Dinner Voyeur

My friend Scot has a new project that is just mouth watering. Dinner Voyeur is a podcast program where Scot and friends take the listener through a meal at local and exotic restaurants. I have had the chance to listen to a few episodes and have enjoyed the content and the production quality. A new podcast, the sound quality and production do not rival professional networks like TWiT or NPR, but Scot is doing a great job of bring his clear love of fine food and wine to his audience. Where DV shines is in the content. In approximately 20 minutes, Scot introduces the listener to the restaurant, browses the menu, and describes the experience with clear and concise prose.

After 4 episodes, it is clear that Scot knows and enjoys his food, and it also sounds like he and his friends are degenerate gamblers. At least their bellies are full when loosing their shirts.

Give a listen and find yourself introduced to some new dinning experiences.

Where have you been?

I finished reading Robin Hobb's Renegade's Magic awhile ago, and I had every intention of writing a detailed review. What stopped me though was how disappointed in the book and in an author who I have come to respect I became after finishing it. The book was good, but not great. And I didn't want to write a negative review. The finale dragged at points. The protagonist whined and postured and did nothing for so long that it was tedious to read him debate with himself (literally) for pages and then chapters. And then, in the end, everything resolves with a tight and shinny bow and life has a story book ending.

Well, Renegade's Magic really is no fairy tale and the overly convenient ending topped with the slow pace of the finale puts a bit of tarnish on an otherwise good trilogy. Hobb still has an ability to delve deeply into characters and expose their motivations and flaws in ways that the characters do not realize. I wish she hadn't felt the need to end this trilogy with a sweetness that ultimately fails to balance the overall bitter tone of the story.

In the end, I would still recommend the Soldier Son Trilogy as a satisfying speculative fiction trilogy. A story that combines exploration with magic and falls a bit outside the medieval tropes of most fantasy-fiction, the trilogy is a good read, even if the ending falls a bit flat.

Renegade’s Magic? 3.5 Ms out of 5
The Soldier Son Trilogy? 4 Ms out of 5

Super Mario Galaxy

When I was a kid, we had an Atari 2600. More then one, because those suckers broke, often. Then my brother got a Commodore 64. From that time on, I was hooked on computer games. My brother some how found about 100 mixed disks of games (pirated, I now know, but at 8 had no idea). And we bought many games too. Classics like the Gold Box D&D games and Ultima III through V.


After the C=64, I got an Amiga 500 that didn't really do it for me so right before college, I got my first PC. And a copy of X-Wing. As a matter of fact, that summer, I would come home from whatever I was up to and find my friends gathered around my computer playing! X-Wing gave way to too many computer games for me to recount


Through all this time, I never really got into console systems. No SNES, no Sega Dreamcast, no Play Station I or II. That changed this past December when we got a Wii. I still love the PC gaming platform, but with a wife and a child, the 'casual' game console in the family room became more and more appealing.


With the Wii, we got a copy of Super Mario Galaxy. I had played some Mario games in the past. I knew what a goomba was and who Yoshi and Bowser were, but hadn't really played any Mario game to completion. As of this writing, I still haven't, but I am on the verge of completing Super Mario Galaxy. The game showcases the strengths that the Wii brings to market; an intuitive control system, good (if not state-of-the-art) graphics, and lots and lots of fun. Both me, the avid gamer, and Saundra, the not really at all gamer, can sit and have sat down to enjoy gathering coins and stars and stomping on turtles. The storyline of the game is barely coherent, but that is not the point of the game. The point of the game is to get to the end. I am now ready to take on the last super-secret level and have really enjoyed the ride.

D&D: 4e

Today is the day. The Fourth Edition of the Dungeons & Dragons rules are officially released to the wild. Rumor has it that Amazon is already low on the new Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual and that the books will be hard to find in the wild (of Border's and local friendly game stores). Too much Hype? Not Enough of a good new game with plenty of demand?

When I first learned of the new edition a year or so ago, I was pretty pumped. The move from AD&D, 2ed to D&D 3ed was masterful, in my mind, slimming down the rules and making them more cohesive; without sacrificing the flavor of what made the game so much fun to play. The early information trickling out from the folks at WOTC made it sound like 4e was taking the 3e kernel and making it better.

As I learned more however, I wasn't as convinced. Less dice rolling and weird inter-party party powers seemed to be cropping up that made life confusing and turn 4e into a minis game more than a role playing game. I haven't pre-ordered the books and don't plan on running out today to get them, but I was able to peruse a copy of the Player's Handbook. It is organized well and the quality seems pretty darn high. But I can not tell if the flavor is there. So I will be getting the books in the next month or so. I guess we'll just have to play the darn thing and find out if it is worth all the hype.

Verdict? TBD

Trouble in Poker Land

From the Tao of Poker blog, this post linking to other posts regarding cheating at a well known on-line poker site.

