I'm sorry that it has been a while since I've posted a blog entry, so let me catch up here. I've been busy at work during the past few weeks, with the departure of Carla D., for whom the commute from Rhode Island eventually became too long to bear, and with work on double issues and a pending redesign at CW all coming before Independence Day.

On Saturday, 26 May 2007, Janice and I drove down to Sharon, Massachusetts, to visit Robert A.S. & Susan S. and to meet their young son Ethan. We got takeout from a good local Chinese restaurant. Rob and family will be moving to North Carolina, so he gave me a low bookcase and five boxes of science fiction and fantasy books to share with our other friends, sell, or donate.

On that Sunday, Janice and I caught an early matinee of "Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End" in Dedham, Mass. The swashbuckling sequel was better than its immediate predecessor, if not as good as the first flick in that Disney series. The middle hour, which featured multiple rounds of double- and triple-crossing by the cursed pirates, could have been shorter, but the computer-enhanced monsters and battle scenes were still spectacular.

I'd give "Pirates 3," which starred fey Johnny Depp, lightweight Orlando Bloom, feisty Keira Knightly, and a grizzled Geoffrey Rush, among others, about a 7 out of 10.

I've now seen a "threepeat" of blockbuster sequels over the past month: Marvel Comics-based "Spider-Man 3," fairy tale spoof "Shrek the Third," and "Pirates 3!" Of these, the computer-animated "Shrek 3" was the most consistent in quality with its predecessors, in my opinion.

"Spidey 3" suffered the most in comparison with "Spider-Man 2" because it had too many supervillains (unlike focusing on "Doc Ock") and a weak romantic subplot, while "Pirates 3" managed to improve upon the muddled storylines (and overexposure of Depp's popular "Capt. Jack Sparrow") of "Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest."

I'm looking forward to a few more sequels still to come this summer: "Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer" and "Harry Potter [5?] and the Order of the Phoenix!" I'm less interested in the pyrotechnics of the live-action "Transformers," but Pixar's "Ratatouille" looks amusing.

Various games have also kept me busy, whittling down my free time on most weeknights. The D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains" Arabian fantasy party has continued traveling through the hostile Halmed Desert and has arrived at the lost city of Tel Silat. Meanwhile, the higher-level teleconferenced heroes of "Holy Steel" have narrowly escaped a trap beneath the Plains of Sathendo set by the nefarious Drow and evil dragons!

The role-play by e-mail has stagnated, both due to my increased workload and because of challenges getting missions organized. Greg D.C., like Carolyn M.P. before him, has had to deal with that. On the other hand, despite some ongoing technical and schedule disruptions, the "City of Heroes" online gamers have pressed forward…

On Saturday, 2 June 2007, Janice and I met her middle sister Shelly and her family before going into Boston for the day. The humid weather didn't deter us from following the Freedom Trail past the shopping district of Downtown Crossing and historical sites such as the Shaw Memorial on the Boston Common, Faneuil Hall, and Paul Revere's house in the now-Italian North End.

Because Shelly, her husband Melvin W., and their three children (ages 14, 12, and 9) live in central New York, we don't get to see them very often. We had lunch at Quincy Market's excellent food court, and Becky, Laura, and David were excited despite the long walk and wait to board the U.S.S. Constitution, the oldest sailing ship in the U.S. Navy — or that's still afloat of any navy in the world.

We managed to catch a commuter rail train back to Needham Heights, Massachusetts, in time for a spaghetti and meatball dinner. My favorite! We ate on the tables in Janice's and my basement that I usually use for the weekly gaming sessions, and it was nice to have space for both adults and kids to be seated together. Becky claimed some of Rob's books, and we may have scared our neighbors by sparring with wooden practice swords at dusk. The only injuries sustained were mosquito bites, however.

On Sunday, June 3, Janice and I met Shelly and family at their hotel in Milford, Mass., where we decided that the weather was too uncertain to risk going to the Southwick Zoo. Instead, we drove west to Worcester, where we spent a few pleasant hours at the Higgins Armory Museum, which I recommend to anyone interested in medieval and Renaissance history or arms and armor.

Ever the doting uncle, I offered to buy David, Laura, and Becky souvenirs, and they chose wooden practice swords like the ones I had showed them the night before! I hope they use them wisely, or Shelly and Melvin will be annoyed at the gifts that keep on giving — potential welts, bruises, and bumps on the head. They then drove back to Upstate New York. I hope that my in-laws enjoyed their visit.

Speaking of out-of-town guests, this coming weekend, Janice and I will be hosting college chums Dexter V.H. and Stuart C.G. I plan to run a D20 "Mutants & Masterminds" 2nd Ed.: "Drake's Port" superhero scenario, and in the coming weeks, we'll be switching to Verizon FiOS, traveling to New York City to meet my family and friends, and I hope to finish my latest round of dental work!

