There are only three

There are only 3 movies. 

Han fired first at Greedo. 

Jabba is not in the first movie. 

Vader silently killed Palpatine.

Vader was an old man under the mask.

Should not exist

This is snagged from an online account from a guy that admits it should not have been taken.  However, since it was I get to show some of the duty perks I get, like working to keep certain companions from overzealous fans.

Cheap and used book

From a Goodwill in Lynnwood.  Does not appear to have been read much.

I still suck at this game

Playing it all these years later did not improve my scores.

A great view for reading

Seattle Public Library.

10th Floor.

Taken April 13, 2014

Reign season opener

Seattle Reign FC 3
Boston Breakers 0
NWSL Regular Season
Memorial Stadium - Seattle, WA
April 13, 2014

The field paint over the football lines is much better in person than the images reveal here.

Seattle gets one from a PK.

Pretty good flow of play.  I thought the Seattle midfield did a much better job of controlling the game and using different attack approaches than Boston did.

Abandoned fields

A now overgrown green on what was once the first hole at Ballinger Golf Course.

What was once the 4th hole and 2nd hole depending on the era.

I have a lot of stories about Ballinger Golf Course from after JiB early AM weekend rounds to actually getting married at the clubhouse.  Now it is overgrown.

This is the field and entrance to what was once Lynnwood High School.

I played a lot of games and attending 4th of July with my kids on numerous occasions at the old LHS.  It is just sitting there rotting with rumors about future land use.  It sits right across the street from a major shopping center amid much development.

Devon Monk - Stone Cold: A Broken Magic Novel

Devon Monk - Stone Cold: A Broken Magic Novel

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.  Whether in physics or in magic this axiom holds true.

Shame wields Death Magic while Terric wields Life Magic and between them is balance. Well, at least sometimes there is at least some sense of balance.  They are Soul Complements and they struggle with it mightily.

But, magic is healed, fixed, and whole.  It is also now far less useful and powerful. Sort of. It is far less useful and powerful unless you control one of the few people who can still wield or break magic. It is far less useful and powerful unless you control Soul Complements. Killing off Soul Complements will make those few who can control magic and magic users even more powerful.

Stone Cold is an apt title because our narrator Shame is desperately fighting against being just that.  He wields Death Magic; it draws on his desires, it soothes him with death’s caress, and he knows it sometimes has control over him and makes him a monster. In the hands of a monster it would be horrific, but Shame is more than just that magic he wields.  He has a Soul Complement in Terric that wields Life Magic and can help him balance himself, but wielding magic as Soul Complements has its own dangers.

Soul Complements are in danger and are being eliminated. Too many plot points would be spoilers.

Real world Portland, OR continues to be the setting.  Portland is a town I get to visit regularly and I now find myself picturing the locations as they have been described. When in downtown Portland I cannot help but look up at a rooftop to see if I am being followed now.

Part of the draw of Monk’s take on magic as a source of energy has been the blending of science with the magic, how it has been researched and worked with technology.  Magic has a price to wield because there has to be some sort of balancing counter to the use of energy.  It is not merely something that exists and is a useful storytelling piece. The implication that magic is merely another form of energy that can be channeled and used, but also can be bottled up and stored like a battery is integral to the overall back story of the world created here.

There is so much about this book and series I can rave about.  Devon Monk has managed to continue her first person narrative from the earlier Allie Beckstrom books, switching POV genders in the process without losing the sense we are in the same world. Allie and other previous series characters continue to be represented and it is interesting to see them from the different POV of a character that has gone through shared experiences.  There is a feeling of familiarity and yet difference to what happened before that is a draw.  It is not Rashomon where all is different, but it definitely gives a different sense of what the shared experiences mean to other characters.

Stone Cold was released on April 1, 2014 by Roc Books


----

Q & A With Devon Monk

How specific are you about Landmarks in PDX?  Or are you trying to give a more general feel?

I wanted to give a general feel and just sprinkle a few landmarks in here and there.

