By Douglas Kent,
Email: doug of
whiningkentpigs.com or diplomacyworld
of yahoo.com
On the web at http://www.whiningkentpigs.com
– follow the links to the Diplomacy World
section for this subzine, old Diplomacy
World articles (and soon - full issues in .pdf format), Message Board,
Chat Room, and other items of interest.
Quote Of The Month – “Valentine's Day is a day invented by greeting card
companies to make people feel like crap.” (Joel in “Eternal Sunshine of the
Spotless Mind”, from which the title of this subzine was taken … even though
THAT title was taken from a line in an Alexander Pope poem. Actually the poem is “Eloisa to Abelard”,
which is my fiancée Heather’s favorite love story: the doomed lovers Abelard
and Heloise. Their story is
romantic, even though I prefer ones where the man isn’t castrated.)
I’ve been meaning to put
a subzine together for a while now, if for old time’s sake if for no other
reason. The real question I kept coming
back to is what the heck would I put in it?
And more importantly, would anybody who reads Abyssinian Prince have the slightest interest in anything
that ferments inside my sick mind?
Still, in my
government-mandated therapy sessions, my therapist Stephanie is trying to help
me motivate myself to do some of the semi-serious writing I have been
considering on and off for years…things like my failed marriage and Mara’s
mental illness, my experiences in prison, my childhood and my family. With those goals in mind, I figured spending
a bit more time writing, even in this limited capacity, would have to be a good
thing.
Besides all of that, I
truly do miss some of the aspects of the PBM Diplomacy Hobby from when I was a
much more active participant. Obviously,
the hobby doesn’t even exist in the manner that it did during that period. Instead of thirty or more Dip zines being
published, we have a handful. People who
read Dipzines probably only get one or two (hell, at this point that’s half of
what is available!). Diplomacy World is struggling,
and I am not sure there is a hobby sector for it to be a flagship of if it
wanted to. Avalon Hill is no longer the
owner of Diplomacy, and I can’t even tell if Hasbro is planning on doing
anything with it. The community aspect
of the hobby is either erased or fractionalized. Back in the 90’s I felt a part of a family,
or families: the Avalon Hill family, the PBM Diplomacy family, the Compuserve
Diplomacy family, and the smaller family of zine publishers. I’ve got “Good Old Days” syndrome in a big
way, don’t I?
I find myself wondering
from time to time if there is a way to rebuild such a family. What I hope to do one day is restart my own
zine, offering it in pdf and print versions, and scour the known universe for
old Diplomacy players. Maybe by mixing
the returning oldster with the younger generation there is a way to design a
new community. Then again, maybe not…and
who knows, maybe I won’t ever get around to starting that zine, or spinning
this off into its own zine. Or I could
start it in a few months! There are so
many plans in my head, but it still remains to be seen how many I follow
through on.
One thing I know I’m
going to do is post this in PDF format on the Diplomacy section of my
website. Then with that done, I will
start posting links (or the file itself) everywhere else I can think of. I am also going to send out a slew of
postcards or letters over the next 4 months to old hobby friends, in an attempt
to track them down and if not get them into a game, at least get them
participating again and commingling with the new generation of internet
Dippers. Probably a lost cause, but I’ll
give it a go.
In this rag, I plan on
filling the pages with typical nonsense.
My fiancée Heather and I go to a few movies every month, so I’ll write
up reviews of them. Sports and politics
may make appearances, and a short letter column. Most of the books I read have been out for a
while, but I will mention anything I read which really grabs me, and perhaps
Heather will give brief reviews of what she reads (she goes through a few books
a week it seems). Any hobby plans will
be discussed, of course. And perhaps if
I do eventually get any of my other writing done (oh PLEASE I need to get going
on that), I will print excerpts here as well.
Diplomacy (Black Press):
Nobody signed up yet. Needs seven.
Balkan Wars IV (Black
Press): Nobody signed up yet. Needs
seven. Rules and map on request.
Colonia VII_B (White
Press): Fred Hyatt’s worldwide variant.
Nobody signed up. I need 9
players for this. Rules and map on
request.
I would like to run a
game or two. I just need some direction
from the readership out there. Would
anybody be interested in a game of Woolworth?
Or Cline 9-Man? African
Diplomacy? How about a bourse
game? Suggestions are welcome. I’m also interested in getting a PBEM game of
Avalon Hill’s Advanced Civilization going (using their old PC software). I just found mine in my storage unit, and got
it to work on XP with a DOS emulation program.