In future postings, I hope to get back to discussion of recent genre movies and television, comic books and co-workers, and of course, role-playing cohorts! As Stan "the Man" Lee says, "Excelsior!"

Backing up a bit, on Saturday, 28 April 2007, Janice and I took a United Air Lines flight from Boston's Logan Airport south to Dulles Airport, where we rented a car. We stayed at a Courtyard by Marriott hotel near my brother's place in Springfield, Virginia.

After four months, I finally met my newest niece, Lili, as well as Peter, his wife Kelly, and their older daughter Ava. The children were adorable as always, even if they took a little time to warm up to us relative strangers. In the process of running errands, we managed to grab lunch at Qdoba, one of our favorite burrito chains.

Janice and I walked from Peter's to chez Rothandler, where we met Steve M.R. & Aleece Z.R. and their toddler Connor R., plus Corbin A.Y. & Andria K.Y. Unfortunately, because it was a brief visit on relatively short notice, we were unable to get together with other friends. We had a pleasant dinner at Olympians, a Greek/Italian restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia. Peter, Corbin, and Steve's households were all in the process of looking for homes with more space, probably in the outer suburbs.

Corbin pointed out that there was a game shop in the same shopping strip, so we made a detour to check it out. We were pleasantly surprised: Eagle & Empire Game & Hobby Shop (www.eagleandempire.com) had some role-playing games, comic books, and models, and seemed family-friendly to boot! Later that night, Peter and I rewatched seminal fantasy films "Conan: the Barbarian" and "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring."

On Sunday, my parents and Kelly's mother Maureen joined us for a cookout at Peter & Kelly's to celebrate Ava's second birthday. We returned to New England on that Monday. The past weeks have continued to be busy with work, various games, and trying to keep up with genre television and comic books. More about those will have to wait for now, however…

As you can probably tell from my infrequent posts, I've been busy during the past few weeks. I'm going to jump around a bit in time for the next few updates, so please bear with me.

After visiting my family and a few friends in Virginia during the weekend of 28 to 30 April 2007, I had two compressed workweeks. The first, from 1 to 3 May 2007, was because of my travel and CW's 40th anniversary celebration in downtown Boston on Friday, May 4.

The photo above shows my boss Michele L.D'F., myself, and new co-worker Ken G. at lunch in the State Room, which had a spectacular view of Boston Harbor and Logan Airport. Pat McG., our company's founder and a billionaire philanthropist, regaled us with tales of the early days of journalism about the computer industry.

After several weeks of damp, cool weather, we welcomed the arrival of clear weather. My short weekend consisted of lunch at Janice's and my favorite Chinese buffet and picking up my subscription at New England Comics in Norwood, Massachusetts.

As I've noted previously, Ken G. organized a group screening of "Spider-Man 3" on Sunday, May 6, at the IMAX theater near our office. From there, we carpooled to CW's annual editorial offsite retreat at the Warren Center in Ashland, Mass. The accommodations and grounds were pleasant, and although the copy desk had to overcome the disruption to our schedule, I felt our meetings were worthwhile. Of course, no meeting is complete without plentiful food!

We even bonded with the design and online groups over s'mores and a campfire! It was also good to spend time with former boss Jamie E. (I watched an episode of "Heroes" with him and Johanna A.), try playing with the Nintendo Wii that Ken had brought, and chat with fellow comic book fan Brian F., as well as with Mark H., Frank H., Angela G., and Eric L., who all proved to be knowledgeable about science fiction.

I returned from the offsite on Tuesday, May 8, but I canceled that week's games because of the truncated deadlines at work. Thus, the next regular Tuesday night D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains" Arabian fantasy campaign resumes tonight. I expect to continue the adventures of Dexter V.H./"Faelonia" and Byron V.O./"Ibrahim" tomorrow (Wednesday, May 16), and I rejoined the "City of Heroes" supergroup on Sunday, May 13, Mother's Day.

The other reason I postponed the various games was that Australian programmer Mark A.S., an alumnus of the Boston-area groups, was in town for a biotech conference. Mark, his wife Ann, and their children John and Brianna now live in New Zealand but might return to the U.S. We went to the "Fuji" Japanese steakhouse with Thomas K.Y. on Wednesday, May 9, and to reliable Italian chain restaurant "Bertucci's" the following night. Unfortunately, I missed the visit of former co-worker Jacqui M.D.B. and her husband Denis B., who now live in Des Moines, Iowa.

In addition, college chums Dexter and Stuart C.G. now hope to come up from New York during the second week of June — between a visit by my in-laws and my own family's gathering in Manhattan! It seems like juggling time will continue to be a challenge as summer approaches. Next time: Virginia visit, genre television, and gamer cohorts…

Former Russian president Boris Yeltsin died this week. I remember him facing down tanks in Moscow during an attempted coup against Mikhail Gorbachev. The two men, different in temperament, helped dismantle the Soviet Union and end the Cold War.

