Monthly Archives: June 2022

LIVING AND DYING WITH MARCEL PROUST by Christopher Prendergast

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Marcel Prousts death, and writers on both sides of the Atlantic are producing books on every aspect of his life, just as museum curators are organizing relevant exhibitions and musicians are recording the work that influenced the writer. (Proust even wrote texts meant to be recited to piano music by his boyfriend, Reynaldo Hahn.)

Proust has become the premier novelist of the 20th century. Every aspect of his uneventful but hugely productive life has been studied. Jean-Yves Tadi has devoted his adult life to researching his biography. In Search of Lost Time has been translated into nearly every language and several times into English. Library shelves groan under the thousands of volumes about the originals for his memorable characters, the theater he loved, the few cities he visited, his bizarre sex practices and so on. Christopher Prendergasts splendid new book, Living and Dying With Marcel Proust, revisits all the various threads woven into this intricate tapestry. Sometimes reading him feels like, say, seeing all of Venice in a gondola, seated beside a patient, smiling, all-knowing art historian though at moments we just want to be quiet and listen to the water.

Most of Prousts devoted readers concentrate on characters and on the roles of time, memory, art and love in his vast masterpiece. Prendergast, a fellow of Kings College, Cambridge, and the general editor of Penguins reissue of Prousts work, has drawn on his encyclopedic knowledge to cohere Prousts wide-ranging, scattered references: everything from the crucial device of metaphor to a wonderfully playful chapter on food, especially naturally pastry. A madeleine dunked in a tisane may catalyze the entire novel, but the narrator is equally beguiled by dishes prepared by his childhood cook, Franoise, the boeuf la mode served to a vacuous diplomat, the wonderful croissants accompanying his breakfast coffee, even the look and taste of asparagus, steeped in ultramarine and pink. Asparagus leads him into a discussion of Chardins still lifes as well as to the post-asparagus stench of the chamber pot.

But what of the titular living and dying? Prendergasts organization is more fruitful than logical. His chapters, typically, are named Days, My Name Is Might-Have-Been or The Quiver of Life. These headings allow Prendergast to quarry nuggets of gold from the vast complexity of Prousts book. He reminds us again and again of the delights of daily life, of sex, food, music, painting (though not of friendship, for which the narrator has little respect), but also of the equal and final majesty of death. Prendergast feels the entire long novel is death-haunted and cites Prousts verdict: Our love of life is no more than an old affair that we do not know how to discontinue. Its strength lies in its permanence. But death, which interrupts it, will cure us of our desire for immortality.

Prousts techniques of foreshadowing, of weaving anecdotes, of extended reveries, of philosophical summary are all developed here. Prendergast is not biographical or historical, though he is able to draw on his knowledge of Prousts tastes and foibles. He can relate asthma to the labyrinth of his sentences (Prendergast reminds us that Walter Benjamin traced the very syntax of Prousts sentences to his ailment) and to his devotion to music in his compositional practices.

As Prendergast knows, Proust rated abstract intelligence very low, compared to the ecstasy of art or the warmth of family love. In his words: Daily, I attach less value to the intellect, while arguing that only the intellect can see through its ephemeral blandishments.

Edmund White is the author of Marcel Proust: A Life and 30 other books, most recently the novel A Previous Life.

LIVING AND DYING WITH MARCEL PROUST

By Christopher Prendergast

256 pp. Europa Editions. Paper, $17.

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How to Navigate the Proust-Industrial Complex - The New York Times

Mead is the oldest drink known to man, the very nectar of the Gods, says Paul Peterson, Owner of Black Dragon Meadery in New Buffalo. The tasting room, located at 910 W. Buffalo Street, is cozy and inviting, accented with warm colors: deep burgundy and merlot, bright gold and, coincidently, honey yellow. A massive dragon head sits perched atop the fully stocked retail shelves, protecting the products like bejeweled treasure.

With bright smiles, Paul and Brenda greet everyone with enthusiasm and excitement, elated to have the opportunity to share libations with new customers. Mead is typically referred to as honey wine, and though it is sometimes made with hops, it is neither beer nor wine. The process of fermenting honey and water with additional ingredients like fruit, spices, and grains, delivers the most refreshing, sippable, gulpable, beverage.

