A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Iron Chef America: "Holiday Special: Cora vs Symon" - I really really really wish I was a taster on this one. Really. Oh man, really.
• Sarah Jane Adventures: "The Temptation Of Sarah Jane Smith" - I agree with my husband that I liked this story a little better when it was on Doctor Who and called "Father's Day". That said, I still liked it.
• Battlestar Galactica: "Litmus" - It started out promising, then got really annoying. The whole "witch hunt" story has been done a few too many times, and didn't really make sense in this context.
• Heroes: "The Eclipse, Part 2" - Annnnddd... they're back again. *sigh* Oh well. I did like HRG's response when he learns that Claire died. And Hiro's "Bad Man!" was lovely.
• Battlestar Galactica: "Six Degrees of Separation" - Baltar makes me squirm. Everyone in the fleet should think he's insane by now, and evidence seems to be mounting that he is. Plus, he takes some actions in this story that are clearly motivated by guilt. I just don't know what to think.
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "Evil Under the Sea!" - Not my Aquaman. Way too egotistical in a bombastic manner. Still, an interesting take on the entire Atlantean mythos, with Aquaman actually living in Atlantis with his mother and being properly crowned. Fun, but not my Aquaman.
• Primeval: Second Two Episodes - Water-based monsters in the third episode, and the lost wife thing comes to a quick head. The "monsters" in the fourth episode are just great! Well, right until the real monsters show up. Then it gets intense.
• Battlestar Galactica: "Flesh and Bone" - The cyclon's tactics remind me a little of how The Doctor took down Harriet Jones, Prime Minister. The moral dilemma: is it ok to torture a robot?

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Comics this week:

• Justice Society of America #20 - Two different groups of JSAers from two different worlds, so the predictable fight breaks out. Then things diverge a little, and it's the divergences that make this issue work. That, and finally learning Starman's role in it all.
• JSA Kingdom Come Special Superman #1 - I like Cyclone's role in this one.
• Noble Causes #37 - Slate's choices come home to him, or at least he goes to them. I like this book a lot, and was sorry to hear it's coming to an end. Still, three more issues!
• Avengers Fairy Tales #4 - This is one of the oddest retellings of The Wizard of Oz I've ever seen, and I've seen a few. Having Dorothy Hulk-out at the Wicked Witch is a much better ending than the movie.
• Captain Britain and MI 13 #7 - I love the cover. There is too much happening in the book to follow it all easily, but it's still good.
• Fallen Angel #31 - Pretty standard existential story.
• Sir Apropos of Nothing #1 - Goofy book, goofy character, strange story. Looking forward to reading more.
• Grant Morrison's Doctor Who #2 - Ah, the infamous Jamie story.
• Castle Waiting #13 - Chess finally sees the monster. Not as strong an episode as usual, but still ok. I want to see the next issue.
• PS238 #35 - Tyler2's new powers are an interesting dilemma. Good thing the real Tyler is back in action. I think. I love this book!

While I was taking my time reading the last shipment of comics, the next shipment arrived. I haven't even started on them yet, but maybe I'll get to them by next week's Sunday Review.

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This week's movie was Wall-E. We were some of the first lucky folks to get it from Netflix, as we're new enough customers that we still have a high priority. I really didn't know what to expect from this movie. I'd seen good reviews, but some folks around me claimed it was a "stupid" movie. So I lowered my expectations a bit. I'm not entirely sure why anyone thinks of it as stupid. It's not high art, no, but it's a fun little love tale. The efforts of human heroics in the background are a nice touch, but the focus was definitely on loneliness and fitting in. The key to the movie was the sound, which was simply amazing in the way it conveyed... well, just about everything. Robots only have so many expressions, the sounds did the rest. So for me... I wouldn't call it a stupid movie. Just another fun popcorn movie.

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My library book this week was Hidden Talents by David Lubar. On the one hand, this was almost your typical "teenagers get superpowers" book, on the other hand, this managed to be original to a large extent because (SPOILER ALERT!)the powers were always there, just misinterpreted by everyone including the powered themselves(END SPOILER). I found it to be a very quick read, and fun enough to read in basically one sitting. Definitely something for misfit kids to read. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot as a pre-teen. This book was recommended by the Unshelved Book Club, which has some pretty good books listed.

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Agatha Christie this week was The Sittaford Mystery from 1931, also called "Murder at Hazelmoor". I was again annoyed by this one, because I pegged the murderer right off, even got the motive right, but discarded the character as a possibility because of all the red herrings. Not to mention the character's place in the story made it seem less likely. ARGH! I will start to figure out Christie eventually.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Iron Chef America: "First Thanksgiving" - A lot of great ingredients. I wasn't sure about the direction that my favorite team went, but it was still interesting to see what they did with the foods.
• Heroes: "It's Coming" - Hiro's pranks almost made this episode worth watching.
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "Terror on Dinosaur Island" - The Gentleman Ghost is one of my favs. Fun to see him in this. Along with Fire! But the real showdown between Grodd and Plas was just lovely. I can hardly wait for the next episode.
• Smallville: "Bride" - Doomsday looks pretty good.
• Ghost Hunters: "Recycled Souls" - Again with the loud voice that sounds like it came out of a speaker or something. I like that they showed them looking for a speaker, as well. The magnetized dinnerware was a strange twist in the second investigation.
• Primeval: First two episodes - Cryptozoology with Time Travel. Really, do I need to say more? I'm liking it, yeah.

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Although I got both comic books AND another Fortean Times this week, I haven't actually had time to read any of them thanks to a new obsession that's been driving my life. So they'll have to wait until next week to be reviewed. If I get them done by then.

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This week's movie was Sliding Doors, a look at a woman's life if she misses/doesn't miss a subway train. The two realities are presented intermixed, and it is not difficult to track which one is which. The Monty Python references are good, and not overdone. Overall, a good popcorn movie. Worth a cheap rental or library, but not something I'd buy.

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My library book this week was Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway. This book was recommended by the Unshelved Book Club, which has some pretty good books listed. This one is about a girl who becomes famous when her ex-boyfriend writes a song about their breakup. It's a fun book, written from a teenager's perspective and with a teenager's voice. I think it's a solid read, and would be better if I were into music as deeply as Audrey is. I won't say the cat is the best part of the book, but Bendomolena definitely added a certain weight to the story. Recommended.

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Agatha Christie this week was The Mysterious Mr. Quin from 1930. This is the first appearance of Mr Harley Quin, in an anthology of linked short stories. Of course, Quin isn't really the focus of the stories. He's just the catalyst. The main character is the charming Mr. Satterthwaite, who quickly became my favorite Agatha Christie character of all. That was slightly spoiled by the final story, which gets a bit depressing as it explores the nature of Quin and makes Satterthwaite face some serious truths, but I still love the character. This is the best Christie book so far, in my opinion.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Iron Chef America: "Symon vs Cosentino" - No. Absolutely not. No way. I wouldn't judge this one. No matter what you paid me. Sorry. ... However, it was fun to see Igor and the Monster joining in the fun at the beginning.
• Numb3rs: "Jack of All Trades" - This one didn't have the menace, but it had everything else, including some decent math. I liked this one a lot.
• Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "What's For Breakfast" - Ok, I'd try that scrapple. But the one place I really want to go to is the pancake place. I want to try the pumpkin ones. I could easily gain back 100 pounds there.
• Dinner: Impossible: "The Pork Man's Nightmare" - Wait, they didn't tell the cowboys that they were getting a vegetarian meal? Ooooh. Fun that the "pulled-pork was excellent" for that one guy. I would've loved to try those dishes.
• Heroes: "Eris Quod Sum" - If they cut out half the plotlines, this show might just be tolerable. Then they couldn't weave them together, true, but the show would improve with less jumping from plotline to plotline.
• Ghost Hunters: "U.S.S. Hornet" - I have been on an aircraft carrier in dock, and I've been on a military ship at sea as well, and I cannot imagine being able to separate the sounds the ship normally makes from anything "paranormal". That said, the investigators did their best. But, as usual, it would take several weeks of cameras running full time along with lots of background work to establish baselines before I would ever declare a ghost hunt to be truly scientific. Ghost Hunters is scratching the surface of science because their investigations don't have enough time to be truly in-depth. As long as you accept that, and take the show as experiments in human nature more than in supernature, it's a fun show. And, as you can see from my reviews of it, I'm a faithful viewer.
• Sarah Jane Adventures: "Secrets of the Stars" - The beginning was very interesting, with the astrologer admitting he was a fraud only to be... well, that's telling. I figured out the solution early on, as it was definitely telegraphed by the comments the characters made. I liked the cliffhanger, "Nothing is happening!" All pretty fun in the end.

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No comics this week, but I gave out quite a few for Hallowe'en!

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My library book this week was The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold. This book shares nothing with the Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls except the universe it's set in. The theology in this one is slightly different, as it is set in an earlier time in a completely different part of the world. As usual, the characters are compelling and the story rocks along. I was caught up in this one enough that I ended up reading it in basically one very long sitting. I think that's one of my highest recommendations, finding a book that I cannot put down. Oddly enough, I still think it's not as good as the best of the Vorkosigan books, but it's certainly a very strong book and stands just fine on its own without the first two books of the series.

