cold food

Kitty has Superpowers!

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:57:01 GMT

Well, maybe not superpowers, but she is definitely powered, if you get my drift. It is cold here. The kind of cold where everything gets dry, I constantly look like I'm holding onto a Van De Graaff generator, and pets of all kind start to emanate static electricity like little sparky power plants.

I was awakened at 3am last night by several little "zapping" sounds from my floor. In my just-awakened haze, I looked down to see Chiana huddled like a little fur bread loaf over the vent in the floor. As the warm, dry air flowed around her fur, I would see these little jolts of electricity, she would flinch in her sleep, and there'd be another 'zap' noise.

Feeling sorry for her, I got up, and gingerly peeled her off of the grate (generating all sorts of little lightnings), engendering a yowl of protest. This was followed by a huge purr once she realized a) I was really warm and more importantly b) I wasn't shocking her every two seconds unlike the last warm thing she encountered. I got her situated in one of the blankets on the bed, and she was happy as can be.

Neverwear.net has the best customer service, ever.

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:40:41 GMT

I received a very surprise! package in the mail yesterday, a punctuation on a weird story of shipping shenanigans and bad luck.

Last winter, I ordered this print. It got eaten by the Post Office during the terrible snows. They were awesome and sent a replacement print.

This August, I ordered a different print (this one) and a bracelet. The print arrived pretty fast, sans bracelet. I figured they were shipped separately, and then later wondered if it got eaten by the Post Office again. I didn't email in - mostly because I felt bad that it was likely things were going missing on my end.

Today, in my mailbox, was a shiny green bubble envelope with the nicest note from Cat at Neverwear. Apparently, the bracelet hadn't made it into the print package on accident, and as she was reviewing orders she noticed and shipped it out right away, along with a bonus bottle of the Ghulheim scent from the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab Graveyeard Book collection (which I had really wanted to try).

That is just awesome on so many levels.

Coconut Curry Chicken Lentil Stew

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:33:07 GMT

1 can light coconut milk
4 3/4 cups chicken stock (preferably low sodium)
1 1/2 cups dried lentils, or lentil mix (I used Red Mill veggie soup mix which has some pasta letters)
1 overflowing cup of chopped, pre-cooked chicken breast
1 1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 1/2 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onions
2 tbsp seasoning mix of choice (I used Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute, but anything that involves dried onion, garlic powder, a bit of cayenne, sage, etc. should be fine)
2 tbsp of chopped celery and
1 cup of red curry sauce (homemade or store bought)

1. throw lentils, onion, chicken stock, coconut milk and seasoning mix into a stock pot and simmer for 20 minutes (the lentils should not be soft yet, but getting close)

2. add carrots, chicken, celery, fresh herbs and chicken breast and simmer until lentils are done and carrots are just tender, stirring occasionally

3. stir in red curry sauce and bring back up to a simmer for one minute to heat through

This was my first go around with this and it turned out really delicious.

joys of housekeeping

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:29:28 GMT

So, I am mostly moved in to my new place. I still have some lingering stuff (pictures, books, some clothes) at the old place, but not too much.

The state of the house: boxes upon boxes in the living room. Thankfully, most of those are books (I know, shocker.) and will be moved in the next couple of days into the closet in the library. The rest will be apportioned out to the rooms their stuff will inhabit and get unpacked room by room. I know this will take a while, but it just needs to be done.

The new washer and dryer were delivered yesterday, and taken on a test drive. Most satisfactory. The wash cycle adjusts itself if there isn't enough soap, and the dryer adjusts to the level of dryness I want. Also, both have steam to pull out wrinkles, get rid of allergens, and freshen up clothes. All using about 35% of the water for a normal washer. Huzzah. Tonight, I will attempt to get teh internets up and running, as well as run the last of the dishes through the dishwasher. For that, I need soap, so I'll have to get that too.

I haven't caught sight of the tuxedo cat my father had seen in my backyard, but did have the pleasure of scaring the heck out of a possum on my way in last night. I do what I can.

re-attack of the giant brown spider!

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:27:39 GMT

So, I can tell it is fall. Why? Because the giant brown spider (of DOOM!) is back to grace my office ceiling. Thankfully, unlike last year, it isn't close to my cubicle, and isn't clinging precariously to the ceiling like some ninja at a party waiting for cake.

