Finished: A Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Thoughts on the debut of John Carter behind the cut. Not really spoilery. ( Read more... )
Started and finished: The Fifth Omni Book of Science Fiction (short stories)
Started: Camouflage, by Joe Haldeman

Thoughts on the Omni SF book behind the cut. Not really spoilery. ( Read more... )
Finished: Otherland: Vol 4: Sea of Silver Light, by Tad Williams
Started: Queen of Mazes, by Karl Schroeder

Thoughts about the whole of the Otherland series behind the cut. Some minor spoilers. Quick thought: liked it more than I thought I would. ( Read more... )

Other news! I have a new tasty sandwich treat. Mortadella and Caesar dressing. Now, one of my favorite sandwich discoveries of the last decade was Mortadella and Feta Cheese. Very nice, but there's one problem. I have to have Feta. And though I love feta cheese, I don't eat it enough to make it feasible to have it on hand at all times - it's too expensive in small batches and goes bad in large batches. So usually I only get it if my grandmother gives me some from her own batches (she uses it a lot), and so Mortadella and Feta is, although awesome, somewhat rare for me. However, Caeser dressing does a lot of the same good thing - gives it a nice tangy, salty kick, and I can have Caesar dressing all the time. So it is now superior on my list of favorite sandwiches.
(By favorite sandwich discoveries I mean things that I can make easily and for relatively cheaply, not fancy frou frou sandwiches or ones that require 50 steps, no matter how awesome they might be).

In other food news tried a microwave (PC) 'lamb rogon josh' dish today, which was quite nice for a microwave meal. Never had rogon josh before, but it might be worth trying sometime if I get the chance at a real place.

And, haven't mentioned dreams in a while, but there were a couple in the last few days I wanted to get down. One involving something very disturbing from Doctor Who, and another just SF goodness. ( Read more... )

Oh, and damn you Marvel. You finally decide to do a Runaways What If (What If... The Runaways became the Young Avengers)... and not only do you have to give it to CB Cebulski to write (a guy who seems very nice and apparently likes all my favorite characters, but to whom I've never particularly enjoyed any of his writing), but you make it a BACK-UP story to five other What Ifs I have no interest in. *shakes fist*. I think I'll have to resort to... let's call it magic, to get this story.

Finally, shouldn't there be _some_ standards and accountability with television commercials? I mean, specifically, that when a TV channel advertises something as an "all new episode", should it not _be_ an all-new episode, and if it is not, that commercial pulled and replaced with one that does not use that phrase (or, in the absence of that, some kind of punishment)? I'm speaking specifically of the Comedy Network, which I watch a fair bit, and I constantly see commercials for Corner Gas that start with "ON AN ALL NEW CORNER GAS"... except they're reruns. This year's reruns, sure, but reruns all the same. NOT ALL NEW. YOU DIE NOW. It's not like I'm looking forward to new eps or anything, it's the principle of the thing - if you advertise All New, it had damn well better be all new. It's bad enough when US channels used to advertise something as the "World television premiere" of something that already aired in Canada, but this is another level entirely. I don't actually think they're being deceptive in this case, just lazy (too lazy to redo the commercials from when it was new), but laziness is not an excuse - you're a network, you've got millions of dollars - fix it. *shakes fist*.

This week I got two books:

Captain Britain and MI13 #2 (a little too fast paced for me, but enjoyable and my Pick of the Week)
newuniversal: shockfront #2 (conversely, a little too slow, but enjoyable)

Full reviews as usual at my comic reviews site for anyone interested.

At the comic store I saw the Heroes action figures, which apparently came out... was tempted to get either Hiro (with sword and super-hero messenger bag!) or Claire (with replacable wounded head and arm), but they were almost $20 each, and, well, on a budget. Maybe if they ever get cheaper. They also had Sylar and Mohinder, and maybe there were others behind those but I didn't see them.

Work was okay, and of course I did the long walk both to the comic store and home. Except, there was a little problem. On the way, I started to feel a little gassy, which, well, happens from time to time and is only a mild concern. Then, later, added to that, I began to feel a strong sense of... let's call it intenstinal urgency. This was not a good feeling, particularly when you're a) about 45 minutes walk from home, and b) in an area without anywhere convenient to duck into for a washroom (an area with homes, apartments, and long stretches of bridges). I managed to hold out across the bridges to get into a McDonalds. After I was done, I bought a double cheeseburger, of course, because, well, they really helped me out and when I use else someone's bathroom I feel guilty for some reason. Now, you might rightly think, "hey... given what sent you in there, perhaps eating McDonald's food was not the best idea there", but I think I know what happened. There was no logical reason for me to have those troubles that day, as I'd barely eaten anything. So, I think I scarfed down that double cheeseburger so fast it broke the speed of light on its way to my stomach, and thus travelled back in time, and caused a predestination paradox.

Edit: Oh, and I think I got a touch of sunburn on my shoulders/neck.

This week I got one book:

Young X-Men #3 (Meh, wishing it would get to the point)

Full reviews as usual at my comic reviews site for anyone interested.

I also picked up at the used bookstore:
Probability Moon, by Nancy Kress

Work wasn't bad. Showed up early and not too heavy. Also, it helped me prove Heinlein wrong today! That is, in the specific case. There WAS such a thing as a free lunch, and I had it. They had a deal with the Wendy's next to us that employees got a free meal. So I had their 'Spicy' chicken breast sandwich combo. I say 'spicy' because, well, what the media considers "Spicy", I almost always consider merely "flavoured". Don't get me wrong, it's usually a pleasant flavour, but I need more of a kick to count it as spicy and am constantly disappointed when something advertised as spicy isn't. And I'm not even one of those crazy major league chili-heads. Still, yay for free food, even if I probably should have gone for the Baconator.

