Patrick Rothfuss

I love a good epic Fantasy novel, but my "to read" list is a bit on the long side and I haven't had time to dig into a few novels that I'm just dying to read. One of those is The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I've heard a ton of great things, but I've decided that I need to read through some of the unread books that are getting dusty on my bookshelf first.

Nonetheless, I've found enough time to check out Pat's web site and peruse his blog. What I discovered is that the man is hilarious. His blog posts are so brutally honest and witty! So now, even though I've not yet read his novel, I've subscribed to his RSS feed and eagerly wait for a new post.

Today, he gave such a post and it was great. I love how he is so open about the writing process. Even as he complains about his dream job, he wins me over even more and makes me all the more eager to read his novel! I also highly recommend his "Everybody Hates Their Job Sometimes" post, which he references in today's entry. Enjoy.

Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4

My brother and I have been playing Lego Harry Potter together since it was released a couple of months ago. Last night, we finally completed the game, earning 100% of all characters, red bricks, gold bricks, house crests, and students in peril. Overall, the Lego games are a lot of fun and this was no exception.

We have played every Lego game together since the Star Wars Prequels version came out a few years ago. Honestly, that first game might still be my favorite and though I enjoyed the following Original Trilogy version quite a bit as well, there is just something about being able to choose from a plethora of lightsaber-wielding Jedi and Sith (especially Darth Sidious!) that is hard to beat. Nonetheless, I would put Harry Potter as a close second. It was definitely better than Indiana Jones and Batman, which I felt were both lacking in the character department.

Lego Harry Potter includes 24 playable levels, six for each of the first four books. We played through them on story mode pretty quickly and though we didn't have any trouble beating the levels, we found that we didn't get many of extras. For each level, you can unlock three characters, rescue a student in peril, attain "True Wizard" by collecting a certain quota of coins, and find the four parts that make up a Hogwarts crest. I think we ended up playing most of the levels three times before we collected everything.

Collecting the coins, student in peril, and crest would also give you a gold brick for each. In order to unlock a bonus level and the final character (Lord Voldemort), you need to collect all 200 gold bricks. In addition to the levels, you can also wander around Diagon Alley and Hogwarts, where there are additional students in peril, gold bricks, and 20 red bricks.

Unfortunately, we couldn't quite find everything on our own and had to keep a laptop nearby the last couple times we played so we could look up the final few gold bricks hiding within Hogwarts (which is one hell of a maze) and the last student in peril.

This game really is a blast for kids and adults. If you are into Harry Potter, and even if you aren't really a gamer, it's a lot of fun and allows you play with all of the characters you love (and hate) from the series. Highly recommended.

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life: The Review

So I saw Scott Pilgrim vs The World in the theater a couple weeks ago and I thought it was pretty awesome. So awesome in fact that I decided to check out the comic series and purchased the first volume on Amazon.com. Though my package wasn't delivered by a cute girl on rollerblades, I was still happy to receive it and was not disappointed with the contents.

The first volume is 168 pages and I think I read it in about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. It sets up our protagonist Scott Pilgrim, a lazy, unemployed bassist living somewhere in Canada, and concludes with his fight with the first of Ramona Flower's seven evil exes, Matthew Patel. By falling for the spunky, rollerblading delivery girl, Scott has signed on to do battle with a league of evil ex-boyfriends, which sets the stage for the rest of the series that recently concluded after six volumes.

So what did I think of the comic?

I thought it was fun. There was a decent amount of humor and I really enjoyed the story. One thing in particular that I thought was really cool was that the author, Bryan Lee O'Malley, even included the chords to the song that Scott's band (Sex Bob Omb) performs. I might just have to dust off my guitar and give it a whirl.

So how does it compare to the movie?

Honestly, I think the entertainment value is pretty similar, though, obviously, the experiences are a lot different. I was a little surprised at just how similar it was to the movie in fact. The dialog is almost word-for-word, adding and subtracting very little. I thought the filmmakers did a really good job capturing all of the details and creativity. I've seen some criticism about the choice of Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim, but I enjoyed the way he played the part when I saw the film and, after reading the first volume, he seemed to play it true to the comic.

Hopefully, I'll be getting the second volume pretty soon!

