The Campaign

I watched this movie on the plane on my tablet and it was acceptable.  Ferrell mixed in a few of his well-known mannerisms and there were some funny parts.  However, large chunks of the movie were over the top and I'm not sure what to think about Galifianakis.  He reminds me a bit of Andy Kaufman in that you either love him or you hate him.  I haven't decided yet.

Anyhow, if you need a movie to help kill some time, I recommend this one.  Ass and titties.

Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher

This book was engaging enough that I read it in one weekend.  I'm not completely satisfied with the direction of the series since there are a few cop-out enemies, but this installment is well-written.

I highly recommend this book.

Cursor's Fury by Jim Butcher

Today I polished off another installment in Butcher's Roman Pokemon series.  His world is innovative and the magic intriguing.  His characters are well-written with depth and feeling.  Their actions are believable and the plot is reasonably well-paced.  This book wasn't perfect, but was a great read.

I highly recommend this book and this series.

Forge of Darkness by Steven Erikson

Erikson's Malazan Empire books are some of my favorites of all time so I was pretty stoked to see he had published the first book of a prequel trilogy.  It's a new library book so I only had two weeks to read it, but it deserves a much more careful read because it's...weighty.  I was going to say ponderous, but I don't want to imply anything negative.  This book is awesome, but I have a hard time describing the whys and the hows.  I guess I got into the apotheosis of some of the characters from the Malazan books.  You get a sense of their origins and get insight into some of the elder races.  Erikson is a master at creating a morally ambiguous world which stands in contrast to the Tolkien drek of good and evil.

I would recommend reading the books in published order rather than chronological order.  I highly recommend this book and I eagerly await the next installment.

The Amazing Spiderman

Sony has to make a Spiderman movie every so often or the movie rights revert back to Marvel (?).  I guess they squeezed the Tobey Maguire Spiderman franchise dry, so they rebooted with some new dudes.  A reboot means yet another origin story which is lame.  I'd rather they just jumped right to it since most people know who Spiderman is.  If not, they can watch the older ones to get caught up.

This movie had the Lizard as the villain and I think it was a mistake.  He looked pretty stupid in CGI and is not really all that interesting.  I'd prefer they have the Kingpin who has no super powers and Craven because then they could have a lot of animals running around.

While this version was rote and predictable, it was mildly entertaining so I half-heartedly recommend it if you're in the mood for an action movie.

Thursday night ramblings

I guess it's been a while since I've rapped at y'all.  Heh.  Good ol' Jim Anchower.  Yes, The Onion used to be funny once upon a time.  They have some funny articles from now to then, but it's no longer in my website rotation.

I was relieved by the presidential election results more than anything because it means an end to the political ads, an end to people talking about the election and the election was settled so we don't have to worry about the results being decided by the court.  I voted for Obama, but I don't think he's going to do much of anything.  The real problem is money in politics and he spent a crazy amount on his campaign so he's definitely part of the problem.  I also think the US has stagnated a bit and people are more interested in holding on to what they already have rather than taking a risk.  We're starting to fall behind in innovation and have lost that killer edge.  I think it parallels the fall of the Roman Empire pretty well, but there is still a chance for us to recover.  We should definitely free up some capital and get rid of all the excuses.

I bought a book on trigger point massage and a foam roller so I'll give it a try.  Both were recommended when I was complaining about my calves after my run on Sunday.  I'm big on fitness gadgets for sure and should probably cut back on buying stuff, but I've been hobbling a bit this week.  Minimalist running definitely requires more foot strength.

Just one more day at our Albany site and then I move up to our Malta site for a year.  I might end up staying longer, but I want it to be my choice.  We'll see.  It'll be nice getting out of a multi-company alliance since I feel not everyone is on the same page.  There are also seem to be a lot more single women up there as well so perhaps I'll get some dates.  Heh.  I guess I'll need to be more social and I probably should get a haircut.  I'd rather just shave it all off, but it causes less drama with my mom so I generally keep some hair for the holiday season.

It sort of snowed last night, but it was much warmer today and will be even warmer this weekend.  I'm not ready for the snow and I hope we have another mild winter.  A couple of snow storms are alright, but I don't want to be out early every morning clearing my long-ass driveway.  I've got a snow blower, but it'll still take time to clear everything off so I can get my car out.

I've been on a sugar kick since yesterday's lunchtime pizza party.  I know I don't have the discipline to resist snacking so I need to avoid the initial breakdown.  All I can think about now is how much I want a slice of pizza.  Damnit.

Magician: Master by Raymond E Feist

While the first book was tolerable, this second one was pedantic and I struggled to finish it before it was due back to the library.  I didn't like how he described battle scenes and the magic failed Sanderson's First Law badly.

I do not recommend this book.