Changing POV from a female lead for 9 books to a male lead in the same universe
where the characters interact in the next two, what were the challenges?

The gender switch was fun, as I enjoy writing from both male and female points of view. What was even more fun and different about writing Shame (as compared to Allie) is his view on the world is sort of point-loaded and brief. Everything in the world around him is noted and dismissed with one word or thought, which is often funny. Allie observes every detail, sound, and scent of her surroundings.

By having a two book series in the same universe, were you concerned about accessibility?

A little. My hope was to write these two books so they could stand on their own and the reader wouldn't need to know the Allie books to enjoy them. I've seen readers report that they can, indeed, be read without knowing the other series, but those who have read the Allie Beckstrom book agree that it makes reading the spinoff series even richer.

Role of the ghost, was she Shame's conscience?

She was his failure. His biggest fear. She was a constant sign of his weakness. I think she became his conscience as time went on.

The very notion of a Death Magic user out of control as a lead character
doing horrible things, were you concerned he could be the bad guy and
the lead character at the same time?

There was a line to walk there, and my editor had to reel me back from it a bit. But I think Shame is funny enough, and broken enough, and even noble enough (when push comes to shove) that his darkness and light balance out in the end.

Soul Compliments take on issues of gender and sexuality.  Do you get any push back on that?

Not at all.

In Broken Magic it is Govt conspiracies after Secret Organizations in the Allie books, was that an organic or conscious choice?

Organic. Exposing all (well, most) of the dirty secrets of the Secret Organization triggered the government's response, and then things got interesting.

Physics.  For every reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction.  Is the magic price rooted in that?

Yes. Or at least action = consequences, which is a heck of a lot of fun when magic is involved.

ECCC 2014

Emerald City Comicon 2014

WSCTC

March 28-30, 2014

For me the con is basically this island up on the sixth floor with the celeb guests and keeping things moving as Floor Caption of the Minions.

However ...

This year I had to adjust my mobile role in favour of a stationary one due to an ankle injury.  If I moved at all people would yell at me.  Minions got attendees in line to yell at me. I was sitting inside, even when moving.

I ran into students, colleagues, old friends, people I only know from con work.  Someone referred to my hair as a Silvery Waterfall of Joy.  People joked about how I accidentally wore pants on Saturday and they didn't recognize me. 

I got a chance (long story) to be a stage hand for Night Vale.  Friends in the audience looked up and there I was grabbing mike stands as Night Vale signed off so The Thrilling Adventure Hour could go on. This is my life.

In the end we made the celebs basically happy and several of them left with green Minion shirts.  They would not want souvenirs of a bad experience. I was exhausted and glad I had slogged through it. The trade off of being in a position where I get to fist bump Q and joke with some of the celebs is that I miss out on Bone downstairs or things like that.  It's basically a fair trade. 

My perch. My albatross.

Lines are a math problem of time and people and movement.

Cecil from backstage at the Welcome To Night Vale show on Friday night.

Cecil with Molly Quinn from The Thrilling Adventure hour.

With Kyle from Kirby Krackle.

The calm before the storm. 

Opening Night

Seattle Mariners 10

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 3

Safeco Field Open House

March 31, 2014

The M's charged a buck, handed out tee shirts, and had the road opener on the big screen.  Sit wherever you want and just hang out was the idea.  I did not get a chance to stay for more than a few innings. The turnout was pretty good. Cano got a huge pop when he came on the screen the first time.

This is something that needs to be repeated.

Watching the first inning from the railing inside the Mariners dugout.

Ground level from the warning track in left center.

Have not yet seen the movie

August: Osage County

March 1, 2014

Theatre in the Grove

Forest Grove, OR

August: Osage County is not an easy play. It is not easy for either the production or the audience. That being said, it is awesome.

I had the opportunity to experience Theatre in the Grove’s production the other night and was both impressed and a bit exhausted after. Yes, it is a three hour play and that can be tiring, but it was the family drama and the performances and how locked in I got that was tiring, not the run time. The cast is very much all in on the material, which is necessary, but also risky as it is easy for it to become heavy handed melodrama if handled poorly. It is handled well.

