pedanther

(via lost_spook)

Because this year, between various Yuletides and the fact that a few months ago I went through my collection of old fic and uploaded (and backdated) everything I was still willing to expose people to, there's actually some chance of being able to provide meaningful answers.

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Fiction books
Tamora Pierce The Magic in the Weaving
Terry Pratchett. Wyrd Sisters (e) (re-read)

In progress
Sharon Lee, Steve Miller. Carpe Diem (e) (re-read)
Tamora Pierce The Power in the Storm (e)
Terry Pratchett. Pyramids (e) (re-read)

Non-fiction books - abandoned
Mark Latham. The Political Bubble

( short, screen, and stage )
( books bought and borrowed )

Top of the to-read pile
Sharon Lee, Steve Miller. Plan B

1. How is it only today that I learn that Groot, the large tree-like alien in the new Marvel movie, Guardians of the Galaxy, is played, or at least voiced, by the same actor who voiced the title character in The Iron Giant? This is important information!


2. I've finished playing through the storyline in Lego Marvel Super Heroes, which leaves the part of the game that involves wandering around Manhattan finding all the side quests: foiling bank robberies, helping citizens in distress, and so on. The "helping citizens in distress" bits range from appropriately superheroic to things like finding lost pets and helping little old ladies cross the road. (Also, for some reason, at least two people having trouble getting a taxi to stop for them, the correct solution to which is apparently to steal a taxi and drive them to their destination oneself. Super heroic.)

[edit: I belatedly realise that you're probably supposed to use one of the passenger vehicles you get as a reward for other side quests. But finding the nearest taxi and stealing it is usually easier than remembering where your own vehicles are parked, anyway.]

One amusing aspect is that, because the sidequests don't take into account which character one happens to be playing at the moment -- the free play portion of the game lets you switch at will between any of the available characters, including villains, and to an extent encourages spending a little time as each of them to learn their capabilities -- the juxtapositions can sometimes be rather incongruous. My two favourite examples from my own playing are the time a little old lady calmly requested assistance from Spider-Man's nightmarish evil counterpart Venom, and the time the X-Men casually asked Magneto to help them repel an attack by his own League of Evil Mutants.


3. It took me a while to get around to seeing the second How to Train Your Dragon movie; maybe I should have left it a bit longer, because a few days after I saw it I found myself rewatching the first movie on TV. Oh well. I don't think anything was badly harmed by doing it that way around.


4. Since I mentioned that I have been unable to attend Toastmasters recently due to having something else on the same day, I have been to two Toastmasters meetings, though neither on my home club's usual day. One was at the new Gourmet club, which meets monthly over dinner; I enjoyed that, and intend to go again next month. The second was this weekend; there were a couple of higher-level officials in town to do club officer training for the three local clubs, so we had a combined meeting and potluck dinner with people attending from all three clubs. I ran Table Topics for the meeting, or as I announced it, Iron Chef Table Topics, in which each speaker is given a mystery ingredient and immediately has to spend two minutes talking about what meal they're going to prepare with that ingredient.


5. I've mentioned before that I enjoy cryptic crossword puzzles because a good cryptic clue can be satisfying in the same way as a really bad pun, and that sometimes I'll be stuck on a clue for a long time and then one day pick it up again and immediately see the answer. This one is a case in point:

Resort city is half a mile, pal, from Paris (5)

I have discovered a fun online game. It's called Choice of the Dragon, and in it you play a young dragon setting out to make his, her, or its mark on the world by terrorizing villages, amassing gold, and even, if it floats your boat, kidnapping princesses.

Although . . .

Isn't it a little sexist to always kidnap princesses?

( ) Maybe, but tradition demands that dragons kidnap princesses,
    even if that is sexist.

( ) You dare question my actions?

( ) You know, I never thought about that before. In fact, I think
    I kidnapped a prince, just to avoid being sexist.

( ) I'll have you know that I make a careful point of alternating
    between princes and princesses, but it happened to be time for
    a princess.

A full game takes about half an hour to play through. Watch out for the adventurers who show up about halfway through - those things are dangerous.