The Voice Of Reason

Have had a very quiet couple of days. Watched some movies and television, finished a couple books. It's just nice not having to go to work. It's the only "vacation" i take where i'm not actually going anywhere or doing anything specific. My nephew gave me an iPod dock/speaker/clock and I got that all hooked up and working and it sounds great. I'm going to leave it in the living room so i can use it as a mini-stereo rather than as an alarm clock in the bedroom. Graham and I will see in the new year online on webcam tonight as we usually do.

Last book post of the year to finish off the 2012 books below the cut
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Catching up on 2012 books. Not read very many this month because of my two week vacation with Graham. The first three below were finished before he came and the last two after he left.

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Weather back to normal. Quite cold and windy today.

Mom, Sis, niece and i went to see The Hunger Games at noon. Good time to go as it wasn't really crowded. We all enjoyed the movie and felt it kept fairly close to the book. The cast was all great, especially Woody Harrelson as Haymitch. Excellent choice. Some topics and scenarios that are more detailed in the book are only touched on here, as you would probably expect from a movie adaptation but it was enough to get the idea across. There were only little brief bits about the past and the lead heroine, Katniss's personal history and the history of her more deprived district so you really didn't get a good sense of why she is the way she is or who she is. That's a lot to do with trying to fit the events of the book into a movie though. If you hadn't read the book you might not have found the movie as engaging. If you have, then you can fill in the blanks.

I didn't like some of the camera work, that hand held shaky, too-close-up, too quick editing during action scenes. Makes me dizzy. You really didn't get to know the other Tributes much because over half the movie was the set up and training and by the time the Games were on, there wasn't time to go into great detail or character development for the other combatants. I did like that you got a bit more of the "behind the scenes of the Games" in the large control room, watching how they manipulate things.

After the show, Mom and i had lunch at Montanas and then we went up to Staples. I had seen a netbook on their website and wanted to see if they had it in the store. They did but the Operating System was different than described online. Lo and behold, the website has been changed between yesterday and today so they now match. (Windows 7 starter, which i think is going to be the case on all or most netbooks from my research. It's not as good but it can be upgraded). I asked about getting more memory in it as it can go up to 2gig instead of the 1 that comes with it. Apparently it's a bit tricky to install in the netbook so it would have taken a couple of hours. They were also uncertain whether Windows 7 would have recognized the extra memory before a full install or not. Might have been fine, might not. They charge extra for the installation (Windows is loaded but you have to go through the registration, service pack and patch update process apparently and they soak you to do that if you are too nervous to do it yourself. I could do it but if it didn't recognize the new memory stick and froze up i'd have to take it back to the store, probably pay for them to do the installation before adding the memory after. Pain in the arse, that. He didn't know if it *would* be a problem but said some netbooks are like that and some are not and their tech wasn't sure if this was one of them.

Anyway. Now i find myself rethinking. Do i want a netbook or a tablet? I'm still leaning to the netbook and i considered that i could just buy it out of the box with 1 gig of memory and go from there. Maybe the 1 gig would be fine most of the time. I'm not planning to do anything really heavy with it, any more than maybe light photo editing and i could get software that isn't big and ugly to do that. In fact, PicMonkey looks like it might be pretty good and it's online and not an install and there's no registration required. I tried it but not with a larger resolution photo. You drag the photo or upload it, do the work on it and save it back to your puter. It's one of the suggested replacements for Picknik which is going away. It seems to have all the basic editing needs i would require for on-the-go stuff.

As for the netbook and 1 gig memory, I can always take it back and buy the upgraded memory and pay to have them install it since it's a bit tricky on that model as to the ease of getting to it. Decisions, decisions.

2012 books....more detailed review through the links
30. Madame Bovary - Gustav Flaubert
A classic that i read in school and hated. Emma Bovary was bored, I was bored, then she topped herself. I thought i might reread it to see how my tastes had changed and how i viewed it. Much better this time around. I don't remember much else from it when i first read it but i realize that she is a woman that pretty much lives in a fantasy world and can't cope with the realities of day to day life. She wanted romance, adventure, a white knight to sweep her off her feet. Life isn't like that, toots.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/278694284

31. The Tiger's Wife - Tea Obreht
Apparently winning a lot of awards, i found it a bit less riveting than all the reviews are screaming about. It was good, well written, but not a lot of character development so when you read the description that says you know what the recently deceased grandfather is by the two tales/legends that are told in the book, you don't know at all really. There's a few other characters introduced in those stories and the author takes you back to their whole history which seems unnecessary. Still, i did enjoy it overall.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/295331004

And just a note for myself for ...( 2011 books )

2010 Books:
19: Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
In preparation for a tv series of the book, i reread it. I haven't read it for years and there was a lot in it i had forgotten. It's the story of Tom Builder and his step son Jack, of Prior Philip and Bishop Waleran Bigod and the other villain is William Hamleigh who is a right nasty piece of work who, as you would expect, will come to a sticky end but it's almost an afterthought. It chronicles the building of a cathedral in the town of Kingsbridge during the 12th century, much of the time during the civil war between King Stephen and Queen Maud. This causes political power shifting and setbacks at various times. Also thrown in there is the downfall of Thomas Beckett as witnessed by Prior Philip which almost seems just thrown in there. The book is long and maybe it's a bit too long and puffed up by that point. I did love the story up to the last part which then just kind of drags its feet to the end.

It will be interesting to see how it comes out on the telly, what they put in and what they leave out. It seems like some decent casting for the 8 episode series. Ian McShane plays Bishop Waleran and in the trailer i saw last night I think he'll be spot on. Rufus Sewell is Tom Builder and Andrew MacFadyen is Prior Philip. He's got the right look though not so sure about a middle aged Philip, same with the person playing the villain, David Oakes so perhaps it's not going to cover quite as many years. Anyway I think it might be good and is on the Movie Network here in Canada starting July 23 with two episodes and the rest in August i think.