I’ll be back next time
with some thoughts on whatever is bouncing around in my skull. I still need to figure out my deadline
schedule – it could run tied to the zine, with deadlines a few days before the
normal AP ones, or I may
choose to stick to my own schedule and do one turn every three or four
weeks. Player input on these matters is
welcome. I plan on including maps at
least for the Diplomacy game, but we’ll have to wait and see about Colonia and
Balkan Wars. In the future I may offer
some other multiplayer games too, like Kremlin or Enemy in Sight. In the meantime, here are some movie reviews
from the films Heather and I went to see in January.
Last King of
The movie is
based on a fictional young Scottish doctor who leaves home to escape the
boredom of joining his father in family practice. Randomly Dr. Nicholas
Garrigan chooses
After working
at a remote clinic for a short time (alongside another English doctor and his
wife - played by The X-Files Gillian Anderson) by chance Garrigan is called
upon to examine General Amin's hand after a car accident. He impresses
Amin with his enthusiasm and outspokenness so much that Amin offers him the
position as his personal physician. At first turning him down, Garrigan
has second thoughts and decides to accept.
From this
very personal vantage point we are witness to Amin's violent ways, his mental
instability - and his immense charm. Garrigan watches as the walls begin
to close in on Amin's regime and on himself, yet Amin's charisma make it hard
for him (like the rest of the world) to believe the horrible things he hears
from the outside world. It isn't until Garrigan becomes personally
involved in the removal of a supposed Amin foe - and until he is forced to view
photos of the atrocities taking place all over the county - that he is
convinced the cause he had tried to hard to believe in was more of what Africa
had suffered through for years: ruling parties enriching themselves, killing
their opponents, and ignoring the general population.
Little of the
actual killing Amin is responsible for shows up on screen. But the
violence is all around Garrigan, and around us, until we feel like we are stuck
in a war zone with little hope of escape.
The film is
suspenseful, enlightening, and powerful...not as powerful as Whitaker, but
still worth seeing. I give it a B+.
Flannel Pajamas - I was
first introduced to this movie by seeing the trailer every time we went to see
a movie at The Angelika in the past month or two. That trailer captured
my attention for two reasons: the intensity and honesty I saw on the faces of
the actors, and the over modulation of the musical score which rang to the
point of distortion. Regardless, it seemed clear this was a movie we were
going to go see when it came out. A talky movie following a failed
relationship? Sounded like my life (a few times over)!
I suppose how
much you enjoy this movie depends on what you expect to get out of it.
There is no great resolution, no massive personal growth or moment of sudden
clarity. Like any relationship which ends, it all depends on how you look
at it. You can continue to expand the picture until it all loses focus,
or you can narrow in on single moments. There is no right and wrong.
The film
follows the relationship of Stuart and Nicole (Justin Kirk and Julianne
Nicholson) from meeting on a blind date to dating to marriage and ultimately to
separation. Stuart basically sets the stage for the relationship when he
declares at the first date that neither he nor Nicole is "evil" (a
term he uses to describe Nicole's best friend). He's right - they aren't,
they are two kind people who love each other (in some ways) and who want to
build a life with each other. Yet throughout the film it becomes clear
that love alone is not enough to sustain a relationship. Much like real
life, the film is a collection of scenes where people do what they feel is
right at the time, even what the think will be right in the future...but good
intentions can't erase the facts that often we develop relationships with
people who simply aren't suited for us. A successful relationship
requires love, commitment, hard work, understanding, and more than anything
similar direction and similar priorities.
Maybe Stuart
and Nicole and both a bit too selfish - they both seem to act out of pure
self-interest, Nicole using "I want" frequently and Stuart setting
down his own rules and agendas and expecting Nicole to follow them.
Perhaps they each carry too much baggage. They both give in to each
other without really meaning it, the kind of actions which result in built-up
resentment. More than anything, I noticed that the characters refuse to
cry in front of each other. To me, that was enough to doom the
relationship.
In a Q&A
session after the film, writer/director Jeff Lipsky explained that they deleted
more than 50 scenes in an effort to keep both characters on a rather even
playing field. His greatest reward is that people leave the theatre
arguing over who is more to blame for the failure of the relationship.
And those arguments are not split by gender. In the end, there is more
than enough blame to go around. The story is about 50%
quasi-autobiographical, but the most powerful scenes are fictional (such as the
conversation between mother-in-law and son-in-law in the cafeteria).
The
performances are all strong, and particular attention is paid to Stuart's
brother Jordan (Jamie Harrold), who is mentally unstable and quite flamboyant,
often overshadowing his sibling. I'm a bit too much like that character though,
and with a nice collection of funny lines he is the hardest to dislike.
