Fast Forward: Joss to the Office

Joss Whedon is directing an episode of The Office? How freaking cool is that? The show with the best comedic dialogue being directed (at least one episode) by a guy known for films/television with great dialogue? It sounds like a great match, at least in theory. I know some purists might think it blasphemy that those Americans are at it again with their remakes of British shows, but damn if itsn't funny. I've been a Carrell fan since the Even Stephen skits on The Daily Show, so I suppose I was predisposed to like the show.

I posted my review of Lou Anders first anthology as Pyr publishing director , Fast Forward 1. From beginning to end, a very solid collection.

Space Pirates, Wizards, and Honey

Over the past year or two through the good graces of Pyr, I’ve been introduced to Mike Resnick’s fiction. This is a good thing, because I've come to really enjoy his work. I’d known his name but never came across any of his stories or books. Well, the three books I’ve read by him have me wanting to read more. The latest Resnick book I read was Starship: Pirate, and I posted my review today.

I caught the Dresden Files in between the Football games yesterday, but found it difficult to stay with Dresden, at least the first showing, during the Pats/Colts classic. What an incredible game. Not only was it an incredible game, but the Patriots are out of it and Peyton finally gets to the big game. As for Dresden, the first episode did its job of keeping me interested enough to tune in for the next episode.

I was very happy to find Samuel Adams Honey Porter back on the shelves of liquor stores. It was one of my favorite brews from the Boston Beer company and I was sad to see it disappear from shelves years ago. I think it is a bit sweeter than I remember, but still very tasty. I’ve found that I enjoy the Sam Adams specialty beers much more than the Boston Lager or Boston Ale. In the summer, nothing, absolutely no beer is better than their Summer Ale.

First a Preacher, Now Comes Winter

First HBO announces they will be doing a Preacher Television show. Today the annoucement is made that HBO just picked up the rights for George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire.

As both of these properties are in only the early stages, speculation is bound to run rampant. I can't think of a better venue for either of these two over-reaching storylines to be shown.

Orphans, Gunslinger and Brew

I published a new review to SFFWorld yesterday, John C. Wright’s Orphans of Chaos, which I thought was OK, if a bit frustrating. It felt a bit slow at times, though Wright did put forth some interesting ideas in what was a neat postulation of gods and hard science.

The Gunslinger draws even closer. With less than a month away I’m really excited about seeing Roland's younger days brought to illustrated life. Jae Lee’s art looks great and I have a lot of faith that Peter David can help to deliver a comic King fans will enjoy.

In the matter of a week here in NJ we went from 70 degrees to 29 degrees and it is supposed to be in the 60s this Saturday. I’ve been hearing winds outside my house like I can never remember hearing in my life, this with an extra layer on the house. Mrs. O’ Stuff and I had the house vinyl-sided last year, so I can only imagine what it would sound like without the added layer & insulation. But our environment is OK, there’s no global warming.

I’ve got two really good beers in the fridge right now. Well, the remnants of two six-packs of beer. Stoudt’s Big Dog Oatmeal Stout and Anchor Porter. Wow, great stuff there. I've had some of Stoudt's beers in the past, and I think even this one. Not sure about Anchor, though I will be having this one again.

Mrs. O’ Stuff likes to surprise me sometimes with the beer and these were both winners. I have to say, I'm a pretty lucky guy.

One Hundred Eleventy Five

Today is Tolkien’s birthday and as the title of my post indicates, the man would have been 115 today. Friends of Hobbiton everywhere – rejoice! Not much else today, but I suppose the results below mean Batman will be kicking my ass quite often, but never killing me.

Nicked from Andrew Wheeler:

Your results:
You are The Joker

The Joker 74% Magneto 63% Apocalypse 63% Venom 58% Lex Luthor 56% Mr. Freeze 55% Dr. Doom 51% Riddler 50% Juggernaut 49% Kingpin 49% Dark Phoenix 47% Catwoman 40% Mystique 33% Green Goblin 33% Two-Face 33% Poison Ivy 24%

The Clown Prince of Crime. You are a brilliant mastermind but are criminally insane. You love to joke around while accomplishing the task at hand.

Click here to take the Supervillain Personality Quiz

Silly Rob Forgot 2 Books

As is most often the case when I do these things, I neglected a couple of books in my recap of my 2006 reading/book addiction summary. The most egregious error was my omission of Joe Hill’s 20th Century Ghosts. I read it at the tail end of the year and for reasons I can’t explain, I missed in my wrap-up yesterday. That was the long of it, the short of it was that I was tremendously impressed with the collection, with only 1 story below the excellent rating for me. I’m looking forward to his debut novel, Heart-Shaped Box.

I also forgot another debut novel I really enjoyed from ’06, but that is due more to me reading it at the end of 2005. The novel in question is Tobias Buckell’s Crystal Rain –another sf/fantasy hybrid with a pirate feel. Buckell has been writing short stories for a while now, and I liked the debut quite a bit. In fact, I’m really looking forward to reading the sequel, Ragamuffin, due out in June.