The office has half-emptied out this week. Next week, there will be a skeleton crew on board and I won't be one of them. I haven't worked Christmas week for years and having some seniority would generally mean I can get the time off if i want it. It's very quiet, too. Not a lot happening.

Just have to get through this afternoon, then a session at the gym after work. Don't really feel up to is as i'm a bit tired, though. I woke up at 4 and really didn't get back to sleep properly, though dozed a bit. See, yesterday i bought a small bag of "chicken bones" as seen in this photo here. A New Brunswick company, Ganong, makes the best. They are a brittle candy shell of cinnamon with chocolate inside as the "marrow" and oh God they're good! They only bring them out at Christmas time, or at least, that's when you see them around a lot more, so it is one of those treats that really typify the season. We always had them in the house growing up, those, and the buckets of hard candy in various shapes including ribbons and the clear sugar gylcerine "toys", shaped like animals, clowns, all sorts of fanciful things. Anyway, sucking on those chicken bones can make your tongue bleed from the sharpness of the brittle candy shell or.... which is what i think i did, the hot cinnamon "burned" my tongue and the roof of my mouth a bit. My mouth hurt when i went to bed but when i woke up at 4, it was very tender, felt a bit swollen and i had a hard time getting back to sleep. It's not so bad now, just a little tiny bit sore. Guess i learned that lesson!

2009 books:
30. Once in a Lifetime by Cathy Kelly
She's an Irish writer and i've read a few of her books. I quite like them. This one is mainly about one woman, Ingrid, who's a well known political interviewer on television. Her husband, David Kenny, runs the family owned posh department store, Kenny's. There are a few other characters, mainly women who all have a connection either to one or both of this couple or to the store and we get to know some of them as well, and their problems and solutions. David Kenny dies suddenly and most of the book is about the aftermath, dealing with that, how she copes (not very well at first but that's got a lot to do with a "shocking" discovery she makes. Standard plot really, but i won't spoil it for you). The other characters' stories aren't given a huge amount of detail but enough that make it interesting to read. What was a bit odd, though, is when they take a fairly minor character and jump back into their past and describe it all in detail. It doesn't seem to really go with the rest of the flow. It might have been better if it was about Ingrid rather than someone that's really not a major player. I think i would have enjoyed it more if all of these secondary and minor characters had more connection to each other or to Ingrid in the end. Some of them did, but not all of them. Having said that, I still enjoyed the book. Cathy Kelly writes decent books. She's no Marian Keyes, whose books i really like a lot, but she's not bad.

We had our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday and boy, what a spread! Both turkey and roast beef with veg, mashed potatoes, gravy, two kinds of stuffing and both pie and cheesecake squares for dessert. *groan* everyone contributed something so Mom didn't have to do it all. It's getting too much for her to do it all anyway but we have the celebrations there because she's the one that has room for us all.

Friday i got my hair cut and coloured as i mentioned and it's too dark for my taste to i've washed it twice so far, hoping to start the fade out process a bit sooner. I don't really want to drench more chemicals on it so soon. It doesn't look bad, i just prefer it a bit lighter and redder.

Today's chores were laundry, reorganizing a few dresser drawers, washing floors and sorting out the recycling. All done.

2009 Books:
24: Echo in the Bone - Diana Gabaldon
Book 7 in the series about Jamie and Claire Fraser. I thought it was going to be the last book but clearly not. And i think there has to be at least 2 more. We continue the adventures, with characters getting into dire straights and having to be rescued. We are following the battles of the American Revolution in 1777 and 1778 and Jamie's illegitimate son, William Ransom, Earl of Ellsmere has been brought onto the canvas as more of a major character. There are two new characters, a Quaker doctor and his sister. The action also follows Briana and Roger in 1980 as they get on with their lives and follow that of Jamie and Claire through a group of letters in a chest that was delivered to them. I can't remember but i think it was sent to a bank or trust company to be delivered after a certain date when Claire had hoped Briana and Roger would have made it back to the future successfully. All they know is that the time traveling through the portals jumps about 200 years but it's not an exact thing, give or take a few years. The book is long and winding and and possibly long winded in places but there's so much to pack in! Fans of the series won't mind and we are all going to have a long wait for the next book as she takes awhile to get it all written and put together. It's usually 2 or 3 years in between publications. There's a lot of loose ends to tie up though she's already done some, but then leaves others out there to pick up.

She's been known to say there will of course be a happy ending but not without a few tears. There's always been talk about a movie or mini series but i don't think you'd ever cast it to satsify most of the fans. Everyone has such a carved-in-stone idea of what the main characters should look like and you couldn't cast anyone known i think. You'd have to go with unknowns. That's probably the only way it would work. And even just filming the first book (Outlander) would take in so much scope that a lot of what was written would have to be dumped. Her books are very well researched and her characters are very charismatic and so well drawn out that they really do seem to live. The romance is spicy, not schmaltzy and is just as hot now that Jamie and Claire are in middle age. Quite refreshing for us middle aged fans!

And on that note, the author is in Halifax tomorrow night for a speaking and book signing engagement. It looks like i shall be going and my friend Tracey will be meeting me there. I'll have to make sure to bring my book and my camera! It'll be crowded because she's quite popular. I remember the first book signing in Halifax. It was for her third book i think and it was in a small bookstore downtown. The place was heaving with people and everyone kept saying they thought they were the only ones that had heard about the series and author!