Arrested Development

Earlier this summer a friend recommended that I check out Arrested Development. As it turns out Netflix has all three seasons available for streaming so it was an easy decision to add the first season to my queue and give it run. My friend insisted that it was very funny and I vaguely recalled that it was often labeled as "the best show you're not watching," but what I discovered was that Arrested Development is outrageously hilarious and perhaps the funniest show since Seinfeld.

Now for me, Seinfeld is the quintessential sitcom. It was hilarious when it originally aired and it is still hilarious years later. In fact, I find myself laughing loudly and frequently during episodes that I've seen literally a dozen times. Until I saw Arrested Development, I would say that The Office had been the only sitcom in recent history that I have found consistently funny and that even comes close to Seinfeld stature, though it doesn't have the same rewatchability.

Arrested Development, for those who haven't seen it, stars Jason Bateman as Michael Bluth, the one sensible individual living amongst a family of idiots. Sure, he has his moments of stupidity, but his fellow siblings and parents outshine him by far. The show has an amazing cast, including Michael Cera as George Michael Bluth, Will Arnett as Gob Bluth (pronounced like Job from the Bible), Portia de Rossi as Lindsay Bluth Funke, and David Cross as Tobias Funke among many other talented actors. The show is also narrated superbly by Ron Howard (which I didn't realize until like a minute ago).

The first two seasons are pure comedic genius and the third is very funny as well, though I thought it wasn't quite as funny as the first two. Overall, the show only ended up with 53 episodes before it was untimely canceled. I didn't take long to watch the whole series and it was pretty disappointing to see it end, but there is some light on the horizon. A feature film is scheduled for release in 2012 and, according to imdb.com, will feature the full cast from the show. I'm definitely looking forward to the movie. I would love to see what the talented writers have come up with in the last few years.

If you haven't watched the show and you like to laugh at all, check it out. Now. Seriously.

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life

So I saw Scott Pilgrim vs The World during its opening weekend and I was pretty much blown away. I loved the story and really enjoyed the creative way it was told. The video game and pop culture elements were well done and gave the movie a unique quality.

Leaving the theater, I kept thinking about how much I really enjoyed the experience. I didn't really know what to expect going in so I was completely unprepared for just how funny and just fun the movie ended up being.

Since then, little scenes or lines from the movie have continued to pop into my head at random times and I find myself smiling or even chuckling. So last night, I finally broke down and dropped $6.59 for the first volume of the comic book that inspired the movie, Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life. The book will be in my hands on Thursday and I can't wait!

I am a little worried though. Like any normal kid growing up, I read comics, but not consistently. I wouldn't buy them regularly so, when I did, I'm pretty sure I just picked out whatever had the coolest cover art. I have never really been able to quite get into comics; it is one of the lacking aspects of my otherwise impressive geek cred. I mean, I totally respect the work that goes into them and I've definitely enjoyed the deluge of recent comic book inspired movies, but I've never found a series that has really drawn me in. I'm hoping that I've just been reading the wrong stuff, because I really want to like the Scott Pilgrim comic as much as I enjoyed the movie.

Settlers of Catan

Since I was a teenager, my friends and I have made it a point to play strategy board games whenever we get the chance. It all started with the World War II epic, Axis & Allies, which would take all night, but was a lot of fun. Since then, we've spent countless hours playing just about every version of Risk in existence and an awesome Star Wars themed game known as Epic Duels.

A few months ago, I was introduced to Settlers of Catan, which is a strategy board game in which you attempt to build roads, settlements, and cities to earn points. The first player to 10 points wins. In order to build these structures, you must acquire the proper materials including ore, grain, brick, lumber, and wool.

Okay, I know what you're thinking--this sounds really boring--because that's what I was thinking when my buddy first introduced me to the game. As it turns out however, the game is really a lot of fun. Games generally take about 45-90 minutes so you can often play a couple in one sitting. We usually play with 3 people, but you can have up to 4 in the regular edition and I believe there is an expansion pack that lets you play up to 6.

If you start getting tired of the original version, there are a slew of expansion sets that you can buy (for about $30) that provide a completely new gaming experience. We have the Cities and Knights expansion and it introduces so many new elements that it is like playing a completely different game. The only caveat is that it seems to take a little longer.

