What’s been happening

Nothing particularly exciting actually. My life has gotten somewhat lame as I live vicariously through the stories that others tell me. Everything I have been doing has been quite… sedentary. I may be turning into dust. Anyways, where should I start?

Books is a good a place as any. I have to say I have been very lucky in the book department of late as everything I have read has been simply splendid. They are interesting well written books that capture the imagination creating and developing interesting complex characters.

The unnamed protagonist in this novel will soon wed the love of his life Q when a man claiming to be his future self pays him a visit. He is a sad and worn man who tells him, “You must not marry Q”. That is the beginning of a beautiful book of lost love, alternate histories, and time travel. You would think these aspects could not intersect but he melds them together seamlessly into an amazing story filled with both humour and sadness.

This is not the first book by Mandery that I have read, I gave his book “First Contact – Or It’s Later Than You Think (Parrot Sketch Excluded)” a raving review in 2010, and rightfully so. He keeps up his phenomenal story telling with “Q”. His main character is a smart, thoughtful, individual who is put in the middle of a major quandary that would change not just his life but the life of the one he loves. This brings up philosophical questions that leave the mind spinning.

I must say, even though sweet, the ending of this book is sad, or at least sadder than I would have expected. The first part of the book is very funny, I found myself laughing out loud at many parts. But as it continued there was less humour and more melancholy. By the end there were still parts that made me smile but it was filled with sorrow and loss. I am not saying this to deter you from reading this book, I wholeheartedly recommend it, I am just letting you know so are prepared. It is a necessity.

CoreFire, “The world’s mightiest hero”, has gone missing leaving the his team, The Champions, and the world vulnerably. They recruit Fatale, a half human half cyborg woman to help figure out what is going on. Doctor Impossible, an evil mastermind, uses this opportunity to break out of a specially designed federal detention centre and begin putting his plan into motion for world domination.

This book takes everything you have learned from comics over the years, creates a new set of heroes for you to root for and a new villian to despise (but you secretly like), and then uses that info to create a compelling story of alienation, understanding, and bravery. All the cliches are in there but it is good cheese not bad. The villian wants to take over the world because of some slight that no one but him knows of spouting words of grandeur. His diabolical plans are completely outlandish and ridiculous but you secretly want him to win just so you could see what would happen.

The heroes are a group of do gooders that are praised by the people that they have sworn to protect. But this book reveals their private lives and it is not as peachy keen as would have imagined. There is pain, mistrust, even some pill popping. It isn’t easy staying in that kind of physical condition. But they do work together thwarting evil plans and alien attacks.

This is Austin Grossman’s first book and I am looking forward to seeing what he puts out next. He creates a whole interesting world with in-depth descriptions that almost make it seem you are reading a graphic novel. “Soon I Will Be Invincible” is great book that i recommend not just for comic book nerds but all readers in general.

Movies

or should I say movie, as I only saw one. Can you guess which one it was?

Yeah it is the same one everyone else saw too. I am not doing a synopsis of this as most people have either seen it or after the bombardment of trailers, clips, and posters that were released and the other movies that lead up to this one; Captain America: The First Avenger, Iron Man one and two, Thor.

I saw one of the millions of people that saw the midnight showing of this movie, well 12:15 am, and the reason isn’t cuz i couldn’t wait one more day to see it but because i knew if i didn’t the movie would be ruined for me. It wasn’t released first in North America and that meant the internet was already filled with reviews and people proclaiming its greatness but that was somewhat avoidable. But once released here there would be no escape. And that amount of hype would simply ruin the experience. There would have been no way the movie would have lived up to the fevered level it had been elevated to. So I saw it as soon as possible…so I could ruin it for others. No, no I kid.

I won’t agree with most reviews who say that this movie was just incredible. But the movie was good. Walking into this movie that with the number of main characters it would be easy for one or more of them to be lost in the story with little screen time. But the they managed to give all of them equal screen time and importance in the story.

The story itself properly explored how hard it is for these people with big personalities to work together and then find the balance. It also provided a worthy villain for them to fight against that never seemed weak or too powerful for them to handle. There was also a lot of humour interjected into the film to ensure that the outlandishness of it was never taken too seriously. If it was I think that the overall product would have come off as ridiculous.

I have a beef with the 3D, actually let me put that into quotes, “3D”. It was totally pointless. I spent a good portion of the movie looking over my glasses checking to see if it was in 3D and it never seemed like it was. So not impressed. But I was forced to pay the extra $3 because all the midnight showings for the movie were in “3D”. UGH!

I totally recommend The Avengers. It is a good idea to have seen at least a couple of the movies that lead up to this as they don’t take the time to make introductions. Even if you don’t though you will be able to figure it out.

Sports

Yeah I did at least 1 activity that you could consider a sport. I tried curling for the first time. A friend of mine invited me out with a group to go to this curling club by High Park which I never knew existed. It was a fun experience.

I was happy that I wasn’t the only one curling for the first time that way I wasn’t the only one making an ass of themselves. We were told the rules, given a lesson, and then left to our devices. There was a lot of falling, low scores, and errant stones going down the ice. Beside being cold it was a great experience. No one was dressed appropriately even though we were given warnings earlier in the day. It is an indoor sport so you never think it is going to be that cold but when you think about it it is a room filled with ice so it is like a freezer aka cold. It isn’t something I would watch on TV but I wouldn’t mind playing it again. You should give it a try, it is entertaining and just fun.

The Mass Times Acceleration

So Star Wars day was on May 4th and it is totally a thing now. No we don’t get a day off (I wish!) and no we don’t get to walk around in robes and oddly structure our sentences, well you can if you want I guess but that is the same as every other day so… But it is a thing. There are tees, videos, e-cards, TV marathons, sales, and when you say, “May the 4th be with you,” people know what you are talking about. Much has changed since the my soul crushing experience form my high-school days.

Sadly, from now on May 4th will also mark the death of MCA from the Beastie Boys. It was a complete shock to me as I didn’t even know he was sick and the news of his death just blew my mind. Sure at 47 Adam Yauch wasn’t young but that is still far from what I would call old. His musical influence along with the other Beastie Boys was felt not just in the Hip Hop community but in the dance/techno, rock, and even punk.

The funny thing is one of the first things to pop into my head when he died was that it was too bad that this happened before that head bottling technology was invented. If you don’t know what I am talking about it is because I am making a Futurama reference to their appearence on the show.

Classic. He will be missed.

Sorry to end this on a kind of down note but I can’t really think of anything else that I have been up to that is anywhere near interesting.

Tra

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Tra

2 Comments

Another unnamed protagonist

I’m almost finished making a time machine so I could go back in time to warn myself not to marry D. I got the flux capacitor working but I cant find a DeLorean.

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cory

what a busy little bee you seem when you save up all your writing for 1 post – I will have to read a book maybe both from your descriptions they sound like they’re something up my alley all sorrowful and melanchaly like.

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