Vash's Reading and Review Blog

Book Review: River God by Wilbur Smith

2007-08-04T06:17:00.000-07:00

I've been carrying this book around with me for a while, but I'm finally glad that I've taken the time to sit down and read it.

River God is a story about ancient egypt set four thousand years ago in the Rein of the Pharoah Mamose and is told from the perspective of the eunuch Slave Taita. If this story was set in modern times, Taita would almost certainly be a professor or other learned scholar, but in ancient Egypt he is regarded as one of the best healers, engineers and teachers in the land.

Taita is appointed as teacher and guardian to the warrior Tanus and later to the Lady Lostris who ultimately is betrothed to the Pharaoh. The story covers the life of the Lady Lostris, her love for the warrior Tanus, and of their ultimate struggle to retake their beloved cities from the invading hoards from the Lower Kingdom of Egypt and the invaders from the desert to the west.

The Nile plays a large character in the story and the passing of years is marked by the annual inundation of the lands that brings life to the region.

Overall I'd give the story 8 out of 10.

I am now reading the sequel to this first story: The Seventh Scroll - a modern day tale where archaeologists find the actual scroll that Taita conceals in Lostris' tomb.

Book Review Stephen Baxter's Mammoth Trilogy

2007-06-02T05:36:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's nearly been six months since I've posted on here and much more worrying so long since I finished reading a book, damn work, the Twat and too much alcohol, but finally I've now finally completed reading Stephen Baxter's Mammoth trilogy.

Longtusk is the second story in Stephen Baxter's Mammoth trilogy, although this is a trilogy all three novels can be read independently.

The story follows the life of a young bull "Long Tusk" who loses his family in a fire and then is taken in by a tribe of Neanderthals. The Neanderthals (Dreamers) are in competition for land with tribes of Homo Sapiens (Fireheads) and Long Tusk gets involved in the war. The Fireheads keep a herd of Mastadons to do heavy lifting and hauling and Long Tusk became one of this down-trodden herd.

Long Tusk eventually finds both freedom and his family and succeeds in saving the last of the mammoths from the Fireheads by crossing the land-bridge from Alaska into what was to become modern day Siberia.

Icebones is the third installment in Stephen Baxter's Mammoth trilogy and is probably the best book of the Trilogy because - get this - it's set on Mars! Mammoths on Mars, what a cool concept!

The story follows the life of Icebones the daughter of Silverhair who was the central character in the first Mammoth book.I did spent quite a lot of the time reading the book trying to work out how the Martian ecology had been changed by man to enable Mammoths to survive there, but this actually does become clear at the end of the tale, so I won't spoli it for you.

Icebones awakes after being in suspended animation during the journey to Mars (and I believe that she must have been kept in suspended animation for several hundred years while the Martian ecology was established by man or The Lost as the Mammoths call us as the map of Mars at the front of the book is timestamped 3000AD).

On awakening, she discovers other Mammoths who have been living in a zoo, all bred by the Lost using genetic manipulation techniques. The Mammoths cannot stay at the zoo site on top of Olympus Mons because the greatest volcano in the solar system is erupting. (Probably why the man abandoned the planet).Agreeing to become the Mammoth's new Matriarch leader, Icebones uses the knowledge passed down to her by her mother Silverhair of the legends of the great mammoth cycle of life and leads her new Mammoth family across the planetary surface in search of a new place to live.

The Mammoths travel through the Valles Marineris (which is a canyon system that stretches a third of the way around the equator of Mars), facing hunger, thirst, floods and the dreaded dust storms of Mars to the sanctury of the Footfall in the lowlands of the Hellas Basin where other Mammoths are living freely in a lush lowland steepe.

All three of these Mammoth books are now listed on Bookcrossing.com if you want to read this trilogy of books I'll happily give them away for free on a first come first served basis.

128 ok it's official - I have no life.

2007-02-22T05:32:00.000-08:00

It's been said that allegedly if you've seen over 85 movies you have no life. I have my own opinion about that, but now is not the time. Mark the ones you've seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog, paste it in and put x's by the ones that you have seen. Add them up, change the header adding your number, and post it.

( ) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(X) Fight Club
(x) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
(x) The Princess Bride
( ) AnchorMan
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
(x) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
( ) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
(x) Scream
(x) Scream 2
(X) Scream 3
(x) Scary Movie
(x) Scary Movie 2
(x) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
(x) American Pie Band Camp
(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
(x) Resident Evil 1
(x) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch
(x) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
( ) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
(x) White Chicks
(x) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
( ) Robots
( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(x) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
(x) Deep Impact
(x) KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
(x) King Kong
( ) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
(x) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving Christmas
(x) Flubber
( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
(x) The Day After Tomorrow
(x) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
(x) Bad Boys
(x) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Sleven
(x) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
( ) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
(x) Bedazzled
(x) Predator I
(x) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(x) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
(x) Independence Day
(x) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
(x) Christine
(x) E.T.
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2
( ) Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
(x) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
(x) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
(x) The Terminator 3
(x) X-Men
(x) X-2
( ) X3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
(x) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday
(x) Reign of Fire

Ok right, it's official I'm at 85 now, I have no life....

( ) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
(x) Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th street
(x) Old School
( ) The Notebook
(x) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old Virgin
(x) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
(x) Base-ketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
( ) Elf
(x) Highlander
(x) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
( ) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(x) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(x) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
(x) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(x) Waterworld
(x) Kill Bill Vol. 1
(x) Kill Bill Vol. 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave
( ) The Last House on the Left
(x) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
(x) Ewoks: Caravan Of Courage
(x) Ewoks: The Battle For Endor
(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix: Reloaded
(x) The Matrix: Revolutions
(x) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
(x) Team America: World Police
(x) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
(x) Hannibal

One hundred and 28 - phew. How many can you do?

Booking Through Thursday

2007-01-05T05:16:00.000-08:00

Let's review shall we?

Now that 2006 is over ... what were your favourite books of the year?

I've just looked back at the few books that I have read this year and to be honest, it is such a pitiful list that I'd really not bother commenting. I've really let my reading slip this year and in the previous year too. I know exactly what has done it. Too many DVD box sets of episodic tv too watch. It's certainly easier watching and episode or two of the X-Files before turning out the light than it is to read a good to honest real book. I guess this will be one of my New Years' resoultions: Read more and read more of what I want to read not just because it's there or on a list to be read, even if it means re-reading my old favourites.

Last night I acutally finished a book. Well, not just a book, the multi-series set of the Chronicles of Narnia which ends with The Last Battle. Ok, I first read this set of books when I was a child, even then, the dialogue of the children of the post-war years was a little strange but now 50 years later, they still hold the old charm.

