First, second, and last

The kids have triumphantly returned to school. Well, begrudgingly if nothing else. G had his first day in Kindergarten the other day. Lovely wife swears there weren't too many tears. I'm not convinced I believe her. Amusingly the teacher opted to read the same book to the class that lovely wife read to him the night before, The Night Before Kindergarten. He got to make the crown in class though. McK is getting used to Junior High. I'm still getting used to her being in Jr High. I suspect it will take a while.

We finished up the second season of Big Bang Theory. I think my favorite episode was the Christmas Saturnalia episode. The hug at the end was priceless. I am glad that Jim Parsons won the Emmy the other night. He is absolutely the best thing about that show. Sheldon FTW.

Mockingjay. Alright, let's talk Mockingjay. It's entirely possible there will be spoilers, so if you haven't read the book, you might just want to go find something else. (Yes that's more Twilight mocking in case you want to go and come back.) Overall, I liked it. I think it's absolutely a fitting end to the series. Considering the tone and level of realism the series strove for I think it ended about as well as it could have. I found the ending a touch abrupt - I would have liked a little more about the aftermath and what happened, but I suppose it might have distracted from the point of the book - the tolls of war and so on. With regards to the infamous vote at the end, I'm pretty firmly on the side that Katniss was setting up Coin. Her remark about seeing how well Haymitch understood her and her stated reason seem to point a little too neatly that way to just think the vote was at face value. Even from someone as broken as she was at that point. There are lots of nice little moments throughout the book and I recommend the series. I'm glad Collins was able to make something entirely her own rather than just Americanizing Battle Royale. (I'm sorry people who think The Hunger Games really wasn't just a revamp of Battle Royale. You're pretty much wrong. The series certainly isn't, but that particular book... Look the future SAT question will read _______:Battle Royale as A Fistful of Dollars:Yojimbo) And it is a pretty fascinating series. It does a good job of taking a look at what happens to a society that asks too much of its children and the perils of war in a society that is already hanging on by a thread.

RED by Warren Ellis is the comic book the upcoming Bruce Willis film is based on. The compilation I read just covers his character - the other three from the movie aren't in it. And the tone isn't nearly as humorous as the trailer makes the movie out to be. It was good (if a little graphic and squelchy) but this might be a case where the movie is something a little more fun. And annoying to the purists.

I saw Scott Pilgrim vs the World three times in the theaters. And it was great each and every time. The rest of you better have gone to see it. Although judging by the box office totals you didn't. Shame on you. This is why we can't have nice things.

I've been reading House of Leaves again. It's still a pretty fascinating story. With way too many footnotes... (that's only sort of a joke) I'd still like to see the movie described in the book. Mostly as I really enjoy haunted house stories and this is a pretty good one. I'd also play an RPG set there. Something in the Call of Cthulhu vein I think...

Crude, cruel and canny

Beat the Band by Don Calame is a decent example of teen boy humor. It's mostly crude (and funny) with moments of lucidity occasionally making their way through. This is a sequel to a book called Swim the Fly. I've not read that one, although I might have to go back and give it a go. I liked Beat the Band a fair amount. Well, I was a teenage boy at one point. Some would probably argue that I still am. They are mostly mistaken.

The first book (from a brief synopsis at the beginning of this one) dealt with three friends trying to see their first real naked girl. And something about the swim team. This go round they're trying to up the stakes a bit and score with the opposite sex. Well, that's the plan anyway. The actual story revolves around a forced Health Class project in which Coop (the ringleader of this band of misfits) is paired up with the one girl in his class he sees as kryptonite to his image and thus anathema to his goal. So he decides to enroll in the Battle of the Bands with his buds to save his image. And if you don't know where the rest of the story goes, then you're probably a teenager and reading this sort of story for the first time.

So, sure, the plot isn't striking any new ground, but it is funny and there's a reason this tale gets told over and over. Calame does a good job with it. (Which is why I may go back and give Swim the Fly a go.) If you can stomach putting yourself in the mind of a teenage boy for a couple hundred pages or so I say give it a shot.

Currently I'm reading Mockingjay. I'm about halfway through. So no spoiling the ending. Well, more than I've already spoiled it for myself. Heh. I've heard good things about this one, so I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Ubongo continues to be popular around Casa del 'd'. We've also tried a new one called Dice Town. Everybody has a set of 5 dice with cards for sides (representing 9 - Ace) which get rolled and set aside one at a time (unless you're willing to part with some of your limited cash supply) as they try to build a poker hand. Once one person has built a hand, everyone else has one roll to finish theirs off. And then you go around determining which player gets to take advantage of which parts of the town. Nines let you claim nuggets from the gold mine (points at the end), tens let you rob the bank and thus gain some money back, Jacks let you draw a card that may help later, Queens let you steal cards from another player, Kings let you become Sherriff (you can break ties and take bribes) and the best poker hand lets you claim property (also worth points), with Aces snagging you an extra card or two.

So you spend time seeing what your opponents are working towards and what you need to stay in the game. It's a fascinating little experiment in bluffing and group psychology. Oh and if you manage not to win anything with the dice you rolled you can visit Doc Badluck and take advantage of the opportunities he provides. We've played it with the kids and it sort of works, you really need to be able to recognize some basic poker hands - pairs, straights, full house and so on, but it is pretty fun with a group capable of working all the angles. I think the best part is that even if you're losing the overall battle, you still have little victories as you roll the sort of hand you want and steal cards from your friends or manage to sweep the property available and so on. Worth checking out.

Shutter Island was ... ok I guess. It's another one where the ending was pretty obvious. Some of the journey there was interesting and there are some truly nifty visual effects that help tell the story, but overall just kind of meh.

Big Bang Theory season 2 is pretty hilarious so far.

And on a final note the kids are back in school. Well, G starts next week. But that means it's just about the best season of all. Pretty soon no more mowing and the banishing of the heat and all things wonderful about this time of year. Yeah!

Of Big Bangs, Little Girls and Cities

Recently started watching Season One of The Big Bang Theory. It's terribly funny, occasionally crude and pretty much all true. Sheldon is certainly the best character in the show (I actually find Leonard only ok) and the one that really shines out as an example of true nerddom. If you've not caught an episode, it's worth hunting down. We've laughed quite a bit and look forward to the rest of the season. The nice thing is that they aren't making fun of nerds in the show. They are the main characters and they're portrayed honestly. The humor just comes from the situations they're placed in and their own interactions.

Finished off China Mieville's The City & The City. An interesting murder mystery where the locale the story takes place in is as much a character as the people involved. I won't go into details about the central conceit as it is a nice little twist (and honestly spoiled everywhere else) but it does make for interesting reading. While it would be fascinating to see something like that attempted in real life, I'm pretty sure it would be nigh unto impossible. It works in the story as both a physical thing and a symbol. Glean from this rather ambiguous paragraph what you will. If you get nothing else, just know it is an interesting story and also worth checking out.

Girls are off at Girl Scout camp. Although it sounds like the place they're at double booked and they're getting kicked out this afternoon. Oh well. I'm sure they had some fun.

I may need to start looking into making some homemade salsa. We're starting to get a decent number of tomatoes from the garden. Can't slice them all up for burgers. Or salads. Wish we had some jalapenos or serranos as well...

Finally got around to seeing Coraline the other day. It's decent. I'm not entirely crazy about some of the changes they made to the story and it seemed a touch long in places, but it is a bit of a marvel of stop animation cinematography. And the core story is pretty much intact. Kids liked it quite a bit and that's what really mattered.