Vampires with Teeth

So as promised, we took in Fright Night this last week. Strangely, lovely wife had never seen it. I still remember the first time I saw it, at a family reunion years and years ago. There was a piranha named Bird as well, but that's neither here nor there. It's basically Rear Window meets a vampire movie. And it was still fun to watch. Although I really don't remember the vampires having so many teeth. Chris Sarandon does a great job as the Evil Vampire Next Door and Roddy McDowell is brilliant as the aged late night horror movie host pressed into fighting real vampires against his will. If you haven't seen it, check it out. And if you have, give it another go.

We've also watched the first part of Day of the Triffids. Apparently I got the BBC miniseries version, and not a film version. So far it's cheesy, but good. Walking carnivorous plants! Blindness by light show! These exclamation points are totally warranted.

Other than that, not too much is going on. Still thoroughly enjoying The Jennifer Morgue, although it's getting a brief time out as The Lost Hero (the new Rick Riordan Camp Half-blood book) is now in my possession. I've read the first bit of it and it looks to be just as good as the Percy books. Although at the moment with 100% less Percy.

Played a little Dice Town and Drakon the other night. Both still fun. I like building the dungeon bit by bit in Drakon as you attempt to turn it into a money making machine (while your opponents attempt to build their own paths or mess with yours).

A quick shout of sympathy to little sis and family. Hope things get better and 'L' is ok.

Also a Happy Birthday wish to lovely wife. Congrats sweetie! You have survived another year. And it's only mostly visible. Wait, that doesn't sound right... Hmm. Hey look! Godzilla! Happy Birthday. Love you!

He said the 'Z' word

Brian Keene's The Rising gets points for a clever twist on what a zombie is and then loses them all for being a horrible book. The characters are pretty standard for the genre, but not terribly likable, and the plot is woven together bits from better stories (28 Days Later most noticeably). I'm not entirely certain why I finished it. Except that my wife managed to and I think I took that to mean that it was going to get better than it ever did. So, yeah, avoid this one. Thanks Tor for nothing (this one was pretty regularly recommended during Zombie Week over there).

As part of October Horror Movie Stravaganza the sequel: Deader than Last Year we watched the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. And it still holds up. It's a decent little the world is toast, thanks so much creepy pod people from Outer Space movie. And if you haven't seen it yet, why exactly is that? It's the creepy pod people isn't it?

Up next is Fright Night. And Day of the Triffids and ... well, others. I really like October.

The 10th volume of 20th Century Boys is good. It continues to unspool the story at a pace that is slightly faster than glacial, but I don't mind. It is getting a little hard to try and remember who everybody is and what was done to whom by whom, but that's ok. I like it. Waiting only sort of patiently for more.

Apparently I have a Halloween costume this year. I'm not entirely certain what to do with it. As Halloween is on Sunday I can't wear it to work, well ok, if I was working on Sunday I could. I guess maybe I'll wander to the local trunk 'r' treat or something and get some use out of it. Mostly G wants me to go around with him some as his costume complements mine. We shall see. Do not expect pictures.

Other than that, things are pretty peaceful at Casa del 'd'. We're roughly a week away from the big birthday slide that takes us through the rest of the year. I guess I should contemplate doing something about that... I'm just glad the temperature is finally starting to resemble something humane and that we're getting some rain. I even dragged lovely wife out for a brief walk in a nice little rain shower the other day. It was grand.

Oh yeah

Hey look! Paranormal Activity 2 trailer.

And speaking of horror movies, the Norwegian film Dead Snow is pretty fun. Undead Nazis terrorize a group of friends out in the middle of nowhere. It features more intestines than I think I've seen in any 3 other movies combined. I'll leave that to you to decide if that's a good thing or not. There are several funny bits and lots of horror bits. It's not scary, but I'm not sure this sort of movie is really supposed to be. So there you go. Start October off with subtitles and Nazis out for your, well, intestines I guess.

