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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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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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.
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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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