Recently, I've been watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars animation. Its basically an animated series set between episode 2 and 3 of the Star Wars saga. As with the recent Star Wars movies, George Lucas is the "genius" behind it.
Having watched a couple of episodes, one thing is blatantly clear. The show is, without a shadow of a doubt, intended for kids. Everything which was bad about Episodes 1-3 of the movies shows up here. Stupid as f$&k robot army - check. Ridiculously simple plots - check. Annoying kid who is always right unless there is a moral point involved - check. Jar Jar Binks - check.
Sigh.
That's right - Jar Jar Binks pokes his annoying little head out of the woodwork. Why on Earth would you put that fuckwit into this? I mean, at this point, considering how hated that Gungan is, its as if Lucas is deliberately trying to piss off all the Star Wars fans . To be fair, I haven't actually seen him yet (I was told about his appearance) but just knowing that at some point, I have to look at that flipping muppet really makes me want to stop watching.
Do you know what the sad thing is though?
I will be watching anyway. Despite all the crap Lucas has put us through, everytime I hear the snap-hiss of a lightsaber, I can't help but feel a nerd thrill run down my spine.
I know - sad.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
The Book Thief
I recently finished reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The book is a New York Times bestseller, at least according to the book cover and wikipedia, and was purchased on a buy 1 get 1 half price deal when I was in the UK ages ago (yeah, its been sitting on my shelf that long).
It details the story of Liesel Meminger,a young girl in Nazi Germany, during World War II. The girl is abandoned by her mother (for reasons untold) and goes to live with foster parents in a small German town. Although she starts the book as an illiterate, she learns to read with the help of her foster father and via various clandestine methods (book thief, remember?), acquires several books to further her education. This love of books progresses until she finally realises the power inherent in words when she reads to the small German community during late night sojourns in bomb shelters. At this point in the narrative, everyone dies (pretty much).
What makes this book different is that it is written from the perspective of Death. Not Death as he is normally described but rather someone who is overworked due to the high number of deaths during World War II. It was this change of perspective that drew me to the book. Well, that plus the fact that it was at half price. :)
Although the book raises some interesting points, overall, I have to admit that I was bored. To be fair, this isn't a reflection of the book, which is extremely well written, but rather of my own reading style.
The problem is that the scope of the story is very much a slice in the life of Liesel Meminger. At times, the story is so slow it almost feels catatonic and the story doesn't really get much oomph until halfway through (when Max the Jew shows up and lives in the basement). The majority of the book is simply about how Liesel deals with daily life.
Again, I have to stress that I can recognise that the book is well written - the problem is that its just not my cup of tea. I generally much prefer to read high fantasy, sci-fi or thrillers - basically, escapist novels. Ultimately, I read books to escape from the dreary humdrum existence of my life - not to enter the even more dreary humdrum existence of someone elses even more depressing life.
I guess I should have known to avoid this book from the fact that it was a New York Times bestseller.
:)
It details the story of Liesel Meminger,a young girl in Nazi Germany, during World War II. The girl is abandoned by her mother (for reasons untold) and goes to live with foster parents in a small German town. Although she starts the book as an illiterate, she learns to read with the help of her foster father and via various clandestine methods (book thief, remember?), acquires several books to further her education. This love of books progresses until she finally realises the power inherent in words when she reads to the small German community during late night sojourns in bomb shelters. At this point in the narrative, everyone dies (pretty much).
What makes this book different is that it is written from the perspective of Death. Not Death as he is normally described but rather someone who is overworked due to the high number of deaths during World War II. It was this change of perspective that drew me to the book. Well, that plus the fact that it was at half price. :)
Although the book raises some interesting points, overall, I have to admit that I was bored. To be fair, this isn't a reflection of the book, which is extremely well written, but rather of my own reading style.
The problem is that the scope of the story is very much a slice in the life of Liesel Meminger. At times, the story is so slow it almost feels catatonic and the story doesn't really get much oomph until halfway through (when Max the Jew shows up and lives in the basement). The majority of the book is simply about how Liesel deals with daily life.
Again, I have to stress that I can recognise that the book is well written - the problem is that its just not my cup of tea. I generally much prefer to read high fantasy, sci-fi or thrillers - basically, escapist novels. Ultimately, I read books to escape from the dreary humdrum existence of my life - not to enter the even more dreary humdrum existence of someone elses even more depressing life.
I guess I should have known to avoid this book from the fact that it was a New York Times bestseller.
:)
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Blueberry cheesecake
With Gordon now 1 month old, we recently had some friends over to visit and say hi. Seeing as we were going to have guests, I decided to embark on another culinary adventure and bake a blueberry cheesecake.
Here you can see the finished product. It's basically a New York cheesecake with blueberries and sweetened sour cream on top.
Here is a closeup of the blueberries. I used apricot jam to get the blueberries to stick in place which is why the berries all look orangey in colour.
Although the taste of the cheesecake was okay, the texture was a little off. It was a bit too light and not "solid" enough for a cheesecake. I suspect part of the reason was that I used Cream Cheese Light instead of normal cream cheese. Still, at least the taste was okay.
:)
Here you can see the finished product. It's basically a New York cheesecake with blueberries and sweetened sour cream on top.
Here is a closeup of the blueberries. I used apricot jam to get the blueberries to stick in place which is why the berries all look orangey in colour.
Although the taste of the cheesecake was okay, the texture was a little off. It was a bit too light and not "solid" enough for a cheesecake. I suspect part of the reason was that I used Cream Cheese Light instead of normal cream cheese. Still, at least the taste was okay.
:)
Monday, February 16, 2009
Gordon - 1 month old
We finally have a maid again! Huzzah!
What this means is that I will now be able to return to my regular blogging schedule (ie 3 posts a week shared between 2 on this blog and 1 on my gaming blog). And what better way to celebrate than by sharing pictures of Gordon now that he is 1 month old!
Ha - fooled you! This is actually a picture of Gerry when he was 1 month old. However, as you can see from the next picture, they really do look very similar (although Gordon has bigger eyes).
Here is Gordon relaxing after working so hard and giving us so many great photo opportunities.
Of course, I'm not about to let him rest. The show must go on! :)
What this means is that I will now be able to return to my regular blogging schedule (ie 3 posts a week shared between 2 on this blog and 1 on my gaming blog). And what better way to celebrate than by sharing pictures of Gordon now that he is 1 month old!
Ha - fooled you! This is actually a picture of Gerry when he was 1 month old. However, as you can see from the next picture, they really do look very similar (although Gordon has bigger eyes).
Here is Gordon relaxing after working so hard and giving us so many great photo opportunities.
Of course, I'm not about to let him rest. The show must go on! :)
If you embiggen this picture, you can see right up his nostril. Check out the mucus - eeeww!
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