Time and Again Review

I buy a lot of e-Books. I hear about something being on sale that I think I might like and I pick up a copy to read at some point in the future. Recently I picked up copies of Jack Finney's Time and Again and Terry Pratchett's Nation for something like $1.99. Practically free. I decided to try Time and Again first.

Time and Again is Jack Finney's illustrated novel from 1970 about an advertising artist, Simon Morley, who gets involved in a government project on time travel. Since I like time travel, it seemed like a good bet I would enjoy this. I won't go into the particulars of how time travel works within the context of the story as that is well done and integral to the story. One nice aspect of the book is the way Finney includes pictures and drawings in the book that heighten the reader's immersion (and the characters) into the story. This really heightens the story in a similar way that art did for the Da Vinci Code.

There are aspects of romance and moral quandaries in the story as well. I found the main character's viewpoint to be interesting. His internal dialog about women around him seems very shallow, at times, by today's standards. See, he is in a relationship and thinking that it will eventually lead to marriage while still internally finding nearly every woman he sees attractive and wants to meet them. As with any older work, this is probably more a product of the mores of the time than any particular choice on the author's part. Another topic covered in the story is the moral aspects of time travel - should it be done, what is okay to do and not do as well as who has the right to make those choices.

Overall the book hits some high notes and has obviously influenced many of the time travel romance novels (or movies) that have followed over the year. The illustrative parts, drawing and photos, are well done and add depth to the story. I recommend Time and Again if you like time travel and historical novels. Time and Again gets 3.5 Mick Happies. Next time it may be Nation or possibly Motorsport Manager, both of which are taking up all my free time.

Terry Pratchett's Going Postal DVD Review

For those who are unaware, Terry Pratchett is the well-loved author of the Discworld series of humorous fantasy novels. There are dozens of them in the series (the Tiffany Aching books being some of my favorite) and each takes the usual tropes and intermixes satire of our own world to yield a funny take on fantasy. Over the last half of the first decade of the 2000s, Sky TV in the UK has commissioned live-action films of three of Terry Pratchett's novels, The Colour of Magic (a funny look at tourism), Hogfather (a take on Santa Claus) and the latest: Going Postal (a take on communication and interconnectivity).

Going Postal is the story of Moist von Lapwing, a con artist, who finds himself in trouble with the Ankh-Morpork (A-M is the main city of the Discworld - think London only dirtier and more magical) constabulary and sentenced to death. Instead of being killed, the city's Patrician, Lord Vetinari, decides that Lipwig might serve another purpose and tasks him with running the A-M post office. This puts Lipwig in direct competition with Reacher Gilt, the owner and operator of the Clacks system (a set of semaphore towers connecting A-M with other cities in the Discworld for rapid communication), which has superseded the post office with its easy/fast communication.

What follows is a romp through obsession with collectibles, hacking of the Clacks, hallucinations and a man fighting for his life, to become respectable and to win the heart of the woman he is falling in love with. You don't have to be versed in the Discworld series to enjoy Going Postal. The story stands on its own while being perched on the back of the deep history the series has developed. There are tons of nods to the rest of the Discworld series and its many characters here, but you don't have to know them to enjoy it all.

The casting for Going Postal was great. Richard Coyle, playing Moist, was a good choice. If you watch British television, you might know him from Coupling where he played Jeff. He has gone on to carve out a good career since then and Going Postal was a good addition. The movie also stars Charles Dance as Lord Vetinari and Clare Foy as Adora Belle Dearheart, the love interest and the daughter of the man who invented the Clacks that were later taken over by Reacher Gilt. Clare recently starred with Richard Coyle in NBC's short-lived pirate show, Crossbones. Good to see them working together years earlier in Going Postal.

Going Postal runs about 3 hours in two 90 minute episodes and has many twists and turns. It is a good movie to start with if you are unfamiliar with Discworld. Just think, if you like it then there are lots of books to enjoy later. Many covering the same characters in more detail. There are differences between the book and the movie and the Wikipedia link above will list some of the differences. Even as a stand-alone movie, Going Postal works. I give it 4 Mick Happies and recommend you (and any pre-teen/teenagers in your house) sit back and enjoy. See you all in Ankh-Morpork.

