Happy Halloween

A post in honor of the holiday, here's some Halloween videos, images and other fun.

I've always loved the Halloween season. I always have grand plans to "really get into it" and deck out the house and myself in truly terrifying Halloween spirit. Each year something seems to get in the way. All in all, that's okay though…my kids are young enough that Halloween doesn't have to be grandiose. In fact, it's best (for at least the next few years) that we don't creep the house out too much since the kids are still quite sensitive to all things scary.

We've had some fun so far this year. We've got some decorations up...did some pumpkin carving...and been to our neighborhood Trunk-or-Treat. Lynette and I are (hopefully) hitting a Haunted Cornfield tonight. We've got some kids coming to the house Halloween day for a party and then we'll do some Trick-or-Treating that night. I'll hopefully get a post up next week with an overview and some photos.

In the meantime, I wanted to bring up a brief Halloween post with some moderate creepage and Halloween spirit.

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First, here are a couple of recitations of The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe. Poe is fabulous fun for Halloween reading and I love both of these readings.




Even though he didn't share much explicit emotion or dramatization, James Earl Jones' voice is amazing and makes this straight reading stand out.



With Vincent Price, it's hard to expect a standard reading without emotion or dramatization. I love the way he expresses the eerie fear of this poem and it's fun to see the production value of the room, the door, the desk, and the raven itself.

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I stumbled on this image this week and love the concept. For anybody who's seen zombie movies or other monster hunter style thrillers, you'll love this mashup. For the rest of you, hopefully you'll get and enjoy the concept.

For some other cool artwork, check out the flickr account of the artist Dr. Monster

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Being not only a fan of Halloween, but also a huge Disney enthusiast, it didn't seem right to leave out the wonderful, the classic, the fantastic...Disney Haunted Mansion.

This video is lengthy (16 minutes), but it's a ton of fun and well worth watching. It includes a great introduction and then a full walk/ride through of the attraction. The video quality isn't perfect (hard to get good video in the darkness of the mansion, especially once you board the Doom Buggies). Speaking of Doom Buggies, be sure to head over to Doom Buggies dot com, my favorite fan site for Disney's Haunted Mansion. It's filled with tons of great stuff.

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And finally, what better way to party through Halloween than with the joys of Oingo Boingo. I'll include a video for one of their most popular and familiar songs. There are many others that I love so much more, but this one is rather fitting for Halloween.

Enjoy your own Dead Man's Party. Happy Halloween.

Oingo Boingo lyrics

Dead Man's Party - Oingo Boingo Video - Oingo Boingo Music Videos

Music Videos by VideoCure

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Here's hoping everybody has a fun and happy Halloween.

Dazed & Confused

For the last week or so I've been in multiple muddles. I've had occasions where I felt very light headed, almost dizzy. I've had severe mood swings and bouts of melancholy. I've had sporadic moments of abdominal/kidney pain.

I didn't think too much of any of this. I thought perhaps the physical symptoms were due to a cold or flu bug that's nastily been working its way around the neighborhood. I attributed the mood swings to the gloomy overcast that often leads to seasonal depression or "seasonal affective disorder" which usually hits me in October or November and lasts until March or April…though usually not nearly as abrupt or extreme.

Anyway, a discovery was made yesterday which helps explain the various symptoms.

Amid all of the joys of my daily routine, I have two medication that I take each night…let's call them A and B. About 6 months ago, the doctor modified my prescription of A so now it is A+. I still had a couple weeks worth of A at the time, so I held onto it as a backup in case it was needed.

Somehow in the recent past (I'm not sure exactly when, but I can suspect at least 12 days because of the number of pills I had left), my medicine shelf was altered so that instead of having my A+ and B at the forefront and ready to be taken each night, I now had A and A+ sitting side by side and B was tucked back where A had been sitting as a backup.

The actual composition of A and B were fairly similar (A+ is a much larger pill and easily distinguished) such that I didn't realize the mistake…and so, for the past two weeks, instead of taking A+ and B as I should have done, I've been taking A and A+…thus significantly increasing my dose of the active ingredients for A and removing entirely the medication in B.

I chatted with the doctor's office yesterday and, along with a blood test, they assure me that I should have no worry about long term harm and everything should go back to normal now that I'm on the proper meeds again. I certainly hope so (and my family hopes so just as much…as I've been unpleasant to live with the past couple of weeks).

