Book 50

Years ago I read Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I remember enjoying the book (the movie was another matter...) at the time. Apparently they've been quite prolific in the intervening years. Our library had Dance of Death on their new release shelf, so I grabbed it and a couple of their other books.

Dance of Death brings back several of the characters from Relic, most notably Agent Pendergast - apparently the Dirk Pitt of Preston and Child's literary world. Preston and Child's work reminds me quite a bit of Cussler's, and for the moment not in a bad way. The story was certainly interesting enough and I plan on reading more of their books, but I can see some of the same tell-tale weaknesses that could spell lots of eye-rolling and a sense of wonder at how I ever found this stuff entertaining. But that's several books down the road for now. Dance of Death was a nice piece of action fluff. Certainly not much more than a popcorn book - it won't change your life, but you should get some enjoyment out of it.

So, I made it to 50 and not a moment too soon. There were several false steps along the way, and I plan to rectify a couple of them over the course of the next year. I don't plan on going for the 50 mark again, mainly because I want to be able to take my time with a few books to ensure that I get through them. Most notably 1776, In Cold Blood and quite possibly John Adams among others.

Protopage is an interesting little corner of the internet. Could make a useful homepage if you're willing to spend a bit of time and spruce it up. I ran across it while listening to the This Week in Tech podcast. Useful things those podcasts...

My wife and I have been waging quite the little war over the DS. I suppose it's my own fault. I tend to try and pick games that I think we'll both find interesting and I succeeded a little too well this time. Curse you puzzle game genre! But it is quite the fun little device.

Well, I suspect this will be it for me this year, so have a Merry New Year. And raise a glass for me as I have to prepare myself for five day work weeks again...

Brief interlude

There will (hopefully) be at least one more post this year - I'm planning on finishing off book 50 if nothing else. But it may be a close thing. I probably didn't pick the perfect book to try and gun through. Oh well.

Hope everyone had a good holiday. Ours was a lot of fun. Took the kids to see Narnia last Friday. Wonderful movie, certainly makes my best of the year short list (along with Goblet of Fire, Serenity and Mr. and Mrs. Smith). Tilda Swinton was brilliant as the White Witch and the kids were also excellent. McKenna enjoyed it, but Miranda hated it. Mostly because it was a little over her head. But if you ask her why she hated it she'll tell you she hates Mr. Tumnus. And trying to get to the root of that results in a circular conversation about who scared who upon that first meeting by the lamppost. Best left unasked unless for humor's sake.

The girls must take after their mother when it comes to sleeping. We put them to bed a little late (for them) on Christmas Eve, but they still slept in until just after 7 on Christmas Day. Shocking I tell you. Presents were opened and fun was had. Spartacus (my new 4 Gig iPod Nano) helps make the work day go faster. Nifty little gizmos those iPods... And whatever you've heard about the propensity for the Nanos to scratch is probably an understatement. I really need to find a case for mine. Oddly enough though it's the silver back that seems to scratch more - I haven't had any real problems with the front.

My wife has been trying to lure me to the dark side of the Sudoku solvers. I gave her a Sudoku game for Christmas and have been coaxed into doing a few puzzles with her. It's a nice way to spend some time together.

Holidays

Have begun. Four day weekend with Chirstmas involved. Had dinner with my wife's sister's family this evening. Hooked a couple more people on Qwitch... Traded presents for the kids. A nice start to the weekend.

Looks like we'll be missing out on a white Christmas unless the temperature drops quite a bit. Rain tonight, but not cold enough. Oh well. The worst thing is that it's clearing away what was left of the snow from the big storm a couple weeks ago.

Well, that probably does it for me until after the holidays. Unless something truly interesting comes along. So happy holidays. Hope you can spend it with family.

Guilty pleasures

Shh, don't tell anyone, but I kind of like Stacked. No idea why, but I find it funny and oddly watchable. It reminds me of Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place. So, yeah...

I'm so ready for this week to be over. Well, ok tomorrow. Then it's Christmas weekend and there are few weekends better than that. The kids are pretty excited and honestly so am I. It's always fun to watch them tear through presents and jump around. Graeme will add a destructive twist to the mix this year so that should liven things up.

So Merry Christmas to all of you reading.

Paper

Fascinating link to some DIY paper bookmarks. I think I'll have to make a couple.

And Paper Forest currently has some really nice looking cards/holiday projects as well.

And I'd like to point out that the story in the previous post may cause keyboard damage. Please refrain from eating and reading at the same time...

Food groups

Those of you that follow the misadventures that make up this blog know that I enjoy zombies. Wacky zombies... Anyway, I have been known to encourage the children to let loose with their inner zombie on occasion. Graeme does a delightful growl in a most zombie-esque manner and I've managed to get Miranda to monotone the phrase, "Mmmm brains..." once in a while. So, now that you have a little background I can relate the following brief anecdote.

I received a call from my wife the other day regarding Miranda. Apparently she came home from pre-school explaining that Mrs. Dorris (the teacher) had told her that brains are not food. We have no idea what caused this revelation. I like to think that she was gnawing on the head of one of her classmates. Most likely she was chanting to herself, "Mmm brains...," either under her breath or a little more vocally. Either way, I can't help but be a little proud. My little girl, all growing up and being undead.

We had an early Christmas with the letter 'r' the other day. We receieved Super Mario Strikers. What a wonderful game that is. You've got to give it to Nintendo - they may put the Mario crew in every game they can, but the characters manage to bring their own brand of fun to whatever situation they find themselves in. Strikers offers an arcade style soccer experience filled with the power-ups you're used to and some attitude you might not be. Certainly the Gamecube game of the season. Pick it up if you have a one, you won't be disappointed.

Still hunting around for a book to read for number 50. It'll be my luck to miss the goal due to laziness in finding something.

And antibiotics are good. I spent most of the weekend trying to claw my throat out due to a staph infection. Swallowing was an exercise in personal torture... Fortunately I managed to get some medicine (after forking over far too much money for after hour fees) and tame the wee beasties. Accursed bacteria...

Book 49

Fatherhood, by Bill Cosby, was given to me by my own father during my parents' recent stay. I'd mentioned that I was doing this 50 book challenge and when at a thrift shop, he picked it up for me. Thanks Dad. It was a fun read. The first half of the book had me in stitches. Mostly because I could directly relate to the material being covered. I suspect in another 10-15 years I'll find the rest of the book just as funny. I enjoy Cosby's humor and he wields a deft knife on the topic of parenting and family. If you've heard any of his routines on these topics, you'll probably recognize a couple passages from the book. Definitely worth a read.

So close. One more book to go and I'll have made it. Will have to track something interesting down...

Apparently the Saturn needs to go in for inspection and emissions testing tomorrow. So much fun. Just the activity for one of the few Fridays left to my vacation.

Now. Go forth and wander the internet. Just make sure you leave it in a better state than you found it...

Taisho

This comes courtesy of the ever enjoyable Yukihime. Such an amazing study of how to eat sushi...

Tuesday TV got in the way of posting once again last night. House ended up being a touch better than expected, while the other shows were their typical entertaining selves.

Currently the house is under the grip of the sinus cold that wouldn't leave. Poor Graeme is probably suffering the most, but my wife and I aren't far behind. At least the girls are safe for the moment... That is the one aspect of Winter that I could really do without. Even the humidifier we're currently running doesn't seem to be helping much. Accursed dry climate...

It's hard to believe the year is drawing to a close. I suppose I should draw up some sort of Best of list, but I'm not sure it's worth the effort. I still refuse to make plans for the upcoming year. I can't recall the last time I made something resembling a New Year's resolution and I intend to keep it that way.

The letter 'r' is slowly improving his Qwitch skills, but there's always room for improvement. I managed to eke out victories in all three games the other night and I started out pretty tired. Of course, it's pretty hard to stay tired and competitive at that game, so I managed to pull things together in short order. I suspect my wife is planning on introducing the game to her sister and her husband so that they can then humiliate us in a gaming frenzy. We played Nertz with them a few years back and it wasn't a pretty sight. I blame the fact that I hadn't played Nertz for many many years up until that point... No. Really.

McKenna has managed to earn some patches in Girls Scouts so last night was the big awards ceremony. Much fun was had by mt wife as I stayed home with the other two kids (one being the under the weather Graeme). I managed to dazzle the Webelos with some Origami skills last week, this week I think we're just preparing for the upcoming service project.