Despite the fact that I really enjoy this game, I kind of suck at it. I usually play with my brother and a mutual friend. My friend tends to win about 2/3 of the time while my brother and I split the other 1/3. Unfortunately, my brother even tends to win most of those, but I finally got my second ever victory Friday night and I was so pleased that I decided that a blog post was required!

Well, I'm out. Godspeed.

Star Wars Year By Year

When I was at Comic-Con in July, I attended the DK Publishing panel where the authors and contributors of Star Wars Year By Year discussed their roles in putting together this chronicle of all things Star Wars. It was actually a pretty interesting panel and brought back some fond memories of my Star Wars-filled childhood, but the best part was that I won a free copy of the book!

Honestly, I didn't know anything about the book going in and the way they described it made it sound like it was similar to DK's other Star Wars contributions like the Incredible Cross-sections and so forth. However, the book came in the mail today and as soon as I picked it up, I knew it was going to be more than I expected.

The book weighs like 5 lbs and retails at $50 (both of which were surprises to me), but I was really shocked when I opened it up and began to grasp the amazing level of detail. There are just a ton of fantastic photos and tidbits of information. It really is incredible. It definitely made me chuckle a few times as I thought back on some of the toys I had, games I played, or books I read as I grew up.

I haven't had a chance to really go through it, but I can't wait to dig in. The one that I already know for sure is that it's going to make a great coffee table book. I've already decided that it holds an honorary spot where all my guests will be able to page through it.

Listmania: Favorite Bands

I like making lists. I make lists for all kinds of things: groceries, books that I would like to read, stuff I need to do around the house, stuff I need to do at work. I could go on, but I'll digress for the sake of sanity. I make lists to keep myself organized, but sometimes when I'm bored, I make lists of things that I like such as my favorite bands, movies, TV shows, etc. It keeps me entertained while I'm mowing the lawn or driving home from work.

Well, with all of these lists just floating around in my head, I think it is time to document them. I'm starting with an easy one: favorite bands.

1. The Beatles - The entire first floor of my house is Beatles themed. I don't quite own all of there studio albums, but I'm pretty close. I'm not sure I could ever pick a favorite album or song, but I do really love Hey Bulldog and Dear Prudence.
2. Led Zeppelin - These guys just plain rock. I have all of their studio albums, The Song Remains the Same dvd, and that other dvd they released in like 2003 that doesn't have a name (the one that is really awesome).
3. Rush - These guys are truly amazing musicians. I really love their stuff from the 70s and their first couple albums from the 80s. Not a huge fan of the rest of their stuff until the last few albums, which are decent, but definitely not my favorites. I'll be seeing them for the 3rd time in September!
4. The Who - Tommy and Who's Next are two of the finest rock albums ever in my opinion. I so wish I could have seen them live in their glory days.
5. The Rolling Stones - I don't think any of their work is among my favorites, but the sheer magnitude of good, solid music makes them a band I never get tired of hearing.

Notable contenders (in no particular order): Yes, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Allman Brothers, Cream, AC/DC, Jimi Hendrix, and Pink Floyd.

New Books! Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy

I've had Mistborn on my "to read" list for some time now (along with about 50 other novels), but my resolve to read the trilogy has increased significantly lately.

First, while wandering around the Gaslamp district during Comic-Con, my brother and I went into Borders to borrow some Wi-fi and I noticed that Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss, and Brent Weeks were going to be there doing readings, signings, and the like while I was in town. I was really excited until I realized that I had never read anything by any of those authors.

Second, the SciFi and Fantasy Book Club on Goodreads chose Mistborn as their August Fantasy novel.

Third, I discovered that Amazon.com had the trilogy listed at $16.30 (which is a really good deal for three new paperbacks) and I jumped on them. They came today and I can't wait to tear into them.

But there is one problem: I promised myself that I wouldn't start a new series until I finished at least one other series that I'm currently partway through. So I guess Mistborn will have to sit and wait patiently on my bookshelf for me to finish reading Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy (at the very least).

I really want to read some of the newer Fantasy work that's coming out, but I feel the need to work through some of the classic works first. Right now, I'm somewhere in the mid-90s. I just hope I catch up eventually.

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World

Last night, my brother and I decided to go see Scott Pilgrim, a movie that I knew almost nothing about, but was drawn to by solid reviews and a huge amount of hype coming out of Comic-Con. If I had to describe the film in one word, it would be AWESOME.

