Published Saturday May 1st, 2010 By DAVID GERMAIN The Associated Press Hollywood heroes are expanding their age demographic this summer. With a new karate kid, a middle-aged iron man, the return of the school girl-teen wolf-vampire love triangle, and a 1,500-year-old sorcerer, studios seem to have something for everyone from 9 to 999. The busy season starts May 7 with Robert Downey Jr. in heavy-metal mode again in Iron Man 2, as the billionaire inventor turned superhero fights public pressure to share his technology and faces a new enemy (Mickey Rourke) with his own arsenal of gadgets. Things never get easier, for an action hero or an actor hoping his sequel can outdo his blockbuster original. "I just thought it was going to be easier and more fun, but I thought, you know what? Maybe you've got to really roll up our sleeves," Downey said. "We had to really, really, really redouble our efforts to kind of make it something that seemed it would stand [...]

Many retailers try to turn consumers on to popular habit with Free Comic Book Day Published Friday April 30th, 2010 By Bernard C. Cormier Times & Transcript Staff May 1 will be the 9th Annual Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) at comic book specialty stores around the world that have accounts with Diamond Comic Distributors. It happens during the first Saturday, each May. As one would expect, the event results in physical movement patterns among comic fans that are similar to that of a university freshman year pub-crawl in which participants get plastered for free. You get the picture. Whether you "get" it or not, you'll be able to get free comics, especially printed for the event, at most comic book stores on that day, providing that the establishment you visit is participating. FCBD is the result of North America's comic book industry attempt to profitably rebuild itself in the late-1990s and attract new clients while keeping the ones it already had. Much to their [...]

Published Wednesday April 28th, 2010 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WELLINGTON, New Zealand - "Lord of the Rings" filmmaker Peter Jackson has been made a knight - a real one - accepting the honour Wednesday in his native New Zealand on behalf of the thousands of people who helped make his movies. "I feel incredibly humbled," Jackson said at an investiture ceremony in the capital, Wellington, where New Zealand's head of state, Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand, did the honours in lieu of Queen Elizabeth II. His knighthood was for services to the arts in New Zealand. "The truth is, making movies is not a solo effort - it involves hundreds of people, thousands of people - so I feel as though I'm accepting it on behalf of the industry," he said. Jackson has risen from a maker of small-budget schlock-horror films to the heights of Hollywood. His crowning achievement remains the three-movie adaptation of "Lord of the Rings," which transformed the rugged landscape of New Zealand [...]

From Acadie Nouvelle, April 24 – translated from original French The emergence of new technology always seems to be an opportunity to refine the original trilogy of the Star Wars series. The launch of three films in Blu - Ray format will be the exception to the rule. Few details are known for the content of these disks, beginning with the date when they will be offered to the public. The enthusiasm towards the product rose one huge notch, last weekend, when an employee of Lucasfilm, Steve Sansweet, stated that the Blu - Ray version of Star Wars would be launched "in the not too distant future". He added that the six films of the saga would benefit from the "high definition" treatment, but fans will be especially impressed with material that will be appended to the original trilogy films (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi). These three science fiction classics benefited from various alterations over the years, including [...]

Yeah, you heard it. Our 9th annual gaming convention, Distorted Perspectives is in the works. Stay tunesd as more info becomes available Impossible Realities presents DISTORTED PERSPECTIVES September 10-12, 2010 Chinese Community Center 24 Coburg Street Saint John, NB Parking lot accessible from Peters St Doors open at 5pm $20 for the weekend $10 / day Contact RaymondSaulnier@gmail.com for more information. SCHEDULE events and times are subject to change - To be announced

In the fall of 1846, eighty-seven members of the Donner Party were forced to make a camp near Truckee Lake (now Donner Lake) when the passes over the Sierra-Nevada mountains filled with snow. Having already endured many hardships crossing the deserts the majority of the settlers were unable to continue. They dug in as best they could and waited for a break in the weather, or rescue. The first rescue party reached the main encampment in April of 1847. Of the 87 pioneers who entered the mountains that fall, only 48 survived. How they survived has become a thing of legend. To celebrate the eventual rescue of the Donner party and the Feast of St. George (we assume no connection between these events...) Chaosium.com will be holding our annual sale. Save 30% on Chaosium books, monographs, and over 100 PDFs beginning April 23rd through May 1st, 2010. While everyone may not like cannibals, they are quite fond of everyone else! We also have a slew [...]

I've always wanted one of these for my classroom. :) http://instantsfun.es/

Call of Cthulhu gamers have quite a bit to cheer about this month. Here at Chaosium, we've been tinkering with a number of forthcoming projects, and our licensees have been working-away as well. NEW AEONS OF ADVENTURE The Great Old Ones are cosmic evils that have existed since before time, and shall exist long after humanity has gone the way of the dinosaurs. With this agelessness at the core of H.P. Lovecraft’s works, STRANGE AEONS II illustrates the eternal struggle between man and the forces of the mythos. No roaring-twenties mobsters or modern-day secret agents will be found here, but you might spy a caveman or a spaced-out flower child or two. STRANGE AEONS II contains nine scenarios for Call of Cthulhu that run a chronological gambit from prehistoric times to a distant future. Each adventure comes with six pre-generated characters for the players to use, allowing for quick play with a minimum of fuss. AND A NEW AGE OF ADVENTURE In SECRETS OF LENINGRAD [...]

After a winter filled with wild, possibly Mythos-affected, weather, everyone here at Chaosium happily welcomes the arrival of Spring. To celebrate, we offer an array of free downloads for our CTHULHU INVICTUS setting for the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game. These four downloads add new story ideas, creatures, NPCs, and notes about Roman Patronage for this popular Call of Cthulhu supplement. • FABULAE — story seeds for your next game session. • POPULOUS — non-player character statistics. • PATROCINIUM — notes on Roman Patronage. • BESTIAE — new creatures. NEW TEE We've heard from a number of fans who wanted to see our ARKHAM FIRE DEPARTMENT TEE on a navy shirt. We are happy to oblige, and want to remind all customers that Chaosium offers a variety of tee-shirt designs inspired by the businesses, personalities, and facilities dotting Lovecraft Country. Here are a few of our personal favorites: • ARKHAM AIRFIELD • INNSMOUTH EMS • M.U. ASTRONOMY CLUB • MISKATONIC EXHIBIT MUSEUM Happy to See [...]

Published Saturday March 27th, 2010 The Canadian Press So you think your pile of comics is going to shoot up in value with the next big comic-book-based movie? Maybe Iron Man really is the Golden Avenger and there's a hunk of green in Green Lantern? Whoa, Sparky. Rein in those Richie Rich fantasies a bit. Not everything is hitting the astronomical $1-million-plus that a couple of rare comics have fetched recently. "There's really only certain films which generate interest in characters that have translated into dramatic increases in prices," says Gareb Shamus, founder and CEO of New York-based Wizard Entertainment. Like Iron Man, for example. His debut issue in 1968 originally cost 12 cents and now goes for $500. "There's no question the first Iron Man movie really put Iron Man on a blazing path from a collectibility standpoint and an awareness standpoint," Shamus said. "In comic book circles, he was a popular character but on a worldwide basis most people walking down the street [...]