I like poker. I used to play a lot in high school and college in friendly games when you sit around the table with your friends getting high on too much Mountain Dew and maybe risk tomorrow's beer money. I like casino poker though I haven't had the time in the last few years to play but two or three times. I hate conspiracy theories and don't like to spread rumors, but the evidence of wrong doing at UltimateBet is too strong to ignore.

The business model of on-line only enterprises is going to continue to adapt and expand as our Internet connectivity continues to become more ubiquitous. As new services and activities are introduced, there will be problems. Paypal? E-bay? On-line banking? All have had their share of problems and have searched for solutions. So keep your cards close, and your wallet closer.

Quick Notes

Had friends over last weekend and have been remiss in recounting my media intake; a couple of teasers:

1. Went and saw Indy IV today. It was my first time in the movie theater since Noah was born. Noah and Saundra came along and both behaved themselves throughout (I kid... I kid... Saundra always behaves herself). More on this later.

2. Also, I finished Forest Mage Saturday night and had to run out and buy then final volume of the Soldier's Son trilogy, Renegade's Magic on Sunday. I thoroughly enjoyed the ending of Mage, but, without trying to spoil the book, its ending was very similar to the end of Royal Assassin. I am going to give Robin Hobb the benefit of the doubt and see where she is going with this. It is far to well written of a series to be so derivative of the first series without a good reason. I'll see what Renegade tells me on this subject.

3. Saundra and I watched Sicko tonight. While there is clearly some (okay, a lot of) propaganda going on inside this film, it is still a thought provoking exercise in the collective discourse of what we as citizens want out of our country and our government. I think that as November comes closer, we need to hear from candidates more about what changes need to be made in America and less that change needs to be made. The DVD had some interesting extras, but after 2 plus hours, you can only take so much.

Peevyhouse

Over at the Prawsblog, Eric Johnson asked his readers for their opinions regarding the most screwed victim in (civil) case-law. His results are in. I voted with the majority on this one and said the Peevyhouses (Peevyhouse v. Garland Coal & Mining Co., 1962 OK 267 (Okla. 1962)).

Eric's summary:

In case you slept through expectation damages in Contracts, in Peevyhouse v. Garland Coal & Mining Co., the Peevyhouses signed a contract allowing Garland Coal & Mining Co. to strip-mine their farm, but with the express guarantee that Garland would restore the farm's landscape once they were done. Having taken what coal they could, Garland then refused to pony up the $25,000
required to remediate the land. The Oklahoma Supreme Court acknowledged the breach, but held that the remedy was limited to the diminution in the value of the farm. How much was that? According to Oklahoma's highest court, $300.

This is one of my most memorable cases from law school. We covered it early in the first year and no matter how I wracked my brain, I could not understand such a seemingly unjust result. Each party knew what they had agreed to and I thought that the Court let Garland off the hook. What was Prof. Boshkoff trying to teach us? That expectation damages were hard to expect? That restitution was in the eye of the beholder?

An offhand comment in class that the Court deciding for the coal company might not have been on the up and up made the most impact on me. I don't know if it is true (Wikipedia says we need a citation for the scandal) and I am not sure it matters. As a young aspiring, slightly paranoid and government-fearing, law student, learning of the fallibility of our legal system was counter-intuitively encouraging. I had always expected that "The Man" was out to get me, or you, or someone and Peevyhouse confirmed that.

But I had to hope that there were good people who could stick up for the little guy and bring a little justice to the injured. It didn't work out so well for the Peevyhouses, but their lesson stuck with me. Now I won't represent the Garlands of the world and I still think about the lesson I learned from Peevyhouse often in my practice, and it has nothing to do with specific performance of contracts.

Bioshock: The Movie

Reports are coming in that Take-Two's award winning Bioshock is being made into a movie. (see Scifi and PCWorld)

I think that this is fantastic. Bioshock was the last PC game I played all the way through to the end before picking up my Wii. When I started playing the game, I enjoyed the game play, exploring the world that was Rapture and figuring out the mechanics that allowed me to progress from level to level. Once I had mastered the different mechanics, the game decreased in its challenge level. But the story! The Story kept me coming back with its turns and tricks and revelations.

The game of Bioshock takes place in an underworld city called Rapture shortly after World War II. The city is governed by an anything goes form of capitalism that goes horribly wrong as genetic experimentation and exploitation disrupt society until it collapses into its own disregard for humanity. Your character finds himself marooned in the city, needing to find a way out of the chaos. This story should port well to the screen though I fear a change in time from the art-deco 1950s to something more modern. Now if the special effects folks can pull off the rich detail that the game delivers to the under-the-sea Rapture, this could be the sci-fi movie of the year; if it gets made.

If you like story based games that pull you through the narrative, pick up a copy!