Musing on Movies: Just Say "No"

2006-09-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

"Oh, him? He's harmless. Part of the free speech movement at Berkeleyin the sixties. I think he did a little too much LDS."~~Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

What do you think about smoking, drinking, and/or drug use in films? Doyou think that it affects whether or not/how much you use them? Do youthink it influences kids to use them? Do you think that films that showbinge drinking/getting drunk (not a glass of wine with dinner or JamesBond's martini) or smoking should automatically be rated R? (There is currently a proposal to the MPAA about this.)

Personally as long as it's not too over the top, I've got no problem with cigarettes or alcohol being shown in movies. I don't think that the rating categories should be changed either. I do have a problem with drug use, and when I watched "Trainspotting" with Ewen MacGregor I was actually quite shocked, I'd never really seen images like those before.

I do know that there was serious discussion during the filming of Lord of the Rings about Gandalf's pipe smoking and the blowing of smoke rings and whether they should be included in the plot in this modern day and age, fortunately Peter Jackson stayed true to Tolkien's original tale and those scenes didn't end up on the cutting room floor - although I've got to wonder just what was in the longbottom leaf pipe tobacco that Merry and Pippin were smoking after the battle of Isengard!!!

Book Review: Mammoth - Book One: Silverhair by Stephen Baxter

2006-09-25T05:53:00.000-07:00

I bought this book because I was collecting Stephen Baxter's works on Ebay, but this is not a science fiction novel like Baxter's others works, it is a more down to earth story about the handful of Mammoths that are still struggling to survive in the modern world. Although not specified, I assume that the Family were moving around an Island off the coast of Alaska - somewhere remote anyway. The story does however have a little SF twist at the end, but I'll not spoil it further.

Over the Great Years of the Mammoth's history on earth, their numbers have gradually dwindled until there is just one Family of Mammoths led by a brave Matriarch wandering the icy tundra. The story begins during the harsh winter, and follows through into the melting spring warmth when the last of the mammoth families stumble across the Lost (or a wandering gang of modern-day humans) together with their dangerous Fire-Sticks (guns).

I have registered this book at BookCrossing.com. I do not think that I will want to read this novel again, so at some point I will probably release it into the wild.

7 out of 10

Book Review: Stark by Ben Elton

2006-08-15T07:01:00.000-07:00

The earth is dying and the rich and powerful owners of the global corporations indulge in a global conspiracy to create their own kind of future and leave the earth to drown in a future of pollution, hunger and scum.

This story is about a few members of the public who stumble onto the truth, and try to publish their findings, but the world is not interested and as the powerful members of the conspiracy own the press and police. The story doesn't get out, so they resort to journeying to the launch site in Bullens Creek Australia themselves to try and find out exactly what is going on.

Ben Elton's sarcastic level of humor carries the reader through the first half of the book until the story starts to pick up when the main characters of the Stark "resistence" arrive in Australia.

I've finished this book today and I have registered it at Book Crossing.com I'm going to leave it on the bus on my way home tonight. With so many Emmets in St Ives at the moment it could end up anywhere on Earth!

Rating 7 out of 10

Next read: The Draco Tavern by Larry Niven

Meme Therapy: Brain Parade Science Fiction Worldview

2006-07-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

Meme Therapy: Brain Parade Science Fiction Worldview

Has reading and writing SF changed your world view? And if so how?

Definitely.

I started reading SF before I'd reached my teens, I started with light stuff, and then one day I picked up a hard sf novel and I was gone. From there I wanted to learn more about the realities and distances of space, and this is what started my interest in Astronomy, a hobby that I still have a limited fascination in today.

Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest

2006-07-11T09:59:00.000-07:00

I went to see this over the weekend and totally enjoyed the swashbuckling yarn! I've not read any reviews (it's supposed to have been slammed by the critics), or read any of the usual pre-release movie gossip - being cut off from the internet for 5 months due to BT's continued cockups certainly does have it's drawbacks. But if you just want to go and enjoy yourself for 2 and a half hours and take yourself out of your everyday life then this is the film for you. I can't wait now for the sequel.

Definitely 10/10

This article appeared in the local cinema's movie magazine. I thought it was very funny when I read it out in the pub on Friday evening, imitating the Cornish yarn!

What's the Yarn?

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum, Captain Jack Sparrow this way shall come. That's right, me hearties - inhale the salty air, feel the roll of the ship's bow, let the fresh sea breeze lick your face. It's been a long three years since The Curse of the Black Pearl, but Dead Man's Chest is finally here to treat us to another dose of supernatural, sea-faring intrigue.

Of course, this whole pirates theme is a subject very close to our hearts. We in Cornwall boast a long history of maritime antics, with tales of smugglers, pirates, pillaging and rum swilling. What a pirate epic they could set here, on our rugged shores.

Imagine it "Pirates of the Caribbean: Cornishman's Chest". Desperate to escape his blood debt, the fate of an eternal spit roast in hell, Captain Jack Sparrow consults a wise man for help.

"You must sail to the end of the earth and beyond, to the fair land of dreams.... Cornwall," the wise man mumbles.

"Cornwall?" Jack had heard tales of a wonderful faraway lang, but had dismissed them as fairytales. "Not the place where the rivers run with sweet mead and the legendary pasty grows on trees?" he asks, with wide, black-kohled eyes. "What are we waiting for?"

"Stop. If you are to escape eternal damnation you must pluck a hair from a Cornishman's chest and drink it down with a jug of mead. Then, like the fair people of Cornwall, you will be surrounded by sweetness and light, fluffy pastry in this life and after".

So Captain Jack sets sail for the faraway land of Cornwall. As the months pass, many treacherous obstacles cross our hero's path. Aside from Poseidon-esque waves and colossal sea serpents, Jack faces the hardiest test of a seaman, the sea sickness of the Scillies to Land's End crossing, not to mention the dive-bombing seagulls.

When he finally drops anchor in Mounts Bay, he rows to the shore of Penzance and clambers onto the rocks, his eyes shining in the dark Cornish night. Stumbling in his rum-fuelled haze, he falls into a hole. "Bu***er!" he drawls, staggering to his feet. Discovering he is in some kind of secret passageway, he wanders along it. Reaching the end, he finds himself amidst the heat, smoke and scrumpy-scented air or a tavern. The drinkers, with their salt-encrusted faces and the prized, steely hairs - cultivated after a lifetime's pasty munching - peeping from the edge of their smoocks, stop and stare at him. "Rock 'n' Roll! This must be the legendary Admiral Benbow!" Jack exclaims, leaning against the bar. Peering over, he frowns. "Where's the Rum?"

"No rum in 'ere, boy. It's scrumpy or mead."

"No rum? Better have some of this mead stuff then." He accepts a jug, oblivious to the Cornish discontent growing at this brazen newcomer.

"Not from round 'ere, are 'ee?" Long John Penberthy, a tall, robust local with a chest full of wiry red hair, asks.

