Tonight I was taken to see Black Swan (yes, it was amazing, I never get taken to movies, I must have stumbled into some great karma). Everyone knows this movie has won all sorts of awards and such, so I won’t spend too much time on it. Mostly I just wanted to brag about what a good time I had at it.

But I should say something of the movie. I believe, after seeing this, that dancing can cause effects similar to hallucinagenic drugs. Maybe that’s why I’ve never danced too much… fear of OD’ing. Natalie Portman put on a great performance, even if I was a little lost on what was going on sometimes. Did I mention I had a good time? Hahaha!

In conclusion, check out this full photo reveal of the Red Skull from the upcoming Captain America movie. I don’t know how much I’ll care to see that movie, but it is great to see they nailed the costume of this classic villain. Word on the street is he is one badass Salsa dancer.

So it’s been an overly long time since I did anything here. I apologize to my six followers. Life takes unexpected turns. On to things I’ve seen and read!

First off, because it’s what I literally just finished reading: The comic book series Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. I’m going to put it right out there: LOVE this series. I’ve read the first two graphic novels and loved every bit of them. The story, the artwork, everything is solid throughout the first two collected editions thus far. The most basic synopsis of the story is a family moves into a giant mansion full of mysterious keys, which can cause all sorts of different things to happen.

For example: The Gender key allows you to open a door and step through to become the opposite gender. The Anywhere key allows you to open any door and step through to anywhere else in the world you imagine.

Throw in a great mystery storyline, fuelled by murder and excellent character development, and you’ve got a series that I’ve already come to love nearly as much as Fables.

On the topic of author Joe Hill, I also read his novel Heart-Shaped Box, which is not in any way related to Nirvana or the song on their In Utero album. While I do love the writing in his comic book series, I was not as much a fan of this book. It was a good read, but it’s like eating a cheap fast food burger after tasting a delicious steak. With horseradish! The book is about an aging musician who buys a ghost online, and then has to deal with the repercussions. It seems Joe Hill is a big fan of horror and the macabre. Anyways, pick this series up, borrow the book from the library.

In the world of video games, I’ve recently played through Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. I know it’s not really a recent release now, but I’m gonna have my say about it anyways! Don’t buy it! Rent rent rent. The multiplayer is brutally slow, it’s not like Halo Reach (or even Halo 3) where you can jump in there’s a million kids waiting to play. I waited 20 minutes to join an online session of Manhunt in it without being dropped into one game. As for the single player campaign, it was what I liked to call Grand Theft… Assassin in old timey Italy. Stereotypical accents from the voice actors, a big fat gap in the final cutscene of the game… it was just a wide open mess. The game is the third in the series, it should have been a little more seamless and with better controls. I’ll forgive them their lackluster multiplayer, as they only just attempted it for the first time (and it was a lot of fun to play with friends.)

Alright, so I finally got around to reading Anthony Keidis’ Scar Tissue. Normally I love biographies, especially ones about musicians, but this book cannot be included in that pile of love I have. First off, it is WAYYYYY too long. It could have been chopped down to say 150 or 200 pages, or even the following summary paragraph:

“I, Anthony Kiedis, did a lot of drugs. More than would normally seem humanly possible to survive through. I made a lot of money being in a band that was far more talented than I myself am as a writer. I like to believe everything is mystical and has great energy. I think every girl I fall in love with is the best soul ever born to this plane of existance. Also I cheated on those girls constantly, and then did more drugs.”

Pass on this one, it’s just not worth the time to bother with. Anyone who thinks shooting cocaine (yes, apparently people do that, as if it wasn’t already a disgusting enough thing to snort it) was a good idea just isn’t needing more money via book sales to buy more drugs.

Next up, not a new album by any means, but one that, after years of searching stores for, I finally found! Strung Out’s contribution to Fat Wreck Chords Live in a Dive series. This band, in my opinion, is one of the greatest punk bands ever. Period. This album shows just how talented they are, and arguably better live than they are recorded on any of their albums. The technicality and speed at which they can hold their songs together are incredible, and they cover Ozzy’s Bark at the Moon. I also love the cover art and the fact that the liner notes are a comic book.

I’ve also been reading Douglas Adam’s trilogy in five parts, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. These books are hilarious, a tight mix of science fiction and humour, Adams definitely had an imagination that just isn’t seen or appreciated often enough in today’s society. Adams plays well with his story’s timeline, having lead character Arthur bounce from the destruction of planet Earth to various locations of the galaxy and then back to prehistoric Earth and more. If you’ve read more than the first book, you likely agree with me about it and don’t need any further convincing that it’s a great series.

Soooo it’s that time of summer again when we get to ramp up the nerdiness and head to Toronto’s Fan Expo. I’ve been for the last four years, and I have to say that it was with great hope that I went into this year’s edition.

