... the IT man in LibraryLand
It seems to me that a very important party is quite the fitting topic as one stumbles into one's 450th post to The Tales.
Several weeks ago Salsa Girl, Hulk and oneself made the rather long Southwards journey to partake of the Libraries celebration of Xmas. After some initial trepidation Hulk decided to cut loose on the dance floor with Groovy Spirits and indulge in much important running backwards and forwards.
We partook of some yummy food and headed home at a decent hour and definitely well before the karaoke was begun.
But that was not the very important party.
Last week was the User group Xmas lunch. It was preceded by a meeting but that is not one's focus for the day. There was once again an abundance of food available and I feel that the library was well represented by oneself, Sidekick and Supervisor Grand Chief K as together we made Bayside the clear leader in the consumption stakes.
One also took the opportunity to give Young Jim a telling off for his non-attendance at gaming this past half year. He muttered a promise of 110% attendance in the new year and I let him off easy due to some excellent wine.
In the end a large part of the afternoon was spent in important networking activities until the wine ran out and we ambled on home.
But that was not the very important party.
On the weekend past - or so - Salsa Girl, Hulk and oneself made our way to one's ancestral home for the important event of Freeloading Mum's 70th birthday celebrations. Of course all of Legion was in attendance as well as Handy Dad and many friends of the family.
Unfortunately young Hulk was feeling a little crowd-shy so we had minimal time to circulate, although one did manage to fit in an impromptu speech and several rounds of cake.
The party was, of course followed up in subsequent days with the gifting of Freeloading Mum's asked for electronic device and the resultant tech support from yours truly to get said device into a workable state.
All in all this time of year does seem to through up many a laudable reason for having a very important party.
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A Zoological Expedition
This weekend past Salsa Girl and I decided to provide Hulk with her first experience of the Zoological Gardens.
So we loaded ourselves up for the excursion - ironically sans excursion bag - and trekked out for the Google determined 17 minute trip.
35 minutes later we had arrived and made our way in for an afternoon of viewing exotic animals the like of which Hulk had never before seen. The two biggest and most exciting moments were seeing the seagulls gathered around the food stall, and seeing the ducks on the elephant pond.
We were joined by the Double Jays and progeny for the last part of our visit before it was time to transport a tired and overstimulated Hulk homewards.
Speaking of zoos, the weekend was rounded out with a Gaming Sunday and a houseful of gamers.
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So we loaded ourselves up for the excursion - ironically sans excursion bag - and trekked out for the Google determined 17 minute trip.
35 minutes later we had arrived and made our way in for an afternoon of viewing exotic animals the like of which Hulk had never before seen. The two biggest and most exciting moments were seeing the seagulls gathered around the food stall, and seeing the ducks on the elephant pond.
We were joined by the Double Jays and progeny for the last part of our visit before it was time to transport a tired and overstimulated Hulk homewards.
Speaking of zoos, the weekend was rounded out with a Gaming Sunday and a houseful of gamers.
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A Conference Caution
Ordinarily a conference located on the Gold Coast would be an occasion for carefree abandon, joyous socialising, bountiful food and drink, and lastly some actual conference stuff.
However one's recent experience has proven to be one rife with moments requiring caution.
It all starts out fine, deciding on what apparel will be appropriate for the tropical-ish clime and planning many a walk or perhaps even a float in the ocean.
However the Caution here is: October may prove to be a stormy time up North and you may find your early arrival provides only stormy weather and hence only a hotel room to be experienced in comfort.
If one does venture out for a walk one rather rapidly discovers the tacky and touristy bent of the location and ends wondering about the usefulness of an early arrival to see the sites.
Of course the ever popular LibraryLand cocktails are a point towards said early arrival. (One does feel there is no need to Caution about the nature of the "cocktails" in question given my multitude of posts bemoaning this terrible bait and switch).
The conference events [proper were got (gotten?, gut?) underway with the traditional bus tour to local libraries. Somehow despite ones best attempts at punctuality one arrived in the foyer to find the bus loaded and the roll call underway. I do, however maintain that I was on time as it took a further 3 minutes to reach my name on the roll call.
The sessions themselves began the next day and one was reminded of one's long neglected need to upgrade one's eyeglasses - having to sit at the front and still squint away at the gigantic screen. Perhaps the projector was not focused correctly?
The first full day ended with a bus trip to dinner at the CUB Brewery. I swear that there was dinner involved, honest.
So the night passed in a blur with highlights including the discovery of a CUB dark beer, a beer pulling competition, the discovery of a secret stash of Fat Yak beer, educating fellow librarians about the "one of each desert" rule, an unstoppable chorus of return bus trip librarians singing wheels on the bus with hearty gusto, and settling in for an innocent post dinner drink.
It was at the post dinner drink that my naive innocence was taken advantage of - and fellow workmate Supervisor S failed in her duty of care to keep one safe. One was talked into the importance of the organisation having a strong executive and the relative lack of effort required of the presidential position. Need I Caution you to pay no heed to late night arm twisting?
So of course at the election the next morning one won. And, take note, one's main talker-into-er was not elected to the committee!!
One smells a conspiracy of the highest order.
With the conference finishing up one was treated to the first glimpse of the benefits of power as a corporate car was used for the luxurious journey to the airport terminus.
In contrast the flight was a rather uncomfortable hot and sticky affair with the aeroplane kept at a sweltering 32 degrees - perhaps to acclimatise us all to the Melbourne weather we were flying back into?
Anyway, after braving the chilly 13 degree tarmac walk one was soon bustled home in a taxi and ready to fall into the long awaited post midnight slumber.
The Tiger, however had other ideas and one was forced to provide a lap for nigh on half an hour before being allowed to retire to one's bed chamber.
Such are the events of an incautious conference experience.
.
However one's recent experience has proven to be one rife with moments requiring caution.
It all starts out fine, deciding on what apparel will be appropriate for the tropical-ish clime and planning many a walk or perhaps even a float in the ocean.