Stubborn

So. I'd read a few comments about the new Prince of Persia game. And it sounded like they'd apologized for the steaming pile of sequel that was Warrior Within. I was somewhere near the end and I decided I had to finish it. With the fancy shmancy sword. I can now say that I've played through both endings of Warrior Within. Part of me wishes I hadn't, but I've managed to locate some ethereal duct tape and I don't hear from that part much any more. My gaming choices might be better served if I did, but that's neither here nor there. Sands of Time is a great game. It deserves to be on lots of top however many gaming lists. Warrior Within is a horrible game that deserves never to be spoken of again. Which is a bit of a shame as there were moments of brilliance in it, but overall? Best left unsaid. So Two Thrones has a lot to make up for. I loved the first one enough that I'll probably give the third one a go at some point. But only when I can pick it up cheaply.

And the holidays draw nigh. We spent a good chunk of the weekend wrapping presents. But then we got lazy and we've left a bunch unwrapped. You can pity our kids if you want. But I really wouldn't, there are far too many things that will have to make their way under the tree. I suspect we'd be responsible for the death of a small wooded plot if we actually tried to wrap everything. We're going to have to teach the grandparents the meaning of restraint.

The weekend was brightened by the making of Chili con Pollo - new recipe we tried out from 101 More Things to do with a Slow Cooker. It was an excellent recipe made better by the inclusion of bread bowls. Any time you have a meal where you can eat the serving dish, a good time is just about guaranteed. I recommend giving this one a try. I have no idea if I can jot out the recipe here, so if you want it, ask for it in the comments section...

I was amused to discover that the online community has dubbed the Impala from Supernatural the Metallicar... (And that's only slightly better than the Leather Coat of Masculinity.)

Book 48 and Pandora

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Land of Sand comes in as the end draws near. It's a fun little story set in the FMA universe, and it's pretty accessible even if you only have a meager knowledge of the series, so that's a bonus. Mostly it made me want to track down the series, in either animated or illustrated form, so I guess it served its purpose.

Pandora is quite possibly the coolest thing on the internet... It's a site that lets you build your own customized radio station. Go give it a whirl.

Hmm

Ok. I like Firefox. And I just upgraded to 1.5, but that may have been a bit premature. Seems there's a bug with the Mac version that causes some pretty serious hanging issues. I may have found a bit of a workaround, but if you have a Mac and use Firefox, I'd hold off on upgrading for a bit... There are some pretty nifty extensions and themes running around though. The Fireftp extension is quite nice.

Well, it's back to scouts tonight. May try to teach them some origami. Paper cranes for Christmas tree ornaments.

Kit stopped by last night in spite of the large amounts of snow we received and a lovely time was had by all. We introduced her to Qwitch and then proceeded to trample all over her self esteem by trouncing her at it... She took it well though. We look forward to a possible return visit come the new year. Should have grabbed a picture while she was here. Alas...

Book 47 and much other stuff

The Dragon Scroll, by I. J. Parker is billed as a Historical Japanese mystery novel. Apparently it's the third in a series (although I believe it takes place before the other two). It was a fun read. Nothing terribly deep and I wouldn't call it terribly historical (if you're looking for something on Japanese history) but the mystery part was fun. It's relatively easy to see whodunnit, but the casual pace of the story was charming. I enjoy stories that take their time and let you get to know the characters. So consider it recommended, but almost in spite of what it's billed as.

The recent Spielberg War of the Worlds remake was quite good. I liked it a lot. The acting was good and the effects were pretty amazing. And they did a good job of telling the story instead of just existing for the sake of being effects. The sequence with Tim Robbins was pretty chilling and rather intense.

It's funny, I've talked to several people that have seen this and there are a lot of mixed opinions. Many of them deal with the ending. For me, the ending is actually is one of the better aspects of the movie. It's a science fiction movie. And the ending reinforces that. So I hve no problems. The only real problem with the ending relates to the son...

The Skeleton Key was fun. Predictable, atmospheric fun. I've been to Louisiana and this movie reminded me of just how foreign places in America can be. It's worth seeing just for the sense of place. I'm glad it exists as a snapshot of pre-Katrina Louisiana. The extras on the DVD were pretty amusing as well. A Gumbo recipe and some stories read or told by the cast. Plus the usual behind the scenes stuff. It was a nice slightly eerie little tale.

Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot is a much better game with more people. It's paced a little better and the gameplay isn't quite as single-mindedly vicious. You can spread the evil. The ending is still pretty arbitrary, but I'm still of the opinion that the game is supposed to be more about playing than winning.

It's officially winter. There is far too much snow outside and I have the backache to prove it. Shoveling is just plain punishment for something... But it is pretty. I'm glad I live somewhere that I can enjoy the snow. Good ol' Winter.

And I finished Shadow of the Colossus (I told you there was a lot of stuff to cover.) It's a more depressing game than Ico, but that's to its credit in a lot of ways. It's always a joy when a game can evoke a strong emotional response and there are a couple pretty strong moments at the end of the game. It's funny, you could probably show someone the entire story line of the game in about an hour or so, but the impact is a lot stronger if you've been involved, fighting your way through the events that unfold. If you have a PS2, this game should be in your collection, it's that simple. Plus there are some pretty intriguing ties with Ico. This game wasn't really billed as a sequel, and it's not, but it is definitely in the same world and there are some great rewards if you're familiar with the other game. In fact, the ending probably isn't quite as powerful if you're not... (But it's still a beautiful experience.)

Upcoming

We've rented War of the Worlds and The Skeleton Key, so you can expect some thoughts on those in the not too distant future.

While at the library I grabbed what I thought was the first graphic novel of Fullmetal Alchemist. Imagine my surprise when I got home and realized it was an actual novel. Strange. And yet intriguing.

So things to look forward to. Took care of most of the Christmas shopping today. Now it's time to relax and enjoy the weekend.

Weeze

The Perfect Situations video is pretty fun. The more I hear that song, the more I like it. Probably ought to track down that CD...

Managed to procure a Mario Kart/DS bundle. Mwa ha ha ha. I may have to wait for Christmas for the Mario Kart goodness, but at least I know that it's in the house now. I find it a little strange that they went for a red/gray combination on the DS. Just make it all red.

And over at Neil Gaimain's blog he has links to sites with quotes by him. Some of them are rather amusing. Especially the one about life as given by Death.

Zzzzz

Sinus medication is evil.

Seems like there were a few things that I meant to put out here for public consumption, but I have no idea what they were. I blame the drugs. Speaking of which, apparently the medication my brother-in-law had with him got nicked at the airport. Curse you street value! My sister managed to get him home, but it was a long trip that involved too many hours awake and not a little pain.

So, five weeks left to the end of the year. Still a few Christmas presents to track down. But mostly done. That's always a good feeling.

And this poor disjointed post needs to come to an end. The aforementioned sinus medication demands it.

Colossus!

Shadow of the Colossus is a beautiful game. I'm not quite at the halfway point, but it's truly something to look at. The Ico team strikes again. It's too bad I have no desire to pick up a PS3 - I'll most likely miss out on their future offerings. But if you've ever wondered if video games could be considered art, then look no further than these two games. I'll do a better look at the game once I finish it, but for now I just had to gush a bit over the look of the thing.

A few movies out at the moment that I may try to pick up. Mr. and Mrs. Smith for one. Sky High was cute. Wouldn't mind snagging Millions... the list goes on.

Now to go listen to the rain before it turns to snow.

Winter sets in

And so there's snow on the ground, the temperature has dropped quite a bit and the house is almost back to normal. My folks have left, leaving a bit of time with my sister and her husband and then it's just us once again through the new year. Well, I tell a lie. It sounds like there's a pretty good chance that we'll have a visitor next week. And that will be a welcome bit of fun.

Caught Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Enjoyed it thoroughly. I liked it as much as the last film, if not a touch more. The first chunk is quite jumpy as they cut bits from the book left and right, but then it settles down and you get a good story.

Millions was also quite enjoyable. Some really good acting and a delightfully moral story. If you run across it, do yourself a favor and give it a go. Danny Boyle is another director to watch.

We've acquired quite a few games over the last week. The best of the lot so far is probably Qwitch. If you've ever played the card game speed, the concept is similar only letters and numbers are thrown into the mix. It's by Out of the Box Games - the people that did Apples to Apples and Shipwrecked. They're quite the talented bunch.

We've also played a bit of Tsuro (which is beautiful and challenging) and Killer Bunnies (which is mostly silly but also oddly compelling).

Calm before the storm

Well, nieces arriving later this morning. My wife and I are going to try and get to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire this afternoon. Turkey needs to thaw. House really needs tidied up. Etc. Etc. But hey, week off right? Never mind the yard work and the laundry and the kids running rampant...

Actually there are always a few bright moments during all the chaos. Miranda and I once again managed to triumph over my wife on the Baby Park track of Mario Kart: Double Dash. Since that's "her" track, that's always a nice feeling. ^_^ Miranda tried to help with the raking, and while her raking skills certainly need some work, it was fun to see her try.

