Greg Sanders

Things other games should steal from Mass Effect 2

I just finished the game with my femShep paragon sentinel. I enjoyed it, although I think its best thought of as a series of episodes rather the stronger mini-arcs and main arc of the first game. In keeping with my recent post on pop culture dominance, I'm not going to go with a full review or even a critique. Instead, I'll just emphasize those elements I'd like to see used in other games.

But first, here's my favorite character doing Gilbert and Sullivan:

1. Having a small number of well defined powers with clearly labeled interactions. Some people have complained that Mass Effect 2 was dumbed down; that may be true.  However, having a smaller number of powers and clearly labeling when they would be effective allowed for a wider range of mechanically distinct characters. In addition, I think I actually used all of the powers available in the game fairly often. Similarly, the original game was vastly improved upon by dramatically reducing the number of guns while making them actually feel different.
2. Evocative hacking mini-games: There were two hacking games: one involved selecting matching source code, the other involved linking circuits on a board. They were both quite simple and actually could have used a steeper difficulty curve. However, they were enough to make the hacking feel genuinely technical in no small part thanks to good visual design. The probe mini-game does fairly well too in that regard, but I disapprove of that form of resource gathering because it's ultimately a mechanic that lets you trade your time for more in-game resources.
3. The conversation interrupt mechanic: The alignment system is nothing spectacular: you get paragon or renegade points based on your choices, although nicely enough you often can get some of each from the same conversation. That said, I was pleased by the way the plot mandated that being a paragon required some standing up to your patron. In any event, those points are spent by allowing you to interrupt a conversation; for example, a paragon might convince someone not to do something stupid while a renegade might shoot them before they had a chance to draw. In Star Wars terms, Han Solo was able to shoot Greedo first thanks to all of the mouthing off he does elsewhere in the series.
4. Reasonable chance of a few support characters dying: I hope I'm not being too bloody-minded here, but people die in war and its important to remember that. One of the real strengths of the first two games of the series is that your choices directly impact who dies. I particularly regret the character who died in my playthrough; he might have had an important future, but I think some regret is appropriate for this sort of tale.

(Mild outcome spoilers on my playthrough: lost Grunt, dating Garrus)

Origin: Gift from Ryan, thanks Ryan!

Update: Noted origin and moved spoilers to the end to get them out of the google plus preview.

Review: Carcassonne add-on Traders and Builders

Carcassonne is a fairly well-known European-style-tile laying game. The players take turns placing squares to expand a map of fields, roads, monasteries, and walled cities meant to evoke a region in France. As they do so, they place their little wooden pieces, called meeples, to score points based on a variety of terrain features. This review will be most interesting to those that have played the original game, but I'll discuss a few general design features at the end.

This add-on struck our fancy because it fits well with my wife's preferred play style: filling in gaps in the map rather than sprawling off to the sides. This is an aesthetically pleasing play style and one that fits the theme of the game as to my knowledge there are no gaping holes in reality in the French countryside.

Traders and Builders uses multiple methods to achieve this goal. First, it reduces the incentive to block other player's cities by providing a reward in the form of trade goods to any player that finishes a city. Second, it adds a "builder" piece that allows a second turn each round if you lay your tile in a way that connects to an existing city or road. This has the virtue of focusing one player's attention and keeping the game from slowing down despite the addition of new pieces. Third, a new "pig" piece increases the bonuses received from a single field. Fields are one of the mechanisms from the original game that encourage players to play in a concentrated area, either to reap points from ever-expanding pastures or to firmly enclose the grasslands of another player. Finally, the new tiles, in addition to introducing trade goods, seem well-chosen to match up with difficult-to-fill spots from the base game.

Traders and Builders could be fairly critiqued for adding three new elements, and thus sacrificing some of the original game's simplicity. However, I think all the pieces interlock well and show signs of carefully considered balance and play-testing.

I might not have noticed Traders and Builders if not for the advice of a clerk at the Family Game Store at Savage Mills, who broke out the virtues in a way that made the choice over "Inns and Cathedrals," another add-on, an easy one. Typically, I think of game add-ons as introducing a new element to an existing game.  I think it's a far rarer breed that also reinforces the core game while adding a fun new aspect.

Fellow players for the review: Kate, Andrew, and Monica. Thanks all.

Image from BoardGameGeek.com

Source: My mother given to Kate. Thanks Mom for the gift and Kate for letting me play!

Review: Azul 17

Last night, Kate treated me to Azul 17, a higher-end Mexican restaurant in Howard County. We had a good time and were particularly impressed by our helpful waiter, who when asked gave advice on a variety of matters and made up the guacamole we ordered as an appetizer. That is actually one of the gimmicks the restaurant is known for; it was indeed fresh and tasty although I think the price is primarily justified by the chance to see it made up. The process didn't seem that hard if you have the right ingredients, so perhaps I'll give it a try someday.

The menu we ordered off is more extensive than the one online, but roughly Kate had a seafood casserole with shrimp, clams, snapper, and scallops in a tomato broth. We both found the red snapper to be particularly exceptional and I loved the rice. I'd ordered an enchilada with mushrooms and huitlacoche. The latter is also known as corn smut, but tastes far better than it sounds. Kate says if you are already eating mushrooms, what's one more fungus? She's right, the disparate elements of the enchilada made a great light vegetarian dish and the leftovers were terrific today.

Finally we had a flight of tequila. That was reasonably fun; the more whiskey-esque variants seem to be our speed. That said, I don't think either of us feel the need to make a habit of it. As Azul 17's tequila specialization suggests, many of the dishes and sauces were quite spicy, including the palette cleanser drink.  We got by all right, so if you're a spice fiend you may wish to check it out and if you are not be sure that you've got some tamer dishes in the mix.