Here's the picture I was able to get at a safe distance: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenn2d2/3910939586/

I'm hoping that over the long weekend it either a) finds its way back to the vent or b) dies. I'm good with either one, though the second one probably isn't as popular with my coworker whose cubicle that is.

some people shouldn't ride bikes - or be parents

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:42:13 GMT

I have a confession - I almost hit a kid on a bike today. It would NOT have been my fault.

Driving on my way to work this morning, I turned onto 5th, and signaled to get into the left lane approaching the turn to Deschutes Parkway (the lovely road that runs along Capitol Lake). The car in the right hand lane was going slow, but that isn't strange on that road in the morning. As I approach the car, I see a woman on a bicycle up ahead, signaling to get in my lane so she can turn on to the parkway. I slow down a bit, even though she's a good block away.

Good damn thing. As I slow down, her two boys jump out of the right hand lane on their own bikes and into the left lane. They were completely hidden by the car in the right lane. I slam on my brakes, and the older of the two kids STOPS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. I would say I missed him by about a foot.

I wait patiently while he starts again, and heads down the street to turn. He didn't signal, and neither did his brother. I'm guessing that their mother assumed that by signaling a block away, that magically covered her kids, and that they could just merge into traffic because they felt like it.

Yeah? GET OFF MY ROAD. That's not OK in a car, and NO, you DON'T have the right of way. I drive with extreme deference to cyclists, and watch very carefully for them. People riding with their children in traffic should always ride behind them - both to make sure that they signal properly, and so that crap like this doesn't happen because they can't keep up with you. I see lots of parents riding with their kids in this city every day, and they seem to do a pretty good job. Not you lady - you almost got both of your kids run over. You and your kids have no business being on the road until you all take some safety lessons.

in which I might turn into a bear

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:04:38 GMT

Had a great weekend; hillkat and I traveled north to the Experience Music Project to see the Jim Henson exhibit, run an errand, and attend the Sounders FC vs. Cincinnati Crew football match.

Because hillkat is better at reading than I am, we were able to get up to the exhibit at the EMP in time to catch a Muppets musical retrospective. The presentation was introduced by Heather Henson, the youngest of Jim and Jane Henson’s children, who happened to be visiting to see how the exhibit had setup. The retrospective was great – there were clips from throughout the show’s history, including some bits I hadn’t seen from early episodes, and some fan favorites. The audience was largely adults, my age or pretty close, with several small children in tow. There was a Q&A afterward with Heather Henson, and one of the puppeteers from both “The Muppet Show” and “Fraggle Rock” (she had just shown up to see the presentation, but got roped into the whole thing.)

The exhibit itself is fairly small, but well curated and packed with really cool things. Original muppets for Kermit, Rolf, and Bert as well as later models of Ernie and Mana-Mana (the “Manamana” singer) mixed with early puppets for commercials, and props from the The Dark Crystal (my favorite: the Skeksis finger-forks from the banquet scene). Kira’s dress is there (no holes for wings!), as well as a Pod person’s costume (which was much larger than I expected). For fun, they have an interactive musical setup – you can actually act as a puppet in a simple musical review. They have a mix of original Muppet songs, as well as some remakes. We did “Can You Picture That?” as our number. Very fun.

One of the biggest thrills of the whole thing is the instant transport back to childhood, while getting to appreciate the details as an adult. The storyboards, notebook sketches, and show pitch presentations are all really well woven into the story of Henson’s amazing career.

After catching lunch at the Science Center, we ran an errand, shopped at Uwajimaya, drove around Seattle for a bit, and finally parked down by Qwest field to meet up with the friend with the tickets for the match. Sounders fans are awesome and crazy – I can’t believe I’ve waited this long to go! From the packed bars beforehand, the singing of team songs, and the march down to the field for the start of the game, this is fandom done right. The game was a tie, but I think we all had a good time.

The next morning, I woke up with a sore spot on the back of my head (a bit behind my ear, right in the most sensitive spot), and assumed that I’d gotten a bit of sunburn (I’d had pigtails in on Saturday). Didn’t think much more of it until Monday night, were it really started to hurt. Iced it, and it receded – until yesterday afternoon. Being smart, I headed into the doctor’s office to see what was going on.