Enormous Scott Pilgrim ad on the side of the Hilton

I really didn't have any idea what to expect going in, but the experience left me thoroughly entertained. Not only was there great action, special effects, and humor, the film also had an excellent plot with thoughtful dialog. But perhaps the best part was that it was FUN from beginning to end.

The way the story was told was so creative. There was this ever-present video game vibe throughout the movie that I thought worked really well. For example, every time Scott got into a fight, it felt like a scene out of Mortal Kombat and every opponent that he defeated would burst into an explosion of coins. Then, there was this other scene where they played the Seinfeld theme and interjected sitcom-style laughter. It was really random and was pretty brief, but it was really amusing.

Another thing that I liked was how everyone was just able to kick some serious ass and that was all just well and normal. Getting punched through a brick wall wasn't really that big a deal. Maybe it hurt a little, but was typical in a bare-knuckles brawl. The writers didn't try to explain it; that's just how things were.

On top of all the afore mentioned awesomeness, the film was also a great love story. I know that seems sappy, but I really liked how everything Scott faced was to win the heart of a girl.

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. So much so, that I could almost go see it again or perhaps check out the comic book series.

Swapping Books on Goodreads

I've been a member of Goodreads.com for over a year, but I only recently decided to try out their Book Swap feature that allows you to trade books with other users. The concept is pretty basic:

• You list the books in your collection that you are willing to part with.
• You create a Wishlist of books that you want or you can search through the books that other people have listed. Goodreads will also periodically remind you if books you Wishlist are available.
• If someone requests one of your books, Goodreads asks you a series of questions that they use to assemble a proper shipping label. You print the label, put the book in a box or good-sized envelope, and send it out--and you aren't charged a thing.
• If you request a book, Goodreads bills you the shipping total.

It really ends up being a pretty good deal. I just requested my first book and it came in the mail today. I Choose The Fires of Heaven, the first novel in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. When it came, I was surprised to find a like-new hardcover, the original receipt, and a recent McDonald's receipt in the envelope. Needless to say, I was most excited about the book, especially because it only cost me $4.00.

At this point, I have only listed two items, a paperback copy of A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin and the original Dragonlance trilogy by Weiss and Hickman. A Game of Thrones was requested within 24 hours, but a couple months went by before Dragonlance was requested. I shipped them both out without a hassle.

I really think this is a nice service. The best part is, unlike similar services such as bookmooch.com, you don't have to list or ship any books before you get your first one. However, you do get rewarded with a free book for every 10 you ship out.

The service is so easy to use and, best of all, cheap that it's really a no-brainer. I'm definitely going to start picking up more books this way, though, for the sake of fairness, I probably won't request many more books than I send out. If you are a Goodreads user, I definitely recommend that you check it out.

Summer TV: Supernatural

I recently started watching the first season of Supernatural after hearing good things about the show for awhile. At this point, I've watched the first four episodes and I have say that I'm enjoying it so far. I'm not really huge into the whole horror scene, but I'm not that concerned about that as I'm also not a huge vampire fan and yet and I love Buffy and Angel.

I think the main thing that has drawn me in so far is the characters. Sam and Dean really just feel like normal guys, like real, down-to-earth people, despite the fact that they are hunting demons for a living. Maybe they are a little one dimensional at this point, but I think we are going to see more layers as the story progresses.

I also like the background story that helps string together the one-shot episodes. Only four episodes in and I'm already dying to find out what is going on with their father and find out what happened with their mother and Sam's girlfriend.

Lastly, I dig the music. I like how they use classic rock to set the mood of a scene and it seems to work pretty well. Sometimes it seems a little forced, but I love classic rock and I'll give them a pass. I mean, anyone that uses Rush in a TV show is okay in my book.

Mutant Enemy

So the other day I was at work and I was listening to music on my iPod. I had just added a few albums that I hadn't heard in awhile and found myself listening to Yes' Close to the Edge album, which is a progressive rock masterpiece of epic proportions. (Whoah, just geeked out a little hard on that...but really it is good stuff if you're into that sort of thing.)

Anyways, I was listening to "And You and I" and caught the phrase "mutant enemy" and thought to myself, "Wait, isn't that the name of Joss Whedon's production company?" You know, the guy responsible for all of those awesome tv shows like Buffy, Angel, and Firefly? Why yes, if fact it is.

