Author Archives: TheUser

Cookie swap!

When I got home today, I saw a package sitting on the couch. Packages always make me excited so I went and looked at the label. It was to Duncan. Always Duncan. As I let out a loud groan, I saw the second package. This one was for us! We got cookies in the mail from Darnell and Alex! We sent them cookies near Christmas, so they decided to swap. They were super delicious.

The box was packed completely full with two types of cookies, and both looked out of the ordinary. The first I thought were biscotti, and the second were triangles specked with colors. What could they be? Well there was a card that told me!

The biscotti was actually chocolate chip bars, and the triangles weren’t just triangles; they were cranberry pistachio triangles! Yes, you read that right. Cranberry. Pistachio. Triangles. And oh boy, were they both delicious. I expected the chocolate chip bars to be crunchy, but they were soft, chewy, and amazing. The cranberry pistachio triangles were flavorful and delicious. I’m so excited to have this box of cookies!

The irony? Darnell and Alex congratulated me in the card on my weight loss. You know, that’s the same card that came with box stuffed full of cookies. Don’t worry. I have self control!

DEAD[ish] is dumb but good for a chuckle, 2/5

DEAD[ish], by Naomi Kramer, is a very odd book. It’s a bit dumb but good for a chuckle. I like the basic idea of a spirit screwing with the person responsible for her death. The idea of a vengeful spirit isn’t new, but Linda screws with Mike in a manner more like college pranks than revenge upon a killer.

That said, when things were finally revealed, it didn’t make a ton of sense to me. I comprehended the plot, but I didn’t see enough motivation for why things turned out the way they did. Questions are answered by the end, but the motivation for those events aren’t fully given. I don’t want to say more for fear of spoiling the short story. It’s a fun idea, and for a free ebook, it’s an enjoyable read.

John Dies at the End the movie: Great casting but rushed plot, 7/10

Having read the novel, I had some prior expectations about the movie. I tried to judge the movie solely on itself, but it’s hard to shake what I knew.

Have you ever seen something out of the corner of your eye late at night, but when you turn to look, nothing’s there? What if something really was there, and you gained the ability to see those beings? That’s what John Dies at the End is about – being able to see those creepy things in the night!

John Dies at the End is told mostly as a story as the main character, Dave, recounts his adventures to a journalist. Those scenes were fantastic. While the setting of the odd Chinese restaurant was a part of this, the character of Arnie was more responsible. Paul Giamatti plays Arnie Blondestone, and he’s absolutely perfect for the role. He seems so unimposing and a bit bland while at the same time just a tad odd, which is perfect for the character.

On the subject of casting and acting, all the characters were cast well. Chase Williamson is great as Dave, Rob Mayes plays a good, aloof John (although he looks tougher than I expected), and Clancy Brown is great as Dr. Albert Marconi.

Many things have changed from the book, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The story has been greatly condensed with some subplots ignored, some characters removed (or merged), and, unfortunately, some important details missing. While the initial setup and development is great in the first half of the movie even with the condensation, the latter half of the film suffers. There doesn’t seem to be enough justification for the characters’ actions. Things happen very suddenly at the end, and while some of the changes from the book are fun, it still feels incomplete.

Despite a rushed plot, John Dies at the End was still a terrific movie for people who like slightly cheesy sci-fi or horror films. While I complained about the rushed plot, it’s probably not as noticeable to someone who hadn’t read the book. John Dies at the End is probably best enjoyed late at night when you’re liable to see things in the shadows!

Daredevil by Mark Waid Vol. 2

Volume 2 of Mark Waid’s Daredevil collects issues 7 through 10.1, and Amazing Spider-Man 677. While I enjoy Daredevil best as a noir title, I enjoyed Waid’s continuation with a happier Daredevil. One storyline in this collection involves a villain stealing graves from beneath them, which then forces Daredevil to go underground looking for them. When one of the graves ends up being Matt’s dad’s, his emotional state turns sour. While this brings it a little darker, which I would normally like, the plot seemed rather silly to me, but the rest of the stories made up for it.