While spending three years in Germany with Special Forces during the Cold War, Paul fell so in love with a certain black beer that upon his return to the states, it had him brewing and steeping in his attempt to recreate it. Through trial and error, Dragons Breath was born: a nearly-perfect replica that he introduced into the Renaissance Faire circuit, gaining many followers thirsty for his next creation. Naturally, this opened a door into the world of mead, where he began fashioning recipes based on the opinions of tasters from Ren Faires. His mead hit the shelves in 2015, and his logo and brand were created from Dragons Breath to draw in the patrons he acquired while pedaling brews across the region.

Since opening his first retail space in New Buffalo, Black Dragon Meadery has been diligently working to bring people into the new tasting room. Paul has a huge following in Indiana and the Chicago area already, and it will not be hard for him to win over the taste buds of we Michiganders. On June 18th, the Viking Warrior Festival in Marshall will debut his new mead Immortality, which he created specifically for author Treasa Kloths The Harrow Vikings book series. The mead created for her book titled Desolation is a cranberry orange mead, and is currently ranked #1 on untapped.com. Immortality will be a plum vanilla mead.

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(artwork by Nate Baranowski)

The Magnum Mead Ale is semi-dry, made with clover honey and magnum hops, and it is sweet, refreshing, and luscious. The Blackberry Cyser I sampled is well-aged, semi-sweet, and made with apple cider from Coloma. It is a little fruity, a little floral, and offers the perfect amount of sweetness. All fermentation is done on site, and Paul uses local ingredients whenever possible: blueberries from Sawyer, honey from Eau Claire, and he frequents Coloma Frozen Foods often.

Im open to the possibility of a franchisee for the future, Paul says. Then we could truly expand into the Michigan market. Michigan retailers that are interested in selling Black Dragon Meadery products can contact Eagle Eye Brands, a distributor based in Michigan that is quickly expanding internationally.

Black Dragon Meadery is open Thursday through Monday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m, with the option of hosting groups and parties just call in advance. Themed parties are always on the table, too, says Paul, Well dress like pirates!For a detailed list of all of the meads and their ingredients, where to buy, and which local restaurants serve it, visit blackdragonmeadery.com. Congratulations and welcome!By Jocelyne Tuszynski, MOTM Contributor

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Black Dragon Meadery Opens in New Buffalo - Moody on the Market

Who Was Pythagoras?

Most of what we know about Pythagoras today actually comes from the writing of other philosophers, including Plato and Aristotle. Both of them credit Pythagoras with significant contributions to philosophical and religious thought. He was a firm believer in metempsychosis, the immortality and transmigration of souls.

That means, once you die, your immortal soul would migrate into a new body possibly a human but also other kinds of animals.

According to philosopher Porphyry on his biography of Pythagoras, Pythagoras believed that all things with souls should be regarded as akin.

It was this belief that lead to Pythagoras practice of vegetarianism and to the rise of Pythagoreanism. Although it has been called a cult, Pythagoreanism followers mostly adhered to his basic beliefs in metempsychosis and vegetarianism. Though, to be fair, even this is hard to prove, as Pythagoras wrote no books himself and demanded absolute secrecy of his followers. The result? There are no written records of their practices and teachings.

But while vegetarianism wasnt necessarily that rare in ancient times (biographer and philosopher Plutarch and Greek biologist and philosopher Theophrastus were both proponents of meat-free diets), Pythagoras absolute rejection of beans was certainly unique. More specifically, fava beans.

There are a few theories about Pythagoras avoidance of fava beans. A popular one is that he believed fava beans were potentially vessels for the souls of the dead (due to their flesh-like texture and their shape), so eating them would be a form of cannibalism. Additional theories say the aversion could have been due to something else from the fact the beans resemble fetuses, human heads, or male and female genitalia (depending on who you ask) to the hollow stem of the plant being the gates of Hades.

Whatever the reason, beans were a definite no-no for Pythagoreanism followers.

Credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Unfortunately, Pythagoras aversion to fava beans might have been the reason for his death.

When the son of a wealthy nobleman was denied the chance to join Pythagoreanism (apparently, being rich did not give you the right to bypass the rigorous training and deep contemplation required to be allowed to join), he turned the townspeople against Pythagoras, leading to a massacre from which only a few were able to escape.

Pythagoras was one of the lucky ones, but only for a brief moment. As he was running from a burning building, he came upon a fava bean field. His only chance to escape was to trample through the field, stepping and crushing beans on his way to safety. Legend goes he couldnt do it, and as he stood there frozen, his enemies caught up with him and stabbed him to death.