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Agatha Christie this week was Partners in Crime. I've finally managed to get more Christie books through interlibrary loan, and I'll probably end up having to get a lot more through IL thanks to my new library system's limited Christie collection. If this town had a bookstore, I'd just go buy used copies of the books I want to read next. Anyway, back to the book in question... this was published in 1929 and is a linked collection of Tommy and Tuppence stories. We last saw Tommy and Tuppence in The Secret Adversary, where they became a couple and had a nice adventure. This one gives them more adventure after several boring years of rest. As with most of Christie's work, I was very close to solving many of the mysteries, but this one was new in that I actually managed to solve a couple before the reveals. Still, it's T&T, not Poirot. I'll be proud if I manage to solve a Poirot mystery before the reveal.

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Another book I read this week was Beards of our Forefathers by David Malki. This is a collection of strips from the Wondermark webcomic. I first learned about Wondermark in 2005, when Malki sent me a copy of the Annotated Wondermark, which I enjoyed quite a bit. I've been faithfully following the strip since, so most of the material in this collection was familiar to me. But not all of it! There is a significant amount of supplemental material in the back of the book, including a text story (or part of one, at least). As for the book itself... Malki's jokes are usually a bit on the odd side. Sometimes he sinks into pure low humor, but other times he stretches into Terry Gilliam Monty Python territory. Which, come to think of it was often pretty low humor as well. Hmmm. In any case, don't let the Victorian clip-art style put you off, give the strip a try. And then buy his books if you like it. They tend to have a little more fun in them. And besides, what other book can you do this with?

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Numb3rs: "Blowback" - This one jumped around a bit too much for me, and didn't involve enough math to keep it interesting. There was no overwhelming menace, and no urgency. A mediocre episode.
• Sarah Jane Adventures: "The Day of the Clown" - Um. Ok, Rani is a great new character. Her dad is a fun addition. And the bad guy was truly menacing. But... how did they defeat him? I mean, really? I know it's a kid show, but it should still make sense.
• Iron Chef America: "Cora vs Smith" - One of my all-time favorite foods is the day's ingredient. It was a good one. I'd love to try most of those dishes.
• Heroes: "Dying of the Light" - Another weak episode of this series.
• Dinner: Impossible: "Hospital Hijinks" - That was a fun one. I've had good hospital food, but nothing like that stuff.
• Smallville: "Prey" - You'd think Chloe would be smart enough to meet with "special" folks individually and escort them safely home afterward. I didn't buy Davis as a bad guy until seeing him looking strung-out in this episode. I still don't buy him as the character he's rumored to be.
• Ghost Hunters: "Home Town Haunts" - That pool hall is cool, but it seems like a shame that two floors of the building aren't even being used. They didn't see anything there that wasn't easy to explain. The other place was very interesting, but again, didn't appear to have any spooks either.

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Comics this week:

• Green Lantern #35 - A retcon with some setup for Blackest Night. At least it appears to be over. For now.
• Green Lantern Corps #29 - Almost nothing for me in this one.
• Fallen Angel #30 - I think I would be more impressed with the cliffhanger if it wasn't on the cover. Just saying.
• Phantom #25 - Everything gets tied up, and the status goes back to quo. I don't know whether I'm relieved, or disappointed.
• Justice Society of America #19 - This really does look like a lead-up into Kingdom Come. I'm not sure where Johns and Ross are going with this, but I hope it's a new path because I really don't want to reread KC in JSA.
• Doctor Who: The Forgotten #2 - Another great issue! I love this one. The art is fantastic, and the story is nicely strong. More like this, please!
• Grant Morrison's Doctor Who #1 - Reprints of some of Grant Morrison's work on the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip. I had read the 7th Doctor story, but not the 6th Doctor one. As usual, great quality.
• Captain Britain and MI13 #6 - This book is hitting its stride. And I'm even able to follow the action without knowing who all the players are! Worth checking out.
• Super Friends #8 - Oooh, oooh, I just love this book! Aquaman is so cute in this one! And the Scarecrow is a perfect villain for Halloween.

It looks like I'll be doing my reviews based on when I get my comics from DCBS, and it appears that I'll be getting them up to a week after they ship. The perils of living in the middle of nowhere. Finally, Wednesday is no longer an important day in my life. How strange, after over 16 years of it being such a big part of my life.

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This week's movie was Persepolis, via Netflix (because our library system is very weak on movies). I really enjoyed the book, but it's been quite awhile since I read it, so this was almost like a new story to me. This story reinforces the truth that people are simply people, all the world around. And most people would simply like to live in peace. The whole tale could be told by many women out in the world. Love, life, and in Marji's case, revolution, war, and homelessness as well. There is a great deal of history in this, enough to make you crazy at human stupidity. And the treatment for depression that she gets... wow, familiar and frightening. The comments on forgetting that they weren't free was also terrifying, as it's something we're facing here. The end, of self-imposed exile tinged with regretful acceptance, is painful. But it's still one of those movies that everyone ought to see.

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My library book this week was Wondrous Beginnings edited by Steven H Silver and Martin H Greenberg. This is an anthology of stories by some of the best sci-fi writers around... but the catch is that it's their first story. Not their strongest work, but the work that was first published (or written). As a result, the quality is even more erratic than most anthologies. I won't go into detail about every story, I'll just mention some of my favorites and notables. "The Runaway Skyscraper" by Murray Leinster starts off the collection, and was such a strong story I had to wait several days before I wanted to read any other story because I was afraid they wouldn't live up to the fun. "Proof" by Hal Clement takes on the whole concept of the other in such a wonderful way... he always manages to twist your perceptions. The intro to "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card convinced me that I don't want to read any more books or stories by Card (it was the longest of the intros and made him sound like a bombastic self-absorbed moron). A pity, as the story itself is still good (better, I think, than the novel he made from it). I loved "Much Ado About Nothing" by Jerry Oltion, playing on what might result from an unfamiliar look at an alien world. "Dance in Blue" by Caterine Asaro was a lovely mystery, very nicely done. "Barter" by Lois McMaster Bujold was funny, and was the original reason I picked up this anthology. And lastly, "TeleAbsence" by Michael A Burstein was a heart-rending tale of what technology should be and could be, with dead-on truths of why it can't be. Overall, a solid anthology. Certainly not the best. Only one truly sour note in the whole thing, and that was an intro that you might as well skip. Worth checking out for the first story alone.

Just for the record, here are the stories included in Wondrous Beginnings: "The Runaway Skyscraper" by Murray Leinster, "The Isolinguals" by L Sprague de Camp, "Freedom of the Race" by Anne McCaffrey, "Proof" by Hal Clement, "Loophole" by Arthur C Clarke, "The Dead Man" by Gene Wolfe, "We're Coming Through the Window" by Barry N Malzberg, "The Hero" by George R R Martin, "Lunchbox" by Howard Waldrop, "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card, "The Emerson Effect" by Jack McDevitt, "Much Ado About Nothing" by Jerry Oltion, "Barter" by Lois McMaster Bujold, "The Xeelee Flower" by Stephen Baxter, "Dance in Blue" by Caterine Asaro, "TeleAbsence" by Michael A Burstein, and "First Contact Inc." by Julie E Czerneda.

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I received an uncorrected proof of a recently published book from a friend (thanks Joe!), and decided to go ahead and review it. The book is Superpowers: A Novel by David J Schwartz. The book was published in June. The story concerns five college kids who unexpectedly wake up one morning with superpowers, and what they do with those abilities. The story goes about how you might expect, with the usual "let's be superheroes!" start that goes terribly wrong. The story is set in 2001, ranging from May until October. Yes, 2001. Think about it. But it doesn't happen quite like you expect, and the conclusions of the story are completely different than "with great power" and all that comes with that. I did enjoy the read, because it surprised me a little despite being overall predictable. It's worth checking out from the library.

Since I don't expect most people to read this far in my Sunday Reviews, here's a little "contest". If you want to read Superpowers, and don't mind an uncorrected proof, post a comment on this note saying you'd like my copy. First person to respond I'll e-mail for your address, and send on the book to you just as it was passed on to me.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Ghost Hunters: "Oak Alley Plantation" - Barry's assertion that, while all the Americans wanted to see a castle, he's always wanted to see a plantation, just amused the heck out of me. The investigation itself was moderately boring, with a few funny bits.
• Numb3rs: "The Decoy Effect" - This was a scary one. I didn't really get into it, though. Charlie's troubles are, of course, a nice little on-going plot. But it doesn't grab me. The rookie is growing on me. I liked the way her punishment reflected the earlier conversation.
• Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "Grabbin'a Sandwich" - I want to try a real Philly Cheesesteak sometime. I'd go to the first two places, but the last place is too hot for me.
• Iron Chef America: "Flay vs Angerer" - Not one that I'd try. The ingredient isn't something I'm even vaguely interested in trying, and in fact is something I actively avoid.
• Heroes: "Angels and Monsters" - More X-Men plotting. This whole series is really getting tiresome.
• Destination Truth: "Ninki Nanka; Kikiyaon" - Pity that much of their equipment got held up at customs. On the other hand, it gave them an experience MUCH more like the poor folks they usually listen to as witnesses. It was cool that they managed to get an image of an owl despite their lack of equipment. I think this is the last episode of the season.
• Ghost Hunters: "Bottled Spirits" - The advice they gave the mother, to video the baby to find out how the scratches are happening, was solid. Skeptic or Believer, finding out how the baby was getting hurt is more important than anything. While there might be something strange going on in that house, I didn't see anything I would call paranormal. Airflow can make cabinets rap like that, without any obvious signs. The winery was also fun to see, but again, I saw nothing particularly paranormal there.
• Ace of Cakes: "New Frontiers" - I really liked the breakdancing cake. The trick with the edges of the peanutbutter cup was certainly a challenge, but it worked out, and the cake was very cool. However, my heart was totally with the sandcastle cake. WOW. They did a fantastic job on that one.
• Smallville: "Committed" - Jimmy and Chloe are so wrong for each other that this whole episode seems like the lead-up to a joke.
• Sarah Jane Adventures: "The Last Sontaran" - Nice cliffhanger on the first episode. The story was solid enough, the acting as usual. I will miss Maria. Not a bad start to the season. Of course, the next episode involves clowns. I hate clowns.