Random other thoughts:
Things I saw on the way home today: A guy fall off his bike in the middle of a street (luckily there were no cars around that the time). A fistfight break out between two people (looking around high school age, and near a school). Rosey O'Donnell at the Bookstore. Well, technically I don't know if I saw her. I saw the crowd around her, and it's possible my eyes crossed over her at some point, but I could not confirm.

At the bookstore I also happened to see "Indiana Jones and the Philosopher's Stone", which makes me wonder.. surely somebody out there's written a crackfic where Indiana Jones stumbles upon rumors of a parallel society running off of magic, in England, and so investigates Hogwarts? I mean, come on, Internet. I'd be disappointed if someone hasn't.

Pet peeve: I hate all the headlines saying 'Obama makes history'... not because I don't support Obama or don't think it's great he passed this particular milestone, but because "makes history" is a meaningless phrase - if he lost, it would make history. If he choked on a celery stick and had to be rushed to the hospital it would make history. Whether he won quick, won after a long fight, lost quick, lost after a long fight, he made history. If he quit right now to become a hermit in the woods where he carves make a congress out of wood to agree with him, he makes history. History dutifully records what happens even if it's not a huge milestone that's never happened before. In my glorious new regime (which would, btw, make history), the phrase "makes history" would be banned from newscasts.

Also, is it wrong I'm much less bothered by the fact that the people on the colon check commercial are transparent and have visible internal organs, than I am about the fact that they're apparently going to the movies nude?

Finally, it's come to that time. I must say goodbye to Newsarama. That is, I must say goodbye to the forums. I'll still read it for news, I suppose, although by the looks of the front page it'll probably stop being my primary source. But I'm leaving behind the forums, which have changed formats. Why?

Because you need javascript to access it. To access forums. And that's abominable. I'm sorry, called me old-fashioned, but I like to surf with javascript off, 90% of the time, and it manages to cut out 90% of the crap (viruses, popups, etc). Having a site that _requires_ javascript On almost guarantees I will rarely use it. (Although often, if there's a site that I like that doesn't require it, I'll add it to my 'allow javascript on these sites' list, because it provides _easier_ use. But if it requires it, usually gets a 'screw you' response). IMHO, it's extremely poor web design. In my glorious new regime it would be disallowed for forums. So, I'm out one more forum.

Just got back from Greek Easter. It was a slightly smaller gathering than was usual, so I wasn't expecting much, just some lamb potatoes and rice, but no, it was an awesome meal.

I had:
Roast lamb
Macedonian Sausage
Greek Sausage
Zelnic/Spanacopita with cheese/onion and ones with cheese/spinach
Greek Potatoes
Greek Rice
Greek Salad, with Feta (real goat feta, too) and olives
A hamburger
Liver soup (noodle soup with lemon in it and chunks of the lamb's liver)
Hard boiled Egg
Lemon Meringue Pie
Dutch Apple Pie
Ice Cream

And plenty of leftovers. I think that means I ate of 4 different animals today (counting eggs as chicken-in-progress). So delicious.

It was also nice for family stuff, too, been a while since this many of us got together. Well, since Christmas perhaps.

I claimed the whole weekend in the name of me, because I got ripped off this year due to Easter. Still, it was a rather lame weekend, even ignoring the general depression of the day itself.

Saturday did the family thing, though not for me, it was for Easter. And, well, the food wasn't bad, but it was still several hours sitting around mostly with people I don't know very well if at all, along with a few very noisy kids running around all the time.

Otherwise, it was like pretty much any other weekend, except with the added inconvenience of the stores being closed two days. (Though it did have one pleasant side-effect.. had to run to the gas station to get something since the grocery stores weren't open, and I noticed they have flavours of Mr. Noodles they don't have in any of the grocery stores near me... Pork, and Creamy Chicken. Tried Creamy Chicken, it was okay but I still prefer Curry Chicken, but still, cool for finding a new flavour.)

It occurs to me, that since virtually everything you can't classify supposedly tastes like "chicken", then "artificial chicken flavour" in a list of ingredients is spectacularly unhelpful and unspecific. Crocodile meat supposedly tastes like chicken, so theoretically artificial chicken flavour could be from crocodile meat. THINK ABOUT IT. Or not.

Let's see, what else is new?

I've decided that I'm going to boycott the 2008 Olympics. Not because of what's happening in Tibet, I just think the Olympics are really lame.

Finally got around to making this icon. Not quite as good as the other one since I had to pull from various sources, but still relatively pleased with it.

Oh, and I finally got around to watching The Mist, the adaptation of one of my favorite Stephen King short stories (well, novellas). So how was it? Generally, it was an excellent adaptation of the novella, faithful in almost everything but the ending. So we'll talk about the ending. (Major spoilers, of course, for both the book and movie).
( Read more... )
In general the effects were good but some of the monsters looked too obviously CGI, and I might have preferred a bit more use of practical effects vs CGI - like the loading dock sequence, and I would have liked a closer look at the a certain large creature (particularly the novel's description of the bugs hanging off it).

Oh, and the Mist, either the novella or the movie always reminds me of XET now, since I ripped off the idea for the Rutland TP, so I'm all nostalgic again.

This week I got three books:

Avengers: The Initiative #10 (Plot feels a bit hollow, but had one of the best moments of the week)
Serenity: Better Days #1 (Feels a little better than the first mini)
X-Factor #29 (My Pick of the Week, barely, generally good as always)

Full reviews as usual at my comic reviews site for anyone interested.

At the used bookstore I picked up: Singularity Sky, by Charles Stross, and Use of Weapons, by Iain M. Banks

Work wasn't too bad, a bit more than usual but came early, so it balanced out. Since I went to get comics, did the long walk. On my way into the Eaton Centre, there was a group of people offering Free Hugs. I didn't take them up on it, of course. You get what you pay for... the hugs were probably cheaply made with child labour, and are full of lead. Nosiree, don't want to risk that.

I had no such compunctions about accepting the free samples of soup on the other side of Eaton Centre. "Butternut Squash and Coconut Curry". Sounds... interesting. But hey, it was free.