Christmas Games Round Up

Ahh, 2015 at last. For the second straight year I was able to put together the same number of posts on this site, 41. Maybe I can do better this year (probably will be a stretch to keep things up instead). This first post is easy though, I have lots of new games to discuss that found their way under the Christmas tree last year. What follows is a set of quick reviews on a number of the fun items my family and I gave each other as gifts.

Civilization: Beyond Earth - The latest iteration of the Civilization series builds on the base of the Civilization V engine to give a futuristic Civ game - spiritual successor to Alpha Centauri. The game is standard Civilization with futuristic and alien trappings. You found a settlement, research technologies, build upgrades, explore, try to survive and beat the other civilizations on the planet that mankind has come to after things have deteriorated on earth. I have to say that the futuristic trappings really fit well with the Civ model. Having scouting units build expeditions to explore crashed satellites, alien lifeforms wandering the planet that have to be dealt with, new resources to exploit are all great. If you like the Civ games, this is more of the same with new lip gloss and spit polish. Civilization: Beyond Earth gets 4 Mick Happies.

Jeff Foxworthy's You Might Be A Redneck If… - We like board games around our house and every Christmas and most birthdays will see a new one showing up. This Christmas we had several to play with including You Might Be A Redneck If… For those unfamiliar, the game is based on the comedy of Jeff Foxworthy. You are a redneck trying to stock up your trailer with the usual things you might need such as a TV, satellite dish, fly swatter, beef jerky, a recliner and your dog. To get them, you have to move around the board to various locations. To move, you guess the right answer to a redneck joke. Having family from the South, many of the answers were no-brainers for me but of course my mom, who grew up in the South beat all of us. This is a fun board game sure to bring some laughs and provide good clean fun (as long as you don't mind being hard on some rednecks). 4 Mick Happies.

Despicable Me Minion The Game of Life - I have about 5 different versions of Monopoly and two different versions of Clue and now 3 different versions of The Game of Life. We love the minions from Despicable Me around our house, who doesn't right? The latest iteration of their invasion into all things is this version of Life. You are a Minion who starts with a Minion type job with the goal of collecting 5 bunches of bananas. To help you, you will earn banana bucks from your job, which can be traded in for a bunch of bananas. You will also land on various spots and pick up cards that tell you what to do. The game is for very young ages and can be played very quickly. With 3 of us, we completed two games in less than 30 minutes and laughed at some of the mechanics of the game such as the minion spinners that cause you to change direction when you reach them. If you like cute board games that take minimal time to setup and play, this is a good one. The math is simple and the mechanics are a good variation on the classic Life game. Probably good for ages 5 or 6 and up. 4 Mick Happies.

Metal Earth Millennium Falcon Model - If you have gone to a Barnes & Noble store and looked at their puzzle/game section, you have probably seen these metal puzzles. They are small sheets of metal that have individual pieces that can be punched out and assembled into things like the Eiffel Tower or in this case, the Millennium Falcon. This was in my stocking this year along with an X-Wing model. Everything you need, instructions and all the pieces are included in the packet except the tools to manipulate the pieces to lock together. A pair of tweezers and a needle-nose pliers. They are needed to pull tabs through slots and fold them down - which is how pieces are locked together. Warning, this is not exactly the easiest puzzle to put together, but it does get easier as you go along. Also, the pieces are small, which is where the tweezers can help. It took about 2 hours of dedicated work and a bit of swearing to get the Falcon show above built. The metal can be a little sharp too, so you will probably hurt your fingers at some point. The finished product of your effort does look cool though. If you have patience for it and the right tools, there is probably a Metal Earth puzzle for you. This one gets 3.5 Mick Happies.