So…I'm now on the trail to de-fogging my head and body. And naturally, now that I've made that change, it appears I'm catching the flu bug that's going around. Hopefully I can kick it quickly…what a season.

Review - Surrogates

I'd seen the Surrogates graphic novel in the bookstore a few times and flipped through it. The storyline was intriguing, but I wasn't terribly keen on the art style, so I never picked up the books. When the movie came out, I was pretty excited. I've always been a fan of stories of dystopian societies and all the fun that goes with it. Add crazy futuristic technologies, and I'm aboard.

The movie was done pretty well. Being set in the not too distant future allowed me to easily relate to the situations presented. Indeed, the largest technological change between their world and ours is the development of the surrogates.

I was intrigued by the concept of strapping yourself remotely into a cyborg-like contraption so you can "experience" the world around you without leaving your own bedroom. I don't necessarily buy the idea that it would cause a drop in violent crime…it seems to me that technology like that is ripe for abuse and would quickly degrade into a wide range of new crimes being committed. Still, the story presented the safeguards and regulations well enough that the situation was believable.

I loved the juxtaposition of seeing people's "surrogate" self as compared with their "real" self when they unplugged. It's an interesting psychological look at how people view themselves and the use of technology to try and be something you're not.

The special effects and direction used in the movie was good. Most of the time, it felt well balanced such that the effects weren't being used in lieu of good presentation. The various high-tech elements presented were done so naturally without screaming "Look at me! Look at me!" The explosions and other huge action scenes were exciting and adrenalin provoking but again didn't feel distracting from the overall theme of the movie.

I also really enjoyed the acting. Bruce Willis did a great job both as a "real" person and as a surrogate. As a surrogate, he did great presenting a distanced, emotionless relation to the world. His surrogate was calm, collected and straight faced as he undertook a crazy chase after a crook. Even when his arm was ripped off and spewing mechanical fluids, the action was robotic and felt "real" based on the situation.

When Bruce WIllis' character went out without his surrogate, I really appreciated the way the movie presented the disorientation and heightened sensory stimulus of the real world. It felt very real and appropriate considering the situation. While his character did a good job here, I felt like this sort of thing was an area that needed a little more directorial coverage.

Considering the fact that people are spending most of their lives strapped into a surrogate, I think we should have seen much more physical effects on these sedentary bodies. As people did come out of their machines, they should have been much more out of shape, likely cramped and aching, and possibly having trouble walking. At the same time, that sort of reality may have been distracting from the plot and felt a little heavy handed.

I really enjoyed the storyline. I mentioned that I hadn't read the graphic novels…but I did have a basic synopsis of them in mind. While some/many elements felt fairly predictable, there were still some surprises and thought provoking moments. There was at least one key plot point that was inconsistent…sadly it made the climactic ending fall apart for me a little bit.

Overall, this was a fun, thought provoking action movie that's worth seeing. You can probably wait for rental rather than big screen…I might eventually add it to my dystopia collection (alongside Minority Report and others).


3.5 stars out of 5

Review - A Matter of Loaf and Death

If you haven't yet heard of or watched Wallace & Gromit, you are truly missing out. I only got turned onto them in the late 90s and even then it wasn't until probably 2002 that I really started following the work of Aardman Animations. If the name or the style seems familiar, you may be remembering their film from 2000 Chicken Run which was a big success and is a lot of fun.


This fall marks the release of the newest short film for the duo, A Matter of Loaf and Death. The plot here is once again over the top and a lot of fun. It seems that Wallace has decided to transition their home into a bread mill and produce and deliver baked goods around the community. Naturally he has awful timing as there is a serial killer on the loose who is murdering bakers.

I love the semi-eccentric/bumbling Wallace and the insightful/unheeded Gromit. Prior to this, they have starred together in a number of short films (~30 minutes each) and one full length movie (Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which is hilarious). There are a number of even shorter segments showcasing some of Wallace's ill-fated inventions.

The pair of characters are wonderful. The hand sculpted animations are very cute and lovable. The writing and direction is smart and witty. I love the pacing and flow of this film. It is so much fun both as a bumbling mystery, a star-crossed romance, and a slapstick comedy.

