Ought update once in a while, eh?

Sorry you get about one post per month out of me.

This month has been busy with non-reading and non-writing related stuff. A lot of house rearrangement.

And my workplace company moved. Fortunately for me, it's ridiculously close to home. That was pure luck, I had no say in the choice of the new location.

I also got on a huge music kick and I have been acquiring archives for my vinyl - trying to go digital there and free some home space, too.

I read Planet Stories reissue of Piers Anthony's Steppe. Honestly, I thought it was a drag. I just couldn't suspend disbelief, the language was too informal (perhaps this was a y.a. title before they were classified as such?) and far too much exposition that was not only front-loaded but kept coming back.

I wanted to get behind Paizo for adding some newer titles to their classics, but Steppe just didn't move me. I don't know if it is representative of Anthony's writing or not. I believe it's the only title of his that I have read.

Not sure what I'll read next. I feel like I've neglected the Kindle, might be time for another eBook.

Keep reading, keep writing, and keep jamming!

The Lost Sorceress of the Silent Citadel

Last month (or so), a little "lost" sword-&-planet tale by Michael Moorcock showed up on Tor.com.

"The Lost Sorceress of the Silent Citadel" originally appeared in a 1990s anthology.

It's a quick web read, and while nothing amazing, it does what Moorcock does best - a feverish read from what appeared to be a quick writing session. I haven't read too many long novels from Moorcock, and, as James Enge once wrote, to me it feels that Moorcock's best is when the sparks are flying off the typewriter (computer) and the world building is off-the-cuff and only spawning what is needed to support the tale at hand.

Historically, Moorcock has often praised Leigh Brackett's writing, and this story is an homage. Though, I believe it also reads strongly as an homage to C. L. Moore's tales of Northwest Smith. It has more of a 'Weird Tales' strange alien vistas look'n'feel than a planetary swashbuckler.

I did grin, though, when I read "big sleep" and "long goodbye" directly in the prose. Those were two screenplays Leigh Brackett wrote (she did Hollywood screenwriting as well as science-fantasy-fiction.)

It's a good tale for a quick read and it's free.

Welcome to the Stupid!

I grow increasingly frustrated, and appalled, and as a parent, frightened by our country's current obsession with being stupid and willingly embracing ignorance.

Why is it a great, wonderful, height of achievement to be a dumbass?

Is this really what we want? Is this a great goal for a nation like ours?

I really hit the wall today - and it was either shout at the innocent clerk or write a nasty letter (I might still) or rant online.

So, please tell me what you think of this genius of a product, clearly aimed at kids;



Yup.

Erasers. "Yummy Erasers"! Great, choke-sized pieces of rubber not only designed to look like candy, but even named YUMMY.

No problem there!

I might add, the store where I saw these had them at the checkout counter NEXT TO THE CANDY.

OK - I see things differently as a parent, so maybe I'm off the wrong tangent here. But, what the *&^%?

Does anyone think this is a good idea? Would anyone buy this shit?

Yes, you can tell your child it's NOT candy. But what if you have multiple children? Let's say one is a bit older, understands it is not candy, but leaves the eraser out somewhere where their toddler sibling can grab it?

This isn't just badly manufactured, and/or poorly designed toys or something. It is made to LOOK like CANDY. It is clearly PITCHED to KIDS.

Why is this shit even created, produced, and sold?

I really hope no one buys this crap.

Lazy bloggin'

Sorry for lack of activity, here.

Nothing much to post about. I've read a few books - nothing bad but nothing to make me jump up & down. I don't feel like sinking time with reviewing them just now.

Also, trying to get writing done so that puts a crimp on blog post writing and/or reading.

I started watching HBO's The Pacific. I agree with a lot of comments about it not being as strong as Band of Brothers. The story is told from p.o.v. of three (or four) different Marines in different units, so it's hard - initially - to get a handle on them. It's not like BoB where you were with one group every step of the way from basic training through to the end.

Enjoying the new Doctor in Doctor Who, though I was really disappointed with the cartoon-y nature of the Dalek episode, "Victory of the Daleks".

Enjoying home life, too. A trip to the zoo with friends last week was fun.

Forging ahead with reading tech

I wanted to try some small press e-zines/e-books, but they were in PDF format - which meant reading on the computer screen. I read, however, that the Kindle (Kindle 2) has native PDF support.

First, I dragged some test PDFs over, and they didn't show up on my index. OK. I needed to update the software on my Kindle. The update came out just after Xmas, just after I received mine. Updated smoothly, no problem. PDF files showed on the list.

However, as some Google hits told me beforehand, the native support isn't anything to write home about. You can't adjust font size, the document is very static. It was like reading microfiche without the machine. You could change the orientation to landscape, but it didn't help much.

Off to Google again. There are many methods of converting PDF to Kindle readable formats. Or, for a fee, you can email the doc to Amazon, through a converter, and sent back to the Kindle.

