Thursday, February 26, 2009

Some random catching up

Scott Pilgrim 5 is good. And frustrating. But mostly good. The penultimate volume sets things for the final stage and certainly leaves you wishing you had book 6 right now. It's nice to see Scott growing up some. Looks like it's Ramona's turn. Or possibly not.

We finally got around to seeing The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger did indeed do an amazing job as the Joker. The movie's good as well. Too long, but that seems to be the trend these days. They had a great cast and the plot was fun. I can certainly see the inspiration they took from The Killing Joke. On a Batman related note, the Neil Gaiman Batman story is out and it's awesome so far. Alfred's story is truly a thing of beauty. I liked Selena's as well, but Alfred's was brilliant.

We're winding up Psych season 1 as season 3 just came to a close. Still a great show. Most of the TV we're watching is winding down. Leverage just wrapped up season 1, Burn Notice should be pretty close, I think House is either over or just about over as well. We'll still give Dollhouse a try (in spite of missing episode 2, stupid Fox affiliate) and I think Eureka is about due back as well.

Other than that, things are pretty quiet. Girl Scout cookies are about to take over the house in anticipation of being delivered. And I managed to snag a couple advance reader copies of random things. Sorry littlest sis, still no sign of Hale.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Greater Somalia

Greater Somalia
Greater Somalia,
originally uploaded by dkun.
Really, I'm not a meme freak. But the ones that let me be creative or sarcastic. Well, ok, I'm a sucker for them. So, dude, we're getting the band back together.

Go start your own band:

1 - Go to Wikipedia. Hit "random" or click this. The first random Wikipedia article that comes up is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Quotations Page and select "random quotations" or click that. The last four or five words of the very LAST quote on the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to Flickr and click on "explore the last seven days" or click here. The third picture in the top row, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use PhotoShop or whatever to put it all together.

So yeah, photo from some person over at flickr. And so on. This was (I think) the second album I threw together, but whatever. It was fun and I'll do it again. Mwa ha ha ha.

As you were.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Recently consumed

Been a bit and we've managed to go through a few new things. So on with that show.

Peeps was great. It's a fun twist on the vampire mythology that bothers to pay its dues (there is no sparkling here people) while offering something new. Every other chapter gives you a lovely look at the parasites that make our world so interesting. Little sis would probably find the discussion of Crohn's interesting. Although I think we talked about it already. At any rate, if you've liked any of Westerfeld's other books, you'll like this one. So far he's batting 1000 for me. I've liked everything of his I've read. He's got a really easy-going style that tends to drag me in.

The Fall is a rather pretty movie that hides a pretty serious story through some really nice visuals. It's the story of a story told by one of the first stuntmen to a little girl. I won't go into more detail than that. But if you run across it, give it a go. You could certainly do worse.

Coloretto is the card game that Zooloretto was loosely based on. Ran across a reasonably priced copy and picked it up. And am very glad I did. We passed a pretty fun weekend playing this and Jungle Speed (which I'll talk about next). It's basically a collection game in which you want to collect more cards of certain colors. There are 7 colors in the game (normally, depending on number of players) and you will get to add points to your score for collecting 3 of them. But you have to deduct points for cards collected in any of the other colors. On your turn you'll either draw a card and place it in a row, or take one of the rows of cards on the table (it's this draw/place or take mechanic that was used in Zooloretto). You get to mess with the other players by placing colors they won't want in rows that they will. Pretty fun. Given the choice between the two Coloretto might come out a little ahead as it's simpler and certainly easier to set up. They're both good though.

The aforementioned Jungle Speed is much like spoons. You place a little wooden idol in the middle of the table, divvy up the cards and then take turns turning them over one by one. When a match is turned over or a special action card shows up you're most likely going to be grabbing for the idol. The trick is the symbols on the cards are very similar in a lot of instances and if you grab at the wrong time you'll be collecting lots of cards. This is bad. You don't want cards. Cards no good. No cards good. This is a great game for a group of friends that will most likely end in bloodshed and tears. And possibly lumps from the wooden idol that you're either throwing at someone or hitting yourself in the head with as you realize you've once again picked it up at the wrong time. Highly recommended. Supposedly there will be an expansion with all new symbols in case you get too good at recognizing the deck it comes with.

Samba de Amigo for the Wii is a port of the old Dreamcast game. You use the remotes as maracas and shake your way through some 40 latin tinged tunes. Shake shake shake... Also highly recommended. This game is great. And will be forever referred to as the "shake shake" game as it is dubbed by G.

And honestly I'm probably forgetting some things. We had a pretty good holiday weekend. Went and visited our friends up in Garland for our annual trip. Much gaming and visiting was had. And the kids managed to get along. I think there were only a few air hockey inspired arguments/accidents. We played some Rock Band along with the other games. As well as some Mario Kart Wii I may need to pick that game up if I can find it cheap. It's growing on me.

In other news, little sis will be having a girl (as mentioned on her blog linked over yonder). She was sorely disappointed, but now she can name her Krystal Pepsi and seek an endorsement. I'm sure Pepsi will go for it.