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No comic books or Agatha Christie this week. I should have at least some comics next week, but my new mail order company has learned the hard way that DHL is very slow to deliver books out here to Churchville. They have switched me to UPS, but that won't make the first shipment arrive any faster. As for Agatha... the next book is coming to me very slowly through inter-library loan. I have no idea how long it will take to actually arrive.

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My library book this week was Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold. First I'm going to start with a quote from this book that I love: "... since innocence based in ignorance was unfit to protect itself." I think I will paraphrase that and put it in my quotefile. It really sums up the stupidity of keeping children ignorant for their "protection". Bujold manages to be quotable all too often in her books. I wish I could capture ideas as well as she does. Ahem. Back to the book itself. This is the sequel to The Curse of Chalion, which I enjoyed quite a bit. I was a little surprised to find that this book didn't follow the main character from Chalion, instead following a minor character from that book as she takes her own journey of discovery. As with the first book, the theology and philosophy are both startling and thought-provoking. The characters are very human. The story is strong, and has enough twists and changes to keep the reader guessing. As with almost any Bujold story, you want to know what happens to the characters in the future. You just wish the book would continue on... although I admit the ending was very nice. Again, not as wonderful as the Vorkosigan books, but worth reading and in my case, worth a reread sometime down the line.

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Fortean Times #241, November 2008. The first issue I got at Stepford House, proving that the change-of-address actually worked! The cover story on this issue is Popobawa, which I thought sounded very familiar. Sure enough, in the article it mentions that Destination Truth hunted for the creature, and I remember the episode and its conclusions about Popobawa very well. As for the article? Pretty much the same conclusion. The top "phantom photo" on page 12 sure looks like Anakin from the Star Wars movies to me. I'd never understood how anyone could mistake a cloud or the moon for a UFO until I was driving back from Seattle last Sunday and the moon was behind a sliver of cloud... and looked completely different. I mean, it really didn't look like the moon at all. On page 27 there's a summary of types of clouds that manage to confuse people. Moving on, the historical accounts always grip me, and "The Devil With A Laser Beam" certainly was a great little tale. It really makes you wonder what the witness really experienced, and how someone from our time would perceive it. I don't know any of Vaughan Williams work, at least not by his name, so that article went over my head. The rest was pretty typical, and as usual I read the mag cover-to-cover. Another good issue of the oddest magazine on the stands.

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I've gotten a couple of review copies of The Comics Journal, and I admit I haven't really had time to go through them yet. After all, I've been moving. The first one I've had a chance to sit down and really read is issue #292, which features interviews with Gene, Kim, Simon, and Seth Deitch. Now, if I were really into their artwork, I'm sure I'd be all over this issue. But I'm just a casual fan, so the in-depth strength of these interviews is mostly lost on me. Instead, I found myself more impressed with the other minor articles and reviews. Overall, this isn't really aimed at me. It's aimed at people who care much more about the independent side of comics (or even comix). I can certainly imagine getting something out of this book every month, but it's not a book I would buy for myself.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

Two weeks' worth of reviews for you this Sunday, thanks to the LEGO convention last weekend.

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TV this week:

• Smallville: "Plastique" - No Aquaman. No interest.
• Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "Big Flavor" - Yeah, I'd eat at those places. I'd love to try the pizza place, because I'm curious what the crust is like. The proof of the pizza is in the crust. A good crust will make up for a lot in a pizza, and nothing ruins a pizza faster than a bad crust.
• Food Detectives: "Heartburn Remedies" - I used to get heartburn a lot when I was obese. Now that I'm ... less obese ... I haven't gotten it as much. While attempting to buy Stepford House, I got it frequently, and was introduced to the baking soda cure by Eric's mom. The other segments (cooking by dishwasher and car engine, and backwash) were also good fun.
• Heroes: "One of Us, One of Them" - Strangely compelling despite continuing plot holes.
• Ghost Hunters: "Ghosts of the Sunshine State" - Nothing conclusive in either location, but the voices at the second hotel that woke Jay were spooky. Too bad they could have easily been someone standing out in the hall who then took off before he got up and checked. They should have left cameras running in the hall too. The missing flip-flop was also fun. I half-expected someone to admit to hiding it, as the crew are apparently notorious pranksters.
• Destination Truth: "Aswang; Haunted Forest" - The Aswang bit was hilarious. Ryder was... a bit overreactive. I bet I'd be even more goofy in that situation. The story of the haunted forest was very sad. The kids they ran into looking for a dead body reminded me briefly of Stand By Me. Very very briefly.
• Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "Cookin' It Old School" - I think I'd visit all of them, even if I wouldn't try everything. Big Mama is one of those people I'd love to meet. She was cool.
• Ace of Cakes: "Tanks, Trucks and Vikings" - 76 cakes for one couple? Wow. The Viking cake was gorgeous. I always wonder what I'd want in a custom cake, but can never think of anything that seems challenging but fun enough. I suppose I could get a TARDIS. That would be cool.
• Heroes: "I Am Become Death" - Ug. Time travel. Ug. How about a good story sometime instead of a convoluted, rehashed X-Men tale?
• Food Detectives: "Spicy Foods and Sleepless Nights" - So, spicy foods actually can disturb your sleep? Hm. The smelly food and the amount of water you get from regular foods segments were also nicely solid. Turns out I get plenty of water each day.
• Smallville: "Toxic" - Green Arrow's origin story! And a proper introduction of Mercy! But no Aquaman, so... meh. Sad, seeing Oliver shirtless just reminds me of what could've been if Mercy Reef had been picked up. *sigh*
• Numb3rs: "High Exposure" - I liked the climber couple. They were fun, and made the human drama a little better. I only care so much about Charlie getting his security clearance back.
• Iron Chef America: "Symon vs Adjey" - What an ingredient! And the explosion of the lighter was a true highlight, as one person said it made for some really good TV. Luckily, no one was hurt. If it had exploded even one second later, Adjey would have been seriously burned. And the result was... interesting.
• Destination Truth: "Issie; Icelandic Elves" - Hard to tell what they ran up against in Japan, but if that was an eel, it was a rather peeved eel. The elf-hunt was great fun, and I laughed aloud many times at their antics. The electronic difficulties they had were definitely suggestive, but as Josh points out, not conclusive of anything. I love this show. It's the ultimate snipe hunt, but everyone is in on the joke.
• Ace of Cakes: "The Big Cake-owski" - That Star Wars cake rocked the party. I loved it. I don't know anything about the The Big Lebowski, but I wouldn't want to be a cake at that party.
• Smallville: "Instinct" - Maxima? Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!

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And here's comics from the last few weeks. I'll be getting twice-a-month shipments from here on out, so I'll never be sure when I'll get a chance to review a book.:

• Tiny Titans #8 - Lots of fun seeing the Tiny Titans mentors. I squeed at Aquaman, but Blue Beetle definitely won that one in the joke department. I'm surprised the cover didn't have Aqualad getting a "sea".
• Checkmate #30 - Bored. Want the end of this story.
• Captain Britain and MI13 #5 - Ok, a Marvel book I'm enjoying. Wow. I really like Faiza. A nice grounded character who, nonetheless, has powers. Nice cliffhanger.
• Spirit #21 - This really is a fun book. I think we dropped it... but it is fun.
• Castle Waiting #12 - Wow, two cool bits in this one. Simon's monster was great, and the story of the doctor was tragic. I love this book, I just wish it came out a little more often.
• Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam #2 - Theo Adam is a bit of a pain, isn't he?
• Powers #30 - Hey, an issue finally came out! Wow! And it's even an ending of sorts. Yay!
• PS238 #34 - I have a feeling I'm not going to like the new Tyler very much. I wonder what his powers are?
• Usagi Yojimbo #114 - Fascinating tale. Did the Shogun actually have spies like that, I wonder?
• Northlanders #10 - Brutal. This series is just brutal. I'm not sure if I like the idea of a series of standalone stories about different Northmen, but so far they've been good. This two-parter was very well done. And brutal.
• The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror #14 - The Simpsons do Death Note! Scary how much Lisa looks like "L" in those scenes. And Krusty makes a great Shinigami. The other two stories were ok, but forgettable.
• Land of Oz Manga #3 - Eeeek, too fast! The retelling is going way too fast! Somebody slow this sawhorse down!
• Justice League of America #25 - YAY ELSEWORLDS!