Source: Picked by Kate when she saw a LivingSocial deal.  Thanks, Kate!

Review: Code of the Woosters, P.G. Wodehouse

This was my first Wodehouse book and it was a reasonable starting point to the Jeeves and Wooster stories. It was a fairly quick read and in my view really got going around page 100 as the action came to a head, specifically as a painting was used for some fairly ineffective head-cracking. The zaniness continued largely unabated from that point onward, which did heighten my enjoyment as the relentlessness of the plotting meant that the underlying absurdity of the problems was overwhelmed by the urgency of dealing with them.  I enjoyed the whole thing, although I fear my comparatively weak background in the western canon meant that I was missing how some of the classical quotes were being tweaked. My only real takeaway about the culture being described was a curiosity about whether the characters' willingness to prank the police was primarily an upper-class thing or whether it reflects differences between British and American culture. Cops are often buffoons in American comedies, but characters don't go around stealing their hats or the like unless avenging a particular slight. Come to think of it, more than anything else the attitude reminds me of that of the Phoenix Wright games.

I'll run down the rest of my book backlog  before returning to the series, but I do have definite hopes that the humor of the series will be cumulative as I get to know the characters better. I often end up turned off by series that revolve around the suffering of a foolish main character, but Wooster is shown to have a healthy dose of humanity and wit if not wisdom.

Source: Recommended by Andrew and Monica, loaned to me by my father-in-law; thanks all.

Restaurant Review: East Moon in Columbia MD

East Moon Asian Bistro is a local chain serving a mix of Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese food. We've been to the Columbia location twice and were pleased with our meals both times, as were family and friends that went separately. I particularly liked the way they handled their modernist décor, a neat mix of art with a colorful theme and only a moderate visual distraction if you're facing in the direction of the bar and thus a few televisions.

The first time we went for entrees, the second sushi. I'd say the entrees seem to be their strong point; I had pad se lew and Kate had the lemon grass chicken. Quite tasty and substantial for prices in the low teens. Tonight, the sushi was reasonable, we both left satisfied and I particularly liked their Tokyo roll. However, if you're dining in Howard county you have a rather wide selection of sushi restaurants and we're likely to stick with Hanamura or Yama Sushi as our default traditional and fancy place respectively. For the record, East Moon is more in the fancy camp and does a good job with the appearance of their platters.

So if you want an affordable restaurant that provides a mix of Asian cuisines, I'd say East Moon fits the bill. I'm not sure how well they handle larger groups, but from a price perspective you really can't go wrong if you bring more people and split a smaller number of their big dishes.

[Updated to add photo.]

Quickie review: Indie RPG buying

Both Indie Press Revolution (IPR) and Evil Hat are good places to get a variety of Indie RPGs and unlike many other sources will often include a PDF at the same cost as a print purchase. In both cases I went with the low end shipping option.

With Indie Press Revolution I placed the order on 12/16, got the PDFs nigh instantly, shipping notification email received 12/20, and it arrived via media mail on 1/4. 

With Evil Hat I placed the order on 12/16 as well, got the PDFs nigh instantly, I got the shipping notification email on 12/20, but the package arrived on 12/21.

When I checked in with the Indie Press Revolution guys, they were fairly responsive and apparently it had accidentally been sent media mail by USPS rather than UPS (or priority mail with USPS). So apparently the length of the delay was a fluke, although in any event they didn't send tracking info which has been sadly reminiscent of the bad old days of having no idea when a package would arrive.

I'm up for using IPR again, but for now I'm definitely going to err towards Evil Hat on future orders if time is at all sensitive. Particularly since the interface is a bit less glitchy in the later case.

Review: Assassin's Creed 2

I'm well-suited to the core gameplay concept of Assassin's Creed: it's a sandbox where you get to use major historical city, in this case primarily Florence and Venice, as your own parkour playground. I'm not actually so keen on the Assassin part, but there's enough fun running, climbing, racing, and exploring to keep me interested.  Speed and stealth are both fairly effective ways to avoid combat and in a pinch you can always beat someone up with your fists, although it's fairly tedious.

The game wasn't particularly hard. I never really got frustrated although as a downside I didn't always feel challenged. I've yet to finish the puzzle-oriented 'truth' unlocking session but I'm likely to soon enough. Similarly, one of the biggest delights of the series is climbing up to high points and looking around and I've got about a half dozen viewpoints left to find. I can live with games that are this forgiving; I think the key is trying to play with style rather than simply achieving your objectives. The dialog feedback from passersby and the notoriety system both do a reasonable job of docking you if you get too sloppy.

Assassin's Creed probably won't make my all time top 10, but I think the gameplay in many ways takes some of the mechanics of Thief while making them a lot more fun. I'd rather play a Thief than an Assassin, but I'd take Assassin's Creed's jumping and climbing over the jumping puzzles in Thief any day of the week. Also, amusingly, I think the death toll in Assassin's Creed is still a fair amount lower than in Uncharted despite the latter being about a fortune hunter and not nominally a killer by trade.

If I could add one thing to the series, it might be to provide a bit of parity between the deaths of assassin targets and the nameless guards that you may kill on the way. The targets all get a benediction, specifically set up as the way your character shows respect for the dead. However, no such privilege is extended to the average guard, who presumably is actually a better person than most of your targets. There's already an option to loot bodies; I don't think showing respect for them would be all that hard and it would decrease the disconnect between the gameplay, characterization, and story.