However the Caution here is: October may prove to be a stormy time up North and you may find your early arrival provides only stormy weather and hence only a hotel room to be experienced in comfort.
If one does venture out for a walk one rather rapidly discovers the tacky and touristy bent of the location and ends wondering about the usefulness of an early arrival to see the sites.
Of course the ever popular LibraryLand cocktails are a point towards said early arrival. (One does feel there is no need to Caution about the nature of the "cocktails" in question given my multitude of posts bemoaning this terrible bait and switch).
The conference events [proper were got (gotten?, gut?) underway with the traditional bus tour to local libraries. Somehow despite ones best attempts at punctuality one arrived in the foyer to find the bus loaded and the roll call underway. I do, however maintain that I was on time as it took a further 3 minutes to reach my name on the roll call.
The sessions themselves began the next day and one was reminded of one's long neglected need to upgrade one's eyeglasses - having to sit at the front and still squint away at the gigantic screen. Perhaps the projector was not focused correctly?
The first full day ended with a bus trip to dinner at the CUB Brewery. I swear that there was dinner involved, honest.
So the night passed in a blur with highlights including the discovery of a CUB dark beer, a beer pulling competition, the discovery of a secret stash of Fat Yak beer, educating fellow librarians about the "one of each desert" rule, an unstoppable chorus of return bus trip librarians singing wheels on the bus with hearty gusto, and settling in for an innocent post dinner drink.
It was at the post dinner drink that my naive innocence was taken advantage of - and fellow workmate Supervisor S failed in her duty of care to keep one safe. One was talked into the importance of the organisation having a strong executive and the relative lack of effort required of the presidential position. Need I Caution you to pay no heed to late night arm twisting?
So of course at the election the next morning one won. And, take note, one's main talker-into-er was not elected to the committee!!
One smells a conspiracy of the highest order.
With the conference finishing up one was treated to the first glimpse of the benefits of power as a corporate car was used for the luxurious journey to the airport terminus.
In contrast the flight was a rather uncomfortable hot and sticky affair with the aeroplane kept at a sweltering 32 degrees - perhaps to acclimatise us all to the Melbourne weather we were flying back into?
Anyway, after braving the chilly 13 degree tarmac walk one was soon bustled home in a taxi and ready to fall into the long awaited post midnight slumber.
The Tiger, however had other ideas and one was forced to provide a lap for nigh on half an hour before being allowed to retire to one's bed chamber.
Such are the events of an incautious conference experience.
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SLUGing it Out
So the other week Sidekick and I attended the annual SLUG (Smart Library User Group) conference. To do so we had to obtain permission from the organisation to jet off to exotic Melbourne.
Once we hopped off the train the conference itself was quite good and informative and had excellent lunch.
As Sidekick and Supervisor Grand Chief K had to both skip the conference dinner one had the whole responsibility of making sure we got our money's worth out of the beer cafe wherein it was located.
There was dinner and there was good service. Both my hazy memory and Salsa Girl's enquiry about whether it was indeed 1am that I crawled into bed bring me to believe that I did the organisation proud.
Speaking of slugging it out a few weekends past Badger and I made an IKEA expedition together. In our endeavor to make it a short trip we became "those people" going in the reverse direction from the exit. It mostly worked regardless of my eternal shame.
Further to the whole slugging it out theme one still hasn't assembled any of the purchased furniture.
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Once we hopped off the train the conference itself was quite good and informative and had excellent lunch.
As Sidekick and Supervisor Grand Chief K had to both skip the conference dinner one had the whole responsibility of making sure we got our money's worth out of the beer cafe wherein it was located.
There was dinner and there was good service. Both my hazy memory and Salsa Girl's enquiry about whether it was indeed 1am that I crawled into bed bring me to believe that I did the organisation proud.
Speaking of slugging it out a few weekends past Badger and I made an IKEA expedition together. In our endeavor to make it a short trip we became "those people" going in the reverse direction from the exit. It mostly worked regardless of my eternal shame.
Further to the whole slugging it out theme one still hasn't assembled any of the purchased furniture.
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Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff
Let me plug the Tales sized gap in your reading by putting out an overdue book review.
One finished Stormdancer a scant month ago and this report has been floating around in mental draft form for that short period of time as one has been busy trying to keep up with the zooming hither and yon of the now walking Hulk.
It is a Japanese themed steam punk full of airships, honour and mythical creatures - one is surprised to have heard no mention of it from Fantomas.
It sits in the later end of the teen or young adult spectrum due to a few unexpected things happening to characters.
I found it to be quite an interesting read as it explored it's setting and characters quite well.
It touts itself as part one of The Lotus War but I found it to sit well on it's own. Not that that stops one's compleatism from kicking in as further volumes make themselves known.
I give it a sturdy 3 and a half stars.
Recommended for anyone who has even a slight interest in after hearing me wax lyrical about it - and may also make good grounding for any gamers looking to have a Jadepunk experience in the nearish future.
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One finished Stormdancer a scant month ago and this report has been floating around in mental draft form for that short period of time as one has been busy trying to keep up with the zooming hither and yon of the now walking Hulk.
It is a Japanese themed steam punk full of airships, honour and mythical creatures - one is surprised to have heard no mention of it from Fantomas.
It sits in the later end of the teen or young adult spectrum due to a few unexpected things happening to characters.
I found it to be quite an interesting read as it explored it's setting and characters quite well.
It touts itself as part one of The Lotus War but I found it to sit well on it's own. Not that that stops one's compleatism from kicking in as further volumes make themselves known.
I give it a sturdy 3 and a half stars.
Recommended for anyone who has even a slight interest in after hearing me wax lyrical about it - and may also make good grounding for any gamers looking to have a Jadepunk experience in the nearish future.
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Leaving on a Jet Plane
Dear avid readers,
Please do not expect ones usual lighting quick fire posting schedule this weekend as the girls - Salsa and Hulk - have flown North for a family event of some significance.