"Pardon?" Jack says.

"What's wrong with 'ee? Can't 'ee speak proper?" Long John strides up to him, a menacing flame in his eye.

"I'm sorry, but who's 'ee?" Jack slurs. Long John swings for him. As he does, Jack grabs a bunch of chest hair and rips it with all his might.

Long John howls in pain. Stunned, the locals watch as Jack sprinkles the chest hair in his mead, and pours it down his throat. He stumbles back as the sweet mead hits him with a mighty blow. "Well, b***er me, I must be dead already, cause this Cornwall is heaven! ... Oooh, spank me, pirate boy!"

And so, having escaped the eternal spit roast in hell, Captain Jack sets said across the seven seas with the most precious bounty of all - enough pasties and mead to spread the word of Cornish greatness (and it's pastry and aphrodisiacs) around the world.

The End

by Beccy Matthews

Book Review: Ilium by Dan Simmons

2006-05-09T00:52:00.000-07:00

Dan Simmons returns to large-scale space opera in this novel. Many centuries in the future, Earth's small, more or less human population lives an enjoyable, if drone-like existence. Elsewhere, on some alternate Earth, or perhaps it's the distant past, the battle for Troy is in its ninth year. Oddly, its combatants, Hector, Achilles and the rest, seem to be following a script, speaking their lines exactly as Homer reported them in The Iliad. The Gods, who live on Olympus Mons on the planet Mars, may be post-humans, or aliens, or, well, Gods; it isn't entirely clear.

Thomas Hockenberry, a late-20th-century professor of the classics has, along with other scholars from his era, apparently been resurrected by the Gods. His job is to take notes on the war and compare its progress to Homer's tale, noting even the smallest deviations. Meanwhile, the "moravecs," a civilization of diverse, partially organic AIs clustered on the moons of Jupiter, have been disturbed by the quantum activity they've registered from the inner solar system and have sent an expedition to Mars to investigate.

It seems like a lifetime ago that I started reading this story, truly it does. I think I actually started reading it in the fall of last year, of course Peter Hamilton's Pandora's Star and Judas Unchanged sort of jumped into my reading queue in between.

I must confess that I nearly tossed this book. It just couldn't grab me, there were bits that I liked, the Moravecs journey from Jupiter space and their subsequent attack by the Gods and crash on Mars, and also the post-human society on Earth. It was these sections that kept me reading. However I just couldn't see how this seemed to link in with Hockenberry's observations of the Iliad. I started skipping these sections... I've never been one for history texts ....until Hockenberry started changing the fate of the Iliad by direct intervention, using the god's tools to sleep with Helen of Troy and changing the fate of the Trojan war and so became a key player in the story.

There is a sequel to this story it is called Olympos, I don't think I'd bother to buy this - it is only available in hardback at the moment. Maybe it's worth borrowing from the library.

Overall the story grew much stronger towards the end, but because of it's long drawn out start I would give it no more than 6 out of 10. Not a good score considering Dan Simmons Hyperion stories are on my my favourites.

Next on my reading pile is Ben Elton's Stark:

Booking Through Thursday: Lending Books

2006-02-02T07:03:00.000-08:00

This week's questions brought to you by Deb, reader extraordinaire. Thank you, Deb.

Do you lend your books to other people? Yes.
If so, do you get them back? Generally on the whole, yes.
What do you do if they're not returned? Send the police? Stop speaking to the borrower? Storm the house and take them back? Ask politely if I remember whom I gave the books too, a lot of the time I've lent things to someone and then forgotten that I lent it and lost the item completely [I still can't remember who had my Lion King 2 Video].

Musing on Movies - Another Catch Up

2006-01-25T08:43:00.000-08:00

What do you think of theaters showing commercials before the movie? Not trailers, but for other things, like sodas and sneakers and cars? Do you think they should start rolling the commercials before the advertised start time of the movie so that the movie itself starts on time, or is it okay to start showing commercials at the advertised start time, even if the film itself won't start for a few more minutes?

I like watching cinema trailers and the invariable part of this process is the local and mainstream advertisements beforehand. Some of these used to be really funny too, I can remember a Fosters ad about the dangers of global warming and it ended with this kangaroo having a cold one and just saying "B******s" to it!

I always used to assume that the film would start late because the trailers would be on first so it gave me a longer lead in time to get there if I was running late. UGC cinemas used to have about 15-20 minutes worth of adverts and trailers, I always wanted to get there by the end of the advertisements so I could watch the trailers. I did get caught out once and missed the start of the Empire Strikes Back Special Edition because the cinema started the film exactly on time and didn't allow for trailer time. We missed the first few minutes that day.

However, Merlin Cinemas [this meme always seems to turn into a Merlin Cinemas rant] don't show trailers sometimes, I don't know why, but then that place is so disorganised that I guess we're lucky that they can even find the film. I'm always disappointed when the film just starts after the music dims after the crappy music stops playing.

"There's no crying in baseball!"
~~A League of Their Own

Do you cry at movies? Do you cry when you see them a second time (or third, or fourth....)? What are your favorite tear-jerkers?

I have to be really moved by a film to cry in the cinema, I have done it a few times, but the presence of complete strangers in the nearby seats always puts you off showing real emotion.

Films that I have cried to in the cinema include Return of the King, Titanic, and ET. Of course at home it's a different matter and I cry all the time. I think I even cried watching Holby City last night!

Musing on Movies - Special FX

2006-01-13T16:22:00.000-08:00

What is the first special effects or effects heavy film you remember seeing and thinking "wow" at the visuals? (I know for many, it was Star Wars.) What are some recent examples, if any, that wowed you?

I'm another "Star Wars" person I'm afraid. Recent films which I thought were visually stunning were The Fifth Element (that film had such a unique design look too it - Jean Paul Gautier made Leeloo's costume), and also Minority Report with all those cool automated cars on autopilot on the road strips and the auto-updating newspapers. The animated cereal box was a bit much though. I also liked the "look" of Pitch Black (from a planet in the permanent light of a trinary star system to being pitched into total darkness). The sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick which came out about a year or so ago, also sported some pretty nifty FX.

Movie Review: King Kong

2006-01-13T07:46:00.000-08:00

I went to see this film on Christmas Eve, but have obviously forgotten to write a review of it and post it here, so here goes.

I enjoyed it in the whole, Peter Jackson did a great job of updating the movie from the 1928 classic and did a much better job than the 80s version. The special effects were fantastic, Skull Island's dinosaurs were realistic and amazing, it was like watching a fourth Jurassic Park movie.

Kong was extremely well animated and you never thought for a moment that he was just a cgi creation, it was as if you were looking at the real thing. Naomi Watts as Anne was a very good choice for the role as she portrayed a sort of fragile beauty.

