Last week, I did a review/preview of the upcoming/now here new TV season.
Glee - I can't believe I forgot about this last week. It just proves that I watch way too much television. Even though the song selection wasn't to my liking, there was enough going on here that I didn't mind so much. The school gained a new, female football coach after Ken had a nervous breakdown. Even though it wasn't said, it was probably because of the fallout from April ditching him on their wedding day. Some of my favorite quotes were from Brittany. There was this gem from the beginning, where the story was framed by Jacob, in which Brittany describes her summer vacation: "People thought I went on vacation, but actually I spent the summer lost in the sewers." Classic. Again, not sure, but this almost seems like a reference to the Goonies...
Anyway, the next episode focuses on Brit where they sing Britney Spears' songs all episode. Wooh...kinda sick of the theme shows. And now there's supposed to be a second Madonna episode. Great.
The Big Bang Theory- This one was an odd duck. I'm sure I've said that phrase before, possibly even about another TV show, but it's true. There was just something...off about this one's season premiere. I think part of it was delivery, in that it almost felt like the characters were the actors playing the characters playing the characters. Sound confusing? It should. However, the show was still pretty funny, even if it was predictable.
Supernatural - This was the show I was most excited about, since it is one of my favorite shows and I just couldn't fathom where they could possibly go from the end of last season. And it really didn't do much. The producers (since I believe original creator and showrunner Eric Kripke is now hands-off on the show) said that it was going to be back to basics like in the first season, before any of the apocalypse stuff started showing up. And that wasn't entirely accurate. Yes, it does seem like it's moving back to the monster of the week format of season one, but they've already set up a number of storylines such as the Winchester boys' grandfather also coming back with Sam, who doesn't know who pulled him out of the Devil's Box and "a whole bunch of demons are going crazy...including some things no one has seen before." Super. Like Scrubs, the intended end of the series is probably going to be better than the actual ending if the first episode is any indication.
Also note, I still haven't had a chance to watch Smallville, though I've heard some great things about the episode.
There were some other things I wanted to mention, too, but I can't remember what they are. Oh well, such is life.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
New Fall Line Up and PC Problems
It's been awhile since I've made a post and that is because of a really weird problem I've been having with my computer. My desktop has fallen out of service ever since the battery backup blew and I've been too lazy/cheap to get a new one...for two years.
About a year ago, my laptop had this issue where it would scroll by itself. Seen desktops do that, but was because of something with the mouse. I do not have a mouse hooked up to my laptop. But, after some finagling (is that how you spell that?), the issue seemed to have stopped.
Now, a new problem has cropped up in the last week or so. Randomly, the Windows Help window will pop up and something happens with Yahoo Widgets (I'm alerted to sub jobs through a program that only runs through YW). That is annoying, yes, but the strangest part is that, while this is going on, if I try to type something, it only pops up as =65 over and over again. If anyone has any tips or hints to fix this, I'd appreciate it. And yes, I have reformatted the hard drive (and possibly screwed up my music collection doing it).
On to the premiers of the shows that I watch (sounds...important, doesn't it?):
How I Met Your Mother - The tease for this episode is that Ted runs into an ex-girlfriend, the roommate of whom we know is the infamous 'mother.' But since when has this show ever not woven its intricate plots of twists and misleadings? It was ok, but I'm just glad it's back, since it is the characters and not the 'who is the mother' angle that makes this show worth watching.
Two and a Half Men - I had an argument the other day about what CBS comedy (about the only channel doing any sitcoms really worth a damn aside from The Office, and that has gotten a bit long in the tooth) is the best. I put it in the order of HIMYM, The Big Bang Theory, and Two and a Half Men. And this season's opener did nothing to change that. The focus seems to have shifted from Charlie to Alan, a not unexpected, but most disagreeable change, given Charlie Sheen's current legal drama. The high point of the episode is when we first see Charlie passed out on his stairs after another night of heavy drinking. He's missing his pants. Hilarious.