BioShock (PC Version)

BioShock (Xbox Version)

Up Next in the Library

A quick note to mention that I have finished the Last Mythal series and am on to Robin Hobb's Forest Mage.

I will write up a review of the Last Mythal shortly, but I just wanted to say how excited I am to be reading a Hobb book again. The author digs deeply into the psyche of her characters to allow a deep and fully realized character to emerge. Her stories are narrative driven with less action than you see in most modern fantasy, but the lush detailing of her world building combined with the intense character study of her protagonists make her work feel less like a novelization and more like biography. I look forward to telling you more about it soon!

Dragonlance - Dragons Of The Autumn Twilight

I have a confession to make: I play Dungeons & Dragons. I say confession like I am admitting some dirty secret like I stuff firecrackers into gopher holes for the glee of exploding varmints. There is a stigma to role playing centered around the prejudiced of maladjusted hermits huddling in someone's mother's basement. Sure, there is a lot of truth underlying this notion, but that discussion is for another post.

Today, I want to talk about Dragonlance - Dragons Of The Autumn Twilight. Blockbuster On-Line dropped off this DVD a week or two ago and I finally had a moment to take a look. Now, I have never been a big Dragonlance fan (for the last few years I have been more of a Forgotten Realms kind of guy). I read the Chronicles back in high school 15 years ago and I haven't spent much time on Krynn since (outside an occasional computer game perhaps), so I didn't have a lot of back story in mind when I put the DVD in the player; just enough to recognize where the story was going.

DoAT (the movie) is an animated feature-length film mixing 2D and computer graphics in a form factor that distracts from the story. Looking past the visuals, the script does a passable job of catching the high points of the book on which it is based. The story, a classic D&D yarn in which a group of adventurers set off from a village inn to stop the evil dragon warriors causing chaos to reign, mixes adventure, comedy, and a bit of romance in a classic Hollywood recipe. Saundra, by no means a D&D fan, stumbled in for half the movie and was passably captivated by the story and more so by the action of killing goblins and draconians.

The movie has a couple of A-list names in Kiefer Sutherland and Lucy Lawless doing major voice work. Still, it is clear why this project went straight to DVD. The story was sufficiently complicated to distract a casual observer (as Saundra had to ask me about draconians and cleric spells and such) and with the weak visuals, the overall project did not have enough umpf to get into the mainstream.

However, as the Harry Potters and Lords of the Rings of the mass media world continue to permeate the collective culture, high fantasy projects like Dragonlance - Dragons Of The Autumn Twilight will get more familiar and become easier to sell to the masses. Let's just not talk about Eragon.

Overall? 2.5 Ms out of 5
as a D&D movie? 4Ms out of 5

Walk Hard

Last night Saundra and I took Noah to Aunt Angela's for movie night. After picking up some Taco Bell for us and a little Dairy Queen for everyone else, we sat down to watch Walk Hard - The Dewey Cox Story with John C. Reilly and Jenna Fischer.

This is a movie I had wanted to see for some time. The movie is a rags to riches story and clear parody of musical biopics like Ray and Walk the Line, but transcends the mockumentary film format with clear writing and surprisingly well done music. Many jokes are obvious (and with the last name 'Cox,' and an R ratting, you had better see that coming). However, the script surprises with witty banter and some of the funniest anti-drug (well maybe) dialogue that I have heard. It is going to be hard not to pick up the soundtrack. We did not get a chance to watch the DVD extras, but I hear they are worth the price of admission. Overall? 3.5 out of 5 Ms from me.

Battlestar Galactica

Saundra and I came late to the reimagined Battlestar Galactica, but have caught up on past seasons' DVDs and are now waiting for every Friday night to bring us a new fix. For those who do not know (i.e., living under a rock), BSG is a post-apocalyptic, science-fiction storyboard that takes place in an alternative timeline/universe where humans have created a race of machines who become sentient and rebel. It delves into the complexities of recreating society; the rule of law, social and economic justice, and the continuation of culture. It also evocatively tells personal, gripping stories of loss, revenge, and rediscovery. Oh, and the robots: intelligent, armed, and hidden among the humans.

The show is replete with aerial dogfights, exploding spaceships, and the other trappings of successful science fiction; but what the show is most successful at doing is telling a compelling, episodic story. Like any good story, it grows in the telling and the truths revealed early in the story are turned on their heads as more of the tale is told. Four episodes into this season, and we know it is the last. Like a novel (or trilogy), seeing the end of the publication cycle provides an opportunity for the producers and the writers of BSG to complete the story arc in a comprehensive manner and go out with a bang (literally, I am assuming), unlike some television shows (I am looking at you ER) which hang on for too long. BSG is not just good science fiction, or even good post-apocalyptic fiction; it is good story.


Catch up if you have missed it!