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My library book this week was The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. I've read the entire Vorkosigan saga repeatedly, and it's a series I go back to when I need a comfort read. I need to get the entire series in hardcover someday, because I think I wore out the library copies. Anyway, the point is that I really like Bujold's work... but I've never read any of her non-Vorkosigan books. I kept meaning to remedy that while living in Frankenhaus with access to King County's library system, but didn't get around to it. So I made it a top priority here with the regional library system. I got my copy of this book the same day hubby-Eric got his library card (unrelated) and set down to read it immediately, in between bouts of unpacking. The verdict? Well, I don't find it as comforting as the Vorkosigan books, but I enjoyed it a lot. Bujold can pick up a character's story long after the "exciting bits" have happened, and take that character further. In this case, Cazaril has endured a lot before the story starts, and he isn't your typical hero. But then, no Bujold character ever is a typical hero. The philosophy in this story is amazing, and the words "thought provoking" don't justify the theology. I can see that I'll be rereading this book in a few years and probably getting more out of it the second time. So my verdict: it's not a book about Miles or Cordelia but it's still very good and worth a read. Go on, check it out.

---

Fortean Times #240, October 2008. Got this just before I moved out of Frankenhaus, and so had to read it in bits and pieces as I moved into Stepford House. The title story is about rocketmen from the future, and has a nice collection of sightings that make you wonder about what was really happening to the witnesses. The Time Storm article was very neat, and I enjoyed it for fannish reasons as well as in the usual Fortean sense. I loved the coverage of the John Titor hoax. That seems like the kind of hoax that, if you only have enough imagination and the right sort of information, would be terribly easy to pull off. Ghostwatch had a tale in it that was covered later in the issue by a book review, enough to make me want to read the book. All-in-all, another good issue of the oddest magazine on the newsstands.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Ghost Hunters: "Iron Island" - Wow. That's one grumpy ghost. And after what Tango said to him, I wouldn't blame him for being even grumpier. As always, the sound was overproduced, and the investigation way too short.
• Destination Truth: "Yowie; Haunted Mosque" - Two very inconclusive expeditions, but I love the way the team works together, and I love Josh's continued snarkiness. I'd love to see the Ghost Hunters tackle that Mosque.
• Dinner: Impossible: "No Pork, No Pressure" - Ok, Symon comes into his own on this one. Kosher meal is bad enough, but Kosher for Passover is even harder for a guy who really likes his pigmeat.
• Iron Chef America: "Flay vs Cardoz" - I can honestly say there is no way I would eat those dishes. Yes, nature's little protein bars, but not something I want to try.
• Food Detectives: "Poppy Seeds" - I always heard it as 15 minutes after eating before swimming. And I knew about poppy seeds and positive drug test results, I just didn't know the test had been changed to allow for it. I wonder if the food techs do not talk because they would get paid if they did? I don't like Saltines, so I definitely would fail that last challenge. And I liked the info on eggs. Useful.
• Destination Truth: "Orang Pendek; Worm Monster" - I think they need to pack a GPS in the future. My biggest issue with this show is that the expeditions are so short. I wish they'd spend a little more time on each case.
• Ghost Hunters: "So She Married an Axe Murderer" - I love the tours at the beginning. And the meter they were using to get yes/no answers was very cool, but like Grant I'm not sure I believe it. "If it walks like a duct..." Huh, you don't expect a phone booth stuffing in a ghost hunt. That second place seemed very tame, especially with the spectacular legend surrounding it.
• Dinner: Impossible: "Mother's Day Madness" - Maybe they should've gone to a closer store.
• Big Daddy's House: "Mentor Madness" - Man, I wanna try that Sweet Potato pie!
• Ace of Cakes: "Gone to the Dogs" - Cotton is really cute. I think Geof likes freaking people out, though. The Enterprise cake was cool, but I wouldn't eat the hot dog cake.
• History Detectives: "Shipwreck Cannons; Connecticut Farmhouse; Kahlil Gibran Painting" - I remember hearing about those cannons when they were first discovered. I was even tempted to drive down and check them out myself. The other two stories were ok, but the local interest of the first story overshadowed them.
• Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "A Taste of Everywhere" - While I wouldn't avoid any of those places, none of them stood out as places I would go out of my way to visit.
• Food Detectives: "Hangover Cures" - This episode just reinforced my inclination to never drink. It was rather nasty to the poor food techs. Also, I don't think I ever want lemons in my drink again.
• Dinner: Impossible: "Block Party Blowout" - I wanna live on that block. Oh, Yum! But that bit at the end was just uncalled for.

While there were more shows I watched this week, since I'm covering the last THREE weeks of TV, I think I'll just move on to comic books now.

Comics this week:

• Noble Causes #36: "End Game" - Bring back Liz.
• Green Lantern #34: "Secret Origin Part 6" - Um. Ok. Have I mentioned that I'm not really that interested in the retcon of the Green Lanterns? I guess this all leads into Blackest Night.
• Green Lantern Corps #28: "Eye of the Beholder Part Two" - Ok, not too bad. But if I were a rookie GL I would still be a bit disturbed by the situation.
• Super Friends #7: "Just My Luck" - Aquaman in skateboard gear. SQUEE!
• Doctor Who Classics #10 - Two complete stories, one very short but still good. Ok, the Doctor cheats, but still... And I had remembered Sharon's fate, so I wasn't surprised. These stories have never looked so good. I'm enjoying this series.

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

I confess that I spent most of this week watching the Olympics on the CBC. As you may know, my husband is a HUGE Olympics fan, and he's infected me with Olympic fever. I'm even reading Wallechinsky's big Olympic book cover to cover (all 1182 pages). Even with Olympic coverage on the CBC being considerably better than the multi-channel NBC coverage, it still wasn't constant, so I was able to watch a few TiVo'ed shows. TV this week:

• Ghost Hunters International: "Tortured Souls" - Ok, "footsteps" is not paranormal. There are too many noises that old buildings make that can be interpreted as footsteps by the human ear. So footsteps alone doesn't impress me as a haunting. On the other hand, the "quartz battery" theory is almost plausible. I still love to see the cool places they go to, and the history they dig up. I want my next house to be like that first castle, built into the side of a cliff with plenty of storage in back in the caves.
• Iron Chef America: "Flay vs Garces" - Ah, a brain freeze leftover. Well, you know I was just waiting to see if Flay loses. And since I try not to give spoilers, I won't give it away.
• History Detectives: "Black Tom Shell; USS Olympia Glass; Front Street Blockhouse" - I knew about Black Tom, but didn't realize the extent of it. The USS Olympia find was interesting, especially the final bit about the catalog. I wish Frankenhaus had a nice history like that blockhouse, maybe somebody would buy it then.
• Big Daddy's House: "Life's a Beach" - I love his description of free-range chicken: chicken that can go to the gym whenever they want to. Also: breakdancing hard-boiled eggs. Nice tip.
• Dinner: Impossible: "Escape to Alcatraz" - Ehm. Ok. Nothing special. I liked Robert better.
• Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "Totally Unexpected" - I'd definitely go to that second place and try out the bison hash and pad thai. I'm not sure about the other two places, though meatball sliders sure sound good.
• Food Detectives: "Swallowing Gum" - What shouldn't be put in a microwave... grapes? Carrots? I've never seen Cool Hand Luke, so the 50 eggs thing was new to me. I already knew the answer to the gum question. And I don't eat ice, so the crystal clear ice cubes were useless to me.
• Ace of Cakes: "Pinball Wizard" - The pinball cake was nice, but the Diana cake was fantastic.
• Ghost Hunters International: "Dracula's Castle" - The first castle was a bit boring, and they mostly disproved stuff. I'm not sure what to make of the photography, but strange lights do not a haunting make. As for Dracula's Castle... that was actually pretty funny.

This was a very strong week for comic books. I'm glad I was able to get the comics in person, despite the annoying circumstances of being in town to get them. Comics this week:

• Conan the Cimmerian #2 - It's Conan, what else can I say? If you like Conan, you'll probably enjoy this.
• Spirit #20 - I think I should enjoy a story set in an aquarium more than this. It was ok, but nothing special.
• Justice League of America #24 - Zatanna shows some strength here. Not what I expected to happen, but very interesting way around the problem. Now, what's up with Vixen and Animal Man?
• Super Friends #6 - Ah, teamwork. And an Aquaman profile in this issue, too! I like how happy the Super Friends are. This book just makes me happy.
• PS238 #33 - Have I mentioned that I love this book? I really want to see how Tyler's story turns out, but I'm finally interested in Cecil's abilities as well.
• Doctor Who: The Forgotten #1 - Oh man! I've been mildly disappointed in the regular book, but THIS is what I expected when the comic was announced. This is Doctor Who comic book done right! More like this please!