Oh, and this meme has been going around, so I'll do it too I guess:
Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post or comment about it.
Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read, political leanings, thoughts on yaoi, favorite type of underwear, graphic techniques, etc. Repost in your own journal so that we can all learn more about each other.

So, posting a bunch of random stuff again...

Is it just me or does "Vantage Point" look like on of those crappy "go through the same story from different people's points of view" type plots that every TV series in existence eventually does one episode based on the concept if they last long enough. If so, isn't that, as a movie plot, in the 'done to death' category?

Speaking of movies, the more I see commercials for Jumper the more I'm convinced I'm going to be disappointed in how much they changed from the book, to make it worse. It's kinda killed off my interest in seeing it.

It should be come as no surprise to my flist that I'm a man who shuns reality and lives deeply in fantasy. When I'm not watching TV or movies (which are often fantastical or SF in nature), I'm often working out story ideas or SF concepts in my head, or daydreaming around a SFish concept in a Walter Mitty way. These daydreams go back and forth, certain ones repeat every once in a while after a break, sometimes I do several different ones in a day. Lately though I've been stuck on the last man on Earth scenario. ( Read more... )

Looks like the Writer's Strike may be winding down. Yay. Hope it lasts past the initial 'back to work while we vote on the actual deal' and hope it's a good deal for them, since they deserve it. Edit to add: They officially voted to end the strike, at least until they have a chance to review and vote on the deal. So writers are back to work tomorrow.

Speaking of writing, done a writing cycle. Started a new story and managed to finish it... except I hate it. I still like the idea, and maybe one or two of the beats, but I don't like how it turned out and if I want to use it I'll probably have to write it all over again from scratch. And I'm not even sure how I'd start. So, kind of a good news bad news situation. Oh well.

I've been feeling a little iffy for the last week or so. It's odd, sometimes I feel fine, but often at some point during the day I feel dizzy and very very slightly nauseous. It's irritating, but I suppose it's better than being actually sick. Although sometimes I wish sickness would come and get it over with rather than these shadows of it coming and going regularly.

One of the few forums I hang out at closed suddenly. Most of the people knew it was coming (though not quite so suddenly) and so there's a backup getting in place for the people who hang there, but still, end of an era, of sorts.

Doctor Who Fandom Meme/Survey, stolen from locker_monster.. ( Read more... )

Thoughts on yesterday's Terminator, the Sarah Connor Chronicles. Slightly spoilery, also with an answer from one of the producers that some Terminator fans have wondered about since the second episode about a potential 'mistake'. ( Read more... )

Finally to end on a random note completely different from all the rest, I have been craving spiciness lately a lot more than usual (I always enjoy it). Also, I've been craving trying something _different_ than all the usual stuff I try. I am considering getting a bottle of Jerk BBQ sauce when my current BBQ sauce of choice (chipotle) runs out, to perhaps satisfy a little of both at once.

No comics today, delayed, and I don't have any I want this week (there is an Exiles one shot I might pick up but I don't care enough to need to get it on time - if they still have it when I next go for comics, I'll get it, if not, I won't, no big deal).

Work wasn't bad though, early and lighter than usual. The only problem was that it was pretty damn cold. Which wasn't too bad, but heading home from work was, because I was facing directly into the wind most of the time, and I haven't fully developed my Canadian layer of cold-resistant skin yet. However, luckily I chose that time to turn into my vigilante identity, The Red Hood. Pulling my toque down over till it hooked on my chin, I walked the streets unafraid of the cold, and looking for any criminals to pummel into submission.

Well, technically I wasn't really the Red Hood. I wouldn't have been an overly dark vigilante, and I never whined about how Batman never loved me (though he never did). And it wasn't really a hood. So I suppose my vigilante identity is really "The Red Toque". I could still see fairly well, but I must have looked a little strange to some people walking down the street with my head completely covered. But it is Canada so probably didn't really freak too many people out... what I really should do next time is read my book while I'm walking like that. I bet I could, too, but it would be a pain in the ass a bit. Ah well.

I do think that if I ever become a vigilante, The Red Toque should be my identity. Only I suppose now it can't be because now that I've posted it, I'd be the first suspect. But now that I've posted that, I've cleared myself, so I can!... no, wait, now I can't. Oh, screw this, I'll choose something else. ... Or WILL I?!

Had a lot of travel-related dreams last night. I suppose a part of me really wishes I could travel more. I won't, because it's outweighed by the part of me that hates all the hassle associated with it (particularly with the pointless security theatre fostered on most air travel nowadays), but I guess the longing is there and acts up every now and then.

Anyway, I didn't do anything for New Year's Eve because I don't celebrate it... I just stayed at home and, because TV completely sucked, watched a marathon of Firefly. Somewhere about a quarter of the way through "Shindig" the noise outside let me know it was probably 2008 (I don't do countdowns), and that was about all she wrote, I finished out the episode and went to bed.

The next day was slightly better. The greek side of my family (maybe it's a wider Greek/Macedonian thing too, I dunno) has a tradition of gathering on New Year's Day. Except, we haven't done it for several years. This year we did, at least many of us, so we went to my grandmothers and I saw a bunch of cousins and aunts (even though I just saw them all a week ago at Christmas), and had zelnik, vielnik, hot greek sausages (yummo, they went fast), and various deserts. It was awesome. However, one old tradition we didn't do. Usually on New Years, they put a dime in the zelnik of one member of each family, and whoever gets the dime is supposed to have 'good luck' that year (assuming they survive the risk of choking on a dime). But we didn't, which is just as well I guess, so many have died needlessly already.

But, New Years traditionally signals the start of my winter depressive season, at least as soon as the sugary goods leftover from the holidays wear out. So I give my standard warning - if I'm less communicative than usual over the next few months, this is probably why. I'm not trying to be rude or distant, it's all chemical.