Modern Family - One of the better shows from last season, but one that I've always had mixed feelings about. At its best, it was hilarious and charming. At its worse, it was just grown inducing. The standout characters, in my opinion, were always the all-male couple and Ed Bundy's part of the family. Claire and what's his name, to me, were never that funny. The 'hip dad' thing grew stale quickly and the highlights are always from the previously mentioned characters.
L&O: SVU - This one has been my favorite from the L&O family for years. I never cared for CI and the main show was cancelled for good reasons (though I do wish it would've stuck around for just one more year, if only to get the record). I will admit, I didn't watch the whole thing through, but what I did see was cringe-worthy. I'm talking about the exchange between the brother and the sister he had raped when he was younger. I don't know what acting school SVU keeps getting its bit part actors from, but it needs to stop.
As for the rest, I'm looking forward to Smallville the most, since they've been infusing the show with references and characters from the comic for the last few seasons. And they got rid of Lana Lang, who had been dragging the show down for seasons 4-7. Seriously, her arc was one of the few blights on season 8, aside from an awkward looking Doomsday (if they didn't have the budget for him, they shouldn't have used him like they did).
After that, I'm very interested in what Supernatural has to offer. At the end of last season, Sam gave in and became Lucifer's vessel, only to dive into the containment...thing and the Earth swallowed him up. But...he did reappear outside of the house where Dean had seemingly settled down with a lady friend and a kid who looks suspiciously like him (it's not his, though). My only disappointment was the hint that the Prophet Chuck was hinted to really be God-Chuck. Way to ruin a character (and I didn't like the fact that the Trickster, arguably the best guest character from the show, was really Gabriel, a rogue angel).
The Office - It has been hinted that this is the last season for the folks at Dunder Mifflin, that they'll be folding up shop when Steve Carrel leaves the show after seven seasons. While I still enjoy the show, it's peak was probably during season three. So...that's saying something.
Grey's Anatomy - After the hell that was unleashed upon Seattle Grace during the season finale last year...that's it. I've got nothing on this one. They tried to make you care about the people they were slaughtering, but I didn't. Did feel for Baley when she dragged Percy to the elevators only to find the power had been shut off so she had to hold his hand while he slowly bled out. Though it was certainly a dramatic moment, it did have its plot holes. Namely, it was established that Baley (Bailey?) had been in contact with the police via cell phone. Couldn't she have just called them up to get the elevator turned back on? Even have a SWAT team ready to go or something.
So there ya have it. How I feel about this fall's lineup and the reason why I haven't been so prolific of a blogger lately.
Also, as an honorable mention for TV, Desparate Housewives returns Sunday and...*gasp* a new house has moved in. Really? Can't come up with anything new DH?
About a year ago, my laptop had this issue where it would scroll by itself. Seen desktops do that, but was because of something with the mouse. I do not have a mouse hooked up to my laptop. But, after some finagling (is that how you spell that?), the issue seemed to have stopped.
Now, a new problem has cropped up in the last week or so. Randomly, the Windows Help window will pop up and something happens with Yahoo Widgets (I'm alerted to sub jobs through a program that only runs through YW). That is annoying, yes, but the strangest part is that, while this is going on, if I try to type something, it only pops up as =65 over and over again. If anyone has any tips or hints to fix this, I'd appreciate it. And yes, I have reformatted the hard drive (and possibly screwed up my music collection doing it).
On to the premiers of the shows that I watch (sounds...important, doesn't it?):
How I Met Your Mother - The tease for this episode is that Ted runs into an ex-girlfriend, the roommate of whom we know is the infamous 'mother.' But since when has this show ever not woven its intricate plots of twists and misleadings? It was ok, but I'm just glad it's back, since it is the characters and not the 'who is the mother' angle that makes this show worth watching.
