Book Review: Dune

Title: Dune
Author: Frank Herbert
Pages: 544
Rating: 4 Stars

I first read Dune half a lifetime ago (I was 15, I think). I don't remember what I thought of it then, though I don't remember hating it. Before I'd read it, I'd seen David Lynch's 1983 movie both in theatrical and extended director's cut format. Concurrently I'd also played Dune 2, a landmark computer game that basically kicked off the modern real-time strategy genre. Why's that interesting to you? I'm not sure that it is, but it's interesting to me. The movie is not a thing I like, and yet it, combined withe the computer game, had replaced most of my opinions on Frank Herbert's novel. The only thing I retained after all these years was a general idea that I thought the book to be of somewhat better quality than the movie.

Anyway, all useless reminiscing aside, I saw the movie on TV the other day and reconfirmed my impressions that I think it's bad. It also managed to reawaken some trapped Dune particle in my system that planted itself in my brain and grew like a cancer until I decided to re-read the book. As it happens, I rather enjoyed it. I'm less concerned with avoiding spoilers in this review as I think most of my "audience" are going to be familiar with the rough details. The story involves a galactic imperium which depends on a "spice" called melange for all manner of rituals and technologies. This spice comes from only one source, a fully arid world named Arrakis, but called Dune in the vernacular. The plot in the book involves an intrigue between the Emperor and two major noble houses (Harkonnen and Atreides) designed to bring the downfall of Atreides. 

The plot is good, and the characters marginally engaging, but the real appeal of this book is Frank Herbert's fully realized setting. So well realized is this universe, I find myself interested in reading some of the "sources" Herbert constructed to introduce his chapters. Sometimes you'll see Dune referred to as something of a Lord of the Rings of Sci-Fi, and I can see why. Herbert has constructed an interesting and intricate universe in which he goes to great efforts to explore the philosophical implications of things like war and religion across his setting. In fact, I'd say it's arguable if Dune is even "science fiction," as opposed to fantasy. Certainly there is some technology in the story, but Herbert seems intent on using his setting to explore the extremes of humanity rather than the extremes of technology. It is based on the strength of the setting and Herbert's exploration of things philosophical I'm giving Dune 4 stars. While the writing is serviceable, it's not excellent, and most of the characters are a means to an end rather than any sort of dynamic and interesting force. 

Special note: Man, that movie sucks. Please don't watch it, and please read this instead. It's a great tragedy that most people will have created their impressions of Dune from that movie. Most of the changes the filmmaker made to the story and universe seem unnecessary. I kind of have to wonder if David Lynch actually read the material. I've never seen the Syfy channel miniseries, so I can't say if it's any good.

(4 stars)

Movie Review: Toy Story 3

Title: Toy Story 3
Director: Lee Unkrich
Rating: 5 Stars

Review:  First 5-star rating, hip hip hizzah.  I love the Toy Story series.  Heck, I pretty much love everything Pixar has ever done.  You get nervous when Disney starts puking out sequels of movies... I mean who could forget Bambi II or 102  Dalmatians direct to DVD wonders.  But, Pixar, I guess maintains enough control to keep their sequels from being ridiculous cashgrabs.  As I mentioned, I love the first two Toy Story movies, and I can say without out a doubt that Toy Story 3 is actually my favorite.

I didn't do any reading ahead of time, or pay any attention to previews of this movie, so I went in without knowing what the conflict would be.  Well, they took the nuclear option this time.  Andy has turned 18 and will be heading off the college very soon.  Though Andy had parted ways with some of his toys over the years via garage sale the core was still most in place: Woody the Cowboy, Buzz Lightyear, Slinky Dog, Mr. & Mrs.  Potato Head, Jesse, the Piggybank, and our trio of Aliens who worship The Claw.  The filmmakers build tension in the plot by asking the question, what will Andy do with the toys he hasn't really been interested in for years when he heads off to college.  Everything seems to shaping up for a decision in which he takes Woody to college and leaves the rest of his toys in the attic.  There's a snag however that sees Mom misunderstanding that the toys were meant for storage and instead throws them out.  This kicks off a long journey for our toys starting in a totalitarian daycare center and ending with a truly tender and bittersweet tearjerker of an ending. 

This film explores themes not unlike the previous installments of Toy Story-- honesty, corruption, fear, fearmongering and above all loyalty.  Our characters face new challenges and conquer them primarily with loyalty and honesty.  It's a wonderful message and it's delivered adroitly.  If you're loyal to your fellow man, you'll come out okay.  It doesn't mean things won't change, or that things will always go your way... But you'll come out of it loved by those around you.  I believe that, and so did the filmmakers here.  Anyone, child or adult should watch this movie and enjoy it.  (5 stars)

Movie Review: When You're Strange

Title: When You're Strange
Director: Tom DiCillo
Rating: 4 Stars

Review: I had an opportunity to catch this documentary about Jim Morrison and his experience with The Doors at Peoria Theater, our local Brew & View.  I'm glad my buddy mentioned it because it contained a lot of footage of the band together that I'd never seen before.  I believe this documentary does an excellent job in capturing the music of The Doors, especially as it relates to the counter-culture movement of the 1960s.