Family drama is the worst as it can linger and fade and come roaring back at the slightest provocation.  Family members will keep distance or even move away as a result of ongoing drama.  This often only delays or defers the inevitable in the event it comes to a head over other issues or tragedies.  The family In August: Osage County is not merely dysfunctional it is flat out broken.  Time and distance have not changed anything and when a terrible event brings them all back together it is only a matter of time until old issues become immediate problems.

The lead roles in Theatre in the Grove’s production are excellent.  Part of what makes this play so difficult is that it hits so close to home and the actors bring what could be mere archetypes to life as genuine people that at times one feels sympathy for and others one simply wants to slap. Supporting cast members get meaty moments and come through.  In a three hour play without a large cast there is plenty of stage time for many of the actors to be temporary focal points.  They held my attention.

Yes, the first act seems long, but not long in the sense that it drags.  By the second intermission I had picked up many different threads and genuinely wanted to see how these people came through, or not.

I am glad that I really did not know much about this play prior to seeing it, although I was warned about length and that it would be R Rated.  The recent film version was not something I was familiar with.  As a result I was getting a first account of this family through the play.  The material was fresh to me and I really found myself locked in and trying to sort out in my own mind what was likely to happen.  The material is not predictable in that the end results are not always obvious or the safe way out dramatically.  Bad things happen.  

Suddenly looking forward to Con season starting

My Devil's Panties Dveil Girl plush toy came in the mail from being a Kickstarter supporter.

The lapel pin will be on my badge all weekend at ECCC.

No, I just need to take the artist and hubby out for some shotgun trap shooting.

Trying the guitar another way

Dean Moller with Wayne Porter
Local Color - Seattle, WA
February 24, 2014

While walking through the market on a blustery Sunday afternoon, I stumbled upon a booth selling the coolest guitars ever.  The vendor also sold really cool copper pieces for slide guitar. Yes, I bought one of the little pieces and desperately want one of the guitars some day.

Am I trying one more (final?) time with the guitar?  My hands just do not do what needs to be done to be able to really play.

Weird $#!+ I get to do for work

Back in January I got to play with these circuit boards.  I had to take them home and play with them and turn a banana into a mouse.  Some days work is better than others.

A super hangover and some absurdity

Super Bowl Champions parade.  Beast Mode with the cheerleaders, because he can. February 5 from Westlake.

My mom's two hats.

Yes, Skittles in the sausages.

Winter Camping Rules

I Heart Flowing Lake.

What not to tell your tenant about a rental increase

Today, my rent went up.

It is now almost 50 percent higher than it was when I moved in 9 years ago.  It went up a good 13-14 percent today. From a standpoint of inflation that is effing ridiculous. However, that is not what this blog is about.  I am not bitching about the admittedly irritating increase, it is the reasoning behind it.

I got a letter.  A very business talk like letter with business words like market.

It appears that rents in my neighborhood are higher so the market is such that the rent I was paying was too low.

Basically, "the market" means that "others are doing it and so we are and you won't find anything cheaper so it sucks to be you".

Higher taxes? Big expenses? Nope.  Just, "others are so we are". That is the reason I was given. The letter implies that since the market is that I probably shouldn't bother to look around and move because I will just find this out for myself so I should just save myself time and pay more for the same thing.

I could totally understand why they sent the letter, but it does not actually reflect well on their business acumen if all they do is follow what others are doing.

I sent in the check.

I did no add the eff off I repeated to myself as I wrote said check.

Dave Sim has not left the building

It is good news that Dave Sim did not end his career in comics after all.

These IDW covers may not seem like a huge deal, but they really are.

Here's to more interesting work from Dave.

(This is an autographed copy he sent me recently. Dave is a good guy.)

MTG and the Super Bowl all in one

Super Bowl Sunday.

Groundhog Day.

MTG Born of the Gods Prerelease.