This of course leads to the weekend becoming a bachelor blur of gaming, footy, gaming, and, for some reason, frantic Sunday afternoon last minute housecleaning?
I shall see you on the other side.
I hope.
.
Please do not expect ones usual lighting quick fire posting schedule this weekend as the girls - Salsa and Hulk - have flown North for a family event of some significance.
This of course leads to the weekend becoming a bachelor blur of gaming, footy, gaming, and, for some reason, frantic Sunday afternoon last minute housecleaning?
I shall see you on the other side.
I hope.
.
The unread A to Z : B
Continuing on with this little idea one finished the title below a few weeks back.
Born of Empire by Simon Brown
This is another ex-Bibliotech title that has been sitting on my to-read pile for far too long.
It is kind of a cheat on the rules of the A to Z as I'm sure I've read some of his short stories in the collection of Aurealis magazines that Legion2 and I amassed through the early nineties. However it is the first novel of Mr Browns that one has read.
Anyway, Born of Empire is a reasonable read with an interesting style of magic that I give 3 and a half starts to. It took a while to get going and then ploughed through the end. Things are set up for the rest for the obligatory fantasy trilogy however one did find the ending reasonably contained and I believe I shall leave it at this volume and move on to other more enticing reading.
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Born of Empire by Simon Brown
This is another ex-Bibliotech title that has been sitting on my to-read pile for far too long.
It is kind of a cheat on the rules of the A to Z as I'm sure I've read some of his short stories in the collection of Aurealis magazines that Legion2 and I amassed through the early nineties. However it is the first novel of Mr Browns that one has read.
Anyway, Born of Empire is a reasonable read with an interesting style of magic that I give 3 and a half starts to. It took a while to get going and then ploughed through the end. Things are set up for the rest for the obligatory fantasy trilogy however one did find the ending reasonably contained and I believe I shall leave it at this volume and move on to other more enticing reading.
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Three Years and Counting
Now the title of this posting refers, not to the duration of lizard-people leadership one shall be enduring after the weekend's exercise in media driven democracy, but to the significantly more joyous occasion of the anniversary of the beginning of the Grand Adventure of Salsa Girl and oneself.
We celebrated the event a week ago with a Hulk free dinner courtesy of Madmog's leet babysitting skills. Hulk, of course, slept through the whole thing so Madmog has garnered herself some babysitting credits for free.
Still for all that celebration not a lot can happen in such a short span of years:
One fully expects the pace of our Grand Adventure to pick up as we continue along our merry way.
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We celebrated the event a week ago with a Hulk free dinner courtesy of Madmog's leet babysitting skills. Hulk, of course, slept through the whole thing so Madmog has garnered herself some babysitting credits for free.
Still for all that celebration not a lot can happen in such a short span of years:
- Moving in together including converting man-cave space to our space
- Bringing life into the world in the form of the aforementioned Hulk
- Becoming property moguls, and also pernicious partners in landlording
- Inumerous Ikea expeditions together
One fully expects the pace of our Grand Adventure to pick up as we continue along our merry way.
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Lamplighter by DM Cornish
One finished this second, most illustrious, volume of the Monster Blood Tattoo serial during one's recent Hulk bestowed period of illness.
It is a fascinating read set in an ornately detailed fantasy come 18th Century world. An excellent sideways inspiration for my currently running Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay game with the Tuesday Knights with all the unstoppable monster attacks.
I give it an enjoyable 4 stars and look forward to devouring Volume the Third.
You goode sirrah should acquaint thyself with Volume the First.
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It is a fascinating read set in an ornately detailed fantasy come 18th Century world. An excellent sideways inspiration for my currently running Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay game with the Tuesday Knights with all the unstoppable monster attacks.
I give it an enjoyable 4 stars and look forward to devouring Volume the Third.
You goode sirrah should acquaint thyself with Volume the First.
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Hulk: Year One
Several weekends ago saw the big celebration of Hulk reaching the one year milestone.
Everything went more or less according to the plan Salsa Girl and I had hatched up - well as according to plan as things can go when one has a dozen guest children involved, one doesn't really schedule in "and then the children shall run riot for an hour".
We had great help from our visiting guests Doctor David and Grannie A, Freeloading Mum put in a fair bit of time as well and Grandma J made the great sacrifice of spending most of her time cuddling Hulk.
All seemed to have a good time and Hulk herself breezed through a napless afternoon with nary a grizzle.
The only downside seems to be a disturbing amount of post-party illness amongst the part guests - oneself included. Hence the great delay in posting this missive about the soiree. One suspects that Hulk may have used her Special Attack again, but really it could have been any of the many disease vectors that were running riot about the place.
Now in the time that has passed since the big do Salsa Girl and I have been treated to the horror of Hulk beginning to experiment with full mobility, including much totterings and standings and reachings.
I shudder in fear for all our delicate things about the house.
.
Everything went more or less according to the plan Salsa Girl and I had hatched up - well as according to plan as things can go when one has a dozen guest children involved, one doesn't really schedule in "and then the children shall run riot for an hour".
We had great help from our visiting guests Doctor David and Grannie A, Freeloading Mum put in a fair bit of time as well and Grandma J made the great sacrifice of spending most of her time cuddling Hulk.
All seemed to have a good time and Hulk herself breezed through a napless afternoon with nary a grizzle.
The only downside seems to be a disturbing amount of post-party illness amongst the part guests - oneself included. Hence the great delay in posting this missive about the soiree. One suspects that Hulk may have used her Special Attack again, but really it could have been any of the many disease vectors that were running riot about the place.
Now in the time that has passed since the big do Salsa Girl and I have been treated to the horror of Hulk beginning to experiment with full mobility, including much totterings and standings and reachings.
I shudder in fear for all our delicate things about the house.
.
Hulk versus Amoeba the Epic Struggle
So, last Friday was the long awaited celebration of Amoeba's longevity.
One was caught somewhat in the dilemma between attendance and one's paternal duties to young Hulk and her needs various - it being bath night and all that that entails.