While the details on Pythagoras death might be a little sketchy, one thing is for sure: we wont be looking at beans the same way from now on!

By Diana Bocco, contributor for Ripleys.com

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Source: Meet Pythagoras: Mathematician, Philosopher, and Bean Hater

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On a recent visit to Los Angeles, I got to sit in on my first Geeked Week preview at the Netflix Theater. A bunch of directors and actors came out to talk about their movies and TV shows, but my ears perked up at an opportunity to see Netflixs games.

Netflix showed off those games during the last day of Geeked Week today in a show hosted by the marvelous Mari Takahashi and Geoff Keighley.

The games and TV shows they showed off were quite impressive and showed how much the company is investing in gaming. they included TV shows like Tekken: Bloodline, The Cuphead Show (Season 2 coming in August), DOTA: Dragons Blood (Season 3), Sonic Prime, and the previously announced Exploding Kittens show.

As for the games, the titles included Shadow And Bone, Too Hot To Handle, La Casa De Papel, The Queens Gambit Chess (yes, its a chess video game), Lucky Luna, Desta: The Memories Between, Poinpy, Reigns: Three Kingdoms, Terra Nil, Wild Things: Animal Adventures, Raji, Spiritfarer, and Immortality.

Devolver Digital is making Reigns: Three Kingdoms, Terra Nil, and Poinpy. The latter launches today. The Tekken unveil included a message from creator Katsuhiro Harada.

Reigns: Three Kingdoms is the fifth entry in developer Nerials award-winning franchise. Inspired by the beloved Chinese epic, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Reigns: Three Kingdoms thrusts players into the turbulent final years of the Han dynasty. There, they will encounter the many factions, wars, and heroes of the saga as they swipe their way through negotiations, marry to strengthen alliances, and convert to gain more power. Discover new ways to enjoy Reigns unique swiping mechanic as you uncover the many secrets of a vast storyline and a host of unexpected mini-games.

Terra Nil is a strategy city-building game with an emphasis on the climate crisis. It is a reverse city builder about ecosystem reconstruction. Turn a barren wasteland into an ecological paradise complete with different flora and fauna. Then clean up, leaving the environment pristine. Subverting the builder genre, Terra Nil is about the restoration of a ravaged environment.

Poinpy is a game where you bounce up, dodge adorable baddies and feed the blue beast thats hot on your heels. A vertical climber from the creator of the award-winning Downwell. You keep going higher and higher because new and more challenging areas await. Earn and unlock abilities that will help you jump into your next run with a better shot at reaching the end.

Shadow and Bone: Destinies is a single-player role-playing game based on the Netflix fantasy-drama series. You play as your favorite characters and journey across the world of the Grishaverse in a narrative adventure to fulfill their destinies. Along the way, youll need to make decisions that will determine the course of your journey.

Too Hot to Handle lets you meet and mingle with sexy singles all vying for your affection in this game based on Netflixs hit reality series Too Hot to Handle. Will you give in to temptation? Or hold out for deeper emotional connections? The choice is yours.

La Casa de Papel: When an old friend of the professors comes calling to cash-in a favor, the La Casa de Papel crew is pulled into a heist to rob a shady billionaires casino in Monaco.

Wild Things: Animal Adventures is an adorable game where you rescue cute animals, explore an immersive world and build your dream habitat in this colorful match-3 adventure game.

Raji: An Ancient Epic is an action-adventure game set in ancient India. A young girl named Raji has been chosen by the gods to stand against the demonic invasion of the human realm. Her destiny? To rescue her younger brother and face the demon lord Mahabalasura.

Spiritfarer is a cozy management game about dying. You play Stella, a Spiritfarer, ferrymaster to the deceased. Build a boat to explore the world, then befriend and care for spirits before finally releasing them into the afterlife. Farm, mine, fish, harvest, cook, and craft your way across mystical seas. Spend relaxing quality time with your spirit passengers, create lasting memories, and, ultimately, learn how to say goodbye to your cherished friends.

Netflix also listed the games that are expected to arrive this year. They include Poinpy, Wild Things: Animal Adventures, The Queens Gambit Chess, Lucky Luna, Raji, Spiritfarer, Desta: The Memories Between, and Reigns: Three Kingdoms.

The titles coming soon, meaning we wont see them this year probably, include Shadow and Bone: Destinies, Too Hot To Handle, La Casa De Papel (note, working title), and Terra Nil.