The only criticism I can offer is that the movie was way too long. Merlin Cinemas decided to cut for an intermission break halfway through (crap I know), and by which time Kong had only been on screen for a few minutes. I thought at that point, god how much build up plot crap have I been watching if the movie is half over and we've only just got to the Monkey?

Overall I'd give it 7/10 (would have been higher than this if it was a 2 hour movie)

Musing on Movies - Holiday Traditions?

2005-12-22T03:40:00.000-08:00

Do you have any film traditions in your home, such as watching "It's a Wonderful Life" at Christmas or "Night of the Living Dead" at Halloween?

I always used to regularly watch "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" (which produced the memorable line "the shitter's full" - when Chevy Chase's brother is emptying his chemical toilet into the sewer), and also both Home Alone films. Sadly this year, I won't be watching either of them because I had all three films on video tape - and I abandoned all my tapes when I left Kent to conserve space - and I haven't had time to replace either film(s) on DVD yet.

Musing on Movies - Catch Up

2005-11-29T08:57:00.000-08:00

I've forgotten to blog on these meme for a few weeks, so here's some catch up entries:

With whom do you usually attend movies? Have you ever been to a movie alone? Did you enjoy the experience? Would you like to go alone more or less often?

I mainly go to the cinema alone. I don't mind going to the cinema on my own it's something I've never had a problem with.

Who are some of your all time favorite actors? What is your favorite roll for each one? Are there any actors you just can't stand or whose films you avoid?

Harrison Ford (Indy), Brendan Fraser (George of the Jungle), Brad Pitt (Thelma and Louise) are my favourites, hmmm who really annoys me..... Owen Wilson is really cute, but I can never stop staring at his odd-shaped nose to enjoy the films.

Have you ever seen a movie that you feel changed your life or changed your perception of the world in some way?

I think that Star Wars influenced my life a great deal, and of course Lord of the Rings gave a new definition to bladder control in the cinema.

Book Review: Pandora's Star by Peter F Hamilton

2005-11-18T10:18:00.000-08:00

I finished this book at the beginning of the month so I guess I'd better review it. The good news is that it's won the right to be the January Book of the Month on the Hard SF online group that I'm a member of, but I don't think that many members with jobs are going to get through this in a month, it took me between 2-3 months to consume it's 1200 odd pages. But I'm so glad that I did.

I've not been this impressed or gripped by a book for several years. It was interesting to try and work out where all the intermingling story lines between the various different plot arcs merged together, but by the end of the story some of them are all falling into place. I guess my favourite character has to be the Maverick Ozzy, 400+years old and creator of the wormhole gateways that link the Commonwealth together. He reminds me quite a lot of the central (and also ancient character in my favourite novel, Ringworld), except rather than getting bored at parties, you would rather catch Ozzy catching a wave on some bizarre alien planet. I've also got to admire the ultimate female cop, Paula Mao. And the mystery of the Starflyer. Of course being a techno-fan I was completely hooked at the offset of the first few chapters which mentioned the pair of stars known as the Dyson Pair being shut off in a moment by that impenetrable barrier.

A real cliff hanger of an ending (and you've got to read the last page to know how much tongue in cheek that comment it ;). I can't wait to read the sequel, Judas Unchained which I've just learned is now out! YAY!

(hopping over to Amazon to buy it now!).

Musing on Movies - Trailers?

2005-10-18T17:08:00.000-07:00

Movie trailers: some love them, others loathe them. What do you think of them? Do you make it a point to arrive in time to see them, or do you try hard to walk into the theater after they're over? Do you ever watch/download them on the internet? There is even a television show that that only shows movie trailers. Do you watch that show, or would you if it was available in your area?

I love watching trailers. Although down here, Merlin Cinemas seem to skip them completely most of the time, but then what do you expect from a completely imbocile independent cinema chain?

I look forward to watching trailers of big films and yes I have downloaded them off the net. I think the last one that I watched was for the new Harry Potter film. I remember star wars fans going to see movies that were showing the trailer for Episode I and then leaving the theatre before the actual film started that they'd paid to see - I wouldn't go that far myself though.

Since I don't have access to the trailers that I once did, I miss quite a lot of new films that come out - unless they are really major movies - they don't seem to make it down here at all.

When I was back in Kent we used to go to the cinema several times a week. I even started keeping a list of trailers that aired before the film because I noticed that UGC in Rochester were trailering movies that they didn't end up actually playing. I was making a list to form a massive complaint about - but that's all gone in the past now.

How Long?

2005-10-12T16:21:00.000-07:00

Has it really been over a month since I last posted on here? Where does the time go? At the moment I'm halfway through a real big read - Peter Hamilton's Pandora's Star. I'm really enjoying it, it's part of a new trilogy which is probably going to be the size of the Night's Dawn Trilogy - also by Hamilton. I have been intrigued from day one reading it - the disappearance of a stars by the erection of a dyson-sphere sized energy barrier - well that sucked me in for starters, but there is also a very large cast of interesting characters to back it up, it's interesting reading it and trying to work out where all the plotlines eventually will intermingle.

The sad thing about Pandora's Star though is that the day Sean and I broke up he bought me a "parting gift", a signed hardback edition of this book. When he moved out of the house he kept the bloody thing. So much for the parting gift - good riddance!

Musing on Movies - Snacks?

2005-10-12T08:17:00.000-07:00

What is your favorite movie snack? Do you usually get something to eat and/or drink at the theater, or is it a rare treat? What snack (if any) do you usually eat while watching a movie at home?

At the cinema I like to have salty popcorn washed down with a bucket-sized cup of pepsi max. That is, if I go to a decent cinema. The Merlin Cinema's group down here in Cornwall are crap, and always serve 2-day old stale popcorn.

At home I usually just eat crisps, or eat my tea in front of the TV.

Book Review: Stephen Baxter's Ring

2005-09-06T02:31:00.000-07:00

I finally finished reading this story over the past weekend. It has been very difficult going to try and stick with this book. I've had it on the go since April or May this year, it got put aside several times while I've read other stories by Clive Cussler and JK Rowling - which is not a good sign.

It's the second attempt I've made at reading it. The first time I failed too, in fact I found my old book mark during the reading process that was still stuffed in the book when I put it back on the shelf while I was still back in Kent.

The story is the end of Baxter's Xeelee Sequence of stories and follows the story of the Northern. A ship designed to last 1,000 years to bring a wormhole technology link back to the past. The ship uses relativity throughout it's 1,000 year voyage and during those 1,000 years on board ship where the community of humans is either genetically manipulated or enhanced by nano-technology to live to great ages with varying degrees of success.

When the Northern completes it's journey and drops back into normal space-time the solar system and the sun have changed beyond recognition due the the effects of mysterious creatures living within the sun and the effects of the Xeelee-human war.