Atrocities and other good times

I finished up The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross. And I have another favorite new series. This one (as mentioned a post down) is espionage crossed with Lovecraftian nightmares. With some math and science thrown in. Bob Howard is your basic hacker that stumbled on something he shouldn't have. And now he is forced to work for the Laundry saving the world from those entities that think we are delicious and good with ketchup. Tired of his IT desk job he gets sucked into field work. Now if only he can keep it from literally sucking him in. Curse those nasty inter-dimensional monstrosities. It really was a lot of fun to read and I look forward to the other two books in the series. I suspect this is one I'll need to pick up as well.

The Losers was a fun little action movie right up until the end. Mostly because they felt like leaving it wide open for a sequel. A risky move these days. I'd certainly watch another one - the cast was a lot of fun - but would have liked a little more closure from this one. Maybe I'll check out the comic and see if it ties things up any better. (That's a joke, nothing is ever wrapped up in the comic. And if it looks like it has been, they'll retcon it next time.)

Up in the Air suffered from the same problem - I liked it up until the end. And then it went and got depressing...

So last time I mentioned a few games I had my eye on. They have been shoved aside in favor of Mansions of Madness. It looks like a board game version of Call of Cthulhu (an RPG). Sign me up! Cthulhu based minis, tiles, madness, one player against everyone else. Oh yeah. It was originally slated for November, but has already slipped to December I believe. Considering the fact that it's Fantasy Flight, I'll be a touch surprised if it makes it out before year's end, but I suspect the wait will be worth it.

Laundry and other sundries

We watched Date Night a couple days ago. (sexy robots) It was pretty amusing. Crude, but amusing. I suspect it falls into the same camp as Bill Cosby's book, Fatherhood in that it's funnier if you've experienced it. So if you've been married for years and have kids, there's a little more depth to this movie than you'd otherwise expect. I won't comment on how many of those conversations we've had, but they really do a good job of portraying marriage at it's familiar best. Tina Fey, Steve Carell and Mark Wahlberg are all excellent in it.

I read Bone: Tall Tales since it was more Bone. There are a couple funny bits and a couple good bits, but mostly it was just alright. If you like Bone there's certainly some joy to be had with it, but you might be better off just reading Bone again. Or Rose. Sounds like they're going to put out a new trilogy in an illustrated story format. I'm not sure how I feel about this...

Currently I'm reading The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross. It is most excellent. Take one part Cthulhu mythos, a couple shakes of LeCarre espionage, a hint of Kafka and mix it all together into one gooey, satisfying mess. I'll comment more when I'm finished, but for now know that this is the first book in the Laundry Files and I suspect I've found a new favorite series. That I might just have to pick up.

Ubongo has gotten some more play at casa del 'd'. It is still most excellent. Lovely wife taught the girls 10 Days in Europe. Sounds like that went mostly well. I think that now that they've played it future trips through Europe will be a little less stormy. I've got my eye on a couple games for DCon or upcoming holidays. Incursion is drawing my attention at the moment (partially due to this sale). As are Castle Ravenloft and Talisman. So many choices.

Some say fire, some say ice, I say zombies

Finished the audio book version of World War Z by Max Brooks. It was fun to listen too. It's a pretty well thought out book. Max has done some serious zombie research. Being as Fall is once again creeping into our lives, I may need to do some research of my own. Time for some horror movies. If you've not read World War Z it's your basic zombies show up, the world doesn't come to grips very well, but ultimately humans manage to eke out some semblance of survival type story. It's worth reading/listening to. The book has a little more material, but the audio book is very well done. Although parts of it are a touch hard to hear/understand in the car.

I finished up Jim Butcher's Fool Moon (Dresden Files book 2) as well. I'm not sure what to think about this series. Because it's such a noir genre piece the stories themselves are pretty formulaic. So either you like the details of the stories enough to keep reading or you move on. I'm not sure I can keep reading the same story over and over, no matter how fun the package. This one had werewolves. And shapeshifters. And a loup garou. (And hexenwolfen) So obviously Butcher's put in the effort and is playing around some. And it's fine I guess. I'm just not sure I'll stick with the series. Too bad the tv show is over...

Crown of Shadows, the third Locke and Key graphic novel continues to pick at the mysteries surrounding Key House and its occupants. It's grim and heart wrenching and lots of other fun things. That Joe Hill, he's definitely a story teller to keep an eye on.

