Heavy Nova

(Yeah, I’m in it)

Mogworld

I can say it – I’m actually pleasantly surprised at how fun and entertaining this book was. I was highly amused the whole time I was reading it. I really enjoyed the book, and hope that he writes more in the future.

It may sound unfair that I should say that, I do, after all, enjoy his reviews of games. I have so enjoyed his game reviews in the past that I’ve been able to overlook if I agree with him or not and just watch them for what they are. And I don’t always agree with what he has to say, of course. Nobody always agrees with somebody unless they’re a complete nutjob.

But just because he does a good job at those doesn’t mean he’s got what it takes to write a book. I don’t think that just because I enjoy writing that these reviews I do are actually viable for money. I do them because I want to talk about the things I interact with, not because I want it to be my job. I think I’d actually hate to review things because I had to.

People who can’t and shouldn’t write are getting a lot more book deals these days. That chick from The Hills got two. Should she be writing? No. Will people buy her shit? Yes. Because they’ve seen her face on TV.

I got a copy of Mogworld at PAX and sort of put it off because I was unsure if I wanted to taint his game reviews with disappointment in his book. I shouldn’t have worried. Because he’s not some twat who got famous doing something else so they gave him a book deal to make cash off of him. He’s really quite talented. I’m very pleased to be wrong in my waiting.

The type of book that Mogworld is is the type that only comes from a writer that really knows their characters. Some writers just push things out for the sake of getting shit done, and some take time to really evolve what they’re writing about.

Not to mention that it was really funny. I literally laughed out loud a couple of times. That’s not an easy task to accomplish. Not that I’m a humorless bitch, but I generally keep quiet while reading. Comes from spending many hours in libraries as a youth, I think.

Sorry to say, anybody who doesn’t have it already is going to have to wait for a second printing. But when that happens, I suggest reading it as soon as you can. Don’t put it off like I did. Because you’re missing out.

Surrogates – Yet another badly recieved robot future movie

I have a theory.

The theory is this: This generation grew up watching things like Small Wonder and Star Trek (where we saw Data) and various other things that implanted in our brains that the future was in androids, robots, cyborgs and the like. We have felt for the longest time that these things would be wonderful, they would be fabulous, and nothing would go wrong.

Despite the many books on the subject, we as a generation (and those that come after us), do not want to see the potential ills of relying on these things too much. That they might be evil, or we might be making the wrong choice. That we could possibly lose ourselves as humans to the machines.

I encountered this similar distaste for the humans in Wall-e. Probably for similar reasons. In that movie, we are given ever convenience, and we become fat, weak and small boned. Incapable of carrying ourselves on our own two feet. Reliant on machines to do everything for us. Everything. Including brushing our teeth.

The electronic age has brought in many fancy and fascinating things. Ten years ago, who would have thought that our cell phones could do all they do now? Who would have really given pause to the idea of reading books on eReaders on a regular basis, and that they would be available to Every Man? We have these fantastic computers and MP3 players and we don’t even give it a moments thought. The majority of the world is now run by computers. Many human fail safes have been pushed aside because for some reason we think that computers are infallible. We blame every mistake on human error.

Well, yes. But who made the machines? Who fixes the machines? Who keeps them clean and upgrades them and spills their coffee on them in the morning? The backup plan for important files is no longer to have a hard copy. It is to rely on other machines to keep track of them. Online storage spaces. External hard drives. And what if those all fail?

It leads me to think that this world is not ready to see the potential problems with putting all our eggs in the electronics basket. Just consider a moment everything that you own, how much you rely on it, and how much you take it for granted. Just… a moment. Look around. Think. I’m sure you’ll find at least one thing there that if it failed, really failed, you’d be fucked. Because you weren’t thinking, and now it’s dead and everything that was on it is gone. Maybe it’s not a huge thing, just music files. Just computer games. But how pissed would you be?

I, Robot didn’t do well. The robots in that eventually turn on us. They gain too much intelligence and refuse to be our slaves anymore. I feel that people don’t want to believe that can happen. Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if my computer called me an asshole in ten minutes. I might shit myself, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

A.I. didn’t do well. In that, we watch a couples’ life fall apart. They turn to a machine to fill their void. And what do they do when the void is lifted? They abandon the machine. Again, people don’t want to consider this possibility. Yet we do it all the time. What do you do when your old computer bites it? When it becomes old tech? You toss it, without thinking. You get your files and send the poor little thing away without a second thought. You’ve gotten what you need out of it, what does it matter? It’s only a machine, after all. Is it?

Surrogates didn’t do well. In this, we just give up on being human completely. We put ourselves into fake bodies and do things that we wouldn’t be able to do in our flesh because our flesh is breakable. They get shot on purpose, jump off bridges. Have unprotected sex. The world is a pseudo-utopia. We think everything is perfect. Except for that one small contingent that is convinced that walking around all the time in an artificial exoskeleton is an abomination. Then they turn out to be right. Thinking, feeling, being is more important than perfection. Which is another thing that humans rail against. Perfection is all. We strive to be perfect, or what our society deems is perfect at the time. Look at the fashions today, look at the hair, the models. Look at what it all used to be. It’s never the same. Nothing is ever perfect. The most beautiful things are the things that are flawed. But humans can’t have that.