Yesterday did the rest of Christmas, going to my dad's and opening presents and such. It was a smaller affair than usual, and much less drama, at least direct drama. There was periphery drama, the sort of drama you're not involved in or witnessing but sort of informed about what's going on and might explode into future drama, but oh well, at least a generally good time was had during the day.

Giftwise wasn't too bad, got more money, socks, a gift card for Chapters/Indigo/World's Biggest Bookstore, and a bag of snacks (Whoppers, Willowcrisps, Popcorn, Pringles, Szechuan BBQ Rice Pringles, Honey Roasted Peanuts).

Dinner was also awesome, the traditional turkey, gravy, stuffing, ham, mashed potatoes, corn, turnips, bread, brocolli. Plenty of good food and plenty of leftovers since so few people were there this year. Also plenty of sweets to take home - cheesecake tarts, candy squares, and gingerbread and shortbread cookies.

Oh, and I forgot to mention last time that I made another attempt at making sponge toffee. This time I didn't burn it, but I made the opposite mistake... I didn't let it cook long enough. So when I put in the baking soda it expanded but not super-much like sponge toffee is supposed to, and wound up with a thin layer of perfectly edible (but very sticky) hard toffee-like substance, but not the 'inside of a crunchie bar' type sponge toffee I was going for. Ah well, I'll try again another time and maybe get it right. Or maybe see if I can get a candy thermometer to take some of the guesswork out of it.

I did have work today but no comics since they're delayed this week (and possibly next, but so far I have nothing on my list for next so I'll go this week), and since I didn't want to go a long way out of my way for boxing day shopping when most of what I buy is on sale for the whole of boxing week, I got home pretty early. Work was okay though, light load and things got started at a decent time. Had leftovers for lunch/dinner.

When I got home I had Doctor Who's Xmas special ready to watch. Overall, mildly pleasant, but suffered a bit too much from RTD's writing, and some dopey concepts. Mild spoilers behind the cut.
( Read more... )

This week I just got one book:

Ultimate X-Men #89 (disappointing conclusion to a long running subplot)

I was considering getting Marvel Holiday Special 2007, but they didn't seem to have any
at my store, so oh well.

Full reviews up as usual at my comic reviews site for anyone interested.

Work was okay, relatively early and a little lighter than usual. The walk to the comic store/bookstores and home again was hell though, because of slush. Looked for Xmas gifts, but only bought a couple. Had a few more ideas but need some doing and consultation to make them work.

On the way home, I saw (again), a creepy half-life-size robotic santa singing Christmas carols and dancing robotically. Now, I'm more gung ho about robot and AI rights than anybody, but that thing must be destroyed, because given the chance, it will attempt to kill all of humanity. Mark my words. MARK MY WORDS.

In other news, yesterday I attempted to make Sponge Toffee. By the use of the word 'attempted' you might have some idea of how it turned out. And it wasn't 100% following the recipe either, since I didn't have all of the (admittedly very few) ingredients, so I improvised a bit. Now you might think, 'hey, improvising on your very first try cooking a dish you've only read how to do on the internet, when you have virtually no cooking skills whatsoever, probably isn't the brightest idea in the world.'. And you'd be right. But what you're ignoring is that I am not the brightest guy in the world, and fortune favours the bold, which is my motto despite the fact that I've never been able to apply it to any aspect of my life other than attempted cookery. Actually, the problem (as far as I could see) wasn't anything to do with the improvised ingredient substitutions, which might have affected the flavour but not 'ruined it', the problem was simply that I let it cook a little too long. I suspect I needed to take it off the stove sometime _before_ the smell of burning stuff started (in fairness to me, I was just getting ready to take it off the stove when the burning smell started). So although toffee formed, a burnt flavour permeated it and rendered it ungood, but I think the underlying stuff was okay if you cut out the burned flavour. May have needed to fold in the baking soda a bit more so the spongeness was more even, too. My other motto is of course "if at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.", so I got rid of the sponge toffee and cleaned all my pots before anybody realized I'd cooked (well, okay, there was a bit of smell in the air). Anyway, I may try again with proper ingredients and slightly less cook time because sponge toffee is pretty good and according to the recipe super-easy to make.

Oh, and finally, Happy Eid to all of those on my flist that celebrate it.

Just a bunch of random stuff. Some segues inserted for your protection.

TVwise we're getting very close to the TV Dead Zone, with nothing new going on. There'll still be Atlantis for a while (and had a pretty good episode this week... yay for Canadian references!), but the strike will cut out most things, if it hasn't already (which it has for many). Brief thoughts on this season? A bit weak. Heroes has had its ups and downs (last ep was a down, hopefully it'll end on an up). GA continues to annoy me more than make me enjoy it. Pushing Daisies has been nice. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles starts in another month or so.

2 For 1 Book Foo...

Finished: The Atrocity Archives, by Charles Stross
Started: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks

Thoughts on Atrocity Archives behind the cut. Minor conceptual spoilers. Short version: Not bad, but not my favorite Stross and not my style of take on mythosy stuff, so a bit disappointing. ( Read more... )

Finished: Altered Carbon, by Richard Morgan
Started: Quarantine, by Greg Egan

Thoughts for Altered Carbon behind this cut. Not terribly spoilery. Quick verdict: Enjoyed it.
( Read more... )

Speaking of fiction, NaNo is over of course, but I finished a while back so it doesn't feel like a big relief to me. Still, a big congratulations to everybody on my flist who completed the task. And those of you who didn't, well, there's always next time, good for you for doing as much as you did.

Writing wise I've decided my big goal for the next year (this is not a New Year's resolution because I don't make those, I am speaking of it as a goal from now until next December) is to finish up and start submitting some of my short stories. ( Read more... )

Canadian Content! So, I tried the President's Choice new ruffled potato chips. Buffalo Wings & Blue Cheese was the best - also the one I'd tasted before (not the brand, but that type). Szechuan and General Tao's chicken tasted too close to really warrant having both of them there. There were slight variations (Szechuan tastes slightly better to me, though I like the name of General Tao's Chicken way more), but it felt like a bit of a failure of imagination to do both. Neither would go into my regular rotation, though Buffalo Wings might.

