To Summarize
It's been ages since I've posted. A lot of stuff has happened, but I've either been too busy doing said stuff to take time to write about it, or too distracted by things that are easier than writing a blog post, like watching TV or solving triple integrals. So... here's a quick run-down of the last few weeks.
Elisabeth Sladen died. This came as a complete shock to me. I had no idea she wasn't well. Her performance in Doctor Who was always brilliant, and when they gave her her own show she took her starring role and gave us something spectacular. I wish I could have met her. At least I know I'll always have her performance as Sarah Jane Smith.
I purchased and played Portal 2. It's super fun! If you're into video games, chances are you've already played Portal. If you're not into video games, I'd like to recommend Portal. It's a great game with a lot to offer. The puzzles are fun, the dialog is hilarious, and the atmosphere is wonderfully creepy. Also, there's music by Jonathan Coulton!
The sequel has Stephen Merchant (co-creator of The Office) as voice talent, as well as Ellen McLain from the first game. And another Jonathan Coulton song at the end. It's basically awesome. I've completed the single-player but not the cooperative mode, because my console isn't online so I can only do co-op when other people are physically able to play with me in the same room.
Trevor and Rachel moved into a new apartment, and I helped them with their move. There was a surprise birthday party for Rachel in there as well. Moving went fairly quickly and easily, with all the people who came to help. It was one of those days where things kept going wrong, though. Little problems kept rearing their ugly heads, and bigger problems kept looming but never actually got as bad as it looked like they might. Anyway, now they have a new home, where hopefully they'll be very happy.
The Machine of Death Half Birthday Party and Talent Show happened. I did lights! I was really nervous, because out of all the aspects of putting on a show, I've done pretty much all of them, at least a little. I could be asked to manage almost any aspect of a stage performance and be comfortable because I've had a little bit of experience in that area. Except for lights. I'd never even touched a light board before that evening. But the theater owner showed us which switches did what, and I figured out what needed to happen when (with the assistance of a sheet of paper David Malki ! had given me that explained what the lights needed to be doing when) and it actually went pretty well! I only made a couple of small mistakes, and at the end the theater owner asked me if I do tech at a lot of places. Yes!
My main concern during the show was keeping the lights at the correct levels, but the show itself was still tons of fun! There were some really cool and clever acts for the talent show, and the audience seemed engaged, and there were lots of cool people doing lots of cool things. This was one of David's crazy ideas that worked out really well. (People, you've got to stop letting stuff like this go well. It just encourages him.)
Free Comic Book Day also happened, and for the first time ever I actually made it! Every year I somehow can't get to a comic store on Free Comic Book Day, but this year I actually did go to a comic store, and it was better than I'd ever imagined. I always assumed you walked into a store, were handed a couple of comics, and then left. But it turns out you walk into a store, pick up a giant stack of free comics, and leave. At least, that's how it worked at Ralph's Comic Corner in Ventura. Not sure how uniform the stores' attitudes toward Free Comic Book Day are.
I also saw Thor on Free Comic Book Day. It was fun. I'm glad I saw it. My main complaint is that, several times, I saw two possible branches for the story: A dramatically interesting option and a dramatically boring option. One hundred percent of the time, they went with the dramatically boring option. It made for a cleaner, less challenging story, but it also made for a less interesting story. Not bad, just sort of purposefully inoffensively bland.
This past Friday, my youngest nephew, Finnegan, turned one! I went and visited my brother Erich and his family, and my dad was visiting too. It was good to spend time with family. There was some significant tension in the atmosphere, though, because they've been butting heads with their new landlord over some water problems in the house and other issues. (Both of my brothers moved house at roughly the same time. Weird!)
On Saturday my dad handed me the key to my new car. It's a '99 SAAB, I can't remember what model (my old one was a 900, and this isn't), and it's wonderful. There are dozens of tiny improvements over the design of my last car. It's got cupholders! I can control the radio volume from the steering wheel! The side mirrors are designed with warped pieces to eliminate the whopping huge blind spot that I was convinced would one day kill me in the old one! All in all, I'm extremely glad to be back in a cool, convertible Swedish car.
And Doctor Who has been going! I wasn't too sure about the first episode of the new series, but the second episode was great and allayed my fears (despite being terrifying.) The third episode of the series was okay. I feel like everyone involved did a great job, except for the writer. It's all very atmospheric and cool and fun, but there are a few things about the pacing, the plot, and the logic that bug me.
The episode that was shown on Saturday, though... Well, it's the one that Neil Gaiman wrote. And it's amazing. Well, it would have to be.
It's called "The Doctor's Wife," which is a cruel title in some ways but which is clearly the perfect title for this episode once you realize what it's about. I won't say anything about the plot, but I'll say that it was funny, and scary, and brilliant, and probably my favorite Doctor Who episode of all time. Until I saw it, I would never have considered the possibility that I would ever list an 11th Doctor episode as my favorite, but it's just the perfect Doctor Who episode. It doesn't even matter that David Tennant isn't in it.
