Wednesday, 16 September 2009: Meaty weekends

Friends, I hope you’ve had a good fortnight. I’ve been busy with work during the past two weeks. I helped coordinate TT’s coverage of the annual VMworld conference in San Francisco, and I’ve been transitioning to my new role as an associate site editor, which
involves tracking editorial content from assignment to submission to posting on our Web sites.

For Labor Day weekend, Janice and I drove to Upstate New York to see her family. We spent most of our time at the home of Janice’s sister Melinda, her husband Gary, and their children Amanda and Joshua. Janice’s parents Marvin and Linda also joined us for good home-grilled meals.

Among other things, we rewatched Coraline, and I played Wii Motion Plus and Wii Sports Resort with Josh, Amanda, and Gary. We plan to meet Janice’s folks again at the “Big E,” or the Eastern States Exposition, in western Massachusetts in a few weeks. My own family went to the Delaware shore and will be in Europe in the coming month or so.

This past weekend, Janice and I went to the new Legacy Place shopping plaza in Dedham, Mass. Although the Showcase Deluxe cinemas and Borders Books aren’t open yet, several other shops are, including an impressive Whole Foods. I especially enjoyed checking out its fromagerie.

We also ate at Uno Chicago Bar & Grill as part of a charity event. Like another midrange casual restaurant, T.G.I.Friday’s, the food has improved in the years that we weren’t going there. Closer to home, Stone Hearth Pizza and Wild Willy’s (especially
its spicy Buffalo-style chicken) are still among our favorites.

Thomas K.Y., Beruk A., and I ended up not meeting for 9 because the postapocalyptic “stitchpunk” movie got mixed reviews, but we may meet for Cloudy With a Chance of
Meatballs or Surrogates in the coming weekends. I’ll blog more about the new genre television season once I’ve had a chance to watch more premieres.

The arrival of autumn also brings new comic books and role-playing games. In addition, the Pathfinder: “Holy Steel” and D&D4e “Vanished Lands: the Faith-Based
Initiative” groups have kept me busy, with the former being a classic pseudo-historical dungeon crawl and the latter featuring a recent battle against vampires. Can Halloween be far behind?

Monday, 31 August 2009: Work, food, and Ponyo

On Tuesday, 18 August 2009, I received a minor promotion from assistant site editor to associate site editor at TT. In addition to my existing duties at the technology journalism company, I’m helping to coordinate coverage of this week’s VMworld conference in San Francisco and taking on more Web page management responsibilities.

On the bright side, I’ve already been treated out to sushi lunches at Fuji in Needham,
Massachusetts, twice by current and future managers! I’m flattered that they’ve had such confidence in my organizational abilities after only three months, and I hope to earn their trust.

On Monday, Aug. 24, Janice and I met with former CW co-workers Michele D. and Bob R. for a pleasant dinner at the Watch City Brewery on Moody Street in Waltham, Mass. I still hope to get together with other former colleagues, including Monica S., Donna S., and Brian F.

On Saturday, Aug. 29, I met Ken G. for lunch at Rawbert’s Vegan Café before going to an exhibit on comic book history at the Wenham Museum. The big news in the world of superheroes is that Disney is buying Marvel. I don’t expect any immediate changes in the comics or movies, but the move puts more pressure on DC Comics and Warner Brothers to try to catch up.

On Sunday, Janice and I had brunch at the ’50s Diner in Dedham, Mass., and went to the Dedham Community Theater to screen Ponyo. A few months ago, I saw and liked the subtitled version of the latest Miyazaki anime, and I found the English-dubbed
version to be better paced. I’d still give this PG-rated variation on The Little Mermaid an 8 out of 10, or a B+.

Although I’ve had to cancel this coming week’s games, I did catch the first-season finale of BBC America’s supernatural melodrama Being Human, which may not have the popularity of True Bloodor Twilight, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. The regular autumn genre television season begins in the next few weeks, but first, I’ve got lots of work to do!

27 August 2009: District 9 review

On Saturday, 22 August 2009, Janice represented the Animal Rescue League of Boston as a volunteer at the “Blues and Brews” festival in Westford, Massachusetts. I met Brian W. and a friend at the AMC Framingham cineplex to screen District 9.

We enjoyed the science fiction film, which was an overt allegory about apartheid (although some viewers seem to have missed that). Sharlto Copley plays Wikus van de Merwe, a clueless employee of a government contractor managing camps for extraterrestrial refugees nicknamed “Prawns.” The abject poverty, casual racism, and enclaved middle class are all the more believable because of the South African setting. Footage of actual riots is used for some scenes.

DirectorNeill Blomkamp poses the uncomfortable question of who are the monsters — the marooned aliens or ruthless humanity? Other movies, such as Alien Nation and Enemy Mine, have warned “civilized” audiences to beware of the brutality lurking just under
our skins. The first half of District 9 plays like a documentary, while the second half is more of an action/horror flick, similar to Aliens or The Fly.