Last year, the Expo was a huge hassle, and here are a few reasons why: Taking place in the South building of the Toronto Convention Centre, which is the larger building, we had to wait over two hours at the opening hour to get in, as the number of attendants threw the Fire Marshall into a worry about overcrowding. The inside was still overly crowded and many people seem to believe they can follow the stigma that people who love nerd/geek culture don’t need to wear deodorant.

Anyways, this year the event was moved to the smaller North Building, despite last year setting record numbers for attendance. We waited over an hour and a half to get our ticket and onto the floor, despite having arrived nearly an hour before doors were to open. There were zero signs pointing out where the event had been moved to, and the staff of the convention centre were short and rude, asking us to tell other people ourselves that the event was not in the south building.

There seemed to be a shorter list of exhibitors this year for some reason, and the horror area definitely seemed smaller than last year. Most disappointing to me was the lack of ANYTHING from Marvel and DC Comics. You’d think the biggest two publishers would have something… but you’d be wrong. Marvel had ONE artist signing autographs in the four times we walked past, and at one point was allowing people to pose with a replica Captain America shield for photos. That was it. Oh, and a lame “Marvel Mix Tape” comic which had four previews of comics (three of which are already available in stores to buy).

DC had nothing at all each time we walked by. You can try and claim “It was the opening day though” but we all know that’s BS, you can’t act like one day doesn’t count. If you’re going to a convention of any type, you should be out there killing the crowd with amazing samples, artists, writers and more. That’s what we go for, and both companies flat out failed to deliver.

On the upside, the costumes were pretty awesome this year, one of our favourites being a huge guy dressed up as Thor. Somehow we managed to not see him outside of the lineup to get in though, so we couldn’t get a photo. The Tron display dominated the floor, the Alien display seemed a little low key despite being so big. I guess they’re just excited to announce it on Blu-Ray? I couldn’t say.

I didn’t see too many great deals, though there were some. I did enjoy the giant Galactus action figure they had, and was impressed that they’d already run out of them for the day as they were eighty dollars apiece. That’s commitment to toys at that price.

Overall, I’d have to give this a mere two out of five stars. I’ve loved the Expo for few years now, but I will be very hard pressed to go back next year if they don’t give it the adequate space and have the big companies busting their asses for the fans.

Hey, so I’ve been lazy and brutal, and very busy all at once.

Anyways, I’m going to run through some fast reviews here, no specific order or such.

Dennis Lehane, Shutter Island - great book, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The movie wasn’t too bad either, but not as good as the book of course. Read the book, rent the movie.

Stephen King, Under the Dome - so so so close to being back to his old awesome writing. Someone get that man back on the drugs and booze, sobriety has not been kind to his writing. I loved about 85% of this novel, but the end was just too Deus Ex Machina (no, not the graphic novel) and not enough creativity. Read it only if you’ve got time to cram approximately 1200 pages into your free time.

Guillermo Del Toro/Chuck Hogan, The Strain - great take on vampires, when they’ve been run into the ground over the last two years. Too bad that I have to wait two months for the sequel and then another year or two for the conclusion of the trilogy. Read it.

Danny Goldberg, Bumping into Geniuses - awesome memoire of someone who’s been close to most of the biggest bands of the last 40 years. Highly recommended for anyone who loves music.

Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Shadow of the Wind - a great story taking place in Spain over the course of many years, revolving around the mysterious destruction of all book by a little known author. Read it.

The Kobo eReader - I got this about a month ago or more, and it’s been pretty good so far. It’s a simple, lightweight deal and I like it a lot. Books are pretty well priced to buy through it, and the only issue I’ve had is that it needs rebooted a few times when initially turning it on. Apparently that isn’t normal and I’ve been told to return it for a properly working machine. Buy it if you want a decent alternative to piles of books all over your shelves, dresser, floor etc.

That’s all for now my friends, except for my favourite movie of the year, Kick-Ass. Buy it! Watch it! Repeat (ok don’t repeat buying it if you don’t want to.)

Just found this online, love it. Amazing creativity, and well, who doesn’t love Chuck E. Cheese’s band??

Hey, for those of you following, I will have more reviews and such coming up soon, I was bombarded for the last two months while switching jobs and working mad overtime hours to pay for the holidays. Look for commentary on Stephen King’s “Under the Dome”, Dennis Lehane’s “Shutter Island” and more.

So I decided to pick up Stuart McLean’s Stories from the Vinyl Café, as there has been a big fuss over his newest book, Extreme Vinyl Café, at the bookstore. So while this isn’t a commentary on a new book, it is still an on-going series drawing attention.

