No Time!

But I'm sure you'll all be relieved to hear that I'm not grumpy anymore. It's amazing what a bit of perspective and time can do for a bad attitude. Also funny--a lot of people seem to have guilty consciences. I've had quite a few ask if I were grumpy because of them. Allow me to take a moment to reassure you:

No. I was not grumpy because of you. You read my blog, which makes me ungrumpy, or to be more precise, happy. Thank you.

Maybe one reason I'm in a good mood is that I enjoyed Lost last night. I wonder if people could learn how to dilute that into a little pill of Awesome, so that whenever you're down, you could take two Awesome and feel better by morning. Or is that what the whole illegal drug thing is all about?

In any case, you may now resume your regularly scheduled activities.

Grumpy

I don't think you want to read anything by me today. I'm not in a particularly pleasant mood. Yesterday was completely lousy for reasons I don't feel like getting into. I could give further details.

But I won't.

Thank goodness Lost is on tonight.

Stand By Me

Not sure how fast this is going to spread across teh Internatz, but I just watched it via one of the blogs I follow (Gizmodo), and it really blew me away. Basically, it's a group of street performers all doing their own rendition of Stand By Me, which a crew of dedicated producers then combined into one massive tour de force. While I was on my mission in Germany, I had multiple opportunities to talk to street musicians (because, hey--when you're walking the streets of East Germany looking for people to talk to, you run into other people on the streets looking for people to pay them money. Why not stop and swap stories? There was this one guy who played the marimbas in Weimar. He was pretty darn cool. Jew from Brooklyn. Not interested in becoming Mormon, but then again, not many people were. And there was an origami artist in the same city--he was pretty cool, too). This brought back some good memories. Anyway--really enjoyed this--give it a gander.

The Eye of the World

So I'm rereading the Robert Jordon Wheel of Time series in preparation for the final(!) three books coming out in the next two and a half years. (For those of you living under a rock, the final three are being written by my good friend and ex-writing group member Brandon Sanderson.) I'm about 60 pages into the first (Eye of the World), and it's taking me back in time in a very pleasant way. I'm one of those readers of this series who was right there at the beginning. I literally remember the first time I saw the first book: it was at my old library, and I was in a phase where I picked what to read next based on book size. The longer it was, the sooner I read it. And Eye of the World was a massive tome (to me at the time).

Since then, I've lost count of how many times I read those books. I'd typically reread the series when the next one came out, although I missed rereading some once or twice, just because they're getting so long. (The series right now is almost up to 10,000 pages, total--well over 3,000,000 words.) I'd say I've read Eye of the World at least ten times. And I've stuck with the series. I remember getting made fun of in Mr. Coale's English class for having one of the books (The Fires of Heaven, I believe?) on my desk. Getting the paperback versions that were notorious for having the covers fall off. (Thanks, Tor.) Going to the midnight sale of Winter's Heart with my cousin Dave.

To have this series finished by a good personal friend--that's about as cool as it could get for me. (I suppose some might argue it might be cooler to be the one finishing them, but not me. That would be way too much pressure. Plus, I think sometimes writing reads better when I'm not the one who wrote it, just like desserts taste better to me when I wasn't the one baking.)

So anyway--just thought I'd share with you my growing excitement. Can't wait to finish this series at last. It's been 19 years, people. That's a lot of years. I was in sixth or seventh grade when this all began. I know there are some haters out there, but I've always enjoyed the books--even the ones where not a whole lot happened. To me, the series is like Lost--there are some episodes/books where you have to set a lot of dominoes up, so that it can be that much cooler when they all come tumbling down.

So what about you all out there--anyone else rereading the series to prep for the finale?

Book Review: In the Woods

In the Woods by Tana French

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
There are sometimes when I read a book and get insanely jealous of another writer's ability. This is one of those times. French is able to put words together in a way that often left me stunned.


(The basic plot of the book, for those of you who don't know, goes as follows (per Booklist): "Rob Ryan and his partner, Cassie Maddox, land the first big murder case of their police careers: a 12-year-old girl has been murdered in the woods adjacent to a Dublin suburb. Twenty years before, two children disappeared in the same woods, and Ryan was found clinging to a tree trunk, his sneakers filled with blood, unable to tell police anything about what happened to his friends. Ryan, although scarred by his experience, employs all his skills in the search for the killer and in hopes that the investigation will also reveal what happened to his childhood friends.")


