Genre Character of the Week: Eddie Riggs

A few weeks back I started work at a new job which included a pay increase - I've always followed followed the theory that you should take the difference between your old paycheque and your new one and spend that first chunk on something for yourself. In my case, I got the toy I've been waiting four years for, a Playstation 3.

Out of all the games I'd been waiting to try on the new system, the top of the list was definitely Brütal Legend, and a couple weeks in I've got to say that a huge part of the games appeal comes down to its main character, Eddie Riggs (pictured left).

The deal with Eddie is pretty simple, he's the worlds best Heavy Metal band Roadie, working for the worlds worst Heavy Metal band. These ungrateful whelps have no idea exactly how amazing their head roadie is, and when an ancient call is sounded and that roadie is sent to a strange new world, his deeds will become legend.

Voiced by comedian (and half of the band Tenacious D) Jack Black, Eddie is incredibly cool, very self aware of how magical journeys into other dimensions work and can whip together a show, a battle or even a car with only minutes to spare. He deafeats his enemies with both his battle-axe and through the power of rock.

As I'm not yet finished the game (I've defeated the first major villain at the pleasure domes), I'm not sure how the story will play out, but as I loved the game designers earlier game, Full Throttle, I know it will all be worth it.

Although I'm over a year late - the game came out last October, I've got to say that it is a lot of fun, the game works as an action game, a strategy game, and even a racing game. Also as it isn't the newest thing anymore the price is really reasonable (I paid $20), so if you like action-comedy games with a lot of heavy metal thrown it, I can't think of a better one.

Movie Review: Agora

As someone who is working towards my Masters of Library Sciences Degree, there are very few movies that I feel are targeted towards my career path specifically. The Librarian made-for-tv movies starring Noah Wylie, Jet Li's Black Mask, Party Girl and The Name of the Rose come to mind, but that's about all I can think of off the top of my head.

Agora, which came out last year, finally made it to one of the speciality theatres in my city two weeks ago and I saw it yesterday. Coming from the point of view of someone who loves libraries, and has over the past few years become interested in the study of Ancient Greece and Rome, this movie was right up my ally.

The film takes place in Alexandria, Egypt in 391 AD, and follows two students of a Greek philosopher/scholar named Hypatia (played by Rachel Weisz, who by the way played another librarian in the first two Mummy films), who has an incredible understanding of mathematics and science, and unfortunately lived in a very dangerous time to be a scientist and a women.

The film does a really good job of showing a world in transition - it takes place relatively soon after Christians have stopped being persecuted by the Roman Empire and the tables are about to be turned on the followers of Rome's various pagan religions. Hypatia teaches at the Library of Alexandria and through the eyes of two of her students (one a young Roman, the other a slave), we get a very close look at this brutal period of time.

I'll definitely be purchasing the film, as I enjoyed it, found it beautifully filmed, and even though it showed some very nasty sides to a lot of the religious groups of the era, it does give a glimpse into the reasons of why this situation came about.

Things I've Noticed: Wating for a series to finish can be tricky

Here's the thing, I'm not a big fan of cliffhangers. I don't like reading a series and getting really into books two through five only to catch up to the author and be stuck waiting for him/her to deliver number six. That's simply not my style.

Instead I'm a big fan of waiting for the entire series to come out and then enjoy it after the fact. This is how I watched Star Trek DS9, Buffy, and Battlestar Galactica, and I've got to say that I am a big fan of watching TV shows at my own pace.

When I was in Junior High, all of my friends were reading Robert Jordon's Wheel of Time series, it seemed that everywhere I looked I found another friend recommending this series to me. Now back then it was going to be a series of seven books, and as the first two had been released I figured that I could simply wait and check the books out after they had all been released. As of right now, the author has passed on, and the final book is due out late next year. If after that I get told by all sorts of people to give the series a go, I probably will.

There are some series I'll read as they come out, I've reviewed both The Passage and The Strain here, and both promise to be the first of a series, but that is the exception, not the rule. I'm not sure if I'm missing out, but what I am sure of is that usually I'm not reading the sequel to some book I read a dozen years ago and no longer remember the main character or what the whole thing was about.

It may not work for you, but it definitely works for me - what do you think? Should series be read as they come out, or should the be read only after they have completed?

Genre Character of the Week: The Eleventh Doctor

As I've spent the last few weeks reading my BFF Mike's blog which has been focusing on classic Doctor Who for the entire month (go check it out - the first Doctor Who post is here). I've been wanting to write about my opinion of the Doctor's newest (and Eleventh) incarnation, played by Matt Smith.

For those of you who are unaware, I'll break the show and the character down very quickly. The Show, which started in 1963 follows a traveller of space and time through his many adventures. The Character is a centuries-old man who has the ability to change his form every once in a while (allowing him to be played by at least 11 different actors), who faces terrible danger each episode and usually succeeds without violence.