Personalized Puzzle from Shutterfly - My wife often gets personalized gifts via Shutterfly and this year was no exception. She decided to have a traditional puzzle made from some of our family photos. What resulted was an awesome ~250 piece puzzle that we were able to assemble in about 30 - 40 minutes working together as a team. It was also great seeing the family pictures emerge as the pieces came together. If you like puzzles at all, I recommend you get one for your family. 5 Mick Happies.


Happy New Year!

iOS Puzzle Games - Hoplite Review

I like iOS games for playing when I want to be distracted for a little while (except Hearthstone, which can keep me distracted for a long while), usually before bed or on a lunch break when not reading. That is why I love it when things go on sale and this is the best time of year for sales. I recommend, if you have an iOS device and like gaming, that you get a copy of the TouchArcade app and start "watching" all of the games you are interested in…that way you get notifications when they go on sale. Well this week two games I have been watching for a while went on sale for the massively low price of "free". The games, Hoplite (free thanks to Pocket Gamer UK) and The Nightmare Cooperative, are similar in that they are both turn-based puzzle games with RPG and definite Rogue-like elements. I thought for this week, I would review Hoplite.

Hoplite was created by Doug Cowley at Magma Fortress and it is a great game that was originally generated as part of the 2013 seven day Rogue-like challenge.. You are an adventurer on a quest to descend 16 levels into a dungeon to get the Golden Fleece and return safely. The game is played on a hexagonal grid and you try to make it safely to the stairs before being killed by the enemies on the board. You have to watch out as some will throw bombs or fire arrows or shoot fire at you. To help you, you have the ability to leap, bash, throw or stab your opponents. Unlike other games, you only have to move toward your enemy (ending your move next to them) in order to stab them to death. To also help you, there is a shrine on every level where you can heal or upgrade your skills (or get new ones).

Here I tapped on the enemy archer to see where he could attack next

The graphics are simple but effective. The touch interface is also simple, which means that a lot of effort was put into refining it to make it great. Touch where you want to move. Movement is one tile at a time when there are enemies on the board but then you can speed ahead once they are gone. Touch an enemy to determine where it can hit from its current location (they can only seem to attack if they don't move that turn). Touch to select or de-select a skill you might want to use. All working great and playing into the need to think through every move. The game gives you the feeling that with the right planning you might make it across every level uninjured and without killing an enemy.

Hoplite is also deep in its simplicity. While there isn't much in the way of an item system (it differs from the typical Rogue-like in not needing a lot of items to gather). There is an achievement system that helps you gain access to new and better skills that will then be available in game at the shrines. The strategy comes in when you have to choose between healing at the shrine or taking the upgrade to your throwing ability, allowing you to hit enemies from farther away (at a safer distance).

The typical game length (if you are as bad as me) will last you about 15 minutes at the most. I really like the simplicity and depth combination that the developer has come up with here. Looking through the achievement list, I know I will have a lot more to do in the game to get good enough to get all of them. Hoplite is a great addition to the grand old tradition of dungeon crawlers that didn't start with Rogue, but continues to drag people like me in with each new iteration. Hoplite gets 5 Mick Happies.

San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal (Safari) Park Review

 Fennec Fox at Safari Park

I have to admit that when it comes to zoos, I am spoiled. The first zoo experiences I ever had were at the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park (now called the Safari Park, but will always be WAP to me). Since then I have had the opportunity to at least see a couple other zoos, such as the Minnesota Zoo and the only zoo in Connecticut, Beardsley Zoo. Neither of them hold a candle to the zoos in San Diego for the diversity of animals and the size/setup of the enclosures. I know there is a whole dialogue that can be had about animal rights and whether or not it makes sense to put animals in zoo and on display, but you can't deny that zoos like the San Diego Zoo have done a lot for preservation of animals. That out of the way, let's talk about the Zoo and Park.