Two and a Half Men - I had an argument the other day about what CBS comedy (about the only channel doing any sitcoms really worth a damn aside from The Office, and that has gotten a bit long in the tooth) is the best. I put it in the order of HIMYM, The Big Bang Theory, and Two and a Half Men. And this season's opener did nothing to change that. The focus seems to have shifted from Charlie to Alan, a not unexpected, but most disagreeable change, given Charlie Sheen's current legal drama. The high point of the episode is when we first see Charlie passed out on his stairs after another night of heavy drinking. He's missing his pants. Hilarious.
Modern Family - One of the better shows from last season, but one that I've always had mixed feelings about. At its best, it was hilarious and charming. At its worse, it was just grown inducing. The standout characters, in my opinion, were always the all-male couple and Ed Bundy's part of the family. Claire and what's his name, to me, were never that funny. The 'hip dad' thing grew stale quickly and the highlights are always from the previously mentioned characters.
L&O: SVU - This one has been my favorite from the L&O family for years. I never cared for CI and the main show was cancelled for good reasons (though I do wish it would've stuck around for just one more year, if only to get the record). I will admit, I didn't watch the whole thing through, but what I did see was cringe-worthy. I'm talking about the exchange between the brother and the sister he had raped when he was younger. I don't know what acting school SVU keeps getting its bit part actors from, but it needs to stop.
As for the rest, I'm looking forward to Smallville the most, since they've been infusing the show with references and characters from the comic for the last few seasons. And they got rid of Lana Lang, who had been dragging the show down for seasons 4-7. Seriously, her arc was one of the few blights on season 8, aside from an awkward looking Doomsday (if they didn't have the budget for him, they shouldn't have used him like they did).
After that, I'm very interested in what Supernatural has to offer. At the end of last season, Sam gave in and became Lucifer's vessel, only to dive into the containment...thing and the Earth swallowed him up. But...he did reappear outside of the house where Dean had seemingly settled down with a lady friend and a kid who looks suspiciously like him (it's not his, though). My only disappointment was the hint that the Prophet Chuck was hinted to really be God-Chuck. Way to ruin a character (and I didn't like the fact that the Trickster, arguably the best guest character from the show, was really Gabriel, a rogue angel).
The Office - It has been hinted that this is the last season for the folks at Dunder Mifflin, that they'll be folding up shop when Steve Carrel leaves the show after seven seasons. While I still enjoy the show, it's peak was probably during season three. So...that's saying something.
Grey's Anatomy - After the hell that was unleashed upon Seattle Grace during the season finale last year...that's it. I've got nothing on this one. They tried to make you care about the people they were slaughtering, but I didn't. Did feel for Baley when she dragged Percy to the elevators only to find the power had been shut off so she had to hold his hand while he slowly bled out. Though it was certainly a dramatic moment, it did have its plot holes. Namely, it was established that Baley (Bailey?) had been in contact with the police via cell phone. Couldn't she have just called them up to get the elevator turned back on? Even have a SWAT team ready to go or something.
So there ya have it. How I feel about this fall's lineup and the reason why I haven't been so prolific of a blogger lately.
Also, as an honorable mention for TV, Desparate Housewives returns Sunday and...*gasp* a new house has moved in. Really? Can't come up with anything new DH?
Monday, September 13, 2010
When we burn inside the fire of A Thousand Suns
I don't make it a secret, Linkin Park is my favorite band. While they have millions of followers/fans/stalkers, there are a number of people who have as much hatred for them as I do love. They toss around such labels as 'sellouts,' 'manufactured,' etc. I respect people's opinions, even if they are wrong. It's just who I am as a person. But it's the opinions of people who claim that they also love the band but hate them now that baffle me. I've seen more people who say, "I use to like them, but now they suck," than people who just out and out say they don't care for them.
