Ground-breaking Tolkien Research

Ground-breaking if I do say so myself.

Today I am pleased to announced that I have just published everything that is known about the Brighton manuscript over on my Middle-earth blog.

Check it out!

“What Is the Brighton Manuscript?”

Quick Roundup of Things Happening in the SF-Fandom Sphere

Due to extensive influenza January was a really bad month for me. I have unfortunately been slow to react to a few science fiction fandom activities and have had to neglect most of my Web activity.

Nonetheless, I wanted to note that Legend of the Seeker fans will celebrate Bridget Regan’s birthday this Sunday, February 3. Of course, that is Super Bowl day and we know millions of people will be watching the Super Bowl.

Speaking of the Super Bowl, our sister site Communizine has published a Super Bowl Menus and Menu Ideas article for 2013. The team actually published another Super Bowl Menus & Menu Ideas article in 2011.

Super Bowl munchies are good not only for watching football games but also for watching your favorite science fiction and fantasy movies and TV shows. While I was ill I managed to watch a few episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine on Hulu+ (they have all seasons and the + service only costs about $10 a month).

While I am plugging Communizine on I want to mention that they have shared a red velvet cake recipe article that explains what you want to do in order to make a great red velvet cake.

In January the Middle-earth Blog at Xenite.Org ran a contest to select five random people to win copies of 2 recently published books about The Hobbit. The Winners Were Announced earlier today.

And while we’re discussing the Mayans (okay, we’re not but now we are) the SF-Fandom Historian explored the last 13 Baktuns in December (you should read the article to see why all the “end of the world” hype was extremely misplaced).

Help Fund a Cthulhu-based Game on Kickstarter

I have never heard of Sandy Petersen but I have heard of some of his games. So I was pleasantly surprised to find out I know someone who knows him (personally, as in they are old friends). Sandy Petersen lives in Rockwall, TX (just outside of Dallas) and he has worked on some of the most popular adventure games around including Runequest and Elfquest (to name just two).

Petersen is running a Kickstarter campaign to raise $300,000 in seed money by December 3, 2012 for the development of a game based on H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhy mythos. Petersen’s first endeavor in this field was the cult classic Call of Cthulhu adventure game.

As with most (if not all) Kickstarter fund-raising projects you get an increasing number of perks the more money you donate to the cause. Also, if the campaign fails to raise enough pledges to match its goal then no one’s money is accepted. That is, your money remains in your (virtual) pocket until the campaign is closed out, and only if the targeted number of pledges is reached will the money be collected.

So if you make a pledge be sure you set a calendar alert to help you check your bank account. You don’t want to accidentally spend the money you pledge and then forget to replace it.

Although I have read a number of Lovecraft stories and watched a few of the movies inspired by his works I’m not as hard-core as some fans. Still, I thought this was a pretty cool project that deserved as much attention as I could help point to it.

Good luck, Sandy. I hope you reach your goal.