Source: Loaned to me by my friend Ryan, thanks Ryan!

Review: Starship Catan

Like many people, we are Settlers of Catan fans. A few year a game store clerk advised me that while he was not a fan of Seafarers of Catan or Starfarers of Catan, somehow their elements combined to make an make a great two player game called Starship Catan.

This is a classic Eurogame: the production values are good, you're vying for victory points, and most of the competition is indirect. Specifically, you can forcibly buy resources off each other and compete to get to upgrades or missions first but your ship's beam weapons are just aimed at space pirates. As a Catan game, your main path to victory is accumulating colonies that can net you resources, but buying unique upgrades to your ship, getting trading colonies, and meeting the objectives at adventure planets all offer alternate paths to winning. I'll leave additional summary to the experts over at BoardGameGeek.

Leading with the bad news, the game does take a bit of time to set up each time. There's cards to organize, the two shipboards to setup, and enough rules that you'll probably want to refresh yourself if it's been a while since you last played. I will note that the game provides a great tutorial to ease you into the first play through. Our games tend to play over an hour or two, although we may be slow. So there's a bit of time investment for a two player game for each match and the way the cards work you'll have to re-sort when done. Happily, I think the time is well worth it for three reasons.

First, the game has many of the benefits of randomness without feeling too swingy based on luck. Each game is different because instead of having a game board to explore, there are four quadrants of 10 cards each. After each trip through a quadrant the 10 cards are reshuffled and any removed cards, such as newly acquired colonies, are replaced. As a result, you learn most of the make up of a quadrant over time, but you don't know which planets you'll get to in a given turn. For example, in our most recent game one of the quadrants had two mission planets and another was known for being a good place to buy cheap resources. The roll to determine your speed also determines economic production. The die ranges from 1-3. As in Catan, you can have multiple colonies producing when a 2 is rolled, but you only get resources from one of them each turn. Thus, unlike Catan, there's not much room for attributing the outcome of a game to the unusual number of 4s that came up. The small value on both the engine and the pirate fighting die also mean that the attributes of your ship, which starts with two blasters and two engines, are more important than the roll of the dice.

Those ship attributes are also what I really like about the game. The ship boards are well put together and have excellent labeling making it easy to tell what various options cost. More importantly, the six different modules allow players to pursue markedly different strategies. I tend to go for sensors that let you look at and reject the first two cards in a given quadrant. Kate likes going for logistics first which allows her ship to carry three of each resources type rather than the default two. The other four modules are similarly useful and while the level 1 version of each component is available to both players there is only one version each of the upgraded modules. As a result your ships differentiate themselves fast and stay different. Happily,different strategies seem robust; both Kate and I have won two matches and despite my faith in my approach I never really got my economy going and lost our most recent match.

Finally, I just like the theme. While more mercantile in feel, the game is probably going to appeal to Star Trek fans. There's fighting with space pirates, but exploring different parts of the galaxy and solving problems is a big part of the game. Science is a resource that becomes more valuable as the game progresses as it helps with key missions and is necessary to upgrade your blasters or engines to their second level form. My only objection with the theme is that they don't quite manage to provide a solid technobabble exploration for the randomized navigation. It's a critical part of the gameplay, but it still is a bit odd. Perhaps instead of being so planet-oriented there could also be other ships you are encountering who thus would not stay still between visits. The shipboards add a great visceral element that's really handy when playing without a game board. In theory, the game could benefit by taking that physical feel of modifying your ship even further, but most any ideas I can come up with would unnecessarily add to the cost.

On the whole, if you want a two player game that's challenging without being highly confrontational and has a great space theme, I'd definitely recommend Starship Catan.

Origin: Bought it myself thanks to good game store advice. Sadly, I'm not sure which store. Side note, the nice thing about losing to one's spouse is that it's a reminder that you found a smart person to marry. Box art grabbed from BoardGameGeek.

Review: Feed by Mira Grant

Feed is a story about what happens after a zombie apocalypse, but it isn't post-apocalyptic as such. Instead humanity has retrenched behind sealed doors, protected by blood tests and automated systems. It's a world where many of our current issues have lost their salience but security threats and perhaps security theater are everywhere. It's a tale told to us by the bloggers that venture out into this world and thus has an innate appeal to those of that send our thoughts out into the net.

The story focuses on siblings Georgia and Shaun Mason, respectively a reporter ("newsie") and a daredevil ("irwin"). Together with their tech genius story writer, a "fictional" nicknamed Buffy, they get the story of their lives when they imbed with a Republican candidate seeking his party's nomination for the 2034 election. On the whole it's a good premise and a neat world. The writing was reasonable, the characters could be fun, the plotting a bit predictable at times, and the politics perhaps a trifle naïve. If the premise appeals, I think you'll be satisfied if not necessarily blown away.

Starting with the parts I found a bit less satisfying, I'm not quite sure I see media evolving into collections of "newsies", "irwins" and "fictionals". Print and television journalism now has any number of people willing to risk extreme danger to bring home stories and who too often die in the pursuit. The lack of risk aversion of the bloggers and the licensing process were all interesting but didn't quite work for me as media critique. The overall media environment had elements that rang true - an obsession with ratings, the management of support staff, the jump from an existing website to independent operation - all of which gave the characters' jobs more solidity although I'm not quite remembering how the business model was detailed.