Now that I write this, I realize that my favorite story in this book involved Christmas, young children, tragedy, and harm coming to Matt. What did I say about liking the previous, darker Daredevil more? It’s darker than most of the surrounding stories while still ending positively.

Volume 2 also brings some comedy with a cross-over with Spider-Man. The Black Cat claims she’s been framed which sends Spider-Man and Daredevil off together. The switch to the Amazing Spider-Man’s art style seems very jarring because it’s a bit more stylized, but it also fits the comedy of Peter Parker. The cross-over brings plenty of jokes, a bit of romance, and great writing. “I think this is my super villain origin,” says Spider-Man, witnessing Daredevil and The Black Cat kiss.

The Omega Drive story continues as well. Matt contains a drive with terabytes of information on the world’s villain organizations, and they want it back. When one of them makes a move, Daredevil responds in kind.

Theater-packed weekend

Friday night I went to Fullerton College’s Playwrights Festival to see my brother’s play. His was third, last, so I’ll mention the other two first. Sala de Amor y Guerra by Elvia Rubalcava was family, a broken home, and repeating the same mistakes as your parents. It was entertaining, but it didn’t quite hit home with me. Some lines were in Spanish, and while I can understand the immersion aspect of seeing another culture, it ended up making me feel a bit frustrating. I also don’t fully grok being upset about the “broken home” scenario. My parents divorced, but I’ve never thought to say I come from a broken home. My life was fine.

The second play was Caught in the Middle by Iris Jimenez, which told a story of a love triangle, cheating, getting caught, rebounds, and more. It was extremely entertaining and very funny. As I watched it, I felt a little sad that it wasn’t something I could capture to watch again. That’s it. There’s no book, and there’s no DVD. Stupid theater!

His Story, by my brother, James Anargirou, was last. He actually never made it to a rehearsal, so he wasn’t sure how it was going to be performed. His Story was entirely dialogue driven set in a single scene. A woman is trying to talk a young man out of killing himself after catching him about to commit suicide. While he didn’t know her, it’s revealed that she not only knew him but was sort of stalking him. She convinces him to admit his reasoning: he was in love with a woman who died three years previously, and now he feels guilty for beginning to have feelings for other women. It was very interesting. When some people discussed it, they mentioned how at first you think he’s crazy and she’s trying to help, but then you learn they’re both crazy. It’s fascinating to me that someone would call him crazy, but I wouldn’t use that term. Yes, it’s extreme, but it isn’t exactly crazy in my opinion. It’s such an odd situation that I never previously considered either – being so devoted to someone that feelings for someone else after his or her death would leave you feeling as if you cheated. The play was performed as a dark comedy, but I think James wrote it as a drama. It was very entertaining to me, but I haven’t had a chance to talk to him about it much. I can say that I’m very proud to have a talented brother though.

There was a bit more to my weekend, however. On Saturday I watched You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown! My coworker Mike was in it, so a group of us from work went to watch. It was very fun! I wasn’t very familiar with Peanuts, but I’m a bit more familiar with it now. The show consisted of mostly children, and they all did an excellent job.

Alice’s Uninteresting Adventures in Wonderland

Maybe I just don’t get literary nonsense, but I thought Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was terrible. It seemed like Lewis Carroll didn’t know to where to take the story and just threw random elements at it, changing scenes whenever he grew bored. At least it was an easy read. I’m honestly surprised that it became as popular as it did.

Scalzi’s episodic The Human Division kicks off with The B-Team

The B-Team marks John Scalzi’s return to his Old Man’s War universe, the series for which he’s most known. Set after the events of The Last Colony and Zoe’s Tale, it tells of a Colonial Union team sent to repair a diplomatic mission gone wrong. While it seems enjoyable without knowledge of the previous books in the series, it would also spoil them. I highly recommend reading the rest of the series first. Readers familiar with the series should enjoy seeing the ramifications of Perry and Sagan’s actions and those of the Conclave.