The book is made up of many short stories featuring a rotating number of characters. Some of the stories are very well done, and entertaining with good lighthearted comic moments. There aren’t any specific backgrounds given to any of the characters, McLean just jumps right in and is off with the stories, which is a nice break for a change.

Of course this book has a great amount of Canadian references that people in other countries might not get, but that’s not to say they’re irrelevant. It’s nice to see mention of stores and media that I know of, rather than say the countless American eateries that flood most of the background in current novels (I’m looking at you, Carl’s Jr., Jack in the Box and In-N-Out Burger.)

In continuation, I will likely pick up the next in the series of Vinyl Café and give it a run through. Most of the stories kept me interested and didn’t drag on endlessly. McLean has a short and sweet style that works very well in my eyes.

Also, a last point I’d like to make is my disappointment with the new covers for the series. McLean’s older runs had a great poppy look to them (see below) and now they’re using less than exciting covers for the newest run. Ah well, I guess you can’t win them all. For what it’s worth, I love the cover below also as it makes me think of the Dismemberment Plan song “You Are Invited” as well.

On a personal note, I am currently working my way (albeit slowly) through Malcolm Gladwell’s What the Dog Saw, and then will be working on Chuck Klosterman’s Eat the Dinosaur. Amongst the pile of books I have in my pile to read are also Shutter Island, Becoming Batman and quite a few more. If you have any recommendations or comments, message me on facebook (while I decide on an email to set up for this page.)

Today we’re going to delve into a book that I have often seen at bookstores, but didn’t think to pick up until I found it at a book sale over the summer.

This book, which cost me a mere dollar, was Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger, a story about a low-caste man born and raised in India’s “darkness.”

I will admit, I was very hesitant to read this one because I didn’t think that I’d find the story of a man in India all that exciting (or relatable either.) However, unlike when I read Dave Egger’s A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (which I picked up based on the cover, thinking it would be good – boy was I disappointed) I was pleasantly surprised.

The book is narrated by the protagonist, Balram, in letters addressed to the leader of China, who is to visit India. The letters are broken into seven parts, told over a week while Balram gets ready for work each night. Over the nights, Balram reveals his upbringing in poverty, through his time as a driver for a wealthy family and then his eventual escape.

One aspect I loved about this book was that Balram immediately said he was a wealthy entrepreneur at the start of his tale, and that he had committed a murder at some point in his past. These aspects were interesting hooks that can very rarely be used properly to set the tone for a novel and still not ruin the plotline (just as mentioning them here does not actually work as spoiling any of the plotline outside of the first pages.)

Adiga’s writing thoroughly paints a graphic image of India’s poor regions, cities and people. The narrative of Balram was enjoyable, as he came to learn more about his own country and the corruption of power there, it felt as if he was sharing something new with the reader and not expecting a great deal of knowledge about the region to already be known.

In conclusion, this is a novel I highly recommend, even if you have to pay full price for it. The building intensity and intelligence of the narrator throughout the story makes it hard to put the book down, and leaves fantastic images of a country far different from our own in your mind.

Author’s note: Damn you Dave Eggers, and your brutally depressing memoire. I’ve only found one person who agrees that your book was overhyped so far, but don’t you think for a minute I’ve given up. I want my $20 back for all the time lost reading your book! Send me a cheque, and please encourage Dan Brown to also send me some money, as I have not yet heard from him or his bankroll.

So yes, I read Dan Brown’s follow up to The Da Vinci Code. Luckily I work in a bookstore and therefore was able to read it without having to buy it (you should be jealous of this “library” privilege that comes with working there.)

This will be a short review, because frankly, Dan Brown doesn’t deserve a long review in my opinion.

The Lost Symbol can be summed up with some simple math:

Take The Da Vinci Code, subtract Europe, add ‘Merica, the ‘land of the free!’ add heat-vision goggles as the main gadget keeping the plot rolling, subtract one Albino, substitute in a “tattooed freak,” and all this equals what is quickly becoming the same old Dan Brown formula.

Now I will give Brown credit, he meticulously researches his background information, although I have not fact-checked his work so it could be a total crock, but he sounds so confident that I’ll dangerously assume he’s correct.

In reading this book though, it really wasn’t anything new. The use of heat-vision goggles definitely made it feel like the whole book was just following the trail of a hot item before (such as the hot sales of The Da Vinci Code? Maybe.)

Overall, this book is a pass on the reading list. It could have been exciting had the main villain’s story not been so easy to guess (or his name so ridiculous.) Actually I take that back, there was no way to make this exciting unless Dan Brown had the balls to kill off his main character and avoid coming off as a greedy man flogging a dead horse for the cash to add another tower to his mansion.

In conclusion, if you feel you must read this, save your money and just get it from the library. And if Dan Brown reads this, please feel free to send me some of your fortune so I can afford to move out of my parent’s house. Thanks.