Hulk, however, had other ideas. Upon this great struggle of one's mind she decide to unleash her special Technicolour Yawn attack with it's amazingly quick re-use time, and alas the Epic Struggle was over in a rush.
It was quite a shame to miss the event as from all accounts nobody can really remember what happened so it must have been fantastic. Also, I had, after uncounted interrupted nights sleep, been thinking of gifting The Tiger to Amoeba to get her crazy feline collection off to a most fitting start. I guess that will have to wait now.
Of course, due to her genetic heritage, Hulk went over the top and managed to effect both Salsa Girl and oneself with her special attack. Being the gentleman I am I took the bullet for Salsa Girl who has only suffered mildly while I believe one may have suffered some rib damage from the whole messy affair.
All in all, not a recommended way to have a few days off work.
At all.
.
One was caught somewhat in the dilemma between attendance and one's paternal duties to young Hulk and her needs various - it being bath night and all that that entails.
Hulk, however, had other ideas. Upon this great struggle of one's mind she decide to unleash her special Technicolour Yawn attack with it's amazingly quick re-use time, and alas the Epic Struggle was over in a rush.
It was quite a shame to miss the event as from all accounts nobody can really remember what happened so it must have been fantastic. Also, I had, after uncounted interrupted nights sleep, been thinking of gifting The Tiger to Amoeba to get her crazy feline collection off to a most fitting start. I guess that will have to wait now.
Of course, due to her genetic heritage, Hulk went over the top and managed to effect both Salsa Girl and oneself with her special attack. Being the gentleman I am I took the bullet for Salsa Girl who has only suffered mildly while I believe one may have suffered some rib damage from the whole messy affair.
All in all, not a recommended way to have a few days off work.
At all.
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Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
One has caught up with the second volume of this much-lauded series after a short break.
Four years counts as short in series reading time, right?
Anyway, I found it to be another enjoyable romp through the whole wizard private eye with a heart of gold genre and give it a solid 3.5 stars and one does fill fractionally closer to running the Dresden Files Roleplaying game with some authority now.
While it didn't dazzle me as much as the first volume I shall definitely get to reading volume three after a short break - especially as I encouraged the library to purchase the whole lot as I knew a very interested borrower.
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Four years counts as short in series reading time, right?
Anyway, I found it to be another enjoyable romp through the whole wizard private eye with a heart of gold genre and give it a solid 3.5 stars and one does fill fractionally closer to running the Dresden Files Roleplaying game with some authority now.
While it didn't dazzle me as much as the first volume I shall definitely get to reading volume three after a short break - especially as I encouraged the library to purchase the whole lot as I knew a very interested borrower.
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More Traveller than Most
Well the other week my Traveller Fifth Edition Kickstarter loot finally arrived.
After having to put up with months of taunting from the likes of The Bastard and Fantomas - both much more minor Traveller aficionados than yours truly and not deserving of receiving their packages so much earlier than I - one had to endure further taunting as the long awaited parcel just happened to be delivered to one's workplace on a day when one was working from home.
To make matters worse Sidekick commenced to text photos of said package along with implied threats to mark it return to sender.
Still all's well that ends well and it has been safely in my beloved grasp for more than a week now. I now have proof that I am more Traveller than most in the form of my land grants for imaginary worlds, sovereignty over nary a hundred of them, credits from the Far Future, and a tome of rules that could stop many a bullet.
While I had heard some scary tales of the books near decade of creation I still decided to participate in the Kickstarter to say thank you to the man who created a game I've played, read, and enjoyed for over 30 years.
The rules themselves do show every signs of being a vanity project with the topic jumping, rambling, and repetitiveness of a gamer gone too far down the path of not actually playing with real people and many additions of so-called "realism" with things such as spectrum ratings for characters vision.
The thought of running any game with it does make my brain hurt, but I may mine sections of it and I expect there will be some fascinated horror reading as I progress through it's 600 odd non-indexed pages with no table of contents.
Now while The Viking Hat GM may be right when he said "buying a 600 page pile of crap to say thank you is bollocks, just send the man some money directly", it just didn't seem as good a way to maintain my More Traveller than Most status.
The most worrying part of all this is that the book has a rather prominent 1 on the spine marking it as merely Volume number one in a series of books that will be created. One can only hope the next one takes a further decade to produce.
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After having to put up with months of taunting from the likes of The Bastard and Fantomas - both much more minor Traveller aficionados than yours truly and not deserving of receiving their packages so much earlier than I - one had to endure further taunting as the long awaited parcel just happened to be delivered to one's workplace on a day when one was working from home.
To make matters worse Sidekick commenced to text photos of said package along with implied threats to mark it return to sender.
Still all's well that ends well and it has been safely in my beloved grasp for more than a week now. I now have proof that I am more Traveller than most in the form of my land grants for imaginary worlds, sovereignty over nary a hundred of them, credits from the Far Future, and a tome of rules that could stop many a bullet.
While I had heard some scary tales of the books near decade of creation I still decided to participate in the Kickstarter to say thank you to the man who created a game I've played, read, and enjoyed for over 30 years.
The rules themselves do show every signs of being a vanity project with the topic jumping, rambling, and repetitiveness of a gamer gone too far down the path of not actually playing with real people and many additions of so-called "realism" with things such as spectrum ratings for characters vision.
The thought of running any game with it does make my brain hurt, but I may mine sections of it and I expect there will be some fascinated horror reading as I progress through it's 600 odd non-indexed pages with no table of contents.
Now while The Viking Hat GM may be right when he said "buying a 600 page pile of crap to say thank you is bollocks, just send the man some money directly", it just didn't seem as good a way to maintain my More Traveller than Most status.
The most worrying part of all this is that the book has a rather prominent 1 on the spine marking it as merely Volume number one in a series of books that will be created. One can only hope the next one takes a further decade to produce.
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A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
I finished this one with much concerted effort over the past weeks as it is a library monograph in much demand.