Was reading a couple things about writing earlier. Writing is one of those things that occasionally fascinates me. I certainly don't have the temperament to be a writer, but I occasionally wish I had the drive to get a few creative things out there. I suppose that's why I tend to keep this silly thing going. While certainly not a bastion of critical or creative thought, it at least gives me a chance to get a few words strung together. And every once in a while I even appreciate them.

For the last couple years, Fall (and especially October/Halloween) has triggered the desire to try and set down my own zombie story. So, you may get pieces of that this next month if I can be bothered to actually attempt it. I've mentioned it before (and actually tried starting it once) and that obviously worked out so you're probably safe, but just in case consider yourselves warned.

Quick shout

Happy birthday to littlest sis. And congrats to little sis on getting sealed today.

In which there is no new thing under the sun

Apparently I'm in revisit old territory mode. I'm still making my way through House of Leaves (rather slowly - it's a pretty dense book, to say nothing of the ... twists and turns it takes, heh) and probably will be for some time. I'm also listening to the audiobook version of World War Z. I'd heard it was well done and wanted to give it a shot. It is well done (although the accents can be a little hard to follow on occasion). Too bad it's not the complete book. (Again, from what I've heard, I may or may not notice the missing bits.)

I did start up the second Dresden Files book, Fool Moon. It seems fine so far.

Got in a little gaming and some bbq during the holiday courtesy of letter 'r and family. That was fun. I managed a win at Ubongo while 'v' left us all in the dust in Dice Town. 'r' regained a little honor in a fun round of Say Anything. Although lovely wife had the best and most outrageous answer of the evening.

Other than that we're pretty content to just let Fall woo us with decent temperatures and quiet days. Not too shabby.

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!

In which there are puzzles and rain

M received Ubongo from us for her birthday. It's like a competitive tetris/tangrams game. You each get 12 tetris type shapes and a puzzle board. A die is rolled that lets you know which three (or four) pieces you will use to assemble the shape depicted on the board. You then have a very brief window of time in which to assemble the puzzle. If you manage it, you can collect two gems from the score track. At the end (9 rounds, different board for each round) the person with the most gems of a single color is the winner. (You can move across the columns of the score track depending on how quickly you finish the puzzle thus helping you to get gems of the color you want). It's fast and also pretty fun. Some of the puzzles are fiendishly difficult. And others not so. It's also pretty easy to adjust the difficulty so that everyone has a chance. Make the grown ups solve the 4 piece puzzles while the kids do the 3 piece offerings. Remove the timer for younger players (an option I think I'll try with G next time) and so on. There are several versions of Ubongo as well in case you need more puzzles.

Other than that M had a lovely birthday and managed to mostly avoid the rain we've had on and off for several days. There was a traditional pool party and some mu shu pork and a whopper pie. An we were glad for an opportunity to spend the day together. Happy birthday M!

Lovely wife has managed to get the kids geared up for school (next week! woo hoo!). Other than that things have been almost quiet at casa del 'd'. I've even manged to not read a ton of books. I'm going to give Last Apprentice a bit of a break so that I don't wear myself out on the series. I suspect I'll get book four in the next couple of weeks though. I have instead opted to collect all 120 stars in Super Mario Galaxy 2 which of course just opens the next 120. I think I will also take a break from that prior to hunting for them. I think I liked the first Mario Galaxy a touch more. Mostly because it forced you to progress through the "story" (such as it was) before going back for all the extra stuff. The second one let you do the extra stuff almost from the get go. And the completist in me wouldn't let me go ahead before I had it all. So aspects of it were more work than fun. It's not entirely the game's fault, but I liked that aspect of the initial game better. The second one certainly has some pretty amazing levels and fun game play, just like the first.

Scott Pilgrim!

The movie was awesome. I don't really have much more to say about it. I am contemplating going back and seeing it again. Truly great. Possibly more gushing later.

In which I wait for Saturday

Ok, technically Scott Pilgrim opens tomorrow. The letter 'r' and I will be going on Saturday. And I cannot wait. I did manage to read volume 6 (Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour) however. And it was good. It does a good job of tying up the series and I really enjoyed some of the little bits found in it. (Young Neil's moment and the updating of Wikipedia were two of them.) The art was really polished in this volume and it was a nice way to see the series out. So go read them all and then go see the movie. I'm sure it will be brilliant.