Best. Episode. Ever.
Elisabeth Sladen died. This came as a complete shock to me. I had no idea she wasn't well. Her performance in Doctor Who was always brilliant, and when they gave her her own show she took her starring role and gave us something spectacular. I wish I could have met her. At least I know I'll always have her performance as Sarah Jane Smith.
I purchased and played Portal 2. It's super fun! If you're into video games, chances are you've already played Portal. If you're not into video games, I'd like to recommend Portal. It's a great game with a lot to offer. The puzzles are fun, the dialog is hilarious, and the atmosphere is wonderfully creepy. Also, there's music by Jonathan Coulton!
The sequel has Stephen Merchant (co-creator of The Office) as voice talent, as well as Ellen McLain from the first game. And another Jonathan Coulton song at the end. It's basically awesome. I've completed the single-player but not the cooperative mode, because my console isn't online so I can only do co-op when other people are physically able to play with me in the same room.
Trevor and Rachel moved into a new apartment, and I helped them with their move. There was a surprise birthday party for Rachel in there as well. Moving went fairly quickly and easily, with all the people who came to help. It was one of those days where things kept going wrong, though. Little problems kept rearing their ugly heads, and bigger problems kept looming but never actually got as bad as it looked like they might. Anyway, now they have a new home, where hopefully they'll be very happy.
The Machine of Death Half Birthday Party and Talent Show happened. I did lights! I was really nervous, because out of all the aspects of putting on a show, I've done pretty much all of them, at least a little. I could be asked to manage almost any aspect of a stage performance and be comfortable because I've had a little bit of experience in that area. Except for lights. I'd never even touched a light board before that evening. But the theater owner showed us which switches did what, and I figured out what needed to happen when (with the assistance of a sheet of paper David Malki ! had given me that explained what the lights needed to be doing when) and it actually went pretty well! I only made a couple of small mistakes, and at the end the theater owner asked me if I do tech at a lot of places. Yes!
My main concern during the show was keeping the lights at the correct levels, but the show itself was still tons of fun! There were some really cool and clever acts for the talent show, and the audience seemed engaged, and there were lots of cool people doing lots of cool things. This was one of David's crazy ideas that worked out really well. (People, you've got to stop letting stuff like this go well. It just encourages him.)
Free Comic Book Day also happened, and for the first time ever I actually made it! Every year I somehow can't get to a comic store on Free Comic Book Day, but this year I actually did go to a comic store, and it was better than I'd ever imagined. I always assumed you walked into a store, were handed a couple of comics, and then left. But it turns out you walk into a store, pick up a giant stack of free comics, and leave. At least, that's how it worked at Ralph's Comic Corner in Ventura. Not sure how uniform the stores' attitudes toward Free Comic Book Day are.
I also saw Thor on Free Comic Book Day. It was fun. I'm glad I saw it. My main complaint is that, several times, I saw two possible branches for the story: A dramatically interesting option and a dramatically boring option. One hundred percent of the time, they went with the dramatically boring option. It made for a cleaner, less challenging story, but it also made for a less interesting story. Not bad, just sort of purposefully inoffensively bland.
This past Friday, my youngest nephew, Finnegan, turned one! I went and visited my brother Erich and his family, and my dad was visiting too. It was good to spend time with family. There was some significant tension in the atmosphere, though, because they've been butting heads with their new landlord over some water problems in the house and other issues. (Both of my brothers moved house at roughly the same time. Weird!)
On Saturday my dad handed me the key to my new car. It's a '99 SAAB, I can't remember what model (my old one was a 900, and this isn't), and it's wonderful. There are dozens of tiny improvements over the design of my last car. It's got cupholders! I can control the radio volume from the steering wheel! The side mirrors are designed with warped pieces to eliminate the whopping huge blind spot that I was convinced would one day kill me in the old one! All in all, I'm extremely glad to be back in a cool, convertible Swedish car.
And Doctor Who has been going! I wasn't too sure about the first episode of the new series, but the second episode was great and allayed my fears (despite being terrifying.) The third episode of the series was okay. I feel like everyone involved did a great job, except for the writer. It's all very atmospheric and cool and fun, but there are a few things about the pacing, the plot, and the logic that bug me.
The episode that was shown on Saturday, though... Well, it's the one that Neil Gaiman wrote. And it's amazing. Well, it would have to be.
It's called "The Doctor's Wife," which is a cruel title in some ways but which is clearly the perfect title for this episode once you realize what it's about. I won't say anything about the plot, but I'll say that it was funny, and scary, and brilliant, and probably my favorite Doctor Who episode of all time. Until I saw it, I would never have considered the possibility that I would ever list an 11th Doctor episode as my favorite, but it's just the perfect Doctor Who episode. It doesn't even matter that David Tennant isn't in it.
Best. Episode. Ever.