My only complaint is that during one of the end scenes, we actually see one of Wallace's butt cheeks. In previous films, there have been subtle nuances and innuendos and even lightly veiled nudity (similar to the Austin Powers scene, if you remember that). However, this is the first time that I noted actual "nudity." Admittedly, the kids laughed and it was not explicit or sexual by any means. I just would have preferred the veiled humor rather than actually sculpting a buttock…for the kid's sakes if nothing else.

Still, in terms of complaints, that is fairly light especially when considering how absolutely fabulous the rest of the film was. The story is great. The animation is amazing. The characters, direction, writing, plot, etc is absolutely fabulous. The DVD comes with great bonus material including an episode from another Aardman series, Shaun the Sheep. The kids were laughing their heads off at the slapstick and situational comedy of the sheep's football (soccer) game.

If you have kids, I can definitely recommend the Wallace & Gromit franchise and this latest installment. If you don't have kids but can appreciate great youthful humor, British humor, or wonderful animation, you ought to check it out.


4.5 stars (out of 5)

And in case my review wasn't enough to intrigue you, or if it just whet your whistle for more, here's the trailer. Enjoy. :)

How lucky are YOU?

This video has been making the rounds so you may have seen it...but it's worth sharing.

Enjoy.

Review - The Professor's House

I had a hard time deciding how to review The Professor's House. The plot itself is very straightforward and easy to describe. The characters are vivid and well-defined which adds to the realism of the novel. But it seems to me that the meat of this novel is in the themes and nuances.

I have read some of Cather's short stories many years ago and only have vague memories of them other than a memory that she had exquisite attention to detail. As I read this book I found that memory to be true. The writing vibrantly presents minute details to the reader…from the shape and texture of a hand to the nature of a dress or necklace to the depiction of setting both in and out of doors.

Her characters are likewise detailed. We are held at a close third person so we don't actually get into the characters' heads, but the detailed account of appearance and action allows the reader to feel very intimate with the characters.

The layout of the book is interesting in that it consists of three "books." The first book is entitled "The Family" and follows the Professor as he works to finish his own writing while teaching and balancing the various dramas unfolding in his life and the lives of his family members. The second book is "Tom Outland's Story" and is the first person narrative of Tom, an old student of the Professor and friend of the family who is now dead (from WWI) but left behind an invention and legacy that resulted in great wealth for one of the Professor's daughters. The final book is entitled "The Professor" and is a very short wrap up of the novel which focusses on thoughts, emotions and actions of the professor after he reads and ponders Outland's story.

The overarching plot of the book is interesting if not terribly engaging. There were moments of drama and emotion that drew me in, but there were other segments that were almost boring with the mundane interactions.

As I mentioned initially, the meat of the novel though isn't the plot itself, but the themes and emotions it instills.

Looking to these themes, part of this book seems to be an exploration of emotional displacement and emotional paralysis or release. The Professor is very attached to his old house and his work and doesn't want to move into the new house with his family. Outland is almost a portrayal of a return to the past for the professor and in the end, Outland's story provides an almost existential release to the professor. The claustrophobia of the old house and the room in which the professor works serve as a metaphorical trap that is holding the professor hostage in his current/past life/behavior and causing emotional turmoil and angst from which he can't see a clear escape.

At a higher, more sociological level, the novel portrays some interesting counterpoints on society. The Professor is doing well enough off teaching at the university and does even better once he receives an award for his writing. His two daughters are well enough off as well though one is moving into the "upper class" while the other is sitting fairly "middle." The family interactions and conversations give interesting insight into the class reactions of the era and some of the internal and external results of class mobility. As the professor's daughter and son-in-law gain their wealth and rise to a higher social status, there are jealousies and even some resentment and anger both within and outside of the family.

Looking at the writing, it is clear that there are MANY levels at work in this novel. Cather's frequent use of color helps categorize different themes or values. Her descriptions of the houses, rooms and other settings set the balance between the different classes or social situations. To further illustrate that NOTHING appears to be arbitrary in this book, it was pointed out to me that there is particular significance in the name of the ship that Outland takes to the war, the name of the ship that the Professor's family returns home on, and even the book that Outland uses to study latin.

So, even though the book's plot isn't terribly engaging, I can see this work as having a lot of valuable insight into the social and mental ideas of the 1920s, many of which have relevance today especially given the almost parallel economic situation around us.