Tom DiCillo set the story of The Doors against a backdrop of Jim Morrison's own film, HWY: An American Pastoral.  HWY is the expression of one of Morrison's fantasy of being picked up as a hitchhiker and then killing the car's original driver (one he also expresses in the song "Riders on the Storm).  DiCillo artfully used the imagery of hitchhiker's journey to introduce each section of When You're Strange.

There isn't a great deal to say about plot here, as the movie merely follows the band from formation through to Morrison's death in 1971.  If you're not familiar with the story of the band itself, it's a lot like a classic Behind the Music episode on a stellar scale.  Band forms, does great stuff, member of band gets out of control on drugs/alcohol (and in Jim Morrison's case, WAY OUT OF CONTROL), said member explodes into supernova sealing band's legend.  DiCillo covers all of it at a reasonable detail level, so if you'd like to learn about the band this is a great film for you.  If you know a lot about The Doors already, the commentary will be wasted on you (even if it's delivered by Johnny Depp) because you probably already know it.  My only complaint was a little bit of the accompanying imagery/commentary is at times a little heavy handed for my taste, but all-in-all I thought this was an excellent movie.

Interestingly, this movie got mixed reviews, garnering only 67% or so on review aggregating website Rotten Tomatoes.  I can't imagine what any reasonable complaint would be, so suspect that some of the reviews are tainted by a dislike for The Doors or Jim Morrison.  In my case, I have loved the Doors since I was about 11... So I was good to go.  If you like The Doors, or would like to learn something more about them, I highly recommend When You're Strange.

That seemed in poor taste, Facebook.

What the hell?  When I posted a link to my blog entry about Beavis & Butthead to Facebook, the security verification system "randomly" brought up "firebombed airplane" as the words I had to type to verify I wasn't some kind of bot.  If I was a little smarter I'd've captured a screenshot for you all to be disturbed by.

YES! BREAKIN' THE LAW, BREAKIN' THE LAAAAWWWW!

On sports radio 670 The Score out of Chicago (of all places) I heard that Beavis and Butthead will be returning to MTV with all new episodes.  These episodes will evidently use the shows original format with short episodes broken by 2 or 3 music videos that the show's characters make fun of or at least, exist during. 

Because I like this show so much, here is an unnecessary link to the wikipedia article on it.  You should like this show too, and soon... OR ELSE! 

Please Mind My Dust

Well, the in-laws and other guests have all fled to their home countries, and I've decided to make some changes around here.  I've split the sports topics and sent them to their new home at a blog carrying the title this one used to, Basketball, Beer, and the WORLD!  If you're looking for sporty stuff, head over there and take a look.  If you're here for other stuff, well here you are indeed.  I have yet to come up with a satisfactorily interesting title, so for the time being you get: John Dwyer's Blog.  Thanks for, uh, coming, or something.

Incidentally, we may not be done with all this, as I may seperate my happy funshizzle from my very serious and dark political musings.  If I do so, please excuse my dust in the relative future as well.  Or something.

In-Laws, Happy Birthday to Me, and Other Excuses

I haven't been able to post very often here of late for which I apologize... But I do have lots of excuses!  My in-laws from Japan (as well as a friend of my wife from Tokyo) are in town and staying with us.  They are a lot more interesting than blogging for my own edification (and "you," like both people who read this, heh), so they get priority.  We've been doing interesting touristy things as well as throwing a big party for them and for my birthday.  Anyway, I've not quit or anything, and will post on here when I can.

Also the Duster has departed for Clarion School in San Diego today-- in fact he just texted his arrival.  Best of luck out there to this aspiring writer.

Farewell, Big Butter Jesus.

Well, Big Butter Jesus (or Touchdown Jesus depending on your perferences), known to anyone who's ever driven between Cincinnati and Dayton, was struck by lightning and destroyed by fire.  This is completely hilarious, even if it's sad we can no longer be completely creeped out by this thing when driving between Cincinnati and Dayton. 

Link to CNN Article

Link to Heywood Banks' parody song and fan-made Youtube video about Big Butter Jesus

And... just because I like it, Heywood Banks' "Toast"

And... because I found it in the list of related videos and thought it was funny: "Trauma to the Groin"

OH YES! Creative Assembly to make Shogun 2: Total WAR!!!!!

Oh my, oh my!  After the disappointing Empire: Total War, Creative Assembly is returning to their roots.  The original Shogun: Total War was one of my very favorite games.  Ever.  It's a great setting, and I just absolutely cannot wait to play the sequel.  Official site here.  IGN article here.

Book Review: Guns, Germs, and Steel

Title: Guns, Germs,and Steel
Author: Jared Diamond
Reviewed Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 471
Rating: 4 Stars

Review: I came into reading this book with very high expectations and finished just a little bit underwhelmed.  I'd seen the impressive PBS miniseries of the same name narrated by Jared Diamond himself, so I was familiar with the premise, and had several enthusiastic recommendations from people whose opinions I trust.  Perhaps the bar I set was a little too high, but either way, while I liked the book it didn't quite satisfy me.  Guns, Germs, and Steel also won a Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, for whatever that's worth.

The book is an impressive collection of information supporting Jared Diamond's theories on why it came to pass that Eurasian civilization dominated the modern world in terms of power, wealth, and technology.  His theory is pretty strongly deterministic, meaning that on the very large scale environmental/geographical factors allowed people to get a leg up on their neighbors because of where they were as opposed to who they are.  I, personally, think (and have thought for most of my adult life) that this makes a great deal of sense.  In my own travels I've never come to the conclusion that people are physically or mentally different in any significant way.  In terms of proving his point in the very broadest terms, particularly during pre-historical times, Diamond does a great job of making his point.