The B-Team is the first episode of The Human Division, which will be released as one collected book shortly. It’s comprised of thirteen short stories considered episodes of a whole. The B-Team was released on Tuesday, January 15, and a new episode will be releasing every Tuesday until the entire story is published. This reminds me of serialized novels in the past; however, those only worked as a while novel. The Human Division actually consists of stand-alone episodes. It’s a short story collection with an over-arching (presumably) story. This seems like an evolution of Scalzi’s last novel, Redshirts, which he considered a novel with three codas.

The B-Team follows all new characters in the Old Man’s War universe but was still very exciting. The political landscape of the universe was changed significantly at the end of the last Old Man’s War novel, and it’s nice to see those changes. I’m looking forward to the remaining episodes!

The Office season 8

The Office was getting pretty stale. Ever since Jim and Pam got married, I felt the show was going downhill. When Steve Carell left the show and other managers were brought into the show, I felt like it had hit the bottom. Having Will Ferrell on the show felt like a ratings grab. However, I really liked season 8.

I finished it a couple weeks ago, and it reinvigorated the show for me. Andy was the perfect choice for manager. His appointment didn’t feel like a ratings gimmick, and his awkward feelings for Erin mimicked the relationship between Jim and Pam from earlier seasons. It seemed like a nice refresh. Still, I wonder how long the show can keep this going. We’ll see.

Arnold Schwarzenegger AMA

Schwarzenegger did a fantastic AMA over at Reddit today!

Here are some of my favorites.

“What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received in your life?”

– Pyrao

“My dad always said be useful”

– GovSchwarzenegger

Politicians are wildly unpopular these days – if you had to pick one current American politician who best embodies what is good about politics, who would you pick, and why? I’ve always appreciated your perspective on American politics and admired your optimistic spirit, so I’d love to hear your answer to this.

Thanks!

– rycla

Great question. And this has to be my last one.

Even though Congress has an approval rating of 9% (and loses to cockroaches and colonoscopies in polling), there are still some leaders who are doing the people’s work instead of the partys’ work. That’s political courage to me, being willing to risk your job to choose what’s good for the public instead of getting stuck in your ideology.

One of my favorites is Mayor Chuck Reed from San Jose. He’s a Democratic who took on pension reform, he has always put the people first. You should look him up.

– GovSchwarzenegger

What are your thoughts on the current state of the Republican party?

– y0nkers

The most important thing is that we need to be a party that is inclusive and tolerant. We can be those things and be the party we always have been. We need to think about the environment – Teddy Roosevelt was a great environmentalist and people forget Reagan was the one who dealt with the ozone layer with the Montreal protocol. We also need to talk about healthcare honestly – Nixon almost passed universal healthcare. We need to have an talk about immigration and realize you can’t just deport people. We need a comprehensive answer. We also need to stay out of people’s bedrooms. The party that is for small government shouldn’t be over-reaching into people’s private lives.

Mainly, we need to be a party where people know what we are for, not just what we are against.

– GovSchwarzenegger

A Note For Toshi

I saw this on Toshiba USA’s Facebook page, and I had to share..

A Note For Toshi (my Toshiba PC)
Hello sweet Toshi I know your there’
Wake up Wake Up if you Dare
U R so sweet U R so Kind ‘
I Push all of Ur buttons
and U really don’t mind,
U let me talk to folk all around the place,
and harvest all sorts of crops,
He He even let me fly into space,
oh Toshi U really R Tops’
Ur buttons so shiny, ur screen so sweet ,
the real world finds it hard to compete,
Oh Toshi i really am sorry
I must press the OFF button till Tomorry!
He he he I was only joking !!!
Lets Play some Music and get the housework done ‘
So this Granny and Toshi can have some more FUN

– Toshiba USA Facebook Timeline, 1/11/13