So after referring to the ever-trustworthy Wikipedia entry, it turns out that Joss was or is a big Yes fan himself and took the name from that very song. I thought that it was pretty cool that I actually made the connection, that is until I realized how many times I've heard the song and totally missed it.

Here's the verse where it's used:

Said preacher nailed upon the colored door of time
Insane teacher be there reminded of the rhyme
There'll be no mutant enemy we shall certify
Political ends, as sad remains, will die
Reach out as forward tastes begin to enter you

Wow, those are some pretty weird lyrics and I'm not even going to try to figure out what they mean at this time of night, but that's Yes for you.

Well, that's it for today. Grrr. Arrrgh.

In Over My Head

One of my favorite hobbies is reading, especially science fiction or fantasy novels. I have always been a reader going back to childhood, but I didn't really delve into the fantasy realm until I read The Lord of the Rings in college. Since then, I've been devouring as much fantasy as I can while sprinkling in a highly recommended science fiction novel for variety from time to time.

But this has lead to a small problem. I may have over committed myself and I'm now realizing that I am partway through far too many series. I have officially put a hold on starting any new series until I finish at least a couple of these. Here's the damage:

• Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series: On book 4 of 13 (with one more on the way)
• Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series: On book 3 of 13
• Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy: Currently reading book 2 of 3
• Stephen King's Dark Tower series: On book 4 of 7
• Frank Herbert's Dune saga: On book 4 of 6
• Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series: On book 5 of (currently) 6
• Orson Scott Card's Ender saga: On book 2 of 4
• Karl Schroeder's Virga: On book 3 of 3
• George R. R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice: On book 2 of (currently) 4

I'm also reading a couple other series, but luckily I'm caught up on those. I have read all 12 of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files (my current favorite series) and I'm just awaiting the final novel in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle.

Hopefully, I'll catch up on some of these pretty soon so I can get started on a few other series that I'm really excited about.

Comic-Con Recap #5: Sunday

Sunday was kids day at Comic-Con and everything was scheduled to be wrapped up at 5:00 PM. I have to say that I was a little disappointed with the Sunday panels and overall atmosphere. After three days of pure glory, the convention kind of went out with a fizzle. I actually think I would prefer to just eliminate Sunday scheduling and go out with a bang (or maybe next time I would just skip Sunday).

The other part that was weird was that almost all of the panels were geared towards kids, but there weren't really many kids at Comic-Con. And what kid wants to sit through an hour long panel anyways? I give them credit for trying to introduce a kid-friendly atmosphere, but I just didn't think it worked very well.

Comic-Con exclusive LOST figures
(atop a beautiful hotel comforter)

So what ended up happening was that the Exhibit Hall was a zoo, largely because all the adults that had four day passes still showed up and needed something to do. That is exactly what happened to my brother and I. Don't get me wrong, it was definitely cool to finally spend some time in the Exhibit Hall and finally pick up some souvenirs, but I would have liked to sit in on a panel or two.

Now that isn't to say we didn't try to sit through a panel. My brother and I are both huge Harry Potter fans so, naturally, we showed up at the Harry Potter fandom panel. Admittedly, I was nervous about there being an army of 14 year old girls in attendance, but we needed something to do and decided to give it a shot.

To be perfectly honest, about 15 minutes in, I was already thinking that it was the worst panel that I had attended. I guess I thought that the panel of well-known Potter fans would, you know, talk about the upcoming movies and perhaps discuss the footage shown in Hall H on Saturday. Instead, the panel opted for long-winded soliloquies about why the Potter fan community is still so strong.

Comic-Con exclusive Star Wars figures

But just when I thought I might doze off, it got worse. The crowd started singing the words to one of the songs of the Harry Potter musical and shortly afterwards they opened it up for fan questions. I got nervous when a dozen teenage girls sprinted to the microphone in the middle isle, but I didn't actually walk out until the third consecutive "shipper" question was asked. Yikes.

I had been thinking about attending the Buffy musical screening, but after the Potter fiasco, I was scared to go anywhere near Ballroom 20.

Overall, Comic-Con was completely awesome. I definitely want to go again, but I'm not sure if it will be next year. If I lived in southern California, I think I would go every year. A lot of people that had been going for several years complained about the lines and the crowds (which was certainly understandable), but they were manageable if you planned things out and just accepted that you weren't going to see every cool thing at the convention.