Netflix also showed off what it has already launched. They include Stranger Things 3: The Game, Stranger Things: 1984, Card Blast, Shooting Hoops, Teeter (Up), Asphalt Xtreme, Krispee Street, Hextech Mayhem: A League of Legends, Moonlighter, Into The Dead 2: Unleashed, This is A True Story, Exploding Kittens The Game, Knittens, and Relic Hunters: Rebels.

I got to play with a few of the titles at the Geeked Week preview event. They include The Queens Gambit: Chess. This game is based on the show featuring the character Beth Harmon. You can take some lessons, play puzzles and matches or compete against friends in this love letter to the show. I took a stroll through the tutorial and it was easy enough to grasp. Then I played a round of chess against the AI and won. I like the old style board and how the chess pieces moved on their own, kind of like a Harry Potter chess game.

I also played with Lucky Luna, which comes from Snowman, who you may know from games like Altos Odyssey and Skate City. I didnt know what to expect with this title as you venture with Luna into the depths of mythical temples and cavernous dungeons.

Its a vertical scrolling platformer, where you fall deeper into the dungeon at various points and try to avoid spikes that will skewer you. You try to collect coins on the way and uncover the secrets of Lunas past.

Each level introduces new mechanics and environmental features that open up different ways to explore. The game has no jump button. Swipe to move Luna left and right to guide her as she plunges deeper into each enchanting and treacherous region. I completed a whole level and found it quite immersive.

The most interesting game I looked at was Sam Barlows Immortality, an interactive video title where you have to mix and match videos, put them in the right order, discover new ones, and ultimately solve a mystery. Its a lot like the gameplay of Barlows other titles, Her Story and Telling Lies. Im looking forward Barlows tale about a filmmaker and actress who disappeared.

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Netflix shows off the breadth of its investment in games and gaming TV shows - VentureBeat

Uma Thurman and Crazy Rich Asians Henry Golding are on board to join the cast of Netflixs sequel to 2020s The Old Guard. The two will join the cast of the original movie that featured Charlize Theron, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Veronica Ngo, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Director Victoria Mahoneywill step back into the directors chair for the sequel, following in the footsteps of Gina Prince-Bythewood, who directed the original film adapting the graphic novel series created byGreg Rucka and Leandro Fernndez. The film follows a group of immortal warriors who had joined forces to form a mercenary company, led by Theron, a horsewoman from BCE Scythia. When the group is betrayed by a CIA operative in an attempt to learn the secret of immortality, they must fight to keep their existence a secret.

The film proved to be one of Netflixs most popular films ever, with over 186 million hours viewed by subscribers within a month of its premiere on the streaming service. The film currently holds an 80 percent rating on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. Although no details regarding the plot of the movie have been released as yet, Rucka and Fernndez released a sequel to the original graphic novel title The Old Guard: Force Multiplied in 2019 which may serve as the sequels source material. Thurman and Goldings roles are currently unknown.

David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger will serve as producers for Skydance Media. Marc Evans will produce for Marc Evans Productions. Theron will also produce alongside Beth Kono, and AJ Dix for Denver and Delilah. Author Rucka will serve as the films executive producer.

No release date is currently set.

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Uma Thurman and Henry Golding Join Netflix's 'The Old Guard 2' - We Got This Covered

Thierry Henry is one of the greatest players to ever grace the Premier League.

The French wizard, who mercilessly tormented opposition defenders during his time at Arsenal, made an unerring habit of scoring ridiculous, once-in-a-lifetime goals.

To actually try and pick a greatest strike from his glut of wonder-goals would be a fraught undertaking, with just far too many to choose from.

Henry formed a crucial cog in one of the best teams to ever take on the English top flight as Arsene Wengers Gunners clinched immortality with an invincible season in 2003/04.

Henry complimented his 30-goal haul that season with nine assists as Arsenal cruised to domestic glory.

Overall, in two spells at his beloved Arsenal, Henry would score an unprecedented 228 goals and register 106 assists.

It is no surprise, then, that the man was immortalised with a statue outside the Emirates Stadium.

The French star was the definition of ruthless guile and touch, turning the mundane into the magnificent at the drop of a hat or with the simple turning of a boot.

It looked, at times, as though the ball was glued to his feet as he would glide through defensive lines leaving a trail of anarchy and devastation in his wake.

However, if you need any more convincing of his heroic status, perhaps hearing from some of the biggest legends in the game will do the trick.

