Forget Linus and the Great Pumpkin, this guy from Jersey has figured out the true spirit of Halloween…
That’s right. It ain’t the trick-or-treating, the candy, or the pumpkins. It’s all about the ladies.
Archive for October, 2008
Review: Shaman’s Crossing & Forest Mage
October 27, 2008by Robin Hobb, published by Eos
The last few years, I’ve made a practice of not reading books in a particular series in succession. Part of this is my own growing sense of dissatisfaction with sci-fi/fantasy tendencies to stretch out the narrative to sell more books (see Jordan, Robert and Martin, George R. R.) and part of it is my own peculiar sense of fairness. There are a lot of books and only so much time for reading. If I like a series I’ll come back to it months or years later.
So when I picked up Shaman’s Crossing, Book 1 in the Soldier Son Trilogy, I figured I’d read the first book, decide on its merits, and then decide whether to return to Hobb’s latest fantasy world for round two. Instead I found myself at the store buying Forest Mage the very day I finished Book 1.
A ringing endorsement? Not so fast…
Fall Classics
October 24, 2008No, not talking about the World Series. We could care less around here. But a busy Sports weekend kicked off in Beemsville last night with the Chicago Fire’s 5-2 dismantling of the Red Bulls. Chris Rolfe with the hattrick and two assists in a great performance that would seem to indicate the Fires are ready for their playoff run next week. I’ve liked Rolfe’s game since he came into the league a few years ago and would like to see him get more super-sub minutes with the U.S. team. If he were 6-1 instead of 5-8 with his skills and quickness, he’d probably be playing in Milan right now instead of Chicago.
Tonight we head to Beardstown for the High School football regular season finale. Nephew Jake’s Central-Southeastern team can clinch their first playoff berth in awhile with a win tonight on the river. We’ve really enjoyed Jake’s games this year and will be there with our ponchos on and ready to yell and cheer. CSE has had come-from-behind wins the past two weeks to keep their playoff hope alive. Hopefully Jake and the boys can get rolling sooner tonight.
The Illini begin a key stretch tomorrow morning against Wisconsin. The Badgers, with four straight losses, are tough to figure. So are the inconsistent Orange & Blue. The conventional wisdom around here is that the Zooker is good for one head-scratching loss a year, and we had that against Minnesota two weeks ago. Crisis averted. On to a decent bowl… Right? Right? Which Illini team shows up? How will the weather affect Juice and the passing game? Are the Badgers really that mediocre? I hope so. A convincing road win would be nice, but we’ll settle for some consistency.
A Loss in Beemsville
October 22, 2008When you lose your family pet, it tends to bring many observations and recollections to the fore. Especially in Beemsville, where we’ve a tradition of treating our pets well (probably spoiling them).
You think about how many moves your pet has accompanied you on — in this case it was ten(!) moves in fourteen years for Oliver. You think about how priorities change over the years, about trips to the vet, reactions to other animals and to our kids when they arrived. If you have sentimental tendencies, you might linger on some of these recollections. Read the rest of this entry ?
Webmail Switch
October 18, 2008
The end of my trusty yahoo mail account is nigh. After more than twelve years, the spam and junk associated with this account have finally become too much. It probably doesn’t help that my username is so simple. So the yahoo mail will become my official junk email (it already is) as I transition to…
Yes, Google, with their ‘do no evil’ mantra and tons of useful apps will become interweb facilitator prime. Google Reader (which I highly recommend) and the enhanced spam filters probably put them over the top. So if I have you in my email contacts, be on the lookout for the official switch. I know it’s annoying to have to update your address book, but sometime change can be good.
Star Wars from the fans
October 12, 2008Lucasfilm’s latest trip to the cash trough, The Clone Wars, has been pretty much panned by the jedi faithful. Here at Beemsville, we didn’t pony up for the theatrical release but will likely attempt to watch the DVD at some point despite the bad reviews. These days your options for some Star Wars goodness are limited. You’re pretty much left with some video games (Lego Star Wars, The Force Unleashed), the Dark Horse comics (some are good, some are weak), and your own sense of nostalgia. Of course you can also go comedy with the Family Guy and Robot Chicken send-ups, both of which we wholeheartedly endorse.
And if you want to stick with the comedy vibe, you can also go with the fans. Check out Atom TV which has the 2008 Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge. Atom TV airs on Comdey Central, which replays it a couple of times throughout the week. And of course you can view the shorts via the interweb link above or the icon below.
We’ve been enjoying Star Wars fan films since a few years back when we saw ‘Troops’, a clever Cops/Stormtroopers mash-up. The tradition continues with ‘Padme’ (Juneau send-up), ‘Chad Vader’ (Sith wannabe at the grocery), Ewok Grindhouse (self-explanatory), and more. Good stuff for the Star Wars geek in all of us.
bike streak over
October 7, 2008I had a decent work-commute bicycle streak of two weeks end today. Yes, that’s 11 work-days of pedaling to and from work, with the main vehicle parked at home. Now this doesn’t count the one day that I had to drop the family truckster at the dealer for service and received a courtesy ride there and back. And it doesn’t count weekend errands or trips to soccer practice. So I’m not exactly green.
Still, it was a good streak until today’s rain. And if you live less than five miles from work, the roads are decent, the weather is good, why not bike it? For me it’s the weather that’s key. If it’s too hot, too cold, or raining, I’m driving. And in Illinois that’s going to rule out about half the year. Read the rest of this entry ?
The Portal: Now Online
October 1, 2008…at The Harrow. It took some doing to get this short story out there. First it was accepted under condition of revision by a relaunch of ‘Amazing Stories’ a few years ago, and then the editor quit before my revision, after which the magazine soon ceased publication. Several other editors liked the story enough to tell me so, but either couldn’t quite get past the narrator’s voice or found other reasons to pass on it. Bias against gamers within the Fantasy genre? Possibly. Too long for some markets? Certainly. Hard to pin down within genre convention? Doubtless.
I remember working the first draft — I wanted to write from the perspective of how a true geek squad might really deal with the paranormal if it suddenly appeared before them. Hopefully that comes across. So click here (or on the banner below) to check out The Portal. If it’s too long for a single sitting, bookmark it and come back later. And while you’re over at The Harrow, check out some of the other fine stories…