The doctor in the Urgent Care area (it’s like my HMO’s version of an ER, but with fewer cops) was one I’d seen before, and is quite good. He took a look, and agreed that it was either a) a painful, but harmless bug bite of some variety, or b) an infected wound of some kind (bite, scratch, etc.) We decided after a bit of discussion to lance it, take a culture if applicable, and (if anything came out) put me on antibiotics.

So, they numbed up the back of my head, and stabbed at the area a bunch of times. It reacted like a regular bug bite (no nasty stuff) but bled all over the place. The whole thing didn’t take very long, and didn’t really hurt.

After the bleeding was over, when I stood up I got this weird rush of energy. I hopped on my feet a bit, and when the doctor looked over, blurted out “I feel like I could play football right now!” with (what I assume was) a maniacal grin on my face. He smiled, “Oh, you’re one of those.” Apparently, that sort of reaction is the opposite of what most people have when they’ve got a bleeding head wound – and puts me on the bezerker end of the “fight or flight” response to threatening injury. He thought this was hilarious, and asked (half-seriously) if I had any Nordic ancestry (duh.), commenting that he’s only seen a few people react like that.

Well, at least that explains the time I punched that car in college.

mystery book arrival

Tue, 26 May 2009 16:53:18 GMT

I have something to admit: I am terrible at picking up my mail. Sometimes several days go by until I remember. Sometimes my roommates will get it during that time, sometimes not: they are on the same sort of schedule I am. Mostly, none.

This should serve as a preface to why, at 12:45am on Sunday, I was checking my mail. I had ordered a prescription, and promptly forgotten. I remembered on the way home that night, and sure enough, there it was with a neat little pile of stuff for my roommates and a couple magazines for me. Also, a package key! I wasn't expecting a package, so that was a bit exciting.

Opening up the package hatch, it was for me, from Subterranean Press. I goggled at the mystery book package. I didn't think I'd ordered anything that would be shipping in the near future (a book for hillkat and a Lovecraftian comic are due sometime later). I'd debated with myself about ordering a different book a couple of weeks ago, but decided not to.

Good thing too: that was the book in the mailbox ("The Steel Remains" by Richard K. Morgan). Apparently, I'd ordered it months ago when it was announced, forgotten, decided I couldn't order it now and... bam! Psychic Jenn from the past provides book now.

Star Trek

Fri, 08 May 2009 19:51:26 GMT

I convinced hillkat to join me for an IMAX showing of Star Trek last night. Simple verdict: GO.

The slightly longer review (w/o spoiers) - the new Star Trek manages to neatly encapsulate the excitement I had about the original television series as a child into something I can appreciate with the same level of excitement as an adult. I can't think of anything else that has captured the spirit of the thing they're redoing as well as this.

I have a lot of nostalgia for the original television series. I remember watching it with my parents (mostly my dad). If asked at 8 to describe a monster, there are pretty good odds it would have been something like a salt-sucking monster that looked human, a flesh-colored psychic bat, a lava monster, or an alien with a giant head. Tacked on to that, are my early memories - both scary and awesome - of going to see Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan. I mean, that movie was so badass that my parents had to cover my eyes TWICE.

While the new movie is definitely a departure from the original series, they not only a) explain why but b) invoke some of the things that made the original material the classics that they are.

Dr. Arthur P. Lemming, horticulturalist

Wed, 06 May 2009 21:48:52 GMT

From the "Monster by Mail" artist, the summer of the super-villain! My villain is currently in the mail, but you can catch the video of him being made!

If you want your own Super Villain (mailed right to you!) the site is http://www.monsterbymail.com

no, I don't have pig flu

Sun, 03 May 2009 23:38:06 GMT

I have had a stupid, low-level cold for about a week and a half. I can't count the number of times someone has jokingly asked me if I had swine flu (or whatever politically correct term they want to call it now, despite the fact that yes, it is most definitely derived from swine DNA). The whole shit-storm on the news is fascinating for a few reasons to me:

1. this version of the flu does stem from pigs
2. this version of the flu is less deadly than the regular influenza running around this year
3. in most cases of swine flu outbreak, there is a first (mild) outbreak, followed by a huge, nasty widespread one some time later

You don't really get that from the news. People are freaking out now - given the virus' deadly past - and a lot of people are pooh-pooh-ing the whole idea, based on the current mild form of the disease. The one network to actually give a virologist speaking time on the matter for more that 5 minutes (thank you PBS) was able to establish that yes, the health community is very worried. Not about this strain, but what happens if this strain infects enough of the population to mutate into something much nastier (which has happened many times before).

