This Week in Geek (23-29/03/09)

Buys

None. This week, I keep my money.

"Accomplishments"

Books: Finally finished Tales of Riverworld which I started - gasp! - in early November. I usually slow down in the winter because I can't read while walking AND avoid deadly ice patches, slushy potholes and windchill, but it didn't help that I took on some middling short stories. I like Philip José Farmer's Riverworld on which these are based, but while everyone that's ever lived can become a character, it still feels like the world's limits make the stories kind of the same anyway. Still, there are some interesting ones in here, like Allen Steele's Graceland - in which the King and other great rockers build a island of godless rock'n'roll music that might be taken down by Jim Morrison - and Philip C. Jennings' Blandings on Riverworld - which Bully should really check out since it features P.G. Wodehouse. A few smiles along the way, but let's say I'm not in a hurry to start on the other volume, Quest for Riverworld.

Of course, I read the second Star Trek S.C.E. eBook this morning. You already know about that.

Trades: Also finished Fables vol.11 - War and Pieces, a very acceptable final chapter to the series, except that it won't be. I'll have to see if Willingham really does have more worthwhile stories to tell, or if he'll overstay his welcome. After all, he's also got Jack of Fables. Anyway, War and Pieces has some good bits with Cinderella the super-spy, a huge climax, and better action art than most superhero comics. (And I should say I'm mystified to learn of Willingham's right-wing politics when the evil empire in Fables is so obviously Bush's America. But that's all I'm gonna say on the subject.)


Games: For our annual campus games, I designed and executed (with the help of a few volunteers) an Amazing Race. Did the same last year, but this time doubled the number of challenges and trebled the difficulty. The Engineering School won (as usual, might I say) though they laughably had trouble finding the Library, but Education gave them a run for their money, both teams landing on the mat within seconds of each other (never underestimate an engineering student's control over elevators). It's our Law School I really want to snicker at, however, whose team broke down and cried at the "eat something gross" challenge and quit one challenge from the end after practically two hours of breakneck racing. But kudos to my friend Bébert who said he'd help out only if he could be put on the cruelest station. (I gotta wrap this post up, the actual Amazing Race starts in a few minutes.)

New Unauthorized Doctor Who CCG cards: 15, all from Four to Doomsday, which I'm struggling to finish because of overtime at work. Sorry kids!

Someone Else's Post of the Week
Bonus Rom Fortnight continues here at SBG with Eclectic Lee's feature on the Dire Wraiths' comeback in Secret Invasion/Dark Reign. I hate both crossover events, so it's a good thing Lee caught those references, because I wouldn't have.

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