The Pretend Blog

The Tomb (Adversary Cycle, #2) by F. Paul Wilson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really like Repairman Jack. He's a good character and stays away from the dread label "anti-hero". I have to agree with Kusum that Jack has honor. I like that in a hero.

The edition of the book that I read (I came to find out) is actually the older version of the book. The author has gone back and attempted to update the technology in the story. My version was decidedly anachronistic. The use of the VCR was an easy one to spot, but there were plenty of others. I don't mind anachronistic. In fact, I think if there were cell phone technology in this story, it wouldn't work. A mobile call or two and this story is very different.

A character like Jack would find it harder and harder to live "off the grid" the way he does in this book if it were set in modern times. I actually prefer the older feel to this story. I believe Jack is the precursor to a number of modern characters.

The book is worth the read, but if you've got the option, grab the old one.



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The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was a fast read. The language was easy to take in and the action didn't seem to stop. I understand why this book has become such a big hit.

I actually read this book over a weekend while I was traveling. If you can do the same, I'd recommend it. I've read some books that were deep and densely written. That does not describe this book. This is definitely good travel reading.

The descriptions were just enough to get me into the story and there weren't any characters that pulled me out of the story. The relationship issues Katniss encounters sounded fairly realistic to me, so none of those issues became bumps in the road while I was reading.

If you're one of the handful of folks that hasn't read this yet, I'd say grab a copy and take it with you where ever you're headed. Now I need to see the movie to see how it stacks up.



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Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I read this book fairly quickly, despite the length of time it has taken me to post my review. This is pure fantasy, total brain candy. There were aspects of it that I had a difficult time relating to, but I find that's usually the case with female protagonists. I try to let that go and just go with the story, but it was more difficult with this book.

I have to say that the first kiss with the guy from the order? Worst kiss scene ever. Yanked me right out of the story. I had a difficult time going back to it after that, but I did. That guy is total cardboard cut-out material. I don't buy him, not one bit.

What I found very interesting about this book is that the tone and style are tremendously different from the previous book I read by this same author. Whatever I may think of her characters here, she can definitely write well.

This is an easy to read novel. IF you don't have the same relationship issue I do with her, then you'll do just fine with this book.



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Saying that things are busy is like saying the ocean is wet. I'm totally stealing this part from my wife:

  Yesterday was exhausting, but also good. The walk went great. We got to see good friends and share the time with them...not to mention the vast array of puppies. :-) Shiny did great and was a ball of energy. We got to visit my dad and enjoy some time with him. We then made a quick shopping trip, an even quicker lunch, and headed to see one of Shiny's old friends at her awesome birthday party. It was great to see people I don't get to see often enough myself there and we both had a great time. Then it was a race home, potty break, and back out the door for a trip to see E's mom & dad and go to the ballet. Very good show and great stew followed. We wrapped up with a card game and the girls napping on the way home. Once home there were a few more last minute details before I finished a movie I started 3 weeks ago and then fell into bed, so I could get up this morning and race out the door for recital pics. Did I mention good, but exhausting

So while that was going on, I was working (only a little - it was Saturday after all), catching up on the movie I started last week, and taking Lily over to the local Greek Church festival. The Greek food was really good and the weather couldn't have been nicer. It got a little warm standing in the sun - but not as warm as it was for the Olympic Flame dancers. The traditional costumes looked like they were exceptionally warm... and this is the part where me and technology don't get along. I have a couple of pictures from this, but I can't get them off my phone. I'm supposed to have sent them to my FB account, but none of my mobile posts show up anymore. I hate technology that makes promises and then doesn't deliver.

Having said that, the wife and I are considering what we can do to re-connect ourselves. Right now the only machine that works for either of us it the main PC tower - super conveniently located in Lily's room. Previously we each had a laptop. I let the magic smoke out of mine quite a long time ago, so I've attempted to adjust. Recently, the wife's laptop gave up the ghost. Not sure where we go from here.

Today brought the official photo shoot for Shiny's upcoming recital and the marching band participation in the Memorial Day parade in Enola. Sometime in there today we've also managed to get the laundry done. Imagine that! The list of activities hasn't gotten shorter, but our time has. We got Lily's flight number tonight. She's going to be here until the 28th of June, then she's headed home. The interesting thing about the dateline is she leaves here Friday morning and arrives home late Saturday (she's probably going to jet lag pretty hard). Hopefully we'll be able to squeeze some more great adventures in before then! Maybe I'll even be able to come up with some pictures to share. Who knows?

Sometimes I wish I was connected all the time. Those “down” minutes waiting in the parking lot or times when I don’t have direct access to a computer could be put to use posting stuff about what’s going on. When I’m out there doing stuff I don’t really think about what I can post. Maybe I’m really old school about some things. Maybe that’s ok.