Graeme is pretty close to walking. We have undoctored video proof of him taking a few steps on his own. Pretty soon any sense of peace and calm we had will be out the window.

But again, most of these things are cause for quiet joy. It's been a pretty amazing year in a lot of respects. Watching Graeme grow up, McKenna's taking off in school, Miranda in preschool. Lots of little milestones that we really have to focus on. Despite all the challenges, there are more than enough rewards to make up for it. I hope you can all spend a few moments with your families during this time of year. Even if it's only over the phone.

Book 46

The Vanishing Hitchhiker by Brunvand covers Urban Legends from a folklorist's point of view. Apparently he teaches at the University of Utah, so some of the variants of the stories are local to Utah and, surprisingly, a large chunk of them come from Kansas. In fact, one of the Hookman variants was actually from McPherson. Apparently there's a Hookman's road just outside town. I didn't remember the road in question but my Dad did. I suppose a lot of those stories wandered through Kansas on their way to other places. I'd certainly heard most of them. It's a fascinating look at the ways stories travel, what they might mean and how they change over time. If you like stories, especially urban folklore, this a great book that delves into some of the history of those stories and lets you see some of the forms they take.

*Yawn*

Family is in town and I have a week off. So chances are I won't be spending it with you lot. Crushed I know.

At any rate, Thanksgiving coming up, Black Friday (guess who's planning on skipping it this year), putting up the Christas tree. All that holiday stuff.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday (if you celebrate it). Think of a thing or two you're thankful for and send a prayer the way of those that are in need.

Mmmm

My kind of award...

Gaming and charity

Child's Play is up and running again this year. Over at Penny Arcade it says they're at around $100k at the moment, which is great. If I lived at all close to the Seattle area, I think I'd try and go to the formal dinner they're having again this year. The menu certainly looks pretty amazing. It's always good to see positive press for gamers. Too often gaming makes the news for violence and the "what is it doing to our kids" storyline. The real truth is that gamers are people and just like there are all kinds of people, there are all kinds of gamers. And we support charities just like others.

One of my favorite gaming sites used to be The GIA. They're gone now, so no link for you, but you can find some of the staffers running around some of the bigger sites now. They had a letters column that was my daily highlight. I even contributed a letter or two while it was running. One of the topics that I did chime in on was where you saw yourself in 20 years or so. Gaming is starting to be mainstream enough that it can be a worthwhile family activity. Just about any game on the Gamecube makes for a better family activity than what passes for prime time "entertainment". MarioKart and Warioware are certainly more enjoyable activities than some of the values that get paraded around on TV. But it doesn't even have to be videogames. We've been playing Don't Break the Ice and Gobblet as well. Time spent together is worth quite a lot.

Days go by

Well, we're at the time of year when it's pretty hard to tell one day from the next. Winter is approaching and starting to settle in, skies are going gray (although today was surprisingly sunny) and the temperature is dropping. Several of these factors are somewhat welcome (I hate the heat) but others just add to that mild insanity that is Winter. And while I'll take Winter over Summer, that doesn't mean it doesn't mess with my mind.

I've got to get some new tires on the car - the front tires are basically bald and anything with less traction than a sticky summer highway is presenting a problem. So, tomorrow's randomly shifted day off will be spent at a tire dealership. I may try to take Jarhead with me. The library only had it as a book on tape and I haven't really had a chance to listen to it. Not exactly carpool material.

Tuesday night TV was once again enjoyable. Bones is still the weak link, but it's growing on me. Supernatural is still wonderfully spooky and House maintains high levels of sarcasm and wit.

Book 45

When I was younger I loved the Myth series by Robert Asprin. Somewhere around High School the series went on a pretty long hiatus. In college I ran across a new book, Sweet Myth-tery of Life, and then I lost track of it again. Book 45 was Myth-ion Improbable, which apparently came out some time ago and there have been a few books since. It was good to visit with Aahz and Skeeve again. This book was Asprin's attempt to kickstart the series after some writer's block and so takes place earlier in the continuum. I enjoyed it. It's made me want to track a couple of the older ones down as well as some of the new ones. It looks as if Asprin has gained a co-author on some of them and some of the reviews I've read have been less than kind, but we'll see. Hopefully I can track some of them down. If you like fantasy and comedy, this series has that in spades.

Watched Chungking Express. Great show. I liked the second half a bit more than the first half, but they were both good. The second half reminded me of Amelie. Parts of it were truly funny. And some of the camera work at the beginning was pretty interesting. Wong Kar-Wai filmed a slow motion chase scene that had the camera all over, but there were segments where it seems like he did something with the footage that turned it into something pretty artistic. It's hard to describe, you need to see it.

And family is coming to town later this week. So posting schedule will be even more whacked out than it has been.

Friday thoughts

Watched Star Wars Episode III last night. There were some good bits, but mostly I just thought it was long. I will admit to a small wish that we'd caught it on the big screen. I suspect the effects were indeed pretty cool. Which was part of the problem. In some scenes there was almost too much going on in the background. I'm glad George was paying attention to detail, but he probably should have spent that time editing the story. But the prequels are over now and most of the questions are answered I suppose. I can't really bring myself to care. Despite any loss of Geek cred that statement might bring me.

Up next for our viewing pleasure is Chunking Express. I've been hunting for that movie for a while so I'm looking forward to finally seeing it. There's an article here that goes over some of the classic HK action flicks. Will have to go poking around for them. Am also open to suggestions so feel free to leave those in the comments section.

This could be an interesting food blog. I want to try the potato and leek soup recipe.

And it seems like there was something of interest at one of the music blogs I follow but I forget what it was so you can go find it yourself. Mwa ha ha...

And again

Once again we reach the middle of the week. Despite the fact that the year is flying by, the days themselves seem to drag on...

You'd think that with as sketchy as my posting schedule has been that I'd have more to ramble on about. Jack Thompson getting thrown off the GTA case. Mariokart DS coming out soon. Child's Play starting up over at Penny Arcade. Y'know, random stuff. But honestly none of that is really holding my interest. Well, ok, I really want Mariokart for the DS...

Been trying to read through Dracula. Mostly it makes me want to watch that silly movie with Keanu Reeves. I don't remember thinking it was all that spectacular, but there you go. So I have no idea what book will be next. It's getting close to the end of the year and I'm in the home stretch. Hopefully I can make it through that last chunk. Will just have to find something that grabs my interest.

Book 44 and some movies

Read The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book by Bill Watterson. I enjoyed Calvin and Hobbes when it was in the papers and much like Larson's Pre-History of the Far Side this collection gave Watterson a chance to talk about the strip - some of its influences and some of the difficulties he had. Oddly enough I only agree with Watterson on a handful of issues, but I still find the strip terribly enjoyable. Certainly an interesting look at one of comic strip's brightest stars.

The movie weekend was salvaged by the letter 'r'. We managed to take in the pilot of Dead Like Me and Premonition. Dead Like Me was an enjoyable show. Reminded us of Wonderfalls a bit. Wonder if there are any cast/crew in common. Premonition is the J Horror equivalen of that old TV show Early Edition. Evil Edition perhaps? So the J Horror fix was temporarily appeased as was the movie fix. Tonight we're going to watch Final Cut with Robin Williams.

And Thanksgiving draws nigh. This year we're going to try doing the turkey in the slow cooker - Cider Turkey to be exact. Hopefully it will turn out well, we'll have a decent amount of family around.

At any rate, not much else to pass along. I'm just glad Monday is on its way out.

More scenery

Utah Sunrise
Originally uploaded by dkun.

Took this the other morning before I headed out to work. You can occasionally get some pretty sunrises despite the mountains.

The movie weekend is not going well. In fact, up until this point it has been distinctly movie free...

I have attempted to remedy that, but not to much success. Oh well. I think I'll just sit and look at the pretty sunrise. There's another shot of the same sunrise over at my flickr stream.

Book 43

The Dream Hunters by Neil Gaiman and Yoshitaka Amano comes in at number 43. Unlike a lot of Gaiman's fans, the Sandman series was not my introduction to his work. I'd heard of it, but had never read it. It wasn't until I'd read several of his novels and short stories that I finally sought out the famous comic series. The Dream Hunters is probably my favorite standalone volume, but there are certainly bits of the entire series that I enjoy more. But still, Sandman folk tale. Amano art. Can't really ask for too much more than that.

When my wife and I went to hear Gaiman speak a couple years ago, he mentioned that the story he put in the back of The Dream Hunters explaining its origin was a hoax. He'd written the story himself and then made up the back story. Not unlike William Goldman's story about The Princess Bride. Those wacky writers.

My wife is currently making her way through Anansi Boys. I've seen a brief smile on her face most of the time she's been reading it, so I suspect she's enjoying it.