One was also rushing due to the impending continuation of Salsa Girl and my watching of the Television Series based on the series. One does prefer to have read the thing before watching it and in the case of the first televisual series found that many gaps were filled in by undertaking consumption in such an order.
Having grown to know most of the characters from the previous book/series I found this to be quite an enjoyable read and placed it firmly at the four star mark. I look forward to visiting the third book in the near future.
An interesting side note to this entry is that one's loan had gone near a week overdue and those clamouring for a loan of said title would be wondering why it did not become available 7 days ago.
One is proud to have had this opportunity to teach the waiting borrowers the valuable lesson that Library Staff have no control over the actual return date of an overdue item they have reserved.
.
One was also rushing due to the impending continuation of Salsa Girl and my watching of the Television Series based on the series. One does prefer to have read the thing before watching it and in the case of the first televisual series found that many gaps were filled in by undertaking consumption in such an order.
Having grown to know most of the characters from the previous book/series I found this to be quite an enjoyable read and placed it firmly at the four star mark. I look forward to visiting the third book in the near future.
An interesting side note to this entry is that one's loan had gone near a week overdue and those clamouring for a loan of said title would be wondering why it did not become available 7 days ago.
One is proud to have had this opportunity to teach the waiting borrowers the valuable lesson that Library Staff have no control over the actual return date of an overdue item they have reserved.
.
A Moving Time, Parte the Seconde
Further grand adventures that occurred include.
- 3 innumerable quests to IKEA in search of critical components for a new household
- finally finding time to watch my Xmas dvd of Dredd and pronouncing it a 4 star experience
- the successful procurement of Young Jim into the Tuesday Knights
- finishing the grand epic Wheel of Tedium with A Memory of Light which turned out to be quite a good read and wrap up of the story line with minimal braid tugging, earning itself a 4 star rating
- a mammoth Sunday's gaming recommencement with Badger, Pirate Dave, Young Jim, Legion, FridgePower, Judge Mingus, Ball Boy, Amoeba, ElfBoy, Gavman, lot's of boardgames and fun for all in The Gaming Garage
- what can only be described as a devouring of the first season of Game of Thrones
- much attendance at various supervisor training from which Sidekick will benefit - particularly the revelations about bullying
- extreme computer rollout busyness - you all know how much one loves that
- Pirate Dave's emergence as Mister Boardgames
- the return of footy watching
- a quite enjoyable read of Accellerando by Charles Stross
- finally finding time to watch my Xmas dvd of Prometheus and pronouncing it a 3 star experience
- a return to footy excursions with The Great Sandro and one's first ever Queen's Birthday match attendance
- a good catchup with The Viking Hat GM, Exploding Ninja Pony, The Mad Magyar, and Frenchy, as TVHGM and progeny celebrated their co-located birthdays with abundant cake
- a second Gaming Sunday, thus proving that there will be an ongoing pattern
And that catches us all up to an incredibly detailed level sothat you all know what has been going on in the wonderful world of The Tales.
See you all next week.
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A Moving Time
So we have mostly* finished the move into our new demesne.
(* for values of mostly that include dozens of boxes still unpacked)
And I have finally unpacked the box that contained The Tales and so I am able to blow the dust off and recommence my commitment to regularly Blog once more.
Obviously it may take a little time to establish one's posting rhythm again - hmm, unless one chooses bimonthly as ones new frequency.
Some of the plethora of things that have whizzed by in these short two months of silence include, in sort of chronological order (imagine long and witty posts about each of these, if you will):
(* for values of mostly that include dozens of boxes still unpacked)
And I have finally unpacked the box that contained The Tales and so I am able to blow the dust off and recommence my commitment to regularly Blog once more.
Obviously it may take a little time to establish one's posting rhythm again - hmm, unless one chooses bimonthly as ones new frequency.
Some of the plethora of things that have whizzed by in these short two months of silence include, in sort of chronological order (imagine long and witty posts about each of these, if you will):
- many many hours of box packing activities and fending off repeated suggestions from Salsa Girl along the lines of "you could just throw out that bottle top" when it obviously has sentimental value.
- many hours of unpacking The Tiger from said packing boxes
- a gaming session at Gavman's new demesne
- the horror and panic of finding that Google had decided to close Google reader. Luckily Fantomas was on the case and things are happily humming along on Feedly these days.
- Hulk making the transition to her new cot
- a gadget upgrade and modernisation courtesy of work - the downside being the expectation that work will be done on work devices
- a mostly regular return to gaming at the hands of Badger with Fantomas, Pirate Dave, and Legion2 rounding out the party.
- the scary issues of mortgage documents going missing in the mail and much scrambling to create a replacement set in time
- news that Fantomas would forsake gaming for romance in a move to far distant realms of the city - pod person replacement is suspected - however the formulation of wresting back the hosting began at this moment
- inspections of the new place including obligatory revealing of heretofore unseen marks and stains
- drop by attacks on FridgePower, Judge Mingus, and their cohort
- a settlement day free of problems
- 2 dad's and a moving day both Handy Frank and Doctor David proving their worth
- the debut of The Gaming Garage as a venue for, well, gaming actually
- patching up the old place in preparation for becoming a bloody landlord
- introducing The Tiger to her new courtyard lifestyle
- quite a few hard settling nights as Hulk put her newly learned resistance skills into practise
- bidding a happy farewell to Supervisor Grand Chief K and Big J as they head OS (separately) leaving the rest of us to run amuck with the library service
to be continued . . .
The A to Z of Unread SciFi and Fantasy Authors
So this is a little idea that has been floating around in the back of my head for quite a while.
It's first glimmer was spawned when one day, as I was working very hard in the library, I cast mine eyes across the shelves where the SciFi and Fantasy collection was ghettoised. Letting out an uncharacteristic big dramatic sigh I lamented that there were so many authors in the genres whose works one had not tried.
One was, however, struck down by the big dilemma of where was one to start when there were so many authors clamouring to be sampled. After a few months ruminating on the problem it developed into the idea of starting with Authors beginning with A and grabbing the first unread author on the shelf and then when ready to progress to the next letter head to the relevant shelf at whichever branch I happened to find myself solving the perennial problems of libraryland that day and following the process at the Bs.
Given one's reading speed - and the desire to read one's favourites new releases along the way - the endeavour calculated out to something in the nature of 3 or 4 years.
Anyway, it was one day about a month back when one was into the second or third hour of settling Hulk that one's mind wandered from the task at hand and too in the contents of the nearby bookshelf. Said bookshelf was festooned with many a volume brought home from the library once discarded as no longer required. It was amongst those volumes that I espied the nigh perfect tome to begin this great undertaking - it could only have been more fitting had Aaron A Aardvark stepped off the pages of Judge Dredd to write the great Mega-Cityan novel.
The Last Legends of Earth by A A Attanasio
At first I thought there may have been just cause for the librarians to remove this novel from the shelves. However somewhere between fifty and a hundred pages in it began to really grow on me until I was immersed.
It is a SciFi but of such high tech that it is effectively magic however the time-travel and tech is all framed with an eye to physics.
In the end quite enjoyable and awarded a 3.5 out of 5.
Now I believe I have my B lined up already but I may be back to canvass the crowds opinion for my C - in about 6 months.
.
It's first glimmer was spawned when one day, as I was working very hard in the library, I cast mine eyes across the shelves where the SciFi and Fantasy collection was ghettoised. Letting out an uncharacteristic big dramatic sigh I lamented that there were so many authors in the genres whose works one had not tried.
One was, however, struck down by the big dilemma of where was one to start when there were so many authors clamouring to be sampled. After a few months ruminating on the problem it developed into the idea of starting with Authors beginning with A and grabbing the first unread author on the shelf and then when ready to progress to the next letter head to the relevant shelf at whichever branch I happened to find myself solving the perennial problems of libraryland that day and following the process at the Bs.
Given one's reading speed - and the desire to read one's favourites new releases along the way - the endeavour calculated out to something in the nature of 3 or 4 years.
Anyway, it was one day about a month back when one was into the second or third hour of settling Hulk that one's mind wandered from the task at hand and too in the contents of the nearby bookshelf. Said bookshelf was festooned with many a volume brought home from the library once discarded as no longer required. It was amongst those volumes that I espied the nigh perfect tome to begin this great undertaking - it could only have been more fitting had Aaron A Aardvark stepped off the pages of Judge Dredd to write the great Mega-Cityan novel.
The Last Legends of Earth by A A Attanasio
At first I thought there may have been just cause for the librarians to remove this novel from the shelves. However somewhere between fifty and a hundred pages in it began to really grow on me until I was immersed.
It is a SciFi but of such high tech that it is effectively magic however the time-travel and tech is all framed with an eye to physics.
In the end quite enjoyable and awarded a 3.5 out of 5.
Now I believe I have my B lined up already but I may be back to canvass the crowds opinion for my C - in about 6 months.
.
His Masterful Bidding
As you may have inferred from my previous postings Salsa Girl, Hulk, and I have been on the lookout for a new headquarters. One that suits our rapidly changing and starting to move about the place backwards requirements.
Well yesterday saw us affect an artful acquisition at an afternoon auction.
It was all handled calmly and serenely by yours truly dispensing bids with great aplomb and grinding the one other bidder under the inevitability of ours being the winning bid.
There was never a skerrick of fear or doubt in my mind from the moment I squeaked out the opening bid until the hammer fell and the auctioneer was shaking my sweaty, quivering hand, in congratulations.
When we won Salsa Girl was wonderfully excited and Hulk and I should regain hearing by this evening.
After several hours of contract signing we all headed home for some much needed rest and to begin the long planning for the big move ahead of us.
.
Well yesterday saw us affect an artful acquisition at an afternoon auction.
It was all handled calmly and serenely by yours truly dispensing bids with great aplomb and grinding the one other bidder under the inevitability of ours being the winning bid.
There was never a skerrick of fear or doubt in my mind from the moment I squeaked out the opening bid until the hammer fell and the auctioneer was shaking my sweaty, quivering hand, in congratulations.
When we won Salsa Girl was wonderfully excited and Hulk and I should regain hearing by this evening.
After several hours of contract signing we all headed home for some much needed rest and to begin the long planning for the big move ahead of us.
.
Farewelling the Footwear
So this evening one has deposited one's Hippy Stomping Boots in the bin for collection on the morrow.
This was prompted by the ongoing house hunting and the imminent need to pack and move everything.
A perusal of ones things found my eye focusing on the footwear that I fondly remember. Probably Sir Clive Pitbull would be the only other to even recall them - having been quite heavily involved in their naming.
I however remember my long association with them. They carried me through the nineties (yes the nineties!) quite handily, stomping out many a bass drum line and the occasional bass player, right Judge Mingus? Perhaps they would sell as Malaclypse Memorabillia?
In any case, for the past decade they had served their time as "about the house" shoes and slowly slipped into slipper territory. Until they were made redundant in a cunning move by Salsa Girl when she supplied me with a pair of actual comfy slippers. It was as if she didn't like me donning "those mangy things" as she affectionately dubbed them.
So it has become time to farewell my old foot friends and send them on their journey to the big shoe rack in the sky.
Even though they still have some wear left in them... and the garbage collection isn't until tomorrow morning.........
.
This was prompted by the ongoing house hunting and the imminent need to pack and move everything.
A perusal of ones things found my eye focusing on the footwear that I fondly remember. Probably Sir Clive Pitbull would be the only other to even recall them - having been quite heavily involved in their naming.
I however remember my long association with them. They carried me through the nineties (yes the nineties!) quite handily, stomping out many a bass drum line and the occasional bass player, right Judge Mingus? Perhaps they would sell as Malaclypse Memorabillia?