The series ran originally until 1989 and then (with the exception of a TV movie) disappeared until 2005, when the new series, which was a continuation, rather than a re-imagining, began.

Starting on Easter 2010, the Doctor changed his form again, and is now played by actor Matt Smith, who at age 27 is the youngest person to officially portray the Doctor. Here's why I'm loving the Doctor's newest incarnation - He isn't afraid to show his roots (I think I've seen more classic Doctor Who references in this series than in any of the previous ones since the reboot), He seems to genuinely love his companions (the characters who go on adventures with him), and he regularly involves time travel in his stories (the series opener uses a significant amount of in-episode time travel).

Plus, he wears a bow tie, and bow ties are cool.

Movie Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

On Saturday my wife and I went to see the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World with our friends Mike and Trish. It was awesome.

To be fair, here are the many ways in which I am biased:

1) I loved (and own) the comic series the film is adapted from

2) I've been posting about wanting to see this film for a while now

3) The film is unashamedly Canadian in feel

4) I love (and own most of) the previous works of the director

5) From the beginning I thought that the casting of Michael Cera was perfect

The movie is a lot of fun - it felt as if it was aimed directly at my demographic (Video game playing Canadians with a love of romance/action films), contained musical bits from tonnes of classic video games, and had a story that felt both sweet and awesome at the same time (while staying true to the source material).

The cast was great, from the seven evil ex's through to Scott's family, band-mates and room mate (a scene-stealing Kieran Culkin), the action sequences were awesome and the film was really, really funny.

I am definitely recommending the movie, and already have it on my Christmas wish-list.

Things I've Noticed: It is not always cool when life mirrors a video game

I think we've all experienced a cool cut-scene or finale of a video game and thought - wow, that would be cool, I wish I could be in that game - saving that princess or squashing that mushroom or whatever.

The problem comes when you don't get to choose which game.

Today for instance, I woke up, rode my bike to work (a 45 minute ride which is awesome by the way), and everything seemed just fine. The air felt good, the sky was overcast, and there was a nice breeze (an arial view of the downtown core of my city below).

Throughout the day however, my world started resembling that of a video game - unfortunately that video game was Silent Hill.

Now before you start thinking about the horrible monsters that fill the game, or ghosts reflecting the sins of my past, I'm mostly talking about the weather. Due to forest fires in British Columbia my entire province is being covered in smoke - smoke which has dramatically reduced visibility, and for the bike ride home, had me heading across bridges where I couldn't see the other side - my pathway seemed to simply get swallowed up in the smoke. (the same area - notice the domed top of the Delta hotel, this afternoon, below).

It's kind of funny, I always assumed that the monsters and music of Silent Hill were what made that game scary, but after having my entire city covered in a cloud of oppressive smoke, I've got to say, the weather has a much bigger effect than you think.

Blog Followers of the Year!

So as of today I’ve been blogging successfully for a year, in this time I’ve talked about a whole bunch of books, movies, video games and whatever else interested me. Rather than look back over the last year, I thought I would take a moment and look over the wonderful people who have agreed to publicly follow my blog – so here we go:

The Old School followers (being my friends who have been following my blog since post #1) Mike the Bold and Trish Van Doornum – These two lovely folks are actually a married couple, two of my best friends and a significant reason behind my decision to blog in the first place: Mike because he had the stones to start blogging years ago and Trish because her blog allowed me to see how she was doing while she visited London a few years back.

The Book Clubbers (being the folks who started following my blog after we joined the same book club) Kim Stoltz and The Doc – having met both of these guys through a book club started by my BFF Mike, they’ve helped me discover both my current favourite comic (The Unwritten) and comedic series (The Jeeves and Wooster series), as well has having some fun blogs of their own.

The Folks I’ve never met (Being the wonderful people who follow my blog based entirely on whatever I’m wrting about, rather than me constantly asking if they’ve seen my latest post) Amalia Voicu, Busco un agente literario en Espanol (and yes I know it’s basically a spam follower – but how many spam followers do you have?), G. Benedicto, Coffee Time Romance and More, Peter Williamson, AC Tanner, and Marsha Blackburn – Some of these folks have commented on posts, others have just given public support in being followers of the site, each one of them have helped to encourage me to keep posting. And Finally

The Blogger from around the World (being the only follower I have who commented within my first half dozen posts and happens to live in Malaysia) Kah Woei Tan, who has her own blog (which you should totally check out), and also shows me with each of her comments exactly how awesome blogging is, because I can’t think of another way I would have made such a cool person.

For those of you who don’t follow my blog, but have been reading it regularly, even commenting on it – Thanks! A special shout out goes to Fate at The Fickle Hand of Fate who has returned to her blog after a summer away and was definitely missed.

Seriously you guys, thank you, You folks rock! Also, my wife and kids definitely need a huge thanks for putting up with my blogging habit.