“Microhumans? Microhumans!”
So after an evening of trying to guess other people’s movie quotes, I’ve tossed in ten of mine in no special order.
Borg Booklist #1
Following snidegrrl and jsciv, I’m going to keep track of the books I’ve read this year.
So far: The DaVinci Code, The Maltese Falcon (re-read). and the Robotech novel series (re-read). Of the three, I’d have to rate The Maltese Falcon the highest – it makes more sense than the movie (good though the movie is), and is steeped with the mundane details of life in San Francisco in the 1930s.
I still have some of the books from the Rising Star sale in that bag, including some Terry Pratchett, Peter David, and Diane Duane.
Water, fire, and radiation
Monday morning, our oil heater (which handles water and house heating) conked out on us. We had a cold Monday and Tuesday, and a shower with 40-degree water’s not much fun at all.
After discovering that a repair call would cost around $350, we decided to get out the tools and see if we could break anything else get it working again. Last night around 9, we re-discovered fire, and I can add a die or two of “oil heater repair” to the skill list on my character sheet. Hot water is so wonderful when you’ve gone without for 36 hours or so.
My parking garage has switched from magnetic-stripe access cards to RFID cards. I no longer swipe the card through a reader, I just wave the card in the reader’s general direction. Makes me feel like a VIP with a special pass or something.
“Merovingian” is hard to say
I finished The DaVinci Code this weekend. To the point: I’m glad it was a library book. I’d have been okay paying paperback price for it, but it wasn’t worth hardcover cost to me. The actual “These are coded messages in DaVinci’s works” part was interesting enough that I plan to look some of them up when I have the time, but some of them appear to depend heavily on the bias of the researcher. On the other hand, the supposed content of the secret messages startled me not at all: I’d already read about it in GURPS Warehouse 23 (yes, a role-playing game sourcebook). The remaining plot was basic thriller stuff, adequate but not fascinating. The movie will probably do quite well.
I’m happy my cell phone is working again! It got wet last week, and appeared dead as a doornail; but once it dried out completely and the battery recharged, it went back to beeping happily. So that’s a surprise expense I don’t have to worry about.
raininva has a huge article in the new issue of Undefeated magazine talking about Mechwarrior: Age of Destruction, with color CGI ‘Mech illustrations and everything. Kelly Bonilla’s design notes are kind of fun too. According to the website, it will be on shelves Jan 18th.
That’s all for now. The clock just struck 9, so time to get to work.
What is wrong with people?
There is a Yu-Gi-Oh card going on eBay right now for $25,000. (Auction ends 12/15.)
I don’t care how rare it is or what it does in the game. That’s just sad.
Weekend thoughts
Ocean’s Twelve had some really funny parts, but it wasn’t really a good caper movie. It’s so busy being cute and inscrutable that the we give up on the plot too long before the Big Twists are revealed. Still worth a ticket for the good bits, but don’t expect the coolness of the first one.
Continued musings on the plight of the superhero: if you have a Code Against Killing, but the serial-murdering super-villain you’ve just captured laughs at you and tells you he’ll be back on the street killing people in 6 months – and you know he’s right – what do you do? Break your code and make sure the villain can’t hurt anyone else ever? Or follow your code, knowing that the likelihood is that people will die for your choice?
Morning linkage: This is a keen Smithsonian webpage that allows you to sit in the cockpit of several aircraft, from a Spad to a Mercury capsule, using QuickTimeVR.
Saw the last of the Vulcan arc of Enterprise this weekend – it did not disappoint. As usual, a few quibbles – I’d have like to have gotten farther in the head of the main bad guy, and another character did something stupid for an excruciatingly long time before stopping and admitting he should have known better – but plenty of good stuff. Trip is growing up fast, and it’s great to watch; and the sehlat exchange was classic Vulcan dry humor. “You keep a pet – Porthos.” “Porthos doesn’t try to eat me if I’m late with dinner.” “Vulcan children are never late with dinner.” I’m back to being a regular watcher, I think.
I’ve had a cold or a bug or something for days. Sore throat and stomach issues all week, then weakness Friday and Saturday, and Boom! – Sunday was Drainage and Constant Sneezing Day. This morning, it’s nearly all gone away – I am thankful.
Dare… to Believe You Can Tonight
raininva bought the Director’s Cut of Daredevil the other day, and I realized one of the things that dissatisfied me about the theatrical release. The story arc is almost completely pointless – there is little character growth and almost no resolution to anything. The minor character Joe “Pants” plays gets more growth than anybody, as he considers whether there are things out there more important than his next story.
