And now, here it is - your Moment of Zen:
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Mercy.
I did it! I finished Kushiel's Mercy. I did it in like 3 days - just couldn't stop reading the thing. I don't think it's as good as Kushiel's Justice, but it's still really good. For those not in the know, the Kushiel books are a series of epic novels that are a cross between the fantasy and romance genres. What's awesome about them is how much adventure Jacqueline Carey packs into each book. For example, the first book starts off with our heroine learning to be a spy. It seems like a standard political intrigue book, until she uncovers a plot to plunge the nation into war, gets caught, and is sold into slavery. Then there's a whole section about her being in slavery, but she escapes. Then she gets home, and they fight the war! I mean, it just keeps going. It's awesome. The first three books in the series are better, mainly because the main character is more interesting than the character she chooses to follow in the second trilogy. But that's not to say the second trilogy is bad -- it's just a B+ to the first trilogy's solid A.
And now, here it is - your Moment of Zen:
And now, here it is - your Moment of Zen:
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
All aboard.
I was on this train today. Sigh. I've always wanted to have a T-shirt made that says:
I hope the guy's alright. Yikes!
NOBODY'S
able to ruin your day
FASTER
THAN THE
CTA!
able to ruin your day
FASTER
THAN THE
CTA!
I hope the guy's alright. Yikes!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
One month later.
Aaaand we're back. Since getting Supernova open, I've:
- wrapped up the semester at Columbia. I enjoyed teaching by the end of the term, but would never want to do it that early in the morning again. Some staff and students from the school took me out for a farewell drink this week, which was really nice. I also attended the final showcase for this semester's Comedy Studies students. Good stuff. There's a couple kids in there that I'll definitely be keeping an eye on.
- attended a dress rehearsal and a performance of Beholder at Trap Door Theater. It was full of friends - written by the same playwright as Amerikafka, directed by the same director as Amerikafka and Emma, and sharing cast members from both shows. It's an EXCELLENT show, and I would highly recommend that you check it out... if it wasn't closing tonight.
- made 5 hours of wedding reception dance mixes for my good friend Mikey B., who finally tied the knot two weeks ago.
- traveled home for my Dad's retirement party. Saw upwards of 300 people that I haven't seen in years. My brother has pictures posted. It was quite a shin-dig, and super fun. Also, while in town I gave a talk at a local high school on careers in theater (I was invited by my old pal Trent Klairter who now teaches there).
- ordered Rosetta Stone software for learning Dutch. I'm on lesson 7.
- saw "Split! and Shatter" at Second City - two one-person shows by my friends Nicky Margolis and Pat O'Brien. The shows are hilarious! They have two more performances, so check them out!!
- visited Nan and Shawn in Michigan. Among much other fun, went to the zoo.
- headed to North Carolina for a full week (using up that vacation time!) to see all the rest of the family that I didn't get to see in Michigan. Had a relaxing and fun time - sailed, went to the beach, went to a fair, went to a ballgame, and just generally enjoyed ourselves.
- wrapped up reading Kushiel's Justice and The Born Queen. Born Queen finishes out the Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series, and I was a little disappointed in the wrap-up. This is the second series that Greg Keyes has done (the first being the Age of Unreason) where it started really strong and bailed at the end. Grrr. Justice is the fifth Kushiel book, and the sixth one just came out. I'm starting it next. The first three books were so amazing that I was nervous when she decided to write more books in the same world but focused on a different character. But I needn't have worried. Book 4 (Kushiel's Scion) wasn't as good as the first three, but this one was amazing. I'm looking forward to book six - Kushiel's Mercy.
- saw Iron Man, Indiana Jones, Prince Caspian, Speed Racer, Kung-Fu Panda, and Hulk. My mini-reviews are as follows:
1) Iron Man (B+) was quite good. The acting was excellent. The CGI was excellent (way better than any of the other movies listed here). Too many scenes of him tinkering in the lab, and not enough action. Spider-Man did an amazing job with the origin, but had too much action. Iron Man did an amazing job with the action, but had too much origin. Sigh.
2) Indiana Jones (D-) was a Phantom Menace level disappointment. I loved Raiders, liked Temple, can't really remember Crusade, and hated Crystal Skull. So at least they're consistent. Just an insultingly stupid script. That's all I'm going to say about it. I hope the paycheck from it puts Cate Blanchett's kids through college.
3) Prince Caspian (C) was so-so. I find the Narnia books boring, so I can't really compare it, but the movie just didn't have much substance. The effects were weak, the dialogue was weak, but the acting was okay, the action was okay, and Anna Popplewell is super cute.
4) Speed Racer (D) was just weird. It had no idea what it wanted to be. There was too much action and violence to be a kids movie, too much mugging and slapstick to be a drama, too many emotional chats to be a popcorn flick, and too much weirdness to keep people interested. And it was SO LONG! I loved the action scenes, because no one does cool action like the Wachowskis, but there was too much other crap to wade through to get to them.
5) Kung-Fu Panda (A-) was actually really good. They did the one thing that Dreamworks animated movies almost never do, which is to keep things simple (for other examples of not keeping things simple, see Speed Racer and Indiana Jones). It was funny and sweet and well animated and well written and all around well done. If my niece and nephew are any indication, it's gonna kick Wall-E's ass.