The book was full of twists and turns, and I believe it will stay with me for quite some time. I highly recommend it, but with one caveat: don't go in expecting your typical police procedural. Honestly, this book felt more like I was reading Literature than a crime novel, if that makes sense. It's a book you're supposed to think about after you finish the final page. Read it and tell me what you think--I'd love to talk to someone about it.


View all my reviews.

My Plans for the Weekend

This weekend, I plan to do a whole lot of nothing. Some of this is by choice--I did a whole lot of Something while we were down in Florida, and some nothing helps every now and then. But a lot of this is by force--I can tell my body's trying to fight back the Sick my family's been trying to give me for the past week, and I believe if I sleep a lot, I should be able to get over it without too much trouble. We'll see, though. I've had a headache for about three days now, and that's how DKC's Sick started. Sigh.

If everyone could send healthy thoughts my way, I'd be very appreciative. Thanks!

Happy Birthday, TRC

It's true. My son is five years old today. That means that I've been writing a journal every day for the past five years. I set a goal to do it when he was born, and I haven't missed a day since. I'm not really sure what to write about in this post. Before I had any children, I wondered what sort of father I'd be. I'm not exactly known for my great like of kids, and it worried me--how would I handle one of my own. If I'd known what I great guy TRC would turn out to be, I would never have worried a second. He's my fellow theme park explorer, my video game partner in crime, my super spy agent collaborator, and I love the fact that he loves to spend time with me. The other day he was lamenting the fact that he hadn't ever had a sleepover, and he wanted some friends to come over for one. Then I volunteered to have a sleep over with him, and he liked that idea even more. He's been planning it since then--I think it'll happen sometime this week. Anyway--I couldn't be prouder of him. Happy birthday, TRC. Next year, maybe you'll even be able to read these birthday well wishings. :-)

Disney World: The Pictures

And here, as promised, are the pictures. Behind the cut, for those of you who don't want to be bombarded with pics in your LJ feed. There are more on my Facebook page, FYI.

 
TRC and I get swallowed by a shark.


DKC and TRC at the Haunted Mansion.


TRC and I at Big Thunder Mountain


The fam at the castle.


Back to the Future!


Mary Poppins meets the fam.


TRC meets his idol.


 

Disney World: The Vacation

As promised, here is my update on Disney World. First, I'll give you the journal entry TRC wrote for the trip: 

April 22, 2009
    Let's write my vacation. Okay. We went on a flying rhinoceroses at Dinoland, and it was very fun. And we went on Dinosaur, and it was verrrrry scarrrrrry, and it was for sure scary. And I was very scared. After, I was very happy that we were off. So, we went on the flying rhinoceroses, which was at the back of my journal, but they were very good. Next happens: I will give you a TV report. I have a Webkinz, and you can play games with him online. Grandma Coltrin gave me him. His name is Remote Control, because he's gray, like Dad's remote control. He's an elephant. We also went on Spaceship Earth two times. The glittering white on the ride I liked. I also liked it so much because of the guy painting the ceiling. Buzzzzz! I played in Grandma Coltrin's home, and I rode my scooter with the stop sign. Next coming up: gorilla footprints and gorilla handprints. They really made those things, and also we saw bats! I went on Haunted Mansion, and it was very good, because I get to see the ghosts. And the most goodest thing was the ghost was following us home. His name is Stroller, because it's scary. I wasn't scared. I went on Big Thunder Mountain, and it was very good, because we went up a hill, and it was so fast. I also saw Finding Nemo. It was just looking at the fish, with the shark saying, Want to stop by for a bite, Nemo? The shark was saying that to trick Nemo. We also ate breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and his friends. I got pictures with characters. We went on Flying Dumbo, and my elephant is flying Dumbo. Just kidding! We went on Turtle Talk with Crush. That was good, because I don't know why. Beep beep! We went on Buzz Lightyear, where you shoot at the Zs. Then we went on Madison Tea Party, and we went on Racecar. Racetrack, I mean. That's the end of my journal.

Now, I'll give you my journal entries for the trip. Yes, I continued to write a journal, even though I wasn't blogging. It's easier for me to write when I know I don't have an audience. These entries are edited some--because it's a journal, you know. :-) But it's all there, behind the cut. I'll post pictures in the next post.