Well, I think that is it for the Comic-Con recaps. I'm out. Godspeed.

Comic-Con Recap #4: Saturday

Saturday was perhaps our most efficient day at Comic-Con. My brother and I didn't have a lot of panels on our to-do list, but we managed to sneak in a couple extras and really filled out our day. Here's a breakdown of our day:

A small glimpse of the line for Chuck

Chuck - I was really excited about this panel so we got up way too early and showed up in line at 7:30 for the 10:00 panel. Needless to say, we probably could have showed up at about 9:00 or so and still made it in, but the time went fast as we chatted with the people around us. The panel was awesome even though it only lasted about 30 minutes. The entire cast was there and they were a ton of fun. This was definitely one of my favorite panels during the entire convention. And they announced that Chuck's mom will be played by Linda Hamilton (yes, the original Sarah Conner) next season!

On another Chuck note, I didn't see too many celebrities out and about, but all the ones did see were from Chuck. I saw Awesome, Morgan, and Leceister, though I didn't stop them for pictures or anything.

The Event - We really wanted to go to the Warner Bros panel to see the new Harry Potter footage, but we weren't sure if we would even be able to get in and it overlapped with Jay and Jack's LOST Podcast panel. We were looking for something to do so we just walked into Room 6A and watched the pilot for The Event. There was no line and it killed some time, but the show didn't look too bad either. I wasn't crazy about the way the show was produced or the lead actor, but the premise was intriguing. I think I'll give it a shot this fall.

The LOST Podcast with Jay and Jack - This panel was held over in the Santa Rosa room (hilarious, I know) at the Marriott next door. My brother and I are big LOST fans and we have both listened to Jay and Jack's excellent podcast for a couple years. I definitely couldn't pass up on this panel and I'm glad I didn't because it was a lot of fun. The only down side was sitting through about 10 minutes or so of the Indy Fans panels that ran beforehand. Those guys were just downers (and I really like Indiana Jones!).

Warehouse 13 / Eureka - Once again, we found ourselves in the situation where we needed to kill some time. The Exhibit Hall, though very cool, was an absolute madhouse. We had a hard time dealing with the sheer volume of people so we tended to favor attending panels where you actually had a small amount of personal space. Therefore, we decided to check out this panel just a few minutes before it was scheduled to start and walked right in. Honestly, it was a lot of fun. The actors told some amusing stories and I left the panel thinking that I would really like to check out both shows. At the time, I had only seen a handful of episodes of Warehouse 13 and not a single episode of Eureka.

LOST But Not Forgotten - Our last panel of the day covered the upcoming Lost Encyclopedia. The panelists did a great job explaining their process, though I wasn't certain that the moderator had ever used a computer before. I enjoyed the inside look and I think I'll definitely be purchasing a copy when it comes out. The best part however was when some jerk asked why they couldn't answering all of the questions and the moderator basically verbally bitch-slapped him.

That was a last panel for the day. After that we got some food, hung out a bit, and then hit up the Zombieland screening at the Marriott. Damn, that is a funny movie.

Well, I'm out. Godspeed.

New-To-Me TV

This summer, I have been trying to find some TV show to fill the void left by LOST, Heroes, Dollhouse, and 24 (which all ended or were cancelled this spring). I think the only shows that I watch that are returning this fall are Chuck and The Office. I also watch Caprica, but that won't return until the winter. Netflix has been my biggest ally in my quest. Here's what I've tried out so far:

Veronica Mars - I've watched the first four episodes and I'm still on the fence. I like the mystery aspect, but I'm not into the whole teenage angst stuff so much. I may continue to feel it out for a few more episodes before I decide whether to stick with the full season or not.

Farscape - I have heard so many good things about this show, but it wasn't exactly what I expected. The whole puppet element threw me off to say the least. I'm only three episodes in, but I'm still on the fence with this one too.

Eureka - I caught the Warehouse 13 / Eureka panel at Comic-Con and it inspired me to check out the show. I have watched two episodes from the fourth season and it's just good fun. I think this is a show I could enjoy and I think I'll continue watching. I also want to catch up on Warehouse 13. I watched part of season one and liked it, but dropped the ball and stopped watching.

