Beowulf

The Robert Zemeckis film, based on one of the oldest stories in English literature.   Screenplay, I noticed, credited Neil Gaiman of Sandman fame.

I found the whole motion-capture computer animation thing to be a bit disconcerting.  Like it wasn't real, even the mundane parts with no special effects.

The dragon was good, I have to admit...and Angelina Jolie was very good as Grendel's mother.  But overall not much better than the somewhat more low-budget "Beowulf and Grendel".

"East of the Sun" by Benson Bobrick

Amazing history of Siberia, an incredibly vast and diverse land that many Americans don't know or care about. Like most Russian history, very violent. Interesting to compare with the history of the American West and frontier. In fact, Siberia is often called Russia's Wild East.

Very well written, and thorough history, though it might not be lively enough for some. For me, I found it thoroughly fascinating. Also includes history of the Russian exploration of the Pacific North, Alaska, and the west coast of America. Some of the stories of early explorers are simply amazing, such as that of Bering--who was financed by the Russians, but was himself Swedish.

"Baltimore: Or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier" by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden

This is a book I bought on a whim off Amazon, by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden. I knew Mignola from his work on Hellboy.

It's a truly dark and macabre tale, well-written and compelling, but certainly not for everybody. I wouldn't read it if you are prone to nightmares... Apparently, they're making it into a movie.

I was taken with the opening scene, in which Lord Baltimore, injured amid the carnage of a WWI battlefield, is set upon by vampiric creatures. A chilling scene indeed. Recommended if you are a fan of dark fantasy, horror, or the like.

First

Finally caved in and created a blog....

Never really bought into the whole blogmania thing...AFAIC it's just a bunch of people writing crap on the internet, same as its ever been.

For someone who's been publishing web pages (if not a website) since about '94, the novelty sort of wore off. For a while, if you had a website or a URL you were pretty hip. Then it became too easy, and everyone and their sister-in-law could put their content up on the web. AOLized, that's what I call it. Debased.

Anyway, here I am...back, a few years after I gave up on rand-om.com.
So, Hello World!