BEDTIME STORIES VERBOTEN?
Snow White caught up in another scandal? What's the Jezebell done now? Well, according to school officials in Jacksonville, Florida the wench is just too violent and she's been banned from little junior’s reading list without written parental permission. That's right kids, ya gotta have a note from Mom and Dad if you want to read Snow White.
The school district superintendent, Larry Zenke, was cited in April by an anti-censorship group, the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, for caving in to a committee of Crown Point Elementary School parents and teachers who wanted the book restricted because of scenes of violence.
Don't worry, Snow White wasn't singled out for harassment. Navy Admiral Leonard Oden announced that Playboy and other risqué magazine would be banned from naval recruiting centers. It's only fair. If Junior can't have his dose of Snow White than Davy Jones shouldn't have his centerfolds.
Now that Snow White has been vanquished maybe we can turn our attention to the real crud that fills our schools' libraries, like "Cinderella" (tramp), "Mother Goose" and "Dick and Jane". Really now, doesn't it make you wonder what book will be targeted next?
Why do you think they call them "Bedtime Stories" anyway? Thank goodness we have intelligent, thoughtful officials to protect us from this trash.
B.A. Felton
READERS IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE!!
The following readers have apparently disappeared from the face of the earth. At least that's what the post office keeps telling us. We either have bad or incomplete addresses on these individuals. If anyone knows their where-abouts, please have them contact us:
Josh Rose, Portland, Oregon
Phil Cherry, Ohio
Rhonda Young, St. Louis, Missouri.
B.A. FELTON BLAMED FOR FIRE AT RITZY-HOTEL
This report just came in at press time. Apparently, a large fire broke out in a Hotel in the Aleutian Isles where Berg Con '93 was being held. Local police have issued a warrant for B.A. Felton's arrest and are charging him with starting the fire.
A frantic B.A. called the home office in the early hours of the morning to explain that he had been demonstrating his line of REP products (Realism Enhancement Props) to a group of enthused gamers when his Fireball Generator ran amok and began casting golf-ball sized projectiles of flaming sulphur into the crowd. One witness, obviously in tears reported, "It was horrible! It was like a dozen Roman candles going off in unison at random directions. I'll never go to a gaming convention again."
There were no injuries reported, though B.A. commented he cut his forehead when he lept through a plate glass window to make his escape. Fortunately, only the ground floor of the Aleutian Hilton was gutted. The biggest casualty of the day were several armies of lead miniatures which were liquefied.
When asked what his plans were, B.A. flatly commented, "I think I'll check out the gaming action in Juarez, Mexico for a few months."
The REP line of products has been temporarily put on hold.
RUMOR MILL
Rumor has it that Gary Gygax and Runaway Graphics (Creators of Bright Future) may be working on a comic book series based on a popular role-playing game. Hmmmm.
NEW PRODUCTS
Atlas Games: August releases include a unique storytelling card game, Once Upon a Time. The game plays with one player attempting to create a story and plot line that follows his/her whim while other players attempt to alter the story and outcome. ($17.95)
Avalon Hill: August releases include Breakthru Normandy ($30.00) and The book Gamers Guide to Diplomacy ($10.00). In September comes the long awaited computer version of Avalon Hill's classic war game 3rd Reich. ($59.95). In October keep an eye out for Assassin ($30.00).
Chaosium: Chaosium has released the RPG - Elric! Add to this the 4th edition of The Spectre King (Pendragon 4th Edition) and Stormbringer: Sea Kings of the Purple Towns and you can see the wonderboys at Chaosium have been very busy lately.
Flying Buffalo:Just in , MAPS: The Book of Cities ($11.95). Usable with any RPG system, this book contains maps of entire cities (over 20) which can be used to create new places to adventure. Also in - The Rune Dice Book, explains how Flying Buffalo's Rune Dice might be used for fortune telling in RPGs. When the Cat's Away ($8.95) is the latest Tunnels & Trolls solo adventures book.
GDW: Although they have just released Traveller the New era, fans should expect a horde of Traveller products later this summer. Look for Traveller Starship Combat ($26.00), Deluxe Traveller ($35.00) and Technical Architecture ($14.00) to round out the new Traveller line.
Mayfair Games: Underground, Mayfair's new RPG system ($24.95), allows players to portray genetically enhanced soldiers from the year 2021 as they struggle to carve out a place for themselves in an annihilated world. Street Tell Stories, the first supplement for Underground, gives the GM a campaign setting to drop his players into ($25.00).
Palladium: Palladium expanded its market in June with the release of Wormwood based on the company's popular Rifts Role-Playing Game Artists Timothy Truman and Flint Henry teamed up to do this limited run comic (at last word only 20,000 copies were distributed).
The folks at Palladium can also take pride in the fact that their Rifts 1993 Calendar took fourth place in the category of Best Contemporary Art at the Calendar Marketing Association's Fourth Annual National & World Calendar Awards Competition. (If you haven't seen the Rifts calendar - it's a beaut - someone snagged mine off the wall).
Some August releases include, The Compendium of Contemporary Weapons and Island at the End of the World. Also, Rifts fans will be glad to learn that the first five blister packs of Rifts miniatures are scheduled to be shipped in August.
West End Games: Everyone seems to be waiting to get a glimpse of the new role-playing game, Shatterzone. This system is based on West End Game's series of novels (The River of God, Beyond the Zone and Sole Survivor) which are set a harsh world of wars and strange races.
Back to Table of Contents -- SHADIS Issue No. #9 Volume II Number 3
Back to SHADIS List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1993 by Alderac Group
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com