I'd point out a line from one of their new songs from A Thousand Suns, their latest effort that was released yesterday. From the song "When They Come for Me:" "'Cause once you got a theory of how the thing works/ Everybody wants the next thing to be just like the first..." So, from that I gather the band knows that critics and listeners are expecting more of the same (which is what the "fans" want), but the band doesn't want to repeat themselves. It's actually an odd song, and my girlfriend cracks up when Mike swears. She's right, it seems unnatural. I know, he's sworn in songs before (Bleed It Out comes to mind), but it still sounds funny.
As for the album itself? It is an odd duck. The band has said that A Thousand Suns works best as a whole (there even appears to be an option to by the album on iTunes as one, long track), which I agree with. Unfortunately, the sum of its parts doesn't quite match up to the whole here. There are 15 tracks, the most off of any of their studio efforts to date (non-remix/collaboration albums).
However, that number is misleading. The first two tracks "The Requiem" and "The Radiance" are really just one intro track broken into two for the sake of fluffing the album. Track 5, "Empty Spaces," is just that. It's 18 seconds long. 18! Was that really necessary? There's also the track, "Wisdom, Justice, and Love," which, much like "The Radiance," is a soundbyte meant to sound dramatic. I know everyone in the band said that this was to be an experimental, concept album. But really? Did we need four tracks that are just filler?
What music there is on here is pretty good. I don't know if it tops Minutes to Midnight, Meteora, or Hybrid Theory, but the songs are pretty good. Notice I said songs. Not weird, grainy voice clips or 18 seconds of filler.
When the band said they were experimenting with styles, they were not lying. I felt a bit of a Jack Johnson (sorry if I got that wrong) vibe on one track, and there seems to be a hip hop influence (though with LP's usual edge) on another. The rest are a mix between the 'revolution' message that started with M2M and something a bit more introspective. While I felt the standouts were "Wretches and Kings" (I'm a sucker for Shinoda's flow, what can I say?) "Robot Boy" "Burning in the Sky" and "Iradescent," the rest of the album is decent and it'll be stuck in your head for days. That is, if you give it chance (and you like LP's music...)
I'd point out a line from one of their new songs from A Thousand Suns, their latest effort that was released yesterday. From the song "When They Come for Me:" "'Cause once you got a theory of how the thing works/ Everybody wants the next thing to be just like the first..." So, from that I gather the band knows that critics and listeners are expecting more of the same (which is what the "fans" want), but the band doesn't want to repeat themselves. It's actually an odd song, and my girlfriend cracks up when Mike swears. She's right, it seems unnatural. I know, he's sworn in songs before (Bleed It Out comes to mind), but it still sounds funny.
As for the album itself? It is an odd duck. The band has said that A Thousand Suns works best as a whole (there even appears to be an option to by the album on iTunes as one, long track), which I agree with. Unfortunately, the sum of its parts doesn't quite match up to the whole here. There are 15 tracks, the most off of any of their studio efforts to date (non-remix/collaboration albums).
However, that number is misleading. The first two tracks "The Requiem" and "The Radiance" are really just one intro track broken into two for the sake of fluffing the album. Track 5, "Empty Spaces," is just that. It's 18 seconds long. 18! Was that really necessary? There's also the track, "Wisdom, Justice, and Love," which, much like "The Radiance," is a soundbyte meant to sound dramatic. I know everyone in the band said that this was to be an experimental, concept album. But really? Did we need four tracks that are just filler?
What music there is on here is pretty good. I don't know if it tops Minutes to Midnight, Meteora, or Hybrid Theory, but the songs are pretty good. Notice I said songs. Not weird, grainy voice clips or 18 seconds of filler.
When the band said they were experimenting with styles, they were not lying. I felt a bit of a Jack Johnson (sorry if I got that wrong) vibe on one track, and there seems to be a hip hop influence (though with LP's usual edge) on another. The rest are a mix between the 'revolution' message that started with M2M and something a bit more introspective. While I felt the standouts were "Wretches and Kings" (I'm a sucker for Shinoda's flow, what can I say?) "Robot Boy" "Burning in the Sky" and "Iradescent," the rest of the album is decent and it'll be stuck in your head for days. That is, if you give it chance (and you like LP's music...)