Battlestar Galactica (2003 Miniseries)
Battlestar Galactica - Season One
Battlestar Galactica - Season 2.0 (Episodes 1-10)
Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.5 (Episodes 11-20)
Battlestar Galactica - Razor (Unrated Extended Edition)
Battlestar Galactica - Season Three
Stream Season 4 (Hulu)

Don't Make Me Do It

One of the reasons for this whole blog thing was my attempt to explore not only the thoughts rattling around in my head, but also the tools that we now have to share those thoughts. I think it is quite interesting to watch the ads that Google places next to my content. For a week, it was blogging tools. Now it is all Passover ads. I am sure the baby stuff will come soon. And then the D&D stuff will roll. It better roll, or I will be reduced to talking about the Interplay of Internal Revenue Code sections 121 and 1031! No one wants that.

Happy Passover

Growing up, Passover has always been my favorite Jewish holiday. It wasn't that I got to bring matzoh and chopped liver sandwiches to elementary school while the other kids were eating pizza and PB&J on white. It wasn't explaining that corn and rice are forbotten despite not appearing in the Bible. It is two things. The first is that the holiday occurs at home and not in some stuffy building. The second, and a theme to which I keep returning, is story.

Reason the first:

The main celebration of Passover is the Seder. Seders in my family have traditionally been at my parents' or my aunt and uncle's. Because it is a home based celebration limited to 10 to 30 people (for us at least), we have chosen which parts of the ceremony to emphasize and cut those which have less meaning to our family. It is a shared tradition with a personal flare that allows us to explore what is important to us. And it is important.

The story of the communal redemption of the Jewish people has been a unifying force in the history of the Jewish people; a history (while not unique) that has involved countless attempts to destroy them. Four thousand years of history have certainly changed the nature and character of Jews to the point that neither would recognize the other should Woody Allen or Alan Dershowitz stop by for a glass of Manischewitz with Moses or Maimonides. However, the celebration of the redemption of a people which is celebrated annually creates a thread that binds disparate believers into one tapestry that has withstood far to many washes and attempts to throw out. It was once observed that where there are two Jews, there are three opinions - on any subject. Something needs to bind this cantankerous group, and I think the Seder is it.

Reason the second:

Fundamentally, Passover is about telling a story. Well, a specific story, the story of Exodus with Moses and 40 years in the desert and all that. It is a story that many of us know well but are still praised for re-telling and re-listening. Each time the story is told, new details can be emphasized or corollaries drawn. The act of sharing the story has been my favorite part of the holiday and a formative part of what has shaped my own need to listen to, tell, and share stories with others. Now it is Noah's turn to hear this story for the first time; but not the last. I think he liked it!

Eat any good books lately?

I read a lot. I watch a lot of movies. I am known to catch a television show or two as well. Lately, I have been reading more Goodnight Moonthan Les Misérables, or even A Game of Thrones; but I miss Story. I need more story. I need to hear more, see, more, and tell more story. On and off for the past five years, I have promised myself that I would do a better job of keeping track of what I read and watch and the music to which I listen in order to share the story with others and to remind myself of its lessons.

I am not so narcissistic as to think that anyone is overly interested in reviews of everything I consume and I am no more a literary or film expert than the next person. Words and images can evoke deep emotional, thoughtful experiences and provide us with an opportunity to explore new worlds and ideas.

So with a little help from the good folks at Amazon.com, I will keep track of what I am doing right now and what I will try to talk about in the future. I am sorry for the meta-post, but you have to start somewhere.

Proud

Met Saundra and Noah at the pediatrician's today for Noah's 4 month check up. At 26.5" and 15.5 lbs, he is in the 95th percentile (mom's genes) and 90th percentile (dad's genes) respectively. Cutting new teeth a month or two early as well. Watching them stick him with three needles was not fun, but probably less so for him.

Now if we could just get him to not spit up so much, life would be grand. Hell, it isn't so bad regardless.

From Best of Noah ...

It is too much

Google. Yahoo. Plaxo. Live. Bloglines. Myspace. Facebook. Livejournal. Zillow....

How many services can one person use? How many logins can one person remember? How well can these services synchronize with one another to allow users the time to use the services rather than simply manage profiles, pictures, and other information.

The last week, I have spent a little to much time coordinating my various accounts; combining, closing, and otherwise updating in order to actually use the services that are offered -- all with the promise of making live easier, faster, and better. I have a history of signing up for each next best website (in order to ensure I have the correct login information) in case I decide to eventually use the service.

Today I start to use the services rather than simply plan on doing it someday.

Like any editing process, choices need to be made. Let some things go. Use service A over service B. Try out this widget to see if it is better than the old doodad. Keep your fingers crossed as you hope that the changes you saved today do not undo all the work you did yesterday.

I hope this works.

Update. My smokin' wife points out the irony that Blogger tried to make her sign up for an account to leave a comment. Sigh. I'll try harder next time.