Robert Jordan died yesterday. This is sad. I haven’t read the latest book in the series but I was looking forward to him finishing the series and being able to read the final chapter.
Back in the early 90s Jordan’s Wheel of Time series was one of the first large fantasy series that I read. It really got me into the genre and started my long time obsession with WoT and the world created therein.
RIP Robert Jordan.
John Hodgman visited Brookline tonight and explained to the residents of the Boston area how Hoboes are close to taking over the world. Though most of them escaped to outer space after the great depression.
At least he had Jonathon Coulton along to sign accompanient and play his theme song, because every self respecting author should have a theme song.
John tought how to draw and recognize a hobo sign.
After standing in line for a hour or so I was able to meet the man who is a very sincere and downright funny man.
Of course I was able to get a copy of The Areas of My Expertise. I was fortuitous enough to have a copy ready for pneumatic transport as John pointed out when I mentioned the brilliancy of pneu-mail.
Wil Wheaton was in Boston last Sunday. He gave a reading at the Coolidge Corner Theater and signed books at the Brookline Booksmith. Wil is a very engaging performer and the talk was very lively with alot of banter and crowd interaction.
I was able to get a few pictures of the event(with my new Canon Digital Rebel).
Wil Speaking
Wil Signing
I also recorded the show on my iRiver H-140. So download(mp3) Wil’s talk(site2). You can hear Wil though the applause caused my speaker to clip out.
For explaination check out Skippy’s post(pic of skippy) at Neil Gaiman’s blog.
If you ever had a doubt that Neil is the coolest author since forever well this post should dispel any doubts.
Anansi Boys is Neil Gaiman’s latest novel. Anansi is the African trickster god. He made a brief apperance in American Gods. Anansi has a son Fat Charlie Nancy and when Anansi dies Charlie’s life turns upside down. He finds out he has a brother who has all of Anansi’s powers and creates havoc for Charlie. This is the story of how the two brothers who didn’t know each other cope with meeting for the first time. It also has a lime. Along with other gods that poke around in our world. I found myself laughing out loud at times.
Neil has written a very intriguing story. It weaves into our world along with its fanciful characters and makes you empathize for Charlie as he tries to figure out how to deal with the effects of finding his brother. In this book Neil Gaiman has shown why he is one of my favorite writers. It is interesting because this is the first book I have read after reading his journal daily, I can see his writing style flowing through everything. It will be interesting to see a few of his movies that he has written(Mirrormask, Beowulf) to see if I can see his traces there.
Neil came to Cambridge as part of his Anansi Boy’s signing tour(as mentioned in his journal post). Neil read a few pages from Anansi Boys and then answered questions. In which a quick over view of the sequel to Good Omens with Terry Pratchet was covered. Mirrormask, which opens next Friday, was plugged and Neil talked about future movies that are or may be happening at some point in the future. I am glad I got to see Neil at the beginning of his tour before the long weeks started to get to him. 
In the signing line I was in front of two people who were chatting along. At one point I heard them mention cambridge and lotus in the same breath. It caught my interest but I said nothing. A little while later they mentioned westford, iris and lotus all at once. “Do you work for IBM?” I asked. “Yes,” they both replied, “Do you?” “Yeah out in westford.” Turns out we all worked out in Westford. Kinda crazy that we ended up next to each other in the signing line. I guess it isn’t that strange but it was kinda cool.
Neil was still signing strong an hour or so later when I walked by. I do not envy that at all.
The mouse just wasn’t meant to live. Even if it was the “protrusion into our dimension of a vastly hyperintelligent pandimensional being”. The mouse tried to eat some peanut butter off the trap Josh and I had placed in the living room about four hours earlier. It didn’t stand a chance. I was amazed that it got caught so quickly, we had only just seen the mouse earlier that morning. The mouse was also travling around in a lighted room with the TV on. At first I thought the trap has just been accidentally set off. Then I looked and saw the mouse.
So over my spring break, besides trapping a mouse, I finally read HHGttG(HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy). Hopefully I am not the last one, since according to the cover there still was time to read it before everyone else. So now when I go watch the movie in the near future I will know why the answer to “the great question of Life, the Universe, and Everything” is “fourty-two.” Of course nobody actually knows the question because Earth was demolished a little to early.
One would think however if the mouse was really that intelligent it wouldn’t have fallen for the simple peanut butter on a mouse trap plan.
Spring break continues on. I will never forget my towel.
So I just finished reading The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect. Its an awsome read, one of the first books I have ever read on a computer. The technology in the book is new and exciting and the storyline kept me in suspense all along. The story raises some very pertinant questions. If you want a short story that will actually make you think give this book a read. Plus its free online! Tip if you feel its worth it.
A new review of a book by Sara Douglass – The Wayfarer Redemption
I just read Honoured Enemy by Raymond Feist. Its a new tale in the first of a bunch of collaborations Feist will be doing with other authors.
Check out my review.
