to the first time that Squall met Rinoa, at which point Rinoa asked him to dance.

Seems to me like the folks behind Dissidia are playing with the player, and toying with the idea that these two characters are in fact the same person.  That doesn't make it canon, but it underscores that it isn't completely out of bounds to draw such a connection.

Again, I am not saying that Rinoa is or must be Ultimecia.  But, I do not understand why people say that the idea is unfounded.  It seems to me like everything about Ultimecia is designed to hint at the possibility of her being Rinoa.  But, whether or not it is actually the case is for each individual player to decide.  That's all!

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy

Making It After All

Gentle Reader,

 I can't express how much I love this little sequence.

This is a great show opener for a couple of reasons.  For one, it doesn't fall into the trap of using random, out of context clips from various episodes in place of a more substantive opening.  I HATE opening sequences like that, even though just about every show I grew up with used them.  They don't convey any of the meat of the story or characters, and it's just lazy all around.

This sequence is the polar opposite of that.  It's amazing how much is conveyed in a 45 second montage.  Mary is moving away and starting a new career.  She's leaving behind everybody she knows, and they're going to miss her, but they're also happy for her.  Upon arrival in the big city, Mary is overawed by her new surroundings.  Time goes by, and it starts to sink in that this really is her new life.  By the time she realizes it, she loves the way her life is going.  She's made it.

Who wouldn't want to feel like that, just 30 years old and embarking upon an exciting new chapter?  I felt like this when I had a huge promotion just a few months after my 30th birthday.  Now, three years later, I feel like that again.  I feel like things are going great for me, in work and also with my personal creative endeavors.  It's easy to get sidetracked or discouraged, but in my better moments, I feel excited.  I feel just like Mary does in this clip.

Will I make it after all?  Well, I guess I don't know yet.  But hope and optimism sure are preferable to the alternatives.  Best of luck to all of us.

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy

The Good and the Bad of Fanfiction

Gentle Reader,

I used to write a lot of fanfiction when I was younger.  This is something that I admit to with more than a little embarassment.  It is widely thought that writing fanfiction is one of the nerdiest things that you can do, and frankly, I don't disagree.  It is also the case that most fanfiction is really, really terrible.  A quick Google search will confirm as much.

With that being said, I don't think my experiences with fanfiction were a waste of time, because they were a perfect opportunity for me to practice my writing, and hopefully to improve it, too.  The way I see it, fanfiction provides a lot of little crutches that can be very helpful to a writer-in-training.

1.) Many of the details of the fictional world and its characters are already established.  The writer can skip a lot of fatigue-inducing exposition and instead move right into the meat of the story.

2.) Since fanfiction is based on existant works, there are certain "rules" already in place as to how the fictional world operates.  Fanfiction is a playground, but it's a structured one.  Having a structure enforced upon the apprentice writer (even if only loosely) can provide good lessons, as well as a good challenge and a healthy dose of plain old fun.

3.) Regardless of what work fanfiction is based on, that work is bound to have an online community of fans.  These fans, or at least a portion of them, are a built-in audience for fan works.  This is great, because it allows writers to get immediate feedback on their work from other people who love the source material just as much as the writer does.  On the flipside, this can also mean exposure to critics, including very harsh ones, and this is important, too.  Writers need to develop a thick skin, because even the most brilliant writers encounter people who just don't care for their work.

A lot of people consider fanfiction a total waste, both to create and to read.  To that I say... well, maybe, but sometimes, maybe not.  I don't regret my time spent writing fanfiction.  Even if nobody reads it, and even if I look back on some of it and cringe, all of it helped me to hone my craft.  There's never anything to regret in that.  And besides, once in a while I will encounter a piece of fanfiction that really captured the spirit of the source material, or took it in a thrilling new direction that didn't seem to "break the rules" too much.  And since when is a good read ever a waste of tme?

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy

Atheist Prayer

Gentle Reader,

I used to be a Christian but have become an atheist over the course of my life.  Being an atheist, however, does not mean that I have lost certain behaviors or patterns of thought that came naturally to me in my previous existence.  For example, I find myself wanting to pray for the safety of a friend or loved one who is in a potentially dangerous situation.  Or, I might find myself wanting to pray for answers or for a sense of peace when confronted with an especially difficult problem.

This impulse to reach out to something beyond ourselves is a natural part of the human condition.  In many aspects of our daily existence, we repeatedly call upon experts, authorities, and others who have knowledge or access that we do not, as we work to resolve various situations.  It isn't difficult to imagine how this impulse can lead to "calling upon the ultimate" when we are faced with the deepest and most important questions in life.