From Michael Owen to John Terry, Steven Gerrard to Sir Alex Ferguson, Rio Ferdinand to Cesc Fabregas and many more, they all sing off the same hymn sheet when it comes to Henry.

The man really was something special wasnt he?

When some of your biggest rivals from your playing days are falling over their own feet to sing your praises, you know you must have had a dramatic impact.

Henry would eventually swap north London for Barcelona where he would go on to finally win that Champions League title he so coveted.

Still, while he mightve conquered Europe elsewhere, there can be no denying that his headiest days, and possibly fondest memories, came when he sported that famous cannon on his chest.

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Thierry Henry: Arsenal hero praised by legends in amazing compilation - GIVEMESPORT

A touch over eight years ago, the Utah Jazz hired a young, under-the-radar head coach from Mercer Island, Washington. At the time, this coach, with stops in Atlanta, Moscow, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Austin, Texas, had yet to experience an NBA-level head coaching gig. He entered a new role, in a new situation, with a Utah Jazz team hoping to blaze a new path towards title contention.

Today, that once under-the-radar coach, Quin Snyder, leaves the organization as one of the most highly respected and regarded head coaches in the NBA. In his eight years, he helped restructure and rebuild a crumbling team identity and culture in Utah, and led one of the most successful five year stretches of basketball in Jazz history. Although no banners were raised during his tenure, Snyder leaves this organization having led some of the best basketball teams Utah has seen since the late 90s.

And with his departure, the Jazz find themselves in a situation much less dissimilar to their last head coaching search than youd think. Like the 2013-14 season, the Jazz are now looking for a new sense of direction: they need a new voice to help guide a roster struggling to find its own culture and identity. They need a new voice to help blaze a new path towards championship contention once again.

But unlike the hiring process from eight years ago, todays path towards NBA immortality looks much more hazy. Theyre missing draft picks, young players with untapped potential, and possibly the most important of all, time. Since their round one loss to the Dallas Mavericks (and maybe as far back as their playoff loss to the LA Clippers), a timer has started ticking down on Donovan Mitchells tenure with the Utah Jazz. After CAA represented writer Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN reported that that the CAA represented Mitchell currently feels unnerved and unsettled with the current situation in Utah, its clear that the young star and his agency have already begun posturing for more control within the organization. And given how the Jazz have played to Mitchells needs thus far, can you blame them?

Since breaking onto the scene, much of the organization has run according to Mitchells needs, both on and off the court. Mitchells ball dominant and iso-centric play style often dominates Utahs offence, especially late game. Utahs medical and training staff come from Mitchells camp. Utahs player development staff includes Mitchells personal team. Utahs training camps have been moved to different cities, per Mitchells request. Roster changes, such as trading for Eric Paschall, have been made with Mitchells requests in mind. So whats bending to Mitchells requests again and hiring the head coach he wants?

As described by Tony Jones of The Athletic on a recent podcast with Jake Fischer, this could have its benefits. CAA represented Johnnie Bryant, presumably the coach Mitchell wants, can tell Donovan Mitchell no. That right there is something that right now, that might be the number one thing this organization needs at this point, to tell you the truth. But it also may be a risky move. Should Mitchell bolt after next season, the Jazz are left having hired a coach who has little-to-no significant head coaching experience, college or NBA. While it goes without saying that Bryant is a fantastic coach and deserves the opportunity to lead a team at some point in his career, its also fair to question weather or not hes ready for the position right now.

But if Utahs goals arent solely focused on pleasing Mitchell, their options significantly expand. If they are looking for a proven win-now coach, options like Terry Stotts and Frank Vogel, two highly successful and respected coaches, could fit the bill. Stotts, known best for his time with the Portland Trailblazers, has created highly-potent offenses around small guards before. Vogel, on the other hand, has built a strong reputation for crafting some of the best defensive teams in the NBA, a large reason why he won a championship with the Lakers in the bubble.

If, instead, Utah is looking at hiring another under-the-radar candidate, akin to their hiring of Snyder, options like Chris Quinn from the Miami Heat, Sean Sweeney from the Dallas Mavericks, Charles Lee from the Milwaukee Bucks, and Joe Mazzulla from the Boston Celtics could work. All of these coaches, in their own rights, have built up reputations as incredible assistant coaches and offer the potential for continued development, something Stotts and Vogel might not have.

