Time for the hockey mask

• It's a full moon and it's Friday the 13th.
  
  Yeah. Nothing bad can possibly happen under combined circumstances such as these.
• Now reading "Blood and Iron" by Jon Sprunk. Book one of his "Black Earth" series, it's helping me fill time until "Tower Lord" by Anthony Ryan comes out.
  
  Sprunk's novel is formulaic but the protagonist is interesting enough and the world he's built is engaging. I'm about halfway through and enjoying it fine.
• I need to figure out a way to profit from my gaming hobby. Maybe transition my attentions from game prep to actual novel writing. Given the ridiculous amount of time I dedicate to this hobby, it should be earning me some cash.
• Got a bag of dark chocolate M&Ms the other day. I was looking for dark chocolate Kit Kats. Why is it so goddamn hard to find dark chocolate Kit Kats in stores? WHY??? KHAAAAAAAAN!!!!
  
  Sure, I could go through Amazon or something, but these should be easy to buy locally! DAMNIT!!!!
• Internet Archive uploaded a bajillion Doctor Who-related books. And my e-reader is toast. This is how the universe operates. F*cking universe.

Holy damn

I have to hand it to Hayao Miyazaki. The dude could do the most amazing stuff ever in animation.

So I'm reading Nerd Approved this morning and saw a post that led to this.

A Miyazaki music video. Seven minutes of Miyazaki awesome.

And what I love best about Miyazaki's work is his effortless ability to engage my interest and lift my spirits. I got up in a crappy mood that I carried from yesterday and was expecting to sulk my way through 'till my workday was over. Now I feel... lighter. I dunno. This just really made my day.

Miyazaki-sama, you rock!

Raining Gremlin Piss

First my bike decides to develop an unhealthy appetite for inner-tubes. Now my eReader is kaput. What the hell?

Pun-tastic

Presented without further comment:

Friday and the Bike Gods

I suppose the Bike Gods are being a bit merciful this fine Friday morning. They could have given me the flat tire halfway into the office instead of a hundred yards away.

Getting home is going to be a pain in the arse today, but it could be worse.

At least it's Friday.

I need to get the damn bike into a shop to figure out what the HELL is causing all these flats!

Thoughts on the Hobbit Movies

On a whim, I re-watched The Desolation of Smaug over the weekend.

On its own merits as a fantasy story, I have to admit it's a piece of escapist glory. Bad bad-guys. Anti-heroes. Questionable or bad decisions. Fancy FX magic. Shiny things. Elf-fu. Oh, and the dragon. Gotta love the dragon.

It bears only the vaguest, loosest connection to Tolkien's work, of course. I've blathered about that before, so no need to rehash.

I just find myself amused by Jackson's tweaks and changes. He's sporting such a little crush on Legolas that it's kind of embarrassing to watch. And Tauriel is... well, suffice it to say I dread what weird slashfic Jackson's got stored away re: Legolas, Tauriel, and rock-star Dwarf (I forget the character's name).

Having seen how stupid the folk of Lake Town are portrayed in the film, I gotta say I'm really rooting for Smaug.

ugh

It's Monday.

My meeting dance-card is full.

I think I'm coming down with something.

I get to end my day with an unrelated afternoon appointment that will put me in the middle of rush hour traffic.

I've got a full tank of gas, a half pack of chewing gum, it's dark, and I'm wearing sunglasses. And I'm all out of bubblegum.

Yes, mangled two classic movie quotes just now. Because I can. And I don't smoke.