Speaking of Canada, we're supposed to have the coldest winter in 15 years. Well, I'm ready. Maybe it'll inspire me to work more on the plot to Great Canadian Zombie Film.

Oh, and we've informed that our rent is going up. By $12.91, or some absurd number like that. Weird. But not a problem.

Happy Birthday incrowder!!!

It's also my grandmother's birthday today, will call her a bit later.

Had a sweet zombie apocalypse dream. Started out in the library in some sort of military base, but (as often happens in my dreams) gradually drifted into being in a shopping mall. Anyway, escaped the library of zombies through the elevator, which took us up one floor to a floor full of toddler zombies, but we managed to close the door before they got in, and then went up one more floor where there were vampires, but they'd just recently eaten so we were good for a few minutes. We saw the zombie-tots (and their parents) clearing out of the second floor nad thought we might be able to fortify it after they left, but instead went to a bookstore on the other side of the mall to try their second floor because it could only be reached by stairs. Then we found (by following a non-zombie) some sort of hidden access to a maintenance tunnel inside the mall, which had its own escalator/people movers, and was almost completely empty except for one 'torso and above only' zombie we ran into and dodged easily. That's about it.

Oh, and I splurged a bit at the grocery store and got some chips, because WTF, President's Choice came out with some new high-falutin' brands. On Monday I saw Buffalo Wings and Blue Cheese and I thought I was just going to get that today, but then when I got to the chip section I was like, "WTF? General Tso's Chicken Flavour?!" and then "WTF2?! Schezuan flavour?!" so I wound up getting 3 bags. Oops. Also pork loin. Actual pork loin, not pork loin chips. But that's not interesting.

So, today I saw my mom, who was in town. We went out to lunch at the Pickle Barrell.
A reasonably nice visit, though a bit short. The dinner itself was also good. We started with an appetizer plater, which had some fried calamari, 'tex mex spring rolls', mozzerella sticks, satay chicken skewers, and possibly a couple other things. I had some of all of it. For my main course I had a 'red thai curry stir fry' (with chicken and shrip), which at first was disappointly not curry-tasting, but once I got to the rice at the bottom it much improved, and so overall it was pretty good. And for dessert I had a piece of plain cheesecake with cherry sauce, with was mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm(drool).

Since the restaurant was in an area of town I don't get too much, I stayed after and did some shopping... they had a used bookstore right by it. Unfortunately, there was nothing at the used bookstore I wanted. But they also had a regular bookstore and I didn't want to go home with nothing, so I picked up Accelerando, by Charles Stross.

Speaking of books, just learned today that the author of Jumper, one of my most reread books, had done another book int he universe, "Jumper: Griffin's Story". Apparently the movie will be including a second character who has the teleport ability, and of course he didn't exist in the books, but the author decided to write him in. Or something. I hope it's in continuity with the previous books somehow that makes sense. I'll be buying it, though I'll probably wait for the paperback, which is expected to be out the same time as the movie is (February 2008).

In other news, I don't really have a lot of other news. On a writing cycle, working mostly on something for a workshop so hopefully I'll get it done and post it. It's my first attempt at a steampunk, or at least a story with steampunkish elements. I'm quite enjoying it, or at least how the elements fit together in my head. When it gets to try to putting it on paper (or putting it to magnetism as the case may be), it all starts to suck, but hey, nothing new there.

Also, my back's been a bit off the last couple days. Not as bad as it was a couple months back, but around the same area, so I worry. It started at work, where I got a little twinges of pain when I tried to lift. Not a scream of pain like when it all went to hell, but just a "whoah, there cowboy" (yes, my back refers to me as cowboy. I don't know why, I just accept it. My feet call me "the pressing weight", and my heart calls me "The Gathering Storm"). So I took it slow and easy and it never really got _bad_. I'm sure it's just a minor thing, but, well, I'm in the mood to ramble on a bit, and that's part of why I'm writing this entry. So deal with it.

I was going to do a 'what I've been reading and watching on tv' segment, but I haven't fully organized my thoughts on them so I'll save it for another time.

Went down to the Taste of the Danforth today, where I followed tradition and got a gyro. It wasn't the best gyro... could have used more sauce. And meat for that matter. And it was hot out, and sunny, and I could probably have gone to a closer gyro place if I wanted. But it is tradition to go to the taste of the danforth to get it, and even though I made the tradition myself and am often disappointed, I am bound to follow it. Nothing much else to report to it of course, but it was still a gyro, and gyros do not go without comment.

Also, Book Foo!

Finished: Seeker, by Jack McDevitt (Nebula Award Winner).

Thoughts behind cut, not too spoilery. Generally: Not bad.
( Read more... )

Started: Cyteen, by CJ Cherryh (Hugo-Award winner)

Once I'm done with Cyteen, I'll only have one more Hugo Award-winning novel to read before I've read every one, and then I'll become unstoppable.

I'm assuming, without any evidence, that having read all the Hugo award winning novels will somehow make me unstoppable. I'm not sure how it's going to work, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed nonetheless.

Not been a great day for me in terms of the thin layer of fantasy I use to coat my everyday life.

Firstly, no comic day again. :(. Solely US holidays generally don't affect us, nor do solely Canadian ones like last week. I hope this is just Canada Post (or whoever actually handles it) slacking off these last few weeks and not a signal we're entering a dark age where we'll be delayed _both_ for Canadian and US holidays.

Anyway, since my only comic this week was due to be Teen Titans, I'm making this a skip week. I'll get the issue next week. I'm not making the hour long walk to the comic store and back just to get one book, a fill-in run by the writer who ruined Batgirl. It can wait.

