So, the last few updates have been comprised of my net meandering. Not really been a whole lot to pass on. But hey, wacky parrot. Hello Kitty crop circle. Truly the things that make the world go round.
I need to pass along Skinny Panda. Looks to be a truly great webcomic. If you have doubts about that, look no further than this sequence. So far the stick figure bits are my favorite, but the Skinny Panda continuity is pretty good too. Ah humor, you are my friend.
And it's once again Valentine's Day. Hope you survived. Such an odd little holiday. Any holiday that could spawn this Hi and Lois comic strip has to be a little warped. I think I've become a little emotionally scarred due to that. So of course I had to pass that scarring on to you.
Our Valentine's Day was fairly typical. Kids running amok. Dinner at a so-so restaurant. A couple little gifts exchanged. Chocolate. Not that I need an excuse for chocolate, but ah, the chocolate that becomes available for February. Easter comes close (which really just means all of spring is awash in chocolatey goodness) but Valentine's Day is a little classier.
Anyway, enough rambling on about comics and chocolate. It's time to begin the countdown to the Zombie Weekend O' Fun. Three days of Zombie goodness. Joy. ^_^
Monday, February 14, 2005
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Shoulda never gotten married
This is a wonderful list of names. Think Leno's headlines and go and laugh.
Friday, February 11, 2005
Thursday, February 10, 2005
More randomness
Ran across Lifehacker the other day. Seems to be an interesting blog. Covers things from answers to tough job interview questions to converting color photos to B&W. Go give it a looksee.
Polished off a couple more Kindaichi Case Files. Terribly enjoyable reads.
Loaned out The Grudge to one of my coworkers. She was suitably spooked by it as well. It's definitely one of the better horror films to come down the pike in a while. I tracked down an old review I'd read of the original the other day. Some of the plot points it covered helped clarify a couple of the events in the remake. Too bad they didn't leave some of them in. A good deal of the curse's origin in the original was quite disturbing and would have been right at home in the remake.
And Valentine's Day is lurking around the corner like the shady character it is. Just make sure you know what your significant other's real favorite candy is or you'll end up playing a depressing game of twenty quetions...
Polished off a couple more Kindaichi Case Files. Terribly enjoyable reads.
Loaned out The Grudge to one of my coworkers. She was suitably spooked by it as well. It's definitely one of the better horror films to come down the pike in a while. I tracked down an old review I'd read of the original the other day. Some of the plot points it covered helped clarify a couple of the events in the remake. Too bad they didn't leave some of them in. A good deal of the curse's origin in the original was quite disturbing and would have been right at home in the remake.
And Valentine's Day is lurking around the corner like the shady character it is. Just make sure you know what your significant other's real favorite candy is or you'll end up playing a depressing game of twenty quetions...
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Wonderfalls
Wonderfalls was just released on DVD. We watched the first couple episodes as well as the special features they threw on the discs. I enjoyed that show quite a bit and was rather cross with Fox for cancelling it. It would have been interesting to see where it went. In the little behind the scenes featurette they mentioned that in the third season Jaye was going to have been institutionalized. That would have been something to see. It will be fun to see the unaired episodes.
And that's about all I've got for tonight. Graeme is at that age where you can just sit and watch him. Little kids are fascinaing that way. They're always discovering something new and it's fun to watch it happen.
And that's about all I've got for tonight. Graeme is at that age where you can just sit and watch him. Little kids are fascinaing that way. They're always discovering something new and it's fun to watch it happen.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
An Interview with Brian Evenson
Bookslut has an interview with Brian Evenson up.
I knew Brian Evenson. I was in one of his English classes the year he lost his job at the Y. I got him to autograph a copy of Altmann's Tongue before he left. I was deeply saddened by that turn of events despite understanding what was going on.
Brian's work is hard to take. I haven't read his newer books, but Altmann's Tongue was definitely something that made you stop and think. It is a deeply violent book. At the time, American culture had turned violence into entertainment. That's not to say we don't still see violence that way, but post 9/11 there are some subtle differences. He was writing in a manner that made the reader look at violence and be appropriately shocked and sickened by it. The short "stories" in the collection were really only partially narrative - the incompleteness of the stories is what made you see the violent acts as just that - violence. They were disturbing and uncomfortable and in some ways brilliant. He certainly achieved his goal of making an audience uneasy about violence.