A theist is comforted by the belief that he can call upon the almighty governor of the universe in pursuit of answers, but an atheist does not have this option.  With this being the case, I think it can be helpful to have some other thing to focus one's hopes and intentions upon when working through stresses.  This "other thing" is by necessity something of our own imagining, and is therefore not a real god, being, or presence of any kind.  Even so, having this "other thing" to focus on can help to make us feel like we made ourselves heard, even if only to ourselves, just as having a strong vocabulary can make it easier to make our thoughts specific and definite, both when communicating with others, and also when talking inside of our own heads.

For me, this "other thing" takes the form of the old Greek pantheon.  Obviously I do not believe that the Greek gods are real in any sense of the word.  However, because there are so many of them, and because each of them represents certain specific things, they are useful as something to focus on when confronting various issues.  Again, it's not that I expect anyone outside of myself to hear my call and respond to it.  The "gods" simply give me something to focus on while I crystalize my hopes and intentions.  There is a certain peace in saying to one's self, "I explored my feelings, and this is what I truly feel, and I sincerely hope that however it turns out is for the best," and then sending that intention out of one's self into the world.  It's releasing an emotional burden.  Sure, it's just a trick of the human psyche, but it's a powerful one, and probably part of the reason why theistic belief developed in the first place.

Which gods relate to which areas of life is a pretty flexible question, but here is how I would summarize it.

Aphrodite - beauty, love, romance, sex
Apollo -  art, creativity, hobbies, self-improvement
Ares - competition, conflict, fitness, sport
Artemis - independence, introspection, perseverance, self-determination
Athena - academics, justice, philosophy, reason
Demeter - horticulture, moderation, nutrition, wellness
Dionysus - entertainment, food, frivolity, pleasure
Hades - death, loss, mortality, separation
Hephaestus - advancement, finances, obligations, work
Hera - communication, empathy, relationships, understanding
Hermes - change, emergencies, planning, travel
Hestia - community, domestics, family, friendship
Poseidon - animals, balance, nature, resources
Zeus - questions of the ultimate and the existential

I don't know if this idea will resonate with anyone else, but I was thinking deeply on it today, and decided to share my thoughts with the world.  Take it or leave it, and use in good health.

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy

Transformers Decoys

 Gentle Reader,

Boy, does this take me back!

I absolutely adored Transformers as a kid. Transformers:  The Movie came out just a couple of weeks before my seventh birthday, and my dad took me to see it.  That ended up being the best birthday of my childhood.  I had just fallen in love with the new characters introduced by the movie, and I ended up getting almost the entire cast!

The movie characters remain my favorites to this day.  I know that many fans of Transformers are kind of ambivalent about the movie and its cast, but dammit, I imprinted on them or something.  So I was delighted when the 1986 core characters continued to play a central role in the overall storyline, as shown here, in this 1987 mini-comic for the "decoys" gimmick.

Featured are Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Kup, Blurr, and Springer, as well as Galvatron, Scourge,  Cyclonus, and some random Sharkticons.  That is most definitely NOT First Aid, however.  It is clearly Ratchet, who was no longer available in 1987, due to having been rather cavalierly killed off in the movie the year before.  So, they had to flub and just sort of pretend that it was First Aid.  Lame.

Arcee is nowhere to be seen, unfortunately.  Poor Arcee, she could get no love back then. Not from Hasbro and not from whoever drew this comic.  But I loved you, Arcee!  I remember searching shelves for your action figure, and hoping against hope that they'd release you as a Headmaster.  They never did, but I still love you anyway!

Wheelie and Wreck-Gar are also absent, but... does anyone really care?  Yeah, didn't thnk so.

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy

Aesthetics of Voltron

Gentle Reader,

 I still enjoy watching the 1980s cartoons that  I grew up with.  Some of them hold up remarkably well, despite  simplistic storytelling and rather two-dimensional characters.  Transformers and Jem impress me with the heart and care that went into their production, despite the fact that they feel dated today.  He-Man and She-Ra are amusing despite their over the top, hammy, outrageous voice acting.  G.I. Joe is an absolute treat, even on a more grown-up level (the Sunbow series, anyway).

I am sad to say, however, that Voltron is almost unwatchable.  This show was a Frankenstein mash-up of scattered pieces of various anime, and wow, does it show.  It's rife with non-sequitirs.  The dialogue often doesn't match what is happening on screen, at least not very well, and it just feels from start to finish like a cut and paste job.  It's a mess.

With that said, however...  I absolutely adore the visual aesthetic of Voltron.  I mean, wow, this is one gorgeous cartoon universe.  It features such eye candy as these exotic vistas...

As well as these adorable characters from both the good guy and bad guy teams...

And some inspired neo-classical character designs...

Not to mention the totally super-gorgeous and completely ass-kicking Princess Allura.

Because let's not kid ourselves.  If you grew up with Voltron, it doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl or gay or straight, it was always all about Allura.

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy