Neil Gaiman is satisfying and addicting. Unlike most authors these days he knows how to tell a fantastic story with a deeper meaning below the surface, instead of assorted contrived meanings with a fantastical story thrown in. The Graveyard book is a very entertaining story about a boy who grows up in a graveyard and is raised by ghosts and other supernatural creatures. It also happens to be an homage to The Jungle Book. You can take or leave the comparison and still enjoy the book as a whole. Gaiman is subtle with his references to classic elements such as werewolves, and as a result they feel familiar but not stale. He always puts his own spin on ideas that I think have been written to death.
Oh the memories…
On a related note…fantastic article from my favorite gaming community about the portrayal of women in games.
Finally, a female protagonist in a main installment Final Fantasy game. Even if you can’t tell the difference.
I have a friend who has learned a little about crows, such as the below video. He also told me about a guy that trained crows to bring spare change to his balcony in exchange for peanuts. So now he goes to the park and is trying to train a crow fleet to do his bidding. I can see him now, exiting the park, birds clinging to his limbs while cawing and attacking nearby pedestrians.
This is a video about crows. Fascinating. It’s a bit long, but very interesting. *And* educational!
These guys are great. They remind me why I ever wanted to play violin. Seattle was at it’s usual indifference. Polite applause after beautiful, heart wrenching songs. After the set and the three musicians were quietly packing up, I went up to the stage and told them how great they are. I’m sure they were fine without the ego boost- they’ve toured to Japan and all over the west coast, plus sasquatch. Tomo signed my T shirt. :)
Saw these guys last night at Chop Suey. It was an intimate affair with three band members. It was listed as “Tomo and strings;” I’m not sure which two girls were playing, but I think it was Jaclyne Shumate on violin and Esther Shin on cello although I could be wrong.