Saturday, September 11, 2010
How many more times could they have used the terms 'Mockingjay' and 'Catching Fire'
As I had previously reported, I received Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins as a gift for my birthday (September 1st). I finished it by the end of the day on September 5th and I've just been letting the ending sink in before commenting. That time has come.
In other reviews, I have tried to keep things as spoiler-free as possible. That will not be the case here. You have been warned.
***SPOILER ALERT***
Mockingjay picks up about a month where Catching Fire left off. It's not as jarring of a transition as Hunger Games was to CF, and I was quickly able to remember what had happened even though I haven't read the previous book since before school let out in June.
At first, the book seems to move at the same breakneck speed of the first as opposed to what I felt was a plodding pace in the second. I think this is mostly due to Suzanne Collins' fantastic ability to really capture a scene and make the reader invest in these characters. However, with Mockingjay, that's a bit hard to due, because Collins doesn't invest enough in the new characters and she really screws up the ones that the readers have had a book or two to get to know.
One of the new characters, the second in command of District 13, comes off as kind of a prick at the beginning, only to have Katniss (and, by extension, the reader) warm up to him as he does more heroic and/or stupid things to win her trust. And then he dies. Yeah, it's about that abrupt in the book, too. The thing is, I can't even remember the characters name. I can remember some of the things he did. Like died. But, I can't remember his name. He left that big of an impression on me.
And ***SUPER SPOILER ALERT*** some of the old characters really get screwed with. We learn that Gale is really just kind of a sadistic, twisted bastard. Not that I can blame him, mind you, but his capacity for violence was not really explored here, so it was just as shocking to me as it was to Katniss when he went into detail about his plans to lay some hurt down on the Capitol.
That was one of the things that bothered me about this book and with the series as a whole. It is repetitive. It's difficult to point out in this one, as it isn't exactly the same, but the best example I can give is that people keep secrets, Haymitch really understands Katniss, Katniss always sulks about her situation or half the book, and there is always a Hunger Game. In Mockingjay, it isn't an actual HG, but it's similar enough that Katniss and crew refer to the final mission in the Capitol as such, and it comes complete with televising the names of the surviving rebels/contestants.
What bothered me the most, and I really hope I'm not alone in this, is the final "twist" of the book. I found it more to be of shock value than anything that carried any real dramatic weight.
****SUPER DUPER SPOILER ALERT*****
****SERIOUSLY, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED****
****THIS RUINS THE END OF THE BOOK****
Prim dies. In a fiery, melty death. And if it hadn't happened in the way it had, I think I would've felt something besides anger at it. I know, it's Collins characters to do with as she pleases, but we can have the "when does a character no longer belong to the creator and belongs to the masses" debate in a different entry. My immediate reaction was to reread the scene again and again to make sure I had it correctly and it wasn't a dream or hallucination or something. It wasn't. Katniss' motivations for her actions in and about the Games were about keeping her family safe. Before the first Game, she takes Prim's place and then makes Gale promise he will look after her family.
And then, out of nowhere, her sister shows up and gets flash-fried like a Thanksgiving Day turkey. Not only is it sudden and not really supported by the story at all, but it is described fairly graphically. I'd actually be a bit uncomfortable letting some younger readers at this book.
And speaking of uncomfortable, if you're a teacher like me, pray that your students are either old enough to handle the ending or not old enough to figure it out. Because it really is a tender moment and I wouldn't want the burden of trying to esplain it ruin what just happened.
Overall, the fact that this whole series has gotten me worked into such a frenzy is saying something. In a good way in this case. The story is just as wonderfully written as the first two books and, despite a shaky ending, I still loved every page (almost).
In other reviews, I have tried to keep things as spoiler-free as possible. That will not be the case here. You have been warned.