This may come off as obvious, but I personally believe that the Jazz should hire whoever they feel like is the strongest candidate. Getting lost in attempting to please one party or another in the organization could lead to further division and leave the Jazz with a coach that might not be right for their future. While its important to listen to the input from players like Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, allowing them to guide the decision making process could be dangerous. The significance of this offseason and hiring can not be overstated, and the Jazz have done a good job thus far in leading a thorough search. Thankfully, Danny Ainge has gone two-for-two on head coach hiring's in his career. Lets see if he can do it for a third time.

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The Utah Jazzs head coaching search will signify the direction of the franchise - SLC Dunk

In the world of Dungeons and Dragons, the lich is one of the deadliest challenges for any adventuring party. When it comes to plundering lost dungeons for treasure, disturbing a lich's lair is very likely. One of the deadliest adventures from the TTRPG's earliest days, the dreaded Tomb of Horrors, is infamously about braving a gauntlet of traps and deadly encounters set by a lich.

In fact, one of the most popular liches in the game is Vecna The Whispered One. He is a lich so influential he has become (as far as anyone else is concerned) an undead god. Artifacts bearing his name have appeared in multiple D&D adventures. He has appeared as a major antagonist in the beloved Dungeon and Dragons liveplay series, Critical Role. And now, even the newest villain in the latest season of Stranger Things bears his name.

So what exactly is it about these boney spellslingers that have made them so enduring as staples of fantasy role-playing games? Why has the cache of certain names like Vecna or Acererak endured for over forty years?

Well, we here at TechRaptor decided to reach out to Wizards of the Coast about the place liches have in their vast fantasy universe and what makes them so compelling. This lead to us having a lovely correspondence with Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition's Lead Designer himself, Chris Perkins.

First, what sets a lich apart from other undead in Dungeons and Dragons? Unlike vampires, zombies, or ghosts, the creation of a lich happens when a spellcaster usually a wizard decides to undergo a transformation for immortality. They actively choose to perform a horrendous magic ritual, the steps are kept vague for Game Masters and storytellers to fill in the gruesome details for themselves, to rip out their soul, place it into a magical box called a phylactery, and preserve their mind from rot and decay, all at the cost of their body withering away to a shell. As long as the phylactery remains intact, the lich can simply reform its body while retaining all knowledge and experience it had in life.

It is because of this functional immortality combined with the lich's obsession with knowledge that makes them so terrifying. It plays into a very primal fear of most people with academic pursuits: that desire to learn more and to ensure that knowledge is retained forever. As Perkins himself stated, The quest for knowledge is something all great minds can appreciate, but the underlying irony is that some knowledge probably should remain hidden.

It is that last part, the idea of knowledge that should remain hidden, that seems to characterize Dungeons and Dragons' most notable liches. The demilich Acererak, the big bad of Tomb of Annihilation, attempts to birth a new evil god by draining the souls of the recently deceased with the aid of a device he devised. Those who seek the wisdom of Vecna must find his missing eye and hand, then replace their own limbs with these mummified relics. Even more benign liches like Exethanter, librarian of the Amber Temple within the mountains of Barovia, imparted the knowledge of communing with The Dark Powers; leading to the creation of the first vampire Strahd Von Zarovich. All of this thanks to these undead scholars' centuries of unfettered archival and study.

But there is a certain tragedy to liches as well. In order for their minds to remain sharp and active, a lich must actively consume the souls of the living. If this doesn't happen, they begin to fade, their vast knowledge withering away like their bodies. There's a good chance that even after all of that sacrifice and relentless thirst for knowledge and wisdom, a lich can be doomed to an eternity of nothing else to learn.

One of the earlier liches I remember was Larloch, who lived like a hermit in the depths of a dungeon in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. Larloch was interesting to me because, despite his immortality and great power, he couldnt figure out a way to exist in the world of the living, so he sequestered himself in a dark sepulcher until he was all but forgotten. Thats really sad, but it says something about the lichs paradox: power and longevity dont actually amount to much in the end.

But by that same token, liches are highly motivated individuals. Because of that, their goals and desires can be just as diverse as any adventuring party at any gaming table. For Game Masters out there that want to embody the power and menace of a lich, these crucial questions need to be answered. What knowledge is the lich seeking? What rivals, if any, stand in their way? Perhaps, they seek the knowledge found within the Book of Vile Darkness, allegedly penned by Vecna himself? For these characters, lichdom isn't the ultimate goal, it is just another means to an end. But other than those specific details, a lich can be just about anything, as Perkins was quick to share.

