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Showing posts from October, 2011
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My son and I read "A Wrinkle In Time" by Madeline L'Engle for his school book report. I read the story when I was a little older than him and recall really enjoying it, although I could not remember much. I enjoyed it all over again. It was a bit advanced for my nine year son but he did well and wound up with an A+ on his book report. Today I stumbled on a TV\direct to video release of "A Wrinkle In Time" by Disney on netflix. It's not great, but considering it was a direct to video style production, it was quite enjoyable and a nice way to finish the experience with the book, particularly for my son.

Tom Clancy - Dead or Alive

My father in law loaned me 'Dead or Alive' one of Tom Clancy's latest books. I've always been a fan of the Jack Ryan series of Clancy novels, but I stopped reading them after 'Bear and the Dragon', when Clancy switched from Jack Ryan to Jack Ryan Jr. I have to say how pleasantly surprised by 'Dead or Alive' It's well written (which is no surprise for a Clancy novel), exciting and relevant for the current time period, as opposed to his early books like, "The Hunt for Red October". All of the old characters I remember are there, just as vivid as ever. It feels very much as if I am revisiting an old friend. I have about 200 pages to go, and I've borrowed 'Teeth of the Tiger', the first Jack Ryan Jr book which I skipped. In December the Next Jack Ryan book is coming out. I am eagerly looking forward to it.

Mass Effect 1 and 2

During the summer a good friend of mine picked up Mass Effect 1 and 2 for me. They were both fantastic games. They had a very cinematic feel and were better than most other computer RPGs I have played. In most computer RPGs the combat system seems to evolve into a pause, heal, pause, use power, pause heal kind of pattern. It become pretty dull. In both Mass Effect 1 and 2 that wasn't necessary, although you can and do need to pause. It really felt like it found a nice line between a 3rd person shooter and an RPG combat system. I would highly recommend both games to anyone. They can be purchased online through Steam. I can't wait for Mass Effect 3 next Spring.