April 13, 2009
    Made it here, and I'm exhausted. We left the house at 9:30 after finishing up packing. Got down to Orlando at 4:30. The kids were great on the plane--very well behaved, and no crying at all. TRC was very excited just to be on the plane, period, and DC was much more content than I thought she'd be. Mom picked us up at the airport, then drove me over to Universal to meet Ted while everyone else went and unpacked. Ted and I ate at TGI's, then went for a long walk around Universal and just talked for about three hours. A very nice time--it was so lucky that we managed to touch base like that, and it's nice, because when we do manage to meet, we're still just the same good friends we've always been. Anyway--came home and got ready for bed. TRC can't get to sleep--I think he's too excited. Tomorrow the fun continues!

April 14, 2009
    TRC is sick. Fever sick. So we scrapped the Magic Kingdom plan and went to the Temple, instead. Can you believe it? It's been like 3 years. A very nice time. Mom watched the kids while we went. It's not that TRC is low on energy--just sick. Bad cough. Of course, it didn't help that he didn't sleep at all last night. I had an awful night--trying to get him to sleep was not easy, and it was so hot! (Well, 74 degrees, which felt really hot.) Ate at Boma's (so long, diet), which was great, but busy. Then came home and put the kids to bed. Saw an alligator outside going after some wild turkeys. That was exciting. Mom went to bed early, and DKC and I watched The Russians are Coming, which was really interesting, but enjoyable. A good day.

April 15, 2009
    Phew! I'm exhausted. We got to EPCOT at 8:30 and were there right when it opened. Went on all sorts of rides: TestTrack, Universe of Energy, Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land, Soarin (first time for me--cool), Journey into the Imagination, Seas with Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush. TRC seems to be doing much better--he had a blast. Mom got him some Mickey Mouse ears, and he loves wearing them. DC loved the aquarium--probably her favorite part of the day. It's the Flower and Garden festival, so we checked out some of that, as well--also ate lunch at the Cafe de Chefs in France. Very tasty food, and we even saw Remi the Rat from Ratatouille. Came back home and TRC tried out the scooter, then we all went swimming. TRC forgot he didn't know how, and did his best drowning effort. I got him to come back into the pool afterward--he's scared now, but I think a kid should be somewhat scared of the water--know that it's dangerous. He's okay, though--that's what matters. A tad scary, still. Anyway. Mom, DKC and I watched Lost in the evening, and I planned out the next day. My back is killing me, and my feet feel like they're going to fall off, but it was worth it.

April 16, 2009
    Another full full day. Animal Kingdom. Mom stayed home with DC in the morning to get some things around the house done. DKC, TRC and I went to the park and went straight to Dinosaur. Big mistake. It was way too scary for TRC, meaning that DKC and I didn't enjoy it at all, either. I was covering his eyes for most of it and telling him it was all going to be okay. He came out and said, "Dad, never never never schedule us for that ride again." There you go. It got better, thankfully. We went on Triceratop Spin, walked the Panjani Trail, met Donald, Goofy, Mickey and Chip and Dale, saw Festival of the Lion King, then went to let TRC play in the Boneyard. We met up with Mom and baby there, then went to the Finding Nemo musical, which was excellent--even baby loved it--she was cooing at the characters on stage the whole time. From there, DKC and I went Expedition Everest, which was way cool. We went from there to the Maharajah Trek, then ate at Rainforest Cafe (had the Volcano dessert, too), then to the Safari Ride and Rafiki's Conservation Whateveryoucallit, where TRC got to go to a petting zoo and meet Jiminy Cricket. By that time, I was about ready to collapse, so we came home by 6:30. Have spent the evening recuperating and planning the day tomorrow. Need. Sleep.

April 17, 2009
    To say that today was a full day would be a gross understatement. We woke up at 7:15 and had breakfast, then traipsed off to Magic Kingdom. Mom dropped us off and went back home with DC to get some more appointments at the house taken care of. DKC, TRC and I arrived at the Magic Kingdom at 8:30. It wasn't supposed to open until 9, but we got in anyway somehow, and we churned out the rides: Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Pirates of the Caribbean, Aladdin's Magic Carpet, Swiss Family Treehouse, The Frontierland Shooting Range, It's a Small World, Cinderella's Carousel, Mad Tea Party, Tomorrowland Speedway, Mickey's Philharmagic, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear--a slew of rides, all done by 1:00. Met Mom and DC for lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern at 1:20, then went to Tom Sawyer's Island, followed by Big Thunder Mountain (twice), Jungle Cruise and two more Buzz Lightyears. Truly an epic day. Finished by 5. Thanks, RideMax. The longest line we waited in was 15 minutes for the Speedway. TRC had a blast--nothing was too scary for him (at least that's what he claimed--he was pretty intimidated by parts of Pirates and Haunted Mansion. Anything dark. But he trooped through it fine.) We got home and relaxed and recuperated and had strawberry shortcake, then time for bed. Phew! It makes me tired just typing it! Having a great time, though--TRC is eating it up, and baby's loving it, too. All very well behaved. It's so much fun to get to do these things with TRC that I did when I was little. Fantastic.