I've started making my way through Golden Sun: The Lost Age. A worthy sequel to a nice RPG on the Gameboy. If you're looking for a fairly traditional console RPG for a handheld, you really can't go wrong with this series.

And I hereby declare this weekend Movie Weekend. I plan on spending far too much money on movies and then watching them. And doing little else. Popcorn. Soda. Couch. Woo hoo!

Wednesday's Child

Far to go? It sure seems like it.

House was back on last night. I missed that show. Last night was another enjoyable episode of sarcasm and witty banter. Good times.

Everyone's favorite anti-videogame lawyer is back in the news. This time he's claiming Sony is causing a second Pearl Harbor. Good ol' Jack. Glad to see that I'm not the only one with a tentative grip on reality.

And now that we're in November the shopping season is ramping up. We've actually done a bit of Christmas shopping. Still need to track down a few things though.

Well, I'm tired. So be off with you...

Kids in costume

kidhalloween
Originally uploaded by dkun.

And here we have our resident trick-or-treaters. Ariel, Belle and Baby Luigi as they prepare to brave the mean streets in search of candy and mischief.

They had fun this year and came home with far too much candy.

Also, just off to the sides you can catch a glimpse of the Anansi pumpkin and the birthday pumpkin. My wife decided to celebrate Graeme's birthday a touch early.

Book 42 and J Horror

Snow White, Blood Red is a collection of fairy tales for adults. It's interesting, for the most part, but not necessarily something to track down. There are, of course, a couple real gems, but eveything else was ok. The introductory articles were almost more interesting than some of the stories. It's nice to see fairy tales geared for an older audience (the way several of them used to be), but I can't claim much more than that.

On the other hand, if you run across J Horror Anthology Legends at your local video store, I can recommend that. Six short pieces of Japanese horror fiction. I've been reading a lot of short fiction lately it seems and watching it can be just as fun. There's something about the short story that I really enjoy. I suspect it's the fact that the story teller has to pay closer attention to what's being given. You get a much more succinct story that's focused on the important bits. There are a few more J Horror collections running around Blockbuster, I may have to call a truce with them and give them a go.

The kids had fun trick-or-treating. And there is far too much candy running around the house. Oh well. You may get to suffer through a few more pictures in the upcoming days...

Weezer

Perfect Situations reminds me of FLCL. I suspect it's the opening guitars and the brief baseball reference. Great song though.

We've finally caught up on all our TV viewing from the trip. I suspect were it not for the fact that a few of the shows we watch were in repeats this week, we'd still be a bit behind. But now we can focus on spooky movies for Halloween. We'll see what my wife comes back with. I sent her for the Donald Sutherland version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers or Dawn of the Dead or something spooky.

Book 41

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman is a true joy to read. In fact, it's probably one of my favorite novels by him. I suspect I still like Neverwhere a touch more, but it's close. Anansi was one of the more enjoyable side characters in American Gods and it's good to see him in his element - a story of his own. After all, all stories are Anansi stories, and this one is a corker. If you enjoy folklore and mythology, you can't really go wrong with Gaiman. Once again he weaves facets of the old world into settings from the new. I don't really know of any other author with such a grasp of mythology. Truly a wonderful book.

In fact, I enjoyed the book so much that our recent trip to the library resulted in the procurement of a couple Anansi stories. If you can track down Anansi and the Talking Melon, I highly recommend it. Anansi the Spider is also a nice story, albeit a little more sedate. I'll have to try and track down a collection. It would also be interesting to compare some of the Trickster stories...

My wife is going to plug through The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket. I occasionally wonder if I've missed something by skipping out on that series. I skimmed the last few pages of this one to see where things are heading for the big finale, looks interesting. I suspect Handler found his bearings a book or so after I quit as that was when an actual plot seemed to emerge. Maybe after they're all out I'll try gunning through them. That or I'll just have my wife fill me in on the details. And then the kids.

Speaking of Handler, I believe there's a new McSweeney's collection out featuring some of his work. Children's stories this go round. Should be interesting.

Side note: Smallville? Really, really silly. And I can't believe they hired some band to redo Bela Lugosi's Dead. Well, ok, I can't believe they took the result they got... Poor Bauhaus.

Anansi pumpkin

Anansi pumpkin
Originally uploaded by dkun.

Tonight's Scout activity was influenced a little by my current reading material. We were carving pumpkins and I decided Anansi needed to be represented...

Unfortunately my nighttime photography skills need a little work. But you can get the general idea. I must admit, I'm rather impressed with the final result. The web shows up pretty well and the spider turned out about as well as can be expected. It is missing a leg on purpose - but for some reason I transposed which side it was on from how it looks on the book cover. And I forgot the fangs... Oh well. There's always another pumpkin.

Slow news day

Well, vacation '05 comes to an end. Did some yard work today and other general tidying. Not the most exciting of days off, but at least things were Accomplished. October is rapidly drawing to a close. Hard to believe another year is rounding out. Time is just one big sinkhole of, "Huh... Yeah, that flew by" anymore.

I'd be tempted to use If not for the Cat as book 41, but that's stretching things a little. We ordered it from McKenna's Scholastic Book order sheet this last time because it looked cute - haiku about various animals. It is a pretty cute little book and some of the haiku are quite nice. If you run across it, give it a glance.

So Supernatural did the Hook Man urban legend tonight. That's a fun little show. I thought the spin they put on it was ok, but a bit of a cheat. Now we just need to bother catching up on all of the TV we missed over the last week...

Book 40, photos and other random thoughts

Photos first. This is my photostream over at Flickr. There are quite a few new shots as we just got back from vacation and I 1) used the digital camera and 2) actually bothered to upload some photos. So there.

Book 40 was Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. I like Murakami's stuff. This one is broken up into two interwoven stories. Hard Boiled Wonderland follows the main protagonist as he gets caught up in all sorts of intrigue. End of the World follows him a little deeper into his own subconscious world. It's a mind boggling little tale on a few levels. I certainly don't claim to understand all of it. But I did enjoy it. It would be interesting to read each story as a whole (they're interspersed in the novel).

So we got back from our trip. It was far too short and I'm certainly not ready to go back to work. Fortunately I still have tomorrow off - I needed a day to unwind from all of the travel. It was great getting to wander around DC again. The FDR memorial was probably my favorite in spite of non-working waterfalls. The Korean memorial is rather eerie. And it was nice wandering around the Mall and seeing parts of the Smithsonian. I especially enjoyed the Freer Gallery. They had a really nice China/Japan exhibit. My goofy souvenir for the trip was a sumi-e board that lets you draw in what looks like sumi-e ink. It evaporates and you can draw something else.

The Capon portion of the trip was restful. We had some rain so we didn't really try to do a lot. I just enjoyed sitting and kicking but at Rummikub. We took Shipwrecked with us and Saturday night ended in the game that just would not end. The trees were turning so the area was rather pretty and with the rain things were fairly quiet.

The girls had a good time and we managed to survive the plane rides, connections and all. Even Graeme was pretty well behaved. Now I just need to shake this cough that's been hounding me. It started before we left but has recently decided to relocate to my chest. Not fun.

Didn't manage to drag my wife to see The Fog so will have to come up with some alternative method of brain-washing.

And that's about all you're gonna get for now. More as I think of it...

As Promised

SpaceShip One at the Smithsonian
Originally uploaded by dkun.

And here we have SpaceShip One at the Smithsonian. It was pretty neat seeing it hanging there with some of the other aerospace pioneers. They even had a little display that would play various video clips. Kept hoping for a glimpse of Matt in the background, but no luck. Congratulations again guys!

Walk, don't run

Well, the walk all over the city portion of the vacation has come to an end. Unfortunately the waterfalls were off at the FDR Memorial Park, but it was still a pretty nice Memorial. Will have to go back at some point.

And we now reach the sit back and relax portion. This is also the nothing resembling an internet connection portion so you'll just have to imagine witty commentary and pointless musings for the next couple days. Hey, it's not that different from the last couple weeks! Good you've had some practice.

So go wander around and find your own entertainment. I'll be back in a few days. Like you care...

Quick hello

Did a lot of walking today. Will probably regret it tomorrow when we do even more. But fun was had and it was good to get back into D.C. Saw Spaceship One at the Air and Space Museum. Took a picture of it that will end up here at some point in the not too distant future. Saw a couple other monuments/museums. Will visit a couple more tomorrow with the kids. Today was all about the adults running around the town.

It's funny, I remember being a lot more impressed with some of the Smithsonian buidlings the other times I've been to town, but there's a certain sense of satisfaction that you get from wandering around downtown D.C. I think it's just the sense of history that just about oozes out of everything in the area. I remember getting off the plane yesterday and driving back to the in-laws' house and being able to sense the history again. Utah just doesn't qutie manage that. But Virginia sure does. It's reassuring.