I believe that it makes people truly uncomfortable to give thought to the fact that perhaps our answer isn’t robots. Robots are cool, I’m totally not going to argue. Probably, if they manage to do it before I die, I’ll stick my brain into a robot body. But not until this fleshy mess is finished with. I want to see the world with real eyes. Smell the world, no matter how much it stinks in places, with an actual sense of smell, hear the world with ears and not aural preceptors.

But hey, that’s me.

I personally enjoyed all three movies. But my brain is wired to look for whatever can possibly go wrong with any given thing. I’m a generally negative person in that way. Everything that can go wrong, will. At one point or another, there will be total system failure. Be it biological or otherwise, eventually everything will fall apart. It’s just how the world works. It’s just how everything is made. A fact of life. Not trying to be depressing here. Just the facts, ma’am. I certainly don’t expect others to see things the same way I do, I’m not one to try to convince others to see things from my point of view. I’ll state my case and if it’s acceptable to others, fine, if not, fine.

Then again, I’m ready for the zombie apocalypse.

Death Troopers

Star Wars + Zombies = Happiest girl EVAR

Seriously. This was really risky to go into. It’s not just taking one genre I love, but two of them, and then it’s promising to mesh them together. The idea of it is, of course, joyful and exciting. But would the reality of it match up with my hopes? Would I try to like this book just because it’s a Star Wars Zombie book, or would I be able to allow real opinions come in? Could I let myself be honest?

This book is quite honestly a big deal to me.

Happily, I did actually enjoy it. Not just for the sake of what it was. The writing was good. The story moved fluidly, and quickly. The characters were the types that you gained interest in, wanted to see what would happen to them.

I did enjoy it.

Now that I’ve said that, I just have to say to everybody out there who might have a zombie fear, you have a new thing to terrify you in your dark nights. I’m not even going to reveal anything about the zombies themselves, or how they become that, because that’s a terror all of it’s own.

No. All I’m going to say is: Zombie Wookiees.

Those two words together make me want to cackle. I mean, you’ve got this massive creature with claws and fangs, intelligence, incredible strength, and then they become of the undead. UNDEAD, FLESH EATING, WOOKIEES.

I don’t think my joy on this is going to fade any time soon.

Just think about all the things that a zombie Wookiee could do. They wouldn’t really need a whole group in order to get past barriers, they could push through on their own. Rip doors off hinges. Climb shit. Break in, pretty much however they wanted. And with their heightened sense of smell, just imagine how much easier they could track down their prey. You could try to hide all you wanted, and they’d still sniff you out. And fighting one? Fuck that. If you got anywhere near within their reach, you’re gone. Absolutely gone.

I LOVE ZOMBIE WOOKIEES.

I need a shirt.

Race To Witch Mountain

Escape To Witch Mountain and Return From Witch Mountain were both movies that I watched when I was a kid. So, naturally, when Race To Witch Mountain came out, I was curious. Things happened, time moved on, it left theaters. I sort of forgot about it entirely until I was searching through the new movies on Netflix and discovered it available for streaming.

I thought “Hey. Why not. I have time, it’s free, I am curious anyway…” and thus in the end, a review.

For a PG movie, this film is EXTREMELY action packed and entertaining. I didn’t know you could have such awesome car chase scenes in a movie like this. It just never even occurred to me.

Dwayne Johnson (also known as The Rock) has really come into his own in this movie making thing. I think I’ve purposefully watched only one other movie that had him in it in a starring role. I can admit to be a little bit biased against the professional wrestler thing. But, in fairness, it seems to really help him in the stunt department. He already knows how to take a hit and a fall, and doesn’t need to be trained to be that huge.

On the acting front, he’s no hack either. While some of his lines were a little bit easy to call, he delivered them well, and I still got a good laugh out of them. Alright, I can admit when I’m wrong about somebody. Okay? Get off my back.

Other nice surprises of the film – Cheech Marin randomly popping up as a mechanic, and Chris Marquette as an agent desperately in need of a gun. My radar is up for his face because of Fanboys.

The film itself, aside from being very exciting, was well written. Well acted, well filmed. All around very enjoyable.

I did, admittedly, have to look it up to see if it was supposed to be a continuation of the series, or a remake. They like to call it a re-imagining. I can see it. All of it updated for modern times. Better gadgets, modern lingo. And come on, you know I was a freak over the Stormtroopers popping up all over the place.

Though, I suppose I will keep it in my secret wishes that Seth and Sara are the children of Tia or Tony. It kind of makes sense, doesn’t it? The previous aliens have done the biological studies – which may have taken a while. They have their secret hideout. The government overruns Witch Mountain and turns it into a secret facility. It’s been 30 years, I don’t see why not.

I have to say, in the end, I would definitely watch this again. Actually, I wouldn’t mind owning this one at all. I think it could be a good addition to the collection, in all honesty.

The only thing that could have possibly made this any better is if David Duchovny made a cameo at the UFO Convention.