Unfortunately, like many larger-than-life politicians, Yeltsin's flaws mirrored the problems of his homeland, such as alcoholism and persistent authoritarianism. Like industrialist George Soros, I feel that the U.S. and the other Western nations missed an opportunity after the fall of the Berlin Wall to help rebuild Eastern Europe as a prosperous, democratic region.

Instead, ethnic and religious strife in the Balkans and Chechnya, inequality and crime, and overly centralized control continue to threaten capitalism and liberty in Russia and elsewhere. Tensions over the Middle East, insecure stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, a U.S. return to promises of an antimissile shield over part of Europe, and unease over migration have harmed relations between our two great nations. I hope that the best legacies of Yeltsin and other visionaries inspire the next generation to do better than we have.

Speaking of international affairs, this past Sunday was Earth Day. Steve M.R., Jim J.D'B., and I have debated the urgency of environmental protection measures on Steve's blog (http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-zA8iOK8iaalgc0hpoQY-?cq=1), so I won't repeat that discussion here. However, I do feel that the largest consumers of natural resources (the U.S., China, Europe, and Japan) should do more to conserve, renew, and recycle. Stagnant automotive efficiency standards, suburban sprawl, and wasteful manufacturing/packaging are only part of the problem.

Even if some naysayers still deny that climate change is a serious threat, the rapid rise of autism and asthma among U.S. children and the extinction of numerous species (small ones such as honeybees or fish deserve at least as much attention as cute bears or owls) demand our attention. I hope that my fellow voters and consumers will make ecologically wise policies a higher priority soon.

On a lighter note, Janice and I will be very busy in the coming month or so! This coming weekend, we'll be flying down to Virginia to visit my family and finally see our newest niece Lili in person. After that, I have a compressed workweek because of CW's 40th anniversary celebration, followed by a Friday night screening of "Spider-Man 3" organized by co-worker Ken G. (http://www.showbits.net/), our annual editorial offsite retreat, and visits by former gamer Mark A.S. and former co-worker Jacqui M.D.! (They now live in New Zealand and Iowa, respectively.)

Plus, I have my next dental follow-up appointment, and a few weeks after that, Janice's middle sister Shelly hopes to visit Boston with her family. Janice and I have made reservations to celebrate my parents' 40th wedding anniversary in Manhattan in mid-June, and CW's trim size will be moving from tabloid to magazine, requiring a redesign of the print edition even as the online edition is thriving.

Last night's D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains" Arabian fantasy session went well, with the gamers finding their characters in the oasis of Galko. The latest party was attacked by assassins, but rather than run or fight blindly, we role-played their investigation and discovery of intrigue in the city. As always, more information can be found at the Yahoo/eGroups Web club: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/DnD3VanishedLands/

I'll continue fighting sleep deprivation for the Wednesday night D&D3.5 teleconferencing sessions with Dexter V.H./"Faelonia" and Byron V.O./"Ibrahim," as well as for the Thursday and Sunday "City of Heroes" online game as "Scarlet Saber 2" with David I.S./"Mega Therion," Kim A.G./"Dr. Debt Reduction," Steve M.R./"Spectacular Torch," Thomas K.Y./"SubtleFist," and Shari S./"Ashri" (among others; see http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/dimensionalcorpsonline/).

However, I expect my participation to slip because of the aforementioned travel and visitors. It would also be nice to have time to occasionally go for a walk or mow my lawn between work and nightfall, now that the weather has belatedly improved.

On television, I've enjoyed the latest episodes of military space opera "Stargate SG1" and superhuman drama "Heroes" for their appealing ensemble casts, cliffhanging plot developments, and strong late-season writing. I'm probably also biased in favor of the New York and global settings. Even though "SG1" is declining in the ratings for its final episodes after a 10-year run, I found lots of good character moments. Alas, "Stargate: Atlantis" and the new "Painkiller Jane" haven't held my attention, falling short in script quality.

I've also wondered if "Heroes" can sustain the suspense and continue intertwining the fates of its expanding cast into next season. Although more uneven in tone, the similarly themed superhumans on "Smallville" remain interesting, and I hope that Clark Kent will step up to his destiny as Superman by the show's end.

This week also brought the good news that the SciFi Channel will broadcast Series 3 of the BBC's revived "Doctor Who" in the U.S. starting this summer. My TARDIS USB hub is humming along, and I recently picked up "The Ultimate Highlander: the Series," which supposedly has the best 15 episodes of the swashbuckling fantasy.

We've also been watching "Animal Precinct" and "RSPCA" on Animal Planet, and when we're around on Saturday mornings, music videos on VH1 and "The Phantom Gourmet." The latter is arguably the best local show on the air, reviewing numerous restaurants and giving me a new appreciation for New England cuisine.

Next time: gamer cohorts, Virginia visit, and more!