Friends, I hope you had a good weekend and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States of America and the first African-American in the role was a moving event. I thought his speech struck a good balance between somber acknowledgment of the many challenges we face and idealistic hope and faith in our shared values and strengths.
I attended both Clinton inaugurations in the 1990s and have fond memories of the crowd and festivals on the National Mall. I considered going down to Washington, but the expense, leave time required, and wintry weather kept me home. Still, I was happy to watch the event with co-workers.
I wish the new administration, our country, and the world good luck in the months ahead in dealing with the escalating challenges of economic inequality and recession, health care expenses, persistent armed conflicts, and environmental degradation. Crafting and executing policies to address these challenges is a monumental task, but as Obama said, hard-working Americans are capable of uniting to succeed.
I’d like to congratulate the New York Giants and the team’s supporters on their victory in Super Bowl XLII and offer my condolences to fellow fans of the New England Patriots. While the Pats didn’t get the perfect undefeated football season they had hoped for, the big game was a close challenge rather than a blowout for either side.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning successfully drove down the field, and his defensive teammates did an excellent job of keeping the Patriots from advancing and kept the overall score low. Unlike some more hard-core sports fans, I have no interest in gloating and am glad that the game was close and that the Northeast was well represented.
Backing up a bit, on Saturday, 2 February 2008, Janice and I had brunch at Fresco and ran some errands in Needham Heights, Massachusetts, which The Boston Globereports is becoming a foodie town. It remains to be seen if the local population can support the various restaurants that I’ve blogged about. We also caught up on Avatar: the Last Airbender, The Batman, and decent romantic fantasy comedy Ella Enchanted.
We then met co-worker Ken G., who was in the neighborhood and brought over some DVDs. We watched noir comedy Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, which was based on a graphic novel. We were pleasantly surprised to like the movie, which starred Robert Downey Jr. (soon to be Iron Man‘s Tony Stark) and Val Kilmer (once Batman). I’d rate it about an 8 out of 10.
Val Kilmer and Robert Downey Jr.’s career renaissance
We grabbed dinner at the Ground Round before Ken left, and Janice and I watched a dog show. The next morning, after the usual City of Heroesgame online, I met Thomas K.Y. and Beruk A. for a seafood lunch at Jasper White’s Summer Shack in Cambridge, Mass. We then went back to Thomas‘ place in Lexington, Mass., to watch a DVD of Day Watch.
The Russian modern horror/fantasy movie wasn’t as visionary as its predecessor, Night Watch, but I still thought the story of one man’s search for redemption and interpersonal connection amid a supernatural struggle among the forces of light and darkness was interesting. I’d give the subtitled film about a 7 out of 10.
We also checked out the dieselpunk/horror video game Bioshock and a few movie previews. As with the Super Bowl broadcast, Iron Man and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian look most promising. The other commercials during the game were lackluster in comparison with previous years, but at least Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers gave a solid classic rock performance at halftime.
Speaking of various contests, next time, I’ll blog about the U.S. presidential primaries!
Friends, I hope that you had a good weekend. On Friday, 6 July 2007, I chatted with role-player Byron V.O. in St. Louis. Unfortunately, fellow “Holy Steel” teleconferencer Dexter V.H. was unable to join us in time, but at least I recorded the solid third-season premiere of the BBC’s revived Doctor Who.
The long-running, time-travel television show has had regular rounds of turnover, not unlike my gaming groups. While Christopher Eccleston gave the good Gallifreyan a strong relaunch, I’ve grown to like David Tennant, who in these most recent episodes reminded me of the swashbuckling third doctor, Jon Pertwee.
While Freema Agyeman has been somewhat controversial as new companion “Martha Jones,” I thought she has been an intelligent addition in the episodes I’ve seen thus far. Granted, comedienne Catherine Tate was funny as the “Runaway Bride,” and we’ll see her again in Series 4.
I’m still catching up on recorded episodes of the BBC’s latest Robin Hood. I’d also like to mark the passing of science fiction author Fred Saberhagen, whose “Berserker” novels were favorites of my brother Peter and me.
On Saturday, July 7, Janice and I drove to various used bookstores in Sharon and Waltham, Massachusetts in an unsuccessful initial attempt to sell four boxes of used books that we got from Robert A.S., who recently moved to North Carolina.
We also caught an early matinee of computer-animated culinary comedy Ratatouille, which we liked. I would compare the Disney/Pixar movie favorably to Dreamworks SKG/Aardman’s Flushed Away, which also had clever rodents trying to find how to coexist in a society that mirrors that of humanity. I’d give “Ratatouille” an 8 or 8.5 out of 10.
Later, we watched some of the Live Earth concerts on Bravo and NBC. Thanks again to Steve M.R., who notified me of the events on his blog. A good mix of musical acts performed around the world for the worthy cause of raising ecological awareness and starting to change consumer behavior.
Speaking of music, in recent weeks, I also watched the tribute to the late Diana, princess of Wales, and to Paul Simon. Princes William and Harry organized a nice tribute to their mother, but the audio quality of the broadcast from Wembley Stadium wasn’t very good.