While it's not likely something I'd read over and over, it is something I can recommend to those interested in human behavior, the 1920s, or life in general. Cather paints a vivid and beautiful picture of a family…not a perfectly adjusted and blissfully happy family, but a realistic, flawed and interesting family.


3 stars out of 5

View all my reviews

Today is a wonderful day - Happy Anniversary sweetie!

Today is a wonderful day. Yes, it's Columbus Day. Yes, it's Thanksgiving Day (in Canada). But neither of those are my reason for celebrating.

Today I celebrate because my wife and I were married 13 years ago. It's crazy to think that 13 years have passed. Crazier still to realize that we've got 3 kids, all in school and growing like weeds.

Like any couple, we've had good times and bad…ups and downs. Looking back, it's only the good times I remember. I am so incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful woman by my side. I daily consider myself lucky to have such an amazing partner in life.

She makes me smile. She makes me laugh. She comforts me when I'm sad and helps me when I'm frustrated. She makes each day a joy. I honestly don't know where I'd be without her.

Thank you Lynette for being my soul mate. You are my best friend. I love you always and forever.


(And yes, I plan to eventually scan in pictures from our wedding...but for now these have to do)

Thanks Boingo - Out of Control

So as I prep to head out early and bring an end to a crazy work week with a number of fires large and small, I set my iPod to shuffle up some good tunes for the drive home.

The first song, one of my favorites that always makes me feel better about the random craziness of life. I don't think I'd ever seen the video. It's interesting to watch. The lyrics and the sound are great though.

So, without further ado, enjoy Out of Control by Oingo Boingo.

Some favorite lines.

I say--don't throw it away
There's about a million reasons why
Though you've heard them all before
And you're getting very tired
Lay your head on my lap and I'll sing you this lullaby

Just soothing, yes?

I say--don't throw it away, you've got too many things to say
If you throw your life, if you throw away your life . . .
The world will never be the same

Great advice..thank you Mr. Elfman.

You're out of control--and you want someone to tell you
When you wake up in the morning it'll only be a dream
And I wish that I could tell you, it'll only be a dream

I can definitely relate...but in the end, it's alright and it's good to know I've got friends and family standing by. :)


As an added bonus, here's another of my favorite Boingo that also has a great sound and great lyrics.

Enjoy.

Quote of the moment - from Robinson Crusoe

I last read Robinson Crusoe probably 4 years ago, so I wouldn't have thought of or found this line out of the blue, but it was reminded to me as I listened to a preview audiobook for The Moonstone in which the narrator notes how that particular novel has had a huge guiding influence in his life. He presented this quote as having particular importance in his narrative...and based on recent events at work and otherwise, it just seemed to fit.

I saw, though too late, the folly of beginning a work before we count the cost, and before we judge rightly of our own strength to go through with it.

from Robinson Crusoe

Review - Batman: Arkham Asylum

Amid the joys of family, church, school and work adventures, I've spent some of my "down time" for the past few weeks playing Batman: Arkham Asylum. I'm currently "49%" of the way through the game but I figured it was time for a review. I'm playing the Xbox 360 version, so some of the details may vary for the other versions.

When I first heard about this game, I was stoked. I've always enjoyed Batman and I'm a big fan of action/adventure games. As more and more features were announced, my interest was more and more peaked. (NOTE: Images used in this post are borrowed from various sites around the web. I have left on watermarks of the sites as indication of 'ownership.' If you are the owner of any of these files and want them removed, please let me know. I intend no copyright infringement and imply no creation or ownership).

Graphics
To start off with, let me just say that the game is gorgeous. The detail on the characters and the environment is amazing and completely immersive. As with any came, some of the thugs feel a bit repetitive over time, but generally speaking, each character I've encountered (even the 'stock' characters) feel remarkably real to me.

The work on Batman himself is awesome. His suit and body look great (and over time, aspects of the suit get scratched or torn, which is a cool effect). His animations and movement are fluid and believable.

The Joker and other key henchmen look fabulous as well. Their appearance and mannerisms is wonderfully portrayed and implemented.