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Ghost Hunters International: "Shattered Spirit" - While the picture was interesting, I couldn't describe it as a ghost. The sounds they heard... well, despite everything they still might have been the house settling. And I just don't know about the EVPs or the doll falling. But I'm still not convinced with this one.
• Big Daddy's House: "Boy's Night In" - A promising start for the next Food Network Star winner. I like his son. And the food looked pretty good, too.
• Iron Chef America: "Morimoto vs Ophaso" - No contest on this one, but there's no way you could get me to eat any of those foods.
• Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "Where the Locals Eat" - Oh man, I'd love to try those crab cakes and hushpuppies at the first place. And I want to try the french toast at the third place. I'm not a chicken fan, so the second place did nothing for me.
• American Gladiators: "The Winners Are Declared" - I missed most of the season because Eric wanted to watch the Maria show, but I really didn't miss much, except the introduction of some new events. And hey, I got to see the final episode.
• Ghost Hunters International: "Hauntings of South Africa" - This one was a good example of how easy it is for people to fool themselves. Some good debunking went on, but they still declared the place haunted based on EVPs. The prison was interesting, but Barry is about as trustworthy a witness as Brian.
• Olympics Opening Ceremonies - We TiVo'ed the CBC coverage, and it wasn't bad overall. The parade of nations was chopped up a bit by ads, which often happens, and of course once the Canadians came in they spent too much time interviewing Canadian Olympians who all basically said they same thing and not enough covering the other nations. The spectacle was impressive as usual. The drumming was particularly cool, as was the moveable type. The lighting of the flame was also excellent. And I liked the footprint fireworks walking to the stadium. Now: sports. I wish we weren't moving, we would be able to see more of the events.
• Food Detectives: "Double Dippers" - I never thought double dipping was so bad. Yuck. I knew why you should start with cold water when boiling, but I didn't know that trick with the onions. As for ginger help with motion sickness... it doesn't seem to help a lot, just a little. But maybe I should invest in some ginger pills anyway.
• Ace of Cakes: "Pandamonium" - The panda cake was really impressive. It's like the first cake they ever made that just seemed to go right all the way through. But I really want a deep dish Chicago Pizza cake, chocolate, for myself.

Comics this week:

• Doctor Who Classics #9 - I'd forgotten about the old abbot and the jelly babies. For that matter, I'd forgotten who the baddies of the story were. It was fun to read this again.
• Final Crisis #3 - New Aquaman? What was wrong with the old ones? *sigh* I wanted to like this, but the more I read, the less I enjoy it.
• Jonah Hex #34 - What an incredibly depressing story.
• Detective Comics #847 - Would this story be any better if I knew who Hush was? Or cared?

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Iron Chef America: "Flay vs Hamilton" - Ooooh, I love the ingredient. I should've taken notes.
• How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? - The final four got to snog John Barrowman!!!! I wanna get into the final four! Ahem, anyway, any of these women could perform the part, from what we've seen. I really don't have a preference, though I would love to see them all go on to successful careers.
• Dinner: Impossible: "Boardwalk" - Now I want to try the chocolate-covered bacon. Symon is a MUCH different chef for this show than Robert. More inventive, more willing to take risks, less annoyingly uptight, and lots more alcohol in the food.
• The Next Food Network Star: "Ultimate Vegas Buffet" - This was a completely cringe-filled episode. In the end, they made a very interesting choice. I'm not sure what else they could've done at that point.
• History Detectives - The smoking jacket was fascinating, and it was rather impressive how she managed to hunt down the original owner's son. Very cool episode.
• Ghost Hunters International: "Castle of the Damned" - Barry the Iron Chef makes his Irish Stew... no wait, that's another channel. This was a fun one for stories, but not much by way of experiences. It did prove once again that a little research goes a long way.
• Ace of Cakes: "Elephant Delivery Service" - Duff in a heavy, hot costume delivering an incredibly intricate cake to little children! Fun. But the best cake was the library cart.

Comics this week:

• Land of Oz Manga #1 - Wow, that zipped through bits of the tale really fast! Almost too fast, in fact.
• Usagi Yojimbo #113 - Ah, that one worked out nicely in the end. Well, for everyone but Usagi.
• Green Lantern Corps #26 - Both rings? This one will have something to prove.
• Justice League of America #23 - Vixen's new powers... she should have been able to win that battle.
• Spirit #19 - A nice anthology of three tales. All of them had the Spirit spirit.
• Super Friends #5 - Aquamonkey!
• DMZ #33 - I don't much like the looks of that cliffhanger.
• Fallen Angel #28 - I really have no idea what to say about this issue. I wonder what part the suicidal dude will play in the future, if any?
• Superman #678 - *yawn* I don't know what's happening in this book anymore. And I don't really much care.

This week's library movie was Enchanted. Yup, we took the time to stop and watch a movie. We're pretty close to being done cleaning and packing, so we took a break. And it was a fun little movie. About what you'd expect from Disney making fun of itself. Good animation, good acting, fun plot, and cringe-inducing moments of various New York rodents cleaning an apartment. Yikes. Worth it for Disney fans, or people who like the cute.

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria - I'm not a big fan of reality competitions, but this was an interesting look at how casting decisions must be made... and how hard they are. As I told hubby-Eric, if I knew John Barrowman was going to give me a hug like he gave those girls, I would try out for the part, too.
• Iron Chef America: "Symon vs Bloomfield" - The judges were GREAT on this one. I love it when they actually argue about the merits of the dish and disagree with each other. It made for interesting TV and told us far more about the dishes than we normally hear.
• Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "Comfort Food" - Fun fun fun! I don't know which place I wanted to go to most... just all of them. I want to try the cereal dipped french toast.
• The Next Food Network Star: "You... In a Jar" - My least favorite didn't get kicked out, but my favorite is still in the running. I'm slightly disappointed at who got booted, but he wasn't really showing his personality, so I wasn't surprised.
• Ghost Hunters: "Fort Delaware" - That is a WAY cool place. I would love to visit there, not for the ghosts, but just for the history. I hate how overproduced the sound in this show is. Too many stupid sounds, even when the people are listening closely for something. I'd rather listen along! Shut off the stupid sounds!
• Doctor Who: "Turn Left" - This is the "Doctor light" episode, featuring mostly just Donna. And... wow. Very interesting. Not what I was expecting at all, but it worked very well. As I was watching it with a crowd of fans, the various recognizable moments went over well and elicted great responses as the episode progessed. All in all, impressive. I worry about the last two episodes, as I've been disappointed after good build-ups at the end of previous seasons, but hopefully this will be the year that bucks the trend.

This week's library movie was My Super Ex-Girlfriend. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a light comedy of the nerdly variety. I really enjoyed it for what it was, but could see how people would be disappointed in what it wasn't. It wasn't a superhero movie. It wasn't a drama. And it certainly wasn't deep. If you need a light, funny movie to watch, this is a good one.

My library book this week was Titans of Chaos. This is the final book in the trilogy, and it ends well, if not how I expected it to end at all. There is a bit too much of the battles in multiple dimensions in this one (battles which are very confusing), but aside from that complaint, I liked it. Wright does a surprisingly good job of explaining the four paradigms in such a way that I usually didn't get confused. Usually. This book is weaker than the first two, but certainly a good read nonetheless.

Another library book I picked up was The Servants by Michael Marshall Smith, recommended in Fortean Times #237. The book is written from the point of view of an 11-year-old boy who is angry about his parents' divorce. While the boy attempts to deal with his new situation by learning to ride his skateboard, he learns that something is very wrong in the house he's moved into with his mother and her new husband. This is a light fantasy, meant for kids. It's a very quick read but has a lot of substance, and some strong emotion. I wasn't entirely happen with the ending, but there couldn't have been any other with this story. If you want a good read, go check this out.

I also read Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn from the library. This was also a sort of recommendation from Fortean Times, but the review was a later book in the series. I decided to check out the first book. And it's not too bad. It's your typical Vampires vs Werewolves dealing with modern life story. A bit of gore, a bit of sex, and an attitude too cool for words. It's good if you like that style of book. I liked the angle of the main character being a radio DJ afflicted with lycanthropy who stumbles into fame when she starts talking about vampires and werewolves on air. I'm not yet sure if I'll be picking up the second book.

A quadruple dose of Agatha Christie this week, starting with The Man in the Brown Suit. No Poirot in this one, but Anne works in this book as a strong narrator. I'm amused at how Christie threw suspicion off of one character immediately, then built up other characters so at any given time you have no idea who to trust. As for the mystery, I thought it was a little too complicated, but in the end all the threads pulled together nicely and despite my thoughts that this one might be a little too clever, I think it still worked well. But then, it's Agatha Christie. Of course it worked well.

I also read Agatha Christie's The Secret of Chimneys. Another "standalone" mystery, with Anthony Cade as the main character. And he's a real character! I figured out bits of the mystery, like always, but never solved the main one. I think that's the genius of these books: she gives you enough information that even a quick reader like me can pick up enough to solve part of the mystery. And she leaves you with the impression that if you read carefully, you can solve all of it.

Then I read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. I knew it, but I rejected it. But throughout reading it I kept coming back to it as the solution. I knew it and the only reason she fooled me was because I didn't believe she'd have the audacity to do it. ARGH. I would go into great detail about this, but really, it's a mystery. Spoilers.

Lastly, I read The Big Four. We're back to Poirot, and he's paranoid and goofy in this one. This book had multiple mysteries which Poirot solves, ending with a final battle at the end involving Poirot's twin. I was very amused to see this book as a clue on Jeopardy the day I finished reading it (Friday).

