happy halloween

Hey,
Happy Halloween.
I'm back.
At least for today.
love
Mr. Reginald P. Vulcan

Give me the carrot !!

Ah, the year gets away from me.

February, and on the long side of the short month to boot.
Let's catch up with some things.
Of course, Valentine's Day was this month. It was fun. I got, suprise here folks, some books. Ah well, that's what I like. Since I've been writing some scifi, I've felt I should delve into some of the 'grand masters' -- and so, Asimov books. I read the Prelude to Foundation, and now am reading Foundation (both vday gifts). I also got Count Zero, by WmGibson which I'm sure I've read before, but it's been a good 10 plus years so I don't remember anything about it. K also got a book called Legends for me, which is a collection of novellas set in famous fantasy worlds by famous fantasy authors. You get, for instance, some Robert Jordan Wheel of Time thing, some King Dark Tower stuff, some McCaffrey (sp?) etc. Looks interesting enough. (btw: she got roses, chocolate strawberries, and a pink watch!!)
What else? What else?
Two animations:
Watched Corpse Bride and
W/Gr: Curse of the Were-Rabbit
of the two, the Wallace and Gromit wins hands down. Tim Burton has a way of promising fun and delivering none. CBride was 'kind of ok'. That's my official take. I'm surprised at how funny the W/Gromit can be.
The new HDTV we've got here is awesome. The olympics look good, though the curling has not aired in Hi Def; it's relegated to crappy cable signal on USA. Poop and poop. Lost looks good, but none of the other shows I watche (fox, wb, scifi) are availabe in real Hidef here, so they look like cable signals stretched to 40 inches. DVD's look pretty awesome, though.

We saw Narnia movie. I thought it was so-so.
I read the Bruce Sterling book The Artificial Kid, which was somewhat long in the tooth, but interesting. Sterling has a way with creating some cool stuff. Witness: the Kid himself runs around fighting folks, all the while his camera drones tape everything. He later edits this footage and releases it. There is a de-criminalized zone in which all this fighting and neat stuff happens. Somehow, after the initial rush of reading about these cool characters and settings, it turns into a political story. I've read a few Sterling books now, and while I admire his imagination, I don't jive with his politicized storytelling. It's none his strong suit. It's a little boring. Gibson wins in the storytelling department. Or Neal Stephenson.
You know, I also saw that Grizzly Man movie. Great stuff. Best discussed over a couple of beers.
If anyone besides Werner Herzog had made this documentary it would probably have been crap and crap. So says I. I'm glad he was able to show everything going on without dismissing any one idea. At the same time, I love when he breaks in to disagree with Timothy's worldview, stating that he thinks the universe tends toward chaos, murder and destruction.
Somehow he made it his movie, instead of a movie about this dumbass self destructive hipppy guy.
Next up for reading:
some Heinlein, more asimov, that Gibson book, some PKDICK short stories, maybe one of those fantasy novellas.
Also read PKDICK A Scanner Darkly recently. It's the one, you know, that they're making into a movie with Keanu Reeves. I know, I know, it's Richard Linklater, maker of marginally interesting films that aren't afraid to ssllooww down and discuss 'things', but come on . . . the book barely holds together sometimes itself. The best passages have Dick discussing love, sexual longing, drug use, and disintegration of identity, which I could see Linklater gloming onto. But will I be able to buy this sort of thing coming from the mouth of Reeves? Or, for that matter, his costar Winona Ryder? Dick was writing from experience, and you can feel him in passages here, something that, let's be honest, is somewhat rare for Dick. (I guess, until he goes kind of loopy at the end and he's writing about characters who have the same 'hallucinatory reality' that he does.) The ideas were a way for him to write about the drug community, which he'd been in and watched kill and maim friends and acquaintances, in a scifi setting.
Well, good luck Linklater. Try not to bore me.
Speaking of not being bored:
The level of quality on Battlestar Galactica has not dropped. Characters are being developed. Situations are heating up. Wow. Good stuff.
Comparatively, Lost has started to frustrate. You may be able to lead a mule around with a carrot all day, but I'm not a mule folks. Sooner or later you gots to give me the carrot.

mw

Excitement amid the blah

Since it's illegal for it to snow anymore, winter is a series of gray drizzle wind gust days. Blah and blah. Luckily the TV Gods are delivering new episodes of Battlestar Galactica beginning Friday.

K and I are very very excited about this. Smalliville is on the midseason hiatus, along with most everything else we watch, so the only tv to watch is BG. If you haven't been watching this series you must rent/buy the dvd's and check it out. It's fantastical.

Here's the lowdown on that Gutter and Grave book I promised. (I know the guy who has the blog about Plasma tv's has been waiting for this, along with the rest of the fans.)

It was good.

