Jamie's Blog

Oh love, you’re like the rushing rain, how it dabbles the panels, it drives me insane, chaos abounds when you fly around, tsunami emotions shatter the ground I stumble and quake as you open your maw and cling to the fear of what I just saw, perturbed passion, uneasy volcano, calamity jane, charging rhino.  Gore me through like a human-kabob, I yelp at the pain
and masochistically sob.

Jennifer Government
was a fun novel full of action and mayhem. Max Barry depicts a world on the verge of anarchy due to the forces of commercialism and capitalism run amok. It’s no Atlas Shrugged and will not change your outlook life, but it is nonetheless interesting and a worthwhile read.

Completed an arduous read of Slander by Ann Coulter. If you are an ardent liberal, it will pain you to read this. Being a self-described moderate, I tolerated the book fairly well, but I’d never read it again.
25% good arguments and fact
25% ridiculous arguments
50% rabble-rousing

Coulter discusses the lies engendered by liberals to slanderize conservatives. A few of her claims:
It is a myth that the media is unbiased. It is extremely liberal with few conservative viewpoints available.
Al Gore is not as smart as portrayed. GW Bush is not as stupid as portrayed.
Liberals enjoy making fun of ugly women (Paula Jones, Linda Trip).
The “religious right” does not exist. It is a fabrication by the left as a sort of political boogeyman.

I’ve finished Wizard’s Conclave and Deception Point, 2 down, 20 to go. As I’m sure none of you are Dragonlance fans, I’ll forgo any lengthy comment about it, other than that it was a must-read for any person that missed true god-given magic.

As for Deception Point, it was a solid title with no remarkable flaws. It was an interesting read, although I enjoyed Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code more for the religious/theological elements (what some would refer to as church-bashing tee hee). [For those that care to know, I am deeply interested in theology.]

This book reminded me a lot of Crichton’s works (Congo, Jurassic Park) in that it is fast paced, accessible science fiction. With its short, leave-em-hanging, action-stuffed chapters, Brown increases the readability of his books for the time-challenged, rock’em, sock’em people of America.

His stories lend themselves to screen-adaptation, it’s inevitable that one of his novels will get turned into the next Hollywood blockbuster.

Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday and got me a present. Here is a list of the presents I received, if you would like to borrow any of these, please let me know.

Books

Dragonlance Novels:
Wizard’s Conclave
The Search For Power
The Warrior’s Journey
The Wizard’s Fate
Prisoner of Haven
Flight of the Fallen

Magic The Gathering Novels:
Assasin’s Blade
Emperor’s Fist
Champion’s Trial

Leisure:
The Marvelous Land of Oz
Deception Point
Dune

Coffee Table
The Book For People Who Do Too Much
Marvels

Instructional:
First Syllabus on XiangQi

Programming:
Core Techniques and Algorithms in Game Programming
Game Programming Gems 4

Other Gifts
Shrek 2 and a Shrek 2 Party CD
Magnetic Dart Board
Family Tree Picture Frame
Brown Belt

Thanks for all the nifty presents!

Happy New Year!

I just finished Animal Farm. I was surprised at how quick of a read it was. It’s a wonderful allegory about Soviet Russia, please read it!