April 18, 2009
    Day off today, sort of. We didn't go to the park, at least. Instead, we got up and went to a character breakfast at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian. Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger were all there. Great food, too--especially the strawberry soup. TRC had a blast, and we got some great pictures. Came home and everyone but TRC went to sleep. DKC is feeling sick now, which is no good at all. In the afternoon we went to an exotic car show in Celebration. TRC and I got to sit in the Delorean from Back to the Future, and we all got our pictures taken with Luke's Landspeeder. Also saw the Batmobile, Monkee Mobile, Munster Mobile, General Lee, KITT, and a slew of really expensive cars that I'm sure someone who knew what he was looking at would be really impressed with. Fun times. Came home and picked up dinner at the Main Street Cafe, then ate it at home. Planned out tomorrow. DC's sick, too--I have no idea how tomorrow will end up turning out. We're going to bed early in an effort to get everyone recovered. 9:00PM. Good night!

April 19, 2009
    Hollywood Studios, check. DKC and DC are sick, so it was just TRC and I in the morning. We were the first ones through the turnstiles, believe it or not. Got to see them do the whole opening of the park spiel, then cranked out some rides: Great Movie Ride, Playhouse Disney (TRC loved it: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, and Handy Manny), Muppetvision 3D, Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground, Jedi Training Camp. Then we met up with DKC, Mom and DC and went on the Backlot Studio Tour and the Lights, Motors, Action show (neat!), then met Susie, Van and the gang for lunch at Hollywood and Vine. It's the twins' birthday, so we had cupcakes with it--and characters from Playhouse Disney. We went on Star Tours, then TRC and I went off to do Toy Story Midway Mania twice, and came back to find that DC just wasn't up to a park anymore, so they left and TRC and I stayed on with Susie and Co. Went to Indiana Jones, Magic of Disney Animation (which has been lamed down) and then Fantasmic. TRC doesn't like loud noises at all right now--he covers his ears with his hands, then claps with his elbows. But he loved Fantasmic--he couldn't stop talking about Mickey defeating the bad guys with his imagination, and he literally oohed and ahed during the fireworks. TRC had a fantastic day--I got him a Star Wars Mickey pin and some caramel corn at Fantasmic, and as we're walking out of the show, hand in hand, he looks up at me and says, "Dad, I had a great day today. Thanks so much for my pin and my popcorn. This was great." That pretty much made everything worthwhile--all 13.5 hours of it. I came home and collapsed pretty much. Last day tomorrow--we'll see how everyone's health is holding up.

April 20, 2009
    I am so ready to go home. Don't get me wrong--it was a great day. It's just that I'm so tired, and everyone needs to be home to get better. Slept in today until 9:30, then didn't leave for EPCOT until 1 or so. Rested in the morning, mainly--TRC was in the garage playing with a giant TV box that he made his clubhouse. He loved it. At EPCOT, TRC and I went on Spaceship Earth, then met up with Susie et al. for some Kimpossible adventuring in Germany. TRC enjoyed that so much that he and I went and did it ourselves in Japan, France and England. He had a blast being spies together. Took it very seriously. We met up with everyone at Biergarten for dinner at 5:20. Fantastic place. Great German food, great atmosphere--couldn't have asked for a better way to finish off the dining experience. Went on Test Track after that one more time. Susie and I were there with the twins, TRC and Alexa--and somehow TRC and the twins ended up riding in the front all on their own. I think Susie and I were more concerned for them than they were--they seemed very calm about the whole thing. TRC has really had a great time with his cousins, which is nice. We came home and packed and got ready for the trip tomorrow. My feet feel like they're melting. So. Tired.

