Friday, November 20, 2009

Your dose of 'd' laughing at Twilight

Can be found here. Well, ok technically it's someone else mocking Twilight. It's still awesome.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

In which I talk about symphonies and serial killers and sundries

The best way I can sum up the difference between Play! and Video Games Live is as follows: VGL is video game music at the symphony. Play is the symphony with video game music. One is spectacle and energy and music, the other is music and culture and decorum. So they each serve a bit of a niche, but one is a little more fun than the other (VGL). Which is a long way to say deepest thanks to the letter 'r' for a wonderful birthday present for lovely wife and myself. We did indeed have a great time and I can recommend either show for those of you that enjoy music and are interested in hearing some of the great pieces of video game history played by a full orchestra. (The Sonic Suite was especially nice as it was a slightly slower paced rendition of the music that created a nice counterpoint to the video clips shown.) The funny thing about those shows is that they make me want to go back through the video games we have and play them all over again. Which is not likely to happen. Alas. Perhaps when I've retired.

We finished off Season 3 of Dexter and it was good. I don't really have much to say about it other than that. Dexter managed to make a friend, lose a friend, say his wedding vows, that sort of thing (I figure the statute of limitations on season 3 spoilers is over as season 4 is in swing).

I've probably finished some books since last time. Hmm. Looking for Calvin and Hobbes by Nevin Martell is one reporter's search for Bill Watterson and a look at the comic that shaped the comics page for a decade. I really like Calvin and Hobbes and there was some really interesting information in the book. Definitely worth reading.

Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett is the latest Discworld novel and I don't really need to say too much more than that. If you like the series, you'll like the book. Football (soccer for you uncouth Americans) comes to Ankh Morpork and pretty much everybody gets involved. The big theme for the book is class/racism. Probably not the place to start if you're new to Pratchett (I recommend any of the night watch books) but certainly a great read if you are.

Stitches by David Small is a little hard to discuss. On the one hand it's one of the most powerful books I've read, helped in no small part by the fact that it's a graphic novel. On the other hand it's one of the most horrifying things I've read as well. I don't know that I'll ever read it again, but I am glad I read it once. It's basically an autobiography of a cartoonist. And if you believe that all great art is born of suffering, David Small is probably the poster child for that tenet. Given throat cancer by his radiologist Father, David wakes up from surgery one day a virtual mute, not knowing why his voice is gone or what's really happened to him, thanks to a very dysfunctional family. As mentioned, it's powerful stuff told remarkably well, but know what you're in for.

Thanksgiving week draws nigh and I have the whole week off. I am looking forward to it. I hope to accomplish some serious vegging. We shall see.

For those of you with a Wii that's connected to the internet, Nintendo has started offering demos of Wiiware games. You can find them in the Wii shop channel. G has become addicted to the Pokemon Rumble demo and I rather like Bit Trip Beat. Nyx's Quest is pretty good too. There are a couple others at the moment. They're free and if you've ever wondered what sorts of things you can buy off their download service this is a good chance to look. (I'm also strangely addicted to Nintendo Week the little show they put out once a week talking about what's coming out. The hosts are fun (if goofy) and it can be in interesting look into the world of Nintendo.)

So, have a great holiday. Hopefully you can spend it with family or those that are important to you.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

In which I play with portability and talk about Ra

We had Staff Development Day here at ye Trusty Olde Library yesterday. It was a nice day and things were learned. One of the classes I attended was on portable apps. So I have tricked out my flash drive with a nice little suite of Windows apps. I'll probably do the same with another drive for Mac apps at some point. And never install anything ever again. Well, not much anyway. I really like open source goodies. Between, portable apps and online offerings, there are very few programs I'll probably need. iTunes and a couple others I suppose.

As I managed to meet a weight loss goal, I treated myself to a new board game. Picked up Ra: the Dice Game. It's a lot of fun. Even if I apparently suck at it. Even McK typically does better than me. Although the letter 'r' is the undisputed master. You have 5 dice, you roll them in a Yahtzee-ish manner (keeping the ones you want and re-rolling others) and then use the results to advance your markers along the various score tracks (thematically you're building up the Egyptian civilization along the Nile, practically you're moving some little wooden cubes around. Mmmm wooden cubes). It certainly takes some planning and some luck. Depending on how you roll, rounds may end rather quickly (the sun faces on the dice advance the round timer). It's pretty easy to pick up once you understand how the different tracks work and how they score. You play three rounds. It's fun. Apparently I kind of like some dice games (not a fan of Yahtzee...). Lovely wife and McK both give it a thumbs up.

Ugh, weather changes have caused a rash of head colds in casa del 'd'. I'm about ready to lop my head off. Lovely wife is about a step or two ahead of me. Not fun.

We're currently making our way through Dexter season 3. It's been good so far.

Well, I meant to throw another last line in here (lovely wife asked for one) but I am beat. Stupid head cold. So I'll leave that to look forward to next time. Or when I remember to do it. A shout out to littlest sis embarking upon massage therapy as a new job path. Good luck. And we're currently looking forward to seeing Play next week. It's sorta like Video Games Live. Should be fun.

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Some food, some movies, a bit of cake

G recently celebrated his birthday and made out like a bandit. There were dinosaurs (of course), some legos (not unexpected) and a Speed Racer car to wash things down. He was a little confused as to what to play with first. So they all played together it seemed like. Littlest sis managed to make it into town for the festivities and it was good to see her. Although I was unable to see her for part of the visit as M decided it would be a good idea to get sick again. Her timing is either impeccable or a little off depending on your point of view.

I have recently run across a couple food related blogs that are my new best friends. First up is A Hamburger Today. I'm sure you can figure out what it focuses on. It makes me constantly hungry for burgers. I suspect my new goal in life is to develop my own version of the perfect burger. We have a decent patty (although I would like to try a few different varieties) and we're close on the bun. I want to try potato rolls next. They will be toasted (my new favorite thing). Toppings so far include cheese (of course), tomato, pickle, onion and a bit of ketchup and mustard. I'd also like to experiment with some of the flavored mayos. (Garlic mayo!) As you can see my summers will be filled with grilled meat and toasted buns and... sorry need to go wipe up some drool.

On a different food front I present White on Rice Couple. I happened across them when I heard about a lovely sounding srirachi mayo dip/sauce concoction. I stayed for the pictures and the other recipes. We've actually tried their garlic noodle recipe and it was great. I have high hopes for that mayo sauce. And a bunch of the others. If it's not already blatantly obvious, I rather enjoy food. And recipes. Lovely wife is always giving me a hard time for bringing home more recipes. But when you have access to a lot of cooking magazines I dare you to not come home with a lot of recipes. We actually make some of them. (I think summers will focus on burgers and winters will focus on chilis)

So we watched the remake of Friday the 13th. I think remake is not quite right, more reboot. They at least gave a nod to Jason's mom in the first couple minutes, but then spent the rest of time with a slightly more physical, not as slow/menacing Jason. Different. Not bad, but different. It might prove interesting if they really do plan on rebooting the franchise. There was a variant of the sleeping bag death found in Jason X that was certainly more visceral, if not as amusing. I really like Jason movies. Voorhees, Bourne, something about Jason movies...

Finished off Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. Steampunk zombie novel. I don't know that I really need to say more than that. It's set in an America where the Civil War didn't end quite like it was supposed to and decided to go on for a few more years. Story takes place in Seattle, so the War is only mentioned in passing. You have airships and goggles and zombies. It's a fun little ride. Recommended.

An early nod to lovely wife's Dad's upcoming birthday. I'm sure he will spend it eating Alice Springs Chicken at Outback.