So, go check out the interview. Pick up one of his books. They're not for everyone, but if you consider yourself a little callous to violence, his work will remind you that it's not something to slough off. It will remind you of what it means to be mortal and human. And for that reason alone it has some merit.
I knew Brian Evenson. I was in one of his English classes the year he lost his job at the Y. I got him to autograph a copy of Altmann's Tongue before he left. I was deeply saddened by that turn of events despite understanding what was going on.
Brian's work is hard to take. I haven't read his newer books, but Altmann's Tongue was definitely something that made you stop and think. It is a deeply violent book. At the time, American culture had turned violence into entertainment. That's not to say we don't still see violence that way, but post 9/11 there are some subtle differences. He was writing in a manner that made the reader look at violence and be appropriately shocked and sickened by it. The short "stories" in the collection were really only partially narrative - the incompleteness of the stories is what made you see the violent acts as just that - violence. They were disturbing and uncomfortable and in some ways brilliant. He certainly achieved his goal of making an audience uneasy about violence.
So, go check out the interview. Pick up one of his books. They're not for everyone, but if you consider yourself a little callous to violence, his work will remind you that it's not something to slough off. It will remind you of what it means to be mortal and human. And for that reason alone it has some merit.
Monday, February 07, 2005
This is Jack's Blog Post Title
Ok, that was probably a little obscure, especially as this post has nothing to do with Fight Club. You'll just have to live with that, while I have to live with the fact that it's occasionally really hard to come up with titles.
My in-laws just sent out the illustrated Da Vinci Code. Very nice book. Whatever your opinion of the story, this edition is quite lovely. You get high quality paper with pictures of the artwork and architecture being discussed. Cool. Should make my next read through of the book a lot more enjoyable. If for no other reason than I can distract myself from some of the plot holes with pretty pictures. ^_^
Read the next Kindaichi graphic novel, The Mummy's Curse. This was one of the more gruesome mysteries, and yet still a delight to read. I'm not quite prepared to call it book 6, but if I only make it to 49 this year, you can bet I'll pull this one back out and say 50! ^_^
Both sets of parents have received their copies of the movie I threw together on Friday. iMovie and iDVD are fun. I took a bunch of pictures from the last year and half or so and a couple video clips taken with the digital camera and strung them together for my folks. Mom had requested one for a thing she's doing on keeping in touch with family over long distances. The only problem I had was the audio on a couple of the later video clips - the audio wasn't synching up with the video. It played fine on the computer, but every copy I burned to DVD was a little off there at the end. I have no idea why either...
Well, in keeping with the lack of a good title, I'll let you suffer with the lack of a good ending for this post as well. So there.
My in-laws just sent out the illustrated Da Vinci Code. Very nice book. Whatever your opinion of the story, this edition is quite lovely. You get high quality paper with pictures of the artwork and architecture being discussed. Cool. Should make my next read through of the book a lot more enjoyable. If for no other reason than I can distract myself from some of the plot holes with pretty pictures. ^_^
Read the next Kindaichi graphic novel, The Mummy's Curse. This was one of the more gruesome mysteries, and yet still a delight to read. I'm not quite prepared to call it book 6, but if I only make it to 49 this year, you can bet I'll pull this one back out and say 50! ^_^
Both sets of parents have received their copies of the movie I threw together on Friday. iMovie and iDVD are fun. I took a bunch of pictures from the last year and half or so and a couple video clips taken with the digital camera and strung them together for my folks. Mom had requested one for a thing she's doing on keeping in touch with family over long distances. The only problem I had was the audio on a couple of the later video clips - the audio wasn't synching up with the video. It played fine on the computer, but every copy I burned to DVD was a little off there at the end. I have no idea why either...
Well, in keeping with the lack of a good title, I'll let you suffer with the lack of a good ending for this post as well. So there.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Book 5 and the Superbowl
Read The Opera House Murders, Book 1 in the Kindaichi Case Files by Kanari and Sato. This is a fun mystery series put out over here by TokyoPop. It follows Hajime Kindaichi, grandson of a famous detective, as he himself becomes one. The story is pretty clever and the art is nice with some good attention to detail. There are several volumes in the series, I believe about 10 of them are out at the moment with another couple due this year. It's easily one of my favorite manga series. This first volume involves a series of murders that mimic the plot of The Phantom of the Opera. Kindaichi's childhood friend Miyuki has invited him along on the theater club's trip to an island hotel. And one by one they start dying. Good stuff.