April 21, 2009
    Home at last. Woke up at 5 and got ready, left at 5:30, got to the airport at 6:30, the plane left at 8:35, and we were in Main by 11:20, home at 1:30. The kids were great on the plane. TRC watched Ratatouille. It looks like I'm getting some of what everyone else had, though. I pretty much crashed after I got home. Just so tired. I'm feeling a tad better now, but I'll be staying home from work tomorrow and trying to recover. DKC and I watched some American Idol and Mentalist in the evening. Oh--and it looks like I put on 2 pounds while in Florida, which is a whole lot less than I worried I'd put on, so that was good news. A great trip--but I'm extremely glad to be home, and I think the rest of my family feels the same.

There you have it--over a week's worth of entries, all in one fell swoop!

Book Review: Runemarks

Runemarks by Joanne Harris

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book quite a bit--the only thing keeping me from giving it five stars was the ending, which got so confusing that I really lost track of what was happening. Not just in a "this plot is confusing" way, but in a "I have no idea how to picture in my head what these words are describing" sort of way. That's not a good thing. But other than that, the book did a good job of respinning the Nordic God myths into a new setting with characters and conflicts that were engaging. I recommend the book--and if you can figure out what happens at the end, I'd love to know. :-)


View all my reviews.

The Dearth of Posts

The dearth of posts is likely to continue. This whole Disney thing is taking way more energy than I anticipated. Of course, some of that might be because TRC came down with a fever and cough the day we flew down, so we took things easy the first day (went to the Orlando Temple), and we've been pushing him around in a stroller since then. Yeah. That'll drain your energy. But we're all doing well--we've done EPCOT and Animal Kingdom, and tomorrow Magic Kingdom is on the slate. I'll try to post pics when I get back. For now, I need a shower and a back rub. Ouch.

To Infinity . . .

Gearing up for the trip now--in the midst of figuring out where to go, what to do, what to eat(!)--the whole shebang. We somehow were lucky enough to accidentally schedule our trip to be down there at the same time as my cousin TEC and also my sister SMCL (do you still use your middle name, SMCL? 'Cause that's a lot of initials right there!) So we'll be able to do some reunionizing while we're down there, too. I'm super excited--especially now that my sister told me about this awesome software called Ridemax. Basically, you put in the Disney rides you want to see and the day you're going, and it creates a schedule for you with low wait times and minimal walking. Awesome! I'll try it out tonight.

Anyway--I plan to post while I'm vacationing, but for now, everyone have a nice weekend, and I'll see you in Florida!

Two Movie Reviews: Slumdog Millionaire and Tell No One

Two very different movies for you today. The first is the very well-known Slumdog Millionaire. I'd say it's reputation is well deserved. The movie was an eye opening look at a way of life I really didn't understand before seeing the movie. To think that there are people living in these conditions, day after day, is more than upsetting. I'd seen some poor living conditions in Eastern Germany and then even worse ones in Egypt, but this blew those away by a mile. The movie's R-rating is deserved, but just for the level of maturity I think someone needs to have to be able to watch the film. No sex, no swearing--just very disturbing violence. Not in a graphic way, but in a realistic "I can't believe human beings do this to other human beings" way. Slumdog isn't a movie I plan on watching again anytime soon, but I'm glad I did watch it. Four stars.

The second film is the French independent movie Tell No One. (If I wanted to be all snooty, I'd say I watched Ne le dis à personne, and then you'd all be impressed with how cultured I am.) The film was everything I wish The Fugitive had been. Very intense, with a nice twisted plot that kept me guessing from beginning to end. A man's wife is murdered. He's wrongfully accused of the crime, but exonerated. Eight years later, someone emails him--someone who might be his wife. Two hours plus of taut thriller. But it's French, which means it's also not really for the faint of heart. Three and a half stars.

To the Victor Go the Spoils

I don't know if any of you noticed, but the NCAA tournament is over. And like last year, only one other person entered my blog pool. And like last year, that person beat me. Creamed me. I did awful this year. Who beat me? Kevin Albert. And as promised, here's my post to say just why Kevin Albert is so awesome. (Besides the face that he humors me by entering my blog pool each year, thereby helping me avoid feeling like a complete and utter loser.) Kevin is awesome because:

He gets to do fancy CSI type stuff with computers, figuring out how people are trying to delete their information so that they don't have to go to jail. (At least that's how I understand it.) This makes Kevin pretty much the Anti-Enron, which ought to be developed into a superhero name of some sort. Unron. Yeah. Kevin is Unron the Magnificent.