So updates on stuff in general are in order, then we’ll get to specifics I think.

Shiny is doing great. We went to the all school musical the other night where she was part of the chorus. The kids were wonderful, the parents were thoughtless, rude and stupid. I don’t like dealing with them. Thankfully we didn’t have to drive to this  event since we’re within walking distance of the school. We did also get to bring some of Shiny’s artwork home with us. I’m super impressed with her artistic ability. I hope she keeps it going.

Lily seems to be doing really well too. She had prom over the weekend. The kids looked like they had a great time and everyone got home safely. Spring band concert is coming up tomorrow, so maybe we’ll get a couple of performance pics to post. We’ll see if we can see. There are also a couple of parades coming up that her band will be marching in. I’m glad that some of the things she’s been participating in are starting to payoff. Just a few more weeks and she’ll be headed home to Japan. So far it seems to be very mixed emotions on this count. We’ll see how it works out as we get closer to departure date.

As for me - work is broken. I really can’t say that it’s fixable. I’m not sure what the exact moment was, but it happened recently. I’ve been pushed past the tipping point and I don’t see a way to go back. I hate coming here. I’m afraid of what it is going to do to me long term to keep coming here. I’m afraid that I’m going to say something really stupid and not be able to take it back. It doesn’t bother me for the sake of the owners here, they’re the problem. It bothers me that there is a very real chance that I’d get fired and hurt my family because I wasn’t strong enough to endure.

I wouldn’t normally put this stuff up. I have issues with using a public forum as therapy despite the old joke from Crocodile Dundee about telling everyone the problems and that being the solution for clearing everything up. I keep my office life and my private life separate on purpose. Nobody I work with is “friends” with me on any social network nor do I hang out with them outside the work environment. They don’t know about anything I do outside work, with the exception of knowing a handful of things about the kids. It’s not who I am – nor is it who I want to be. The problem is the affect it’s having on my creative work. I just can’t muster anything for creative work. It’s not there – and I miss it.

There are other contributing factors. I’m very busy. It seems I’ve been hanging around long enough that groups I’m part of have started to realize that I have a little sense and keep showing up. Apparently that is enough to amount to leadership these days. I’m hoping that I can back burner a couple of things for a  while and get to a good spot again. I’m not sure.

I will say I took a sick day last Friday – and went to see The Avengers. You should go see it too. It actually helped my mood tremendously. It deserves to be crushing box office records. Go see it.

Hopefully getting this written and posted will help. We’ll see. I’ll try to update again when I can.

Shadow's Son by Jon Sprunk

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I started reading this last summer, then I got caught up with a bunch of stuff and this book didn't get a fair chance.

I picked it back up a few days ago and dug back in. I really enjoyed this book. There were one or two of the fantasy trappings that didn't sit quite right with me, but I'm starting to wonder if it's just me.

The characters were strong, believable and grew as they moved through the story. The writing was clear and easy to read. I never felt like I hit a point in the book that was a massive "infodump" that sometimes pops up in fantasy. It's less than 300 pages that moved right along.

If you're a fan of fantasy, you should go and pick this one up. It's quick and has some really good action.



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Slaves of the Volcano God by Craig Shaw Gardner

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book suffered from two things. First, my expectations. Slapstick was used in one of the quotes for this book. The only thing I slapped was the book down on the table. It was not nearly as funny as I wanted it to be. Second, I'm the wrong generation for this book. The story in this book relies on a knowledge of films like noir, westerns and Tarzan. Those are good films, but not the films of my generation. I find very few westerns that do anything for me. Hanging all your humor on something that a generation further along might not get is a choice. I'm good with that, I just missed on this one.

I would compare this novel to something like Captain Jack Zodiac, or Bimbos of the Death Sun. Captain Jack has a definite 80s, cold war feel to it. That one happened to hit right on with me. Bimbos takes place at a science fiction convention - also hitting right on with me. I would recommend either of those two over this one ~ but be aware that if you're not into the aforementioned things, these books might not do it for you as this book didn't do it for me.



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OK, maybe Disney didn't want to go with that. It would probably get the wrong kind of attention. I'm beginning to thing the wrong kind of attention would have at least been attention.

In case you totally missed it – there was a big movie that opened a weekend or two ago. It's based on Edgar Rice Burroughs classic John Carter of Mars series. The first book in that series is "A Princess of Mars". I wish they would have included the Princess of Mars in the title of the film somewhere. I wish they would have made some kind of connection to Tarzan or adventure or strong female characters. Anything would have helped, although I can understand why they wouldn't want to include Mars. See this article here: http://www.filmcritic.com/features/2012/03/john-carter-curse-of-mars/ . After reading that little bit of information, I'd would have tried to stay away from having Mars in the title too. Not that it seemed to help.