Slightly less plausible was Sen. Ryman's campaign. He had some good speeches and a strong staff support but I don't quite buy his rocketing to political prominence. The bloggers were accurate enough in seeing through much of the artifice of the campaign, but with one notable exception I didn't really see the horse trading or rhetorical tradeoffs that seem as relevant to the world of 2034 as the world of 2014.  Amusingly, though, one of Ryman's opponents appears to be a version of Texas Gov. Perry, which has made his official announcement for President all the more frightening.

I think the strongest of the political elements was the focus on security measures. The bloggers were a bit more necessary for investigations than seemed plausible to me, but the range of security measures, often redundant and obnoxious, all rang true. To a fair extent the zombie-terrorized world does work as our present day fears taken to a logical extreme. The best political issues of the book, like the question of how to handle animals that were large enough to zombie, stemmed from these issues. I don't think the first novel of the series full explores that theme, but it's a good start and at some point I think I'll pick up the sequel.

Origin: Gift from Kate, a particularly well-targeted one.

Image from Mira Grant's website.

Review: Summer Wars

The alternate reality social network in Summer Wars is no more plausible than any number of other fully immersive sci-fi social networks. Ubiquity seems to require a fairly simple feature set and not a visually rich Second Life style experience. However, films find such a setup fairly irresistible because of the visual possibilities. I'm happy to report that the animation justifies the conceit: the digital  world of Oz provides a suitably diverse mix of avatars and any number of dramatic renditions of cyberspace. However, the real meat of the story is a Jinnouchi clan reunion to celebrate the 90th birthday of Jinnouchi Sakae. While there, the characters just happen to access the network through their computers, phones, and game systems.

Happily, while a hacking-related crisis quickly emerges, the story is conservative but not a luddite jeremiad. While Sakae's old school social networks prove vital, everyone has something they can bring to bear on the problem, with the technophiles in the lead. As the director (Mamoru Hosoda) comments in an extra, he's focused on "the vitality of a rural Japanese family." The Jinnouchis, while no longer the samurai clan of their stories, are a force to be reckoned with against modern threats.  Perhaps surprisingly, Kenji, the male lead, has a local rival in a cop whose portrayal echoes the police in the Ace Attorney series: bumbling if typically well-intentioned. A somewhat more malign presence is the U.S. military who are seen as powerful but reckless.

The story fits its theme well, the family is diverse and interesting, and the number of important but distinguishable characters is impressively high. Most important, Sakae is a great character with her mannered but demanding presence and red-rimmed glasses. There are some underlying class issues that aren't really explored; the Jinnouchis have an old rich vibe, even if much of the money is now gone. Kenji expresses a respectful envy of their family size compared to what sounded like a somewhat lonely only child latchkey existence for him. I wonder to what extent the differences in family structure are a class issue, an urban versus rural thing, or if the Jinnouchi clan is a bit of a relic regardless of what part of Japan you are from.

The plot itself was at times fairly silly and the likelihood of success for any given plan seemed fairly dependent on how much time was left in the movie. Nonetheless, I was fairly happy that Natsuki, the female lead, did have a fairly fleshed-out role and an important part to play. That said, my viewing companions were rather disappointed by the support she got from the flying whales that defended Oz and were rather skeptical about the technological basis of many of the twists. So I do recommend it as an enjoyable film, just go in expecting a fantastical tale of family and social networking rather than anything approaching hard sci-fi.

Origin: Borrow from Moti, thanks Moti!

Promotional Image acquired from Anime News Network. Image © Summer Wars Film Partners

Review: Ace Attorney Apollo Justice

The Ace Attorney series of legal adventure games has long been a favorite of mine because it offers the logic puzzles of that long-dormant genre while avoiding some of the silliness that results from a focus on inventory. As with previous games, our defense attorney hero uses items of evidence from investigations and trials to find contradictions in the testimony of witnesses. The series benefits from the move to the Nintendo DS, as was shown in the add-on mission to the first game, "Rise from the Ashes." As with that game, some of the puzzles involve checking for fingerprints or trace evidence using the touch pad. The tactile sections barely even qualify as puzzles but they're used sparingly and are just fun. While the four cases of this game aren't particularly long, they have a very handcrafted feel. Puzzle elements like a soundboard or manipulating a 3D model of the crime scene may be used only in a handful of times but they're highly appropriate when they are used.

My wife had been a bit dissatisfied with the sheer amount of plot development thrown at you in the first case. It's been more than seven years since the previous games and a fair amount has changed in unexpected ways that are not initially explained. I didn't have that problem, perhaps because I was warned or perhaps because it has been almost a year since I finished the last Phoenix Wright game. I'd even go so far as to say that Apollo Justice handles the transition from a beloved character pretty well. At this point, Phoenix is a cool and collected vet and (most of) his friends have started to work out the key issues in their lives. Apollo is starting from scratch with a new set of plotlines which gives the writers more to work with without having to undo the victories of previous games.

When it comes to the story, I still like the third Phoenix Wright game the best. However, in terms of actually thinking about criminal justice system issue I think Apollo Justice is the series standout. However, that's a discussion I think I'll save for a future post. To close out the review piece, I'll just say that once again the series finds ways to enhance the trial gameplay and if they ever decide to make more courtroom-based games I'll gladly pick them up.

Source: Borrowed from Kate. On her DS no less. Thanks Kate!

Epic[-length novel] farewell

[Update: Epics actually are a term of art, and not in the way I was using it here. Instead, most classically, think the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid. While I try to avoid jargon, I think that proper use of terms of art facilitates conversation, so I corrected the post below.]