Agatha Christie books are a bit like popcorn or potato chips for me. I have to restrain myself or I'll just keep reading one after another. They are fun, light, and quick reads. I've been forcing myself to read other books in between the Christie books, which is one reason I read so much last week!

Because I was busy reading books, comics this week didn't all get read, so some will show up next week. Here's what I did finish:

• Trinity #3 - Three issues in and I'm no more interested than I was after reading the first issue. It just hasn't caught me.
• Spirit #18 - I applied Agatha Christie thinking to this one, and had it mostly solved well before the reveal. Scary.
• Star Wars Legacy #25 - I got a bit mixed up on who was supposed to be who, despite the reminders within the issue.
• Checkmate #27 - Environmentalism and immoral medical testing in one issue.
• DMZ #32 - It's a very strange political situation, and I'm not sure I fully understand what's happening. But it's also still a very good book.
• Fallen Angel #27 - Ah, twilight zone. Love it.

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Have I Got News For You: "Jeremy Clarkson, Kate Silverton, and Ian McMillan" - Final episode of this batch. Paul Cornell almost gets a mention, as the Captain Britain comic is one of the subjects they cover. It was funny to see the US Presidential race from the British point of view, as well. Though I suspect Clarkson isn't a liberal. Too bad there wasn't another episode, I would have loved to see them react to the guy who was pepper sprayed for laughing too hard at Paul (possibly in this very episode).
• Iron Chef America: "Flay vs Samuelsson" - Very common ingredient, and as usual I'm rooting for the challenger, who is simply cool. Also as usual, I'd much rather taste the challenger's dishes than Flay's.
• The Next Food Network Star: "Star on the Go" - What, they still let Robert play with the big boys? The challenges were out of a nightmare. Lisa really redeemed herself this week in the challenge itself, but was a witch during the judging. In the end, they picked the right person to not move on.
• American Gladiators - Hulk-themed episode. Very lackluster. None of the contestants really stand out, and the clipping of events was at the same time annoying and a relief.
• Ghost Hunters: "Garden State Ghosts" - It seems really strange that some of the ghost hunters are terrified of bugs and spiders. Also, they debunk while running around in the dark: couldn't they do some debunking before lights out? I still think a proper investigation of a place would involve weeks of work to establish baselines, intense debunking, and cameras running 25/7. No group could afford to do that, though. So the show always leaves my skeptic side unsatisfied, even if I generally feel entertained.
• Monster Quest: "Ghosts" - I watched this as a sort of counter-point to Ghost Hunters, hoping for a little more science. Oh well. It's a nice enough show, and I'm sure I could get into it as a cryptozoology fan, but it is overproduced (like GH) and repetitious. Really repetitious. I really want that infrared camera, though. I don't know what I'd do with it, but my gadget-loving heart wants to play with one.
• Doctor Who: "Midnight" - Wow wow wow. That's some of the best acting I've seen in a long time. The script was pretty basic, but WOW the acting. I wouldn't call this episode my favorite by a long shot, but it was really really good. Wow.

Comics this week:

• Trinity #2 - Um. Ok. I'm not really feeling the impressed-ness yet.
• Wonder Woman #21 - Three different stories in one issue! Sort of! And all three work well, and even work together. Who woulda thunk it?
• Action Comics #866 - Hmm. Not a lot to say about this one except it's a nice set-up.
• Titans #3 - I still want to know what happened to Garth. But he's in limbo with Aquaman, I guess.
• Green Lantern Corps #25 - Yay, more Natu. Boo, more cosmic stuff.
• Tiny Titans #5 - No Aqualad or Fluffy in this one. Bummer.
• Wildguard Insider #2 - Looking forward to the final issue of this one, and I really liked this issue. I wish I'd kept up with the on-line comic when it was going, but I'm glad I can catch up now.
• Captain Britain and MI13 #2 - Skrulls and fairies. It's not bad, if you like Skrulls and constant battles.
• Star Wars Rebellion #14 - You know, if I'm going to read Star Wars comics, I could do much worse than these. Pretty good finish to the tale.
• Local #12 - I want to reread all the previous issues now. I think this is a satisfactory ending to the series, but I won't know until I reread the entire thing.

Just a final note here, I'd like to thank my friend D who is buying many of the comics I read each week, allowing me to read a lot more than I could afford. Thanks, D!

This week's library movie was Happy Feet. Well, that had a lot of songs in it. I wouldn't recommend this one unless you've got a person who really likes music and dance with you. It wasn't bad, it just was a little overwhelmingly musical. I liked the guy near the end who said, "I don't want to live in a world without penguins!" Otherwise... well, this one was just ok. Maybe I'm suffering from penguin overload or something.

Agatha Christie this week was her first collection, Poirot Investigates from 1924. Although the original US edition had 3 extra stories, I ended up with a reprint of the original UK version, which only has the original 11 stories. But they are really good little stories! Each one a bite-sized Poirot tale. Quick reads, and intriguing enough to make me slap my forehead at each reveal, because I always think I should have figured it out. Somehow Christie makes me feel not quite stupid, yet still a little slow. I'm enjoying her works and I'm glad Doctor Who inspired me to start reading her books.

My library book this week was A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca by Andrés Reséndez. This book was recommended in Fortean Times #236, and because it speaks to my interests in pre-Colonial America, I couldn't wait to dive into it. The story concerns four men who survived an ill-fated colonialization effort that landed in Florida. The four men, including Cabeza de Vaca, walked across North America from Florida to the Pacific Coast before any Europeans had reached that far. Along the way, they endured slavery and starvation and eventually became holy men in their quest to return home, which they managed in 1536. There are two ways to read this book. You can read it right through then check the end notes, or you can read the end notes as you go along. Because I'm a fussy reader, I tend to read the notes while reading the text. This book had lots of notes. Practically every paragraph had an endnote, and the majority of the notes were as long as the paragraphs themselves. Everything was documented, and parts of the story where there is contention among scholars had the disputes laid out along with the reasons the author chose one interpretation over another. If you were to read the book straight through without reading the notes, it would be a quick read of an interesting bit of history that most of us know nothing about. With the notes it became a fascinating look into the past and a study of the limitations of understanding what happened only 500 years ago. If you have any interest at all in what America was like back then, or want to read an incredible tale of survival against the odds, this is the book for you.

I also read Little Brother by Cory Doctorow this week, and was hit pretty hard by the ideas in the book. I recommend it to just about everyone. You can download it for free or buy a copy.

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Iron Chef America: "Batali vs Bartolotta" - Yay! Batali! And a very interesting ingredient as well. Not to mention a challenger who is nearly as fun to watch as Batali himself. This was a good one.
• Classic Doctor Who: "Invasion of Time" Parts 5 & 6 - Enter the potato-heads! Didn't like these two episodes as much as the previous two. Yeah, fun inside the TARDIS, but it was mostly running around and not much else. Par for the course for classic Doctor Who, I guess. No Classic Who on PBS for awhile, it's pledge month.
• The Next Food Network Star: "Star Quality" - Here we go again! I don't expect that my favorite will ever make it to the final, but I sure had hopes that the one I like least is knocked out in the first round. Unfortunately, fashion lady stays in while unfunny comic leaves. Not an auspicious start for the show.
• Ghost Hunters: "Widow's Watch" - Sometimes I think I learn more about human psychology from this show than anything else. I'm fascinated by the way people fool themselves, but more delighted when they figure something out. The experiment with the broken fan was a great way to show how external noises/malfunctioning electronics can seem like the supernatural. The less said about the second place, the better. Total losers.
• Have I Got News For You: "Alexander Armstrong, Michael McIntyre, and Clare Balding" - Ah, I enjoyed this one. I guess I've recovered from the Brian Blessed episode. Lots of laughing during this one, and I liked Clare a lot.
• Doctor Who: "Forest of the Dead" Originally listed as "River's Run" - Thanks to the original title, and a bit of foreshadowing in the first episode, I actually managed to figure this one out. Well, most of it. Well, part of it. Well, enough to make me happy. There were still a lot of surprises, and I was literally on the edge of my seat for most of the episode. As for what she whispered to him.... WHOA. I hope we see more of River in the future...or the past.

Comics this week:

• Trinity #1 - Hrm. It's a start. Not horrible, but not really engaging to me, either.
• Detective Comics #845 - Another done-in-one, and a good one at that. Gotham is not a place I'd want to live.
• Justice Society of America #16 - Not enough Ma Hunkel. But this is promising. Who wants to bet it all ends with a nasty fight, though? A power like that just won't fit into the DC Universe.
• Justice League Unlimited #46 - Hrm. A Green Lantern story. I've never been a fan of the cosmic tales, so this wasn't a good send-off for the book in my opinion.
• Jonah Hex #32 - I knew who was going to end up dead at the end of the story. Still, it worked. Not my favorite book, but it's Hex.
• Invincible Iron Man #2 - Nice cliffhanger.
• Noble Causes #34 - Want to go back to the days of Liz and Race. I feel like that plot never finished, and I'm just not confident that this will lead back to that.
• Witchblade #118 - Yikes. Conclusion to one tale, but lots of plot threads for future ones. This book isn't half bad.
• Red Sonja #34 - Oooh, that's a twist I wasn't really expecting. That actually would explain a lot about Sonja.
• Doctor Who Classics #7 - Better than I remembered it. And it's never looked so good.