The Night of the Soul Stealer is the third Last Apprentice book. I enjoyed it more than the second one, so that's good. Not that the second one was bad, I just liked this one more. It's winter in the County and a necromancer is up to no good. So Tom and the Spook have their work cut out for them. I like this series, it's nice that there's a spooky series for the kids. (And their parents)

Got to see little sis and their family this week. I think their youngest (for the time being) looks like littlest sis. Which given the similarities between the two of them while growing up isn't really surprising. (Little sis and littlest sis that is) G had a grand time playing with his cousins and I got a chance to check out the iPad. Clever little device that is. It was good to see them.

The House of the Devil is a throwback to horror films from the 70s and 80s. It's a slow burn and I liked it. Lovely wife and little sis were not as impressed. I have a theory that the film is better if you're steeped in that sort of thing. Ti West did an amazing job of recreating the films of that period. It takes it's time building up with just the right amount of tension before descending into the frenzied final act. I think K needs to watch this and report her findings. I will admit that I found the ending to be a little off, but that's just because I wasn't really expecting that twist/nod.

We managed to have another boardgame weekend with friends last Saturday. We enjoyed some Forbidden Island (it sank just before we could claim victory), some 10 Days in Europe (I traveled the continent better than my peers), a little Incan Gold and some Galaxy Trucker (you should have seen the wasteland that was left at the end of the third round - all four of us were wiped out before reaching the end of the journey). It was a great time and we are in preparations for the next 'd'Con in November.

Scott Pilgrim

Go make yours...

If you don't know by now, you're new here

The Faceless Ones by Derek Landy is the third Skulduggery Pleasant book. This means that by default it is awesome. And it is. It's also a bit of a cliffhanger. Now, the fourth book is already out and the fifth book is about to come out. In Britain. For some bizarre reason they're not available here yet. Maybe they're stuck on the translation or something. At any rate, just know that if you've read the first two, of course you want to read this one and if you haven't go start with them. There are certainly some interesting questions raised (just what is going on with Valkyrie's reflection anyway?) this go round. They really better get those other two books over here pronto.

Girl Parts by John Cusick was slightly misleading. It looks like your typical boy gets girl robot, other boy bonds with girl robot, hijinks ensue sorta book. And there are certainly shades of that. I just expected more hijinks/hilarity. Instead this one focuses slightly more on having meaning. (Which isn't to say there isn't meaning in the other sort, it's just better camouflaged.) So it loses a couple points for that. And the ending was a little too abrupt. More points for that. I suppose it does say good things that I'd have liked more story, but with what you get it's really only a partial recommend.

20th Century Boys vol 9 continues the streak of awesomeness. Still really enjoying this series. That is all.

We watched the new Sherlock Holmes the other day. It was alright. Mostly it made me want to watch Young Sherlock Holmes again. I'm not entirely certain why. I really liked Jude Law as Watson, in some ways he seemed to outshine Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes. Which is a little impressive as I considered that pretty inspired casting. I'd watch another film with the two of them though, so that's alright then.

I believe I've mentioned Canabalt before. If not it's an addictive little flash game, that yeah, they made an app of. The team behind that has just updated Gravity Hook. Both are "just one more try" compulsive fun. And you can play them for free online. Or go buy the app if you're so inclined. Oh and Canabalt is available as a portable app for your thumb drive. Hopefully Gravity Hook shows up there as well.

We have had some lovely thunderstorms these last couple days. Even some hail. It has kept me from mowing the lawn (a mixed blessing if ever there was one) but otherwise has been quite nice. I miss thunderstorms.

And slowly the summer draws to a close. It's time to start gearing the kids up for school. Ah school season. My favorite season. Well, ok, really it's Fall, but you get the idea.

Just a few stray thoughts

In about two weeks Scott Pilgrim vs the World will be in theaters. This is grand news indeed. If you've not read the graphic novels you really should. All six are out now, so the story is complete. I've seen book 6, but have to wait my turn to read it. (Accursed hold list!) I'm hoping to get it before the movie comes out, but we shall see. I'm biding my time reading the first five over again. The story follows Scott as he starts dating Ramona Flowers only to find out that he has to defeat her seven evil exes in order to continue dating her. The movie is being directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) so it will, of course, be brilliant. If there's a guy more capable of grasping the source material than Wright, I'd like to meet him.