Basically - nobody should panic, but everyone should wash their hands more. Also, whether or not it is derived from pigs, eating bacon is no more unhealthy than it was before.

New kitty for my parents: Sophie Midnight

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:40:51 GMT

My parents' new cat. She's named after Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle and is about one year old. She's very affectionate, if a little bit hesitant about her new digs. She was doing very, very well for only a couple of hours in the house - exploring, sniffing, and winding around my mom's legs while she was trying to cook (it is obvious she knows what the refrigerator is for, and wants her share of any goodies).

It's not a successful trip to Jo-Ann's unless you piss off a lady in a bedazzled jacket

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:29:15 GMT

On my lunch hour today I decided to shop a bit at Jo-Ann's for some craft-type things (felt and solid perfume supplies, more on that later). The store was pretty packed. A lot of families, mostly women, busily shopping for fabric and various sewing or crafting supplies. I found what I wanted after wandering around for a bit, and went to the checkout lane.

In front of me were two women, about 60-70, having a very impassioned conversation. They were pretty loud – something likely to raise my hackles on any day - so I attempted to ignore them. Behind me was a lesbian knitting group who had what could be termed as a metric ton of various yarn, and were happily chatting about their upcoming projects (a lot of baby socks and hats).

After a minute or so of ignoring the women in front of me, I became unfortunately drawn into their conversation when one of them started to loudly complain about how "the gays" were trying to steal her rights. At this point, their conversation turns to the legislation passed in WA yesterday, granting almost all rights of marriage to civil partnerships, barring the actual word marriage. The girls behind me kept up their conversation, but it was pretty obvious that a) the knitting group could hear the women in front of me and b) the women in front of me had no idea that there were 6-8 lesbians behind me who could hear every word they were saying (and are probably armed with knitting needles, even though they all looked pretty friendly).

It's at this point that the older of the two women (in a jean jacket, bedazzled with a cross, natch) states very loudly, "And then they passed that law yesterday! The gays are going to be getting married left and right!" to which I (uncharacteristically) blurted "I know, isn't it great!"

Yeah, apparently I have no internal filter today. Good to know.

Bedazzled turns around gaping to see my smiling face. There's a weird pause, and then the cashier calls them as next in line. She blinked at me, turned around in a huff and went to check out with her friend. In a small voice, I could hear the girl nearest to me: "That. Was. Awesome."

where's the funky eyeliner?

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:37:55 GMT

I've been going through a really weird restless phase the last several weeks, possessed of a need to do different things. One way that this has manifested is a sudden re-interest in dark nail-polish (something I've always had lots of, but suddenly now can't find any that I own), neat jewelry that I own, reading new authors, and generally not being stuck in a rut.

I edited my current makeup stash, something I recommend that everyone do every six months or so, throwing out a bunch of old stuff that was expired or just didn't look the way I liked. Looking at what was left, things were pretty anemic, even for my fairly work-friendly collection of stuff. (disclaimer: I don't wear makeup everyday, and don't plan to start, I just like to have the option when I feel like it.) On the way back from dinner at my parents' house last night, I decided to stop in at Fred Meyer to see if I could find anything interesting.

For anyone who hasn't shopped at Fred Meyer for makeup, it is often quite the experience. They have a decent sized selection which often has a bunch of end-cap "in season" stuff. If you haven't noticed, the in season stuff is often a very funky, eclectic collection of bright colors, weird eyeliner and questionable lip products. I LOVE IT. These are where I've been able to find silver mascara, red metallic liquid eyeliner, super-dark lip stain, and the nail-polish pens I just purchased (dark red, blue and purple, natch.)

Sadly, the majority of the end-caps had been fully picked over, leaving only pedestrian choices. I was able to pick up some foundation (with free primer) and some replacement mascara from Rimmel, but nothing truly funky. I'll have to check in a month or so to see if the next trends are up.

reading twilight

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:35:28 GMT

I finished reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer last night. Honestly, it is pretty terrible – thankfully in an unintentional B-grade-sci-fi sort of way, but terrible nonetheless.