Secondly, my shadow struck again. I think I've mentioned it before. I seem to have a shadow. It's often the case where I'll see a book I want in a store and say 'I'll get that next week'. And it doesn't matter if that was the first time I saw that book, or if it's been there in that same spot for months and months, the day I finally decide to go and get it? Someone (my shadow) has already purchased it. This week it was a cheap copy of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. *shakes fist at shadow*.

So, instead of comic day I'll just do a couple of random things.

But first, since someone will bug me if I don't: For lunch I had a pastrami sandwich, with mustard.

Work was a bit of a pain, hot + heavy load, so tired. Anyway, on to randomish stuff.

Things I Saw On The Way To Work, or How Hollywood (North) turns a cemetary into a fun children's park( Read more... )

Speaking of the movie biz, I found out thanks to Facebook that I went to school with an actress. Elementary school, my dear Watson. ( Read more... )

If I ever rule the world, in my glorious new regime, the bottom of every screw will serve as a screwdriver head for screws of that type. Then, you don't usually have to worry about having exactly the right type of screwdriver... all you need is an extra screw, and some kind of general purpose screwdriver that can use the screw as a head.

Finally, it's a hot one today, so I hope the Canadians on my list are aware that you can get $5 worth of FREE icecream from Chapmans, once per year per household, just by sending an email. I read it online and tried it out, and lo and behold, a few days ago (and only a week or so after I sent the email), I got a coupon for $5 off Chapman's products. That's one unrestricted coupon, so you could by a $5 thing of premium icecream or get a great deal on 2 of the cheaper variety (or presumably even wait for a sale). You just have to email contactus@chapmans.ca and request a coupon, saying you heard they give out one per family per year, and giving them your name and address. Sorry, only in Canada.

Splurged a bit on myself and had a gyro and onion rings for lunch. The ultimate meal.


I don't know what it is, but something about eating a gyro first hyperactivates the taste buds and makes greasy salty onion rings taste transcendantly awesome.

And now, a conversation taking place entirely within my own mind: ( Read more... )

Work on the other hand was hot and tiring, and hot and sweaty and hot. Ah well.

Also, I hurt my finger today, right around the nail. Took a screwdriver in the wrong place. Not serious, but it's a bit pained and bloody.

Oh, and GIP.

This week I got four books:

Birds of Prey #105 (solid issue)
Cable & Deadpool #39 (felt a little weak, clearing up old continuity issue and hit one of my pet peeves)
Ultimate X-Men #81 (some interesting setups for future arcs but nothing really developed enough to sink my teeth into)
X-Factor #18 (My Pick of the Week, even though it felt a little off)

Full reviews up as usual at my comic reviews site for anyone interested.

Had a hard boiled egg (leftover from easter) for lunch. For breakfast I had cereal, as sort of mueslix type thingie. Oh, and outside of Eaton's Centre they were giving away free Chicken Souvlaki dinner kits. Not ready made, sadly, but things you stick in the fridge and make really quickly for lunch or dinner. So I brought it to work, stuck it in the fridge, then brought it home, and that's what we're having for dinner. So yay, there IS such a thing as a free lunch! Or dinner. Whatever. :)

Work was bleh.

Oh, had a dream recently, cool for me because I got to be one of my favorite RPG characters.( Read more... )

Oh, and here's a surprise. Remember Dead Like Me? Among a listing of MGM's direct-to-DVD slate for the next year: 'A new film based on Showtime's supernatural series Dead Like Me, written by Steven Godchaux and directed by Stephen Herek'

This week I got four books:

Loners #1 (My Pick of the Week, barely, probably nostalgia playing the final role)
New X-Men #37 (like the story arc title, but the prelude felt a little thin)
newuniversal #5 (a bit slow, but I like the reintroduction of an original NU character)
Teen Titans #45 (not bad, one good moment in it)

Full reviews up as usual at my comic reviews site for anyone interested.


Had no joy on finding a used or sale copy of any of the newer SF books I've been eyeing, but I did get something almost as good (for a possibly really generous definition of almost). "The Forever Machine" (aka They'd Rather Be Right), by Mark Clifton & Frank Riley. This book has the dubious distinction of being the worst novel to ever win a Hugo award, and there was some suggestion that the voting was manipulated (it only took something like 40 or 50 votes back then to win, and I've heard the accusation that friends of the writer stuffed the ballot box). One would think with an honor like that, you'd be able to find it in used bookstores all over - reprinted and sold because it won a Hugo, but given to used bookstores because it wasn't very good. But apparently it's very rarely been reprinted - I've been looking for something like 10 years (in the casual way I hunt down used books on my list - a determined search on line or something would have turned it up easily, but that's 'cheating'), but this is the first I've found it. So we'll have to see if it lives down to the hype. More importantly though, it's closing a conspicuous gap--once I've read this, I will be able to say I've read every single Hugo award winning novel prior to 1989 (Retro-hugos not included). Then the quest will continue for the gaps in my 1989-to-present reading.

Skipped lunch, had a mix of strawberry mini wheats, multigrain cheerios, and MC Mixed Berry Granola cereal. Work was... well, work. I think I might be coming down with something. The load wasn't exceptionally heavy (probably a little lighter than usual), but for the first time in memory I actually had to stop and take a minute or two of break, near the end. There was a sort of tightness in my chest. I don't think it was my heart, since the beat seemed normal (for exertion), but I dunno, maybe I wasn't breathing smoothly enough or hadn't had about water. Ah well.

Oh, and since I didn't write about it before, Easter was good. My dad's birthday fell on Saturday, so we did a combination birthday/Easter thing at a Greek restaurant. It was theoretically a surprise, but I don't think it was all that much as some of my stepnieces haven't quite grasped subtlety yet. Anyway, the food was good. I had an awesomely tender roast lamb shoulder, greek rice and potatoes, greek salad, and some chocolate cake for dessert.