I've managed to finish off the second books in both the Skulduggery Pleasant and Last Apprentice series. They were also quite enjoyable. Playing with Fire (the second Skulduggery book) was once again hilarious and thrilling while The Curse of the Bane was still somewhat spooky and mysterious. I'm going to have to read more. This may present a problem...

The Courtyard is Alan Moore's take on Cthulhu. It's disturbing and gritty and not really for the faint of heart. Kind of like Cthulhu. (The best Cthulhu news I've heard? Guillermo Del Toro is going to make At the Mountains of Madness with James Cameron producing. This will be an absolutely awesome movie. Much like Wright's suitability for Scott Pilgrim, Del Toro is a match for Cthulhu.)

Lovely wife and I are currently watching the first season of The Mentalist. It's fun. Simon Baker is an absolute joy to watch as Patrick Jane, the ever observant consultant for the CBI. Where Psych goes almost strictly for comedy with serious moments, The Mentalist goes for drama with moments of humor. If you've not seen it, it's worth checking out.

And as a closing piece of advice, never give your spouse and kids a chance to practice at PitchCar. When it comes time to actually play, they will kill you.

Hey Look

Jellyfish,
originally uploaded by dkun.

More pictures up. Impressive...

Oregon and back...agon

Yaquina Lighthouse,
originally uploaded by dkun.

As you can see from the lovely picture accompanying the post here family del 'd' recently returned from a vacation. Celebrating lovely wife's Father's 70th birthday we went to Depoe Bay in Oregon with her side of the family. And it was wonderful. I'm pretty sure I could settle down in Oregon on the coast. We stayed at the Worldmark resort in Depoe Bay courtesy of lovely wife's sister and had a lovely 3rd floor room looking out over the ocean. I will attempt to get some more pictures up soon, but for now you can look at the Yaquina Lighthouse that was down in Newport.

We played on the beach, flew a kite, visited the lighthouse and an aquarium and enjoyed lots of other coastal town activities. We saw seals, starfish, crabs, anemones, and other assorted critters. The temperature was a lovely 60-ish degrees. It was great.

We went out on a boat in an attempt to see a whale, but ended up discovering that lovely wife and M are more prone to get seasick. McK, G and myself had a grand old time in spite of the waves and wind and I still think it would be great to learn to sail. I really need a sailboat... Alas the weather (some fog and lots of wind) prevented us from seeing a whale, but the boat ride was fun (if you weren't lovely wife or M).

We enjoyed lots of local cuisine (taffy! Tillamook ice cream! Crab Legs!) and just generally did our best to relax and unwind and enjoy some time together. If you're looking to get away for a bit I can certainly recommend the Oregon coast.

On the way back we stopped off at Crater Lake and marveled at the startlingly blue water. Not so much the return to typical summer temperatures, but the lake itself was quite pretty.

I've also read far too many books recently. I shall try to recap them here.

Revenge of the Witch (The Last Apprentice Book 1) by Joseph Delaney is pretty darn good. And also creepy. I look forward to reading more of this series. It follows Tom, the 7th son of a 7th son as he is apprenticed to the Spook - the guy responsible for dealing with all the supernatural problems the towns in the area face. Witches, boggarts and the like. It's a quick read that you don't want to put down that has some really nice atmosphere. McK claims to not have found it that creepy. I think she's putting on a brave face.

The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade recounts the 11 1/2 year history behind the popular webcomic. If you're a follower of the strip you'll recognize some of the stories, but there's plenty of material here that's worth revisiting. They cover everything from the strip itself to the creation of Child's Play, the charity and PAX, the premiere convention for the gaming public. Jerry and Mike are a couple of pretty amazing guys and it's fun to read about all the things that have happened. If you're not a fan, but someone you know is, the book will give you some insight into just what they find so fascinating.