February 2, 2014 is the day I managed to combine everything into one and do so while placing 4th in a sealed event, playing with the GF, watching the Super Bowl victory by the Seahawks, and enjoying one of my favorite silly holidays.

Thanks to Luke's.

This would have been nice in 2006

I imagine I was one of the statistics that finally led to this rail being put up.

Bud Selig can suck it

Baseball is scandals.

The Black Sox.

Greenies.

Racism.

Pete Rose.

Strikes.

Alex Rodriguez.

Bud Selig would have baseball fans believe everything is clean now because of him.

Suck it, Bud.

YOU presided over the steroid era.

You NEEDED it.

And, when the PR turned against what YOU used to fix the problems YOU created in 1994, YOU seem to think that YOU get credit.

Suck it, Bud.

ARod is dirty.  His lawsuit is crazy.  He deserves all the derision he gets.  But, I read the actual suit and the worst part is that he is right.

Baseball rewarded the cheaters.  Baseball needed the cheaters.

Bud Selig, YOU KNEW.

Your retirement is good for baseball.

Do everyone a favor and leave early and quietly.

You do not deserve a curtain call or tour of ballparks.  I hope that someone at every stadium gets on the jumbotron and has signage pointing out that you are as dirty as ARod.

My Beautiful City

Seahawk colors and a 12th man flag flying ... last night.

All 12 by NYE

Ephemera 2013

2013 Annual Ephemera (or my OCD reference list making)
I actually refer to these various lists for my own purposes and posting them on the blog itself actually helps. Just move along, this is for me.

Sea U 51 - Denver 64 Key WAC 1-12-13
Worlds largest snowball fight 1-12-13 Seattle Center
WPZ 8-10-13
EMP 2x

DECA Region 3 Judge at the Meydenbauer Center - 1-10-12
Emerald City Comicon March 1-3 + 2/28 and 2/17 & badges and Core Team January, Celeb Ops
MFR 5513 plus mtg 4-6
Clang Kickstarter 4-29
tedxseattle 62313 multiple days and meetings - Volunteer Team Manager
Street Food Festival 81013 (eve plus mtg)
PAX 7 days Enforcer
RCCC 3 days Henchman
GGC Fri event and all day Sat as attendee
AngelHack 11-2/3 via p@L
Bonza Bash NYE - Fremont Arts Center

I failed to see a Seattle Storm game this season, for the first time, or an MLS regular season SSFC game.

Seattle Sounders FC 3 UANL Tigres 1 CCL Qtrs 2nd Leg 3-12-13 CLink
SSFC 0 Santos Laguna 1 4-2-13 CLink
USA 2 Panama 0 WCQ 6-11-13 CLink
WSU 1 UW 0 Pac-12 Women 11-8-13 Husky Field

Safeco Field
Seattle Mariners 3 Houston Astros 8 4-10-13 Completed MLB
Seattle Mariners 2 Toronto Blue Jays 7 8-6-13 King's Court
Seattle Mariners 0 Milwaukie Brewers 10 8-10-13 Griffey HOF

The Little Mermaid 3-22-13 Re-Bar
One Man Star Wars Trilogy April 2013 Triple Door
Star Crossed May 2013 Annex
The Bloody Banquet - Ballard
The Doubleclicks at Wayward Coffee House 2x
Behind the Blue Door ReBar August
A Midsummer Nights Dream at Volunteer Park - Greenstage
Neverwhere - 11-9-13 Cornish Theatre Seattle Center
Coney Island Christmas 11-29-13 BAT 12-14-13 Pop Up Museum BAT Fundraiser 12-23

The Davanos LRH 3-10-13 33113 may/june
Knut Bell LRH 3-29-13
tdr lrh 49 1029
jerkels 7213
kk ml 915
Sarah Brightman
2nd Annual Dammit Liz Holiday Special 120213

Star Trek into darkness
Iron Man 3 2x
Supergirl
The Great Gatsby
Much Ado About Nothing
The Wolverine
The World's End
Thor The Dark World

WHS 42 Mariner 0
WHS 21 Eastlake 24
WHS 0 Bothell 35

Reading List for 2013

2013 Reading Log

Gamma World Rulebook (Settlers of Catan and Ticket To Ride)
- A common theme of 2013 is gaming books.  Some of these rulebooks are huge and noteworthy and some of them will be listed here.  Gamma World is a game I dabbled in back in the day and have found a new version of and look forward to playing again.