After Vecna, my favorite lich is Vlaakith the Lich Queen, the supreme undead ruler of the githyanki. I wrote an adventure about her titled The Lich Queens Beloved (Dungeonmagazine, issue 100). Vlaakith holds court in the city of Tunarath, which is built on the back of a dead god in the Astral Plane. In Vlaakith, we see a lich who is leveraging her power and immortality to hold sway over a plane-spanning kingdom. She essentially has the power and influence of a god.

Alternatively, perhaps the lich isn't evil to begin with? For all of the drubbing that the Dungeons and Dragons community gave Fourth Edition, it did include some unique ideas. One of them was a special Epic Destiny certain magic-users could attain: The Archlich. You figure out the secrets of lich immortality, but without any gruesome human sacrifice or bodily mutilation. This means that good, charitable, and even altruistic liches can exist in the D&D multiverse. Perkins himself even agreed. Its certainly possible. I think its fun to have powerful spellcasting characters pursue lichdom as an epic destiny, since it leads to interesting story possibilities.

It is with all of these traits in mind that it becomes obvious why liches are so iconic in Dungeons and Dragons. From a storytelling perspective, there is a lot of texture to come from arcane scholars that delve too deep into the mysteries of magic. As a vehicle for fantastic battles and setpieces, they are a playground for Game Masters to escalate the challenge for their players.

It's why for many players the name of Vecna, the very first lich introduced in the earliest days of Dungeons and Dragons, is associated with devlish schemes, ruthless ambition, and terrifying power. The Whispered One is as synonymous with this game as polyhedral dice, Beholders, and Gelatinous Cubes.

With that in mind, it is no surprise his name is invoked in Stranger Things. While the Netflix series created by The Duffer Brothers wears a lot of its influences on its sleeve, 1980s genre film and Stephen King to name a few, the largest one by far is Wizards of the Coast's iconic tabletop RPG. The main cast are avid players of the game, using various terms and shorthand to give an explanation to the fantastical monsters they confront. These invocations have included the terrifying Demogorgon in Season 1 as well as the possessing, personality-eroding Mind Flayer in Seasons 2 and 3. If the ultimate mind behind the terrible forces threatening the small town of Hawkins and the world were to have a name, one that feels ominous and inevitable,Vecna would fit perfectly.

In fact, the promotional material showing the show's version of Vecna bears a striking resemblance to an official redesign of the character released by Wizards of the Coast. When asked about creative collaboration with the Netflix series, Senior Creative Director of Wizards Franchise Development, Jeremy Jarvis stated the following:

The Netflix team reached out to the Wizards Franchise Development Team, which is part of Wizards of the Coast but separate from the D&D Studio that works on theDungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game. Stranger Things shared their unique angle on Vecna for their universe and Franchise was able to share our new design and then together look for opportunities to collaborate in exciting ways.

Considering that Wizards of the Coast have worked with Netflix on cross-promotion in the past, this means we might see more of The Upside Down's version of Vecna at our gaming tables in the future. It also means that new players at the table will have a better idea of what to expect when these skeletal mages appear in their sessions.

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Liches, Vecna, and Stranger Things: Our Interview With Chris Perkins - TechRaptor

The Future Games Show is returning this summer, a grand celebration of all things gaming that will showcase over 40games on PC and console at a breakneck pace. The show will be broadcast on Saturday, June 11, kicking off at 12 pm PDT (3:00 pm EDT, 20:00 BST) on Twitch, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and GamesRadar.

The Future Games Show comes from PC Gamer sister site GamesRadar+ and our publisher, Future. It will be broadcast on Thursday, March 24 at 15:00 PDT / 18:00 EDT / 22:00 GMT on Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, GamesRadar and Bilibili.

How to Watch the Future Games Show

The show will run for around 75 minutes and is hosted by a familiar pairing: actors Denise Gough (Yennefer in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt) and Doug Cockle (Geralt). They'll be introducing a mix of world premieres, developer interviews, trailers and new announcements highlighting the best upcoming games on PC and consoles. I asked the GamesRadar+ lot if they could stick Cockle in a bathtub for us but just got a blank look.

You can follow the show's Twitter (opens in new tab) for more updates, and below is a short highlight reel of previous extravaganzas. This is the second of three planned shows for 2022, with the Spring Showcase having already been and gone, and an Autumnal treat to follow.