The book itself is laid out as a series of thought experiments where Diamond posits something and then thinks his way through them given known historical, archaeological, and linguistic factors.  He begins (and often returns) to Polynesia and New Guinea as interesting test cases-- situations where racially/ethnically identical people end up in different environments and alternatively regress, stay the same, or prosper significantly.  The historical details themselves are fascinating and make the book worth reading, no matter what you think of his conclusions.  For all of his though experiments, save one (his theory on the development of government and complex social systems), Diamond was convincing enough to sway my thinking his way. 

Stylistically, Diamond is a decent writer.  I didn't have to re-read sentences or paragraphs too often, and I thought the level of granularity in his historical examples were sufficient to make his point without overburdening the reader.  Diamond also had the integrity to point out the weaknesses in his theories or findings throughout the book and detailing the opposing points of view so that the reader could decide which point of view they preferred.

So that was all pretty positive, right?  Why didn't I give this book five stars?  I guess it's because I really didn't get anything out of it.  I agreed with his point of view concerning the rise of civilizations in antiquity before I read the book, but was curious to see how he would determine why European powers rather than China came to dominate the modern world... And he mostly shied away from it.  I'm not sure it's entirely fair to criticize because I'm not sure the mechanisms Diamond is describing (very broad strokes of the evolution of civilizations) can be realistically applied to specific countries over relatively short periods of time.  In any case, if the topic interests you even a little, I must recommend this book. (4 stars)

Movie Review: Robin Hood (2010)

Title: Robin Hood (2010)
Director: Ridley Scott
Rating: 2 Stars

Ah, disappointment burns brightly for me on this one.  I had reasonably high expectations going in... I wasn't sure the movie would be all that popular, but I thought I would like it.  Ridley Scott and I go back a ways, as it happens.  His film, Gladiator, is one of my very favorite movies.  The director's cut (please! stay away from the theatrical release) of Kingdom of Heaven is also very good, if not quite as good as Gladiator.  All three films are set to a violent, historical sword-and-shield kind of backdrop, and I'll be honest, I'm a big fan of such films.  I especially enjoy the historical ones when I believe them to be generally bereft of too much Hollywood romanticism.  Indeed, my preference for Gladiator over Braveheart is because I believe Gladiator to be the truer, less romanticized movie.

And that's what torpedoes this movie for me... Ridley Scott gave in (or was forced to) ridiculously sappy egregious romanticism.  For the first four fifths of this movie I was genuinely enjoying myself.  It paid plenty of attention to historical details of the period (in this case just after of the Third Crusade) and was engaged in the telling of a generally interesting take on the Robin Hood tale.  In this version, Robin is a common longbowman who'd accompanied Richard the Lionhearted's army to the Holy Land.  For those of you who are interested in that kind of thing, I did some checking and a lot of what you see in the movie are historical episodes (though none that ever confirmed the existence of Robin Hood).

Anyway, Robin eventually finds himself in a major squabble between the crown and many lords (spurred on by overly evil French agents) on the question of divine right of kings versus free will and god-given rights of the individual.  It seemed a little far-fetched while I was watching, but as I said, the history isn't exactly bad as far as all this was concerned.  The plot was fine, and the characters were reasonably engaging, and the acting was all quite good... But, it all came apart during the final battle for me.  It felt very unrealistic and full of Hollywood cliche.  Exactly what I did not expect from Mr. Scott.  My wife and I both laughed out loud at least once during the final battle scene, and it all ended up essentially ruining the movie for me.

C'est la vie, I guess.  I feel almost as betrayed by this one as I felt by the theatrical release of Kingdom of Heaven.  Here's to hoping the studio interfered with Ridley again and we'll all be treated to a future director's cut release of Robin Hood with a completely different battle scene... Or something. 

(2 stars)

Structure of Game Reviews

So, almost time to post a first-ever game review.  The thing is, game reviews kind of need to be on-time, and unlike professionals, I just don't have the kind of time I'd like to play a game all the way through in just a few days so as to post a current review.  My solution may be a bit of a cop-out, I suppose, but it's what you're going to get.  For regular games, I'm going to post a "preliminary" review giving you my impressions of the game... Then when I've completed the game, theoretically speaking, I'll give an update and a final rating.

Movie Review: Date Night

Title: Date Night
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 2 Stars

My wife and I decided to go see a movie the other night and checking the listing it fell between to comedies: Date Night and Hot Tub Time Machine, directed by Shawn Levy and starring Steve Carrell and Tina Fey.  I diplomatically suggested Date Night, despite low expectations, since I thought my wife wasn't in the mood for the surely raunchy and low-brow Hot Tub Time Machine.  But I felt like it kinda looked like Get Smart  -- another movie that didn't look great but turned out decent.  Oops.  I didn't like this movie a whole lot, and I think I'm probably being generous when I give it 2 stars.