In addition to the 'in-game' representations of the characters, you also get to unlock "models" of some of the characters. These are high-res statuettes of the various characters which you can zoom in/out and rotate around. They look absolutely amazing. As one who collects these sorts of figures in real life, I definitely appreciate the effort here.

Sound/Dialogue
The soundtrack is great. Like a good movie soundtrack, it's not in-your-face (or in-your-ears, as it were) such that it detracts from the experience. Rather, it amplifies the theme and the emotion of the various scenes. When I sit back and just listen, I enjoy the ambient background soundtrack…but when I'm playing, I'm not really aware of it. It just feels natural.

The voice acting on the characters is fabulous. The script is well written. I enjoy the verbal interactions between the characters. The banter between Joker and his henchmen and/or the other super villains is fun. I also like that Joker (and some of the others) will "take over" the island's PA system and make general announcements to Batman or to others on the island. These are fun and quirky, but can get a little receptive over time as there are a limited number of these ambient comments and then they start looping. Similarly, the comments from the thugs and henchmen quickly get very repetitive both as they wander the island and during fight sequences.

Gameplay
And now for the real meat of the game. After all, a game can look and sound great, but if it doesn't play well or isn't immersive/engaging, then what's really the point?

From moment one, I felt engaged with this game. It opens very cinematically with a lengthy cut scene of Batman delivering Joker to Arkham Asylum. As the cut scene ends, the player is given control of Batman to help escort the Joker farther into the Asylum. During this slow progression through the halls of the Asylum, the game's opening credits play, again presenting that cinematic feel.


Once the Joker escapes and begins his rampage across the island, you are immediately thrown into the action. I'm playing on the Hard difficulty level, so I'm not sure how it plays on the lower difficulties, but I can say that I like the way the game presents the controls of each element unobtrusive way. Some games have formal tutorials and the first few minutes of gameplay here serve that purpose but definitely do not feel like a tutorial. Rather, you are thrown right into the heat of gameplay and given helpful advice to make sure you succeed.

The combat system (one of the first things you learn), is effective, intuitive, and simple. At first, this was discouraging to me as I thought it would quickly become a repetitive button-mashing fest similar to the Prince of Persia games Sands of Time & Warrior Within (the latest PoP game was a little better thanks to the addition of Elika, but even then, it got a little button-mashy after a while).

You can certainly make your way through combat just mashing buttons…but only for a while. You quickly find that you'll be overwhelmed if you don't adequately chain together combos or use the proper move at the proper time against the proper enemy. It actually has a lot of depth to it. As an added bonus and keeping true to the Batman world, you don't actually kill the enemies you fight (at least they haven't so far…I'm hoping this won't change as the game progresses). Rather, you incapacitate them or knock them unconscious. This is very true to the Batman character and I love this element.

In addition, as time goes on you discover/unlock gadgets that you can use in battle such as the batarang and batclaw. And even these can be upgraded over time to become a double/triple batarang/batclaw. Overall, the combat system had the potential to become repetitive but so far has been engaging.

Speaking of the gadgets, there are a ton of special gadgets that are used to help you navigate the island and access certain locations or better take advantage of certain situations. The way these items are unlocked fits in logically with the storyline (most of the time…there have been a few 'stretches') and with the Batman world as a whole.

Not really a gadget per se, but a special mode of play is Detective Mode. With the press of a button, the view is changed to Detective Mode where everything takes on a slightly bluish hue and certain objects are highlighted brighter or in orange or red as indication that they can be interacted with. This view mode is VERY helpful. It allows you to identify where thugs are located so you can plan an attack before entering a room. It helps you discover walls that can be broken or ledges that can accommodate your batclaw. It highlights some of the 'secret' items to be found throughout gameplay (to unlock the character statuettes I mention above as well as other game modes and elements).

My biggest complaint with the Detective Mode is that it is too effective and as such, I want it on all the time. As a result, I am almost constantly in Detective Mode and miss out on the "real" texture and color of the island itself. Instead, I'm playing the game through a slight tinge of blue and white. I generally try to switch out of Detective Mode before I leave a room or area to take a look around and appreciate the detailed artwork. I'm not sure where the happy medium for this is and it's possible that I'm the exception rather than the rule. I'm a completionist gamer so I want to make sure I find all the secret items and passages. Being constantly in Detective Mode allows me to do that.

