The Good The Bad The Wierd Trailer

trailer

Rough Science

Zack and I have been watching Rough Science: Gold Rush/Space Race together. It's right up his alley and I'm certainly enjoying it as well. In addition to the very impressive scientific feats this group is able to execute every few days, we get to laugh about some of the peculiarities of the British accents (our favorite so far is the pronunciation of glacier as glASSier... if you can't laugh about that then you have a problem)

Crispin: The Cross of Lead

In an effort to encourage Em to read more (and better) books, I made a long term goal to read all of the Newbery Medal Winners. At first Em was concerned about the impossibility of this goal since they are still giving out that award. We had a funny moment where I explained that since I read more than one book a year I should be able to catch up, and then keeping up should be fairly easy. She and I read Island of the Blue Dolphins and A Wrinkle in Time together. So we're slowly working our way through the list.

Last night I finished up Cross of Lead, The (Crispin). I read this on my own as Emmalee was more interested in a different book by the same author (The Christmas Rat). This wasn't my favorite Newbery winner yet. The story starts off quickly enough but Crispin's character arc takes a while before it builds any momentum. By the end I felt like I was reading a different book. Crispin has become a character worth admiring. I appreciate the inclusion of the history that we get to see through Crispin's eyes. I found myself wishing for a little more history, but had to remind myself that this is a book aimed towards elementary age readers. By the end I found myself looking for something that better covers the history of: the Bubonic Plague, John Ball and the Peasant’s Revolt of 1381 (all mentioned or alluded to in this book).
3.5 out of 5 lead crafted religious ornaments... BUT I'm very curious about the sequel and will certainly pick it up eventually.

Charlie Wilson's War

I watched this with Deb last night. Apparently it would be more entertaining if I didn't say "oh come on, THAT'S FUNNY!" quite so many times during the movie.
I'd give it 4/5 stinger missiles... good, old fashioned, Cold War based entertainment.
update: After reading Joe's comment I decided to change my review to 4/5 US financed/armed/trained Mujahideen soldiers who eventually join the Taliban/al-Queda.

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Em and I watched Raiders this weekend. Interestingly enough, she preferred it to
The Last Crusade. It's curious watching a movie with Emmalee that I remember seeing when I was younger than she is currently, especially since I'm at least a little worried that some of it might be too scary for her. I'm not certain that I'd consider her ready for Indiana Temple of Doom. But I think we've covered enough of the Indiana Jones mythos to get her excited for the new movie as well as Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures.

Redbelt

4 out of 5 (hastily cropped)Mamet heads

Valve does coop...

game trailer

coop: check
valve: check
zombies: check

Looks like I just found the next game to "hurry up and wait" for

World War Z

I finished reading this last night. It's a joy to read. It (typically) isn't like reading other "horror" books. Feels like it was written by the world's authority on zombies.

The Picard Song and RSS

Recently I've been using Google's RSS reader for tagging, starring, and sharing links. Occasionally I run into something that I want to tag/star/share that didn't come from one of my rss feeds. In those cases I'll probably just drop a quick post with the link here. That way it will be accessible via MY rss feed.

The Captain Picard Song

My "Trek" of choice

Last night I watched the series finale for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I wouldn't call myself a Trekkie, or a Trekker... but I do know the difference. But sometimes I feel like I was raised on Star Trek. I remember:

• watching The Cage on my parent's SelectaVision with G


• seeing each of the movies during their original theatrical run (except the first... which is still kind of impressive when you think my parents decided to take a seven year old to see The Wrath of Kahn)


• Watching TNG as original airings, but even moreso as reruns on FOX 13 after The Arsenio Hall Show


• And Deep Space Nine

DS9 was the Star Trek high point for me. It had all the familiar trappings of Star Trek, but the sense of permanence, the genuine lasting struggles,... all served to set it apart, and above all other Treks. I guess that makes me a Niner.

DS9 Trailer/Montage