I went with the free option of MobiPocket.com. I downloaded and installed the free publisher, imported the PDFs, rebuilt them into .prc files and dragged them to the Kindle directly through USB. It works great, files (with embedded illustrations, even) came through without any noticeable issue.

Article on using conversion tools

After that success, I went to Lulu.com and bought three items - two issues of Dark Worlds magazine and the new anthology, Swords of Fire.

Rage Machine Books


I've converted those, and sometime in future I'll pull them over to the Kindle and start reading! (only, I wish the PDFs included those great covers, they appear not to - but it's the stories that count.)

Honestly, it might have taken a while to type and to read this, but it was simple and quick thing to do once I was setup!

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Quick followup note on an earlier reply to David J. West - yes, the iPad already has a comic reader app. Marvel has created one. (also works on iPhone/iTouch, though with devices that small I guess you'd be looking at one panel at a time - if that!)


I don't have an IPad nor a strong interest in one just now. But in future, depending on what apps it has that can be useful or recreational, I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it.

Movies

Reading my way through a Warhammer 40K omnibus right now, and I'll be dropping my thoughts on that (3 novels) when I've finished 'em all as one big whole.

Meantime, I've managed to catch some movies. (and here are my thoughts, if you are interested.)

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Appaloosa

Good western. Gunfights are realistic - they happen and end in a flash. (Yes, the real gunfight at O.K. Corral only lasted something like 30~40 seconds, I remember Jack Palance telling me on Ripley's Believe It or Not, if I recall correctly.) I enjoyed the teaming of both the characters and actors (Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen.)

I am interested in reading the original series of novels by Robert B. Parker. The plot is simple enough - two hired lawman try to bring in a crooked rancher, and things get complicated when they both fall for the new widower in town, Allie French (played by Renee Zellweger.) I had a hard time buying that Allie's affections were worth the trouble the characters went through (frankly, she wasn't a likable character to me.)

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Planet Hulk

The Hulk is supposed to be marooned on a planet teaming with non-intelligent life. The Avengers have made the decision for the safety of Earth and the Hulk. But the Hulk smashes the spacecraft's controls, and lands on a planet in the finest sword-n-planet tradition - strange alien creatures, gladiatorial combat, and all the trappings.

Good adaptation of the graphic novel but a lot has been jettisoned for streamlining (and happy endings.) This was not unexpected. The "making of" documentary mentioned that they kept much of the story taking place in the arena as the plot's "spine". For me, that was a detriment. I wanted them out of the arena and exploring the planet more.

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It Might Get Loud

This documentary is about three rock icons and how the electric guitar and other musical forces shaped their musical development. Jimmy Page, the Edge and Jack White. Regardless of how you feel about their music, it is a very interesting look at three different guitar players. Being a "white boy bluesman" myself, I found Jack White's story of most interest (also, I already knew plenty about Page and the Edge.) I thought the stylistic choices of the three men was ironic when they all played slide together on "In My Time of Dying". Edge wore his slide on his middle finger, Page on the ring finger and White on the pinky. Perfect serendipitous dovetailing.

Fun and interesting; if you have even a single rock'n'roll bone in your body, check this one out.

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Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths

Another DC Universe direct-to-DVD feature. I think this is my favorite. Expectations are turned upside down as Lex Luthor, last survivor of his world's Justice League, arrives on Earth to seek assistance from the Justice League. On his world, the evil counterparts to the JL are a crime syndicate who answer to no one and now threaten to take absolute control. Good visuals, good story. So far with these movies, I've been enjoying the rotating voice casts, but I admit I am so used to Clancy Brown voicing Lex Luthor that Chris Noth's turn here left me a little cold. Still - that's more about me than his performance.

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All in all, a good batch of movies I'm glad to say.

Quick read post

tired and a bit busy lately, but figured it was March so I should put up something...

Slaine: The Exile by Steven Savile
I was unaware of the history of Slaine when I bought this novel. Slaine is a series and character of the 2000AD British comic company.

I was hoping for lots of Celtic bloody head-bashing. What I read was a very disjointed tale with not nearly enough action to make up for the faults. I have gathered from another review that this novel pulls in years worth of Slaine comic tidbits, characters and plots. I believe the aim was an episodic novel, but it just didn't seem to pull together. Subplots and side characters came and went. The entire second act left me scratching my head as Slaine went from bloodthirsty berserker to a rover, including time as a mercenary caravan guard (ok) to a farmer (say what?) completely dropping his desire for vengeance until well into the third act.

The third act perked up a bit, with the arrival of Ukko, the untrustworthy dwarf sidekick. The plot threads started to gel and the story found direction.. and then the novel just ended!

So, I am curious to read the sequel novel, because of the cliffhanger and growing potential, but I won't rush to read it.