He took weight training with me in high school about 85 times. Really, it's a miracle that I didn't bulk up and turn into Sylvester Stallone with all that weight training. Or maybe not. I seem to recall Kevin and I cheating our way through the darn flexibility test, spending like a half hour stretching our calves before we had to take it. I hate flexibility.

He could beat me in a foot race against a bear. Or a mountain lion. Or John Candy. Of course, so could most people.

He was the only one of my high school friends to successfully watch all five films of my graduation party: Stupid Movie Fest. What did we watch? Hmm . . . I know we watched The Jerk and Blues Brothers. And I remember we ended up with It Could Happen to You, a movie that didn't really fit in with the theme (obviously), but which I think we watched because by that time we'd consumed enough sugar to make War and Peace look like a Mel Brooks movie. What were the other two? Spaceballs? Blazing Saddles? Young Frankenstein? Kev, if you read this, some help would be nice here. Becky? Do you remember? You were there for some of it, too.

He kept me from going off the deep end of the drama/band geek scene. It's good to be grounded sometimes.

He made a good racing competitor for driving home from the movies.

He was also an excellent movie commentator, single-handedly helping me make Chain Reaction not a complete waste of my time. "And his disguise was complete."

I think that's about enough praising of Kevin for this year. Gotta hold some stuff back for next year, when he beats me again. Congratulations, Kevin. I salute you!

Book Review: The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
You gotta love a good young adult dystopian science fiction novel, and this one's a great example of the genre. I'd heard nothing but good things about it, and I was really impressed. I think it would have helped me a bit to know going into it that it's the first book in a series--that would have changed my expectations on what an "ending" would have to consist of. Don't get me wrong: the book functions very well as a stand alone novel. It's just that there's obviously room for more once you finish. For those of you who don't know, the story focuses on Katniss, a girl in a post-nuclear society where America has devolved into one main Capitol, with 12 Districts that support it. The Capitol gets all the good stuff, the Districts are left with the dregs. And to make sure the Districts stay down--and to entertain the Capitol--the Capitol holds a yearly competition, forcing 24 children to enter an elaborate arena and fight to the death. So: take one part The Lottery, one part The Deadliest Game, add a good dose of Uglies, and you're good to go. Fantastic read, and highly recommended.


View all my reviews.

Movie Review: Ishtar

And as long as we're talking about wacky thoughts, DKC and I watched the infamous Ishtar last night. Well known for being one of the biggest movie flops of all time, I actually didn't think it was all bad. It stars Dustin Hoffman, Warren Beatty and Charles Grodin, and tells the story of two clueless wannabe singer/songwriters (Hoffman and Beatty) who travel to Morocco to get their big breakthrough. There, they become enmeshed in an outlandish CIA plot that involves secret agents, assassins and blind camels. Yeah. Honestly, if it had starred say . . . Chevy Chase and Steve Martin, I think this film would never have received the ignominy it has today. As it was, it's sort of like the filmic equivalent of everyone hearing Dostoevsky was going to come out with a slapstick comedy--there's this big rush of anticipation. What in the world will this do to the slapstick genre? Surely someone with as much genius as Dostoevsky will blow our minds and make us see slapstick from a whole new angle. And all that turns up is . . . a fairly decent slapstick comedy. It's the disappointment that burns.

The film was fun, I'll give it that. Certainly wacky. And it had intentionally bad music by Paul Williams (of Bugsy Malone and Muppet Movie fame). If you haven't seen it, give it a whirl. Sure, I only give it about two and a half stars, but I think this might be one of those movies that gets better with repeat viewings. Preferably late at night with a large group of punchy people. Anyone else out there seen it?

Back in Time

So this morning I woke up with a rather strange concept in my head--one which I've had quite a few times throughout my life. Have you ever had the desire to be able to go back in time and meet a best friend for the first time, knowing that that person would become a close friend? The person in specific in this case is my wife, DKC. I remember the first time I saw her--it was in a German phonetics class at BYU, of all places. Teacher: Randall Jones. I remember where I was sitting (over by the wall, in the second row. I remember who I was sitting next to (Mareena Smith), and I remember looking up and seeing her walk in the door. Of course, seeing her then wasn't anything particularly noteworthy. I remember thinking that she was cute, but I thought that about a lot of girls. I remember finding it interesting that Professor Jones had such a hard time pronouncing her first name (he never did get it down), and I recall her saying she was from some foreign place that wasn't Germany. That's about all I remember of that day.