I would group my problems with Twilight into three categories: prose, story structure, and general silliness. All three of these are things that can be solved by a good editor, which is why I am so very irritated. The general story is not bad, but the author's enthusiasm doesn't seem quite equal to the task.

While the story is told from the first person perspective, not every sentence should start with "I." Having grown irritated by this in the first several chapters, I started counting the number of times this happened on the page I was reading: 13. There were only 17 sentences, and one of them was "No." Conceding that this is how 13 year-old girls tell stories, it is pretty juvenile to write them that way. Sorry, it had to be said. Having not read the rest of her books yet, I don't know if this improves.

One warning maladictah gave me before I started reading presaged my second problem: story structure. As Chekov so rightly pointed out, if you're going to write about a shotgun over the fireplace in a story, you'd better darn well do something with it. Likewise, if there is going to be a shotgun used later on, it behooves the author to give the reader a bit of advanced notice – this is called foreshadowing. Up until the last 100 pages of the book, the largest evil that looms on Bella's horizon is whether or not she and Edward can be insipid enough at once to actually get together. That problem solved, the story throws in a monkey (out of nowhere) wrench in a coven of other vampires that have a sudden and overwhelming need to cause shit. No shotgun.

The general silliness of the story is the icing on a pretty dry cake. Vampires don't die in the sunlight – they turn into a 10 year-old girl's sticker collection. The heroine is super klutzy! Totally not attractive, but gets asked out by, like, 5 guys! So many guys like her, the girls are all, like, mean – but still totally BFF's! Seriously, even the most clueless member of the Mean Girls clique would rule this crew with an iron fist of justice.

I can see why people find this series addictive; it follows the page-turner playbook well – don't stop the action, even for one minute, even if it involves your heroine getting stalked on the streets of Port Angeles, especially if you can throw in a dramatic rescue and dissing a pretty waitress later on for a dose of girl-on-girl crime. I'm so glad I didn't buy this myself.

Nation

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:56:55 GMT

I finished Nation by Terry Pratchett last night. It went a direction I hadn't anticipated. I liked the book, but I think it is something I would have liked more if I'd read it when I was 10. Young Adult fiction doesn't usually inspire that reaction in me, so it is a bit strange to have that feeling associated with this particular book.

Having just moved my collection over to GoodReads, I find that seeing how many books I am currently reading (and haven't finished), as well as the ones in my "to read" pile has inspired me to get reading, or to give away the ones that I'm not going to read in the near future (as long as they are close to hand, and not in a box in the garage).

GoodReads has been a nice "find" - I've tried Library Thing, Shelfari, and Delicious Monster. Of all of them, I think GR combines the things that I like best. Visual bookshelf, easy linking between other social services, tracking of books I've read, am reading, and want to read as well as an easy way to tag books.

my bathroom could save your life

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:55:38 GMT

In the event of deadly, sudden invasions by ninjas, aliens, robots, zombies, or any number of horrific slashers, the bookshelf in my bathroom could be your only hope. If only you can get there in time.

After getting The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks for Christmas, and subsequently having it on the bathroom bookshelf, I decided to start collecting some of the similar books that are out there. It is now joined by How to Survive a Horror Movie by Seth Grahame-Smith (also the author of the upcoming Pride & Prejudice & Zombies), and How to Survive a Robot Uprising and How to Build a Robot Army by Daniel H. Wilson.

I am keenly aware that this leaves out most cryptozoological monsters – while a robot army may help against an invading army of aliens, it will not solve your current "Sasquatch is stalking me" dilemma. The bathroom survival shelf may get you through the zombie apocalypse, but it doesn't include any good directions for (threatening) to start one from your secret lair (in a volcano). These and other deficiencies will be addressed in time.

Otter!

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:11:42 GMT

Just for kalanthe : The Daily Otter

Experimental Fiction

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:31:56 GMT

I've been on an odd sort of book kick lately; I finished half of the books I received for Christmas, while the other half waits patiently on my shelf. I've bought some new books, and for the first time I can remember, I've started a Terry Pratchett book which I didn't devour in a day (Nation).