I like Steve Carrell a lot, for the most part.  In fact, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, is one of my favorite comedies since Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  I'm supposed to like Tina Fey, I think, but I don't really.  Thought she was weak on SNL for years and never got into 30 Rock-- which is supposed to be funny.  I can't even get the "she's hot because she doesn't look Hollywood" thing going for whatever reason.  That being said, both turn in fine but unremarkable performances in this clunker of a movie.

Plotwise the movie was ho-hum.  I kinda like the way it started off with a married couple struggling to find time to appreciate each other outside of the mundane daily tasks involved with keeping their kids on the right track.  They introduce a sweet characterization device that I enjoyed: Steve and Tina point out other couples and then create conversation for them.  It was pretty funny and helped the audience see what brought the two characters together in the first place.  The movie really "gets going" when they steal someone's reservation and it turns out the stolen reservation belongs to another couple in trouble with the law.  Two hitmen arrive and hilarity is supposed to ensue (it doesn't). 

The movie really just didn't have any great jokes.  That's bad for a comedy.  I'll admit I laughed a couple of times... The first scene involving a mostly naked Marky Mark Wahlberg was kinda funny. And there was another thing very late in the film that amused me.  But, basically, the jokes missed enough that I don't think I even noticed they were supposed to be jokes (I expect better out of Steve Carrell, frankly).  If I'd have done some research, I'd've seen this coming.  It appears that Shawn Levy's purpose in life is to create mediocre-to-bad comedies.  He's responsible for such disasters as Cheaper By the Dozen and Night at the Museum.  He also made The Pink Panther, a movie I know to be bad but like for non-movie reasons. 

Anyway, I can't really recommend this movie unless you're really hard up.  It's as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I didn't really want to cut myself or go on a murderous rampage while I was watching it, but when it was all over with I felt I'd wasted my time.

(2 stars)

Beer Review: Pacifico Clara (bottle, fruited)

It's Cinco de Mayo, which means I'm going to write a beer review of one of the very fine Mexican beers I drank today. I met a couple of friends at Old Chicago out by Grand Prairie in Peoria to finish up their Cinco de Mayo minitour.  An Old Chicago minitour involves drinking 6-12 beers over a given period of time (no more than 4 at any one sitting, mind you) for which you awarded fame in your mind and a t-shirt.  My life is such that a great deal of my wardrobe is comprised of Old Chicago t-shirts.

Anyway, the Cinco de Mayo minitour is one of my favorites because I generally find myself a fan of Mexican beer.  Corona is my least favorite, and most of them you do "fruit."  I know it's not "manly" to fruit a beer... But whatever.  It tastes good.  One day perhaps I'll drink a Pacifico without a slice of lime and tell you how it is.  Fruited, I will say, Pacifico is a nice brew.  It has a nice deep flavor for a pilsner that seemed particularly refreshing given all the American light lagers I've been drinking (pounding?) of late.  The lime gives it a nice tart start that gracefully gives way to Pacifico's rich finish.  The lime also provides it with a nice tangy aroma.

I drank it from a brown bottle that had a reasonably attractive, if simple, yellow label.  Pacifico's label is an anchor and life-preserver crest.  Bottle didn't have ABV or born-on information, but an internet search reports that Pacifico is 4.6% ABV.  Pacifico, I think, is my second favorite Mexican beer, behind the sublime Negra Modelo.  One day soon I'll surely review that also.

Beer - Pacifico Clara
Company - Cerveceria del Pacifico
Delivery System - 12 oz. Brown Bottle
Origin - Mexico

Flavor - 84
Aroma - 80
Packaging - 64
Value - 70
BEER POWER! - 54

Final Score - 81 (Excellent)

Beer Review: Coors Light (Can)

Got home, took the puppy out.  While he was running around the yard, rear legs a bit too long, still characterized by that puppy-like lack of coordination that's so fun to watch, I decided it was time to finish building the patio table I bought yesterday.  Then Dusty came over to catch up on HBO's new drama, Treme.  (Excellent show so far, by the way)... I figured what better way to christen the new patio table than to grab a (diet-)pounder and eat my dinner out on the deck. 

It was a good decision: good conversation and an almost-better-than-a-pounder sort of diet-pounder.  Coors Light, as far as light beer goes, is quite flavorful.  I would give it a clear flavor edge over Bud Light, even if it isn't quite as "drinkable" or cheap.  Like most of its pounder cousins it has no real aroma to speak of.  It comes in the well-known, and to my eye, relatively attractive Silver Bullet packaging.  Anyway, I think I probably tend to drink other diet-pounders more often, but I have no real reason why.  Perhaps I'll have to change it up. 

Beer - Coors Light
Company - Coors Brewing Company
Delivery System - 12 oz. Can
Origin - USA

Flavor - 70
Aroma - 80
Packaging - 72
Value - 70
BEER POWER! - 45

Final Score - 70 (Recommended)

Book Review: Spin

Title: Spin
Author: Robert Charles Wilson
Reviewed Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 452
Rating: 4 1/2 Stars

Review: Spin is a Hugo Award for Best Novel winning sci-fi novel by Robert Charles Wilson.  For all intents and purposes the story is set now... Or maybe more accurately in 2005, when it was written.  It is written in the first-person (with one Tyler Dupree as the narrator) and follows the story of three main characters.  A pair of twins, Diane and Jason Lawton are children of relative privilege and both almost certainly geniuses.  Our narrator, no cognitive slouch himself, grows up in the shadow of these powerful personalities.  Robert Charles Wilson adroitly explores the personality of an individual who finds themselves in a position supporting (both directly and indirectly) a person of great influence who happens to have been alive at just that time that would see them maximize their potential impact.