Watched the Superbowl. Best commercial goes to the FedEx/Kinko's commercial featuring Burt Reynolds. The game itself was for the most part boring (mostly due to there not being a team involved that I really cared about one way or the other), but the end picked up some. I hoped the Eagles would win, but alas it was not to be. There's always next year. Go Rams!
Watched the Superbowl. Best commercial goes to the FedEx/Kinko's commercial featuring Burt Reynolds. The game itself was for the most part boring (mostly due to there not being a team involved that I really cared about one way or the other), but the end picked up some. I hoped the Eagles would win, but alas it was not to be. There's always next year. Go Rams!
Saturday, February 05, 2005
The Grudge
I forget exactly how I ran across The Ring. I know it was on the web, but the details are gone. I enjoy several aspects of Asian culture and the chance to see a Japanese horror film was truly welcome. The Ring in a lot of ways is simply a mixed media campfire tale. It's spooky and the story has some genuinely creepy bits. The central focus of the movie (the tape), however, means it really does need to be seen. Especially once the nature of the images on the tape starts to come clear. And like any good campfire tale, it ratchets the tension up from start to finish with the big payoff scare coming at the end. The American remake cleared a few things up for an audience not used to having to think a little more and unwilling to take some things for granted as simply being the way they are.
The Grudge is a different animal entirely. For one, it's a lot creepier than The Ring. A lot. And it doesn't let up over the course of the film. It starts off with a bang and then maintains the mood over the course of the film. A haunted house story at heart, The Grudge is perfect for film, especially because of the way they tell the tale. As the story unwinds, several threads come together to make a cohesive whole. And all the while they find ways to keep you on the edge of your seat. My wife tried to ban me from picking it up, but it's so rare to find a genuinely creepy movie that's fun to watch that I had to snag it.
The interesting thing about this version (also a remake of a Japanese horror film) is that they used the original Japanese director. They had him remake the movie for an American audience. As I haven't seen the original version yet, I'm unsure of some of the stylistic and story differences, but it seems to be a very nice meld of Asian cinema and American cinema. The story is certainly Asian, but there are allowances made for the way Americans are used to stories being told. If you like horror movies, this one is certainly worth your time. It's horribly creepy and lots of fun to watch. Especially with the lights out and the volume up.
The Grudge is a different animal entirely. For one, it's a lot creepier than The Ring. A lot. And it doesn't let up over the course of the film. It starts off with a bang and then maintains the mood over the course of the film. A haunted house story at heart, The Grudge is perfect for film, especially because of the way they tell the tale. As the story unwinds, several threads come together to make a cohesive whole. And all the while they find ways to keep you on the edge of your seat. My wife tried to ban me from picking it up, but it's so rare to find a genuinely creepy movie that's fun to watch that I had to snag it.
The interesting thing about this version (also a remake of a Japanese horror film) is that they used the original Japanese director. They had him remake the movie for an American audience. As I haven't seen the original version yet, I'm unsure of some of the stylistic and story differences, but it seems to be a very nice meld of Asian cinema and American cinema. The story is certainly Asian, but there are allowances made for the way Americans are used to stories being told. If you like horror movies, this one is certainly worth your time. It's horribly creepy and lots of fun to watch. Especially with the lights out and the volume up.
Friday, February 04, 2005
It's Late
Got caught up making a DVD for the folks. So you'll have to wait until tomorrow for my thoughts on The Grudge. The Cliff Notes version can be summed up by the fact that I picked up my own copy on the way home from work today.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Applegeeks
Applegeeks is a webcomic that I enjoy quite a bit. It's got a great art style and it caters to the Mac fanatic in me. The current storyline, while not quite me, is pretty close. Today's strip in particular made me laugh as it dealt with the new iPod Shuffle. And I really want a power button t-shirt...
Tonight we'll be watching The Grudge, so there's the possibility of another post with some thoughts on that.
Tonight we'll be watching The Grudge, so there's the possibility of another post with some thoughts on that.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Shall We Dance?