Also, just finished another writing cycle. Made my quota of 8000 words, although it was a bit slow going at times. I didn't quite finish anything, but I made some good progress on a couple fronts, and I think there's a good story taking shape in the new one I started, even though it'll need a lot of editing and still some more thought to resolve a couple of plotty issues. It's a time travel story, although none of the time travel is to our past - the entire story's set in the future. Another story, a cross-genre attempt, may not be salvagable as a whole (though I'm still trying), but some of the ideas I used in it I might like to use again in a more narrowly focused story.

Boring, really:
( Read more... )

This week I just got one book:

Teen Titans #44 (okay issue, glad of one development though)

Full review up as usual at my comic reviews site for anyone interested.

Also picked up The Naked God by Peter F. Hamilton (last part of the Night's Dawn trilogy).

Skipped lunch, but had cereal for breakfast for those people tremendously curious (golden grahams + sugar crisp + frosted flakes mixed in one).

Work was a pain... later than its been these last few weeks and much heavier, too. So tired. Didn't walk home like I usually do, took the bus for about half of it - this was in part due to fears of an oncoming storm and that I was carrying an 8 pound hunk of pork.

Edit: Oh, and I made some Heroes icons, one I'm rather pleased with but it's spoilery for a part I know at least one person on my flist hasn't seen yet so I don't want to use it or post it here directly. So I'll just post a link to my non-comic icon list where they're kept.

Oh, and it's 10 days till my birthday. and Pi Day, apparently.

Dream Foo over the last couple weeks. Some Office, some Battle Royale, some semi-lucidity: ( Read more... )

So, finished up my third Writing cycle on Tuesday. Went fairly well, met my quotas. Sort of finished a story too. I say sorta because I brought it to an ending, but I don't feel like it was the right ending... but I don't know what the right ending is, so until I do that's how it's going to be. Also worked on a couple other short stories.

TV. No significant spoilers. ( Read more... )

Book Foo: Finished: Hyperion, by Dan Simmons (reread)
Started: Fall of Hyperion, by Dan Simmons (reread)
Still Reading: Stardoc by S.L. Viehl

Thoughts and a quote behind the cut. A warning, some particularly devout and sensitive religious people might want to skip this part.
( Read more... )

Let's see, what else. Had to talk to someone at children's aid yesterday. I do not like talking on the phone with people I don't know with little preparation. :P. Actually, you could cut that sentence down to 'I do not like talking on the phone'. You could possibly even get rid of 'on the phone', too. But ah well, it's over with.

The makers of the drug 'Vytorin' have a poor grasp of genetics, and thus I wouldn't trust any drug made by them. They say "Cholestorol might come from bow-tie pasta... or your Uncle Bo". No. That is incorrect. The only way my cholestorol might come from my Uncle Bo is if either Uncle Bo is actually my real dad, or I ate Uncle Bo. They're either stupid, or estimate the amount of cannibalism in their target market is high. Either way, I do not want to be associated with them. Okay, seems I misheard 'Grandpa' as 'Uncle'. Rant retracted. Still, there's an uncomfortably high cannibalism symbolism in that commercial. But I'll replace that with another commercial pissing me off. NO ELECTION HAS BEEN CALLED. PLEASE STOP WITH THE NEGATIVE CAMPAIGN ADS AGAINST THE LIBERAL LEADER. I mean, I could understand it (though would still be against it) if he was actually the Prime Minister. But he's not. And the constant ads are making me hate _you_ more. Wait till an election is called.

Speaking of commercials, Tandoori Sizzler nachos taste mostly like nachos covered in taco seasoning. Which isn't unpleasant, but is not as exotic as I was hoping. Ah well. Maybe the next new chip flavour will rock my world.

That's it for now.

Edit: Oh, and I've made my two rotating icon slots Runaways related, making everything except my default ghostly pic Runaways-related, until BKV's last issue.

So, Tuesday night we went out to dinner with my mom.

(quick summary for those not interested in reading the whole thing, which should probably be most of you: mostly pleasant, a couple awkward bits for me).
( Read more... )

Here's a heaping helping of randomness.

One of my fingers has been bothering me lately. ( Read more... )

Monday was Thanksgiving. ( Read more... )

Recently found on BoingBoing this bit about a CBC radio program where they discuss the idea that certain things classified as 'disorders', including autism and psychopathy aren't really such, but in fact 'different ways of being human', and particularly as (perhaps first steps towards) human speciation. I'm mainly just including this here to store the link so I don't have to dig through BoingBoing's archives to find the links when I have time to actually listen. But there is something in the BoingBoing article itself that appeals to me. ( Read more... )

Some TV thoughts. Lost, Jericho, Heroes, Veronica Mars, Grey's Anatomy, Battlestar Galactica, LOST. All talking about recent episodes, but I'm going to be relatively spoiler lite (by which I mean no 'big' revelations, but some incidental minor things, though), so it should be safe even if you haven't seen them, since I'm mostly talking about my own impressions. Oh, wait, there is _one_ icon from Veronica Mars behind the cut, and it's a little spoilery for S3, episode 2. But it was just too funny not to do. ( Read more... )

And now onto Book foo!
Finished: Dies the Fire, by S.M. Stirling (reread)
Thoughts and quote behind cut: ( Read more... )

Also finished: Swan Songs: The complete Hooded Swan Collection, by Brian Stableford (reread)

Since this is really five books in one, I'm going to do a quote or two from each. And there will be some spoilers, but let's face it... I've only talked to one person online who's even heard of it, and no one who's read it, so I'm not under any delusions any of you are going to read it. Hell, I doubt most people'll even be reading the quotes. So I'm just amusing myself with bits of it I liked. But hell, I'm still leaving out any big spoilers, just in case.( Read more... )

Started: The Protector's War, by S.M. Stirling (Fridays and Sundays)
Appleseed, by John Clute (Wednesdays)

TPW is the sequel to DTF, and the reason I reread DTF. Appleseed is a book I got for $2 in the 'last call' bin at a bookstore. Haven't really gotten far enough into them to give any more thoughts than that. Oh and I was wandering through the bookstore and looked again at Ilium, by Dan Simmons. Anyone on my flist read it and have any (non-spoilery) thoughts? I liked the Hyperion series by the same author, but too much mythological content (particularly when it's 'indistinguishable from fantasy') sometimes turns me off for some reason, and I fear Ilium might tread on that.