I thought that the best songs in the latter special were those with Simon’s old collaborator Art Garfunkel, a rockin’ medley with Stevie Wonder, and songs with South Africa’s “Ladysmith Black Mambazo.”
During the various Fourth of July concerts, I was glad to catch a few songs of Bebe Neuwirth, best known as Frasier Crane’s shrewish wife Lilith in Cheers and Frasier. Neuwirth was also the star of Broadway’s Chicago revival, which Janice and I later saw in Boston before the recent movie with Catherine Zeta Jones, so it made sense for her to sing numbers from various Bob Fosse musicals.
In a related genre, current pop favorite Amy Winehouse is a young British singer whose latest album harkens back strongly to 1960s soul. The song “Rehab” is as catchy and retro as Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” was last summer, with dark undertones but a sense of humor.
Of other current Top 40 music and video hits, I like Rihanna’s “Umbrella” (O.K., perhaps seeing her gyrate painted a la Goldfinger has something to do with that, but so does the beat), the “Black-Eyed Peas'” Fergie stretching a bit in “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” and Carrie Underwood’s righteous fury in “Before He Cheats.”
As various games resume this week, I’m already making plans to screen Harry Potter [5] and the Order of the Phoenix with some of the local group this coming Saturday and Live Free or Die Hard [4] with visitor Ron J.K. on Sunday. I’ll try to post a review of those and more role-playing games in the coming week.
While my primary blog is part of my Yahoo 360 site, I have posted a few things to my MySpace page, including the results of a “What Superhero Are You?” quiz and a link to a preview of the animated adaptation of D.C. Comics’ Death of Superman.
Friends, I hope you had a good weekend. On Saturday, 10 March 2007, Janice and I attended the Rhode Island Pet Show in Providence. We observed canine competitions in agility and breed, saw rare breeds of dogs and cats, and even saw a fashion show featuring dressed-up humans and animals.
After that, we went to the Providence Place Mall, which is one of the bigger shopping malls in New England. On Sunday, we took advantage of the warmer weather by going to our usual book shops in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I’m pleased to report that Pandemonium Books & Games in Central Square has avoided bankruptcy for now.
Janice and I also screened 300, based on Frank Miller’s loose recounting of the Battle of Thermopylae. I own several of Miller’s graphic novels, including cyberpunk samurai drama Ronin, his redefinition of D.C. Comics icons in The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One, his work on Marvel Comics’ Daredevil, and gory noir Sin City, also recently (and faithfully) adapted into a movie.
300 Spartans
300 is about how King Leonidas of Sparta and some of his troops defied Greek law and momentarily held a much larger Persian invading force at bay in a mountain pass in 480 B.C.E. The visual storytelling was excellent, including computer-enhanced imagery, muscular acting, and fluid fight choreography. Gerard Butler, Lena Headly, Dominic West, and David Wenham, among others, give solid performances, overshadowing the more stilted Troy (itself a very loose retelling of The Iliad).
However, as some critics have noted, 300 is more Miller’s epic version of the story than a historically accurate depiction of events. As one noted, it’s the sort of movie the ancient Spartans themselves might have wanted to make rather than the truth.
For example, talk of Western “freedom” and “reason” versus the superstition and decadence of the East is mere propaganda. Sparta’s warriors were among the best in ancient Greece because the city-state’s many slaves enabled its landowning men to spend most of their lives in a standing army (aided by the navy of Athens when they weren’t fighting it). Homosexuality was common (not that there’s anything wrong with that), soldiers wore armor by then and didn’t fight half-naked, and feuds and corruption were as common as anywhere else.
The Persian empire was cosmopolitan, had many Greek allies, and while fearsome, their elite warriors and nobles were not the inhuman monsters (riding rhinoceri and elephants, no less) shown in the film. The same goes for the traitor Ephialtes, who was a shepherd, not a hunchback. Miller commonly uses such grotesque and exaggerated images. The doomed Greek forces were probably outnumbered 10 to 1 rather than 1,000 to 1, but that said, I enjoyed the bloody spectacle, which I would give a 7 or 8 out of 10.
Miller tends to go over the top with violence and sexuality, and I’m not a big fan of his flirtations with fascism in Dark Knight 2, All-Star Batman, or 300. Ever since the Greeks, Europeans have viewed themselves as purer, freer, and smarter than the rest of the world, and as U.S. troops are mired in modern Iraq and Afghanistan, the descendants of the Persians in Iran and those of Alexander the Great in the West have much needless bloodshed to answer for. All people deserve freedom and peace.
Speaking of comic books and nationalism, the assassination of Steve Rogers/Captain America in Marvel Comics last week made real-world news before issues had even reached retailers! The issue itself is a decent recap by crime writer Ed Brubaker of the star-spangled superhero’s career over the past 65+ years.
Like D.C.’s death of Superman about a decade ago, such an event may get mainstream popular culture attention, but is likely temporary and is more a means of selling comic books than a social statement. Both liberals and conservatives in the U.S. have tried to read meaning into Cap’s death, and as with Marvel’s recent “Civil War,” each can still come away convinced its side is right.
Part 2 of my root canal is tomorrow morning, but I hope to post another update installment and more comic book reviews in the coming week.
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!
Gene's Worlds 
