{"id":4450,"date":"2010-10-19T23:39:00","date_gmt":"2010-10-19T23:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2010\/10\/looking-for-the-puppets.html"},"modified":"2010-10-19T23:39:00","modified_gmt":"2010-10-19T23:39:00","slug":"looking-for-the-puppets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2010\/10\/looking-for-the-puppets.html","title":{"rendered":"Looking for the puppets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

James Maliszewski is a good read. He has a blog called Grognardia<\/strong>. I\u2019ll leave folks to figure that title out on their own. It\u2019s dedicated to all things Role Playing, particularly the history of the hobby as well as various products, influences, and other subjects of interest. I have to admit that entire libraries could be filled with books containing what I don\u2019t know about the hobby of Role Playing Games. Beyond Dungeons and Dragons<\/em>, I would be hard pressed to name three more of the genre. Plus, I\u2019m neither much of a sci-fi fan, nor a fantasy fan \u2013 my fantasy interests beginning and ending at the door of Bag End.<\/p>\n

But I stumbled across his blog a year or so ago, searching as I was for some information on J.R.R. Tolkien. Since then, I\u2019ve been happy to return, and every now and then Mr. Maliszewski bats one completely out of the ball park. Today was no exception. He posts on a book recounting the production of The Empire Strikes Back<\/em>.<\/a> You know, that movie that President Obama keeps mentioning.<\/p>\n

Anyway, he reflects on how the movie was made sans CGI. He goes on to lament the current obsession with, and reliance upon, CGI to solve our modern movie making dilemmas. It\u2019s a feeling with which I wholeheartedly agree. I have yet to see Avatar<\/em>, and from all I\u2019ve heard, it\u2019s a movie a mile wide and an inch deep that\u2019s more or less a superficial Dances With Wolves<\/em> and Video Game combination. I also agree that CGI heavy scenes, even in such noteworthy films as Lord of the Rings<\/em>, can\u2019t help but look dated in only a few years. If not dated, they look sallow, stale. Only those movies that used CGI sparingly to enhance and add to, rather than substitute (and cheat) \u2013 like the original Jurassic Park<\/em> \u2013 maintain any sense of freshness. But again, they relied upon real places, people and things rather than a mere computer keyboard.<\/p>\n

In his post, as he unfolds a growing frustration and general malaise regarding modern movies, Mr. Maliszewski writes this:<\/p>\n

Human beings are rightly enamored of technology, but it should always be used as a tool with which to create, not the creation itself.<\/em> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And that kiddies is why I keep going back to his blog, novice though I may be. We are enamored of technology, and if I may add an observation, often end up venerating science simply because it makes such technology possible. But technology should ever and always be a mere tool to be used, not the end all creation itself. Brilliant. Wonderful. I wish I could have insights like that. Someday I might. Right now I\u2019ll be content to advise folks to follow the link and indulge in a little nostalgia, and maybe even a few keen insights.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Maliszewski is a good read. He has a blog called Grognardia. I\u2019ll leave folks to figure that title out on their own. It\u2019s dedicated to all things Role Playing, particularly the history of the hobby as well as various products, influences, and other subjects of interest. I have to admit that entire libraries could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nLooking for the puppets<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"James Maliszewski is a good read. He has a blog called Grognardia. I'll leave folks to figure that title out on their own. 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