And last, but certainly not least, I want to just say that I LOVE the stealth element of the game. Most of the thugs thus far are unarmed or just have pipes or knifes. However, many of them also carry guns…which can certainly be detrimental to Batman's health. As a result of the guns as well as the increasing number of thugs, it becomes increasingly important to be stealthy…to remain in the shadows or the rafters and plan your attack wisely. There are numerous stealth moves that allow you to take out an enemy from behind, below or above without having to engage in a lengthy and dangerous fight. In addition, a stealth attack doesn't inform the other thugs of your presence and as a result, you can take out one thug at a time rather than being mobbed by a few or a dozen.

Story
I am very impressed with the cohesive and integrated nature of the story. This game isn't just a 'dungeon crawl' or 'street brawl' game. You certainly could just rush through and take on enemies and environments like you would in those genres but you would miss out on a lot and (based on my experience), you would likely fail before too long.

The story is immersive and unravels itself a bit at a time the way a good comic, book, or movie would do. Batman truly acts as the detective that he is in seeking out clues and following them along the path of the story. The communication/interaction with Oracle and Batman's detective mode/computer are a bit too powerful for me at times, but otherwise, the story balance feels just right.

Overall
Overall I am thoroughly enjoying this game. I'm very impressed with the graphics, sound and other technical aspects of the game. I absolutely love the character presentation both in terms of appearance and voices and in terms of the depth presented by the story/script.

The controls are intuitive and natural and combat hasn't yet gotten repetitive. I love the various gadgets you receive and I totally enjoy the Stealth and Detective aspects of the game. I'm a little annoyed at the power/importance of Detective Mode because it means I'm almost constantly in that mode and miss out on some of the mood/art of the game as a result.

The story is entertaining and immersive. I'm looking forward to seeing how the whole thing plays out.

As an Xbox 360 player, I'm a little jealous that the Playstation users have the option to play as the Joker. I'm not sure how that gameplay works, but I'm hoping it comes to Xbox live as a downloadable feature.

The violence aspect is definitely up there even though Batman just "knocks out" his opponents and there is a moderate amount of swearing or 'unkind' language throughout. There have also been some creepy and even grotesque elements (Bane and Joker's 'Titans' are over-the-top and the Scarecrow scenes due an excellent job of creating fear). This certainly isn't a game I play with my kids around.

I certainly can't recommend this game to everyone. Even though it's got a lot of action and is immersive, the stealth and detective aspect may make it feel too slow for many players. The violence/language/fright levels are also going to be a turn off for many.

But for those who like Batman and are willing to play a game based on the way Batman really behaves…and for those who didn't cringe too much at the last two Batman movies…this game should be right up your alley.


4.5 out of 5 stars

Disaster Recovery...is dead?

I work in the computer industry and provide QA and support for a number of web portals. A few weeks ago, as part of an internal security review one of our clients requested a copy of our Disaster Recovery Plan for one of those web applications. I wasn't terribly surprised to discover that we didn't have a formal plan drafted. About a week prior to that, they had asked for information related to our uptime policies, server redundancy, hosting facilities and backup plan.

With regards to the disaster recovery, I reiterated our backup systems and redundancy plan and let them know that we would handle a disaster the same way we would handle any error on the system…that we would use our code repository, code backups, database backups and redundant virtual servers to get the site back up and running in as short a time as possible with minimal data loss. Naturally, this quick blurb didn't suffice and they wanted a formally drafted plan which eventually included very detailed schema of low level operations in place.

Today, this article came across my email indicating that "disaster recovery is dead." As it states in the first paragraph, that's a rather interesting claim, especially when you consider that it is coming from the director at the International Disaster Recovery Institute.

This article explains what I was trying to get across to our client's security team, but it does so much more eloquently.

A dozen or more years ago, the Internet was still a bit shaky and it was understandable for sites to have outages, be laggy or otherwise have bouts of unreliableness (is that a word?). These blips of instability were not considered disasters. The disasters of the early 90s were more in line with the "natural" disasters one thinks about: floods, earthquakes, terrorism, war, alien invasion, etc.

Over the past dozen+ years, however, the world has shifted significantly such that even a flicker of a site outage is considered a disaster. As such, we are always in a sort of "disaster recovery" mode.