I'd like to go back and be able to see her again for the first time. This is probably nothing noteworthy--I'm sure it's a concept that has been done a lot over time. (I remember quite a few movie promos for rereleases along the lines of "see it again for the first time.") For all I know, I'm just prattling on about something everyone else thinks about all the time. But I haven't really had any conversations about it with anyone, so why not write a blog post? (Of course, one area where I've thought some on the topic that might actually be fairly unique is along the lines of Mormon theology. Mormons believe we all lived together before we were born (and then forget about that time of our life once we're born), and I've wondered sometimes if I've ever met any former best friends, not knowing that they were former best friends. So there--if my first concept wasn't wacky enough for you, that second one ought to do it.)

Thoughts?

Book Review: Anathem

Anathem by Neal Stephenson

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Really a remarkable book. As with other Stephenson works, this one has a steep learning curve. What I mean by that is that you need to start out with the understanding that it won't make much sense at first--and that that's okay. What amazes me with his writing is that he can be describing something so bizarre, yet by the end he's managed to completely hook me and make me care about what's happening. For those of you who haven't heard of the novel, my advice would be to avoid reading the coverflap. I hate it when they give away key pieces of information. The book tells the story of a future society where a group of monk-like mathematicians live in a monastery separated from the rest of the world except on certain days. For example, the main character only has contact with the outside world once every ten years. I didn't like this one quite as much as Stephenson's Cryptonomicon--probably because there are some aspects to it that I'm still not sure I understand. But a tremendous book in any case, and one I highly recommend. I was completely enthralled.


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Bond. James Bond

DKC and I took the time last night to watch Quantum of Solace, the twenty-second James Bond movie in the canon, believe it or not. So what did I think of it? I'm not sure. It had a lot of explosions and action scenes, which was nice, and it looked good on my system (though only 5.1 audio on the Blu-ray? What's up with that?) At the same time, it really relied on you being familiar with the events of Casino Royale. Which is fine, I suppose, but a few hints now and then would have been nice. I don't often get lost in a movie, but there are still some questions I have about the flick. Perhaps some of them will be answered in the sequel, but I'd like to know that they're going to be answered--not be left wondering if I should be wondering. Does that make sense?

The movie also made me start to question what makes a Bond movie a Bond movie. Is it that the main character's is a spy named James Bond, and that he reports to a person named M? Because that's where this seems to be heading. I used to love Bond movies for the gadgets and the quips. Of course, then the films started being caricatures of Bond movies--with too many ridiculous gadgets and silly quips. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it doesn't have to be all or nothing. A few really cool gadgets and some seriously good quips would be appreciated.

This is not to say that I didn't like the film. I liked it. But it seems to be leading the series in a direction I'm not wholly comfortable with. I'll be interested to see where they go from here. Casino Royale was a solidly great movie. This one . . . I'm not sure. What do you all think? Any fellow Bond aficionados out there?

I Am Legend

I watched I Am Legend a few nights ago, and I did so with some trepidation. I'd heard a lot of negative things about it. Well, not really negative things--more along the lines of "it was good, but . . ." sort of things. You know what? It's much better than that. I'd give it a good three stars, actually. Part of this might be because I had no exposure to the original source material (Matheson's novel) or the prior adaptations. The concept of the film--that Will Smith is the last man in a New York City that is rapidly being taken over by nature--is really cool, and the way it was executed in the film is worth the price of admission alone. What happens after that . . . it's still thought provoking, even if it's not quite as good as the beginning. I'd have to say this was a case where there was a film with a good ending and a fantastic beginning. Because the beginning set the audience's expectations so high, the ending seemed much worse in comparison. Always better to start weak and finish strong, in my book.

So if you haven't already seen the flick, check it out. It's worth a gander.

Especially on Blu-ray.

Short on Time

Not too much time today for all of you--I've been working on developing a presentation on Adobe Photoshop Elements. And can I just say how impressed I am with the power of that program? For pretty much chump change (well--$79, which is chump change in graphics programs terms), you get something that can do just about anything you want it to for your pictures. I'm working with version 6, but checking out version 7 makes me even more impressed. I might have to get me some of that action, and I already have CS2. (Would love CS4, but that costs a bit more). One aspect I really love about my job is the opportunity to work with new programs--or just to get to know programs I already know better. Good times.