How Easy Is the Big Easy?

I am off to find the answer to that question tonight, so there will be little to no posting for a few days.

I will mention that I decided to take a copy of Ian Flemming's Casino Royale with me on the trip. I picked it up after learning that Quentin Tarantino wants to film it. Pierce Brosnan would play Bond, of course. I've seen the original film version, with David Niven and Peter Sellers, and I found it to be a confusing, humorless mess. I am curious about the novel. I've never read any of the original Bond books and I am looking forward to it.

See ya!

The Amazing Adventures of Chickenman

I understand that the MMORPG City of Heroes! (exclamation point added) is now commercially available. A friend of mine helped develop this game and several other friends of mine participated in the beta testing. I was not involved in the process because the game is not available for Macs. And they'll have to pry my iMac from my cold dead hands before I switch to PC.

I did spend a little time with the game during beta testing, piggy-backing on a friend's PC. I created the hero "Chickenman": a scrapper of small stature with claws and a garish yellow and red jumpsuit. He was not long for this world but he allowed me to sample the game. I enjoyed it and I liked the graphics.

My friends are all playing now and I recommend it highly to all of my readers. All two of you (hi mom!).

From the TV Desk...

We may not suffer for very long. There are rumors that Mr. Whedon is developing another television series. [via aintitcool]. The link has the usual stuff about Angel and Buffy movies, a Buffy cartoon and the oft-discussed "Ripper" series.

Speaking of television, how about that kid on "The Restaurant"? I realize that he was only 20 years old - and therefore blissfully unaware of what he doesn't know- but where did he get the idea that he knew anything about the business? Granted, Mr. Rocco was already on the warpath and looking for a victim. But that kid deserved getting his ass kicked out of the restaurant. And the scene where the business partner invited him back to the joint, just to kick him out again, was a nice touch.

And what does Laurent do, exactly? We see him stand around, staring blankly into space. We learn that he sees the monthly financial statements that the business partner sends to Rocco. But what does he do with them? Not much. Depending upon who you believe, he is not passing them on to Rocco.

And where o where are the lawyers?

D&D Turns 30

I just read an article up at the BBC web site that talks about the development of Dungeons and Dragons, the mother of all role-playing games.

I have played the game most of my life. I still play. I play with many of the same people. Although I approach the game differently now than when I was young, there are still a few things that remain the same: the creative outlet, the group activity, the jokes and shared experiences. How many games can offer a person all of that? And remain interesting after 20 plus years?

I remember that my fellow players and I used to joke that we would someday rule the world. I can't say that we do nor can I say that there's much of a chance of that happening. But we are a pretty respectable bunch. There are lawyers, computer programmers, teachers. We have had doctors, university professors and even a professional juggler sit at the table.

Good times, good times.

April is the Poorest Month

It occurs to me that I have spent a lot of money this month: taxes, trips and the like. And I may not be able to put anything into savings either. Still, I can pay my bills and take my wife to breakfast most Sunday mornings, so I figure I'm doing ok.

My wife and I are going to New Orleans this weekend for the Jazz Festival and to visit some friends. I am looking forward to the break, to exploring the city and to eating lots of fattening foods.

"Peanuts" update: Schroeder now plays piano, Lucy is a recurring character (self-centered but not mean yet) and Snoppy had a thought balloon.

Due to the overwhelming response (actually, two comments - and one was blank), I will tackle Quicksilver soon. It is a doorstop of a novel, so I may wait until after the trip. I may take a paperback with me for the trip. I have a book by Eric Ambler that I have not yet read that looks promising.

That's all!

Light Posting Thursday and Friday

As I am up to my ears in work-related matters, I do not anticipate posting very much today or tomorrow.

In the meantime, enjoy the links.

"The Complete Peanuts: 1950 to 1952"

I received my copy of the first volume in a 25 volume collection of all of Mr. Schulz' "Peanuts" comics. The first volume covers the comic's first two years. At that time, Snoopy did not walk on two legs or express thoughts or pretend that he was a WWI flying ace. Sherman, Violet and a character named Patty (but not "Pepperment Patty") shared equal time with Charlie Brown. Schroeder is a baby who can barely speak, let alone play the toy piano. But most significant of all: Charlie Brown is not a putz. He is a little simple but he gets along with the other characters very well. I am not finished with the book but I am certainly enjoying what I am reading!

It is a beautiful book too. Very nice design.

As I read it, I am reminded of when I was about 8 or 9. I was an aspiring artist then and I wanted nothing more than to be a cartoonitst like Mr. Schulz. I copied his work and studied it very closely seated at my desk in my room, listening to the transistor radio my great grandfather got me for Christmas. I even created a character for "Peanuts", a beagle much like Snoopy. I sent a copy of a strip I drew of this character to United Press Syndicate, in the hopes that it would get to Mr. Schulz. I dreamed that he would like it so much that he would include him in the comic. I remember that I received a few copies of renderings of some of the "Peanuts" characters in reply. One of them was Snoopy's litter-mate Spike. I am sure that these pictures were standard issue for fan mail at the time (mid- to late seventies) but I loved them.