Just in time for a Dance with Dragons, I've been reconsidering my relationship with epic[-length books]. Over the span of three months I got through the one of Steven Erickson's 1,000+ page tomes, Toll the Hounds. If you do the math, my pace wasn't that impressive which is more a consequence of the time I set aside than my speed. I enjoyed the book; one of the main villains was slowly humanized and much of the book was based in Darujistan which in the past has been one of Erickson's least depressing locales. However, I took a break or two while reading and breezed through His Majesty's Dragon and Halting State. Those breaks made clear the opportunity cost of [weight tomes]: so long as one has a reading backlog an epic must be as good as three other books and not merely enjoyable in its own right. By that standard, I'd say the first three Erickson books probably qualify, particularly The Gardens of the Moon and Memories of Ice (Deadhouse Gates is marred by a subplot that's too conventional adventure fantasy for my tastes).

Of course, books are not fungible. The stories one can tell in three quality novels tend to be different than the stories one can tell in an [grimoire-sized tale]. Bigger books can sustain more complexity and a larger cast. Neither point is necessarily a virtue in its own right. Instead, stories with grand scope or that incorporate a multitude of sometimes opposing viewpoints both can benefit from having space to develop. However, while I still disagree with some of the things Alan Jacobs says in this post I think there is a real risk that epics are becoming surprisingly limited. Certain stories, such as clashes between gods, continent sprawling wars, and tales of intrigue can all fit well within the epic[-length] genre but can crowd out everything else. This crowding out is worst when it leads to the undoing the outcomes of previous books or plotlines that feel like they're just filling space between more interesting viewpoints. There seems to be a rule that sequels to epics must also be enormous even when the best parts of the story would be better served by carrying their own 300 page novel.

Perhaps ironically, serials are another means that can support large-cast complex stories. I think by ensuring that each segment has a small self-contained story they buy time to tell longer arcs that couldn't be contained in an average novel. The Full Metal Alchemist manga is perhaps my favorite instance of this, although I've enjoyed some Dumas before and should try Dickens at some point. Of course serials, as with [giant novels], are notorious for not knowing when to end.

I suspect I will finish the last two Malazan books some day, if only because I do still on the balance enjoy them and know that they are the last two. But despite the risk of spoilers I don't think I'm going to rush to the new Song of Ice and Fire book. I actually have a bit of space on my nightstand for once and I intend to exploit that opportunity.

Review: Great Sage Restaurant in Clarksville Maryland

Eating twice at the Great Sage restaurant hasn't resulted in any vegan super powers, but it has gotten us two tasty meals. I'm not a vegan and despite a mix of voluntary and digestive tract-driven food restrictions I'd have a hard time seeing myself become one. However, the meals we've had there, particularly the  adult mac & 'cheese' and the zen udon bowl both showcased that gourmet cuisine is quite possible even with restricted ingredients. Unsurprisingly, the dishes can get at the appeal of the non-vegan version of a meal but they seem to prioritize flavor over simulation.

Both the udon, with its homemade pasta, and the macaroni, with its spice and mix of vegetables, were specifically recommended by our servers. So if you aren't really familiar with the details of vegan cooking, it can be quite rewarding to ask. They take pride in their food but were neither preachy nor condescending to non-vegans which helps explain why there seems to consistently be a wait to get a table at peak hours. On the whole I'd say the atmosphere has a pointedly natural vibe combined with elegance via well chosen wall pieces (how well chosen? I'd love to grab them for my house if I thought I could afford them).

Finally, the desserts we tried were quite refreshing and may be a boon for the lactose-averse who still get cravings. The coconut milk-based mint oreo shake was fantastic and I'm really not sure how they pulled it off. It's probably too much to hope that it was any more healthful than a non-vegan shake, but it was good enough that I didn't care either way.

Source: Kate saw their write-up in the Baltimore Sun and/or HowChow.

Quick review: His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

The novel tells the tale of a British naval officer in the Napoleonic wars who through skill and circumstance ends up as an aviator in the royal dragon corps. The book successfully executes its premise. Despite some oddities, like language skills out of the shell, the dragons seem plausible enough and are well integrated into the larger world. I don't know my WWI history that well, but I'd say the dragoneers have the feel of pilots of that era, albeit with larger crews.

The book is the first of a larger series, although I'll probably stop here on recommendation of friends. I enjoyed the story, but I'm not so attached to the characters that I feel the need to stay with them as the story moves away from its ingenious twist on the naval tale.

Still, it was a good read and I'm glad my wife lent it too me. Thanks Kate!

The logitech harmony 300 remote has displeased me [Update!]

I got one for my mother in hopes that it could better handle complex operations. Cheaper universal remotes often have trouble bringing up the main menu or the like. Indeed, the Logitech's software recognizes all of our VCRs/DVDs/cable boxes/TV and presumably could support advanced functions with any of them. I wouldn't know for sure, as it's been completely unable to transfer that understanding to the remote. The tech support page just had the standard stuff about rebooting, turning off one's firewall and anti-virus, and the like. Not really what I'm looking for. I'm going to try to send an email in to tech support, this one might just have been a lemon. However, if they can't help me fix it or replace it, I'm switching brands and not coming back.

[Update: Swapping the batteries out seems to have done the trick. Which is a bit odd, as it was having problems from the start and lights on the remote were still blinking. I’m still not happy about my experience, but it looks like I might finally have a working remote.]

[Update 2: Fixed typo in title. Gah!]