Well...

So, how about that last week? Pretty sporadic posting and certainly not much worth reading. And guess what, the future looks pretty similar. Poor unfortunate readers. You'll live.

There really isn't much to pass along. I don't recall sampling any new forms of entertainment over the weekend. Will probably drag my poor wife to see The Fog at some point in the next few days. In spite of the fact that they released it without screening it for the press. Sure sign of a dud, but the special place the original holds in my heart will drag me there anyway.

At any rate, don't expect to hear too much from me. Ran across a really good collection of Philip K. Dick short stories and it should really be the next book on my list, but I didn't quite finish it before I needed to get it back to the library, so it may make a slightly later appearance. And there is the possibility of photos in a not too distant future post. If that doesn't scare you away from here, I'm not sure what will...

Oh, if you can track it down, apparently Pullman (His Dark Materials) is really ranting about the upcoming Narnia flick. I wasn't too impressed with Pullman's work, but I can't say as I've read all of the Narnia stuff either. But I've certainly read Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe and I think the movie looks fantastic. So, it's not a stretch to guess who I'm backing in that argument...

Ugh

Inter...net.... is c...rawl...in....g

Something is not right with our internet service. So, don't expect much in the way of anything over the next couple of weeks. I may try to post from the road a bit. And maybe there will even be pictures.

I'd hoped to relate another Miranda haircut story.

Or talk about Shrek 2. (It was better than the first, but still only ok. Puss in Boots definitely made it worthwhile.)

But that's not going to happen so, go find something else to occupy your time.

Book 39 and a couple bits

Terry Pratchett's Thud! comes in at number 39. I've read several of the Discworld novels and tend to enjoy the Watch novels a little more than the others, so this one was right up my alley. All the Sam Vimes, Captain Carrot goodness you could want. I think Pratchett's earlier work tends to be a little funnier, but the newer stuff is arguably better. Or it could simply be that I'm not remembering the corresponding social woes he's satirizing. I'm just glad there's an appearance by everyone's favorite bloody stupid architect.* If you like Pratchett, this book is a no-brainer. If you've yet to read his work, I don't know that I'd recommend starting here, but it's probably not too awful a leap. Pick up a couple of the earlier Discworld novels and then give it a go. (Remembering to grab a couple that deal with the Ankh-Morpork Watch of course...)

Adam Sandler's remake of The Longest Yard was funny. And a decent way to kill a couple hours. High cinema? Of course not. But certainly passable entertainment.

The Eye 2 by the Pang Brothers is an odd little film. It's a sequel really only in name and partially in spirit. (Pun firmly intended.) It's not quite as horrific as the first movie, but it's an intriguing plot. My wife warns that it's not for those who are currently pregnant. Or about to be, or just recently were. In fact if Graeme weren't about a year old, I'd probably be getting the evil Eye for suggesting that we watch it. There are a couple decent jump moments, but like the first movie it's more of a quiet film that unnerves rather than one that goes for the jugular.

And that's pretty much a summation of a weekend well spent. Some random acts of cleaning were accomplished and we're getting ready to gear up for a vacation. So things may get pretty sporadic here for a while. I'm sure you're all crushed.

Oh and if you haven't gone to see Serenity, shame on you.

*Bloody Stupid Johnson of course. I suspect he had a hand in the creation of several miles of freeway in Texas and Utah...

Strange

Why is Barnes & Noble selling Warhammer 40K figures? The game section is growing by leaps and bounds. It's very odd. I did get to see the new Complete Calvin and Hobbes collection though. So very, very pretty.

And that's another work week done. I needed this week to end. Unfortunately it's set to start up again in a few days. Alas.

Long week

Is it over yet?

Not really a lot to pass on. If Serenity hits the $50 million mark (domestically), we'll most likely get to see a sequel. That would be nice, so go and see it. And then go see it again. I'd like to get back to see it at least once more myself.

Lots of complete randomness running around. WETA doing the effects for the Halo movie. Uwe Boll somehow convinces actors to be in his movies (most notably Ben Kingsley and Michael Madsen in the upcoming Bloodrayne flick). Lots of interesting possibilities in the upcoming holiday game onslaught. Apple may finally be releasing a video iPod.

And this blog makes me hungry...

Colossus!

Received a demo for Shadow of the Colossus in the mail today. This is the next game from the team that put out the absolutely amazing Ico. Unless I'm doing something very wrong, it's a pretty short demo, but it certainly gets the idea across and it looks like another stellar game. I don't know how they do it, but this group manages to capture wonderfully realized worlds in their games. Ico took place in a castle that would have been amazing to explore in real life and this one seems to take place in an enchanting little valley. One of the things that sets Colossus apart is that the game is basically a series of boss battles. Gone are the pointless random encounters and frustrating mini battles. This is all about exploration and taking out the big guys. Should be pretty interesting. One of the few titles for the PS2 to hold my interest.

And due to baseball playoffs, Tuesday TV gets a lot easier to keep up with. Yay.

Hachiko Waits is too emotionally draining for McKenna. She finds it too sad that Hachi waits day after day for a master that won't be coming home. And she didn't want to finish the story to find out that something happened to the dog. So my wife is letting her off the hook. Probably a wise move.

Highlander

With bunnies. I've mentioned this site before, but as I hold a soft spot for the original Highlander, I thought I'd pass it along again.

And if you're clever, you can track down the new Goblet of Fire footage featuring Malfoy the bouncing ferret. This is the other big movie release I'm looking forward to this year. Well, that and Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Other than that, it's a Monday. And it can't end soon enough.

Book 38

So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld ranks up there in the top five books I've read this year. Flashes of Pattern Recognition by Gibson and the circle of cool fed by the net and all things advertising. It's a pretty quick read and an exceptionally entertaining one. I suspect that if you've heard of Westerfeld, you've heard of this book. He's definitely an author to keep an eye on. I may have to track down his new book Peeps. Highly recommended.

Serenity and Book 37

What an excellent movie. I suspect you'll certainly get more out of it if you were a fan of the show, but it is pretty accessible if you weren't. Although a few of the events won't mean as much, but that's to be expected. One of the things that was different about the series was the size of the cast. Nine people on the ship and each of them was a little different and special in their own way. It's impossible for the movie to really play to that, but it does try. And for the most part it succeeds. So, go see it and then go see it again. Lovely, lovely movie.

Finished off Midnighters Book Two. Also enjoyable. Advance the story nicely, throws some intrigue in there like all good middle arcs of a trilogy. Look forward to the finish. I'm finding Westerfeld to be quite a nice writer. I've already started another book by him and it's looking pretty good as well. So if you run across him, you could do worse.

Shining

Yeah, yeah, it's everywhere, but this is a great re-imagining of The Shining. Jack Nicholson in a romantic comedy. The server is getting pounded so it may take a while to load, but it's totally worth it.

Revolution roundup

Nice FAQ on Nintendo's upcoming console. So far away...

Anticipation

Serenity in a couple days. Hopefully we can track down a sitter. The sister-in-law caved. Oh well. Should be a pretty good show.

Not really a lot to pass along. And I'm a little too tired to delve into a retro look at something. We still haven't managed to find time for An American Werewolf in London. We should. I remember thinking I found it quite amusing and a decent werewolf flick.

The Audio Editions over at The Movie Blog have been pretty good recently. Yesterday's dealt with a list of the 50 best sci-fi TV shows and whether they'd make decent movies. I'd like to see a Dr. Who movie...

Gratitude

Neil Gaiman book signing
Originally uploaded by dkun.

Full marks for my mother-in-law. She braved the Neil Gaiman signing Sunday evening and scored us a copy of Anansi Boys and had him sign our copy of Wolves in the Walls. But she did get to hear him do a bit of a reading, so at least is wasn't a total waste of an evening for her. She even got to see a couple Sandman cosplayers... Heh heh. Thanks!

Graeme Determined

Determined Graeme
Originally uploaded by dkun.

We're trying to convince Graeme that sleeping through the night is a good thing. He's not convinced. My wife was up with him for a bit the other night around 11 and then put him back to bed. And then he woke up around 3. I told her to just yank the baby monitor out of the wall and let him cry himself back to sleep. So she did. He cried for a bit and then I heard a thump and the crying started to get progressively louder. I asked my wife if she thought Graeme could get out of the crib. She mumbled some form of negative response and rolled back over. But the crying kept getting louder. I mentioned then that I was pretty sure he'd gotten out of the crib and was slowly crawling up the stairs to come enact some baby form of revenge. So she got up and looked out the door of our room. I asked her where he was. "Two steps from the top of the stairs..." I laughed for a little while and then went back to sleep.

Graeme will not be ignored.

Interview

With Neil Gaiman and Joss Whedon. Go read.