I regret to say that the drawings are gone now and I hadn't thought about it in a long time. This new book brought that back to me. Mr. Schulz was the coolest!

"Hacking Biogeochemical Cycles"

I took the above phrase from the most recent entry in Oliver Morton's blog. It deals with terraforming our planet; specifically, encouraging plankton to grow in order to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Fascinating stuff and a great blog!

What to Read

I finished a book last night and I am casting about for my next one. Here are the likely candidates: 1) The Annotated Alice in Wonderland; 2) Diplomacy by Henry Kissinger (a long overdue re-read); or 3) Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson (the triumph of hope over experience).

What do you think?

Can I Supersize the Ravioli?

My wife and I watched The Restaurant last night. The show is ostensibly a realty show that documents the process of creating and running a restaurant in New York City, with the focus upon a celebrity chef who lends his name and fame to the project. This season centers around a struggle for control of Rocco's 22 between the celebrity chef and his business partner. The business partner is concerned that this restaurant, one of 22 restaurants he owns, is the only one that is losing money for him. According to the brief glimpses of charts and spreadsheets we see, the restaurant is busy enough but extragavent expenses and inefficient practices are bleeding the place dry.

The business partner tries to talk with the celebrity chef about this but gets nowhere (actually, the audience doesn't know what happens during this meeting because they wouldn't allow the cameras to record it). So he wades into the fray, syncophants and accountants in tow (and an intern who looks like he's twelve years old), to make the necessary changes himself.

In the meantime, the celebrity chef broods. That is, he broods between book signings (the women are all over this guy) and sessions with an Italian chef he brought in from the old country.

The restaurant's staff, as can be expected, has no idea what is going on. In one telling scene, the waitress attending the business partner's table shuttles back and forth between serving the partner and reporting snippets of conversation back to other staff. Of course, she gets everything without context and everyone is confused and scared for their jobs (for instance, she totally misses the partner telling some syncophant that the employees need insurance and 401k plans). The business partner has a meeting with staff but he spends a lot of time saying nothing at all. It's a lot of "working together" and "making changes".

At the end of the show, the celebrity chef, after a particularly productive brooding session, makes a call to his lawyer. The phone rings as the screen fades to black. You know that can't be good!

I wonder how much of this is scripted and how much is "real". I am aghast that the chef is willing to allow the cameras watch him brood and sulk like a child. It is clear that he is aware of the camera's potential for disaster, as evidenced by his request to shut the cameras off during that first meeting. How can he think that these images of him pouting (and his disastrous attempts to manage people during the last season) will help his reputation?

I can only conclude that he does this to ratchet up the conflict in the show. As we all know, without conflict there is no story. Now that the restaurant is successful, the show must find something else to focus on. Thus, the power plays, the sulking and the syncophants (and the nine year-old intern).

And watching the chef at a book signing shows that his reputation is not tarnished by his tantrums on the show. The women love this guy!

I must say that I am currently siding with the business partner on this one. Why not? The show may be completely staged but it is still an interesting drama and 10 times better than any sitcom.

I am eager for the lawyers to show up and REALLY make a mess of things!

Seamus Update

Seamus is doing very well. I force-feed him an anti-biotic twice a day and you can imagine how he likes that! His wounds are healing nicely and there doesn't appear to be any infection. I kept him in the house for a couple of days but neither of could stand it any longer. So far, his forays abroad are without incident.

In the meantime, I keep my eyes open for the other party in last weeks fracas. No likely suspects have emerged.

Hellboy Redux

After watching the movie on Saturday, a friend lent me several of the Hellboy comics to read. I can see where the movie's visual look comes from: the art in these books is amazing!

As I mentioned in my last post, I thought that a central conflict in the movie was really no conflict at all. Although I thought that the movie did an excellent job making an inhuman character human, I did not see any evidence of the conflicting side to that character's nature. Hellboy is a demon, after all but he never shows that aspect of his character. When he is forced to choose, there is no real choice.

The comic deals with this as well. To be fair to the movie, the comic does not address this very well either. The comic plays to the same strength as the movie: Hellboy is a better human than most humans are. He is like a father to little children: he is strong and reassuring, doing the things that must be done. In fact, he exhibits those traits that a comic reader would hope to see in the best super heroes (like Superman). The fact that the protagonist in the story should be the epitome of evil is a nice twist but one that has little impact on the story. All of the other characters, human and otherwise, accept his presence (in only one story is a human bothered by the fact that he is a demon, but he is dead long before the story starts and his concerns are dismissed perfunctorily). He is decidedly in the human camp and the temptations laid before him in order to convince him to "cross over" are not very tempting.

Having said that, the demon prince who offers him the opportunity to resume his place as a demon takes the refusal in stride. His reaction implies that this change is inevitable and he is willing to wait. I hope that this is developed more.

But on the plus side: the stories are nice retellings of folk tales from Ireland, Norway, Japan and elsewhere. They take the reader to interesting places and treat him to stunning representations of characters and beasts. I admire the scope and depth of Mr. Mignola's knowledge of his material and I can appreciate his spin on the ideas contained therein.

This is a comic I plan on paying more attention to.

I saw "Hellboy" this afternoon with some friends. Visually, it was very interesting. The makeup for Abe Sapiens and Hellboy was top-notch. The creatures looked like they slithered right out of a Lovecraft story. The action was as exaggerated as comic book action should be.

The story was lacking, though. From what I gather, the crux of the story centers on Hellboy's choice between the life (and love) of humans and his demonic nature. I saw plenty of the human side (and that was very well done) but I saw little of the demon side. Other than the fact that Hellboy is red, super-strong and super-tough and other than a brief glimpse of a future where he lives among the Cthulhu monsters, we see no propensity in the character to indulge in what one would expect to be demon behavior. What possible benefit would there be for him to choose his demon side? He never experiences those benefits and neither does the audience. Although Rasputin tells him to make a choice, there really is no choice. There is no conflict where conflict should be.

On the other hand, as a friend remarked as we left the theater, we now know that it is possible to film a good Lovecraft movie. The big beastie is as Cthulhu as they come!

Horizontes

The "Notorious HC" sez: listen to Horizontes on Friday afternoons. There is some outstanding music coming from South America and Mr. Crockett is the man to bring it to you!

And support public radio.

Papa Loves Mambo

I can't help it! I am the Mambo King! I love this stuff. It reminds me of a more innocent time, when I learned salsa from the "Salsa Nazi", a gentleman who wore jumpsuits and two-toned shoes and insisted that his class swing its collective hips. Schnell! Schnell!

Here's an analysis of Apple's 2nd quarter earnings. Things look pretty good: the company is moving CPUs (especially in the laptop market), it has billions in the bank and it recently paid off some long-term debt. Earnings beat estimates at 12 cents a share. The company is selling ipod minis as fast as they can make them (which isn't as fast as they'd like) but there isn't a lot of margin with those things.

Seamus the Vampire Slayer

I came home last night to find my big tomcat, Seamus, drenched in blood. It seems he was in a fight with a vampire: there were two puncture wounds near his jugular. I immediately took him to the vet, where they shaved around the wounds, cleaned him up and gave him several shots. The vet assured me that the likely culprit was another cat. Cats have "dirty mouths" so infection was likely. However, Seamus got to the vet in time to nip it in the bud. The vet gave me some anti-biotic and recommended that I come back in a few months for FIV (feline HIV) tests, just in case.

Seamus is a big cat, and a bruiser when cornered. I shudder to think what the other cat looks like. I am not sure who the other cat may be. Seamus is outside more often than inside but he has an understanding with the usual suspects that hang out on our block. Perhaps there is a new gunslinger in town. They always go gunnin' for Seamus.

Still, it broke my heart to see him so low. He spent most of the evening in my lap, sleeping off a fever. Fortunately, he seemed more himself this morning. He REALLY wanted to go outside. He hasn't performed the "coffee table slide" or the cannon-ball dive from the top of the couch but his voice was in top form.

Needless to say, he's staying inside for a couple of days.

Neal Stephenson Interview

Here is a link to an interesting interview with the author of Quicksilver about the history of money markets.

I started reading Quicksilver but I haven't gotten past the calculus.

If I only had a brain.

Slight Correction

For the record: I have been informed that (in this case) Isabel is spelled with only one "l".

Regardless, my niece will always be "Izzy" to me. At least until my sister can get me into range...

ISA or IZZY?

I want to mark the historic beginning to my blog with another historic event. My sister gave birth to a girl on 13 April 2004. Her name is Isabell and she weighed in at a whoppin' 7 pounds, 5 ounces! She's got red hair at the moment, so there's hope for her yet.

True to form, I have already taken to calling my niece "Izzy". Equally true to form, this is already annoying my sister. She likes "Isa" better. I am not sure. On the one hand, my sister (a wildlife vet) does wrestle bears for a living. She's also a crack shot with a tranquilizer gun. These are good reasons to call her daughter "Isa".

On the other hand, she lives on the East Coast and far from here. I am pretty safe to call my niece whatever I please until the next family get-together.

Welcome to the family, Isabell!

Welcome to my blog!