All in all, I was disappointed by this Novel. There was interesting titbits of superscience in the traditional Hard SF sense in this story, like the Neutron Star system travelling at near lightspeed, and the cosmic string properties of the ring itself, but it felt that the five million year old journey (and reading through the book over these past months has certainly felt like that) was not really worth the effort. Fortunately in reading the afterword, the interesting parts to the story, like the Neutron Star tale are actually expanded on in other of Baxter's works in the Xeelee sequence in a book called "Flux" which I think I may have sitting on my "To Be Read" shelf.

This was the Hard SF Book of the Month for May and I gave it 7 out of 10 in the online poll.

Which SF Writer are You?

2005-08-26T05:56:00.000-07:00

I am:

Arthur C. Clarke

Well known for nonfiction science writing and for early promotion of the effort toward space travel, his fiction was often grand and visionary.

Which science fiction writer are you?

Movie Meme

2005-06-01T06:27:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Jenn

1) Total number of films I own on DVD/video:

Over 150 - used to be way over 500 - but I abandoned the Video collection due to lack of space and Sean took a lot of my Sci Fi movies. I'm gradually getting around to replacing them.

2) The last film I bought:

The Day After Tomorrow. I picked it up for a £5!

3) The last film I watched:

Ashamed to admit this, but it was Junior, with Arnie on the BEEB Sunday afternoon.

4) Five films that I watch a lot or that mean a lot to me:

Can we include Boxed Sets of TV Shows in here? Then it has got to include Babylon 5 which I seem to regularly watch every six months to a year, LOTR, Star Wars Movies, Red Dwarf DVDs and.... erm Bridget Jones' Diary.

5) Tag 5 people and have them put this in their journal:

I think that a lot of stitching bloggers have already answered this one - so I won't tag anyone...

Movie Review: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

2005-05-25T08:39:00.000-07:00

I haven't reviewed anything on here for ages. So better start catching up. Of course I've already seen Revenge of the Sith, I saw it at the first showing in the Penzance Pit last Thursday on Premier Day so it's high time I reviewed it.

Actually, I'm not sure if review is a good word to describe this entry because when I re-read it, it comes over as a major rant/nit pick, not a review.

You'll have to forgive me. I was into Star Wars in a big way throughout a major part of my life and there's no way that I can review this film objectively. I was winning online Star Wars trivia contests when the internet was still a geek's hobby - so trust me - I know what I'm talking about.

NOTE: THERE BE SPOILERS HERE!

There's something really charming about going to see a Star Wars movie. It's become an experience in itself. I know of no other movie genre where it is acceptable for an adult to go to the cinema wearing a costume from a character in a movie or even walk in carrying fake weaponry. There were several children waving glowing sabres in the theatre and a couple of adults too, one child was even dressed in a Luke (or Anakin) costume. Usually this behaviour is only to be observed at Sci Fi conventions, take the Jedi Chefs (see previous blog entry) for example.

Anyway on to the film itself. It's a landmark in the history of the cinema, and probably an end of an era by any means. I've been reading quite a few archaetypal reviews in the high-brow British Press which look back at how the original Star Wars changed the outlook of a generation. I don't think it did personally, George Lucas was just out to make a good movie, but he accidentally saw to it that a generation of adults all now know how to fake-sword fight, including it seems Ewen McGregor. (A little bit of extra trivia: During the filming of The Phantom Menace, Liam Neeson apparently walked off the set in disgust because Ewen wouldn't stop making fake lightsabre noises while they duelled. ;-)

The film opens with yet another epic space battle - yawn... the first couple of battles in the first few films and even the one in The Phantom Menace were spectacular but this just doesn't really set it off the start of the film properly, you are still settling in your seat and adjusting your night vision at this point. Next we cut to Anakin and Obi-Wan "rescuing" Chancellor Palpatine from General Grevious. Now this Grevious dude is an interesting character. A robot with light-sabres? Scarey - but a little alarm bell went off in my head, supposedly only a Jedi should be able to manipulate The Force to control the light sabre - but the truth is revealed later on in the movie. There's still an organic heart beating inside Grevious!!

Defeated, Grevious makes a quick exit by blowing out a window. This is the first time in the Star Wars Universe that I've seen the real vacuum of space being used properly. Remember in ESB when Han, Chewie and Leia go outside the Falcon on the asteroid to investigate the mynock on the ship? OK, they wear face masks, but why didn't the the rest of their skin suffer from decompression? Maybe someone has been giving Lucas some real life hints about what space is really like.

In the first really cool sequence (ok the falling down the lift shaft bit was OK too) Obi-Wan, Anakin and the Chancellor pilot the remains of the ship down through the atmosphere. I thought it was quite cool that the fire engines on Coruscant are arial - of course they would need to stop crashing ships, there's no safe landing spots on a planet-wide city-scape if you can't make the starport. Another point that occurred to me is that Anakin and Ben could have used some of their telekinetic jedi powers to keep the ship aloft. If little Yoda can lift an X-Wing out of a swamp maybe two powerful jedi's can use their powers to kill some of the kinetic energy in the falling ship. But then again, Anakin is supposed to be the "best pilot in the galaxy". Maybe it's easier to believe this than The Force Meets Physics explanation.

So Padme is pregnant. About seven and a half months pregnant all told, how has she managed to hide that bump from the Senate for the last 4 months? How long has Anakin been gone? If this was any other saga, you would have to question whether the child was even Anakin's after all that time? But this is Star Wars - it's got to stay cute and furry and before any sex can happen the characters have to get married - even if they do it in secret. I can't believe however, that Padme couldn't get word to him via Hologram or something, even if he is on the other side of the Galaxy fighting the Clone Wars.

So Palpatine lures Anakin even deeper into the darker side of the force, promising him that he can help save Padme's life. In doing so he reveals that he learned all he knew from his own master Darth Plagueis and then slew him in his sleep. Palpatine also mentions that Plagueis had the power to manipulate the Mitochlorians to create life? Is that how Anakin was conceived? Does that make Darth Plagueis his father? Did he just wave a hand or did a whole alien probing thing go on? No wonder Shmi Skywalker didn't want to talk about it.

I think the coolest thing in the film has to be Mace Windu and his Lovely Lilac Lightsabre. Yes Mr Samuel L Jackson does truly shine here, it's such a shame that he failed in his attempt on the Emperor's life.

Why oh Why didn't Windu take Yoda along for backup? Mace Windu looked as if he was managing the Emperor OK on his own and if it hadn't been for Anakin's intervention Palpatine would most likely have been toast by now, but the two of them together would have guaranteed taking the Emperor out and the future of the galaxy would have been changed for the good forever. But Yoda is on the other side of the galaxy commanding a Clone War on Kaysshak and having piggyback rides with Chewbacca. (It was great to see Chewie again - it's a shame we never got to see Yoda and Chewie have a reunion in the first trilogy of films).