Magic Bullet Cookbook
- A second theme of the last year or two are cookbooks.  I am reading a lot of these.

7th Sigma by Steven Gould
- Gould remains one of my favorite writers.  As usual, this is a solid world that has layers that unfold.

The Strain by David Lapham
- I will list notable graphic novels and collections.

Shade by Steven Gould
- In the Jumper universe.

Impulse by Steven Gould
- In the Jumper universe.

Three Samurai Cats
- I end up reading a lot of kids books as a teacher and list the noteworthy ones here.

Age of Apocalypse
- Graphic novel collection.  Marvel has continued this alternate universe.

- Gatecrash Players Guide
- The players guides for each MTG release are handy.

Chew v5
- I have ended up just reading this series as it is collected.

 iZombie, 
- I love the works of Allred and that has now led me to FF.

Chu by Neil Gaiman
- It's Neil.  I read it.  Some day I will stop lying to him.

Down The Mysterly River by Bill Willingham
- I read his Fables stuff, grabbed this as a result. 

Ajax, the Dutch, the War: The Strange Tale of Soccer During Europe's Darkest Hour by Simon Kuper
- Looking at how the Dutch are revisiting the role of their country in the events of WWII through the lens of soccer.

King Tut Exhibit
- I have an Egyptology habit.  After going to the Tut exhibit this is a book that looks at the general history of ancient Egypt and the exhibit itself.

The Signal and The Noise by Nate Silver
- This guy focuses on what data means, not what he wants it to mean.

Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland by Bill Willingham and Jim Fern
- These Fables graphic novels are continually awesome.

My Inner Bimbo by Sam Kieth
- Sometimes I really have no idea what I am reading when it comes to Kieth's work.

Cats by Jennie Breeden
- I bought this at ECCC the day my cat passed away.

Blasphemy by Sherman Alexie
- His Twitter feed has become must reading.

Myth Adventures by Phil Foglio
- Bought this at ECCC and it was a fun read.

Kori
- A dancing friend that blogs.  Her blog writings collectively add up to what I hope will one day be a collection.

Cascadia Clash: Sounders versus Timbers by Geoffrey C. Arnold
- My first Sounders game was a win over PDX when I was 8.  'nuff said. 

Friday by Robert A. Heinlein
- Identity.  Gender roles. Exploitation.  Good scifi.

Sour Cream Cookbook
- Oh, the things you can make.

The Boys v12
- A solid finish to a good series.

Dragon's Maze Players Guide
- The end of the RtR block.

DnD
- The version 4 book has been useful, but Next is on its way.

Ten Little Zombies
- OMG

Make Good Art by Neil Gaiman 
- Basically, be practical, but also never stop doing.

Scandinavian Cooking 
- nomnomnom

Pocket Ref
- I now will be even better at Trivial Pursuit.

Mr. Boston Official Bartender's Guide by Mr. Boston et al
- My kitchen would not be complete without this book I got as a gift.

Hero's Handbook: Tieflings by Jeff LaSala
- I am playing a Tiefling Warlord and this book helped with playing in character.

1991 Aerostar Owners Guide
-  And I have needed to know too much about this vehicle already.

The Devil's Panties (Volume 1) by Jennie Breeden
- I heart Jennie and reading the collected volumes are awesome. Looking forward to the Devil Girl doll next year from the Kickstarter campaign.

Storm Front by Jim Butcher 
- First Dresden book. I thought I would like this more.  It's good and sets the table, but I have to believe the follow ups that do not need the world building will be better.

Courtesans: Money, Sex and Fame in the Nineteenth Century by Katie Hickman 
- Not all eras have been ruled by Puritans.