That "just that time" is how Spin sets itself apart.  An ingenious scientific what-if.  It's a novel written in the great tradition of Isaac Asimov, or maybe even more so, Arthur C. Clarke.  Robert Charles Wilson has the three characters as teens making a bit of mischief during an adult party being thrown in the twins' house.  While they stand in the backyard looking up at the sky, suddenly the stars blink out.  It turns out that something has constructed a sort of temporal membrane around the Earth.  Inside that membrane time appears to be passing normally, while outside of it (the rest of the universe) things are moving at a rate of several years for every earth second.  The reason this has happened is completely unclear.  The story spans the next thirty or forty years (Earth-time) and we watch as society and our main characters try to adapt to this new reality.

This novel is purely excellent sci-fi.  It creates a canvas with a significant change to our reality and then paints a dramatic scene with compelling three-dimensional characterization and a psychological deep dive on those characters.  Wilson is a good writer, and I think this book would be accessible to any adult audience as a result.  I would recommend this book to anyone, fans of sci fi or otherwise.  (4 1/2 stars)

Estee Lauder?

Why the hell is there an Estee Lauder ad up on the top of my page.  I thought these ads were supposed to be contextual.  Oops.  I think I just caused the likelyhood for an Estee Lauder ad to appear to have increased.  Silly me.

Edit: An interesting observation.  While I was typing in the newly created "stupid" label for the post, the auto-correction was suggesting "nerdy stuff."  I call shenanigans and uncalled-for-nerd-hate accusations upon blogger.com.

Book Review: A Shadow in Summer

Title: A Shadow in Summer
Author: Daniel Abraham
Reviewed Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 356
Rating: 4 Stars


Review: As far as I know this is Daniel Abraham's first full novel.  It's beginning to seem a regular thing but as usual, Dusty put me onto this one.  I'm pretty sure he found out about it because George R.R. Martin (GRRM hereafter) is a big fan of this new author and mentioned it somewhere (as the book itself can be a little hard to find in a book store and is not particularly well known)... And as GRRM is my pretty much my favorite author in any genre I thought it would make good sense to give it a go.  Incidentally, Abraham is a graduate of the prestigious Clarion Workshop, a writing school for fantasy, sci-fi, and horror writers, that Dusty was just invited too-- and which GRRM will be an instructor at.

A Shadow in Summer (first book in a four-volume series Abraham calls The Long Price Quartet) is a fantasy novel set in a world that Abraham created, that to his credit, is very original in a lot of ways.  I would say it has something of an "Asian" (incidentally, I abhor the generalized Asian concept-- it's every bit as accurate as taking all peoples and cultures in North and South America and calling them "American" and treating them as some sort of monolithic and closely related bloc) feel to it.  The author never identifies it as so, it's just something about the clothes they wear and the distinctly Chinese feeling bureaucracy to the social constructs he used that left me with that feeling.  That said, the political structure is his own creation, and without any obvious correlated Earth nation.  He's also constructed a very unique magic concept for his world. 


To set the stage, without trying to give too much of the plot away, the story follows a handful of significant characters through an intrigue that occurs at court in the novel's setting, a city called Saraykhet, which is a part of a kind of confederation of kingdoms or city-states called The Khaiem.  The story did start off with one of those sorts of passages that won't be explained for some time, which made for a slow start but a nice little a-ha later.  The setting at the beginning appears to be a very harsh school for young men who are in some way gifted, although I was unsure for a while just what they were gifted in...  As you might expect the school is for the selection of future users of the magical concept that Abraham has designed.  Magic, such as it is in this world, involves a "Poet" using language to capture/create a god, called an andat, who is the perfect embodiment of some abstract concept.  Once an andat has been so captured then the Poet can direct it to carry out practical tasks related to the abstract concept it represents.  This gives the Khaiem great power in the world, and it seems each of their great cities is built around (at least) one such andat.


The plot itself is interesting and well constructed and has a bit of everything: some action, intrigue, love, and strong characterization.  Abraham, I think, is very strongly influenced by GRRM and it shows.  Much like a GRRM offering, the novel tends to read itself with generally clear prose and good dialogue... And Abraham even uses a few phrases here and there that any GRRM reader would recognize right off.  Best lesson Abraham may have gotten from GRRM though, has been character development and the use of dynamic three-dimensional characters.  This book offers a number of very interesting characters who all experience change in their situations and in themselves and that is what made this book such a joy to read. 


If you're a fan of fantasy books, or if you'd like to give the genre a try with something engaging, accessible, and solid, I very highly recommend A Shadow in Summer.  I'm looking forward to picking up the next book in the series, A Betrayal in Winter, and seeing which of the characters from the first novel Abraham brings forward and what awaits them.  (4 stars)

Book Review: The Three Signs of a Miserable Job

Title: The Three Signs of a Miserable Job
Author: Patrick Lencioni
Reviewed Format: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Rating: 3 1/2 Stars

Review: I was asked to read this book as a part of a book club at work.  This is my first review of a book that isn't necessarily designed as entertainment.  As "the plot" isn't really the focus of the book, and it's not likely that I could spoil the experience for a prospective reader by letting the cat out of the proverbial bag.  So get ready, cat's on the way and what not.