So when Windu goes to arrest Palpatine himself, he makes the mistake of taking the Jedi equivalent of the star-trek red shirts as his back up. How can Jedi fall so easily? The remaining senior jedi council members are polished off like the henchman's muppet fighters in Kill Bill in less than 10 seconds. Ok, this is the future Emperor we're dealing with here, but they are Jedi FOR GODSAKES!!

That really bothered me about the deaths of all the other Jedi too. If even Han Solo can get a "Bad Feeling", why didn't they realise that something was up? I can't believe they all fell so easily, or didn't suffer from premonition that it was going to happen. From reading the books on the future of Luke and Co up to about 20 years after ROTJ I know what the Jedi are truly capable of, and Luke wasn't even that well trained, whilst the Jedi Academy starts their training while they are still in diapers. Basically a cornered rat with a machine gun would have nothing on them. I guess this was a Lucas cop-out to save time and push Anakins story on through the movie.

And so we come to the final showdowns. Anakin Vs Ben and Yoda Vs Palpatine. The Anakin Vs Ben battle starts with the final scene between Padme and Anakin. Padme has got the right to be disturbed, the thought of Anakin despatching the Jedi Child Trainees - even though thankfully you don't see it happening - has got to be the most disturbing thing in the movie, even Anakin's injuries and amputations don't come close to this. It's something that I wouldn't have considered even Darth Vader capable of, but here it is - on the movie screen large as day. In some ways I understood exactly how Padme felt at that point. It was the way I felt about Sean - how you once loved someone who turned out to be capable of despicable acts or lies - my heart went out to her at that point. And then Anakin turns on her too.

The final battles begin. Actually, the only disappointing thing about Episode Three was the final battle between Obi-Wan and Anakin and the way in which it ended, which was not nice. The battle was long and well fought... but it just lacked the sort of excitement that was there in the Qui Gon/Obi Wan duel with Darth Maul which I watched again the other day when it was repeated on tv, so I know what I'm talking about. I was actually annoyed when the battle scene kept switching back to Obi Wan and Anakin as I was far more interested in what was going on between Yoda and the Emperor as they hurled the senate floating debating disks at each other and Yoda flipped around doing his "Flubber" impression around Darth Siddious's head. In the end Yoda realises that Palpatine is to powerful for him to handle alone and makes his escape down a ventilation shaft like a rat in a maze to Bail Organa's waiting speeder.

The end of the film did tie up many loose ends, the separation of the twins, their naming, Bail Organa adopting Leia and Obi Wan taking Luke to Tatooine to the arms of Aunt Beru and Uncle Lars in the setting suns of that distant world where it all began back in 1977.....

But... coming from the die-hard fan here.... some more loose ends

Leia remembering her mother - This has been debated quite a bit already on various groups. I've always believed that after giving birth Padme went into hiding with Leia. The sad look that Leia remembers on her mother's face is Padme longing for her lost son, Luke. Padme eventually wasting away in grief until she dies and Leia gets adopted by Bail Organa and follows his career path in the senate.

Artoo's memory - Threepio's memory get's wiped. Yes that solves a lot of plot problems, BUT! Bail Organa didn't say anything about wiping R2-D2's memory too. R2's just an unregarded astromech droid - so why bother. But you know how R2-D2 and Threepio talk. Wipe Threepio - who cares? R2's just going to fill him in on the details again after the procedure.

Ben's Memory - And Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi says in Star Wars, "I can't ever remember owning an Astromech Droid, most interesting." He's just spent the last 10 years shooting around the Galaxy with R2!!!.

The Clone Army - Whatever happened to the Boba Fett Clones? They all died? They got destroyed by a Senate Anti-Cloning Order? Because by Luke and Han's time, real live flesh and blood pilots go to the Academy and then are concripted into Imperial Service as Stormtroopers.

Boba Fett's Scarred Mandalorian Armour - I once read a story - or an encyclopedic entry that said that Boba Fett destroys Mace Windu. That makes sense, the 10 year old Boba Fett wants revenge on Windu for killing his "father". The Mandalorian Armour that Fett wears in the ESB and ROTJ is supposed to be inpervious to light sabres. But Fett's armour is scarred - presumably by Windu's Lovely Lilac Lightsabre (and the scar does not match the wound that decapitated Fett in Attack of the Clones), as Windu tried to kill Fett in their final battle before Fett finishes him off.

But now the Emperor killed Windu himself with Anakin's aid, and the only Jedi currently left (excepting the ones who pop up from time to time in the future Novels) are The Emperor, Vader, Ben and Yoda. So who fought with Boba Fett and scarred the armour? The Emperor and Vader do a deal with Fett for Han's Bounty in ESB which they are hardly going to do if they've had a fight with the guy in the past. Yoda's on Dagobah in exile, so the only likely suspect is Ben/Obi Wan. Did Obi-Wan attack Fett? Well how did he get that sabre scar on his armour?????

Ok, I've had a rant, I've nicked and picked and I hold the option open to add to this nit list when I've had more time to absorb the movie - maybe on the second viewing I'll add to it. But as this is a review I honestly can't mark this less than 10 out of 10.

www.jedichefs.com

2005-05-24T22:55:00.000-07:00

Found this website.... worth browsing for a laugh.

www.jedichefs.com

Movie Review: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

2005-05-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

I liked the movie. It was great seeing "new" Douglas Adams bits again. Like the point of view gun, how cool was that? I'd have loved to have been able to shoot that at my X - several times!

I quite liked what they did with the characters. Even the black Ford didn't put me off - I used to like the TV series Ford, I thought he was "cute". I liked the new Trillian. I personally found Sandra Dickenson quite annoying so having a normal looking and sounding Trillian was quite an improvement. I spotted the original Marvin in the Queue too. Liked what they did with the Vogons. The puppets/animatronics were certainly an improvement over those green rubber suits from the TV show, and Zaphod certainly seemed so much cooler than the one in the TV show too, but then I guess the CGI head helped there. Who can act like the coolest dude in the universe sporting an extra head and hand? And is this just my opinion or did they make Arthur more of a hero than he was in the original show? Don't know, just the way it seemed to come across for me.

In fact the only thing I didn't like was Marvin. I dig the whole Alan Rickman doing the voice thing, but I just couldn't tie up the voice with Warwick Davis wandering around in a robot suit with a huge beachball on his head. Kind of spoiled it for me.

Overall the movie was quite a ride and I enjoyed it a lot. I was quite disappointed at the end not to see what the film-makers had done with The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Are they going to make a sequel? Has anyone heard any news?