The interweb

Well, I have a couple pictures to throw on here, but Flickr is off in some back alley massage parlour. So you'll have to wait. Until then, imagine a picture of Graeme crawling up the stairs and a very tired Neil Gaiman at the book signing last night.

Book 36 and a game

I ran across the name Scott Westerfeld over at Boing Boing (I think). I'm pretty sure Cory Doctorow was talking about one of his newer books. So I browsed the local library to see what they had by him. Midnighters Book One was an enjoyable little romp through the realms of YA fiction. An old premise given a couple coats of paint and some varnish. Westerfeld has a nice literary voice and the story was pretty engrossing. It looks to be a trilogy and I'm starting book two at the moment, so you can expect a couple thoughts on it soon.

Did some birthday shopping for the letter 'r' the other day. Picked up Shipwrecked. Great game. If you come across a copy, pick up a couple. You'll want one for yourself and one for friends or family. Stranded on an island, you have to outbid your fellow castaways for resources and other necessities. Monkeys! Every castaway needs a monkey. The setting is really just window dressing for a clever little bidding game. It would be nice if you could have more than four players, but that would probably require some serious retooling of the bidding mechanics. Still if you have a regular group of 3 or 4 that you hang out with, this is the game for you.

Dracula

As a blog. Pretty cool. I remember there were some other literary blogs wandering around. Someone was putting up Samuel Pepys's diaries and what not. Go check it out.

Nothing to see

Move along.

And the week marches on

Four hours. Four hours of TV worth watching on Tuesday nights... That's wrong on a few levels. Bones picked up a bit last night. The NCIS opener was quite good and House and Supernatural are still quite enjoyable. Four hours...

At least there's not really anything on Wednesdays. Didn't really get into Lost last season although that's probably about to change. The letter 'r' picked up the DVDs so we'll plow through it at some point. May or may not watch it tonight.

McKenna is taking after me in reading skills. She's at about a third grade reading level a week or so into the second grade. I suspect she'll start ramping up at some point pretty soon. Her math skills mimic mine as well. Poor girl.

And I believe Ruth is going to brave the Neil Gaimain book signing in order to snag me a signed copy of Anansi Boys.

Book 35

The Wizard be Gene Wolfe is the sequel/second half of The Wizard Knight series started in The Knight. I enjoyed the first book, and was slightly underwhlemed by the second. It might have been partly due to the fact that it's been so long since I've read the first book, but the second left me mostly confused. Things were going on that didn't make a lot of sense. I remember thinking that about the first one, but that at some point it clicked. There wasn't a real good clicking moment in this one. There were moments of pure brilliance but they were weighed down by the bits that just felt tedious to me. Which is a little surprising, because again, Wolfe eschews a lot of exposition, speeding up sequences that would be terribly drawn out in other books. I'm beginning to wonder if some of that exposition isn't a little more necessary. At any rate, overall the series was certainly unique and mostly enjoyable. I suspect a decent knowledge of Norse mythology might enhance your understanding/enjoyment as well.

One more

Nintendo article.

Pet peeve for the day: shirts that are one color in the store and another color entirely outside. I picked up a nice blue shirt from Target a couple weeks ago that turns a rather strange purple color in daylight. Odd and yet frustrating...

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was ok. Not great, but not horrible. If you've read the book, you know most of what to expect. There are some differences (much like the differences found in the other versions) and some work and some don't. The rescue Trillian bit wasn't worth the "I'm English, I know how to queue" joke - in fact the rewritten Trillian/Arthur romance wasn't terribly well done - but the point-of-view gun was a nice touch. And I really liked the segment where Arthur and Slartibartfast travel through Magrathea's workroom floor.

Fever Pitch was good. Nice romantic comedy. Who knew the Farrelly brothers had it in them?

Book 34

Hachiko Waits by Lesléa Newman is a delightful telling of the traditional Japanese story concerning the Akita, Hachiko. I first ran across the tale when I was taking Japanese in college. When we started learning kanji and reading in Japanese the story of Professor Ueno and his faithful dog was an interesting look into some of the culture and history of Japan. Newman's book blends the basic true story into a fictionalized account that does a wonderful job of bringing out the trasitional elements - loyalty, friendship and faithfulness. This is a children's story, but it's one that everyone should read.

Book 33, TV

Ice Haven by Daniel Clowes is an odd little book. A "comic-strip novel", Ice Haven concerns itself with the inhabitants of the titular town and their lives during the search for a missing child. Sort of. The missing child arc is mentioned mostly in passing and the "meat" of the story is the lives of the people each set of strips follows. There are brief flashes of brilliance and it's interesting to put things together for yourself (very little is spelled out) but overall it's not really something I'd recommend. There are a few interesting meta-story bits where Clowes looks at the world of comic strip critique, but that's about all that can be said.

And so we've survived the first week of the new TV season. The winner? Threshold. Seems to be well written and intelligent. I hope that they have the story mapped out and that there will be a definite end to the show. This isn't a story that should go on and on, but it should prove to be an interesting ride. Supernatural is a close second. There are a couple new shows next week, so we'll see what else is out there. I'm a little worried about NCIS after seeing the teaser commercial the other day. I really hope they're not screwing with the dynamic. I realize that's a nigh impossible task with Kate's death, but here's to hoping.

And as I don't think I've mentioned it, Super Monkey Ball is quite the game. The girls have fallen in love with it and I must admit to a certain bit of enjoyment as well. Monkey billiards is quite the little mini-game...

Revolutionary

And so the Nintendo Revolution's controller is revealed. Cool. It's definitely different. I suspect it's a controller that you'd actually have to spend some time with in order to form a real opinion. I'll just leave it at interesting idea and hope that it's as cool as the possibilities for it suggest.

Update: And here's a video demonstrating possible game uses. Ok, now I'm officially excited...

Prelude

This is a nice little short film by Michel Gagne - one of the Flight artists.

A few more words

Poor little blog. All abandoned and no real updates to speak of. Alas. The end of the year is like that for me though - short weeks lead to more relaxation and unwinding. And since there are new things to mock on television (Head Cases? Seriously? Who greenlights this stuff?) Less time here. Oh well. You'll live.

Picked up Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2 for the kids. We borrowed the first one and loved it. Nice gameplay and there are lots of things to do with the girls. I even got my Dad to play some. ^_^

I meant to write more on 12 Monkeys. It's been a while since I've done a bit of a retrospective post. Grand ideas and such... That's been one of the standout sci-fi films in the last several years. Criterion needs to put it out on DVD with a nice set of goodies. All star cast and a script that lets you go back and watch it again and again. You'll probably pick up something new every time you see it. I need to track down a good site with some commentary on the film. It's probably a little late, but as the net never throws anything away (pack rat that it is) I'll probably be ok.

At any rate, a time travel story that twists in on itself a couple times, 12 Monkeys follows Bruce Willis as he travels back in time to unlock the secret of a virus that wiped out most of humanity. And along the way he unlocks a few things about his past as well. I suspect a good portion of the film is really Gilliam's critique of the mental health care industry, but there's a solid story here with some great acting by Willis, Pitt and Stowe. If you haven't seen it, you really should. And if you have, watch it again. It's that good.

I've been reading a bit about Takeshi Kitano. An interesting fellow with some interesting movies under his belt. I need to track a few more of them down and watch them. This is a nice little site that follows his career. Go give it a couple moments of your time. Some of the background on Zatoichi was quite interesting.

New TV sound bites

Supernatural - best new show tonight, will definitely keep watching (this is 'd' speak for don't get attached I'll be cancelled before you can blink).

House - excellent as always, although my wife isn't too sure about the Sela Ward dynamic.

Bones - weakest link tonight. Will give it a couple more episodes to see if they can find their stride, otherwise Tuesday gets a little simpler.

Monday rides again

Gearing up for Serenity later this month. We're watching through Firefly and enjoying it immensely.

New TV season starts up in earnest tomorrow. Once again Tuesdays feature far too much TV for one night. NCIS (not new tomorrow), House, Bones and Supernatural. And the checking things out begins. Threshold is also a possibility...

And there are even a couple DVDs worth checking out this week: H2G2 and Fever Pitch. So many ways to kill brain cells, so little time.

1up has some video coverage of PAX up. I'd like to get there some day.

And for a random link, here's a list of some software that you may, or may not, find interesting if you have a Mac.

TV's new season
features things that go bump in
the night. Ooo spooky...

Sound bites

12 Monkeys - still great.

Battlefield Baseball - wacky, get together with some friends fun.

Mean Girls - formulaic, but not too bad.

Confessions of a Teenage... - I watched about as much as I typed. And I regret that... (Actually we didn't make it past 10 minutes or so.)

The House

Creepy. Yay!

Hmmm

Apple made their announcements today. iPod Nano looks trés cool. I'd take one of those.