Educational encounter at Safari Park

The San Diego Zoo is located just north of downtown San Diego in Balboa Park. It winds over a set of tree-lined hills with multiple valleys. The designers have setup the park so that as you walk down various trails you travel through different environments. You'll move through the Monkey Trail, Sun Bear Trail, Panda Canyon, Africa Rocks, etc. The zoo is home to many diverse animals from Giant Pandas, Gorillas, Elephants, Tigers, Meerkats, Fennec Foxes, insects, birds and reptiles. My favorite part is the Children's Zoo, where they have Meerkats and Fennec Foxes and a pretty wild insect house. My wife loves the monkeys and gorillas and could sit and watch them for hours. One of the best parts of the zoo is that they have setup some open areas like the Gorilla and Hippo exhibits where you can get very close to the animals with only a large window between you and them. In other areas they have some older enclosures that really need an upgrade, but they are working on it.

 Leafcutter ants at the San Diego Zoo

Other insect examples at the San Diego Zoo

The Wild Animal Park is a much larger zoo in North San Diego County. Way out on the east edge of Escondido, the WAP is a massive place with huge areas built out to be reminiscent of the Asian and African plains with herds of animals that would be found in those areas. Want to see giraffes and rhinos, this is the place for you. The WAP also boasts a great lion exhibit that uses the same window technique to let you get close to the mama and papa lion and their cubs. They also have a nice bird show and often have animals out with handlers giving up close educational opportunities. To help you get out to see the animals in the African exhibit, there is a tram tour that will take you around there. Unfortunately, the 45 minute monorail ride that used to show you both the African and Asian exhibits is gone. The only way to see the Asian exhibit is a lot of walking, paying a lot or a zipline ride or pay a lot for a caravan safari on a truck out to the exhibit where you get up close an personal with the animals. They also have the new lemur walk letting you go into a large enclosure with the lemurs.

Both of these zoos have a wide array of amazing animals on display. I used to think the WAP was the better of the two, but since seeing both of them recently, I think the Zoo is actually better. The Zoo is cooler (being closer to the ocean) and has more shade as you get a massive amount of exercise walking and seeing the animal. Both are great for that exercise. I also think the Zoo has slightly better animal diversity (less herding animals) but some of the enclosures are better at the WAP. One big downside of the WAP is that it has gone very commercial with things like their flight line safari, which will run an adult $75 (after park admission costs). Not to mention the safari tours that will run $50 - $155 a person. I appreciate that they need to support the park, but to have the best way to see the animals be an up sell from the park admission is a bit annoying. That isn't the case at the Zoo.

Fennec Fox at San Diego Zoo

(this little guy needs more space and no mesh fencing and a friend)

If you are in San Diego or live here and don't know about these parks, you should go if you like animals. The best way is to get a zoo membership that will allow you access to both parks. If you can go multiple times, it is the best deal and makes it easier to see everything as that is difficult in a single trip. Next time you're around the area, go check in on my Fennec Fox friends. The Zoo and WAP get 4 Mick Happies.

Quick Movie Reviews and Does the Dog Die...

I have to start this post stating that I am not a Peta member or vegan or anything like that. However, I do have strong opinions when pets are depicted being killed in movies or TV shows. I just don't like it. It will make me actively avoid a given movie because I just don't need to see that. For instance, I "was" interested in the Keanu Reeves movie John Wick. Then I learned what drives his character's actions and I was like, "I'm out". I will probably never see that movie. So when I know it is going to happen I will avoid it. When I don't know it is coming, I tend to like whatever movie I was watching a lot less than before. That brings us to this week's movies…

Space Station 76 - This movie looks at the lives of people living on the Omega 76 Space Station in a future that looks a lot like what would have been envisioned in the 1970s. You have holograms and space ships, yes, but catalogs from stores come on ViewMaster disks and people smoke pot and see their therapist robot for Valium, etc. Plus just about everything is colored in white, yellow, greens or browns. Space Station 76 stars Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson, Matt Bomer and Jerry O'Connell, among others. All of the actors do a very good job with the material they are given. The movie also gives an interesting view of a retro-looking future and could have been really great if it had swung more to straight comedy rather than trying for a bleak version of comedy. You have the narcism and neglectful parenting, a little bit of the loose morals of the 70s being shown, but it could have been even better if those things were exaggerated even more. Instead what you are left with at the end is just feeling down. Oh yeah, and then there is a bit with a cryogenically frozen dog that could have been left out and I would have probably been able to give this a 3 Mick Happy rating. Instead I have to go with 2.

