Friends, I hope you had a Happy Halloween! Janice and I spent much of this past weekend raking leaves around our duplex. On Saturday, 31 October 2009, we drove down to the New England Comics in Norwood, Massachusetts, to participate in its costume contest. I dressed as CaptainAmerica, and Janice was Supergirl!
We were relatively early, so no other contestants were around. We were also
disappointed in how few trick-or-treaters came to our door that night. Perhaps
the area children were at events at local shopping malls and churches, or maybe
they were scared away by our boisterous neighbors. Our leftover candy will go to co-workers and gamers.
Speaking of food, now that it’s getting colder outside, everyone around me (and much of the TV I watch) seems to be focused on food. On Friday, Janice and I tried to go to dinner at Acapulco’s, but its parking lot was full, and we ended up at the Union Street pub in Newton, Mass. On Sunday, in between raking leaves, we went to Legacy Place in Dedham and had lunch at Four Burgers. Today, my boss Margie brought in a sushi lunch from Fuji. I’ll be at a work-related conference in Boston tomorrow.
On Saturday, 17 October 2009, Janice and I had considered going to a local pancake
breakfast or up to Salem, Massachusetts, for the pre-Halloween festivities. However, our plans were derailed when Janice noticed our water heater leaking, almost four years to the
day after the basement of our previous apartment flooded. Fortunately, only a few cardboard boxes were damaged this time, and our oil provider sent someone to repair the leak fairly quickly.
Instead of going down to Dedham and Norwood, Janice and I drove out to Framingham,
Mass., for a late lunch at Olive Garden. We then met Beruk A. and Thomas K.Y. to screen Where the Wild Things Are. The looseadaptation of Maurice Sendak’s classic book had convincing visual effects and good acting, but the movie probably had too much emotional depth for most children and wasn’t really marketed as being for adults. Of the previews we saw, only Roald Dahl’s The Fantastic Mr. Foxintrigued me.
Yesterday’s early snowfall enabled me to clean up my basement and catch up on recorded
genre television. Among other things, I watched The Quest for King Arthur, a good History Channel International documentary on one of my favorite sets of legends.
Despite cast changes and melodramatic rather than swashbuckling storylines, BBC
America’s Robin Hood has been good in its third (and presumably final) series. The addition of Friar Tuck, more focus on Robin’s political role as a Saxon rebel, and slightly fewer anachronisms have made this the lead historical fantasy on the air right now.
Fans of Hercules: the Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess can look
forward to Strarz’s sword-and-sandals Spartacus, coming later this autumn, as well as the return of the syndicated Legend of the Seeker, which Buffy/Angel alumna Charisma Carpenter will be joining.
Despite the latest wave of adolescent vampire romances, I’m still hoping that the relatively
cheap computer backdrops used in Sanctuary (which just returned) can enable high-quality literary adaptations or original heroic fantasy to be brought to TV. I’ll try to report more on my second takes of the current TV season later this week.
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.
Filet mignon with gorgonzola
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.
Friends, it’s hard to believe that autumn is passing so quickly! As expected, on Saturday, 11 November 2006, Janice and I raked leaves before the unseasonably pleasant weather ended. On that Sunday, we caught Flushed Away — the Aardman/Dreamworks computer-animated comedy, featuring Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet as mice and rats, was better than we had expected.
We also had dinner with Thomas K.Y. at Acapulco’s, a nearby Mexican restaurant, for the first time since his family vacation in Japan. We’ve been going to Newbury Comics quite a bit lately, partly because with the demise of Tower Records and Virgin MegaStores, it’s the last good (and local) chain for discounted music CDs, movies on DVD, and pop culture trinkets.
On Monday, Nov. 15, Janice and I met with former co-worker and fellow genre fan Jacqui M.D. We chatted about our competing employers, Heroes, and the careers of actors who have worked with Joss Whedon. After dinner at Bertucci’s, she stopped by our place for the first time before heading back to her hotel.
This past Saturday, Nov. 18, Janice and I visited the shops in Harvard, Central, and Porter squares in Cambridge, Mass., including Pandemonium Books and Games. We also ate lunch at one of my favorite places near Harvard University: Mr. Bartley’s Burger Cottage, where I usually get the “Viagra burger,” which contains blue cheese. As Wallace & Gromit might say, “How about some cheese!”
There has been no cheese to speak of in recent strong episodes of Veronica Mars, Heroes, Avatar: the Last Airbender, and Doctor Who, IMHO (in my humble opinion, for those who are netspeak-impaired). With the revisionist Battlestar Galactica moving to Sunday nights and the Stargates coming off of hiatus, my television viewing schedule will change yet again.
On Sunday, I went to Super MegaFest at the Sheraton in Framingham. The genre entertainment convention was a bit of a bust, with fewer vendors and several last-minute cancellations by guests such as professional wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper, Buffy: the Vampire Slayer‘s Juliet Landau, and Firefly/Serenity and Justice League Unlimited/Stargate SG-1‘s Morena Baccarin.
However, it was still a decent show, with “Elvira, mistress of the dark” (nee Cassandra Peterson), Star Trek and Batman‘s Yvonne Craig, and Happy Days‘ Erin Moran, as well as wrestler “Captain” Lou Albano. Since relatively few of these cons have been successful in the Boston area, I try to patronize those I can get to. The more literary (and pricey) speculative fiction gatherings of Arisia, VeriCon, Boskone, and Noreascon tend to be in the winter/early spring.
That afternoon, I met Thomas and Greg D.C. at the AMC Framingham 16 to screen Casino Royale. We had tried to get together to see The Prestige a few weeks ago, but those plans fell through. Greg and I mostly liked the latest James Bond flick, which marked a return to a more serious tone than the Pierce Brosnan or Roger Moore versions.