This week's library movie was Superman - Doomsday. I hate the voices. Hate them. Worst voice casting ever. Ok, maybe not... the problem is that I liked the voices from the old series. Even after all these years, I would have preferred them to reprise their roles. It took a full half hour into the movie before I started to accept the new voices. As for the movie itself, I prefer the comic book version of the story. This was weak on plot and substance, and felt like it could have been done in half the time without losing anything of value. The fights were long, dramatic, and boring (which is a neat trick). I don't really recommend this one.

My library book this week was Fugitives of Chaos by John C Wright. Five children, five different ways of looking at the world, and all of them are right. The true genius of this series is the way it takes those opposing viewpoints and makes them work together. The whole sex and Grendel thing is more than a little disturbing, but it doesn't overpower the rest of the story. This book ends on a more dramatic cliffhanger than the first book, but I knew it was a trilogy going into reading it. So far, a pretty good read.

This week's Agatha Christie book was Murder on the Links (aka The Girl with the Anxious Eyes) from 1923. This is her third book, and the second Poirot novel. I'm really liking Poirot more and more. I can see why these books took off so well. They are written in an easygoing style, fun to read, and you always find yourself guessing along with the characters. Once again I didn't figure it out, so I'm 0-3 on Agatha Christie mysteries (although I was really close with the last book). I'm still trying to pull together a list of complete Christie works, and it's not nearly as easy as I hoped thanks to the odd publishing history of her stories (lots of alternate titles!). But I'm getting closer. Now the only problem is getting the books from the library in good time. Luckily, I have a library system that is likely to have most, if not all, her books.

Fortean Times #237 arrived on the 5th, and I already devoured it *burp*. This is the only magazine that I read cover to cover every time I get one, skipping only the ads (though I tend to giggle at them). This month the cover article was on Crystal Skulls (gee, I wonder why?). I really enjoyed the article on haunted lighthouses. I want to move into one someday. A lighthouse. The "haunted" bit isn't required. Moving on, I really enjoyed Rupert Sheldrake's letter about skepticism, and I think it successfully sums up my own opinion on the subject. The full page comic was missing, and the issue seemed to end abruptly, but it was a good issue that yielded three more books from the reviews that I put on hold at the library. And I've still got two books from the last Fortean Times on hold to read!

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "Real Deal Fast Food" - We should've seen this last week, but thanks to Comcast's stupid digital cable box that hates our TiVo, we missed it. As with all the episodes of this show, I tried to decide which place I wanted to visit most. Unlike most episodes, I couldn't decide between the first and third spots.
• Classic Doctor Who: "Invasion of Time" Parts 3 & 4 - I really like Leela in this story. Confident, strong, cunning, and intelligent. And her faith in the Doctor is good to see.
• American Gladiator - I hope I wasn't the only person creeped out by the woman who was competing "for her husband" while he looked on in apparent disapproval. Very creepy. I really liked Brick... he made Toa take a dunk. I hope Brick goes all the way.
• Have I Got News For You: "Lee Mack, Shami Chakrabarti, and John O'Farrell" - Celery and Moobs! Still not as great as the Brian Blessed episode, but this one had lots of laughs. The "artist impressions" were a lovely touch, particularly "Ian hunting Methodists".
• Iron Chef America: "Flay vs Iacovone" - This is a good one to play the drinking game with. As usual with Flay, I rooted for the challenger. As is often the case, I wasn't much interested in trying any of the dishes.
• Ghost Hunters: "House of Spirits" - Well, the first location was goofy, but the second had some good solid debunking happening. The "eat that dead moth" bet was predictably silly, and I'm really glad he didn't do it.
• Dinner: Impossible: "Firehouse Fiasco" - That was a nightmare meal. I'm surprised he was able to pull the food/equipment in as quickly as he did. It was a miracle that meal turned out at all.
• Supernanny: "Doyle Family" - Not a bad episode. The reinforcement of the "naughty chair" technique is important in this one. It seems like most parents are inclined to give up too quickly. Again, I wish I could see follow-ups that are years later instead of weeks or months.
• Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "The Memphis Barbecue Tour" - I'm really not into barbecue, so this was just mildly interesting to me instead of hunger-inducing.
• Doctor Who: "Silence in the Library" - Um. Wow? Creepy, and yet touching in parts. Appropriate that this follows the Agatha Christie episode. I'm waiting to see how the girl fits into the whole thing. And I like River Song.

Comics this week:

• Final Crisis #1 - I can hear the complaints already. With my lack of interest in the new gods, this is going to be a boring mini for me.
• Batman #677 - Still not sure what's going on, still don't care. Bruce Wayne examines his inner soul. Yawn.
• Action Comics #865 - Nice little side story on the Toyman. Not great, but not bad either.
• Green Lantern #31 - More origin. I really don't like galactic DCU, so this did nothing for me.
• JSA: Classified #38 - And more Wildcat. Nice detective work there, and a decent cliffhanger.
• Northlanders #6 - Ah, what a lovely twist at the end! I'm liking this book more and more.
• Rogue Angel #4 - Hmm. I'm getting into this one again. I like the main hero, and the plotline with Mark Twain is very nice.
• Usagi Yojimbo #112 - Every once in awhile I feel like going back and re-reading all of Usagi Yojimbo for clues to what's happening in the current story. This is one of those times.
• Heroes - Very nice collection of the on-line comics. I've read most of them, but I'll be re-reading as soon as I have a chance to sit down with it.
• DC Super Friends Young Readers Volume 1: "Heroes United/Attack of the Robot" - Glee!!!! This is a really cute book. It's for young readers, but the punch out heroes in the center are very nice, and the story is surprisingly solid. "Heroes United" is just an introduction to the characters, the five male members of the Super Friends (no Wonder Woman). "Attack of the Robot" puts them up against Lex Luthor. The only problem I have with the book is the lack of Wonder Woman, otherwise it's very cute and sweet.
• DC Super Friends Young Readers Volume 2: "Flying High" - Again, no Wonder Woman. Aquaman doesn't appear on the cover, but is in the book. This one is at the youngest reading level, while the other book was at a slightly older level. The story involves the Penguin, but naturally hasn't got much detail. Still, it's fun. Just not as fun as the first one.

This week's library movie was Stardust. I've read the original, and I must admit it was slightly better than the movie. Of course. But the real fun was seeing where the movie veers away from the book, and what bits are different completely. The scenes from the book are wonderfully realized. The changes were mostly for the best and worked very well. Overall, this is just a great movie to see for a light evening's entertainment. But read the book first. It's even more fun that way.

My library book this week was Orphans of Chaos by John C. Wright. It was recommended by an Androgum at our last Doctor Who party, so I figured I'd give it a chance. It is very strange. The orphans live in a school in which they are outnumbered by the staff, and each of the children seems to have abilities beyond normal humans. Not to mention a great deal of intelligence. The story veered off into high concepts at times, which made for an odd read. Overall, though, it was an enjoyable read and a nice contrast to my usual fare.

Another Agatha Christie book this week, The Secret Adversary, her second published novel. This one features Tommy and Tuppence, a young couple seeking money and adventure who get caught up in a mystery involving a missing girl. I was cursing myself at the end of the book, when I realized that I'd half-missed the vital clue. Yeah, I caught the clue itself, but missed the full meaning. Argh! So... I liked this one a lot.

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Classic Doctor Who: "Sunmakers" Parts 1 & 2 - Ah yes. I have seen this one before, but it's still an interesting tale of taxes, drugs, and rebellion.
• Chefography: "Rachel Ray" - I didn't mean to watch this, but I caught it anyway and enjoyed it. I think the main issue folks have with Rachel is her oversaturation. Watching the bio, I see how she managed to get all over the place. I think she ought to slow down before she explodes or something.
• Iron Chef America: "Flay vs Rios" - One of my favorite ingredients, and my least favorite Iron Chef.
• Have I Got News For You: "Jack Dee, Peter Serafinowicz and Bob Marshall-Andrews" - This is one of the funniest shows on TV... unfortunately, there's no American version (and if there was, it would be dumbed down, I bet).
• Supernanny: "Schrage Family" - The sleeping habits of that family are beyond belief... I'm surprised the parents didn't fix that themselves out of sheer frustration years earlier.
• Ghost Hunters: "Spirits of the Old West" - Good old gory stories in this one, and not much else.
• Dinner: Impossible: "Brewhouse Bites" - I don't drink beer, and it smells like rotting feet to me, so this episode is utterly unappetizing. Perhaps I should watch it when I'm having trouble keeping my calorie level low.
• Ace of Cakes: "Skate, Rattle and Roll" - Best dream sequence ever! Duff looks good as a wish-granting fairy.
• Smallville: "Sleeper" - Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen. Halfway amusing, totally cringeworthy.
• Star Trek New Voyages/Phase II: "To Serve All My Days" - Chekov talks to himself very nicely. But the ending... that was NOT what I was expecting. For the record, we have now seen all released episodes of New Voyages/Phase II (we saw "World Enough and Time" back in March when we heard it was nominated for a Hugo).
• Doctor Who: "The Sontaran Stratagem" - I kept thinking, "Why are they adding another plotline? How can they wrap this one up?" I'd forgotten it was a two-parter. I like Donna even more now.