And the new TV season is trickling in. Haven't really watched Prison Break, but it might be interesting. House starts up next week. And why does Martha Stewart have some form of reality show? Haven't we been punished enough? Is the American TV viewing audience that stupid? Oh. Wait. Yes, yes it is... <sigh>

And we're back

And the long weekend has come to a close. It seems we are unable to have an end of summer activity that doesn't end in sunburn. Last year the beach trip resulted in massive burns and kidney stones for my wife. This year we went to watch border collies herd sheep. Hopefully we can skip the kidney stones. I was a little surprised at how much fun it was to watch the show, but there you go. Plus there was plenty of food and some Scottish Highland games going on in the background. I suppose we should buy some sheep for Ein to practice with. It would be pretty amusing to see how she handles something like that.

Sahara ended up being a lot of fun. If you've read a Clive Cussler book, you know what to expect. And despite my initial wincing over the casting decisions, things worked out. The banter and chemistry between Steve Zahn and Matthew McConaughey was actually just about spot on. They still don't really fit the physical descriptions, but they fit the part. And I have no idea why everyone hated Penelope Cruz in this movie. I didn't find her accent that hard to follow and I think her acting was fine for the role she was cast in. Besides, it's an adaptation of a Cussler book. What are you expecting here? So, yeah, Sahara was just what it should have been. Could be the beginnings of an interesting franchise.

White Noise, however, was mediocrity in it's purest form. In theory it's a spooky idea. In reality not so much. I suspect part of the problem lies with my own personal beliefs on the afterlife and how we interact with it. The movie tries (mostly) to play it straight - up until the end - and those sections work alright. I was able, for a while, to just sit back and watch the show, but ultimately I just couldn't buy it and my own biases ruined any real enjoyment that might have been had. I think the problem stemmed from the fact that the movie tried to play it straight - since it was serious, my own world views felt no need to take a hike so I could just watch. And so, in some ways, the ending lost a lot of its impact.

If nothing else, it is an interesting topic. My friends and I messed around with Ouija boards for a bit (well ok, a very small bit) and my wife and her mother have some interest in psychics and communication with those who have passed on. I certainly believe that we continue to exist and I think that communication is possible. But it follows very strict rules. And when you try to just randomly interact with that world, you're asking for trouble. Part of me wonders if the end of the movie is meant to add credence to that view. While on the one hand he helped someone, it wasn't necessarily worth it.

And I think I'm going to have to rent The Longest Yard. It looks funny...

Radio silence

And this will be me for a couple days. Time to enjoy the weekend and spend some time with the folks and the kids. I've managed to round up enough booster packs of Pirates that I can attempt the full game so we'll see how that goes. And we may track down a copy of Sahara. Or who knows, maybe there's actually something worth seeing at the theater.

Have a great weekend, and our hearts go out to those in Louisiana.

Tasty

Ah, Del Taco. You are my friend. And Graeme has decided that Del Scorcho sauce packets are the best of toys. I tried to take one away from him and he cried until I gave it back. That's devotion to your hot sauce. ^_^

And so the four day weekend commences. I predict much laziness attempted and some laziness accomplished. Gonna coerce my Dad into a game or two of Pirates and we may track down a copy of Sahara. Other than that, who knows.

Sounds like Blockbuster has decided to get rid of their VHS tapes. A silly move at this point if you ask me. There are still plenty of classic movies that aren't out on DVD yet. And Star Wars 3 won't come out on DVD. Eh. Whatever.

And I borrowed a copy of Super Monkey Ball from a guy at work, so much monkey goodness will be had.

Evil

Kohl's. Kohl's is evil. One day sales. One day sales are evil. Especially one day sales at Kohl's. Went in to get some shoes (which I did), came out with shoes and shirts. Lots of shirts. I did manage to leave behind the t-shirt that read, "Work Bad. Videogames Good." though. (It was a close call...)

Family is in town again. Will be nice to see them for a bit. And it's a long holiday weekend. Posting may be very sporadic over the next several days. I'm sure you won't notice.

So. The computer world is waiting on the new announcement from Apple. And the gaming world is still hoping to hear more about the Nintendo controller. And apparently Nintendogs is "better than Barbie". Groovy.

And there was some horror film festival in the UK. Grrrr...

Spin

Nice short film.

Book 32 and Cake

True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa by Michael Finkel is an odd book. A good book, but an odd one. I was unfamiliar with the events depicted, but Finkel certainly weaves a fascinating narrative out of a surreal situation. Fired from his dream job with the Times magazine for fictionalizing parts of a story he wrote, Finkel is alerted to a situation where Chris Longo (charged with killing his family) has been captured while impersonating Finkel. It makes for a compelling read as you realize the little games the two men begin to play.

Layer Cake was vastly different from my expectations. Having seen Snatch I expected a witty (if convoluted) British crime drama. Layer Cake leaves out most of the wit. It's still convoluted and a crime drama however. I don't think some of the pieces came together as well as they could have, but it's an interesting film. The swearing does wear thin though. Definitely a rental.

Travel

Get your bug going here...

Pirates and Ghosts

Picked up a handful of the Pirates Constructible Strategy Game packs. I suspect I've found a CCG that I could play. I've always enjoyed Pirate games and the little ships that you construct in this one are quite nice. Build some ships, sail the seas, find treasure, and blow up your opponent. What's not to like? The basic game is pretty easy to pick up and the advanced game looks like it adds some length and strategy without adding too much to the difficulty. Perfect for the upcoming speak like a pirate day. Arr...

We watched The Ring Two last night. I would say it wasn't as scary as the first one, but it had a pretty good story. And the extras on the DVD were quite nice. I especially liked the Rings short. It's a nice piece of Ring mythology that fills in the events that led up to the beginning of the second film. Quite well done. I still find it interesting that they're bringing over the Japanese directors to re-make these films. Part of me wishes they'd just release them, but it is interesting to see what the re-makes are like. The second one has several nice moments including the scene with the deer and the (in)famous bathtub sequence. We get more of Samara's background and more creepy little kid moments. Plus a really good contortionist.

In related news, there's now a box set of all the original Japanese Ring movies out. Sounds like a birthday present to me.

Book 31.5

Tried reading The Dante Club. I wanted to like this book. Intriguing premise and some Dante. And in a lazy sort of way, I did like the book. Just not enough to finish it. So that marks about three books that I've started recently that I haven't been able to convince myself to read. We'll see if the next one bucks that trend. I suspect it will. Actually I have a couple more books on tap, so expect something relatively soon. As for whether or not I'll try counting any of the failures, I guess not. But I'm leaving the half score in my count. Well, not visibly, but I'll think it every time! ^_^

The Brothers Grimm is getting pretty mixed reviews. Which may imply a Gilliam Effect. Typically you either love him or hate him. My wife's undecided enough that this one may get relegated to rental status as opposed to theater venture, but I'll carry a special place in my heart for it.

Session 416

Viral video for Serenity. Per Whedonesque, that's Joss in the chair. Heh...

And one year later...

So. It's been a year. And frighteningly enough, I'm still here. A venture started due to lack of sleep and irrational desire continues through pretty much those same commodities. I've started taking weekends off (mostly) but otherwise you get to endure my pointless ramblings and the odd link or two that you've seen thirty other places. And the infrequent kid pictures. Can't forget those.

At any rate, I don't have anything terribly special to mark this momentous milestone. So let's just opt for a coupe lines of silence...



I think that's enough. The neighbours next door are moving. They've been there since just before we moved in. I suspect it will be a couple teary days for the kids as they're losing their most frequent playmates. I offered to save them the trouble of moving the big screen TV, but they seemed oddly attached to it. Go figure. ^_^

The Brothers Grimm opens this weekend. I expect all of you to patronize the movie (in the original sense, thank you very much). It's good to see a Gilliam film in the theater again. Now we just need Fincher's Zodiac...

It's funny, I think I had some ideas I meant to jot down here in commemoration, but at the moment nothing's jumping out. I could point you over to Neil Gaiman's site so you can listen to the first bit of Anansi Boys, but that's fairly predictable. (And yet I'll do it anyway.)

If nothing else I expect my sanity level has been on a slightly more even keel this past year. It's nice having this outlet. Random writing is good for the soul.

At least you have the fall TV season to look forward to. New NCIS, House... And a whole slew of spooky shows. Good to see horror getting its 15 minutes.

Heh

This is hilarious.

Couple random links

This one is a transcription/description of the Serenity panel at the recent San Diego ComiCon.

And this is the Cry_Wolf blog.

Kind of different and yet the same. It's been interesting to me lately to see a little further behind the curtain of the movie industry. Between reading Bruce Campbell and Robert Rodriguez, listening to commentary tracks on DVDs, and skimming through film blogs, bits and pieces of that world have opened up. Things to think about. Film can certainly be a powerful medium.

