A couple of reviews
Before I dive in to the reviews, just a further update on the recovery. I saw the surgeon yesterday, who removed the few bandages I had in place, looked around and pronounced himself satisfied with the progress. There is still some slight swelling in place, the bruising is almost all gone, and although there are a few 'pulling' sensations accompanying certain movements, nothing that is out of the ordinary. He cleared me to resume driving, and I can pick up my laptop now to go to and from work. For the next two weeks I can't lift more than 10-15 pounds, and I still need to wear an elastic binder across my middle. I won't need to return to see him, however, after the two weeks are over, unless there's a problem. At the end of the fortnight I can resume normal activity, but carefully and not all at once. I do have a scar (which I saw for the first time yesterday). Coupled with my belly button, it looks like a cyclopean smiley face!
After the visit to the Dr., my wife and I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Overall, we enjoyed the film, although there were a couple of things that bugged me. First, when Mad Eye Moody and the rest of the Order bust Harry out of the Dursley's house, and they flew along the Thames to the secret headquarters, why did they fly so low? Wouldn't it have made more sense to fly high, so as to avoid calling attention to themselves from the people on the boats? Second, When the Dumbledore's Army crew flew from Hogwarts to London for the showdown at the Ministry, they were all flying on thestrals. But earlier, only Harry and Luna could see the thestrals. So what changed? There was no explanation given. But the thing that bugged me the most was the fact that there were some amazing actors in this film who were given what were essentially bit parts. While it has been acknowledged that the books are too big to easily be made into full films, the other four had somehow managed to whittle things down to a manageable size. But Order of the Phoenix just seemed too jam-packed to be coherent at times. The struggle against Umbridge seemed to be the focus, while the showdown at the Ministry seemed to be little more than tacked on to give the film a requisite encounter with Voldemort. I did, however, appreciate Dumbledore referring to the so-called 'Dark Lord' as 'Tom,' thereby robbing him of his claim to grandeur.
Sunday marked the end of my reading in Daniel da Cruz's 'Texas' series, as I finally finished Texas Triumphant. Speaking of jam-packed, I got lost a couple of times trying to keep up with what crisis Ripley Forte was facing next. First, there was an attempt by the Soviet Union to invade the Republic of Texas to apprehend Forte for his 'crimes,' then he had to deal with squatters with a dubious social theory (that said squatters managed to sell Forte), then he was set up by the KGB to react in a certain way that gave the Soviets an opportunity to threaten the US with ecological disaster, then both the US and the USSR attempt to kill Forte, then he somehow wrangles the US President and the Soviet Premier into a summit meeting at Houston, and then imposes the same dubious social theory that the squatters sold him. All the while dealing with the personal struggles of the beautiful but deadly Jennifer Red Cloud, the Catwoman to Forte's Batman, with a special surprise in store for Forte.
I can honestly say I'm glad to be done with this series, which has piqued my interest for the last twenty or so years. I find it fascinating that even then da Cruz was thinking about the possibility of the effect of global warming (remember, this was 1985-1987). He did back up his story with some hard science (of which I'm not as much a fan as I used to be), even if his social theory was a little wonky.
