Avatar

Saw Avatar last night with my Dad and Uncle Ron. Great film, like everyone has been saying. I really think this is the first time that you can believe all the CG is fully real. I only caught a couple places where there was a CG quirk... usually involving the live action guys inside the CG battle mechs.

The story isn't anything amazing, mostly a collection of classic story telling ideas rolled into a bewilderingly beautiful canvas. "Dances with Wolves in space" is what I've heard repeated. Thing is James Cameron still makes the telling of the story incredibly entertaining even if at no point are you surprised by what happens next. Which honestly is the makings of a film that can be watched over and over again.

The acting shines through the blue cat CG masks. I particularly like Zoe Saldana's job as the Pocahontas princess of the cat people. Zoe Saldana also played Uhura in J. J. Abrams' Star Trek film from last year. So she seems to know where good films are being made.

Sam Worthington's performance as our jarhead turned native was outstanding as well. Funny enough my brain keeps wanting to compare his job to the guy playing the lead in the G.I. Joe movie from last year. I know that's not a fair comparison to the old Joe, but the difference is so starkly defined that it makes for good contrast. In Joe the jughead has so much trouble delivering his lines that you can't help but wonder if they're holding cue cards up for him, while in Avatar it all seems natural even when coming from the lips of a blue cat.

Again, great film. No, I didn't see it in 3D... but I may go again just for that experience. Figured it best to enjoy it one time through before risking throwing up all over the place. My experience with 3D to date has been hit or miss. Not nauseating yet, but fraught with calamity, i.e., broken glasses.

It was great to get back to the theater... I miss going to the movies.

Strata by Terry Pratchett

Strata by Terry Pratchett

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What I learned from this book is... that even an author you love and think is a literary genius started from humbler beginnings. I've been devouring Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels faster than any other series to date. That even includes the Harry Potter books which I devoured rather quickly. So as a scholarly pursuit, I decided to read one of his pre-discworld novels.

Strata is a pure science fiction novel, which I've come to discover I don't have much taste for. The whole travel to some strange place for the purpose of describing a strange place doesn't always enthrall me. Strata has a similar taste for me, but the wit and humor of Pratchett still peaks through.

This book isn't as silly, but it was fun to see how some of the ideas in this book were used in the creation of the Discworld. This book tries to describe in science fiction terms of advanced technology how a flat world could work... the Discworld skates around such frivolities by having "magic" to take care of them. While in Strata you think about how a system could work with vast machines and the meaning of it all... when the Discworld comes on to the scene riding on the back of the World Turtle you just take the details and grand meaning for granted.

So, to sum up... I like the Discworld better than the flat Earth of Strata... BUT, the ending of Strata is a hoot. The ending was a great payoff for finally finishing. It made me smile and that's what it's all about after all.


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One Big Happy Family

family 03
Originally uploaded by FlipSide3

Here's the big ol' family picture we took for Christmas this year. Christmas went very well and my sister's twins were overly adorable. I think my kids enjoyed themselves too... at least Randal enjoyed clocking his sister over the head with a toy truck. Katie probably didn't like that part so much.

My hope is that the coming new year is even better than the last!

Bad Daddy

K10
Originally uploaded by FlipSide3

It was my fault. I admit it freely. She slid down the slide and went right through my hands. Cracked the back of her skull on the end of the slide.

Luckily she was smiling again in no time. Still makes me a bad Daddy. I'll have to do better in the future.

This was during our recent photo session at a pumpkin patch in Colleyville.

Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett

Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Back to the story of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. The Watch stories are very entertaining. Men at Arms in particular feels like an episode of a crime drama, or perhaps a history of a city policing force. You can tell the story isn't done yet, but this is a step in it's destiny.

New characters were introduced, the Watch's role in the city is expanded, and everything is fleshed out more. Don't know if I liked this one more than the other Watch books I've read, but with the Discworld novels I seem to love them all. Can't wait to dig into the next one.

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Small Gods (Discworld, #13) by Terry Pratchett

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book expands on the Discworld concept of gods. It also delves into belief, with the plot revolving around a god whose people live in a well established and complicated theocracy but nonetheless don't believe in him.

What's a small god to do when you've only got one believer left? I ended up liking this one a lot, and I'll smile all the more when I see turtles from now on.

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Audiobook) by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Decided to listen to the last Harry Potter book. Jim Dale does an amazing job with narration, as I'd always heard was true. This is the first time to go back and re-read(listen to) this book since I read it when it first came out.

While the ending is amazing and does a great job wrapping up the series, I still can't say this is my favorite. I still feel you could remove about a third or more of this book and it wouldn't make much difference. From about the end of the wedding until they get the sword, the story seems to slow to a crawl for me.

I get the feeling that JKR had gotten to such a state of celebrity that no editor would dare tell here to trim it a bit. Also it felt like she was padding the middle a little to make the story last most of what would have been Harry's last year at school. A better tactic might have been having Harry at school for half the year, put the wedding around Christmas time, and then going on the run during the Spring... but hey, she didn't ask me.

But this is all arm chair author grumbling. Maybe when I write my own fiction series worth millions, someone can get all complain-y about what they think I did wrong. All in all, I loved the ending and all the Dumbledore stuff, so I think I'll just say it was great and leave it at that.

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