Annual Easter Road Trip

The time has come for the Easter road trip to my sister's place. I'm looking forward to this. Road trips always have a beneficial impact on the old mood. The trick is making it last after I'm back!

There's other benefits, too. I work best to a deadline, which is a kind way of saying I procrastinate. Yesterday was a whirl wind of car maintenance and new tires. New tires have been on the list for months ... now it's reality.

Deadlines good. Easter road trip good.

Winter Mood

Not sure why, but I'm bummed. Little of the usual toys and distractions have interested me. All I've doing the last couple of weeks is read and an occasional get together with a friend. Books and friends, little pockets of spring in the barren winter that is my mood.

Books:
The Paths of the Dead - Steven Brust
The Lord of Castle Black - Steven Brust
Sethra Lavode - Steven Brust
The Excaliber Alternative - David Weber

Halozzzzz

This morning's lesson boys and girls: Never fall asleep mid-game with a voice activited microphone.

Halo 2 Vid

Warning: Some explosions, profanity and cheap fun.

Movies:
Be Cool

Storyteller - Amy Thomson

Writing book reviews isn't my thing, so this isn't a book review so much as it's a rave. Storyteller by Amy Thomson is amazing!!! I loved this book. It reminded me of stories by Sherri Tepper and Ursula Le Guin, though Thomson's voice and style are her own.

Thomson uses the life of a storyteller to explore the power of storytelling, community and how our knowledge, memory and experience define us. This is science fiction, so there's also telepathic communication with whale-like creatures called harsels and an interesting mixture of high and low technology. The story is simply told without the science fiction or overly descriptive prose hijacking it.

Thomson has three other books published. I've enjoyed all of them, but with Storyteller she's reached a new level in her writing.

Black Hawk Down - The DVD Box Set

My boss loaned me the Black Hawk Down "Deluxe Edition" DVD box set. It includes a lot of extra material. So far I've listened to the commentary track with 4 of the soldiers actually involved in the fighting and another with the screenwriter and book author. These commentaries are awesome.

I was riveted as the military guys described their experiences as related to the film and the situation in Mogadishu. I always expect a liberal dose of fantasy so was surprised at how many places they said a portrayal was accurate. The film wasn't 100% accurate, but you'll be surprised where it is and isn't. My only complaint was how they broke their arms patting each other's backs.

If you're interested in how a story is told on film don't miss the commentary by book author Mark Bowden and screen writer Ken Nolan. It was equally as fascinating in a completely different way learning the thought processes and realities of compressing the book into a movie. There's also some interesting trivia, like how the helicopter force assembled for shooting eclipsed the armed forces of the country they were filming in!

The DVD box set also includes the History Channel documentary, The True Story of Black Hawk Down. I saw this on TV just after seeing the movie and thought it would make an excellent companion to the movie. Obviously I wasn't alone. The interviews with the soldiers are fascinating stuff not often heard.

In general I find it a little scary when movies are made from real events. There's a risk the movie will warp reality. The way Black Hawk Down was handled sets an excellent standard for how to do it right. It's not perfect, but compared to Oliver Stone's handling of the Kennedy assassination, it's a gold standard. It's definitely time to get a copy of my own.

Books:
Sky of Swords, A Tale of the King's Blades - Dave Duncan
In Enemy Hands - David Weber
Storyteller - Amy Thomson

Just Say No to IT Asshats

Why do we, as a society, put up with asshats who take short cuts and produce situations like this?:

'Good guys' show just how easy it is to steal ID
Teams of hackers surfed the Web at Seattle University yesterday, harvesting Social Security and credit card numbers like a farmer cutting wheat. In less than an hour, they found millions of names, birth dates and numbers -- cyberburglar tools for the crime of identity theft -- using just one, familiar Internet search engine: Google.
By PAUL SHUKOVSKY, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Or this:

High Profile, Low Security
Big companies stumble with high profile security breaches that make your local WiFi coffee shop look secure.
By Matthew Tanase, SecurityFocus

I recommend taking the IDs of the application developers and their bosses up the line and selling them to the bad guys. Letting them deal with the consequences seems like a fitting punishment.

The Power of the English Language

I don't know what the orginal source is, I received this by email from a friend. It's worth sharing:

A linguistics professor was lecturing to his class one day. "In English," he said, "a double negative forms a positive. In some languages though, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative.

However," he pointed out, "there is no language wherein a double positive can form a negative."

A voice from the back of the room piped up, "Yeah. Right."

Books:
Monstrous Regiment - Terry Pratchett

More Vernor Vinge Books - Hooray!

Continuing on the Sci-Fi topic:

Vinge Signs New Book Deal
SF author Vernor Vinge told SCI FI Wire that SF publisher Tor has signed him to a multi-book deal. Vinge will write three new novels, and several of his out-of-print books will be re-issued, starting with Marooned in Realtime, Vinge said in an interview. It was nominated for a Hugo Award after Bluejay originally published it in 1986.

This is awesome news. Vernor Vinge is the best "hard" science fiction author I've read. His vision of future tech is at once revolutionary and obvious ... and he tells a good story!

If you like hard SF, check him out. And 'ware the net of a thousand lies.

---
Books:
Ascent - Williams, Sean & Dix, Shane

Movies:
The Pacifier