I know, I know, that's not much of a review, but it's what I felt. It was fun crimewave of a read. It was hard boiled enough, the chicks were femme fataley enough, the mystery was convoluted enough, and the distance from the Gutter to the Grave was just about right. I just got my new shipment from Hard Case and haven't had the chance to read any others. My problem right now is that I have too many things to read.
Reading HOUR of the DRAGON, the only novel length Conan story by R.E.Howard.
I got the two Conan movies yesterday. I have not seen them, though many parts have been spoiled for me on the elementary school playground by kids whose parents were either a little more lax in their viewing allowances or had that mythical thing known as CABLE TV.
More later on this.

Oh, forgot last time, that we saw FANTASTIC FOUR. It was, to be fair, what it was. It sucked and it was ok at the same time. How's that for a review. I was glad that we saw it on dvd. I think I would have strongly disliked it in the theatre. At home, it's kind of a charming goof ball cheese fest. I won't get into the Dr. Doom take and etc; many a blog has probably addressed this. I will say that it was a not bad hour and a half.

Tonight we may finally see KING KONG. How exciting. And, today is new comic day. How exciting.

love
reggie

New Year

We started out the New Y ear hear at ranch Williams nursing a hangover, playing video games and having a moviethon.
Xmas brought us some fun stuff. Even though they weren't technically for xmas we got a pair of Nintendo DS machines. We got each other games for Xmas, and then had to buy a second one because K wants to play Animal Crossing Wild World and I want to play Mario and Luigi Partners in Time. Yesterday we spent the ENTIRE day in BED, each with a DS. Good times. On to the
MOVIETHON
Several movies over the past few days, some borrowed from friend N, some from the shelf, and some from Hollywood Video (none from netflix because they didn't have our 123 selections in and we got some slow foreign and arthouse stuff from the queue (mine) which didn't fit our moods).
Here's what we got
Young Frankenstein
Super Troopers
These were pretty good for funniness. I thought YF was a bit disappointing mostly because everyone who's seen it always talks about how funny it was. But it was good. Sharp eyes (not mine) discovered two actors with recurring roles on Malcolm in the Middle.
Super Troopers was what you would expect but funnier. Enjoyable enough that I rented
Puddle Cruisers
which quite prominently advertises it is made by the Broken Lizard guys who made ST. Well, it turns out, though a new release, to be their first out of college movie which bites super ass. Really. Not being mean. I wanted to have a few hungover laughs. I thought perhaps I'd found some guys who make stupid comedies I could enjoy. Oh well. FYI: the director recently helmed the Dukes of Hazzard movie which I have not seen and will not comment on.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
escaped my radar for 21 years, but I finally watched the thing. We discovered a gift certificate left over from Wedding and used that fifty bucks to pick up the box set.
I enjoyed it. There were a few disappointments, but overall a great little adventure. We also watched
IJ and the Last Crusade
which I remember vaguely from it's theatrical release. I enjoyed that one too. They sure start those movies out with a bang don't they? That's one thing I've been admiring in the stories of Robert Howard, about whom/which more later.
Dark Water
looked to be a competent spooker, and disappointed a bit, being not much spooky, but was indeed competent. I didn't enjoy it as much as the last spooker we watched, Skeleton Key, which was, somehow, not quite as competent. Oh well. I didn't realize going in it was an adapted Japaspooker, ala Ring, etc. But was not surprised to note that in the credits. It certainly has that Japaspooker feel; the little kid, the isolation, etc.
Must Love Dogs
was the romantic comedy choice. It's about older folks, something like my age!! Egads!! Blah, blah, divorce, cute kids, cute dogs, wise old fathers spouting wisdom and Keats poetry, John Cusack. I believe a rather formulaic, somewhat slow, mildly charming entry in the Romantic Comedy canon. Enter at your own risk gentlemen.
Escape From New York,
which I'm rather excited about, we have not seen yet. K claims to have seen it recently, and often overall, and to prefer . . . From L.A. . I'll get to it tonight or tomorrow.

Also recently Forty Year Old Virgin, which I thought was funny.
Mr and Mrs Smith, which isn't funny, and sucks overall.
Brothers Grimm which is disapointing. Just doesn't click.

XMAS was good. K was on call for work, and had to go the hospital with clients, so I ventured to the northern wastelands to visit my tee totaling Mother, hungover as hell after the inlaw good times of the 24th, on XMAS day alone. I had many hungover epihpanies listening to the radio which I will spare the reader and myself.
Here are the coolest things from Xmas:
I got
a Boos Board cutting board from the inlaws. We also got a pasta thing for the kitchen aid blender. It's not the roller. It's basically the food grinder with an attatchment that pushes pasta out in pasta shapes. For instance, spaghetti.
Books!!
Robert E. Howard
Lost tales of samarkand
boxing stories
Got a book about Lovecraft, Against the World, Against Life, by Michel Houellebecq.
all these from K, as well as
Sherlock Holmes, the annotated novels.
I used money from Mama to purchase it's companion, the two volume annotated short stories. If you haven't seen these books folks, they are a wonder to behold. They are giant, 7 or 8 pound hb's with dust jackets, and slip cases, amply illustrated and annotated, perfect for whiling away a Sunday afternoon in the den with a spot of tea or a snoot of brandy. Yum and Yum.
Boxing Stories has been a very pleasant surprise. I popped this on the Amazon wish list as sort of a Howard completist thing, but I've been reading it and loving it.
It's funny. Apparently Howard has a lot of humorous stories, more so than straight adventure fantasy, but they are harder to track down, of course. The funny boxing ones tell the exploits of sailor Steve Costigan and his bulldog MIke. Steve's a tramp of a boxer, a real man's man type, who wanders from exotic port to exotic port fighting in the ring and elsewhere. Get it!!
That's enough for now.
Oh, we also watched Princess Bride, one of K's favorites and a knowing stocking stuffer from yrs truly. I enjoyed it. A touching little movie, not marred by the presence of Billy Crystal.