Below is my updated reading list:
The Current List:
.5. The Essential Lewis and Clark - Jones (this is listed as #.5 as I started it in 2006)
1. The Present Future - McNeal
2. Ancient-Future Faith - Weber
3. Who Needs A Superhero? - Brewer
4. Sea Island Cotton - Porcher & Fick
5. The Lost Art of Leadership - Richards
6. The Divine Conspiracy - Willard
7. A Hunger for the Holy - Miller
8. Once Upon A Time - Miller
9. The End of the World As We Know It - Smith
10. Worship Come to Its Senses - Saliers
11. Suppressed Transmission - Hite
12. Learning to Preach Like Jesus - Lewis & Lewis
13. Real Worship - Wiersbe
14. Slightly Off Center - Camsey
15. They Smell Like Sheep - Anderson
16. Head, Heart, Hands - Hollinger
17. When Men Think Private Thoughts - MacDonald
18. Lord of the Rings - Tolkien (re-read)
19. The Medieval Underworld - McCall
20. The Book of Arthur - Matthews
21. The Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics: An Introduction to the Gnostic Coptic Manuscripts Discovered at Chenoboskion - Doresse (This one is more for research for an rpg campaign I'm playing with)
22. Dance Lessons for Zombies - Hiett
23. Why Men Hate Going to Church - Murrow
24. The Black Rood - Lawhead
25. The Ayes of Texas - da Cruz
26. Texas on the Rocks - da Cruz
27. Texas Triumphant - da Cruz
After the visit to the Dr., my wife and I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Overall, we enjoyed the film, although there were a couple of things that bugged me. First, when Mad Eye Moody and the rest of the Order bust Harry out of the Dursley's house, and they flew along the Thames to the secret headquarters, why did they fly so low? Wouldn't it have made more sense to fly high, so as to avoid calling attention to themselves from the people on the boats? Second, When the Dumbledore's Army crew flew from Hogwarts to London for the showdown at the Ministry, they were all flying on thestrals. But earlier, only Harry and Luna could see the thestrals. So what changed? There was no explanation given. But the thing that bugged me the most was the fact that there were some amazing actors in this film who were given what were essentially bit parts. While it has been acknowledged that the books are too big to easily be made into full films, the other four had somehow managed to whittle things down to a manageable size. But Order of the Phoenix just seemed too jam-packed to be coherent at times. The struggle against Umbridge seemed to be the focus, while the showdown at the Ministry seemed to be little more than tacked on to give the film a requisite encounter with Voldemort. I did, however, appreciate Dumbledore referring to the so-called 'Dark Lord' as 'Tom,' thereby robbing him of his claim to grandeur.
Sunday marked the end of my reading in Daniel da Cruz's 'Texas' series, as I finally finished Texas Triumphant. Speaking of jam-packed, I got lost a couple of times trying to keep up with what crisis Ripley Forte was facing next. First, there was an attempt by the Soviet Union to invade the Republic of Texas to apprehend Forte for his 'crimes,' then he had to deal with squatters with a dubious social theory (that said squatters managed to sell Forte), then he was set up by the KGB to react in a certain way that gave the Soviets an opportunity to threaten the US with ecological disaster, then both the US and the USSR attempt to kill Forte, then he somehow wrangles the US President and the Soviet Premier into a summit meeting at Houston, and then imposes the same dubious social theory that the squatters sold him. All the while dealing with the personal struggles of the beautiful but deadly Jennifer Red Cloud, the Catwoman to Forte's Batman, with a special surprise in store for Forte.
I can honestly say I'm glad to be done with this series, which has piqued my interest for the last twenty or so years. I find it fascinating that even then da Cruz was thinking about the possibility of the effect of global warming (remember, this was 1985-1987). He did back up his story with some hard science (of which I'm not as much a fan as I used to be), even if his social theory was a little wonky.
Below is my updated reading list:
The Current List:
.5. The Essential Lewis and Clark - Jones (this is listed as #.5 as I started it in 2006)
1. The Present Future - McNeal
2. Ancient-Future Faith - Weber
3. Who Needs A Superhero? - Brewer
4. Sea Island Cotton - Porcher & Fick
5. The Lost Art of Leadership - Richards
6. The Divine Conspiracy - Willard
7. A Hunger for the Holy - Miller
8. Once Upon A Time - Miller
9. The End of the World As We Know It - Smith
10. Worship Come to Its Senses - Saliers
11. Suppressed Transmission - Hite
12. Learning to Preach Like Jesus - Lewis & Lewis
13. Real Worship - Wiersbe
14. Slightly Off Center - Camsey
15. They Smell Like Sheep - Anderson
16. Head, Heart, Hands - Hollinger
17. When Men Think Private Thoughts - MacDonald
18. Lord of the Rings - Tolkien (re-read)
19. The Medieval Underworld - McCall
20. The Book of Arthur - Matthews
21. The Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics: An Introduction to the Gnostic Coptic Manuscripts Discovered at Chenoboskion - Doresse (This one is more for research for an rpg campaign I'm playing with)
22. Dance Lessons for Zombies - Hiett
23. Why Men Hate Going to Church - Murrow
24. The Black Rood - Lawhead
25. The Ayes of Texas - da Cruz
26. Texas on the Rocks - da Cruz
27. Texas Triumphant - da Cruz