Supernatural - I've watched the first two episodes and I think I'm getting into it. I'm not a big horror guy, but I like the characters and I dig the classic rock. I'll think I'll be sticking with this one.

Arrested Development - This may be the funniest show since Seinfeld. I think its even funnier than The Office. I'm about halfway through season two and I'm sure I'll finish the series before the summer is out. This is the best new-to-me show I've discovered this summer. I just love it.

I'm also thinking of checking out Dexter and The X-Files, but I haven't had time yet. They may have to wait until I whittle down this list a little. They have been more than enough to keep me busy.

Well, I'm out. Godspeed.

Comic-Con Recap #3: Friday

Friday was officially Star Wars day at Comic-Con and, as a pretty big Star Wars geek, it was pretty easy to find a panel to attend. In fact, we ended up sitting through four Star Wars panels back-to-back. Here's a brief recap:

DK Star Wars: From Banthas to X-Wings - This was a pretty interesting panel. Several well-known Star Wars authors and experts discussed their roles in writing Star Wars Year by Year. At the end, they gave away 5 copies and I won one! Of course, I haven't heard back from DK yet, so hopefully they'll send it.

Amazing diorama at the Hasbro booth

Star Wars Day: Hasbro Panel - Hasbro gave us a look at upcoming Star Wars toys, which was pretty cool, even though I stopped collecting a few years ago. The coolest thing was definitely the AT-AT, which was incredible.

Star Wars Day: Collectibles Update - Representatives from several companies showed off upcoming Star Wars collectibles. It was fairly interesting, but was probably my least favorite of the Star Wars panels, mostly because I can't afford most of the collectibles.

Star Wars: The Old Replubic - My brother is a pretty huge fan of the KOTOR games and was really excited about this panel about the new MMORPG by Bioware that is set in the same universe. We definitely got an interesting insider's perspective on the creative process and the audience asked some pretty good questions. I don't think I'll play the game, but my brother probably will and I'm definitely interested to see what it will be like.

The only downside to our Star Wars marathon was that we missed a couple of panels that I would have really liked to attend including the Caprica and Joss Whedon Experience panels.

After that, we got some food, checked out the Exhibit Hall, wandered around the Gaslamp District, and ended up watching Inception at Horton Plaza.

Well, I'm out. Godspeed.

Comic-Con Recap #2: Thursday

San Diego Convention Center

On Wednesday night, my brother and I picked up our badges for Thursday at our hotel and took the shuttle downtown to get a lay of the land and finalize our plans for our first day of Comic-Con. One amazing quesadilla later, we had our gameplan for the next day and, surprisingly, it went pretty smoothly. Here are the panels that we attended:

TheOneRing.net Talks The Hobbit movies - The latest news on The Hobbit was minimal, depressing, and I had already heard most of it. Still, the hosts did a good job presenting it and the first portion of the panel was entertaining. Then they brought in a speaker to discuss the documentary footage from the Extended Editions and pretty soon there was a mass exodus for the doors. We left just a few minutes early.

Caprica, Battlestar, and Beyond - This featured writers, actors, and composers from the recent Battlestar Galactica reboot and was a pretty good panel. Bear McCreary had some pretty cool stories and Aaron Douglas (Chief Tyrol), who wasn't even supposed to be there, was pretty funny and kept us laughing. The only down side was the we waited through about 30 minutes of the panel that was on beforehand--even the panelists looked bored--it was a snorefest.

Summit Entertainment: RED - We sat through this panel in the massive Hall H as we waited for the next one. The panel was actually decent even though I knew nothing about the movie or the comic book it was based on.

Entertainment Weekly: The Visionaries - This panel featured Joss Whedon AND J.J. Abrams. Need I say more? I mean these guys collectively brought us Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Alias, and LOST. It was amazing and definitely one of the highlights on my entire experience. Joss was, to little surprise, hilarious and they both told some pretty interesting stories. It could have gone on a lot longer.

Cafe Diem menu

That was it for our "day one" panels. After that we enjoyed some much-needed food at the Syfy themed Cafe Diem, got turned away from a screening of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (I still can't believe how many people show up for that), and settled on a screening of J.J. Abram's Star Trek.