Monday catchup

Here's Macworld's Mac Gems blog. If you have a Mac, chances are there's something for you there.

Watched The Cat Returns. For the Ghibli title we knew the least about (out of the last batch of three released) we ended up enjoying it the most. This one is a nice little fairy tale. The girls loved it and my wife and I weren't far behind.

Rescue Me is what Dennis Leary would have done with The Job were it not on network TV. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I like Dennis Leary, but I think he's a little better when he's working under some restraint. The Job is probably just a touch better than Rescue Me, although it has been quite some time since I've seen The Job - that could be the nostalgia talking.

And school is back in session. The world breathes a collective sigh of relief and I suspect we'll start gaining back some semblance of sanity. There are times when the track system is terribly appealing.

Don't look

Just don't.

Red Eye

Red Eye is a nice little thriller. Some great acting, nice tense moments and a plot that clips along. Makes you remember why movies used to be ninety minutes.

This is an interesting article. Moreso for the question it asks as opposed to the actual content of the article. Which is a pity, as it really is a rather interesting question. One that I shall have to think about some.

Thursdays

Not really much you can say about Thursdays. Poor Thor. God of a day that most people would skip if they could. Not yet Friday, but close enough to the end of the week to be frustrating. This marks the last week of summer for the kids. Back to school on Monday. And the world sighs with relief.

The letter 'r' and I will hit Red Eye tomorrow. It's getting pretty good reviews. Looks like Craven may have a hit on his hands again. Speaking of Craven, have an interview. Those wacky folks at Twitch score again. I especially liked the bit about the rating of Last House on the Left. Never saw that one...

Quick question

When did Winnie-the-Pooh become all about Roo? Is Elmo behind this?

Oshiro

This should keep you busy...

Werewolves

Dog Soldiers is good. Low budget British horror flick featuring soldiers vs. werewolves. There are a couple plot oddities, but overall an enjoyable film. It's an odd fact of life that the best horror movies now seem to be coming from outside the US. Britain and Asia seem to be the new reigning horror champs. We're stuck in remake/sequel land. I've heard Red Eye is supposed to be good, so maybe there's some hope left.

And soon it's off to my daughter's guitar recital. That should prove to be interesting...

Elvira interview

Twitch has an interview with Cassandra Peterson (better known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark). Go read it, it's quite good. I will once again lament the loss of the weekend horror/sci-fi show. I grew up with The Creature Feature and Crematia Mortem. And I still miss it. Long live the horror genre...

Weekend fun

Knock yourselves out. (Inspired by one of the better sequences in Sonatine.)

Lull

My sister and her husband get into town this afternoon. We'll spend parts of a couple days with them. They're taking the girls over to a water park this evening as part of her birthday. Miranda has been going on about it for a few days now. I suspect she's excited. And there will be an evening at a cabin Dave's family owns. It's nice to get away for a bit.

At any rate, today was mostly a get things done day. Groceries, lawn, random tidying, that sort of thing. It'll be a somewhat busy weekend, so any chance to rest is welcome.

Yakuza movie

Watched Sonatine, the "bonus" movie included with Zatoichi. In a lot of ways I don't know what to make of it. I don't have a lot of experience with the yakuza genre and so can't really pick up on any of the nuances or differences Sonatine might be going for. It was interesting in a lot of ways. For a good chunk of the film my wife and I were wondering if anything were going to happen. And trying our hardest to keep all the characters straight. We mostly succeeded. But not entirely. There are moments of humor and certainly moments of violence. Interestingly, if you watch some of the bonus features, you learn that Takeshi had a series of images in mind and then strung them together into a plot. I think he mostly got it right. Not one I'd watch with any regularity, but it was interesting enough. And I really want one of those paper boxer games...

Ok, something interesting

Support the First Amendment in literary style.

Not much

It's been a crazy week. Work has been rather hectic, running around after odd TV shows, family coming in to town. Crazy.

And so I don't really have much to ramble on about today. Graeme has come down with a bit of a cold and so his sleep schedule is pretty medication derived at the moment. The girls are trying to cram as much energy as they can scrape together into this final couple weeks of summer and my wife is still off in crochet land. Although she has completed one project thus far.

I guess I'll have to settle for the cold comfort of movies and games. Oh wait, I do that anyway. Never mind. Life is normal...

Although I suspect there's something instinctual in kids that let's them know summer is ending. They've been a lot more on edge lately. Not enough sleep and a certain amount of restlessness. Will have to keep a closer eye and tighter fist on them.

Accursed Roswell

Spent most of the afternoon running around looking for the increasingly elusive Roswell third season DVDs. Kung Fu Hustle? Found it in a flash. The Place Promised in Our Early Days? Ditto. Even the sole copies of Hero and Dog Soldiers Circuit City had discounted weren't this hard to find. But find them I did and so my wife will be enjoying the last episodes of the show come her birthday. All in all an expensive, if frustrating, day. But hey, every so often you have to live a little.

Zatoichi is an absolutely amazing movie. And there's a little of everything in there. Nicely done fight scenes, wonderful comedy, a dance number that seemed inspired by Stomp, and even some heart-breaking drama as we get some of the back story of some of the characters. If you haven't seen it, go now. Go now, rent it and watch it. It's brilliant.

Book 31 and a couple of flicks

Finished off Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way. While I enjoyed Chins more, this one was certainly enjoyable. And honestly the only reason Chins was better was because it was non-fiction. While I'm sure a lot of Make Love is pretty close to reality, it still falls into the realm of story. And where Bruce is concerned, truth is certainly stranger than fiction.

The Eye is an excellent horror film. It's not really a scary movie - there are a couple jump moments, but overall it's more horrific than anything. (Hence the emphasis earlier.) And apparently several of the events in the movie are based on things that actually happened. This one gets a complete recommendation. It was pretty well paced (note - I'm not saying it moves along at a fast pace - it's well paced, they take the time to progress the story in a way that makes sense and allows us to get involved with what's happening) and there are some nice cinematographic touches. The Pang brothers are directors to keep an Eye on. Ha Ha!

Hitch manages to remain interesting in spite of the formula it adheres pretty strictly to. It's pretty typical for a romantic comedy, so there aren't really any surprises, but the cast and the story are fun, so you don't really mind. There are certainly worse ways to kill time.

And I spent far too much time at work today. But that's neither here nor there.

And it begins

Short weeks for the rest of the year.

Picked up way too many movies for the week. One Japanese horror flick, couple of Beat Takeshi flicks, Hitch for the wife and The Last Unicorn for the kids. So yeah, heads will be exploding or something.

And there's the slight possibility of having to go into work tomorrow. Gotta love it when one thing breaks and in fixing it, something else gets broken and then that... well you get the idea. Rube Goldberg lives on.

But for now it's Friday and I can live with that.

Almost a Friday

Lovely poetry. Although admittedly I've only read Neil Gaiman's offerings at the moment. But plenty to keep coming back for.

Played Bocce this evening. A nice game to pass the time with. When I was in Scotland I played a bit of lawn bowling. Picked up Bocce since it's similar (only without the weighted balls). Hit a bucket of balls at the driving range yesterday. I'm paying for it today. I swear there are muscles that only golf uses. And if you don't play regularly it reminds you.

I've become enamored with the Audio Editions of the Movie Blog. Interesting topics and usually a few laughs. If you haven't hit the link over there on the right, go wander by.

Which, in a way, brings up podcasting. It's interesting how the internet is really starting to change the face of journalism. Blogs and podcasting let anybody get their viewpoints out there to a potentially wide audience. Pretty intriguing really.

Cables and so on

Want to make your own A/V cables? We talked about that in the home theater class I took. I don't know that I'll ever make my own cables, but if you're a perfectionist cheapskate home theater enthusiast, then you might be interested.

Confession time. The next couple books that were slated to show up were 1776 and John Adams by David McCullough. But I couldn't get through them. Which is a shame because they're actually quite good. The problem is it takes me a long time to read his stuff. He's like a complete non-fiction Tom Clancy. It's interesting, but it's detailed and it takes me forever to get through it. So I'm going to give them a thumbs up and move on to my next book. I will probably try to sneak them away from my folks so I can actually read them in the future, but without the pressure of having to get them back to the library.

Seems like there were some other links I meant to pass along, but I have no idea what they were. Poor you.

The house has been overtaken by the needlework bug. I can't explain it. My wife is currently crocheting up a storm and McKenna is doing some kid's cross-stitch. Too strange. Actually, I used to do a bit of cross-stitch myself. I have a half finished Monopoly board running around somewhere.

Have I sent you here yet? Ah papercraft... Yup, that's enough of a distraction from that last paragraph.