The new James Bond
Casino Royale (based on the first Ian Fleming novel, and not to be confused with the David Niven spoof of the same name), opens with an impressive free-running stunt sequence and tries to explain Bond’s attitudes toward women, his superiors, and his lethal occupation.
Thomas felt the film was too predictable, and Dexter V.H. preferred the more glamorous espionage/action movies of the past. However, I’d give newcomer Daniel Craig and the franchise relaunch (not unlike Batman Begins) about an 8 out of 10.
Here’s my list of Bond movies and ratings:
Doctor No (Sean Connery, 1963) ****
From Russia With Love (Connery, 1964) ***
Goldfinger (Connery, 1964) ****
Thunderball (Connery, 1965) ****
You Only Live Twice (Connery, 1967) ***
Casino Royale (spoof with David Niven, Peter Sellers, and Woody Allen) **
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (George Lazenby, 1969) ****
Diamonds are Forever (Sean Connery, 1971) **
Live and Let Die (Roger Moore, 1973) ***
The Man With the Golden Gun (Moore, 1974) ***
The Spy Who Loved Me (Moore, 1977) ***
Moonraker (Moore, 1979) **
For Your Eyes Only (Moore, 1981) ***
Octopussy (Moore, 1983) **
Never Say Never Again (Connery, 1983) **
A View to a Kill (Moore, 1985) *
The Living Daylights (Timothy Dalton, 1987) ***
License to Kill (Dalton, 1989) **
GoldenEye (Pierce Brosnan, 1995) ***
Tomorrow Never Dies (Brosnan, 1997) ****
The World Is Not Enough (Brosnan, 1999) **
Die Another Day (Brosnan, 2002) ***
Casino Royale (Daniel Craig, 2006) ***
Before last autumn’s basement floods, I owned some first printings of Fleming’s novels, but I still have several reference books on James Bond. As you can tell from the list above, I prefer the Sean Connery/George Lazenby portrayals of the cinematic superspy, as well as stories rooted in the Cold War. However, I don’t mind updating the archetypal series, as long as the cool hero, daring stunts, exotic locations, beautiful women, and dastardly villains are left intact.
After the movie, Thomas and I had dinner at the Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse. The D&D3.5 “Vanished Lands: Halmed Desert” fantasy game is going well, but we’ll have a few breaks in the coming weeks due to the holidays and weekend one-shots. Dan A. will be running a D20 Call of Cthulhu on Tuesday, Nov. 28, and Byron V.O. and Dexter V.H. are still working on plans to visit the Boston area in early December.
The City of Heroes virtual superhero party has been meeting more regularly, although Steve M.R. had to drop out (hopefully only briefly) due to the same kind of technical problems that have afflicted David I.S. and Kim M.E.A.G. We’re still working on tactics but are proceeding in level.
This coming weekend, Janice and I will be visiting her immediate family in Upstate New York. It’s likely that I’ll be watching some of my nieces and nephews while Janice, her sisters, and their mother go shopping on “Black Friday.” Wish me luck! Fortunately, I look forward to hanging out with them and with my brother in law Gary T.L. May all of you and your families have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!
Friends, I hope that you had a good Independence Day! (The patriotic photograph attached to this entry was from last year’s cruise to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.)
Proud to be an American
I’ve been critical of recent U.S. politics, so for a change, I will express what I’m proud of as an American. I’m fortunate to live in a prosperous, diverse democracy, whose generosity and openness to new ideas continue to inspire people around the world.
Having recently seen the glitz of Las Vegas, the spectacular natural wonders of the Grand Canyon, and soon to again visit the cities of New York and Washington D.C., my appreciation of my homeland has never been greater. Trust in reason and in humanity’s quest for self-improvement, as enshrined in the documents left by the Founding Fathers, have left all of us an ideal of equality and justice to continue to strive toward and protect.
Somewhat more down to earth, Janice and I met Beruk A. on Saturday, 1 July 2006, to screen Superman Returns at the AMC Framingham 16, followed by lunch at Panera in Natick, Massachusetts. We all enjoyed the movie, which I’ve reviewed in more detail elsewhere.
I thought Bryan Singer, Brandon Routh, et al. did a very good job of continuing the legacy of almost 70 years, including creators Siegel and Schuster, animators Max Fleischer and Paul Dini/Bruce Timm, George Reeves and the rest of the 1950s television cast, various comic books and other media over the years, and especially Richard Donner and Christopher Reeve in the late 1970s/early 1980s. If you’re a fan of any of these superhero stories, you’ll probably like Superman Returns, one of my favorite movies so far this year and one of the best in this genre, IMHO…
Janice and I also finally set up our air conditioner for the first time since our move between duplexes, put up a few more curtains, and walked around the town of Needham, Mass. After her usual shift at the animal shelter on Sunday morning, Janice visited her immediate family in Upstate New York through yesterday.
I had to work on Monday, July 3, but we were let out early. I got home in time to camp out in front of the Needham high school for some excellent fireworks. On July 4 itself, I attended the local parade and flea market, as well as a model sailboat regatta.
I also managed to mow the lawn just before rain and Janice’s return, winding down the holiday with chores. My D20 Mutants & Masterminds 2nd Ed.: “Drake’s Port” superhero game is on hiatus for the moment.
As already noted, I’m looking forward to visiting friends in metropolitan New York this coming weekend. David I.S. (who’ll be coming down from upstate) and I will be staying with Steve A.L. in Brooklyn.
Dave has a few dates planned, and I hope to hang out in Manhattan on Sunday and meet with the “Westchester crew” on my way home on Monday, before Janice’s and my storage unit is returned next Tuesday. In the meantime, let freedom ring… -Gene
Gene's Worlds 