Comics this week:

• Countdown 1 - Um. Ok.
• Checkmate #25 - I expected the ending, but there was enough misdirection that I wasn't sure of it.
• Justice League of America #20 - It's a Flash story, with a little bit of a fight. Not bad.
• Batman #675 - I actually liked this one, despite some dodgy moments with the artwork.
• Super Friends #2 - This book is great. I love it. Aquaman is wonderful, full of confidence and a great sense of humor. "'Bye, Icky." I'm still grinning.
• Spirit #16 - I love how the gossip leads the investigation.
• Northlanders #5 - Flashback issue! Sven's path is pretty clear now.
• Witchblade #117 - I'm supposed to know who the guy at the end is, right?
• Fallen Angel #26 - Slightly disjointed, especially toward the end. I'm not really sure what happened, although I understand all the individual pieces.
• Star Trek: New Frontier #2 - I tried to read it. But without having read the books, it makes no sense whatsoever. I give up.

This week's library movie was Unaccompanied Minors. We have to watch a stupid movie every once in awhile, and this one was reported to have an Aquaman connection. Sure enough, we got an Aquaman action figure ten minutes in. Lewis Black makes a really good villain, and a halfway decent Santa. And the Aquaman action figure has a role in the plot beyond just being Beef's friend. Overall, this was not a bad way to waste 90 minutes. Maybe I'll get a copy of this one for my Aquaman collection someday.

My library book this week was Jack of Fables Vol. 2: Jack of Hearts. There's really not a lot to say about this one. It's ... Jack. If you have read enough Fables, you understand this guy, if not, you don't. I think I'll continue to read these in trade. The next one is out this summer, so I may wait awhile before it hits the library.

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

TV this week: Numb3rs: "Black Swan" (waffles for dinner!), Classic Doctor Who: "Image of the Fendahl" Parts 1 & 2 (a Doctor Who classic story I haven't seen!), Iron Chef America: "Cora vs Oringer" (I can honestly say I wouldn't want to try ANY of those dishes, or even smell them), Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "A World of Flavors" (yay, more places I want to eat at!), Chefography: "Julia Child" (I never paid much attention to her, but now that I'm cooking more I find her life fascinating), Star Trek New Voyages/Phase II: "Come What May" (iconic characters with new actors, sometimes works, sometimes doesn't... but then, everyone who plays Hamlet isn't great), Verity Lambert: Drama Queen (A great tribute to a great woman who changed TV in her time), Destination Truth: "Giant Anaconda" (I think they were pretty lucky to get out of the Amazon unscathed), Ghost Hunters: "Haunted Air Force Base" (well, I'd like to love it, but they are getting more like other ghost shows... less scientific, more emotion and crap), Supernanny: "Citarella Family" (stop laughing, start disciplining), Chefography: "Mario Batali" (a local boy!), Chefography: "Duff Goldman" (I want to be that happy in my work), and Doctor Who: "The Fires of Pompeii" (Donna is a fangirl, and asks all the questions that fans have been asking for years!).

Comics this week: Countdown 3 was more of the same. Justice Society of America #14 was just a lead up to a big fight... then a big fight. Green Lantern Corps #23 was slightly promising. Wonder Woman #19 made me wonder what Aquaman villain got caught. Titans #1 made me wonder if Tempest was also attacked.

Tiny Titans #3 was just too cute for words. I loved it. Find Fluffy! Doctor Who Classics #5 was just as I recalled the story, only I can't remember how it ends. This issue ended on a good cliff-hanger, unlike some of the others. Serenity: Better Days #2 started out incredibly amusing, then went a bit downhill from there. I liked it, but it could've been better. And lastly, Castle Waiting #11 continued on like it always does. It's a happy sort of read, every time. I feel like I'm cuddled in warm blankets drinking hot cocoa when I'm reading this book. Even though the plot doesn't seem to be moving forward. Which is no doubt a problem for other readers.

This week's library movie was Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer. It was considerably better than I was led to believe it would be by the fanboi complaints. Great effects on the Silver Surfer. So-so plot, but fun overall. There were a few breath-taking moments. I found their version of Galactus to be MUCH more appealing and frightening than the purple giant in the comic books. Stan Lee's cameo was hilarious.

My library book this week was Jack of Fables - The (Nearly) Great Escape. I checked it out because I heard there were Oz characters in it, and I wanted to confirm them for hubby-Eric. I enjoyed this, and remembered why I read the original Fables collections. I probably should pick up where I left off and read more Fables. But this was good, and it had Oz characters. Heck, Toto gets nommed. This was about what you'd expect from Fables, but it might be a bit of a jump if you haven't read any of the original series that this spun off from.

Arriving this week: Fortean Times #235. Of interest in this issue was the article on Infectious Insanity, which seems like it would work well as a comic book story. There was also a Wizard of Oz sand sculpture that I had to show hubby-Eric. Another article I liked was the Brittany witches article, particularly for the fantastic photos. The Home on the Range article proposed tracking UFO and paranormal experiences in a scientific manner to locate "window areas", but I think it would be worth tracking just to encourage reporting so we can figure out what such events actually are. Why can't we apply the scientific method to the paranormal? I think close-minded "skeptics" are just as bad as true believers... they are the opposite sides of the same coin. Charles Fort was against throwing away data because it didn't fit, but skeptics toss out anything they can't explain. Too many people experience the paranormal for it to be nothing at all... so why isn't science willing to investigate it to find out what it is?

I visited Whole Foods to pick up some dark chocolate, which I eat in moderation to satisfy my sweet tooth. I also picked up a small tub of Venezualan Cocoa Nibs, raw cocoa beans. I've been chomping on them as a snack food. Just a little goes a LONG way. They taste a bit like dark chocolate walnuts, with a slightly bitter aftertaste. I'm surprised... I like it a lot, and probably will enjoy munching until I get through the tub. Unless I think of something else to do with the raw nibs.

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

TV this week: Star Trek New Voyages/Phase II: "World Enough and Time" (the new actors playing familiar parts take some getting used to, but this is good), Iron Chef America: "Morimoto vs Cole" (surprising ingredient, but not a surprising result), Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "Regional Favorites" (pancakes WAY too big), Robin Hood: "Treasure of the Nation" (Lynda Bellingham! She made this episode), Ghost Hunters: "The Fear Cage" (they were red, not pink), Destination Truth: "Sea Monster; Bat Demon" (Josh is so snarky about the places he goes to I'm surprised he doesn't get beat up), Dinner: Impossible: "Groundhog Daze" (I think Robert deserved this one), Supernanny: "Weinstein Family" (big scary father learns what he looks like to his kids), Ace of Cakes: "Avenue Q Cakes" (I really want to see Avenue Q sometime), and Smallville: "Veritas" (is this series over yet?).

Comics this week:

• Countdown 5 - Another depressing issue, although it pretty much sorts itself out at the end. So, I'm guessing that wasn't the main Earth?
• Green Lantern #29 - Oh no, not Hal Jordan's origin yet again! Well... this is a little different. Promising start.
• JSA Classified #36 - Cats and more cats. I'm not that interested in Wildcat, but this has caught my imagination.
• Spirit #15 - What on Earth does he see in her, anyway?
• Fallen Angel #25 - I keep thinking it will explode into something great, and it keeps not exploding.
• Phantom #22 - The change hasn't been retconned away, so maybe it'll stick around a bit. Maybe. Or perhaps he'll wake up and it was a dream.
• Star Trek: The New Frontier #1 - I read the cover twice, this is issue number one. So why do I feel like I came in at the middle of the story?
• Rogue Angel: Teller of Tales #2 - Ah, the origin story! I think I'd rather have read more about the find in the basement, but this wasn't bad.
• Usagi Yojimbo #110 - A great done-in-one tale! I've missed those. This is one any Usagi fan will probably enjoy.
• Amelia Rules #20 - Amelia was ok, but Apathy Kat was surreal. I'm not sure what I thought of it.

My library book this week was The Search for the Red Dragon by James A. Owen. I read the first book reported on here, and enjoyed it, so I checked out the second. This is more of the same in some ways... lots of literary references and a rippin' plot that pulls you through history and reality. I haven't yet been able to identify all of the characters, but I feel like I'm getting close. This is definitely a series that will reveal more on rereading, so I plan on buying copies of these books once we've got money again. Unfortunately, this book came out this year, so I'm going to have to wait for any more sequels (and I'm thinking there will be at least one more).

A second library book I picked up was The Daily Show and Philosophy edited by Jason Holt. This book is a collection of essays deconstructing the Daily Show from a philosophical viewpoint. Among other topics, the essayists tackle the concept of using fiction to tell the truth, Jon Stewart as a philosopher, critical thinking within the show, how religion is treated in the show, and Truthiness. There's a solid index, footnotes on each essay and biographies of the essayists. It's actually a very good package, although the individual essays vary in quality. Even if you do not watch the show, the essays generally give enough context to understand the concepts. If you are interested in how the media works from a broader view of history, this is a book you may want to check out.

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews