"It was nice standing out in the darkness, in the damp grass, with spring coming on and a feeling in my heart of imminent disaster."
-Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon (A good book, but a great movie.)
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Pardon the Interruption
Still here. Like I had been saying, the busy season is definitely upon us at work. Most days I get home and just want to go to bed. The alarm starts and it is time to make the doughnuts again. As it turns out, even reading a short story every week was an ambitous goal.
I finished Warren Ellis' Planetary (again). I started a review, but I am waiting to post it until it is finished. In the meantime, I am (slowly) finishing Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card. And I recently picked up a new book called Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Sausages by Tom Holt. It was in the science fiction section, and it is billed as "a comedy of transdimensional tomfoolery" but I have a feeling that categorization is not entirely accurate.
Keep reading, people, and I will return to a more regular schedule soon enough.
rr
I finished Warren Ellis' Planetary (again). I started a review, but I am waiting to post it until it is finished. In the meantime, I am (slowly) finishing Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card. And I recently picked up a new book called Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Sausages by Tom Holt. It was in the science fiction section, and it is billed as "a comedy of transdimensional tomfoolery" but I have a feeling that categorization is not entirely accurate.
Keep reading, people, and I will return to a more regular schedule soon enough.
rr
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Chess, Revisited
So I picked up Yasser Seirawan's book on Chess Tactics, and I just can't get into it. I'm trying to wrap my head around X-Rays and Windmills, but man, I'm just not getting it. Forks and Pins, sure, no problem. Discovered Attacks and Skewers, okay, sure, in theory. But X-Rays? I don't get it.
So I think I'm going to stick with Planetary tonight. I'm 25/27 of the way to the end, so with a little luck, I may finish it tonight. Sure, it's not the first time I've read it. But it is the first time I've read it lately. And it is pretty satisfying to see Elijah Snow stick it to Randall Dowling. More of that later though, when I can do a proper review.
+++++
"And so it was that I studied with the world's greatest detective for five years, until he finally died of old age. To his disgust, I never got rid of the accent in his lifetime. It took another ten years of walking across the world to do that. But I never lost my love of the secrets. And I don't think I ever will."
Elijah Snow
Planetary by Warren Ellis
+++++
That's it for tonight. Now go read something already!
rr
So I think I'm going to stick with Planetary tonight. I'm 25/27 of the way to the end, so with a little luck, I may finish it tonight. Sure, it's not the first time I've read it. But it is the first time I've read it lately. And it is pretty satisfying to see Elijah Snow stick it to Randall Dowling. More of that later though, when I can do a proper review.
+++++
"And so it was that I studied with the world's greatest detective for five years, until he finally died of old age. To his disgust, I never got rid of the accent in his lifetime. It took another ten years of walking across the world to do that. But I never lost my love of the secrets. And I don't think I ever will."
Elijah Snow
Planetary by Warren Ellis
+++++
That's it for tonight. Now go read something already!
rr
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Thunderblizzard 2011
Hello, fellow readers.
Thunderblizzard 2011 really set my blogging back. I'm still reading Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card and Warren Ellis' Planetary (regular Volume 4, or Absolute Volume 2, take your pick). I'm also still reading The Stand by Uncle Stevie - man I miss his Entertainment Weekly column - but haven't picked it up this month yet. Which is OK, since I'm ahead of my pace.
I meant to write something while I was snowbound, but chose to indulge in (the demon) television instead, watching episodes of Invasion (episode 9) and Battlestar Galactica ("Scar") instead. I was going to watch Sherlock from the BBC, but my copy of the dvd seems to be all screwey. I suppose I could have read one of Doyle's originals instead, but I was dozing and fell asleep early anyway.
Watch this space for new posts. I may write something as early as tonight. The worst case scenario is that I post something new this weekend.
Now go read something today already...
Thunderblizzard 2011 really set my blogging back. I'm still reading Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card and Warren Ellis' Planetary (regular Volume 4, or Absolute Volume 2, take your pick). I'm also still reading The Stand by Uncle Stevie - man I miss his Entertainment Weekly column - but haven't picked it up this month yet. Which is OK, since I'm ahead of my pace.
I meant to write something while I was snowbound, but chose to indulge in (the demon) television instead, watching episodes of Invasion (episode 9) and Battlestar Galactica ("Scar") instead. I was going to watch Sherlock from the BBC, but my copy of the dvd seems to be all screwey. I suppose I could have read one of Doyle's originals instead, but I was dozing and fell asleep early anyway.
Watch this space for new posts. I may write something as early as tonight. The worst case scenario is that I post something new this weekend.
Now go read something today already...
Monday, January 31, 2011
The Chessmaster
There is a common misbelief, a cliché if you will, that smart people play chess. Well, I'm not a dumb person, and I play chess...