Abortive review: Chasm City

I feel quite the slacker. Not only was I running behind in Alyssa Rosenberg's book club, I'm bailing out before finishing.  [I feel particularly bad, as I voted for it in the tiebreaker. I should have listened to my wife.] Chasm City is a reasonable noir/science fiction tale about a hard-bitten security expert out for revenge and a megalomaniac that had colonized the protagonist's world ages before. I think it manages to be fairly solid on the science; foe example, there's no faster than light drives. The novel has some interesting ideas, such as a cultist virus that can implant flashbacks and stigmata, and a city whose upper reaches have gone mad due to the combination of programmable growing buildings and a form of computer virus. The pacing, at least outside of the flashbacks, is fairly quick which kept me turning pages even when the content did not grab me.

However, while I could sense [Alastair Reynold's] creative, hard-working mind behind the book, I've chosen to put it down. As I mentioned in my review of Blacksad, I don't tend to enjoy straight noir and in this case science fiction wasn't enough of a twist. I didn't really care about the main character's underwhelming revenge motive and while I got attached to ancillary characters, they didn't stick around for long. Moreover, the wars and apocalypses of this universe distance us from the speculative future that undergirds it. Chasm City before the crash sounds like it would be something to see, although from what I've read of Rosenberg's posts on the book the life-extended aristocracy is consistently hateful so even then we'd be at a loss for interesting characters.

I like noir adaptations like Brick, Veronica Mars, Blacksad, and Cowboy Bebop because it is fun to see styles breed. There's nothing wrong with a hard-bitten hero, but that alone can't carry the story for me. Moreover, noir's love of pushing away or killing secondary characters and penchant for misogyny are both weak points of the genre that weren't overcome in the first sixteen chapters. On the upside, I was reminded of my love of Cowboy Bebop by comparison: the supporting cast that noir-émigré Spike can't get rid of, the vibrant world that stays grounded without being constantly run down, and of course the vibrant soundtrack that requires exceptional writing to match. Bebop's ending is pure noir and that's okay; in film-sized doses, as with L.A. Confidential, noir works for me. However, I don't think I'll be picking up another long form noir unless I'm confident that it transcends the genre.

Review: Adjustment Bureau

The premise of the Adjustment Bureau is remarkable yet straightforward: a Senate candidate played by Matt Damon meets the potential love of his life played by Emily Blunt, only to be kept separate from her by a group of mysterious hat wearing men trying to keep things according to plan. I'd say the film is smart but not especially deep.

I think the film really works first and foremost because it actually takes the time to develop the characters of the Adjustment Bureau. Bland men in black would be an easy choice, as would scenery chewing, but instead Anthony Mackie, John Slattey, and Terence Stamp play subtle characters with distinct outlooks that are just trying to do their jobs. Similarly the rest of the supporting cast often exhibits more character than you see in primary antagonists in other films. Damon's Senator is quite a distinct character and his love interest Elise has enough depth to avoid the manic pixie dream girl problem. However, for me it was the Bureau that really enamored the film to me.

There were also many funny moments. In some ways, large portions of the film were really a romantic comedy. As with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, there are genuine forces rather than plot-driven idiocy keeping the main characters apart. That intelligence, also shown in how the film plays around with its rules, allows for a fair amount of subtle humor and keeps us sympathetic to the drive of the main characters.

I don't think the film actually says that much about free will, but that's no surprise coming from me. However, I do think it is an interesting meditation on choosing a life in politics, authenticity, chasing greatness, and the opportunity cost of the big choices we make in life. The aspiring senator's political aspirations are fairly content-free, although that's part of the point. To some extent the public, and I definitely include myself and other wonks in that, may play the role of an Adjustment Bureau trying to build our perfect candidate at potentially great cost to themselves. I wonder to what extent that element resonates in countries that don't have a presidential political system.

Quick review: Blacksad

Blacksad is a graphic novel that takes familiar film noir story and character tropes and but presents them using a skillfully depicted mix of humanoid animals. Think Disney's Talespin but grittier, more nudity, less wackiness, and more death. I've seen the plot knocked for lack of ambition and that may be fair, but the real pleasure of the book is the rich visuals. Thus, if you're considering getting it, glance through a few pages and you should quickly have an idea of whether you like the art style enough for it to be worth it.

In some ways it reminded for being a genre piece with a critical twist in setting. I think that's a trick that's easiest to pull off with well developed and somewhat formulaic stories. I'm not sure to what extent such crossovers are on the rise, I suspect they've met with some commercial success and it's an easy concept to pitch if not to implement.

I think I will check out whether the artist has done anything else of note.

Origin: Moti. Thanks once again Moti.

The Second City does Baltimore: Review (open through 2/20/2011)

This was my first live comedy show in a while. It wasn't for lack of opportunities; comedy is actually fairly common for D.C.-area fundraisers and as a teen I got a fair number of Capitol Steps CDs. However, I fell out of the habit much as I fell out of the habit of watching TV news. Between the Daily Show, Colbert, funny things on the internet shared by friends, and the sometimes comedic stylings of a range of specialist blogs (for international political economy humor, Dan Drezner is your man) I could get great humor on topics of interest for free. As a result, my standards for humor I was paying for went way up and I let various opportunities pass me by.

The show this afternoon makes me think I may have made a mistake and not just that time when I missed a show by leaving my tickets at home. Second City is a well known Chicago comedy troupe that I'd considered catching on prior visits to the Windy City. They do a mix of scripted skits, songs, and improvisation with highly talented ensembles that are feeder teams to various television comedy shows. For this particular show, they sent two of their writers to get to know Baltimore to give the show a local flavor. I'd say about a quarter of the sketches felt like they could just be performed locally, another quarter might have worked elsewhere but were adapted to Baltimore, and the other half included shout outs but would have been funny most anywhere.