I did rip through one and a half books this weekend, both on recommendations from io9. The first, The Translated Man by Chris Braak (available on Lulu), was described as a "Lovecraftian police procedural," which definitely got my attention (io9 review). Being in that sort of mood, I snagged a copy at the same time that I purchased Sunken Treasure: Wil Wheaton's Hot Cocoa Box Sampler, a Lulu-published reprint of his chapbook from this summer. (I wanted to get a copy at PAX '08, but was too busy Omegathon-ing.)

While a bit raw, The Translated Man was a fantastic read. The story follows the formula of a good mystery novel or thriller, leaning more towards the latter. Our enigmatic and broken hero is a coroner, working to bring down the practitioners of obscene sciences – necromancy, really good math, etc. – mostly by executing said practitioners. In a city swarming in mad scientists, Elijah Beckett and his colorful assistants are all that stand between the magnificent and horrible city of Trowth and the things that lurk in her allies. I like to think of them as a sort of organized angry mob.

Like all good thrillers, a nasty pointy death hints at a much larger and horrible crime. The simple death of a scholar and his family catapults Beckett and his crew down the path of heretical science, city politics, specism (why be racist when there are lizard-men?), revenge, and catastrophe.

Braak is still a pretty "young" writer (I don't know his age, but this is a self-published first novel), and at times the text is a bit creaky, or in need of some minor edits. However unpolished the text, the story is gripping, and the setting very well drawn in. The city of Trowth is spread out some mad vision of Venice, politics, money, and the supernatural all threatening to drag the city in on itself with the weight of centuries. A myriad of deaths lurk in the shadows, each one sharper, pointier, and more mystifying than the last. Like any good storyteller, Braak leaves you wanting to know more about his city, his characters, and the things and people that populate his world.

While the current oeuvre may indicate "steampunk," with its Victorian clothes and phlogiston lamps, but The Translated Man is really an old fashioned gothic police thriller. There's a mad killer on the loose, and the fate of the empire could be at stake. Brave men bravely wave their guns, women are clever and dangerous, savage (lizard!)men are noble, and rich people have way too much power and a tendency to mess with forces beyond their comprehension. Also, Frankenstein. (No, really.) I can't recommend this book enough.

The second book, Thunderer by Felix Gilman, I am still in the process of reading. In a weird way, they share a bit of a central linchpin (a sprawling, horrible, amazing monstrosity of a city), but in content they are vastly different. More when I've finished.

I am not totally insane, comparatively

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:46:26 GMT

So, remember when I turned just a little crazy and constructed an entire family tree for my HAD2 character (Xandra Florin) including her past family for several generations and down through her children, complete with pictures? Yeah, this person is way more nuts. (It's the "Donald Duck" family tree.)

the signal, primer, teeth and bolt

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:22:54 GMT

If you think I did a large amount of nothing this weekend, you'd be mostly right. I did hang out with my parents and shikamachu on Thanksgiving, and my mom on Saturday, but I mostly sat around my room and played Rock Band 2. I did, however, manage to see several movies. Also, I took pictures of Jasper in a tree.

hillkat and I saw Bolt in 3-D on Thanksgiving. It was sweet, funny, and overall pretty good. Like Kung-Fu Panda, it is a pretty simple movie, done well. The pigeons are hilarious.

On Sunday, I took in The Signal, Primer, and Teeth, which pretty much describes the order in which I liked them. All three are independent films which have been fairly well acclaimed and shot on a fairly small budget.

The plot of The Signal is a pretty simple one – in the city of Terminus (Atlanta), a mysterious electrical signal starts pouring out of televisions, radios, mobile phones, and anything with a speaker. Listen too long, it starts to drive you crazy.

Like most really good horror films, The Signal derives a lot of its strength from its characters. Maya, Ben (her lover), and Lewis (her husband) form the triangle that informs most of the movie's interactions, and drives the structure of the plot as they meet and chase each other across the increasingly bleak landscape. The imagery owes a lot to zombie (or plague) movies, as the populous of Terminus begins to turn on one another in a night of complete chaos and mayhem.

While the initial onslaught is fairly horrible, it's what happens during the next day which elevates this to a truly good film. The survivors occupy two distinct factions – those who hid, and those who killed. Everyone is infected with the signal's poison, to a certain degree, but those who hid were less exposed, or able to rise out of the malaise and confusion to reclaim their self control.