In any case, for the past decade they had served their time as "about the house" shoes and slowly slipped into slipper territory. Until they were made redundant in a cunning move by Salsa Girl when she supplied me with a pair of actual comfy slippers. It was as if she didn't like me donning "those mangy things" as she affectionately dubbed them.
So it has become time to farewell my old foot friends and send them on their journey to the big shoe rack in the sky.
Even though they still have some wear left in them... and the garbage collection isn't until tomorrow morning.........
.
A Legion of Parties
And a legion of excuses for lack of posting...
Shall one just briefly enumerate them: the endless work at work, the heat, a cranky and slightly under the weather Hulk, house hunting escapades, and a return to gaming.
So several weekends past saw myself, along with Salsa Girl and Hulk, attend a trio of swell soirees.
The first was Legion2's birthday bash for the gamer crowd, although disappointingly with no gaming occurring.
Despite that on us flaw a great time was had by all.
ElfBoy was there with Lil' Trucker running amok, as was Mr Magpie (no relation) with his little barrackers. Badger and Gavman were absent any spawn and Pirate Dave was at an inconvenient family do across town.
Salsa Girl and I ended the event by rushing off to inspect some potential property - our leaving causing the whole shindig to wrap up as it obviously couldn't sustain itself without our overwhelming presence.
From our inspection we made our way to FridgePower's self-organised surprise party. I think she fooled herself right up until the party began.
Hulk did not allow us to linger to long but one did manage to catch up with fridge herself as well as Judge Mingus and an unanticipated Zombie Monkey.
The next day was the traditional family party in honour of oneself and Legion2. The event was rather more niece and grand child focused than one really deserves for ones day of honour, but they are all so cute one can't really compete.
Well once again you are all updated on the happenings of the tales and once again I promise to keep to my weekly-ish publishing schedule so keep watching the skies for my next posting...
.
Shall one just briefly enumerate them: the endless work at work, the heat, a cranky and slightly under the weather Hulk, house hunting escapades, and a return to gaming.
So several weekends past saw myself, along with Salsa Girl and Hulk, attend a trio of swell soirees.
The first was Legion2's birthday bash for the gamer crowd, although disappointingly with no gaming occurring.
Despite that on us flaw a great time was had by all.
ElfBoy was there with Lil' Trucker running amok, as was Mr Magpie (no relation) with his little barrackers. Badger and Gavman were absent any spawn and Pirate Dave was at an inconvenient family do across town.
Salsa Girl and I ended the event by rushing off to inspect some potential property - our leaving causing the whole shindig to wrap up as it obviously couldn't sustain itself without our overwhelming presence.
From our inspection we made our way to FridgePower's self-organised surprise party. I think she fooled herself right up until the party began.
Hulk did not allow us to linger to long but one did manage to catch up with fridge herself as well as Judge Mingus and an unanticipated Zombie Monkey.
The next day was the traditional family party in honour of oneself and Legion2. The event was rather more niece and grand child focused than one really deserves for ones day of honour, but they are all so cute one can't really compete.
Well once again you are all updated on the happenings of the tales and once again I promise to keep to my weekly-ish publishing schedule so keep watching the skies for my next posting...
.
Geektogether XIII
Last night saw one use one's weekly gaming pass to attend the auspicious 13th Geektogether. This is probably my 10th or 11th I guess.
Organised again by the despotic The Viking Hat GM , as no one else can make the Geeks run on time.
The evening was actually rather a good chance for one to catch up with Pirate Dave whom one had not seen for many a month.
Amoeba was also in attendance as were many geeks - more than a baker's dozen - and we were all treated to the sage wisdom of The Viking Hat GM which turned out to be quite sage when it drummed up a round of drinks for us old timers who have been gaming longer than the round-buying young geeks have even been.
All in all it was a good occasion forpeople geeks looking for a game to play in. You know the type, like The Real Greg Dean whose brain aches for game ... umm... and who one should totally have informed of the event.
Oh well there's bound to be another one if only so karma (aka TVHGM) can make me buy the next round of drinks.
.
Organised again by the despotic The Viking Hat GM , as no one else can make the Geeks run on time.
The evening was actually rather a good chance for one to catch up with Pirate Dave whom one had not seen for many a month.
Amoeba was also in attendance as were many geeks - more than a baker's dozen - and we were all treated to the sage wisdom of The Viking Hat GM which turned out to be quite sage when it drummed up a round of drinks for us old timers who have been gaming longer than the round-buying young geeks have even been.
All in all it was a good occasion for
Oh well there's bound to be another one if only so karma (aka TVHGM) can make me buy the next round of drinks.
.
Getting the Band Back Together
So this deferred Australia Day Holiday saw My Guitarist host a barbecue at his Southerly residence to which much of the band was invited. Of course FridgePower and Judge Mingus come as a package deal these days so it was a tad easier to get the band members various on site, however, sadly, illness (and not musical differences as reported in the papers) prevented the appearance of LittleBigGirl.
In typical drumming fashion oneself - with Salsa Girl and Hulk in tow - did not arrive until the second verse but then immediately guided the rhythm of the remainder of the afternoon as the rest of the band followed my lead and gathered around my anchoring presence - it had nothing to do with my entrancing them all with Hulk's bountiful cuteness, I swear.
Typically most of the younger generation ignored my rock star presence, not to the Scary Uncle Phill levels of the past mind you, but you would think that I would warrant more than a cursory hello from Thumper and Ball Boy seeing as I was apparently their second-favourite person in the world.
Still as they say, in the world of rock and roll, fame is fleeting.
.
In typical drumming fashion oneself - with Salsa Girl and Hulk in tow - did not arrive until the second verse but then immediately guided the rhythm of the remainder of the afternoon as the rest of the band followed my lead and gathered around my anchoring presence - it had nothing to do with my entrancing them all with Hulk's bountiful cuteness, I swear.
Typically most of the younger generation ignored my rock star presence, not to the Scary Uncle Phill levels of the past mind you, but you would think that I would warrant more than a cursory hello from Thumper and Ball Boy seeing as I was apparently their second-favourite person in the world.