6) And I expected to hate Hulk (B+), but it was actually quite good, too. I liked it as much as Iron Man, easily. First point in their favor, all exposition taken care of in the opening credits. Yay for that! Second point in their favor, excellent casting. Probably the best role Liv Tyler's ever had. And Tim Roth was an amazing villain. And Tim Blake Nelson was hilarious in a role that was obviously being set up to be the villain in the sequel. The CGI was not as good as Iron Man, and some of the backgrounds looked awfully fake, but the action was just great.
And now we're up to date. I have a couple of more visits in the next month, and a couple more movies to see (hello, Batman) but August 1 is rapidly approaching!
- wrapped up the semester at Columbia. I enjoyed teaching by the end of the term, but would never want to do it that early in the morning again. Some staff and students from the school took me out for a farewell drink this week, which was really nice. I also attended the final showcase for this semester's Comedy Studies students. Good stuff. There's a couple kids in there that I'll definitely be keeping an eye on.
- attended a dress rehearsal and a performance of Beholder at Trap Door Theater. It was full of friends - written by the same playwright as Amerikafka, directed by the same director as Amerikafka and Emma, and sharing cast members from both shows. It's an EXCELLENT show, and I would highly recommend that you check it out... if it wasn't closing tonight.
- made 5 hours of wedding reception dance mixes for my good friend Mikey B., who finally tied the knot two weeks ago.
- traveled home for my Dad's retirement party. Saw upwards of 300 people that I haven't seen in years. My brother has pictures posted. It was quite a shin-dig, and super fun. Also, while in town I gave a talk at a local high school on careers in theater (I was invited by my old pal Trent Klairter who now teaches there).
- ordered Rosetta Stone software for learning Dutch. I'm on lesson 7.
- saw "Split! and Shatter" at Second City - two one-person shows by my friends Nicky Margolis and Pat O'Brien. The shows are hilarious! They have two more performances, so check them out!!
- visited Nan and Shawn in Michigan. Among much other fun, went to the zoo.
- headed to North Carolina for a full week (using up that vacation time!) to see all the rest of the family that I didn't get to see in Michigan. Had a relaxing and fun time - sailed, went to the beach, went to a fair, went to a ballgame, and just generally enjoyed ourselves.
- wrapped up reading Kushiel's Justice and The Born Queen. Born Queen finishes out the Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series, and I was a little disappointed in the wrap-up. This is the second series that Greg Keyes has done (the first being the Age of Unreason) where it started really strong and bailed at the end. Grrr. Justice is the fifth Kushiel book, and the sixth one just came out. I'm starting it next. The first three books were so amazing that I was nervous when she decided to write more books in the same world but focused on a different character. But I needn't have worried. Book 4 (Kushiel's Scion) wasn't as good as the first three, but this one was amazing. I'm looking forward to book six - Kushiel's Mercy.
- saw Iron Man, Indiana Jones, Prince Caspian, Speed Racer, Kung-Fu Panda, and Hulk. My mini-reviews are as follows:
1) Iron Man (B+) was quite good. The acting was excellent. The CGI was excellent (way better than any of the other movies listed here). Too many scenes of him tinkering in the lab, and not enough action. Spider-Man did an amazing job with the origin, but had too much action. Iron Man did an amazing job with the action, but had too much origin. Sigh.
2) Indiana Jones (D-) was a Phantom Menace level disappointment. I loved Raiders, liked Temple, can't really remember Crusade, and hated Crystal Skull. So at least they're consistent. Just an insultingly stupid script. That's all I'm going to say about it. I hope the paycheck from it puts Cate Blanchett's kids through college.
3) Prince Caspian (C) was so-so. I find the Narnia books boring, so I can't really compare it, but the movie just didn't have much substance. The effects were weak, the dialogue was weak, but the acting was okay, the action was okay, and Anna Popplewell is super cute.
4) Speed Racer (D) was just weird. It had no idea what it wanted to be. There was too much action and violence to be a kids movie, too much mugging and slapstick to be a drama, too many emotional chats to be a popcorn flick, and too much weirdness to keep people interested. And it was SO LONG! I loved the action scenes, because no one does cool action like the Wachowskis, but there was too much other crap to wade through to get to them.
5) Kung-Fu Panda (A-) was actually really good. They did the one thing that Dreamworks animated movies almost never do, which is to keep things simple (for other examples of not keeping things simple, see Speed Racer and Indiana Jones). It was funny and sweet and well animated and well written and all around well done. If my niece and nephew are any indication, it's gonna kick Wall-E's ass.
6) And I expected to hate Hulk (B+), but it was actually quite good, too. I liked it as much as Iron Man, easily. First point in their favor, all exposition taken care of in the opening credits. Yay for that! Second point in their favor, excellent casting. Probably the best role Liv Tyler's ever had. And Tim Roth was an amazing villain. And Tim Blake Nelson was hilarious in a role that was obviously being set up to be the villain in the sequel. The CGI was not as good as Iron Man, and some of the backgrounds looked awfully fake, but the action was just great.
And now we're up to date. I have a couple of more visits in the next month, and a couple more movies to see (hello, Batman) but August 1 is rapidly approaching!
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