You root for Maya and Ben, against all of the odds. A passerby, Clark, becomes somewhat of a hero in the second installment, and you can't help but pull for him too. While Lewis is certainly the villain of the piece, the film makes it impossible to completely hate him, if just for a brief interlude – which is quickly quashed when he bashes someone's head in.

The Signal ends up being more than the sum of its parts. The ending, while grim, is not as hopeless as Quarantine or as heartbreaking as the remake of Dawn of the Dead. While threatening to veer towards the (cheerier) ending to 28 Days Later, it pulls back in time, leaving you with something that feels horribly real.

Primer was a decent thriller – which I wish had a slightly bigger budget, and another pass through an editing writer. The mechanics of the plot are pretty slick – but the execution falters from time to time, and makes piecing together the ending a bit difficult. I may warm to this on a second run through.

Teeth was, um, gross. Not all of the time, but the whole dentata thing is squicky enough that it overshadows some of the other (well done) parts of the movie. I don't expect that most of my friends list will be watching this any time soon, but it isn't too much of a spoiler to say that I wish all of the men hadn't been evil as well. I realize that's not playing by this sort of story's rules, but there you go.

Jasper T. Hugmonster and Ruby

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:36:16 GMT

These are my roommates' cats, Jasper and Ruby(of the "blinds incident" fame), being very cute later that day. I've got a few more pictures up on my Flickr page. My personal favorites are Lurking crazy I and II.

I <3 Belly Timber bars

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:56:05 GMT

I usually don't have much good to say about energy, or "survival" bars. I like the taste of a few – the Peanut Butter Crunch Clif Bar, the lemon Luna Bar – but almost all of them give my stomach fits. Almost all of the bars on the market rely on soy protein to bring up the protein content of the bars, and most use the dried soy crunchies, both of which set off my acid reflux like nobody's business. On top of that, many of them taste bad (PowerBars) and some make my jaw hurt to chew (Luna Bars). I only eat them when there's nothing else to be had, or I need to eat while doing something else.

On a whim, I picked up a different bar at Top Foods this weekend, the Belly Timber blonde "gourmet survival bar." I thought the description was pretty ostentatious, but it looked good, and the list of ingredients was tempting: oats, dates, ground flax seed, peanut butter, almonds, honey, coconut, sunflower seeds, soy flour, brown rice syrup and pear juice concentrate. Unlike the processed soy, I don't have any problem with soy flour, and I like all of those other things.

It was pretty darn delicious. And while it seemed expensive at $4, I quickly noticed that there were two more than adequately sized portions once opened, which brought it right into the price range of the other bars. So, delicious, reasonably priced, not too hard to chew, full of stuff I like, and made in the area from fresh, local, sustainable crops. I wish I could order cases or something, but it looks like they're just distributing to stores (or you can pick up stuff at their facilities if you head to Whatcom Co.) in the area, so I'll have to buy them there.

blinds 1, cats 0

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:20:56 GMT

In the new digs, there are two cats – Jasper T. Hugmonster, a black and white cat with crossed green Siamese cat eyes, and Ruby a silver tabby Norwegian forest cat. Ruby is about 7 months old, but is as large as most regular cats, and (by the size of her paws) has very much not stopped growing. It is easy to forget how young she really is. Yesterday, I woke up very late, lavished attention on Ruby while I was fixing my lunch (Jasper was outside taunting the next door neighbor's dog from atop the fence), and settled in to watch a bit of TV while I ate.

About 30 minutes into some terrible Food Network Thanksgiving program, I hear a giant crash from upstairs. Followed, 10-15 seconds later by Ruby streaking downstairs and squeezing herself under my chair.

Giant crashes are rarely good, especially when small children or animals flee them. Tail between her legs, Ruby followed me upstairs where my blinds were now in massive disarray on the floor. She refused to enter the room while they were on the floor, and wouldn't go near the window until I'd reinstalled them and pulled them all of the way up.

I love kitties – they live such exciting lives, full of danger and intrigue.

a shocking truth

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:31:52 GMT

Very rarely in the dichotomy of Gabe/Tycho of Penny Arcade, does the Gabe side of the equation speak to me as a gamer. I have to admit, today's comic is an exception. If you ever wanted intense insight into what it is like for Nathan and I to play Final Fantasy, this is it.*

*with the exception of the cut-scenes, which at worst I find mediocre, rather than tedious