***SPOILER ALERT***
Mockingjay picks up about a month where Catching Fire left off. It's not as jarring of a transition as Hunger Games was to CF, and I was quickly able to remember what had happened even though I haven't read the previous book since before school let out in June.
At first, the book seems to move at the same breakneck speed of the first as opposed to what I felt was a plodding pace in the second. I think this is mostly due to Suzanne Collins' fantastic ability to really capture a scene and make the reader invest in these characters. However, with Mockingjay, that's a bit hard to due, because Collins doesn't invest enough in the new characters and she really screws up the ones that the readers have had a book or two to get to know.
One of the new characters, the second in command of District 13, comes off as kind of a prick at the beginning, only to have Katniss (and, by extension, the reader) warm up to him as he does more heroic and/or stupid things to win her trust. And then he dies. Yeah, it's about that abrupt in the book, too. The thing is, I can't even remember the characters name. I can remember some of the things he did. Like died. But, I can't remember his name. He left that big of an impression on me.
And ***SUPER SPOILER ALERT*** some of the old characters really get screwed with. We learn that Gale is really just kind of a sadistic, twisted bastard. Not that I can blame him, mind you, but his capacity for violence was not really explored here, so it was just as shocking to me as it was to Katniss when he went into detail about his plans to lay some hurt down on the Capitol.
That was one of the things that bothered me about this book and with the series as a whole. It is repetitive. It's difficult to point out in this one, as it isn't exactly the same, but the best example I can give is that people keep secrets, Haymitch really understands Katniss, Katniss always sulks about her situation or half the book, and there is always a Hunger Game. In Mockingjay, it isn't an actual HG, but it's similar enough that Katniss and crew refer to the final mission in the Capitol as such, and it comes complete with televising the names of the surviving rebels/contestants.
What bothered me the most, and I really hope I'm not alone in this, is the final "twist" of the book. I found it more to be of shock value than anything that carried any real dramatic weight.
****SUPER DUPER SPOILER ALERT*****
****SERIOUSLY, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED****
****THIS RUINS THE END OF THE BOOK****
Prim dies. In a fiery, melty death. And if it hadn't happened in the way it had, I think I would've felt something besides anger at it. I know, it's Collins characters to do with as she pleases, but we can have the "when does a character no longer belong to the creator and belongs to the masses" debate in a different entry. My immediate reaction was to reread the scene again and again to make sure I had it correctly and it wasn't a dream or hallucination or something. It wasn't. Katniss' motivations for her actions in and about the Games were about keeping her family safe. Before the first Game, she takes Prim's place and then makes Gale promise he will look after her family.
And then, out of nowhere, her sister shows up and gets flash-fried like a Thanksgiving Day turkey. Not only is it sudden and not really supported by the story at all, but it is described fairly graphically. I'd actually be a bit uncomfortable letting some younger readers at this book.
And speaking of uncomfortable, if you're a teacher like me, pray that your students are either old enough to handle the ending or not old enough to figure it out. Because it really is a tender moment and I wouldn't want the burden of trying to esplain it ruin what just happened.
Overall, the fact that this whole series has gotten me worked into such a frenzy is saying something. In a good way in this case. The story is just as wonderfully written as the first two books and, despite a shaky ending, I still loved every page (almost).
Thursday, September 2, 2010
How Did I Miss that One?
On September 1st, I turned 25. Yep. I am now a quarter of a century old. As everyone has pointed out, that means I'm officially old. But the main point isn't that I'm old (of which I already know), but that one of the gifts I received was Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Mockingjay is the last of the Hunger Games books, a series that is hugely popular with the young population. I know this, because, as I have said before, I'm a teacher (even subs/guest teachers are teachers, so there), and I'd see probably twenty to a hundred copies of each of the first two books every day during the previous school year.