Automata - This film stars Antonio Banderas as an insurance agent for a company that supplies androids to help mankind. This is set in an apocalyptic future where solar flares and activity have burned up most of the vegetation on the earth and reduced earth's population by >99%. Here Jacq (Banderas) finds some androids have somehow circumvented the two rules that regulate their activities (1. can't hurt humans or allow them to hurt themselves and 2. can't modify themselves). As he investigates the things his world starts to unravel and he begins to suspect that the company he works for may not be doing good things. The main problem I had with this movie started very early on when Jacq goes to investigate a complaint that an android has malfunctioned and killed a family pet. It didn't, and the family was using that as an excuse to try to get money. The film didn't need to go there. They could have injured one of the people and said the android hurt them instead. That is just frustrating as they hurt the pet just to drive an emotional reaction that they could have gotten in a different way with a little more effort. Anyway, this is a bleak future movie and weird. It also gets 2 Mick Happies but mainly due to the choices of the screenwriters than any other major shortfalls.

Which leaves us with this. If you are like me and don't like it when the pet is the one who gets it in the end. There is a website that can help us. It is DoestheDogDie.com and they have over 700 movies listed and will let you know if the pets are okay, injured or presumed dead but end up okay or are killed. They obviously don't have all the movies and didn't have the two listed here but they do have a lot of favorite movies listed. Check it out.

Edge of Tomorrow Movie Review

This weekend I finally got my hands on a DVD copy of Doug Liman's Sci-Fi action movie, Edge of Tomorrow. The movie is set in the near future where mankind is in a fight for its life with alien invaders called Mimics and based pretty closely on a Japanese manga novel called All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Enter Tom Cruise as the main character, Major William Cage, a PR guy who gets himself put on the front lines of the human invasion to stop the aliens. There he is killed but not before he comes in close contact with one of the aliens and acquires the power to reset his day when he dies.

As Cage relives his day over and over he comes in contact with Rita Vrataski, played by Emily Blunt, who is a war hero, the one person who has killed more than a hundred Mimics in the battle of Verdun. Cage learns that Vrataski had also had the ability to reset until she lost it and together they try to figure out how to stop the Mimics. Through in some powered exo-skeleton armor and you have a party.

The movie plays on the usual theme of time repeating, which is of course classically portrayed in Groundhog Day. Here we see Cage living through a horrible couple of days over and over. Liman does a great job of depicting the frustration of trial and error and growth for Cage as the movie progresses. The interactions between Blunt and Cruise are also terrific with Vrataski's single-minded focus on defeating the aliens a very nice contrast to Cage's reluctance to be at the front lines. Vrataski as a character is pretty bad-ass though you don't get to see enough of her kicking butt.

Overall, I really liked Edge of Tomorrrow. I think the movie got a little rushed at the end and lost some of the deliberate, very well done, build up that the early parts had. At the end I thought that Vrataski's character might have been the more interesting and it would be nice for Liman to film a prequel about her experiences at Verdun. I know it won't happen because, a) they have already mentioned the highlights to the story in this film and b) it wouldn't have Tom Cruise's star power behind it to get it made. It would be awesome, however, as Vrataski doesn't have a mentor to guide her at Verdun the way Cage does here. Also some of the trials she mentions would have been interesting to see on film but Cage doesn't repeat those trials.

If you like Sci-Fi action films or just want to see Tom Cruise die, a lot, then Edge of Tomorrow is a great way to spend 2 hours. Could the film have been even better, sure, but what you do get is at least 4 Mick Happies worth of butt kicking for goodness. Now where can I get some time resetting powers as there are a few mistakes I would like to do over yesterday.