reviews { round-up, what I've been reading/watching/playing, Sept 08 edition

Summer's over. It went by with a whimper. Summer usually makes me restless and want to do things like read more books, see more movies, and such. So here's a quick run down of what I've watched/read/played this summer and a short review.

TV
We've not had full network or cable TV since 2004. Not much worth watching but thanks to the Internet I've kept up on a few shows:

• South Park - this summer the guys doing South Park put all their seasons and all their episodes online, for free. Its awesome. I caught up the on the last few seasons I've missed. Overall they're still funny, but they are starting to show their age. They've been around only a few years less than the Simpsons, who haven't aged well at all.
  
• Battlestar Galactica - Sci-fi has started putting the BSG full episodes on line to view. Still good. This season (the last one by the way) is better than last season.
  
• Grey's Anatomy - Nerdwife got me hooked. Beautiful people, everyone sleeping with everyone. Predictable plots. Don't go to Seattle Grace Hospital, everyone gets tumors there.
  

Movies - DVD

• 300 - what the fuck was I thinking? Why did I torture myself with this again?
  
• Cloverfield - still like it.
  
• The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie - 1960s French comedy, funny, bizarre, oui.
  
• Red Road - drama about a Scotish police officer and her past. Recommended.
  
• The Terror of Mechagodzilla - what can I say? I'm a sucker for old Godzilla movies. Lay back and enjoy.
  
• Mulholland Drive - David Lynch, nuff said.
  
• There Will Be Blood - Creepy but good.
  
• Starcrash - spectacularly bad. I recommend it to anyone who loves watching cheesy sci-fi from the late 70s.
  
• Alone in the Dark - I can see why people now don't like Uwe Boll.
  

Movies - Theater

• Kung-Fu Panada - liked it, a lot.
  
• Wall-E - beautiful but sad.
  
• Dark Knight - kind of a flat plot. However Heath Ledger is the best Joker, ever. Worth seeing for his performances alone.
  
• Wanted - meh.
  
• Star Wars - Clone Wars - great animation...but the cartoon shorts by Gennedy Tartakovsky were better.
  
• Tropic Thunder - was funny, could have been funnier.
  
• Iron Man - liked it, but not ga-ga over it.
  

Books

• 26 Lies, 1 Truth by Ben Peek - Quick and easy read. Was interesting. Had to keep reminding myself this book is fiction.
  
• Wormwood by Ben Templesmith - graphic novel. I enjoy the characters, the art, the plot, the genre.
  
• Aliens Omnibus by various - collection of Aliens comics.
  
• Predator Omnibus by various - same as Aliens, but starring the Predator.
  
• Star Wars, Rogue Squadron Omnibus by various - majority of the story is done by Michael Stackpole, an author I enjoy from his Battletech works. I like the Omnibus, its like 30 comics in one and gives a complete story arc.
  
• the complete set of Patrick O'Brian - I'm up to the third book, H.M.S. Surprise
  
• Bass Guitar for Dummies - yep, get my learnin on. Its actually a pretty good book. I'm learning the basics and starting to make noise. I'm supplementing this with some how-to videos I found on YouTube.
  

Music

• various, my current playlist has a lot of Feist, Death Cab for Cutie, The Ting Tings, Postal Service, Lily Allen
  

Podcasts

• Outlandish
  
• SModCast
  
• WoWcast
  
• Evil Genius Chronicles
  
• TWiT
  
• Security Now
  
• Off the Hook
  
• This American Life
  

Games

• World of Warcraft - this has become my TV time, our raid group is up to Black Temple
  
• Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas - popping caps/getting paid
  
• Dawn of War: Soulstorm - Sisters of Battle yo!
  
• Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos/The Frozen Throne - its still a great game
  
• Starcraft - getting ready for Starcraft 2
  
• X3: The Reunion - my poor mercantile empire with super awesome HQ and warships was left neglected since 2006, my employees wanted to be paid. Plus I had a few more empty sectors to turn into vital trade hubs.