Despite a modest budget, the special effects are impressive as van de Merwe inadvertently
becomes the center of attention by the government, the news media, the Prawns, and a criminal warlord. District 9 is rated R for graphic violence. This may explain why five of the six trailers we saw before the movie were for horror flicks, with the last one inexplicably for
Where the Wild Things Are.

Producer Peter Jackson, best known of the Lord of the Rings adaptation, no doubt helped this movie get a wider release, which it deserved. I’d give District 9 an 8.5 out of 10, or an A-. Despite Hollywood’s reliance on established franchises, it’s nice to see something relatively original.

Coming soon: Gaming, work, dining out, and superheroes!

Tuesday, 25 August 2009: Virginia vacation

On Saturday, 8 August 2009, Janice and I ran errands in Norwood, Massachusetts,
and had lunch at Minerva Indian Restaurant. The next day, we began the long drive south to see my family. We stayed the night in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.

On Monday, Aug. 10, Janice and I visited her grandmother before continuing on our way to Virginia. We arrived in the town of “Little” Washington that afternoon and were treated to my mother’s cooking. After a restful Tuesday, we all went to Charlottesville. My father took us to the pleasant campus of the University of Virginia, where he teaches, and we enjoyed a classy buffet lunch at the Boar’s Head Inn and a cheese tray for dinner from Feast.

On Thursday, Aug. 13, we went to Monticello, the estate of President Thomas Jefferson. I had been there before, most recently a decade ago for the swearing in of my
mother as a U.S. citizen, but Janice had not. I thought the new visitor center was a model of modern museum exhibits, and the tour of the mansion and grounds provided an interesting glimpse into the talents and contradictions of the drafter of the Declaration of Independence, architect, and slave owner.

That afternoon, Janice and I drove from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the suburban sprawl of Northern Virginia. We met my brother Peter, his wife Kelly, and their daughters before heading to the home of Corbin A.Y. & Andria K.Y. and their new arrival, Maia. Steve M.R. & Aleece Z.R. and their children, Connor and Lauren, joined us for a fun fajita dinner.

On Friday, Peter, Kelly, Ava, Lili, and Janice and I took the Metro into Washington, D.C., where we checked out the Smithsonian Institute‘s Museum of Natural History
and the newly renovated National Museum of American History. As always, there were many interesting exhibits. The girls behaved well, despite missing a nap and dealing with the summer heat and crowds on the Mall.

Later that night, the adults watched Confessions of a Shopaholic on TV. It was a frothy, forgettable comedy that wasn’t as good as, say, The Devil Wears Prada. Not my usual genre fare (science fiction, fantasy, comic book superheroes, mystery, etc.), but I look forward to the English-dubbed version of Ponyo, among other autumn movies.

On Saturday, Aug. 15, my parents joined us for a barbeque lunch to belatedly celebrate their birthdays. Janice and I left by midafternoon, grabbing dinner in the Palisades Center shopping mall and stopping for the night at the Spring Hill Suites by Marriott in Tarrytown, New York. By breaking up our travel, we managed to avoid most of the usual end-of-weekend traffic jams in New Jersey and Connecticut.

Since returning to the regular routine, I’ve also been catching up on recorded genre television, e-mails, and gaming. I hope to blog about work, movies such as District 9,
and more in the coming weeks.

Entry for February 17, 2009: Catching up — food

For Valentine’s Day, Janice and I went to an early dinner at Fuji, our favorite Japanese steakhouse in Needham, Massachusetts. In the past month, we’ve also enjoyed meals at Border Café in Harvard Square, Cambridge; the new Five Guys Burgers & Fries in Dedham; and the “Death by Chocolate” charity event at the Sheraton in Newton. Five Guys compares favorably with other hamburger joints, such as Wild Willy’s.

In addition, I met Cliff Y. for an excellent Indian food buffet at Minerva, formerly the Curry Leaf, in Framingham. More recently, Janice and I had dinner with Thomas K.Y. and visitors Stuart C.G. and his eight-year-old son Sammy G. at Firefly’s Barbecue in Framingham. I went to college with Stu.

On Sunday, 15 February 2009, Beruk A. joined us for lunch at Addis Red Sea, a good Ethiopian restaurant in Porter Square, Cambridge. We then went to the Boston Museum of Science for the “Mythical Creatures” exhibit, which Janice and I had seen in New York last year. Stu, Sammy, Thomas, Beruk, and I later had a fancy steak dinner at Smith & Wollensky, although Thomas’ lamb was the standout dish.

Last night, during the D20 Mutants & Masterminds 2nd Ed.: “Drake’s 7” superhero game, we ordered from Stone Hearth Pizza. The locally sourced, organic food wasn’t quite as tasty as in the restaurant, but that was probably because the driver was misdirected and our food arrived late.

Coming soon: Games and animation!