This was a formula that really worked for me. I got most of the local jokes; my mother and her family are from Baltimore and the suburbs and since I moved up to Columbia I hit the city more often for a range of reasons. The real advantage was that it forced fresher material without mandating the headline chasing that can be common for topically oriented shows. The advantage over your average locally-oriented show is that Second City brings consistently intelligent writing and a top notch ensemble. [For the scripted parts, the writers were Megan Grano and T.J. Shanoff. Their introduction to the program was also funny, so I think I will try to follow their work in the future.]

[Warren Johnson was my] favorite actor for his sheer range. His role in the first musical number was questioning some of the rose-tinted glasses nostalgia from perspective of African American Baltimoreans, but his subsequent roles were by no means token and included a wide range of impersonations and shticks.

Favorite bits: the musical numbers (A take on city nostalgia, The Wire: The Musical, a dirge on the fall of the Baltimore Sun set to a tune from Fiddler on the Roof, and a musical revue of Baltimore's past mayors; a real estate agent bit; a crowd feedback session featuring doctors (princes of the city), A-Rabbers (not to be confused with people from the Middle East), and seventh year MICA students. You will notice the local humor pattern here, but that shouldn't be taken as a slam on the rest of the material. Without the range of other bits, which had some of the strongest punch lines, the Baltimore stuff would have risked getting too [incestuous] and some of Kate's friends who didn't have strong local ties did get a bit bored. Overall, most of them had a good time too and I'm really glad they invited me.

This is not by any means a show aimed at children, but for anyone else with any Baltimore ties I'd recommend grabbing tickets while you still have a chance. The venue, Centerstage's Head Theater, offered a fair amount of seating while keeping an intimate feel. It did feel much more like a club than a theater; there was a bar in the back and there were tables with the chairs in the central seating area. We were all quite satisfied with our balcony seating: no tables but just one row so the view is great. If you pronounce Baltimore with the full three syllables and don't care about the local humor, than I'd definitely recommend catching a Second City show when they're doing a theme that grabs you. The tickets aren't cheap but it's an experience you aren't likely to get elsewhere. My only caveat: it is Baltimore by and large from the perspective of the reasonably comfortable middle class; they don't ignore racial issues but the Baltimore of Ta-Nehisi Coates' Beautiful Struggle is mostly seen through the filter of The Wire and a mocking of overwrought fears.

Buy tickets here. Prices go up some on February 11th and the show closes on the 20th.

[Update: Added in the names.]

Pittsburgh Museum Blogging: Heinz History Center 2010-01-05

I'm now on vacation in Florida, so I thought I should finish up Pittsburgh and get on with my current trip. My friend and I spent much of the morning of my other day up in Squirrel Hill where his mother continued to be most hospitable. My last foray into Pittsburgh was then a visit to the Senator John Heinz History Center. The admission cost was [$10] , [$5] student discount available, and that covers both the History Center and the Sports Museum. There was also a Treasures of the Vatican exhibit available at additional charge, but partly because I've seen the actual Vatican museum we didn't care enough to pay.

We ended up only going through the Pittsburgh history exhibit since I had a bus to catch. It was a fairly classical approach, artifact-heavy with a with special touches like a very in depth visitor director Q&A with John Westinghouse. That particular interactive video had an interface that lent itself to frequently asked questions but allowed for more detailed exploration which seemed like a good balance to me. It was titled Pittsburgh: A History of Innovation, that wasn't quite true but  [more history than innovation, but] the history of the city is [inexorably] linked with the history of its great inventors and industrialists notably Carnegie and Westinghouse. There's also a giant robot that smoked that's a holdover from a world's fair. All and all it was a satisfying way to spend a few hours and if you also want to hit the sports museum and other exhibits around the history center you could probably make a day of it.

After the visit we walked over to the convention center area, got lunch at a Subway, and then I caught the bus home. All and all a great way to spend two days.

Review: Where the Wild Things Are

I remember the pictures from the book more than I remember the story, so obviously I’m not a purist.  In event, I thought the adaptation was great but at the same time is certainly not for all kids.  That said, I know little about child development, so find some other reviewer if you need specific tips on if this is right for your kid.

There are rather scary bits as well as a heavy dose of psychological realism combined with troubled personality types.  The sugar that helps the dark parts go down is first and foremost appropriate absurdities of childhood combined with Max’s storytelling ability, Jim Henson studios created monsters, and to a lesser extent the neat backdrops.

My one sentence summary would be to take the comic strip Peanuts but merge the real life adults personality-types with the fantasies of the Snoopy oriented strips.  Thus, the joy of childhood oriented trailer is fairly deceptive though cool in its own right.

I’d say catching it in theaters is probably most important for muppet monsters/Dark Crystal fans.  If you care less about that sort of thing, it’s probably okay to catch it on DVD.

Review: Evil Dead, the Musical at the Landless in D.C.

The Evil Dead musical was an amusing little parody of the Sam Remi/Bruce Campbell horror films of that name.  There were also some references to Army of Darkness thrown in, but by and large no scenes from that film.

I hadn’t seen the Evil Dead movies although I am a real Army of Darkness fan.  Seeing them certainly wasn’t necessary, but interest in horror parody is.  So if you haven’t seen Army of Darkness, see that first really.

In any event, there was a good dozen songs or so with original tunes, the tunes sometimes showed up  more than once, but as far as I know they were all original to the musical.  The show had some different people than the original Broadway cast, but from what I’ve listened to on the Amazon page above, I think the singers compared well.  My favorite pieces were all in the second half: All the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed By Candarian Demons, and the whole Necronomicon dance sequence.  That said, as the title of the last song attests, it’s worth noting that this song parodies the misogyny of some horror flicks more than it subverts it.