Overall, it was an awesome day. There were definitely some panels that sounded awesome that we didn't make it to, but we made it into the ones we wanted to see the most. Even though it doesn't seem like we did that much now, it really was busy--we barely even had time to hit the Exhibit Hall.

Well, I'm out. Godspeed.

Comic-Con Recap #1: Lessons Learned

Just a couple of weeks ago, my brother and I endeavored on a journey from New York to California to attend our first ever Comic-Con, or convention of any kind for that matter. Overall, I had a blast and I'm so glad that I went, but I learned a lot and there are definitely a few things I would do differently if I go again.

First, I would buy my tickets sooner. We waited until January (a full 6 months prior to the convention) before buying our tickets. It meant that we were able to get tickets for each day, but weren't able to get 4 day passes. That meant that we paid a little more and had to make time (about 5 minutes) to pickup the next day's badge. Neither was a big deal, but getting the 4 day passes just makes it that much easier.

Second, I would try to book a hotel really, really early...like by December at the latest. We looked into hotels at the same time we got our badges and found all of the reasonably priced or nearby hotels booked up for the weekend. We ended waiting to put our name in for the reserved hotel rooms through Comic-Con's web site, which ended up being a minor disaster. Comic-Con got so many requests that they had to book rooms at a bunch more hotels, most of which were a little farther away in the Mission Valley area.

About two months after putting in my name, I got an email from Travel Planners that they could get us a room for a very reasonable rate so we jumped on it. Unfortunately, it had been so long that we had called off the trip and I had already asked for my tickets to be refunded. Fortunately, I was able to get the tickets reinstated with a phone call and several emails.

Third, I would stock up on snacks and water. We brought some snacks with us, but not water. It just meant that we were forced to pay too much money for bottled water most of the time and ran out of snacks pretty quickly.

Fourth, I would make sure I have Internet access. Our hotel charged a fee for wireless access so we opted not to pay for it. We barely spent any time in the room so, at the time it didn't seem like a big deal. But after seeing all of the blog posts and tweets after the fact, I think it would have been a lot of fun reading them during the convention.

Really, in the end, none of that stuff mattered too much. We still had a great time, but, knowing what I know now, I think I'll have an even better experience next time around.

Godspeed.

What to Read

Last night, I finished the fourth book in Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series, Captain's Fury. I started reading it on the plane ride to Comic-Con and finished most of the book over the course of the trip. It was probably the best in the series so far.

One of my favorite things about Butcher's novels--especially in the Dresden Files, which I prefer over Codex Alera--is his pacing. He never lets his foot off the gas. His novels are a constant thrill ride and I love that. The fourth book was no exception.

The other thing that Butcher does really well is write compelling characters. I do think he does a better job of it in the Dresden Files--there isn't a character that I don't love or love to hate--but Tavi is really developing into an interesting, if not a little too perfect, character.

The last point I want to make about the fourth book was that it was awesome seeing some of the plot devices from earlier novels reemerging and seeing many questions get answered. I really like how there is a clear, underlying plot that helps string each novel together.

But now that I've finished the book, I can't decide what to read. I've got several novels on my shelf that I still need to read including God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert and Shadow Rising (Book 4 of the Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan, but I think I have decided upon Royal Assassin, which is the second novel in the Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb.

Well, I'm out. Godspeed.

First Day on the Job

Hello world. Oh crap, can I start my first post with struck through text? Yes. I can. And I just did.

So what is this little old blog all about. Well, it's really quite simple. Every day I engage in some geeky activity that I find enjoyable and this is my way of sharing those experiences.

For instance, today I set up a blog played a couple of levels of Harry Potter Lego on Xbox with my brother. It was awesome until I got Hagrid stuck between a rock and a tree and couldn't get him out. There must have been a glitch in the game. We were almost done with the level and I thought we were going to have to quick, but we found a way to go back far enough with one character that the game was forced to regroup everyone and we finished the level.

Then we watched an episode of Arrested Development, which we recently discovered, on Netflix. I love this show. It is so funny. It is definitely my new favorite.

So what is in store for the blog? Well, you're looking at it. I plan to muse about those things that I enjoy most: movies, books, and tv (most of which fall into the science fiction and fantasy genres). I'm also hoping to post some of my thoughts about Comic-Con, which I attended for the first time this year.

Well, that's enough for the first post. Godspeed dear readers.