Watched the recent update of Shall We Dance. Wonderful little film. Highly recommended. Even if it does make my wife want to watch Strictly Ballroom again. I haven't seen the original, but I'd like to. It's a nice little tale about a man simply caught up in life who takes a chance to learn to dance. And he finds that he likes it. It gives his life a little extra spark. The really nice thing about this movie is that it really is about the dancing and finding joy in life. If Hollywood had made this movie originally it would have been about an affair. But it's not, and that's great. Go see it.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Book #4
Finished off The Hidden City by David Eddings. Oddly, I've only ever read the Sparhawk books by Eddings - never got into any of the other series he's written. Not entirely sure what it is about the two trilogies featuring Sparhawk that I enjoy, but I find them a pleasant diversion. The characters are certainly nothing terribly original - they all fit they typical fantasy mold, but there are certain bits of life breathed into them that I find endearing. By the end of that first book, The Diamond Throne you felt like the characters were old friends and you wondered just what they'd get up to next.
Eddings doesn't spend too much time on battle sequences either. You had the siege of Chyrellos in the first trilogy and mostly random skirmishes in the second. I must admit that's one of the few tropes of fantasy lit that really grates on my nerves - endless battle sequences. Political intrigue is a little more the flavor of the day in the Sparhawk books. The one thing that really gets old in the Tamuli is Caalador's "accent" I hate it when people try and write colloquial speech... It can occasionally be done well, but mostly it's just annoying. Dorlin'. Anyway, if you haven't read either The Elenium or The Tamuli, they're worth flipping through as light reading.
Eddings doesn't spend too much time on battle sequences either. You had the siege of Chyrellos in the first trilogy and mostly random skirmishes in the second. I must admit that's one of the few tropes of fantasy lit that really grates on my nerves - endless battle sequences. Political intrigue is a little more the flavor of the day in the Sparhawk books. The one thing that really gets old in the Tamuli is Caalador's "accent" I hate it when people try and write colloquial speech... It can occasionally be done well, but mostly it's just annoying. Dorlin'. Anyway, if you haven't read either The Elenium or The Tamuli, they're worth flipping through as light reading.
Monday, January 31, 2005
Lather, rinse, repeat
And thus begins another work week.
My wife felt the need to point out that Lemony Snicket was being clever in book whatever of his Unfortunate Events series by printing the start of Chapter 5 twice in order to illustrate déjà vu. I was only moderately impressed. Lemony Snicket is the kids version of John Grisham in my opinion. Pick any one book by either of them and it's great. The rest are all the same though. I stopped reading both of them after the first couple. And that's my illustration of déjà vu...
Ran across several random little bits today. Things are perking up a bit in the video game realm. This year's E3 promises to be moderately interesting due to the new console unveilings. The new models of just about (if not all) of the consoles are rumored to be in attendance. So we're getting little teases of what features might be available and so on. It's funny, as I've mentioned, for the longest time I was a PlayStation fan. I've recently joined the ranks of the Nintendo followers though and haven't really been too interested in what's on Sony's little black box. I got a demo for God of War today and I must admit, it was kind of fun. It reminded me of a Greek Prince of Persia. The battle and puzzle nature of the gameplay was very similar. It could be worth checking out. And then, of course, there's Wanda and the Colossus. Anything by the Ico team is worth looking at.
At any rate, I don't really have anything specific to point you towards, mostly you just have to listen to the rustlings on the wind. Winter is just about over and the year is getting ready to get it in gear. There are rumblings afoot and if you know what to look for, you can start to get ready for it. And I suspect that applies to just about any realm, whatever your interests.
My wife felt the need to point out that Lemony Snicket was being clever in book whatever of his Unfortunate Events series by printing the start of Chapter 5 twice in order to illustrate déjà vu. I was only moderately impressed. Lemony Snicket is the kids version of John Grisham in my opinion. Pick any one book by either of them and it's great. The rest are all the same though. I stopped reading both of them after the first couple. And that's my illustration of déjà vu...
Ran across several random little bits today. Things are perking up a bit in the video game realm. This year's E3 promises to be moderately interesting due to the new console unveilings. The new models of just about (if not all) of the consoles are rumored to be in attendance. So we're getting little teases of what features might be available and so on. It's funny, as I've mentioned, for the longest time I was a PlayStation fan. I've recently joined the ranks of the Nintendo followers though and haven't really been too interested in what's on Sony's little black box. I got a demo for God of War today and I must admit, it was kind of fun. It reminded me of a Greek Prince of Persia. The battle and puzzle nature of the gameplay was very similar. It could be worth checking out. And then, of course, there's Wanda and the Colossus. Anything by the Ico team is worth looking at.