Beyond the singing, which to my pleasure was consistently easy to understand, the acting well suited the material and the lead did a good Ash.  The technical direction was definitely limited by the size of the tiny DCAC stage and I’m guessing a lower budget than the Broadway show, but on the whole it was successfully evocative and fun.  On the whole, at $25 and with the inconvenient but pleasant trek to Adams Morgan from Woodly Park Metro I’d recommend this for those excited by the idea of an Evil Dead musical. 

One practical note: there is some samurai film style blood fountains that splash the audience.  If you want to play it safe, you may wish to bring your own tarp.  They sell garbage bags with appropriate holes in them for $1, but if you’re my size those want cover your legs at all.  I used a newspaper for that purpose.

Image take by Laura Darby who had been kind enough to invite me

Quickie review: Demon’s Lexicon

Modern urban fantasy book with an interesting variant on an old staple that I won’t reveal in this review.  There will be an upcoming blog post describing how we got the book signed, but I’ll save that for my wife.

Basic universe setup: there’s a parallel demon universe and people with magical aptitude need to make deals with them if they want real power.  The deals involve sacrificing people to let the demons experience our world, which means the mages are pretty uniformly evil. 

Points of note: it’s a fairly dark book, not so much because of the fair number of evil magicians, but because the protagonists were willing to take fairly extreme measures.  Some of them I wasn’t comfortable with, but I don’t think we’re necessarily supposed to be. 

The magical sub-world was fairly well defined and made a good amount of sense, although the integration with the larger world wasn’t particularly covered.  That said, the failure to work out real world implications of magic tends to be a given in urban fantasy, so I’ll accept that. One oddity though, possession was fairly big in the book and caused rapid deterioration in the subject; however, the fairly logical albeit evil solution of chain possession to save the original victim was never discussed.  Maybe in the sequel.

Resident Evil 5: Follow-up failure

Downloaded the RE5 Demo and so far my main impression has been that I agree with Patrick Klepek that I don’t like the controls at all. (As a side note, I was sad to learn that Klepek was leaving the MTV Multiplayer blog, sounds like budget cuts.  I’ll miss his writing and hope to follow him elsewhere.   Here’s his twitter feed for any other fans out there.)

So far I’ve died a several times on the marketplace scenario and had the game crash twice.  Not the most auspicious beginning.    Part of the problem is probably that I don’t really know the RE4 controls, so I’m starting from scratch here.

I’d remembered to download the demo because the controversy around the game is flaring again.  I do like Coates rejection of the “it’s just a game” defense.  If games can’t handle critiques they don’t merit respect.  Having already critiqued the trailer, I’m withholding further judgment until I can get through the bloody demo.  That said, I do think the addition of the Sheva Alomar character certainly does help some.  It’d help more if both she were playable in single player mode, though at least she is available in co-op.  I do love the rise of co-op gaming even though I don’t tend to have guests over to play shooters with.

That said, even if things are better, I don’t buy that it means the original complaints were overblown.  I stand by my critique of the trailer for one.  For the defense, here’s a L.A. Times article that quotes Karen Dyer, the actress that played Alomar:

"When the clip came out, Sheva wasn't in it because she hadn't been created yet. Once people get to hear the whole story and meet Sheva, I think they'll see that there's nothing racist about it. In the game, she gets together with Chris Redfield to try to help her people. I think it's a balanced portrayal" of black people.

I hope she’s right, but even if she is, the fact that her character wasn’t created yet when the protest broke out shows the utility of complaining.  They may well have planned a local guide character anyways, but the criticism was early enough to have the potential to influence those decisions.  Raising warning flags gives developers the chance to correct course earlier in the design process.  The idea isn’t to score points, it’s to make a positive change.

In the Shadow of the Moon

In the Shadow of the Moon is a superb documentary about the Apollo project.  It features extensive interviews with ten astronauts (of the 24 ones that went to the moon).  They're all impressive and Wit a lot of them I feel I could sit and listen to their stories all day.  Particularly Mike Collins who is the funniest of the group and Alan Bean who often seems the most human.  Also, fun fact, Buzz Aldrin's other nickname is "Mr. Rendezvous" and it isn't because he's known for romantic liaisons.

The film weaves together all the Moon missions and there's a lot of great footage.  I really got a feel for the whole range of the Moon missions including the landing.  The landing was fairly new for me because I have seen Apollo 13 which of course didn't make the landing.  Also, all the footage is original, there's no CGI whatsoever, and that is of course much different than Apollo 13.

I'd recommend this film to any space buffs that want to know a bit more of the human side.  That said, this isn't a drama, it isn't about the families or the supporting engineers, its about the astronauts.  Another side note, not surprisingly these are all white men, there's a bit more diversity in the background shots and the control room though.  Not great, but a bit more than I expected given the time.  I suppose when we go to Mars the astronaut pool will be even more impressive as they'll have more people to draw from.

As a final note, I felt some sense of loss.  What the heck are we doing now that compares to that?  Although now that I've thought about it for an hour or so, I think in a lot of ways the internet is the Moonshot for my generation.  We all have seen it grow those who had the technology to do so have contributed some to its content or structure.  I think it's an accomplishment to be proud of.

That said, the space race will be back, its just hard to say how soon.  I figure the next round will have one of two triggers:

1. The PRC kicks America in the pants by getting to the Moon themselves.
2. Someone, quite possibly one of those entrepreneur burning money on the issue, figures out how to lower the price of breaking orbit by an order of magnitude.