Rather than continuing to call it "disaster recovery", the article suggests we just integrate this policy into the policy of "continuous business operation", and I would tend to agree. In today's world, disaster recovery is now an integral part of the business policy for "100% reliability" provided via constant monitoring, redundant servers and frequent backups.

While all of this makes sense, it also brings to the forefront one of the things that most bothers me about this industry. There is no downtime. Indeed there cannot be any downtime. Which makes for a rather stressful work environment because even with a very robust action plan to provide continuous uptime, there are always times when something will go wrong that wasn't accounted for. And even a very fluid plan can be stressful to put into action. Depending on the number of people affected, even a 5 minute outage can be disastrous and have stakeholders and upper management breathing down your neck to get things fixed.

It's at times like these (like the 'fires' of this past week *grimace* that I long for a slower paced world where it's not the end of the world if a system goes down or has an error. It's bad, yes, but it's understandable and everyone knows that it will be back when it's back and that everyone is doing all they can to get it back up.

*sigh*

Review - Captain Blood

I've loved pirate adventures for as long as I can remember. I've picked up Sabatini's novels at Barnes & Nobel so many times it's pathetic…what's more pathetic is that I never bought one…until this past summer.

Part of the tipping point was that The Classic Tales podcast was offering an audiobook version of Captain Blood at a stellar price. Add to that the fact that BJ Harrison does a wonderful job in his readings, and I was determined to pick up the audio book and the novel itself for some summertime reading. Starting in August, I would listen to segments of the audio book and then also read passages from the novel to catch up and to glean more depth (the audio was unabridged, but since I was driving, I occasionally missed bits while concentrating on the crazy drivers around me).

The adventure of Captain Blood is amazing. The writing is beautiful and captivating. Peter Blood's wit and logic are wonderful and help create him as an amazing hero, pirate and gentleman. His resolve is indefatigable. His creativity and persistence are superb. His adventures are tense and exciting while also being well crafted and believable.

Sabatini creates in the world of Captain Blood, a vision of 17th century Caribbean that falls right in line with everything that encapsulates my visions of buccaneering pirates sailing the seas.

The characters are vivid and believable. There are certainly stereotypical typed characters, but even with these, Sabatini adds subtle nuances to create some depth. To the central character of Blood, I found myself sympathizing and relating to intimately. At times he felt a little too cool and collected, so I was glad that, as we reached the climax and started to wrap things up, his personality took on a harder edge based on the trials and his even keeled personality took on a cynicism worth exploring. He became a truly n-dimensional swashbuckler that I'll hold up for examination when diving into other pirate adventures.

While this story was filled with tons of wonderful adventure, excruciating tension, and exciting scenes of ingenuity, there were also some passages that slowed the pace down considerably through historical narrative and exposition on the nature of things in this time and place of history. In spite of slowing things down, these passages were still very interesting and added a wealth of depth to the story. I merely point this out to warn potential readers who are looking for a non-stop adventure that there will be moments of expository narrative as you sail the seas with Blood.

In addition to these historical interludes, readers should also be aware that a budding romance adventure lurks beneath the surface here. This certainly isn't a romance of the Victorian style such as you might find with Jane Austen, but there is a romantic feel…both in terms of romanticizing the life and times and in terms of an actual romantic relationship between Blood and another character. To those adverse to romance in their adventures…don't worry, the romantic scenes are short enough that you should survive discussions of culture, civility and the nature of man while Blood 'chews the fat' with the girl of his dreams. I actually found the romance a delightful addition to the narrative. Like the adventure itself, the romance was well constructed and full of tension and problems. In fact, I sometimes found myself more frustrated at the perils of romance than at the perils of the battles.

Overall, I can whole-heartedly recommend Captain Blood as an excellent novel. It is a wonderful portrayal of piratical adventure. It is very well written and contains significant historical information suggesting tons of research (not being a historical expert, I can't separate the history from the fiction…but Sabatini made a believer out of me, whatever the case).

Errol Flynn, the well-known portrayer of adventurers, played the title role in a 1935 film adaptation that I'm now intrigued to see. I've seen Flynn in The Sea Hawk and Robin Hood and am sure he'd make a fun Captain Blood.

So, if you have any inkling towards historical adventures, particularly pirate adventures, I definitely recommend you pick up Captain Blood. He'll swash your buckle and plunder your adventuring spirit.