The day after the Future Games Show, on Sunday, June 12, our own PC Gaming Show will be back to blow you away at 12:30 pm PDT. Arma 4, Sam Barlow's Immortality, Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2, and Victoria 3 are just a few of the biggies, so be sure to tune in.

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How to watch the Future Games Show - PC Gamer

CommentaryBC Pires23 Hrs AgoBC Pires -

THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY

BC PIRES

READING HAS saved my life all my life. Today, it might be a book like Andre Alexiss Fifteen Dogs that encourages me to keep repositioning nose to grindstone but, since before I was ten, books have always realigned me. I can chart my development as a reader (and, ergo, writer) by the books that blew me away (and the rough age I was when I read them): The Call of the Wild (11). Kidnapped (12). Great Expectations (13). Miguel Street (14). Animal Farm, 1984, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (15). Catch-22 (16). Slaughterhouse Five, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird (17). The Lonely Londoners, Lord of the Flies, Lolita, A Clockwork Orange, L'Etranger (18). Things Fall Apart, Gullivers Travels, Brighton Rock (19). Crime and Punishment, The Wide Sargasso Sea, Moby Dick, The Dragon Cant Dance (20). Midnights Children, Heart of Darkness (21). The Red and the Black, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Anna Karenina, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (22).

From age 22 onwards: Briefing for a Descent into Hell. Immortality. Steppenwolf. The God of Small Things. Love in the Time of Cholera. The Old Man and the Sea. Times Arrow. The Invention of Solitude. The Cold Six Thousand. Invisible Man. Rebecca. Of Human Bondage. Focus. Nausea. Disgrace. Jude the Obscure. A Confederacy of Dunces. The Butcher Boy. Hunger. The Plot Against America. If This is a Man. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Trainspotting. Netherland. East of Eden. Beware of Pity. The Road. A Brief History of Seven Killings. If on a Winters Night a Traveller. The Enigma of Arrival.

And the biggest ones: The Sound and the Fury. Absalom, Absalom! In Search of Lost Time.

Ive left out many because the list is longbut it began when I was nine, with an 11-year-old English public schoolboy.

Between 1922 and 1969 (and the ages of 22 and 79) Richmal Crompton wrote nearly 40 books about William Brown, her mischievous prepubescent hero of comic adventures mocking the hypocrisy of the adult world. She was copying Mark Twain, to be sure, but she did it exceedingly well.

I devoured all 39 William books repeatedly. I was thrilled by Richmal Cromptons writing but I was also a little jealous: what was it about Trinidad that denied me stories about, say, Kenrick? Or Raj? Or Mikey?

We in Trinidad, I concluded, heartbrokenly, were simply not worthy of being written about. We could be subjects of the queen but not of fiction.

I still dip occasionally into the William books I gave my own son and the writing remains impressive. Even post-Faulkner, -Proust -Joyce and -Hemingway, I cannot take out a word.

The William books are timeless.

But, this week, I was shocked to discover that William himself has aged dreadfully.

My storybook William was cheeky to impudence, committed to nothing but escapist fun it was, indeed, his raison dtre and cared nothing about the grown-up world and its foolish preoccupations. He cared about only himself and his own close friends, the Outlaws, who shared his contemptuous disregard for everyone who wasnt one of them. The grown-up world was Williams plaything, its sacraments to be broken, its highest functionaries to be ridiculed for his amusement. He was sworn to fun, loyal to none, never did his homework, never combed his hair, his shirt tails always out, his shoes scuffed. He couldnt give a flying firetruck for pretensions of gentility and/or maturity.

William Brown was the hero of someone incapable of assessment. A secondary schoolboy who couldnt spell at a kindergarten level and didnt care, he hated girls almost as much as he hated any form of authority. The world could burn, if he could cook a tin of baked beans on it.

And hed do just about anything for a cream bun.

I thought William had died with Richmal Crompton in 1969.

But, this week, when he pretended that 148 of his backbenchers voting against his leadership was, somehow, a great victory for him, and that he could now get on with his work, it was only at that moment that I realised that William Brown, grown up, had turned into Boris Johnson.

BC Pires rote this endline bit in the stile of William Brong eef he had be a Trini which he fadder and dem wooda proberly call him Billy. Read the full version of this column on Saturday at http://www.BCPires.com

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William, BC and Boris - TT Newsday