At any rate, I don't really have anything specific to point you towards, mostly you just have to listen to the rustlings on the wind. Winter is just about over and the year is getting ready to get it in gear. There are rumblings afoot and if you know what to look for, you can start to get ready for it. And I suspect that applies to just about any realm, whatever your interests.
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Laziness
Went ahead and installed Firefox here at home. It will make a better backup browser than IE. Now if only it could have read my Safari bookmarks. That was quite the task... Will have to play with some of the extensions, I'd like to try installing the weather forecast thing at least.
Need to wander over to Target. They're doing some sort of random furniture/knick knacks from around the world sale. Might be able to pick up some Asian bits and bobs. Could possibly find something to go with the lamp my wife got me for Christmas.
I gave up on Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I just couldn't bring mself to pick it back up. I might try again once it's no longer a new book at the library.
Anyway, it's Saturday and that means it's time to be lazy...
Need to wander over to Target. They're doing some sort of random furniture/knick knacks from around the world sale. Might be able to pick up some Asian bits and bobs. Could possibly find something to go with the lamp my wife got me for Christmas.
I gave up on Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I just couldn't bring mself to pick it back up. I might try again once it's no longer a new book at the library.
Anyway, it's Saturday and that means it's time to be lazy...
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Book #3
So, I finished I, robot by Asimov. It was an interesting read for the most part. Some of the stories were better than others, but that's just a generic statement that applies to any collection. I don't know that I've read a collection yet that contained nothing but great stories. ^_^ At any rate, Asimov's collection of thought experiments on the three laws of robotics made for both a nice bit of relaxation and some occasional thought on ethics and logic. Having seen the recent movie, I can now compare them better and while the movie didn't use any of the stories outright, it did feature the same questioning nature of the book. It certainly explored the same themes and did use a couple similar moments.
In a lot of ways this book reminded me of some of PK Dick's work. It looks at humanity and what it means to be human, but through the lens of technology and often robots/androids specifically. I like Dick's works a little more than Asimov, but I, robot was certainly a worthwhile read. Consider it recommended.
Looks like Wes Craven is back again with Cursed. A new take on the werewolf movie possibly? I suppose it's about time they got their due. There aren't really that many great werewolf movies. An American Werewolf in London springs to mind. And you have the Howling series, but that's about it. After the recent zombie craze (and there were some great ones) it will be interesting to see what happens with our furry, moonstruck friends.
In a lot of ways this book reminded me of some of PK Dick's work. It looks at humanity and what it means to be human, but through the lens of technology and often robots/androids specifically. I like Dick's works a little more than Asimov, but I, robot was certainly a worthwhile read. Consider it recommended.
Looks like Wes Craven is back again with Cursed. A new take on the werewolf movie possibly? I suppose it's about time they got their due. There aren't really that many great werewolf movies. An American Werewolf in London springs to mind. And you have the Howling series, but that's about it. After the recent zombie craze (and there were some great ones) it will be interesting to see what happens with our furry, moonstruck friends.
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Random Scottish moment
I spent a couple years in Scotland and completely fell in love with the place. It was Burns Night a couple days ago - time for haggis and poetry and friends. I've had haggis and actually like it quite a bit. I'm not brave enough to buy any over here - I suspect it's better from the country that makes it on a regular basis. There was a butcher by one of the flats I lived in for a while that was absolutely wonderful. I often stopped by for caramel squares, but also picked up a haggis once and even got him to do a turkey for Thanksgiving. (Not that he knew what we wanted the turkey for...) I miss being able to shop like that, a butcher for meat, and little shops for produce or various odds and ends. I think some of the bigger cities offer you that opportunity, especially if they incorporate any sort of ethnic community which offer their own specialty shops, and it can be quite nice.
Anyway, this moment of complete randomness was brought to you by the recent post over at Websnark concerning Burns Night. I developed a bit of a fondness for his poetry after my time there and I can say with a certainty that "my heart's in the highlands, a chasin' the deer..." If you ever get the chance to go, take it. Beautiful place Scotland.
Anyway, this moment of complete randomness was brought to you by the recent post over at Websnark concerning Burns Night. I developed a bit of a fondness for his poetry after my time there and I can say with a certainty that "my heart's in the highlands, a chasin' the deer..." If you ever get the chance to go, take it. Beautiful place Scotland.
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