Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" is being adapted as a movie set for release this November, and if it's as good as the novel, it'll probably be an Oscar contender. The book is, at its heart, a father-son tale of morality, protection, and hope in the face of epic tragedy. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, The Man and The Boy have set out for "the coast" in the hopes of finding a place they can survive. One of the most striking things about this story is that nobody has a proper name (as can be seen in the story's IMDB entry, but don't click if you want to avoid potential spoilers, as characters are identified by their part in the plot). Only one name is given in the novel itself, and it turns out in short order that it's an assumed one. It should make for a gripping, bleak, and uplifting (eventually) movie... if it's not focus grouped...

I'm a big fan of the ol' bleak apocalypse yarn. In addition to "The Road," my favorites in this area from the realm of fiction are:
- The truncated (the second half of the second season squeezes about 3 seasons worth of plot into 6 shows, due to the series being given the axe) Showtime series "Jeremiah." It had what I can only call "the end of the world vibe" down pretty well, and the talks-to-god Sean Astin character Mr. Smith was a highlight.
- Stephen King's "The Stand." The novel more than the TV show. King also gets "the vibe" of a planet de-populated of 99% of humanity, plus it's got Randall Flagg. :)
- The "Fallout" series of video games, for being darkly cynical, over-the-top, and the closest thing to an adaptation of "Gamma World" I could ask for.

All due respect to those who try to rescue their favorite shows, but I can't include "Jericho" among my favorite apres-nuke fiction. For starters, I have a midwestern bias against all they got wrong: You can't see the Rockies from anywhere in Kansas, much less anything over Denver. There is no "only bridge into town" for any farming community whose destruction would stop all-terrain military vehicles from getting in. In the first episodes, radiation was a concern, but after the harvest, it was forgotten. I won't get into the dialogue, the bar that never runs out of booze, etc. And this isn't to say I clap over it going away (perhaps forever, this time), but I wasn't moved to mail in peanuts for its rescue.

Anyway, on to Gen Con! I type this from my hotel room, as I perform the yogic rituals and meditative rites before I hit the floor tomorrow afternoon (booth 1621, "Adventure Retail," look for the Cthulhu plush-pile). Also, attendees might be in for a treat: The fellows I based the FFN characters "Nelson" and "Shawn" on are here, and they may even visit the booth. Nelson's inspiration should be easy to spot; he's pretty darn close to the 'toon version, and he'll usually be pestering be about "my [unladylike expletive] movie check!"

Linked up at Indy:

- If you think your car is expensive, how about a porsche plated in 40lbs of gold?
- The Star Trek MMORPG is coming! This page has links to Quicktime and WMV versions of the in-game trailer. It looks pretty good, a bit cartoony, but passable. The big question for me is can they pull off a seemingly infinite universe where almost everyone wants to be Captain Picard?
- Your anime cosplay is nearly complete. You have the cyan hairspray, the daiclaive, and... the contact lenses. I presume the next step is a mouth-shrinking device.
- My love of gravity games continues with Orbitrunner! Keep your planets on the screen with your gravitational pull. Thank goodness the actual solar system doesn't work like this...
- Had I more spare PC hardware, I might do this: Check out these walls made from motherboards.
- With more and more people falling victim to random fairy tales, it's a good thing that Neil Gaiman has provided us with some handy survival instructions.
- Finally, in the spirit of Gen Con and sharing a booth with Steve Jackson games, here's some homebrew rules for Zombie Munchkin. Caaaaarrrrrrdsssss...