In which nothing of consequence is considered

The long weekend was great. Got together with some friends of the family (well, the kids and lovely wife were a little more invested, but we all had fun) and managed to introduce them to 7 Wonders. I really do like that game a lot. Enough that we managed to play a couple more times with different friends. Never play 7 Wonders with the letter 'r'. He will stomp all over you.

We watched both Easy A and Salt over the course of the last few days. One was funny but I don't feel the need to ever see it again and one was an ok action flick with an oddly open ending (are they really thinking franchise for this? Really?). I'm not certain which was which at this point.

I've been messing with demos on the PS3 again. Hoard is strangely addictive. You play a dragon burning towns, ransoming princesses, defending your hoard from thieves, bbq-ing knights - that sort of thing. You can play with or against others. It's fun. Give it a look. Yakuza 4 was simply a look at the fighting engine in the upcoming game. Not terribly helpful if you want to know more about the game. Dragon Age II looks pretty interesting. It's an RPG where you put together a team and kill goblins and whatnot. Good times. I might have to track down the original game and give it a go.

Psst, Wise Man's Fear comes out next week. I am very excited. I'm hoping to score an autographed copy courtesy of my Father-in-law as he lives near a bookstore where the good Mr Rothfuss will be appearing.

In other not inconsequential news, thoughts go out to little sis and favorite niece. Get better.

And I think that about does it.

Too many books, too little brain cells

So, I read a lot of graphic novels over the weekend. Another 5 volumes of Fullmetal Alchemist, 4 volumes of Naruto and School Rumble Volume 1. They were all decent in their own little ways. I will single out that I didn't really care for the Ishbalan war flashback volume of FMA, time passes almost as strangely in the graphic novels of Naruto as it does in the anime (something both lovely wife and letter 'r' expressed an interest in. I've only seen a little of the anime, but I know what they're talking about - serious time dilation in Naruto's world), and School Rumble is a sweet romantic farce. We've actually been watching the anime version of it as well lately and it's also a lot of fun. I get a kick out of the characters in this one.

A small further note on School Rumble. I was expecting it to be something of a fighting storyline given the title. Not so, it's actually a high school romantic farce. Not quite as out there as Ranma 1/2 (and certainly lacking the battle sequences) but still pretty wacky. So far my favorite bit has been the message arrow story line. Although there are others that are close.

Iron Man 2 was better than the first movie. I was pleasantly surprised by this. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.

And that's really all I can scrape together at the moment. Brain no worky. Glad it's a three day weekend.

Elementary

The Sherlockian by Graham Moore was pretty darn great. It's amazing how much of that book was real as well. Told via two different time periods - one in the past following Arthur Conan Doyle and one in the present following Harold White - the story features mystery, murder and intrigue. Harold wants to know what happened to Doyle's missing journal and who killed the man that claimed to have found it. Doyle wants to know who sent him a letter bomb and almost killed him. If you enjoy mysteries or Sherlock Holmes then there's plenty here for you. Truly a fascinating read.

I've pounded down 4 more volumes of Fullmetal Alchemist as well. Still great. What's going to happen next?!

Red was a fun little movie. I found the pacing to be a touch strange (I think it probably should have been just a bit shorter) but overall it was a good time. This is what The Expendables should have been. Four aging CIA agents, the up and comer charged with taking one of them out, intrigue, romance, yadda yadda, you've probably watched it by now. And if not, you should.

Baccano was an entrancing, if occasionally gruesome, series. There's something about a train, some mafia turf wars, the spreading of joy, dominoes and too much else would spoil some of the surprise. If you're in the mood for something that takes a little effort to keep up with and aren't bothered with a somewhat dark overtone, this one's also worth looking into.

Blokus continues to make us think way too much.

Casa del 'd' is a little under the weather at the moment as 2 out of 3 munchkins are down with something or other. Alas poor munchkins. 'd' is a harsh task master when it comes to being sick. Not a lot of tv viewing to be had for those poor souls. Plenty of rest and fluids though. And books.

Speaking of TV, we're probably just about done with satellite. Rates are getting a little too out of hand for what we really watch. Kids will miss it, but unless they want to start paying for it and get some jobs they're out of luck. I'll miss a couple things (Eureka mostly) but, eh, that's what DVD is for. So if you have any good tips for getting deals from satellite providers send them to lovely wife.

Strange days indeed

So let's see. I have plowed through 4 more volumes of Fullmetal Alchemist. I continue to enjoy that series quite a bit. It's fascinating to watch that story unfold. There are some wonderful heartfelt moments. And some shocks. I was not expecting one of the plot twists that happened in volume 4. I think it was. Might have been 5.

Lovely wife and I are currently watching Baccano, the anime series. It's been pretty great, if confusing. There's a pretty large cast of characters and it's a touch hard to follow. If things manage to wrap up by the end though, this one will definitely be a gem. And Isaac and Miria are awesome. Right you are letter 'd'. Right you are.

So I have now befriended someone on the PS3 that has a copy of Need for Speed. This is a blessing and a curse. It really does make the game more fun (the wall serves a purpose now as does Autolog recommends) but also more frustrating. I can't put the game in after 9:30 now or I will be up all night trying to beat just "one more record" or trying to beat the same record "just one more time". Devious. And compelling.

I've started up Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. It's pretty good so far. It's fun to read fantasy again. I think I've said this before. But there you go.

We (and by we I mean lovely wife) recently made some homemade chicken noodle soup and some pulled pork. Both were quite excellent. The pulled pork was Carolina based, so it was a vinegar sauce as opposed to bbq sauce. It was quite good. Always fun to try new recipes. Now I want bbq. Or maybe chicken soup.