The Ark, by Boyd Morrison was a decent summer popcorn book. And then I realized I was reading Clive Cussler. Two male action heroes with witty banter? Check. Beautiful woman tied to current mystery for predominant male hero to fall in love with? Check. Lots of vehicles? Check. Wacky vehicle chase scene? Check. Alternate take on historical artifact? Check. End of the world scenario that our heroes must stop with seconds to spare? Check. So yeah, it's really Clive Cussler in disguise, but it's still fun.

Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy is another series that I look forward to reading. We listened to the audiobook version of this and I can wholeheartedly recommend that. The story is an absolute riot and full of lots of action and suspense. Stephanie is 12 years old when her uncle passes away. At the funeral she meets Skulduggery, who she later discovers is a fire wielding, magic using skeleton. They then go on adventures to save the world. It's great. Go read it now. The entire family (with the possible exception of G who was probably a little to young for the whole audiobook spanning multiple cds thing) loved it.

So yeah, lots has happened since I last rambled on. But things should settle back to normal now. And I will settle for missing the ocean...

Cloning around

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro ends about as well as it can. I first heard about the book a few weeks back when a trailer for the movie showed up. I didn't watch the trailer (which was probably wise prior to reading the book) but decided it sounded a little interesting. I'd heard of the author before, but not read anything by him. So I picked it up. The book follows Ruth, Tommy and Kathy as they grow up, first in a boarding school type location and then as they venture into the world after school. Or as much of it as they're allowed to see. I won't go into specifics about the plot as some of the impact comes from following the story, but it is interesting. It's told from a reminiscing/memoir point of view and is mostly slice of life with a sci-fi edge to it. And a rather sharp one at that. It's not terribly surprising there' s a movie in the works and that the book is gaining some attention again considering the topics it tackles. It's definitely interesting and well written. (And a little depressing.)

Other than that, life continues in casa del 'd'. The weather has been wonderfully cool for July. I approve of this oddball summer we're having. It's certainly hot enough during the day, but the evenings have been actually pleasant.

I contemplated rambling a little bit about video games. Mostly as I was thinking about consoles and the sorts of games you tend to buy for them. Everybody needs a good racer and a fighting game and so on. But really, there's not a lot of topic there. At least that hasn't been covered better elsewhere. So no ramblings for you. Just go buy a racing game and a fighter and a platformer or two. Maybe a party game.

Oh hey, remember that last line thing? Here's one without any commentary: Guardian of Lies by Steve Martini, "They were now on Liquidia's short list, and the man known in Tijuana as the Mexecutioner had a very long memory." Ok, the only comment I have is Mexecutioner? Really? I suspect the author had one too many of his last name. You know what the best name for an assassin would be? Mexecutioner. Because he's from Mexico. And he executes people. I love you man! <sigh>

And so it goes

It seems like that's a line from Kurt Vonnegut. (The title that is) It seems to fit things in casa del 'd' at the moment. Hmm.

I've been reading The Name of the Wind again in the evenings. Such a good book. I was a little worried it wouldn't be as good the second time through (especially as I only read it a few months back), but nope, still excellent.

We picked up a couple little games in preparation for some family time. Qwirkle Cubes takes the gameplay from Qwirkle and mixes it up by turning the tiles into dice. So you're still trying to complete lines of 6 (either same color different shape or same shape different color) but at the beginning of your turn you can opt to roll any of the dice that are in your hand. It makes things a little more interesting. Also you can see what your opponents have at any time so there's a little more strategy to what you might place.

Forbidden Island is a co-operative game that has you trying to collect 4 treasures from a rapidly sinking island. Each player has an ability that lets them break the rules in a specific way as you work together to try and keep the island from sinking before you get the goods and get away. It's by the guy that created Pandemic which is a pretty well known co-op game. This one is a little simpler and meant for families. It's also much cheaper - priced around $15. It plays 2-4 people and lovely wife and I found it pretty fun.

We've still been having some fun throwing the frisbee around and taking some walks around the neighborhood. They built a pretty nice biking/walking path close by that we like. I've not been real good about exercising lately, so we try and get out for a walk in the evening to at least pretend.

And that's about it. The kids still live at the pool (when we let them) or terrorize the neighborhood. I guess we'll try to blow some stuff up this weekend and celebrate the holiday. Too bad we can't get any real fireworks...