Anyway, this concludes another edition of HUGE RANDOM POST.

So, on Saturday I went to a wedding. ( Read more... )

As mentioned above, my roommates and I have been seriously talking about getting another RPG game going. ( Read more... )

Prison Break, Heroes, and 4400 tonight. Woot. (No, not you woot, just a general woot).

This morning I've been idly considering trying NaNoWriMo 'officially' for the first time, since I don't have school or XET to worry about this November. Normally I just sort of promised to myself that I'd try to write a little more that month. Well, technically speaking I probably still wouldn't be 'official' since I loathe signing up for things, but that I'd actually be trying to do a 50,000 word novel rather than having no specific goal and just continuing to add a little here and there to my short stories or longer term projects. Of course, I still have my alternaljournal to keep up with and November I plan to be a 'mission month', so I'd have to be writing more of that too, to keep up, and that would take time from and not contribute to my hypothetical NaNoWriMo. Hmm. Well, I'll think about it some more.

Oh, and for anyone still wondering - that convention I went to back a month ago where I met Morena Baccarin and theoretically took her picture? Yeah, there'll be no pictures forthcoming, somehow the camera lost all of them (see, I always said my face would break any cameras!). Ah well.

This week I just got one book:

Runaways #19 (My Pick of the Week! Good to see mourning, and some interesting stuff set up for the future)

Full reviews as usual at my comic reviews site for anyone interested.

Also picked up at a bookstore a SF book, "Appleseed" by John Clute.
I've never heard of it, but it was in the 'Last chance' bin for only $2 (for one of those oversized paperbacks, and new), so I couldn't resist.

Walk was okay. ( Walk Thoughts and Observations )

For lunch, I had my first ever Schawarma. And now I can confidently state, that the gyro is far superior to the Schawarma (I stated it before trying it, but that's only natural). The schawarma isn't bad, granted. But it's no gyro. It's not even as good as the mexican gyro, the taco. It's not even as good as many non-gyro-ish foods like KFC.

I only tried the 'meat schawarma' so it's possible the chicken one is superior, but I prefer meat to chicken (if they don't consider their chickens meat, neither will I).

Why did I eat a schawarma instead of eating something at home? Well, that's because for lunch I'd arranged to meet someone from high school. ( Read more... )

Yep, here we go again. Guess I had a lot to say these last few days...

First, just got back from the Taste of the Danforth, where I had Gyros. I had to include that, because gyros do not go without comment. Mmmmmmmm, gyros. Actually, I had more than that. I had _2_ gyros, some zelnic (cheese pie. Well, technically I think it can refer to either the cheese or onion or spinach pie, but I had the cheese cause I don't like the other two), and some Loukamades (honey balls). Mmmm. Although I do have one bone to pick with the second gyro. The greeks encourage attempts to innovate, but the gyro is a delicate balance, and lettuce does not belong in the balance. It throws off the flavour medly, and turns something from 'awesome meal' to 'tasty but could be better'.

Next topic! Relativity, Time Dilation, and Communications Across The Gulf of Stars
( Read more... )

Meme stolen from anomilygrace... 10 random questions
( Read more... )

Some thoughts on recent terrorism plots and the reaction to it (cut and pasted from a forum thread where I also posted it):
( Read more... )

Dream Foo. Short one. Involves someone on the flist! ( Read more... )

Thoughts on Stargate SG1 and Atlantis, episode 5 of current season. Some spoilers.
( Read more... )

This week I got:
Birds of Prey #75 (good, probably my pick of the week, but more for lack of anything better than its own merits)
Daredevil #66 (okay, dislike the artistic gimmick and story wasn't interesting)
Doctor Spectrum #3 (Blah, story just dragging on)
Excalibur #6 (Ehh, okay. Nifty ending page though)
Mystique #20 (Quiet Man revealed. Fairly good)
Outsiders #17 (Okay, handles difficult subject matter decently)
Ultimate Elektra #3 (more buying out of completeness than enjoyment)
X-Men #163 (a lot of stupid and man they look to be doing even more bad to Remy, but still some surprisingly fun moments)

Full reviews up at http://www.unreachablestar.net

Also picked up: The Gunslinger, by Stephen King (book one of the Dark Tower). Book two has been on my shelf for like 10 years, taunting me, and I've never read it because I didn't have book one. Finally I bit the bullet and got a paperback of #1.

Also saw at the used bookstore something interesting: Battle Royale. I had thought it was only a manga, but apparently if I read the back of it right, it was a novel in Japan, presumably adapted for Manga. The book I found was an english translation of the novel. I liked the premise of the manga when I first heard of it, but, well, it was a manga so I wasn't going to buy it. A novel though, might be another story. I don't always like translated novels, but I might be willing to give it a try if it's still there next week.
Wanted opinions though... especially if anyone's read the actual novel, but if you've just read the manga or even seen the movie, that's fine too. Worth it (no spoilers, please)?

Had for lunch: gyro and a slice of charity subway pizza.

So, yesterday I went to the Taste of the Danforth festival, seeing as how I don't live too far away. For those who are unaware, it's apparently the largest Greek festival in the world. I'm assuming that's 'outside of Greece', but the people on TV didn't say. Anyway, me, my brother and his girlfriend walked around for a while and got gyros, and a box of honeyballs. It wasn't bad.

My calves are aching today though. What with walking/running to work, walking home, and walking aroun