Silent Legacy
- A book on conversations related to death and a good reminder.

M14 Player's Guide
- Slivers are fun.

Dead Man's Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl
- Good idea.  Interesting script.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
- Since I am watching the new show I went back and read the original.  There are reasons this has survived the ages, it is an interesting read.

Irish Pub Cooking
- I have a dream.  I want to sit in a pub in Dublin and eat pub food with a Guinness.

The Lay of the Eastern King by Patrick Rothfuss
- Epic poems are actually a tough read for me, even if meant as tongue in cheek as this one.

Coney Island Christmas by Donald Margulies
- Script.

Doctor Who: Shada: The Lost Adventure by Douglas Adams by Gareth Roberts 
- It's Douglas Adams' wit even if through the filter of another writer.  As I delve in to the world of The Doctor, books like this will become more common.

Theros Players Guide
- A bunch of new mechanics and creature types.

Crazy Hair by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean
- The dynamic duo.

The Walking Dead: The Road To Woodbury by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga
- The 2nd of what will apparently be 3 books about The Governor.


Tiny Quest Starring Princess Sassafras by Matt Youngmark
- Teeny tiny book.  Former editor of mine.

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman
- Neil never fails to be visual with words.

William Shakespeare's Star Wars by Ian Doescher
- OMG

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
- I did not merely enjoy the world of Harry Potter, I enjoyed Rowling's writing. So, I had to give this a look see.

Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris
- The thirteenth and final Sookie novel.

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell
- I happen to enjoy reading Gladwell and enjoy how he links things together.
 The Bordello Cookbook by Jo Foxworth
- Stories and recipes


Doctor Who - Character Encyclopedia by Annabel Gibson, Moray Laing and Jason Loborik

Inferno by Dan Brown- Better than the last one, not as good as the first too, but the constant mini lectures and exposition gets a bit tedious.

Sex With Kings: 500 years of Adultery, Power, Rivalry, and Revenge by Eleanor Herman
- The power and influence and yet completely tenuous world.

2013 Card

For my Rose

Resilience

 Resilience

The Burien Actors Theatre may have been the victims of arson, but the show will go on.

Coney Island Christmas will complete its run.

216 SW 153rd, Burien, WA

These are awesome people.

Something Something Holodeck

2nd Annual Dammit Liz Holiday Special
The Triple Door
December 2, 2013

Super Guitar Brothers is my favorite thing right now.  I already have been playing them as background music in class and raving about them.

This was an impulse attending thing, even though I had heard about it in advance it somehow slipped through the cracks.  Fortunately, the decision to go was made in time.

And that makes 16

Seattle Marathon 2013 

This year I was worried about the Seattle marathon because my preparation was such a struggle given a series of little nagging injuries and an ankle problem in September.

So, I thought long and hard about it, managed the things I could and took the most important lessons that I have learned over the years doing distance and applied them to yesterday.

Lesson 1 - Being organized and prepared cannot be underestimated.

- I have a pouch I run with that carries gel packs and other useful items

Lesson 2 - Listen to your body

- There are points where you need to slow and points where you feel good and you can kick it up a notch.  Things were going well, even if slowly, until a bit after mile marker 20.  I had to make some changes to my stride and pace and grab extra water and it took 3-4 miles to really start to feel better again.  I was then able to kick it in after mile marker 24 and was able to finish strong.

Lesson 3 - Recovery planning matters

- I was set for a hot soak with good bath salts.  I planned my nutrition for a few days out.  I made a point of bracing myself for the after race.  Too often I hear of people who stop doing distance because of the poor recovery.  Recovery can be managed.

Yes, I came in last in my division. 146/146.

Yes, only 18 people finished after me. 2107/2125

Yes, this was my slowest marathon out of 16. 6:39:29/6:41:08

In the spirit of the event and being supportive I chose to not taunt the woman in the Portland Timbers jersey that Roger Levesque was way ahead of her.

Yes, I had to pause and change my stride for the first time ever.

Yes, I finished and feel pretty good the next day.