Happy New year.

the inner twelve year old

Greetings.
Some Movies

Last week we went to the new Harry Potter movie. It gets my thumb up, though some character things seem to appear and then fizzle out. It's still a good time. Getcher self some popcorn and enjoy!!
The best thing, for me, was seeing the giant sized King Kong trailer: goosebumps. I'm so excited about this movie. We also saw the Superman Returns teaser/trailer -- the same one they showed during Smallville -- which got me excited too. I tell you what, it's a great time in the world for the inner twelve year old. I suppose, though, I was no less excited about Raiders of the Lost Ark, Empire Strikes Back and Superman those many years ago, but the eye candy has just gotten so much more WOW. CG haters, the world is no longer yours.
Life Aquatic etc. is on the ol' Starz now, and it's on in the background. I'm disappointed in myself for not nabbing that dvd when it came out. There's something about that boy's movies. I can watch them over and over. Anyway, if you haven't seen it: thumbs up.
It's for the smarty pants twelve year old inside.

Some Books

Nothing new here. Still reading on the same books. Today, the newest collection of Conan should ship from my friends at Amazon. I got my first shipment from Hard Case Crime bookclub, which I had forgotten I joined. It's a pretty good deal. You get 2 books a month, the new release and an older title, for nine dollar bills. If you're not familiar with them, look it up on Amazon.
The Gutter and the Grave by Ed McBain
is the new one.
Check out those covers!!
For the lurid 12 yr old inside!!
I'll read one and let everyone know how they are.

What else?
We're working on new characters for the Dungeons and Dragons campaign after we got wiped out a couple of weeks ago. I'm gonna play a gnome cleric. I don't think I would have done that at 12. I'm growing up!!

mw

Back for the attack: Geek Out!!

Nimbus seems to think that I haven't posted in awhile, and I can't say I disagree.
Most of you know by now that I did return from Italy.
I haven't had a decent machiatto since. Come to think of it, there are a lot of tasty vittles I wouldn't mind sampling again from that particular country. But since I'm here, I may as well enjoy America and Geek Out!!

Here's what I read there:
Michael Chrichton um, I can't remember, oh yeah, Congo
Glory Road by Heinlein
Gather Darkness Fritz Leiber

and played the hell out of Mario vs Donkey Kong for the ol' GBA
and some Zelda legend of Minish Cap

Speaking all of which, lately I got the bug for gettin' me that there Nintendo DS. Mario Kart!!

It's Thanksgiving break here for K, so we're playing X-Men Legends II: rise of apocalypse. Good times. Yesterday (Sunday) we had some Taco Bell and played for around seven hours.
Lazy day.

Today we're plannig on going to see that Harry Potter movie. Yeehaw!!

Let's see, here's some other cool stuff that I'm doing.

I'm addicted to Attack of the Show on G4.
We are totally into
Battlestar Galactica
also, Lost
and Smallville.

Also, this morning and last night, reading Essential Marvel collection of Tomb of Dracula.
The week of halloween: Lovecraft and some spookified R.E. Howard tales from The Black Stranger and other tales.

Reading Left Hand of Darkness, U.K. LeGuin; Drawing of the Three by Stephen King, number 2 in that Gunslinger series; of course a Buffy book for the toilet.

Played Katamari Damacy for PS2, and finally almost finished that Tony Hawk Underground game we got last year around this time. I was sick as a sick dog for a couple of weeks and played the hell out of the Indiana Jones game for the XBox. Just laid here in this lovely super king size bed and played xbox with wireless controller. Ah, that was a good sick week.

We watched all the Evil Dead movies recently; part of that Halloween spooktacular sort of thing. Also: Blade, Poltergeist, Amityville Horror (original).

Reading more comics this year for some reason, and enjoying it too. I think other people are doing this too. Resurgence in popularity: always a lot of people at the comic shop and things keep selling out. What's up? I've had to start stopping by on Wednesday (new comic day) on the way to the gym so I can get the new stash, just like everyone else.

Other things I've been up to are top secret. Tune in for more.

italy

We're leaving for Italy tomorrow. It's amazing how much shit you have to get done before you take off for two weeks. Escpecially if you're like us and you procrastinate and aren't very organized.

See everyone later.
r