u/SAlolzorz

I'm not claiming there is any kind of direct link or inspiration here (no EffMemeso), but I happened upon something this morning that is at least an interesting coincidence. Okay, that's all it is, but here goes:

Remember the movie, The Warriors? The surrealistic urban nightmare from 1979? It was based on the 1965 novel of the same name by Sol Yurick. Unlike the movie (which I love, and which has absolutely earned its cult classic status), Yurick's novel is far more realistic and grounded. Yurick had himself been a New York City social worker, seeing firsthand the kids and young adults who made up the gang culture he would later write about. In fact, He wrote The Warriors as a response to what he felt was the romanticization of street gangs in movies like West Side Story and other popular media. Little wonder, then, that He was ultimately dissatisfied with the cinematic adaptation of his own work.

Yurick's novel was inspired by Anabasis, an ancient tale by Xenophon about 10,000 Greek mercenaries stranded deep in hostile territory. They must then fight their way back to their homeland, surrounded by enemies.

In the novel, all of the main characters are either Black or Hispanic. One character, called The Junior, the youngest of the bunch, is constantly reading a comic book. The comic, as described in the novel, is obviously a retelling of Anabasis: "It was about ancient soldiers, Greeks, heroes who had to fight their way home through many obstacles, but in the end they made it."

This reminded me of Bernie in Watchmen. Though he is reading a pirate story, it isn't much of a stretch to see parallels to The Odyssey. The treacherous journey over vast seas to return home to family, the hero being changed by his trials, and so on. And, just like The Junior, Bernie is frequently shown reading his comic. Bernie is black, The Junior is either Black or Latino (it's never specified which in the novel). Edit: Also, both characters are reading comics that are meta-references to the stories they are featured in.

I don't really think this is anything more than a case of multiple authors being inspired by ancient tales, but with the parallels between Ozymandias and Alexander, it's cool that both of these stories are inspired by ancient Greek literature, and The Junior reminded me of Bernie.

Also, The Warriors is a fantastic book.

I eagerly await EffMemes' lengthy Substack post on how this ties everything together.

Hi, everyone. I'm not a forensic pathologist. I just wanted to get the opinion of some who are. This is kind of a strange post, and I hope it doesn't seem disrespectful or frivolous. It certainly isn't intended to be.

The video I linked is known (rather unkindly) as Grave Robbing For Morons. It's a video that was sold on internet bootleg sites in the early '00s, and is now freely distributed everywhere, through the magic of the internet.

It looks to have been shot on a camcorder, and owing to various clues in the video (a certain movie on VHS tape and magazine), seems to have been made at some point in 1989 or later. It features a long -haired teenager with a stutter, holding what he claims to be a human skull stolen from a grave. The young man goes on to give laughably bad advice on grave robbing, and the care and preparation of bones one wishes to sell on the black market. His narration is rambling, contradictory, and seems at times as if he is simply making it up on the spot.

The provenance of this tape is a mystery, and people have tried in vain to identify and locate the young man.

Opinions vary as to whether the bones are genuine, so I thought I'd ask the experts. It's 26 minutes long, but the first three minutes have nice close ups of the skull. He messes with what look like false teeth at one point, and there are two other, larger (leg?) bones visible early in the video as well.

Some have pointed to the fact the the skull seems to have intact Styloid Processes as proof of authenticity. Others note the grime and dirt on the bones as evidence of fakery.

So, what do you think?

Edit: I wanted to add that these youths seem to have a lot of audio/visual equipment, and one of the magazines used to tentatively date it is Horror FX, a magazine aimed at those interested in practical movie special effects.

Carver did many early T&T illustrations, including the iconic "YAH MISSED ALL MY VITAL SPOTS." May he rest in peace.

I was wondering if anyone knows of any recordings of Phoenix radio from back in the '80s? Specifically interested in Dave Pratt of KUPD, Jones and Boze and Jeannie from KSLX, and Rump Ranger from KDKB.

I was born and mostly raised in Phoenix, but have been living in Texas for nearly two decades now. Feeling nostalgic and a bit homesick.

Mind-melting episode of The Cinemax Comedy Experience. Reminds me of those SubGenius videos. Created by and featuring legendary DJ Shadoe Stevens.

Miss the days when these types were wacky underground kooks that nobody listened to or took seriously.

According to this update, Noora Rose Masyk is one of the contributors to the Citybook portion of the A New Age Kickstarter. Noora has been credibly accused of plagiarizing material from multiple indie creators...

https://traversefantasy.blogspot.com/2023/12/plagiarism-in-unconquered-2022.html

And also from the old Judges Guild Ready Ref Sheets...

https://www.rpgpub.com/threads/tunnels-trolls-a-new-age.12690/post-672750

And while two of her games containing stolen material have been pulled by drivethrurpg after numerous reports, she still has at least one game up (Kanabo) that seems to contain stolen material as well.

Everyone makes mistakes. No one should pay for them forever. But Noora has never acknowledged, let alone tried to atone for any of this. And she appears to be engaging in the behavior still. This is not a past transgression. This is a sustained and ongoing pattern of unethical practices that victimizes other indie creators. Noora, as an indie creator herself, knows better and should be ashamed.

I brought this up to Scott Malthouse a month ago, and he said that he "was aware of the issues," but that it hadn't been his decision to hire her. I then spoke to Benji Corless, Marketing Manager at Rebellion Unplugged, who seemed genuinely surprised to hear of it. This was all a month ago.

A couple people on the design team seem to have prior associations with Noora, and I hope that isn't clouding their judgement. Likewise, I know the wheels can turn slowly, but I do hope Rebellion addresses this. Currently, it appears now as though their intention is to ignore it amd hope it goes away. Given the recent trouble they've had over allegations that they stole the boardgame, Joyride (and I'm not saying they did, to be clear), you'd have thought they'd go to great lengths to avoid even the appearance of unethical behavior. Why Rebellion would have chosen to offer work to someone so dishonest is beyond me.

I have been critical of A New Age, yes, but this makes me uneasy about buying even classic product from Rebellion.

What it says in the title. This is a Kickstarter, and boy am I glad to see it.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gawain/the-doom-of-the-dark?ref=profile_created&category_id=34