...poorly. In fact, I'm probably pretty bad. I've owned one or two chess programs for various platforms, and I try to learn, but I consistantly lose to opponents who are supposed to be significantly below my station. My brother beats me nearly every time we play, which is not often, and the times I have played online at Yahoo.com I'm usually pretty soundly beat by my opponent. And before Quietly Disgruntled says, "yes, but you always beat me," I assure you it's a fluke. I'm pretty sure I don't even know how the pieces are actually supposed to move.
I have a few books about chess, most of them by Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan. They are pretty good. Well organized, easy to understand. I don't know if I just don't retain the information or what.
Well, I just received a new program and a new platform, so I'm going to try again. Maybe this time I will actually learn a thing or two. So I guess I leave you with this thought: do you play chess? And if so, have you ever tried to learn about the game, and put that knowledge to use? I look forward to what you have to say in the comments.
PS - Congratulations to my Trivia Team. We played at the Firefighter's Lake Club on Saturday, scoring 87 points (out of 100) and coming in 6th place (out of 37 or so)! Well, it was a disappointment not to win it all, but we gave it our best shot, and a good time was had by all. Go get 'em next time!
Coincidence? I think not.
...poorly. In fact, I'm probably pretty bad. I've owned one or two chess programs for various platforms, and I try to learn, but I consistantly lose to opponents who are supposed to be significantly below my station. My brother beats me nearly every time we play, which is not often, and the times I have played online at Yahoo.com I'm usually pretty soundly beat by my opponent. And before Quietly Disgruntled says, "yes, but you always beat me," I assure you it's a fluke. I'm pretty sure I don't even know how the pieces are actually supposed to move.
I have a few books about chess, most of them by Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan. They are pretty good. Well organized, easy to understand. I don't know if I just don't retain the information or what.
Well, I just received a new program and a new platform, so I'm going to try again. Maybe this time I will actually learn a thing or two. So I guess I leave you with this thought: do you play chess? And if so, have you ever tried to learn about the game, and put that knowledge to use? I look forward to what you have to say in the comments.
PS - Congratulations to my Trivia Team. We played at the Firefighter's Lake Club on Saturday, scoring 87 points (out of 100) and coming in 6th place (out of 37 or so)! Well, it was a disappointment not to win it all, but we gave it our best shot, and a good time was had by all. Go get 'em next time!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Quote of the Week
“Reality is merely an illusion, although a very persistent one.”
Relativity author Albert Einstein
Thursday, January 27, 2011
1,000
...or, Wednesday's Post, postponed.
First, congratulations to True Grit, Inception and Toy Story 3 for earning a boatload of Academy Award nominations yesterday. Of course, I reviewed True Grit here and had a thing or two to say about Inception here. I like it when the movies I've seen are the ones recognized by the people in the industry as being exceptional, and while I'd have to think pretty hard about it to be sure...I was going to say that was 100% of the films I saw this year, but after thinking about it, those are only half the films I saw this year. I did see at least three others. (Despicable Me, Megamind and Tangled, if you are keeping score. The Junior Reader [age, 4] picks most of our films.)
Second, I read something very, very interesting yesterday over at one of my favorite websites, io9.com. While I've mostly focused on books, I read just about anything made out of letters forming words that barely qualify as English.
First, congratulations to True Grit, Inception and Toy Story 3 for earning a boatload of Academy Award nominations yesterday. Of course, I reviewed True Grit here and had a thing or two to say about Inception here. I like it when the movies I've seen are the ones recognized by the people in the industry as being exceptional, and while I'd have to think pretty hard about it to be sure...I was going to say that was 100% of the films I saw this year, but after thinking about it, those are only half the films I saw this year. I did see at least three others. (Despicable Me, Megamind and Tangled, if you are keeping score. The Junior Reader [age, 4] picks most of our films.)
Second, I read something very, very interesting yesterday over at one of my favorite websites, io9.com. While I've mostly focused on books, I read just about anything made out of letters forming words that barely qualify as English.
Case in point.
Anyway the aforementioned website has been going nuts on Battlestar Galactica this week, the groundbreaking tv drama that aired on Sci Fi Channel from 2003 to 2010. On Tuesday, they posted the series bible for BSG. It was a really neat read, and anyone who is interested in how tv is produced, and especially anyone who liked Galactica should give it a read. (Anyone who hasn't seen the whole show beginning to end probably shouldn't read it, IMHO. Too Spoilery.)
I'm not going to go into anything spoilerific here, either, but let's just say that when you read a couple of the character sketches, it's a little disappointing where their character arcs ultimately led.
It is a complete rebuke of everything wrong with Science Fiction on tv in 2003, namely the Star Trek legacy shows. (The original still kicks @$$ when you look at it in the context of its time.)
The bible is good stuff in its entirety, though. Give it a read.
Finally, today The Rochester Reader is likely to surpass just (9:28 am CST) surpassed 1,000 visitors since I started it in November. Thanks for stopping by. I mean it. (Especially the 14 hits I received from Belize this week. Seriously.) It is humbling to think that that many people have ended up here, much less that anyone would enjoy themselves enough to come back!
Thank you! See you next time.
Now go read something today already!
rr
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