Turning Japanesse

Not all prompted by Dan's reminder that it's been over a month since my last post, here's a new one.


Congratulations to the afore mentioned Dan for getting a new job in Japan, and also redesigning his blog to it looks lovely.

So since last time, Suse 10 has come out, and the entire county seemed to be out of stock of World of Warcraft (apart from a nice person on eBay who got a spare copy as a gift). Myself and Ness went on holiday to Spain. It's a bit sad that the best bit was a road from the resort to a town. It was all switch back turns up a mountain. Very fun ;)

As Serenity came out in the UK while we were on holiday (as well as missing two New Model Army gigs) saw that last week. Really, really really good. Best Science Fiction or genre film I have seen in ages. So much better than the lastest Star Wars films. Hopefully more will be coming.

Also went to the theatre in Woking last saturday. Basically Richard E Grant and Anthony Stewart Head were in it, so thought it would be good. It was called Otherwise Engaged. Not hugely sure about it. Apparently it moving the London so I really wouldn't spend lots on seeing it but it was ok.

On the book front, as usual on holiday anywhere I read anything and everything I could lay my hands on.

So Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys,
Terry Pratchett's Thrud
Kathy Reichs' Cross Bones
Hal Duncan's Vellum
Manual to World of Warcraft.

Funnily enough I enjoyed the manual more than Cross Bones especially as there wasn't a pirate in sight. Kathy Reichs seems to be falling foul of the same issue Patrica Cornwall did (before I got bored and stopped reading her stuff) ie loads of plot lines and confusion and then the guilty party basically grabs the protagonist at the end (in the last few pages) and says "I did it" Not impressed. This one did try in grab a bit of Da'Vinca Code's fame by maybe having the bones of Christ. She did try and excuse it with a, in the end all murders are done for the same reasons, type comment, but still not impressed.

Thrud was great. And not at all about the current issues in the middle east/US/ just about anywhere else where there are two people who disagree on things. It does amuse me that some people still think Pratchett writes "fantasy".

Anansi Boys was also great. It's odd reading the comments that Neil Gaiman put up on his blog while writing books and then remembering them ages later when you read what he's talking about.

Vellum (which I'm still reading, about a third of the way through at the moment) has huge potential. So far I'm getting elements of Storm Constantine's Hermatech, bits of the Wreaththu trilogy and the Grigori trilogy, Neal Stephenson's Snowcrash, and bits of Clive Barker's less horror stuff. I suspect reading it while listening to Elizium by the Nephilim would start some sort of cosmic rift. :)
Of course it could just end up as post modern Sumerian-cyberpunk gibberish.