Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

There is a new television show coming to Comedy Central on Thursday nights at 10pm. It is called “Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire” and it is a comedy that pokes fun at the whole genre of epic fantasy. The premiere of this show will air at 10PM April 9th.

So what is it? It is a new genre of television: Fantasy comedy; and it is spurred on by the stunning popularity of Lord of the Rings, Fantasy Gaming, Online Gaming, Dungeons and Dragons and all of these epic fantasy things that have come into the mainstream over the past decade.

I have watched an advanced copy of the one hour premiere of the show and I will give you my thoughts and opinion on it. But first you have got to read some excerpts of what Comedy Central says about the show:

“NEW YORK, NY, March 23, 2009 — From the time of the long ago past arrives “Krod Mandoon and The Flaming Sword of Fire,” COMEDY CENTRAL’s epic new half-hour, live-action series that chronicles the adventures of Krod Mandoon(Sean Maguire) and his hopelessly futile band of warriors as they take on the evil Chancellor Dongalor (Matt Lucas). Marking the all-comedy network’s first foray into fantasy-comedy, the groundbreaking series premieres on Thursday, April 9 at 10:00 p.m. marked by a special one-hour episode with limited commercial interruptions.

“Krod Mandoon and The Flaming Sword of Fire” is an outrageous, character-driven workplace comedy set in an ancient realm. Narrated by Chris Parnell (”30 Rock”), the series follows reluctant hero, Krod Mandoon (Maguire, “Meet the Spartans”), a thin-skinned and underconfident freedom fighter, who is the last great hope in the struggle against the evil ruler, Chancellor Dongalor (Lucas, “Little Britain USA”). To help fight the good fight, Krod has assembled a band of loyal, but remarkably ineffective freedom fighters: Aneka (India de Beaufort, “Run, Fatboy, Run”), the beautiful Pagan warrioress whose weapon of choice is sex; Zezelryck (Kevin Hart, “Fool’s Gold”), the young warlock whose greatest magical gift is spinning B.S.; Loquasto (Steve Speirs, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”), Krod’s oafish half human/half swine servant; and Bruce (Marques Ray, “Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘N Out”), who’s fierce and proud. Together, they must overcome a myriad of evil obstacles in their quest to save the world, including name-calling, hired assassins and a bisexual Cyclops (or biclops).

Viewers are introduced to Krod Mandoon and his band of freedom fighters during the epic hour-long series premiere, in which Krod, the son of a blacksmith and a stay-at-home mom, is revealed to be “The Golden One,” the last great hope in the rebellion against the cruel Meconian Empire and the wicked Chancellor Dongalor. Dongalor has not only imprisoned Krod’s mentor, the great General Arcadius, but is also in possession of the ultimate weapon of mass destruction, the Eye of Gulga Grymna, which he plans to wield over his subjects in his quest to rule the world, if only he can figure out how to unleash its awesome power. When Krod and his gang set out to rescue Arcadius, viewers will quickly learn that his newly-recruited band of semi-skilled warriors have clearly padded their resumes and that for Krod to succeed in thwarting Dongalor’s evil plans, he must grow thicker skin, overcome his germaphobia and work through his own sexual hang-ups with his Pagan girlfriend, Aneka.”

My thoughts on the show

I watched the hour premiere and enjoyed it. It was a funny and silly romp through the cliches of epic fantasy. I would call it good clean fun but its not! It comes on at ten oclock on the Comedy Channel so you know you are in for some ribald and bawdy comedy.

I have videos! Want to learn more? I have written more and have resources and more videos about the show on my fantasy guide website here: All About Krod Mandoon

- The official Krod Mandoon Website - Where you can find lots more stuff including more videos.

 There is no doubt that you have heard about the date December 21, 2012. There is a lot of buzz about it and I have talked about it in earlier blog posts, particularly concerning Nostradamus I have a few different posts including the lost book of Nostradamus here

The History Channel has produced a new show that focuses on Nostradamus and his predictions about 2012. You have got to watch this show and here is a video about it.  Here is a hair raising quote from the video:

“Thousands of people
Thousands of miles away
Thousands of years apart
All predict a cataclysmic event
Taking place on earth
On the exact same day
Can that really be a coincidence?”

That raises the hair on the back of my neck far worse than any horror movie I have ever seen. The show will premiere January 4th on the History Channel at 9pm 8 Central. I have lots more information about this show coming so stay tuned! Here is the video about the show:

Do you have expertise in use of or history of Scimitars?

I have been contacted by someone working on a project for an A list media company. This is a for a film project and they are looking for someone who has scimitar expertise. They contacted me but I really don’t have that kind of expertise and I thought maybe someone out there might. So, if you have some expertise with them you can either submit a comment or send me a message and I will get put you in touch with the person who inquired.

Now I don’t think this is any kind of a paid gig but I really think it might be a nice opportunity to have some fun and who knows, depending on how much expertise they are looking for, maybe you would get a film credit

We live in throwaway times. Everything is instantaneous and disposable and I think there is something lost in that.

I am not going to launch into any kind of soliloquy about that but there are two points I really want to make in this post.  There are two distinct types of long view and this thought stems from a guy in California who has been building his own medieval castle brick-by-brick on weekends and vacations for the past twenty years.

And this is a good example of the first example of long view: It is very difficult for us in this world to take a “long view” look at our lives and the things we do. This problem is very evident when it comes to those of us who are involved in the web where everything is instantaenous and last hours news is a distant memory.

I think it is quite remarkable that this man set out to build himself, by himself, a medieval castle and he has kept after it for twenty years. Kudos to him for taking the long view.

And the beautiful thing about his project is that it is perfectly wrapped in an example of the second long view - the long view that is really long and extends past you; and this is where Medieval Castles come in.  Castles, Cathedrals and buildings like that were built in a time where they took the long view of things - they built in stone and with the intention of making sure they endured. Why don’t we do this kind of thing anymore? Wheres the long view?

Anyhoo, I have a couple of interesting links for you:

A few years back I visited a medieval castle that was built around the 7th century. It is still in perfect condition and I have an essay about it and some pictures here: Inside a Medieval Castle circa the 7th Century

Also: Here is an article about the gentleman who is building his own medieval castle: Brick by Brick, a Weekend Warrior Builds a Medieval Retirement Home

A Quick What’s coming next on this blog: I have a whole bunch of stuff coming including my review of the phenomenal Terry Goodkind book: Wizards First Rule; It’s the book that the new ABC series: Legend of the Seeker is based upon.