And, yeah, I think that's about enough for now.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Chrono Leaping

Watched The Girl Who Leapt through Time last night. Aside from having one of the best DVD menus around, the film itself is also quite good. It's an animated film (from Japan, anime yadda yadda) but don't let that get in the way. It's a pretty fun look at that time in your life when you realize that the friend you hang out with might be dating material. And what do you do about it? Do they like me too?! Wait, maybe I don't like them that way! Aaaaaa! That and some great uses of time travel. Including pudding. That's right! Time travel for pudding - there is no greater cause. Admittedly the end is a little lacking in closure, but don't let that spoil it. PUDDING! I cannot stress this enough people.

I'm very close to finishing Peeps. It is great. That is all. For now.

G has acquired a white toy alligator. Or crocodile. I forget which. But it is apparently his new obsession. I guess as long as it's a reptile, it's worth being interested in.

Monday, February 09, 2009

Eagles, Pandas, Race Car Drivers

Took the kids to see the eagles at Farmington Bay (the birds, not the band). Apparently around this time every year the carp die off and the eagles come to feed. Got to see quite a few of them hanging out. Also saw some kestrels hunting. That was pretty neat. They do this hovering thing right before they dive or move to a slightly different spot. It was pretty impressive. Kids had fun and the weather actually co-operated.

Watched Kung Fu Panda and Speed Racer. Both were excellent. Kung Fu Panda was fairly typical, but pretty funny nonetheless. Good cast, nice animation. Definitely worth watching. Speed Racer had some pretty distinct visuals. The first half was up and down, but the last half was pretty great. A little busy, but certainly fun. Much like Tokyo Drift the quality is directly proportional to the amount of time spent in a car. And the ninja fight was great.

Long weekend coming up. That's nice. Long weekends are good.

Ran through The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya again. Love that show.

Been reading some Lovecraft. Makes me want to play Arkham Horror or maybe Call of Cthulhu. I'd really like to try some of those Lovevraft inspired RPG's.

Helped favorite niece come up with a limerick. Used to write those pretty frequently. They're still fun. She had to write far too many poems though. And this from someone that likes poetry. I should really get back into haiku...

Thursday, February 05, 2009

25 Flights of Fancy

So there's another dreaded meme running around, spawned from the lower depths of Facebook. A place I refuse to tread. It's one of those "Hey, tell us 25 random facts about yourself" type memes. Boring. As if the internet cares about 25 random facts about you. It's probably far too easy to find that many just using Google. (All apologies to little sis who bothered to succumb to said meme. ^_^)

Anyway, John Scalzi of Whatever and book type fame altered the meme over at his AMC column so that it covered 25 Sci Fi movie facts. This is a good idea. Although I probably can't come up with 25 just using Sci Fi as a medium, so I will probably include some Fantasy, some Horror, eh whatever strikes my fancy.

1. I can't recall the first Sci Fi movie I ever saw. Brain cells don't track that stuff. Same goes for books. And the other mentioned genres.
2. The first Horror movie I ever saw (well the first one that was rated R and was viewed without any sort of parental consent) was most likely My Bloody Valentine. The original. Gave me nightmares.
3. I was afraid to walk to the bathroom at the end of the hall after seeing that movie. I had to go past the stairs. And it was dark. And there were, you know, homicidal maniacs out there ready to get me. And I was maybe 10.
4. There is no number 4. Which is a real answer. I've said too much.
5. Star Wars A New Hope (epsiode 4 if you must) isn't really that good. Loved it when I was a kid. Grew out of it. It's hard to watch now. Sorry my generation.
6. I am secretly afraid to watch The Empire Strikes Back for fear that it isn't as good as I remember either. It was my favorite. It's got to still be good...
7. I suspect I like Alien 3 more than Aliens. I'm not sure where to rank Alien. They're all such different movies.
8. Alien is probably technically better, Aliens is a little more fun to watch. Alien 3 still better than that.
9. Which is very similar to my feelings about 2001 and 2010. The first is an absolutely brilliant piece of film. That's not great to watch. The second is more fun to watch, but not nearly as brilliant.
10. I like The Hobbit far more than The Lord of the Rings.
11. I'm not really alone in that opinion.
12. Dark Star is secretly awesome.
13. The Fantasy Lit class I took in college taught me to love Legend.
14. And mushrooms.
15. I'm becoming not so slowly convinced that Americans have forgotten how to make a good horror film.
16. Zombies > Werewolves > Vampires
17. I'm not convinced CGI has made Sci Fi movies better. Prettier certainly, but not necessarily better.
18. I'm waiting for American animation to realize that we're not all kids any more. Pixar is a good start. Still miles behind Japan though.
19. I'm ... pretty indifferent on the book vs. movie thing. They both have their place. It will probably boil down to how much time I have and which I encountered first. Probably.
20. Eh, who am I kidding, the book is always better.
21. Except when it's not.
22. I spent a weekend at a D&D convention when I was a teenager. I'm not really sure what my parents were thinking. I'm glad they let me go though, it was fun. Throw the Gnome in.
23. Where is my car that drives itself?!
24. I'm pretty good at ignoring plot holes and gaps in scientific reasoning and just enjoying the ride. My suspension of disbelief goes up to 11 baby.
25. Except for Terminator 2. How the hell did the T1000 travel back in time? Should not have happened.

So, yeah, there you go, a walk through my genre memories. Where is Scott Pilgrim 5?!