Happy Birthday, Naomi!
You are twenty months old today! You’ve got a big rock! Tell all your friends. I bet they don’t have a rock that big.
Re-Tired
Naomi and I just returned from a road trip to buy new tires for the station wagon. We wentto the same dealer where I bought my winter tires, just before Sherbrooke. I needed new all-season tires now, rather than at the end of the season, because the wobbly ball joints caused some dangerously uneven wear on the tires.
Naomi slept for the two-hour drive up, but was bright and perky when we met Dina’s parents for lunch, and was a veritable chatterbox for the drive back.
There’s only one way to finish off such a great day…head out to the wading pool!
Just Add Water
Nothing beats the heat or the late afternoon work-from-home blahs like the neighborhood wading pool.
Passionless Passport Photos
If I ever meet the bureaucrat who decided that children’s passport photos have to feature the same blank, close-mouthed stare as the adults’ photographs, I’m going to poke that pencil-pusher right in the eye.
And then I’m going to ask for my money back.
Ben needed two tries to obtain a suitably ugly passport picture this afternoon. Naomi made four attempts, and we’ll be back for more tomorrow.
A regular set of photos costs $12 or so, but the retakes cost $2 apiece.
The one consolation is that I got to keep the best of the “worst” pictures for my wallet. Ben looks serious, but Naomi looks so cute!
Gaming…for the Kids
My last three PS2 purchases have proved to be very popular with Ben and Naomi…and that was only my intention with the first two games!
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Cars is my family-friendly antidote to Burnout: Revenge, the only other racing game I own. Ben loved watching me race the red car in Burnout, but I figured that it wasn’t a good idea for Ben to watch me play a game where crashes were the point of play. Cars is a safe substitute – it even features a red car! (and one red car game is pretty much the same as any other, in Ben’s opinion). Despite this, we’re still not likely to see the movie any time soon. |
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Both kids adore the Curious George movie and TV show, so the Curious George game is a natural extension. George explores, jumps around, climbs things and collects bananas – all activities that make Ben and Naomi laugh. Best of all, there are “Curious Items” scattered throughout each level for George to interact with, from soccer balls to overstuffed suitcases to turntables. I suspect that I’ll be playing this game a lot over the summer. Aside from the mini-games, it’s simple enough for Ben to try on his own. |
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Justice League Heroes is another dungeon-crawling superhero game in the style of Diablo and X-Men Legends. Ben is still well into his Justice League kick, so he’s having fun watching me play as Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern and Superman. He’s also encouraging me to unlock the new characters – especially Hawkgirl, his favourite – and play those. So far, I’m still at the early levels of the game where I can’t pick the superhero teams, otherwise I think I’d be playing Hawkgirl all the time. |
Summertime Makes for Great TV Viewing (on DVD)
The IT Crowd Season 1
I laughed so hard at times that my vision actually blurred. This show about the social misfits who work in the IT department of a large corporation captures the full range of nerdom into a single well-observed farce. The amusingly literal Maurice Moss is my favourite nerd of the trio.
Kitchen Confidential
Bradley Cooper stars in this Anthony Bourdain-inspired comedy about New York chefs seen as drug-addled, sexaholic, fame-addicted rock stars. The whole cast has great chemistry, but Frank Langella, as the restaurant owner, and Erinn Hayes, as the romantic interest/adversary, steal every scene. Another FOX show doomed by baseball playoff coverage.
Scrubs Season 5
Perhaps it’s because I knew what was coming, but the whole season seemed to lead towards Dr. Cox’ breakdown near the end of the season. With all that lead-in, I was disappointed to see the storyline wrapped up so quickly. A silly, enjoyable season that doesn’t retread the familiar material.
May Rentals Reviewed in June
Great New Thing
An anthology of unrelated stories about troubled New Yorkers not dealing with the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I thought to myself that this movie was custom-made for the Tribeca Film Festival and, lo and behold, it was. It’s okay, but it belabours the point that everyone has problems.
The Holiday
Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet both play professional women who decide to swap houses for the Christmas holidays. They end up playing air guitar and having personal breakthroughs. The Diaz story is funnier than the earnest Winslet tale, but Jude Law is actually the best part of the movie. Tedious.
Free RPG Day
In the tradition of Free Comic Book Day, comes another project to bring new customers into specialty shops:
Game publishers both large and small are distributing free quickstart rules and adventures to participating game stores. The idea is that new players will pick up the freebies and hen return to the store to make additional purchases. The ultimate goal, I imagine, is reaching beyond the current tabletop game players and reach a wider audience, but even introducing a few d20 players to a new game line counts as a success.
The products aren’t available in Canada this year, but I’m hoping the project expands across the border in 2008.
Give it a try, if you’re so inclined.
(Now all we need is a Free Board Game Day, with something other than free Settlers of Catan scenarios [grin].)
I Think I Remember How to Review Comics…
Fell TPB #1 Feral City
Each issue presents a self-contained mystery drawn admirably by Ben Templesmith on a nine-panel page. This structure helps Ellis keep his grotesque excesses largely under control. Richard Fell is a brilliant detective banished to the very bad part of town, and his investigative style may be the reason. Good stuff.
Rocketo TPB #2Journey to the Hidden Sea Pt. 2
Deep within the Hidden Sea, Rocketo learns more about the history of the Mappers and discovers the secret behind the storm that destroyed his parents. The adventure concludes with an attack by the Lucerne family and the restoration of Rocketo’s powers. Frank Espinosa has created a wondrous story and world.
The War of the Worlds HC
An able adaptation of the H.G. Wells story. I bought this volume because I was interested in the two sequel stories by the same creators. A preview of Scarlet Traces at the end of the story persuaded me otherwise: the Martians are best left alone. I don’t need any more.
Y: The Last Man TPB #2 Cycles
It’s official: I’m addicted. In this edition, Yorick and company take the train heading west, but arrive in an idyllic rural community filled with ex-convicts from the nearby women’s prison. Then, the lunatic Amazons, who are soon to be led by Yorick’s sister, Hero, attack. Brother vs. Sister – cool stuff.
Clearly, There’s Something I Don’t Understand About Shoe Shopping
I bought a pair of casual (i.e., non-blindingly white or racing striped) sneakers last year and, between walking around the office and running around the park chasing after Ben and Naomi, pretty much ruined them for anything except yardwork and painting.
So, I went back to the same store and looked for a new pair of sneakers for this summer. They had a few pairs on sale, but they were either uncomfortable or ugly in their retro-70s style mismatched glory. I was about to give up when I discovered the exact same pair for the exact same price as last year.
I’d never buy the same pair of eyeglasses two years running, but shoes are an exception, so I picked them up. Both pairs are sitting in the stairwell, like a “Before and After” picture.
If I’d ever wondered why Ben wants to wear the same pair of shoes day after day, now I have my answer.