Overall I'd give it 9 out of 10

Had to be April Fools

2005-04-08T23:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=4513

"Artificial Penis Escapes from Lab"

World Con 63

2005-03-30T21:16:00.000-08:00

I'm currently sorting out arrangements to attend World Con in Glasgow in August. Larry Niven is going as well as a couple of people from the Niven List, it will be great to finally meet Larry (and get Ringworld's Children signed of course) and the other people from the list.

Unfortunately, I don't know if my long time pal Ted can make it now ;-(

Book Meme

2005-03-25T01:38:00.000-08:00

Here are the rules:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig for that “cool” or “intellectual” book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

I cheated, instead of grabbing the nearest book (I'm posting in bed [oh the joys of wireless internet!] and my headboard is a bookcase so techinically they are the nearest, but I grabbed the book that I'm currently re-reading at the moment which is Stephen Baxter's Moonseed [this is my third time reading this book, but I picked it up after watching the BBC's Supervolcano Mini Series a few weeks ago). The entry is:

"Oh." She was looking at the pool rim. "Look at this," she said. She pointed to a patch at the rim of the pool, where bare rock showed through the glass.

A foot-wide patch of rock was - Henry thought, shielding his eyes against the sunlight - glowing.

Review: Black Wind by Clive & Dirk Cussler

2005-03-04T02:30:00.000-08:00

Been off sick for a few days and managed to finish reading Black Wind by Clive Cussler and his son, Dirk. Just like most other Clive Cussler stories that I've read, it was difficult to put down once I got into it.

The "Black Wind" of the title refers to biological agents developed by the Japanese in World War II. The submarines carrying these agents were sunk towards the end of the war their deadly cargoes still intact. Of course this is where NUMA comes in by diving on the wrecks to retrieve the cargo.

The story primarily follows the exploits of Dirk Pitt Jr and his sister Summer, while the older Dirk Pitt (now head of NUMA) and Giordino take a rather back seat, although they still do feature in the story once or twice and have a big part towards the end. In fact, this is the only part of the story that I can find criticism with, all the way though the book, we follow in the footsteps of the younger Pitt, and at the end of the novel, Daddy comes to save the day again, which seemed somewhat to take some of the wind out of the younger man's sails.

The story was easier to follow than the last installment though, because when I read that the story skipped repeatedly between the two Pitt's and you needed several paragraph's worth of mind adjustment to work out which Pitt you were actually reading about.

I'm glad about one thing though, the whole bioagent plot was interesting, also introducing new departments within the real US government like homeland security, but moreso, pitting a Korean businessman as the "bad guy" made Cussler go where even President Bush fears to tread: North Korea.

Overall 9 out of 10

Review: Robinson Crusoe 1,000,000 AD by Terry Sunboard

2005-02-21T10:59:00.000-08:00

I finished this book about a week or so ago. I quite enjoyed it up to a point. The basics of survivalism set against the remains of future technology made a very interesting contrast.

The story begins with the clone of Alex Kirk (no relation to James T ;-) ) waking up in an organic cloning vat aware that he is being eaten alive. A fight ensues and Alex survives his first trial of life. Alex's attacker turns out to be a mutated clone of himself - only semi human.

After leaving his birthing place, Alex has to learn to survive in a world that has literally gone back to nature. 1,000,000 years after the fall of civilisation there is very little trace of humanity or it's civilisation left. Even our great cities have been scourged from the earth by millenia of ongoing glaciation.

Alex (our would be Adam) longs for his Eve, and eventually comes across a woman's birthing cave, which produces a clone of his long dead girlfriend Marayan. They manage to make an idyllic life for themselves for a couple of years, until they encounter the evolved remains of humanity which has now created several sub species. In a desperate attempt to escape these proto-humans Alex and Marayan escape to orbit where the remains of an orbiting space station is still floating around in the Earth-Moon system's Lagrange points.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book, apart from the final couple of chapters where Alex finds the key to using the ultra technology of the Moon to kick the asses of the proto-human Sirk back on Earth. This seemed completely out of character for the rest of the book, I mean, missiles against bows and arrows is hardly fair!

Overall though, I think I would rate it 8 out of 10. I even nominated this for the Hard SF Reading Groups April's Book of the Month. It got a reasonable amount of Votes, but Ringworld by Larry Niven won out with 10 votes..... yeah! (This is one of my favourite novels).

At the moment I'm currently reading Stephen Baxter's Deep Future. This is not a novel but a series of essays on the future of humanity in the solar system and how the various worlds around us could be terraformed or colonized. I've read all these theories many times before, of course, but it still makes interesting reading.

Movie Review: Ocean's Twelve

2005-02-06T09:04:00.000-08:00

Went to see this film yesterday. I watched Ocean's eleven on DVD last week so it was still fresh in my mind so I could appreciate the sequel.

As a stand-a-lone movie it would have been ok, but it was definitely a disappointment after the original. All of the original cast returned (at least I think they did - not too sure about the guys in the original film who drove the van and did the mechanical stuff - there were some guys in the movie that were supposed to be them, but they looked different - although I didn't really pay that much attention to them in the first movie anyway - so I cannot be sure.

Joining the cast is Catherine Zeta Jones - playing an english detective working in Rome. She was the former flame of Brad Pitt's character who split on her when he realised how close she was becoming to solving a heist that he was involved with. I read another review of this movie today which referred to him as "walking clothes horse". He certainly got to wear all the posh clothes and wouldn't have looked out of place on the cover of GQ for most of the movie. Brad Pitt's character basically carried the movie - don't know what they did with George Clooney's character, as the leader in the first movie he was the prime character, but he seemed to not get many scenes in this one - it all seemed to focus on Mr Pitt. Not that I'm complaining about this as I'm a big Pitt fan. One thing I didn't like though, they got away from the quirky thing in the original movie with him eating in every scene - I missed that!

Then of course we come to Julia Roberts.... well I had heard that she was ill in real life for some of the filming of this movie because she is pregnant in real life - but well she really looked haggared. They did a really quirky thing and got Tess Ocean to play Julia Roberts so that they could get into the museum and steal the faberge egg even stuffing a cushion up her stomach to mimick the real-life pregnant roberts. I think that was going a bit far - even Bruce Willis got a look in - playing himself again of course. It was quite bizarre.

Andy Garcia's character lost most of his menace. I mean - he's supposed to be such a bad arse businessman and when he catches them all he does is ask them all for the money back - plus interest???

One character who was quite interesting was the french thief played by Lambert Wilson who was the Merovingian in The Matrix Reloaded. I love that dance/karate thing he did to get past the laser grid - not to mention he's as sexy as hell. Just what is it with the french accent?

The plot was just weak compared to the original story, the same plot twists were there, and deceptions within deceptions that were in the first movie but it just seemed lacking somehow. I think the funniest bit of the movie is when the little Chinese guy goes into the sports bag to escape with Pitt and Clooney and then the bag gets lost and stuck on a bus of sports fans. Damn Baggage handlers!!!