I read the first one because of this. As a teacher, I try to at least stay current with what the kids are listening to/watching/reading/whatever, even if I don't know a ton about it. This is how I ended up reading Twilight, which, I do appreciate the fact that it gets kids to read, an ever increasingly difficult feat to accompish, but that was just utter garbage. I mean, I know I'm no prize-winning author, but I like to think that I'm at least more to the point than Stephanie Meyer. Anywho, I digress. I was a bit apprehensive about reading anything the students are because of the whole Twilight fiasco, but I picked it up from the library, and wow, that book was everything Twilight was not. It was fast-paced, the characters were believable (under the circumstances) and even the forced romance was more palatible than the one between Bella and Edward. As an added bonus, at no point in reading HG did I ever feel unclean, no matter how hard I tried to wash myself.
Anyway, the point is, I had been keeping close track of the series and was blindsided by the fact that, in the craziness that was my summer, the release of the third and final book in the series had snuck up on me. However, I got it, and all is good in the world. It continues with the time jumping (not actual time travel, just skipping forward hours, days, months to get to the meat of the story) and picks up about a month where Catching Fire left off. Some of the reveals are both sad and shocking, but I can't wait to see how it ends (I've had the book for about sixteen hours, so I'm a little ashamed that I'm not further along that I am).
In other literary news, I picked up the first volume of Young Avengers at the convention. It sucked because I settled for the paperback edition (I have the hardcover of the second, because I found that at Half-Priced Books months ago and figured that it'd stand up to student reading a bit better). No sooner had I picked up the paperback edition did we find a stand that had an entire row of sealed copies of the hardcover edition...at a stand we had already picked through, but had given up because Kelly had been looking for Walking Dead and not any comics from Marvel.
I also picked up the first four volumes of Brubaker's Captain America as well as the first volume of Runaways, New Avengers, and volume two of Atomic Robo. So, overall, it was a good year for trade buying. My brother, who had a table in Artist's Alley, said that, despite the screwups by Wizard, this was probably his most successful convention yet. I will detail why at another time, as it is late, and I am tired.
I read the first one because of this. As a teacher, I try to at least stay current with what the kids are listening to/watching/reading/whatever, even if I don't know a ton about it. This is how I ended up reading Twilight, which, I do appreciate the fact that it gets kids to read, an ever increasingly difficult feat to accompish, but that was just utter garbage. I mean, I know I'm no prize-winning author, but I like to think that I'm at least more to the point than Stephanie Meyer. Anywho, I digress. I was a bit apprehensive about reading anything the students are because of the whole Twilight fiasco, but I picked it up from the library, and wow, that book was everything Twilight was not. It was fast-paced, the characters were believable (under the circumstances) and even the forced romance was more palatible than the one between Bella and Edward. As an added bonus, at no point in reading HG did I ever feel unclean, no matter how hard I tried to wash myself.
Anyway, the point is, I had been keeping close track of the series and was blindsided by the fact that, in the craziness that was my summer, the release of the third and final book in the series had snuck up on me. However, I got it, and all is good in the world. It continues with the time jumping (not actual time travel, just skipping forward hours, days, months to get to the meat of the story) and picks up about a month where Catching Fire left off. Some of the reveals are both sad and shocking, but I can't wait to see how it ends (I've had the book for about sixteen hours, so I'm a little ashamed that I'm not further along that I am).
In other literary news, I picked up the first volume of Young Avengers at the convention. It sucked because I settled for the paperback edition (I have the hardcover of the second, because I found that at Half-Priced Books months ago and figured that it'd stand up to student reading a bit better). No sooner had I picked up the paperback edition did we find a stand that had an entire row of sealed copies of the hardcover edition...at a stand we had already picked through, but had given up because Kelly had been looking for Walking Dead and not any comics from Marvel.
I also picked up the first four volumes of Brubaker's Captain America as well as the first volume of Runaways, New Avengers, and volume two of Atomic Robo. So, overall, it was a good year for trade buying. My brother, who had a table in Artist's Alley, said that, despite the screwups by Wizard, this was probably his most successful convention yet. I will detail why at another time, as it is late, and I am tired.
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