The Ghost Brigades

The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

My review

rating: 4 of 5 references to other scifi authors I dig!
As fun as the first Old Man's War, and in many ways better.

I don't season food when I cook it. I prepare the food, put it on the table and allow the partakers to "season to [their own:] taste". I've adopted this habit after having many people tell me that I am too heavy handed with the salt. Occasionally when eating out someone in the group will mention that a dish is "too salty", I like to think of these dishes as being made "just for me".

Occasionally I use this metaphor to describe non-food offerings, i.e.:
Unbreakable [comic (check), divorce (check), father (check), ... (someone made this "just for me"!) ]
Lego (check) Star Wars (check) video game (check) [this one is all in the title]
Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness [comics, zombies, and ASH! I still SHOW this to people just to convince them it exists!]

The list goes on and on, but you get the point.

Back to The Ghost Brigades... Scalzi throws together science fiction, action, war, fatherhood, and the rest in just the right combination for a truly entertaining read. One warning, if you read it and find it "too salty", just remember that it was written for grownups... or maybe it was written "just for me".





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Contact

Contact by Carl Sagan

My review

rating: 4 of 5 times I wished I knew whether or not the "science" being referenced was ACTUAL science or the FICTIONAL type
Great read.

Made me wish I was smarter.

I really enjoyed what it had to say about science and religion. numinous

The last page is downright beautiful.


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Old Man's War

Old Man's War by John Scalzi

My review

rating: 4 of 5 well recycled scifi ideas.
Big fun. Totally guilty pleasure. This book has pushed me back into an old jr. high school habit that I had of waking up early to read. Back in those days it was all Asimov all the time.



This is really good, escapist (I know I'm stealing your term Mitch) scifi. Reminds me a lot of the Weber stuff that I have read (Empire from the Ashes). It definitely geared toward a grown up audience, so I'm VERY curious to see what the author does in "Zoe's Tale" (which apparently is aimed at young adult readers)


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Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (season 1)

I almost skipped right over this one. There is a lot of good TV out there that really is worth watching (BSG alone makes a strong argument that the best writers in Hollywood are working in TV not feature films). But in the end I gave in and watched it. I have to say it wasn't all that bad. To be fair, I have a soft spot for the Terminator franchise (there's a few really great stories in the Dark Horse Comics).

I'm a little enamored by this idea that stories are really just a collection of words, images, noises, sometimes even songs depending on the medium... and that really great stories are only great because the reader/listener/watcher emotionally connects with something bigger than the sum of the parts (there's got to be a greek word or phrase for that idea right?). That said, The Sarah Connor Chronicles is only a mediocre TV show, but (IMHO) it happens to take place in a fascinating universe.
The acting is OK.
The writing is alright.
The cinematography is acceptable for TV.
The effects are also OK... for TV.
The music is great actually... all the time.
The ideas are pretty good, but occasionally phenomenal. (i.e. a terminator who has all of his disguise (flesh) burned off needs to replace it (right back to the roots in scifi horror); Sara Connor's psychiatrist from T2 becoming a believer!; sleeper cells; time travel paradigms; and hard choices;)
There's scifi gold in there. Sure sometimes you have to squint to see it, but it's in there.

3 out of 5 ways to avert Skynet nuking the planet.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

I finally finished this the other night.

Great show that did not end up getting picked up after it's first season. I could complain about it being under appreciated; Argue that NBC didn't know what a great franchise they were tossing aside; Compare it to some of the really terrible shows that air nightly on NBC and other networks; But in the end, much like Firefly, I didn't watch this when it was airing. Even though I knew it was good at the time (based on sentiment of people I trust), I always planned on watching it once it hit DVD. I read an article that talked about how the Nelson Ratings were making adjustments during the year that SSotSS aired to better represent DVR viewership, utilizing terms like "live +24 hours" or "live +7 days". Considering that I personally don't watch a lot of TV shows until after they have made it to DVD (gotta love NetFlix), I feel like I'm lucky for the enjoyable shows that hang around for multiple seasons (since I didn't contribute anything during their initial run). Years ago I did get to be a "Nelson Family" for a week though. They sent me a paper journal to leave by the TV and fill out whenever someone was watching something. The end result was nothing like my typical week of TV watching (even at the time). Knowing that each "Nelson Family" represents so many viewers, I felt it was my responsibility to watch a lot of shows that I enjoy but wouldn't typically make the time for... so if the Star Trek reruns had abnormally high ratings that week, it's totally my fault.

...better than the other 10 shows NBC cancelled after that season (10 out of 11).

The Force Unleashed

My copy of The Force Unleashed showed up Tuesday! Unfortunately physics homework had to come first. In the end I only popped in long enough to check out the opening cinematic. The apparent consensus among people who enjoy "Star Wars" is that while the quality of the gameplay itself is up for argument the story should not be missed. Tycho said it best with "And if you can find someone else to play the game while you watch, you might be approaching the optimal scenario." .

That said, my plan is to play out the entire story when Em is around. I anticipate that she'll play whenever the levels aren't too challenging, and I'll help her out as much as she wants. As much as I'd love to just power though huge chunks of the game whenever I have time, I think the benefit of experiencing yet another Star Wars story together with Em will more than make up for that. I took Em to see The Phantom Menace in theaters when she was 3 years old, like my father (before me) who took me to see A New Hope when I was 3. I'm not sure how well (or if) Em really remembers that theater trip at 3 years old. For myself I have to admit I only clearly remember the irony of eating "STAR BURSTS" candy while watching "STAR WARS", and the theater had dark red carpet...

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