Another weekend went to waste where I was sick. Then the fever broke, but I could barely move. Yesterday, the act of even putting on clothes was a major chore. Even now, tho I can walk now, my physical dexterity and strength in my arms and hands isn't quite there yet. As you can see, I can type, but it is a bit of a strain. Don't ask me to write anything. There are still some things I can't pull off with my hands yet.

To top it off, it took me two hours to get into work today.

I think I'm done with this week.

Tags: health, rant

Deep within a SHIELD research facility, Loki (Tom Hiddleson) has opened a portal to steal the Cosmic Cube and taking control of Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) and Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner). As a result, the facility is completely obliterated.

In response, Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) decides to activate the Avenger Initiative, calling on the most powerful of Earth's heroes to meet the threat: Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). With Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) joining them, can a group of heroes used to working alone pull it together in time to save the world?

Really, I couldn't imagine a better film about The Avengers. This is a film where everyone is on their A game. As out-of-control as RDJ was in Iron Man 2, he's back on point here. Hemsworth and Evans keep going where they left off in their debut films. Having Edward Norton bowing of this film was a blessing in disguise, since the third times the charm with Ruffalo. He definitely embodies a mild-mannered man who is keeping things in check by a thread. Even Johansson brings some depth to Black Widow (Hell, she even gets to speak some Russian here.)

Some have complained with how little Loki is in the film, but to be honest, he shouldn't be in the film much. In the comics, Loki is a master manipulator, who prefers to have others do his dirty work. His plan here is very much in his character.

I guess if there was one thing I could complain about, was that I wish that they had another female member to the Avengers. Then again, pickings were slim. (Talking about it later, the best choice would have been Ms. Marvel, tho that also has a backstory to it. You can't really do Wasp without Ant Man. Scarlet Witch isn't available due to rights issues. (She's tied into the movie rights to X-Men.))

In any case, go see it. Stay through the credits, since there are two sequences you should see.

Tags: movie, review comics
Current Music: Scale the Summit - Holding Thunder | Powered by Last.fm

I've been looking into flights to Atlanta for ProgPower this fall, and right now everything is expensive. Well, except for one option that someone told me about. Right now, flying out of Richmond on Delta is about half the price of just about everyone else. It is a two hour drive to Richmond from where I am, but the savings might be worth it.

Tags: progpower, travel

In my waiting to see "The Avengers", which hopefully happens this weekend, I needed to catch up on the one film I haven't seen that sets up the film.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr) is riding high after revealing that he's Iron Man. Unfortunately, the tech that saved his life and allows him to be Iron Man is slowly killing him. As options elude him, he grows self-destructive. In the meantime, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) has replicated some of Iron Man's technology and used it to try to kill Stark. Impressed by this, Stark's rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) hires him to create his own suits. But Vanko has his own agenda.

This movie really is kinda a mess for a couple of reasons. One, there isn't enough Iron Man. For most of the movie it is the Tony Stark show, and while Downey is great at it, the character wears on you after a while. Two, it doesn't help when the other dominant character in the first part of the film, Justin Hammer, is pretty much played as "I want to be Tony Stark, but I'm not cool enough." Rockwell is excellent at these roles, but it is too much like Stark himself.

I also think a problem with this film is that the first one, as great as it is, writes itself into a corner. It is kinda hard to create War Machine if in the previous film you have Stark giving up his military contracts. Also, having Rhodey be an Air Force officer really makes things complicated when Stark needs to pass on the armor to someone. It would have been different if Rhodey was an employee, but him being military makes it a conflict of interest and a very debatable moral choice from Rhodey.

I hope they get back on track with the next film.

Tags: comics, movie, review

Arrietty (Bridgit Mendler) and her family are Borrowers, little people who live on the fringes of human society, borrowing what they need while keeping themselves hidden. One day, a boy arrives at the cottage (David Henrie) and spots Arrietty. A relationship builds between the two, but how is it going to affect Arrietty's family?

I've never read "The Borrowers", but the story is about what I'd expect it to be. Events are set in motion from the first moments of the film, and you know how it is going to end up by the end. That is fine, because this is still pretty good storytelling.

While the story was written by Miyazaki, it was directed by first-time director Hiromasa Yonebayashi. You can tell that the quality hasn't dropped off. The attention to detail in this film is what you've come to expect from Studio Ghibli.

While it probably won't be considered one of the best of Ghibli's catalog, even average Ghibli is better than most animation studios.

Tags: anime, movie, review
Current Music: Yes - Overture | Powered by Last.fm

A few years back, I added a new drive to my computer and upgraded the OS to Windows 7. Well, one of the nasty surprises I had when I recently did a hardware refresh was that the old boot drive was still the boot drive. I've actually been wanting to get that drive out of my system for some time, so I figured that switching the boot drive should be relatively painless. Well, I figured wrong.

The simplest solution seems to be to disconnect the old boot drive and run the setup CD and do a repair on the OS. Well, it would be simple, if the setup CD recognized my OS, which it did not.

Next step was to use bcdboot to create the boot files on my main drive. The instructions I initially followed left out that you need to mark the partition as "active". That was also for naught, because it was still looking for the XP bootloader. Unfortunately, most of the solutions for this problem suggest the first solution.

Next step, I guess, is to use bcdedit, and I'm not entirely sure I'll have a bootable computer at the end of it.

This shit shouldn't be this hard.

Tags: computer, rant
Current Music: Apocalyptica - Helden | Powered by Last.fm

Gotta admit, this is a good take on the Doctor Who theme.

Tags: music, sf

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/299126/different-kind-progressive-bradley-j-birzer#

I'm sure it is giving readers of The National Review heart attacks by seeing the word "progressive" used in a positive light...

Tags: music

Because this one is really stuck. I've moved it back and forth many times and it still won't go when I turn it on. I think I'll let it sit for now and let it cool off.

Tags: house

Imagine a post with my last name on it in a Prog Rock forum that doesn't involve me.

Bradley Birzer, who is a professor of English at Hillsdale College in Michigan. He's written a few books (Including one on Tolkien and the influence of his faith on Lord Of The Rings.), but today I found he did a lecture on Progressive Rock at the University Of Louisville.

http://web.me.com/bradleybirzer/The_Birzers/Prog_Lecture.html

Imagine that. I guess it is in the blood.

Tags: music