The subtext to the title is "A Fable for Managers (and their employees)," and that would indicate the book is most likely about trying to keep your employees happy and effective as they execute their jobs.  As I am currently a non-supervisory management employee, it means that I read it from the "other side" (though it's not like I wouldn't like to be a manager of people one day) and tried to evaluate if I thought Mr. Lencioni's ideas put into practice would improve my opinion of my management or not.

The book starts of with the fictional story of one Brian Bailey, a successful businessman with humble roots.  He started off in operations and climbed the ladder over time before finding himself the CEO of a mid-sized exercise equipment manufacturer.  The industry enters into a consolidation mode and Brian decides to sell the company off and retire.  He and his wife retire to Lake Tahoe and he gets bored and a little depressed without work.  Long story short, he visits an Italian restaurant that's a little down on its luck and he ends up not only thinking through its problems, but meets with the owner and via that discussion ends up invested directly in the business.

The story from that point on serves as a vehicle for Lencioni to deliver his message.  His point is that most people tend to think a job is a happy job when the employee is able to do something they love and get paid enough (or even a lot) money to do it.  He suggests this model is at best flawed as there are numerous examples of famous athletes, actors, models, and musicians getting paid large sums of money to do what they love and still very unhappy.  His theory is that there are three flaws common to jobs, each of which can make a person miserable: immeasurability (the author notes, as I do, that this wasn't a word until he made it so), irrelevance, and anonymity.  This boils down to the idea that an employee needs to be able to measure how he makes people's lives better (immeasurability/irrelevance) and not be just a number in a phone book (anonymity).

The "fable" itself is written well enough.  It's simple, with prose designed for maximum readability.  I feel it'd be disingenuous to criticize Lencioni on his writing as he was absolutely able to deliver his intended message.  There was even one night that the book turned into a little bit of a page-turner for me.  The message itself I feel a little mixed on.  There's no science to the fable... It's all pretty "soft," and Mr. Lencioni certainly wasn't going to write a story that didn't prove his point.  That said, he was convincing enough in his arguments that I've found myself using some of the language in my conversations at work and interested to at least test some of it out.  I'm not sure they're the absolute answer of making your employees happy, but I also very much doubt you'd make people unhappy by getting to know them and helping them understand how they help people get through their lives.  It also points out something that I think is a lesson that should appear in every text for a manager: the job responsibilities of a manager of professionals do include results, but their primary function is to cause their group of professionals to perform effectively and efficiently.

A third of the way through this book, I was ready to put it down and forget about it, but I just got over the hump.  I'm glad I did.  It's an easy read, and it's going to help get a manager's mind focused on managing his people.  From an employee's perspective, it might equip you with some concepts and vocabulary with which to train your boss and make your world a little better.  Mr. Lencioni's written several other books, and I've picked out which I'll be reading next: Silos, Politics and Turf Wars.  (3 1/2 Stars)

Movie Review: Clash of the Titans (2010)

Title: Clash of the Titans
Director: Louis Leterrier
Rating: 2 Stars

I didn't go into the theater with great expectations for this 2010 remake of a 1981 film of the same title.  The plot concerns itself with the Greek legend of Perseus.  The relation to the actual mythology is downright bad in terms of accuracy, but it's an action movie, so who really cares anyway?  Also, I've seen the old one, but don't remember a lot of details, so I can't say how faithful it is to that source material... But, that's not that relevant as long as it stands on its own.

And I'd have to say it stands up okay.  The movie was directed by French action-movie specialist, Louis Leterrier.  Leterrier's other credits include The Transporter series, Unleashed with Jet Li, and the 2008 movie The Incredible Hulk.  His work here is really quite good.  The action sequences are reasonably interesting and the special effects were a plus.  It's simply a well-crafted action movie.

That's about it, though.  The film is poorly written with weak dialogue and humor that usually misses.  Sam Worthington stars as Perseus.  He recently struck gold with Avatar but was nothing special here.  I wouldn't say he was bad, and certainly had little to work with.  Liam Neeson appears as Zeus and did fine with what he had to work with.  The most sort of irritating performance came from Ralph Fiennes.  He's the kind of actor who always seems to take himself too seriously (you have to be pretty pretentious to pronounce Ralph "rafe" I think).  It's distracting, and his portrayal of Hades had my buds and I mocking him on the drive home.

The movie was generally ho-hum, but wasn't a bad action movie.  I didn't hate myself or want to do myself physical harm while watching it, and can think of a few people I know that I think would really like it.  If you want to have a good time watching something with Medusa turning people to stone and the mythology-wrong kraken convincingly smashing the crap out of an ancient Greek city, then go see this.  If you want anything else, stay away. (2 Stars)

Beer Review: Bud Light (Can)

It feels a little ridiculous to review a beer like Bud Light.  I think almost everyone in American has probably had a Bud Light.  I've personally had at least a few thousand... I'm not sure even how to try to calculate how many I've had.  I'm also pretty sure I don't actually want to know.  Anyway, this eloquent intro is designed to introduce you, my audience, to a key beer concept of mine:  The Pounder. 

A couple of days ago I made some somewhat unkind implications about my cousins from Out East.  Well, it's time to make right with my blood relatives.  We, here in The Corn, had the concept of The Pounder, but we hadn't developed such a perfect term.  We representatives of The Corn were Out East visiting, and as these things come to happen we had a few beers with our kinsmen.  They were drinking a semi-local beer, brewed from somewhere in New York, from a company called Genesee. 

In the cooler, there were a couple of different Genesee brews, but some were in larger bottles.  I picked the large bottle, to which my cousin exclaimed something to the effect of, "Hey!  A Jenny Pounder!"  I inquired after this, and it was explained that the Pounder was bigger and good for heavy drinking.  Pounding, as it were.  I found this knowledge useful, and offered my own knowledge of the concepts of Cornfury and Beanlust by way of trade.  All found it good, and there was much rejoicing.

In any case, we may have modified the term a bit over the years, as a Pounder in local parlance does not need to be bigger.  A Pounder has two key attributes: low cost and drinkability.  One can enjoy the brilliance of a Guinness or the sublime flavor of a Tucher, but most do the volume of their work in the trenches with their favorite Pounder.  And that's what Bud Light is.  One of my favorite Pounders... In fact a Diet Pounder, by virtue of being "light."

Technically speaking, Bud Light is an American-style Light Lager.  American Lagers are very light in color and usually contain rice or corn.  They're characterized by an extremely light body and a flavor devoid of hoppyness or much malt.  A Light version is merely a reduced calorie content... 110 in a Bud Light vs. 145 in a regular Budweiser.  It doesn't relate much to the comparative BEERPOWER!, though there is some reduction (from 5.0% to 4.2% in Budweiser and Bud Light respectively). 

Beer - Bud Light
Company - Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
Delivery System - 12 oz. Can
Origin - USA

Flavor - 64
Aroma - 80
Packaging - 50
Value - 85
BEER POWER! - 50

Final Score - 67 (Recommended)

Book Review: Killshot

Title: Killshot
Author: Elmore Leonard
Reviewed Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 385
Rating:  3 1/2 Stars

Review: This is my first non-beer review.  I hope it does not suck, though reviewing something is fairly intimidating to me, so please bear with me.  This was my first Elmore Leonard experience.  I hadn't honestly heard of the author when the oft-mentioned Dusty was saying something about how Elmore Leonard was one of his favorites and recommending a novel called LaBrava.  Being the agreeable sort that I am, the next time I was at the bookstore I sought out Mr. Leonard and LaBrava.  I was to be disappointed on this particular day as the bookstore in question only had three offerings from Elmore Leonard.  Two were in hardcover, and I was feeling cheap I guess, so I picked up Killshot.

I would describe Killshot as a crime thriller.  It's set mostly in Michigan and Canada and just reeks of setting.  Some research confirms that Me. Leonard resides around the area so I'd suspect a fair amount of the details in the setting were researched primarily.  A bit of the story occurs in Cape Girardeau, MO, and the author painted such an interesting picture (and since it's reasonably in-range for me) that I'd like to visit that small city and take and compare the details of the novel with the reality.  The story itself revolves around a married couple that accidentally gets caught up in a scam being run by a couple of criminals.  Leonard adroitly keeps you on your toes as the plot unfolds.  The plot is tight and the characters are, if not particularly dynamic, interesting enough to allow Leonard's captivating style to take center stage.

Dusty mentioned that with Leonard the style is the thing... And the man was right.  Leonard writes excellent and realistic dialogue you can hear in your head as if it were in the same room.  It's not just the dialogue, though, Leonard's prose comes at you like a train.  It's quick to read and leaves a deep impression on you.  I checked up on the author on wikipedia and found that he believes things like grammar can't get in the way of the prose, and that if "it sounds like writing," then the author should "rewrite it." It's clear he believes it as the novel practically reads itself and I never found myself rereading a paragraph because I didn't get it.

Killshot was an enjoying read-- in fact the last 100 pages or so entered into can't put it down territory.  There were no notable flaws, and it turned me into an Elmore Leonard fan.  Leonard kept me guessing, and I couldn't tell until the very end which of the main characters would survive.  The style was the drive behind my enjoyment, though, while the plot and characters were just okay, and that's what knocks a star and half off the final rating.  In any case, I'm excited to read another Elmore story because the style was just that good.  If the next one mixes excellent style with a more interesting story or set of characters, I would be completely satisfied.  (3 1/2 stars)

Bachtown5000

Yeah, here it is.  I'm Bachtown5000 for the first time since last November.  The wife went a-jaunting to warm mountainy Arizona.  Rang it in, alright, though.  Brother and buddy came a-callin' and we had the best Chicago-style deep dish a man can get this side of Chicago and/or her suburbs at a little sports bar in Washington called Gracie's.  Took 'em a good 70 minutes to serve us the damn thing, but it was worthwhile when it came. 

We discussed things such as basketball, Tractor Supply Company, woman's basketball, how to buy a 'lectric guitar, and so on and so forth.  Then we retired to the homestead and watched episodes two and three of HBO's The Pacific.  That'll sober ya.  Except for the part that we had our way with some Cockburn's Tawny Port and some knockoff not-quite-Bailey's Irish Creme on the rocks.  It was still rough, and these kinds of things never fail to illustrate all the things I'm unlikely to be ever be able to accomplish for my country as some of those who came before, as well as those who are serving now or recently returned to us. 