4.5 stars

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James Dashner @ The King's English Tuesday night

For those in the Salt Lake area, James Dashner, author of the Jimmy Fincher Saga, The 13th Reality series and now the newly released Maze Runner, will begin his book tour at The King's English Bookshop in Salt Lake City.

I still haven't read any of his books (I know, I know) but I've read some excerpts and heard some great reviews from fellow readers, so I'm expecting fun things from his books once I have time to read them. I'm still not sure if I'll be able to make it tomorrow night or not (family & church responsibilities), but if any of you happen to run into The Dashner Dude or read any of his stuff, let me know what you think.

A fun study/psa on drug use

Ah, the joys of educational television.

Well hey, it's the Dragon's Loyalty Award

I've occasionally seen various blog awards passed around the web and haven't thought a lot about them. Interestingly, I found out today that I've been given an award from Corinne over at The Book Nest. Needless to say, it was a surprise...but kind of fun.

The award is the Dragon's Loyalty Award and it's awarded for 'the loyal fan/commenter, whether the recipient is a fellow blogger or just a someone who follows and comments regularly'.

Here are the rules:

• If you have a blog, post it on your blog with a link back to the site who gave it to you.
• Leave them a comment on their site, email, etc. to let them know.
• If you don't have a blog but have a website, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or other type account, post there with a link back.
• Pass this on to 3-10 loyal fans.

Thanks again to the The Book Nest for passing this award to me. I know pass it to a few fellow bloggers (in no particular order):

• Josh & Lisa Moore
• Kevin at Clariticity
• Adam at Mount Helicon
• Krista at Life or something like it...
• Rebrebs at Count Rebula's Concepts & Comments
• Aimee at My Fluttering Heart
• Logan at Rememorandom
• Shellie at Layers of Thought
• Brii at Ninja in Training
• JM at An Ulteriour Motive

Review - The Great Gatsby (book)

I read Great Gatsby back in Junior High and my only real memories were that it was boring and the characters were unloveable/unredeemable.

Finally getting around to re-reading it with more literature behind me, I have a much different take. While still not a favorite read of mine, I found it more entertaining than I remember and I actually came away engaged in the story and the characters.

Reading it this time, I was more distinctly aware of the prohibition era in which these characters were revolving and the extent to which that directed some of their actions. The drinking/partying took on a new aspect. It also gave me a greater perception into Gatsby's character and his relation to society as a whole and the society he was trying to 'break into' (Daisy's).

There was still plenty of superficiality to the characters…but that doesn't mean these characters are flat. On the contrary, I saw a lot more depth this time around than in my early teens. I was very impressed by the way Fitzgerald added so much depth to these characters while at the same time providing them with so little substance.

I enjoyed looking more closely at the interactions between Gatsby and Daisy and the way the various relationships worked. Now that I've actually dated and married, I viewed the relationships in a different light and could better understand the tension, jealousy and hypocritical behavior going on.

I would like to have seen more development of the pseudo-relationship between Nick and Jordan, but I think leaving it vague throughout and then ending it abruptly allows for more in-depth thinking than if Nick and Jordan had happily escaped the tragedy surrounding them.

I seem to remember there being significant discussion about the East/West geography in my Junior High English class…but reading it this time, I just didn't see that as a main motif. Sure, we had "West Egg" and "East Egg" and various New York parties and excursions. But when you get down to it, the East/West thing didn't work…partly because all of the main characters are just transplanted anyway (they all came from the west/midwest) and partly because the culture around them felt contrived anyway rather than some high culture that would be representative of the "true culture" of established Eastern money or whatever.

I had forgotten some of the details of the climax and the ending and so was a little taken off guard when everything unraveled. Parts of the climax scenes felt a little rushed or underdeveloped, but still provided a satisfying turn of events to the story arc, even if the end of the book left me a little unsettled (which is part of the intent, I believe).

My initial rating from my Junior High memories was 2 out of 5 stars. With a more mature perspective on reading and having read a whole lot more and learned a whole lot more, I can give a better rating and say that I can see now why this book is held up as a classic. It's not the action packed thriller or adventure novel that I may have wanted as a young teenager, but it is a thought provoking and engaging narrative exploring class and relationships in a turbulent world.


4 stars

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