Personally I preferred the performances of Nicholson and of her mother (played
by Rebecca Schull).
Overall the
film is quite good, certainly successful in its own way, and it stays with
you...some people might not appreciate that, but I do. As Mr. Lipsky
says, he wanted to give you "something to chew on". He
accomplishes that, and more.
Oh, and as
the credits ran, there was the same haunting song from the trailer...and the damn
thing was STILL over modulated to the point of semi-distortion.
The Painted Veil - How
best to describe this film? Set in 1920's
Norton plays
Dr. Walter Fane, a bacteriologist civil servant stationed in
Looking for a
thrill, Kitty begins an affair with Vice Consul Charles Townsend (Liev
Schreiber). Walter quickly learns of the adultery and gives Kitty a
choice (after revealing to her the less-than-honest nature of Townsend's affections)
- accept a scandalous divorce, or accompany him to inland
Surrounded by
the despair and death and misery of the ravaged village, but within the
backdrop of the beauty of the glorious lands around them, the couple has to
learn to find strength within themselves, while in the process discovering that
while their initial expectations of each other may have been foolish, there is
much to admire - and love - within the complicated facets of a human being.
Diana Rigg of
Avengers fame makes an appearance as the Mother Superior of the local convent,
and Toby Jones is steady throughout as a British civil servant determined to do
his duty despite how miserable the situation may be. But somehow this
film finds ways to rise above the dank depths of death and despair, and instead
offers hope that while love may not be able to conquer all, it can certainly
bring happiness into an otherwise unhappy life.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - Nothing
about this movie makes a lot of sense, which is too bad because I generally
enjoyed it...and with some changes I might have REALLY enjoyed it.
Tom Tykwer (who
you may know from the interesting and visually successful Run Lola Run) directs
this tribute to olfactory experiences - smells, to be blunt. The main
character, Jean-Baptiste, overcomes the odds as a newborn orphan and grows into
adulthood. As he ages, he realizes he possesses the most precise sense of
smell in the world, and finds joy in every odor whether the general population
would classify them as *good* smells or *BAD* smells.
Eventually he
finds his most consuming scent - that of a human female - and he becomes
obsessed with trying to find a way to preserve...discovering by accident that
the marvelous perfume of a human body disappears once we are dead. With
assistance from a has-been perfume legend (played wonderfully and lightly by
Dustin Hoffman) Jean-Baptist learns the various perfume methods for distilling
and preserving scents. He is then set to begin his life's work - the
development of the greatest perfume ever invented, which unfortunately requires
the sacrifice of a number of female victims to accomplish.
It should be
difficult to translate his extraordinary thrill of everyday scents to a visual
medium, but Tykwer does a masterful job, bringing to light the immense beauty
in the colors and textures of life at the same time. Whether it is the
curve of a neck, the shiny skin of smelly fresh fish, or a frog laying eggs, we
see with our eyes the majesty Jean-Baptiste absorbs with his nose.
As I said,
very little of this movie makes sense, from the unnecessary addition of
"The Story of a Murderer" to the title to the final 30 minutes
(including two or three scenes which are just SO DUMB that the movie is nearly
ruined in the process). But if you can work your way around that and
enjoy the remainder, I guess you could do worse than see this film. At
least you'll find something to talk about afterward. Besides, the
information on the art of perfumery is by itself a very interesting and
enlightening added bonus.
Children of Men - If
you are looking for some light, uplifting entertainment to cheer you up after a
bit too much New Year's Eve celebrating, "Children of Men" is NOT the
movie to choose. But if you don't mind feeling anxious and shell-shocked,
there is more to like than dislike in this new film directed by Mexican native
Alfonso Cuaron.
The movie
centers on Theo, played by Clive Owen. The year is 2027, and no babies
have been born in nearly 20 years. The world is in turmoil. No
explanation for why every woman is infertile has been found. All the
major global powers have collapsed in chaos, except for
It’s hard to
describe the feeling I had watching this movie. The violent scenes were
similar to "Saving Private Ryan", while the complete chaos sort of a
cross between a modem police state and "28 Days Later." I don't
want to give any more plot points away, but in some respects I felt more as if
I survived this movie than enjoyed it. Still, it’s pretty good, and mixes
despair, hope, and continued effort despite which one is stronger in a very
effective fashion. Michael Caine gives a solid performance as a sort of
hippy friend who lives out in the woods, and Clive Owen is at the least
adequate.
Go see it, I give the movie a B or a B+, but
be in a serious mood before you go, if for no other reason than you'll be
feeling serious enough when you walk out.
Deadline For The
Next Issue of Eternal Sunshine:
March 8th,
2007