Beer Review: Sam Adams Irish Red (Bottle)

Okay, first real post... And it being that I just got home from work, it's a beer review.  In the fridge are two bottles of Sam Adams Irish Red that my brother left behind after a St. Patty's Day party.  Lucky me.

This beer comes in a 12 oz. brown bottle and has a fairly respectable label with details about the method and ingredients printed on the neck label.  The labels follow the format of all Sam Adams beers, so nothing special there.  Sam Adams Irish red is apparently part of the Brewmaster's Collection, whatever that is.  The neck label claims that this beer "originated in Ireland in 1710."  I'm not buying that.  There is no note of ABV, so this beer will be getting a 50 BEER POWER! score. 

I believe Smithwick's is an Irish red, but I'm not sure.  A quick jaunt out to our buddies at Wikipedia confirms that Smithwick's is indeed an Irish red and that an Irish red is produced by the use of some roasted barley in the brewing of an ale.  This beer in particular makes no mention roast barley, but does prominently discuss the use of caramel malt.  And that's just what I'm tasting as I drink it. 

This beer is alright.  I'm not a fan of caramelly beers, and while this one does carry that flavor it's not as heavy as lot of other similar beers.  The aroma also does not carry a great deal caramel to it, and that's good as far as I'm concerned.  About 3/4 of the way through the beer it started to get a little heavy on me... But to my relief it seemed to lighten up a bit as I finished while a lot of these caramelly beers stay heavy.  I guess the question I have to ask myself is: Will I have the 2nd one.  Mayhaps.  Somebody has to drink it sometime.


Beer - Sam Adams Irish Red
Company - Boston Beer Company
Delivery System - 12 oz. Brown Bottle
Origin - USA

Flavor - 56
Aroma - 75
Packaging - 62
Value - 40
BEER POWER! - 50

Final Score - 59 (Workmanlike)

Beer Rating System v2.0

I forgot something, yesterday... Good thing, I thought of it today at work.  Revised model below.

Categories:
Flavor - Sabor in Spanish, according to the radio.
Aroma - How it smells. Usually, but not always, gives an indication that this beer may suck.
Packaging - Good things come in classy packages. Or something.
Value - Did I pay a lot for that beer? This may tell you.
BEER POWER! - This is to give a nod to that beer that may not be that great, but some crazy dude managed to get it to 11% alcohol by volume.

Scale:
0-40 - Ich. That's not German for "I," but rather the sound one makes after a sip.
41-60 - Decent, workmanlike beer
61-75 - This is a beer I'd easily recommend and be happy to drink any old time.
76-90 - An excellent beer.
91-100 - All-world. A 2006 Bradley Sweet 16 Run Beer.

Beer Rating System

I could have used the same star system for beer as I did for other stuff on here... But I decided not to. Instead I will rate beers on four different categories from 1-10 and then weight those ratings using my own secret and highly proprietary formula to result in a final rating. Finally, I've made a rule for myself: I will rate a beer only if I've had it in the last couple of hours. No historical, as-I-remember-it ratings.

Categories:
Flavor - Sabor in Spanish, according to the radio.
Aroma - How it smells. Usually, but not always, gives an indication that this beer may suck.
Packaging - Good things come in classy packages. Or something.
Value - Did I pay a lot for that beer? This may tell you.

Scale:
0-40 - Ich. That's not German for "I," but rather the sound one makes after a sip.
41-60 - Decent, workmanlike beer
61-75 - This is a beer I'd easily recommend and be happy to drink any old time.
76-90 - An excellent beer.
91-100 - All-world. A 2006 Bradley Sweet 16 Run Beer.

Rating System for Movies, Books, Games

In the general spirit of ripping Dusty off I will define a rating system here. However, because I'm superior to him in every way, he's getting one-upped, as I will be using a five-star rating system... Which has one more star than a four-star system, and is therefore better. Plus, I'm keeping open the option of a 0 star rating.

***** - 5 Stars - Bradley's 2006 Sweet 16 Run. Comfortably in the 90th percentile.
**** - 4 Stars - Excellence. Not perfect but something I really like. Best rating I give regularly.
*** - 3 Stars - Good. Like a Three Muskateers.
** - 2 Stars - Shaky. May have some merit, but probably best avoided unless you love the topic.
* - 1 Star - Outright bad. Nobody should like this... Except for maybe Megan or Amit.
0 - No stars - You just got herpes. That sucks.

Note: One day, I'll get cute and make some sort of graphical thingy and rename my stars to "graphical thingies." Be afraid.

Why I Started a Blog

Because Dusty did!

That's pretty much the basic, check-in-the-box, reason. He mentioned he started one (link here), and when I tried to follow his, it gave me an option of starting my own. Done and done. I can't honestly say I'll keep this thing up or going, but the first step in testing my resolve is creating the blog in the first place. I'm going to avoid making it public journal for the most part and focus in on posting things that at least I'm thinking about that I'd like others to read and maybe comment on. I'll warn that the topics have the potential to be a bit all-over-the-placey since I'm interested in things like books, movies, games, sports, and in depth discussion of politics and international relations.

So that's pretty much it. Hope it's good and/or fun. Or as someone once deemed something I did at work, "great/adequate."

Side note: Please excuse our dust. I'll be horsing around with the layout until I'm happy.