Time to Toss The Golden Age

2005-02-01T23:14:00.000-08:00

Well, I've been reading it on and off for more than a month now but despite all this time elapsing, I'm still only on page 54 of this book; not a good sign.

It probably doesn't help that I've abandoned my traditional bedtime reading in favour of watching old episodes of the X Files. I'm up to Jose Chung's "From Outer Space" so far. The Golden Age is no competition to watching these classic X Files Episodes. I keep sitting in bed late at night and LOLLing out loud at all the Mulderisms.

As for reviewing the Golden Age, I just can't seem to get into it. It's probably a fine book if I gave it the time - but some of the concepts of the Golden Occenome are very difficult to follow - neural consciouses/people in a permanent switched on in the 'net state. Well - that's about as much as I've been able to make out. The only time I've acutally made any progress reading it is in my lunch hours or if I'm waiting for food to arrive in a pub or restaurant. Now I've decided to give it the heave ho, it actually feels a relief now to be able to "toss it" and give it back to the Library.

January's book of the month for the Hard SF reading group was Across Realtime by Vernor Vinge - I tried ordering this from the library service - their catalog said that they had two copies available in the County of Cornwall - but apparently both have been lost and are unavailable - doh! I'm not going to bother buying it - imagine how peeved I'd be now if I'd had wasted good money on The Golden Age?

February's Book of the Month is Eon - by Greg Bear - I've read this in the past - good book - I enjoyed it and it's sequel Eternity - but I've got no desire at the moment to re-read it.

March's book of the month is Phoenix Exultant by John C Wright - the sequel to the Golden Age so I guess I won't be reading that one either! ;-)

On my laptop at the moment I'm listening (courtesy of Microsoft Reader's Text to Speech facility) to an Ebook: Robinson Crusoe, 1,000,000 AD. This is pretty good so far - I'm about halfway through the file. Alex wakes up in a gene tank complete with memories of the twentieth century, butt naked and has to learn to survive the Rippers (wolf/bear creatures) and thinks he's the only man on earth. For a time he is until he discovers other people emerging from other gene tanks including his old girlfriend.

It's good "reading" like this because I can get on and do my stitching at the same time as having my mind entertained, and I'm not missing anything like what usually happens if I'm trying to stitch while watching TV or a movie. I've made a policy now of only stitching while things are on that I've already seen: I miss too much otherwise. Audio Ebooks are the perfect compromise.

Fahrenheit 9/11

2005-01-30T02:44:00.000-08:00

Finally got around to seeing this when it was on Channel 4 this week. Just wish I'd watched it long before. On the same subject - I found a link to this movie file today which questions just what did acutally hit the Pentagon on 9/11:

http://www.pentagonstrike.co.uk/flash.htm

Ebook Review: Aloha by Ken Wharton

2005-01-19T09:55:00.000-08:00

This is a Freebie from Fictionwise at the moment - it's a Nebula Award Nominee.

This is a strange tale of romance mixed with Astrophysics. Felix and Hannah's relationship has survived to the temporal midpoint of the universe--halfway between the Big Bang to the Big Crunch. They face a goodbye followed by a hello again as the universe turns itself upside down.

This was a bit too wierd to follow. A very strange tale - but hey - it's Free

The Illustrated Alphabetical Guide to Unpleasant Ways to Die in the Babylon 5 Universe

2005-01-12T10:11:00.000-08:00

http://www.geocities.com/tayawhitestar/b5deaths/cover.html

Movie Review: Alien Vs Predator

2005-01-04T04:18:00.000-08:00

I got a dodgy Div-X copy of this in one of my Christmas presents from a work colleage. Finally got around to watching it yesterday.

I've got the other Alien Disks and a Double disk set of both predator movies recently so now I've got the lot. I missed Alien vs Predator when it came out at the cinema down here. It was only on at the local cinema for one week and that was weeks after the film had gone on general release around the rest of the country.

I enjoyed the movie. I felt that it was better than Alien 3 (which is the Alien Movie that I like the least) and possibly even better than the original Alien - and die-hard fans will probably flame this blog because I've said that! The plot wasn't much to speak of though - the movie spends the first half just moving the cannon fodder (humans) into position in the ant-arctic pyramid. You know they're all going to die! Then the first of the battles between the two titans start and the film takes off from there.

In a way, I'm surprised that this film got made, I think it's the first time that two movie franchises have co-operated and made one film. I'll probably get a legitimate DVD of this when it comes out. Typical UK release dates - it's out in the states already, but not available here until the 7th March - and you wonder why there's a market for illegitmate dodgy disks!

Review: Hot Sky at Midnight - Robert Silverberg

2004-12-26T03:29:00.000-08:00

My last reading finish of 2004, this book started off quite well - in a very fascinating environment of environmental disaster and collapse on earth. One of the characters is involved in research to gene-tailor humans to survive the changing atmospheric conditions on earth in the beginnings of a greenhouse climate gone astray - and is constantly reviewing the moral question of turning the human race into monsters. Another character is hired as a tugboat captain to go and bring back floating icebergs of fresh water to a drought-plauged San Fransisco, and finally the third major character is a detective with no eyes - the victim of gene-tailoring experiments back in India.

All in all though, while these elements provide a fascinating series of individual stories, they never seem to come together at the end and form a cohesive plot, I was a bit disappointed really.

Rating 7/10

Next book: John C Wright - The Golden Age Hard SF's Book of the Month for December 04 (A bit late I know - but it's still December isn't it?)

New Purchase: Clive Cussler's Black Wind

2004-12-18T07:22:00.000-08:00

I got the new Clive Cussler Book today, ""Black Wind". I've not heard any reviews or knew a thing about it coming out - being cut off from life on the net means I've missed so much these last couple of months. It only apparently came out on the 2nd December. I saw a copy earlier in the week in the library on the reservation shelf and wondered what it was then. I thought it might have been another "Clive Cussler puts his name on a book by another author who has nothing to do with Dirk Pitt" clone, but this is actually written by Clive himself and his son (who he named Dirk too), and is a legitimate Dirk Pitt adventure, so I'm looking forward to reading it.

It seems to have come out awfully quickly on the back of Trojan Odyssey - but is that just my imagination? I'm wondering whether Cussler wrote this book in a hurry to raise funds to pay his legal bills to fight the film company ignoring his clause to approve the script for the new Sahara film? I watched the trailer for that the other day. I just don't see MM as Dirk, and who is that guy they've got playing Giordiano? He in no way looks italian!!!

Not sure about that title though. If you eat a lump of coal and then fart - is that what you get? ;-)

New Blog

2004-12-18T07:16:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd create a separate blog for my reading list and book reviews. This is it.