Still as they say, in the world of rock and roll, fame is fleeting.
.
Cordelia's Honor
This volume, by the esteemable Lois McMaster Bujold, encompasses the first two stories of her Vorkosigan Saga of which one had heard many mentions but had yet to dip one's toes into.
Having read - and loved - the author's Chalion fantasy series thanks to Vengeful Vic's rather effective proselytising about their greatness I was interested to see how her sci-fi stacked up.
Well thanks to the miracles of inter-library loans and the hard work of Bomber Babe I was able to have this copy expressed to me from the foreign climes of the Geelong Library service.
All in all it was an interesting read that, for me, never quite reached the outstanding level. I think it has similarities to the Honour Harrington military sci-fi series with it's main characters acting as a sort of competence porn as they so easily deal with outrageous situations while showing outstandingly inspirational leadership, judgement, and ethics.
Still a good read though and worthy of three and a half stars.
.
Having read - and loved - the author's Chalion fantasy series thanks to Vengeful Vic's rather effective proselytising about their greatness I was interested to see how her sci-fi stacked up.
Well thanks to the miracles of inter-library loans and the hard work of Bomber Babe I was able to have this copy expressed to me from the foreign climes of the Geelong Library service.
All in all it was an interesting read that, for me, never quite reached the outstanding level. I think it has similarities to the Honour Harrington military sci-fi series with it's main characters acting as a sort of competence porn as they so easily deal with outrageous situations while showing outstandingly inspirational leadership, judgement, and ethics.
Still a good read though and worthy of three and a half stars.
.
Sidekick, Week One
So I finally have my dream of a loyal sidekick watching my back as we tackle the many crimes against IT in the library.
The action has not been as instant as one imagined, and the successes have not been piling up into a mound of defeated problems (or incidents depending on your methodology paradigm).
Apparently it can be quite overwhelming to, not only be dropped into the crazy workplace that is LibraryLand, but also to have the knowledge of approximately 14 gazillion diverse library IT systems and programs crammed into one's head. It does seem a slight miracle that Sidekick has not suffered any form of explodey head syndrome.
On a brighter note, this afternoon at the commencement of his second week of servitude, did see a great success as instead of one having to spend a great deal of time problem solving a recalcitrant AV connection issue, Sidekick and I together tackled it for over an hour before stumbling across the actual issue of an unplugged converter box.
By my calculation we have already managed to halve the efficiency percentage of the Library IT Department by increasing the resourcing by a mere 1. A clear win all round!
.
The action has not been as instant as one imagined, and the successes have not been piling up into a mound of defeated problems (or incidents depending on your methodology paradigm).
Apparently it can be quite overwhelming to, not only be dropped into the crazy workplace that is LibraryLand, but also to have the knowledge of approximately 14 gazillion diverse library IT systems and programs crammed into one's head. It does seem a slight miracle that Sidekick has not suffered any form of explodey head syndrome.
On a brighter note, this afternoon at the commencement of his second week of servitude, did see a great success as instead of one having to spend a great deal of time problem solving a recalcitrant AV connection issue, Sidekick and I together tackled it for over an hour before stumbling across the actual issue of an unplugged converter box.
By my calculation we have already managed to halve the efficiency percentage of the Library IT Department by increasing the resourcing by a mere 1. A clear win all round!
.
New Year, New Publishing Schedule
So I've finally managed to fulfil that promise to myself and change my publishing schedule.
The problem seems to be that I have moved it the wrong way. Sigh - three weeks.
Still it was the feast-ive season and one did have an awful lot of feast-iveness to attend to.
The work side of things was quite the herculean task, given that one has four workplaces at which to put in a good showing and the overall council soiree.
On the home front I did have help from Salsa Girl and Hulk although I did buckle up (buckle down?) and shoulder the majority of the consummative workload - not one, nor two, but three Xmas's''''!!
And all of them part of Hulk's first Xmas, and therefore requiring extra levels of celebration.
Amongst all that was the traditional migration northward for the seeing in of the New Year. This year was seen in from bed, counting down the last seconds then promptly off with the lights and giving in to the fatigue. Thank you Hulk for that change to our partying style - one may never be the last to leave again.
Speaking of traditions, one normally does some sort of roundup of the year in gaming and the general quality of The Tales. However as one has been on gaming hiatus for several quarters now (baring some Internet ancients sparing with Young Jim) and one also failed to out post FridgePower or even pass the half-century and the fact that it has become quite late and Hulk threatens to cut short ones slumber yet again (if The Tiger does not beat her to it) one had better get to bed rather than wallow in trifling statistics.
See you all in another regularly scheduled three weeks.
.
The problem seems to be that I have moved it the wrong way. Sigh - three weeks.
Still it was the feast-ive season and one did have an awful lot of feast-iveness to attend to.
The work side of things was quite the herculean task, given that one has four workplaces at which to put in a good showing and the overall council soiree.
On the home front I did have help from Salsa Girl and Hulk although I did buckle up (buckle down?) and shoulder the majority of the consummative workload - not one, nor two, but three Xmas's''''!!
And all of them part of Hulk's first Xmas, and therefore requiring extra levels of celebration.
Amongst all that was the traditional migration northward for the seeing in of the New Year. This year was seen in from bed, counting down the last seconds then promptly off with the lights and giving in to the fatigue. Thank you Hulk for that change to our partying style - one may never be the last to leave again.
Speaking of traditions, one normally does some sort of roundup of the year in gaming and the general quality of The Tales. However as one has been on gaming hiatus for several quarters now (baring some Internet ancients sparing with Young Jim) and one also failed to out post FridgePower or even pass the half-century and the fact that it has become quite late and Hulk threatens to cut short ones slumber yet again (if The Tiger does not beat her to it) one had better get to bed rather than wallow in trifling statistics.
See you all in another regularly scheduled three weeks.
.
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