The movie has been deemed a resounding flop. Hard to argue with that when a second week kids movie cleans up at the box office and beats your big opening weekend. I hope this film gains a following and becomes one of those movies with “legs” that seem to never go away. I went and saw the film on opening weekend, in 3D.

I have to admit that seeing it in 3D was not my first choice, it was simply how the movie schedule and my schedule matched up. The 3D was excellent. It didn't distract from the story – and that's what really counts as far as 3D goes. The other technical effects of the film were outstanding. The Tharks were amazingly well done. Many times, computer generated characters distract from the film. I am often pulled from the story when I notice the effects. John Carter was not one of those films. It will be a crime if this film doesn't clean house when the Oscars come around next year.

If you get an opportunity, you should go see this film.

Now, having said good things about the film, I think it's time to take on a particular business aspect of the “franchise”. The folks that are in charge of the parts of the ERB estate are filing a lawsuit in an attempt to stop other creators from using the public domain parts of the ERB catalog.

“ERB claims that the manner in which Dynamite uses the mark, and specifically some of the covers which feature partial nudity, are damaging to the reputation and good will of ERB and the business it has built up around Tarzan and John Carter...”

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120228/18543417906/edgar-rice-burroughs-inc-using-trademark-law-to-prevent-use-public-domain-stories.shtml

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Depicting Deja as partially naked damages the reputation? What the hell are they thinking? That IS the reputation! You think the works by Frazetta aren't part of that reputation? Are they going to try to claim those next? When will people understand that attacking the fans of something will not fill them with the desire to give you money?

Once again, I would like to humbly suggest you go and see this film while it's in the theater. After that if you have the means, go and purchase something from the comic maker being sued.


(this is a re-post from Watch The Skies)


Also - See this trailer for how they should have advertised this film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzPVYy7LHIo&feature=youtu.be 

Timeless by Gail Carriger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'm not going to get too deep with this review, as it is the last book in the series. IF you've read along to this point, you're undoubtably a fan. I am a fan, and I'm glad I read this series. Should the author write more in this world at a later time, I'd definitely check them out.

This was a fun, exciting set of stories and an outstanding ending. This book was one of the best wrap-ups to a series I've read in recent memory. Ms. Carriger did an excellent job with all the characters and the longer story arcs coming together in the end. Some of the characters ended up in about the spots I thought they would, and some of the characters ended in places I'd never have dreamed. Very, very good job. Solid 4 stars for the book and 4.5 for the series overall.




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I was sitting at my desk here at the office this morning and just typing like a mad person. It occurred to me that I write hundreds of words a day via texts and e-mails and things like that, but they become these ephemeral things that float out to the aether and don't really connect after the moment in time they relate to. Do you suppose there's a way to connect those things to a story? I mean, I'm typing hundreds of words a day (easily), shouldn't I be able to connect those to something?

I will work on that. Hopefully that will help kick my writing into gear.

In the mean time it's been forever since I posted an update on the family.

We are all doing well! There have been ups and downs as there are for everyone, but in the end it's all good for us.

Shiny's new haircut is still the big talk for her. She's coming up on the end of the year for her first year with the scout troop. We're reassessing if she wants to keep going next year or not. She's still working at being a prima ballerina. We'll see how that all works out when the big dance recital happens in June.

Lily seems to be really adjusting to life in the states. She turns 18 today! We're planning a trip to Washington DC as part of her birthday celebration. There was a bit of a rough spot a few weeks ago when we tried to get her into a special trip that went to DC, Philly and NYC over the course of a week, but we seem to have gotten past that. It really stinks - the trip was full by the time all our paperwork went through. We're making the effort to get her out to see and do a few more things before the end of the school year. It's difficult to believe that she's only going to be here for less than 90 more days. We've already got her flight date (June 25) and I'm not sure anyone was happy about that.

Things for me have been a bit of a dichotomy. Some things at work have been less than ideal. Outside of the office, things really seem to be going great. If I hadn't stated it before, I'm now the president elect for the Central PA chapter of the construction specifier group. I'm an official, certified representative for Youth for Understanding - and I'm starting to pick up some responsibilities with them. I'm also leading a committee at my church (focused on the building and possible future construction - imagine that). Hopefully the office will turn around and catch up with everything else.

I'm just so happy that the kids are having fun and doing exciting things. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures of our next trip to share. If I can squeeze the words back out of the aether, perhaps I'll be able to post more than once a month too! You never know...