Peter's Picks
October 2010
Books: THE FOOTPRINTS OF GOD. Greg Isles is a great thriller writer. This one takes a cool spin on AI. If you don’t know Isles, get acquainted. This one’s good, but really, they all are.
Music: Heavy Metal Box Set. Okay, so really, I’m not a die-hard metal fan. But the ever-so-kind Celine Joshua sent me her only copy before she left Rhino Records. I’ve been playing: Round and Round by Ratt, Still of the Night by White Snake, To Hell with the Devil by Stryper, and Youth Gone Wild by Skid Row over and over. Thanks, Celine!
Film: Paranormal Activity 2. Can the worst get worster? Ayeah.
TV: The Fall Classic. Guys and gals, it’s playoffs! I’m in for Texas, seeing as how they’ve never been to the big show. And I’m a huge Hamilton fan–love come back stories.
Games: The Harvest for Windows Phone 7. Yeah, more work stuff. But really, this is sooooo good, particularly for a phone game. Really.
Theater: Not even going to try to fake it this month. I’ve been heads down trying to help ship Windows Phone 7 and the new marketplace for PC games for Windows. Work-life balance? What’s that?
September 2010
Books: THE WAY OF KINGS. Big! Hurkin’ big! Sanderson is inventive, detailed, and knows his way around epic fantasy like few others. If you like story on a grand scale, this is it.
Music: Shameless self-promotion: The start of my new concept album to go along with my forthcoming book: THE UNREMEMBERED. I really dig putting these two pursuits of mine together creatively.
Film: Rocky Balboa. Okay, so I watched this again on cable. There were a few Rocky films in the middle there that disappointed me. This one, however … good stuff. The characters ring true to where they started. Thanks, Sly.
TV: Football season in full swing. Much as many of my writerly friends disdain me for it, I love football. I played as a younger man. Colts, baby! Since Eric Dickerson ran for them. Now the Manning era. Bam!
Games: Dead Rising 2 (on PC no less). Uh, awesome. Have to watch myself, though. Gaming has a way of gobbling up the rest of life if you let it. But c’mon, this one’s got “dead” in the title; you gotta try it.
Theater: Brent Weeks reading. Okay, call B.S. if you wish. But Brent’s reading for his new book was just awesome. Entertaining. Funny. And yes, touching. This scores better than much of the local theater I attend.
August 2010
Books: BLOCKADE BILLY. This is Stephen King; this is short; this is baseball. Sorry, no three strikes there. I’d be hard pressed NOT to like this book. King’s got voice. Voice, I say!
Music: I’m going to admit it: I’m kinda diggin’ these new cats like Harry Connick and Michael Buble. I appreciate that they’re keeping alive that sense of style the Rat Pack made so famous. If it angers you, meet you in the school parking lot after school.
Film: Get Low. Kind of a one-note film. I saw this with Ted Chiang and Dave Herter and Fleetwood Robins. We agreed it’s kind of trying to be two movies, and thus mostly fails. But Robert Duval is great.
TV: Summer baseball, gang. Often just on Sports Center, with the long day-job hours. But I did manage to get to a game at Safeco Field. That was a blast AND expensive.
Games: Gears of War on PC. My new job has me working on the PC and Mobile games businesses at Microsoft. I have to try the wares, folks …
Theater: Hamlet. I cheated. I’m talking about the film version with Laurence Olivier. But can that really be called cheating, I ask you. I mean, Olivier, man, Zeus from Clash of the Titans–the good one with Harry Hamlin.
July 2010
Books: THE PASSAGE. Justin Cronin, I was ready for a big epic scary. Danke.
Music: Apocalyptica. Here and there all over their catalog. If you don’t this group, more’s the pity.
Film: Dispicable Me. It was a tad predictable, but it’s a kids movie, right? Steve Carrol is the man. “I hate THAT guy.” Priceless.
TV: Mad Men. Yeah, lovin’ this one. What can I say, I’m in marketing.
Games: Limbo: Xbox LIVE Arcade. You know … nope, go check it out for yourself. Style, creepy … awesomeness.
Theater: I’m going to have to count the Dream Theater/Iron Maiden concert. I know it’s not Theeuhtuh, but hey, I think the decibals sort of compensate, don’t you?
June 2010
Books: BOY’S LIFE, by Robert McCammon. Some books should be re-read and re-read. This is one of them. Absolutely love this book!
Music: Fresh Aire V, by Mannheim Steamroller. No particular reason why, but this one crept up on me, asking to be listened to again. Chip Davis, you beguile me.
Film: Date Night. There are laugh out loud funny parts in this film. The scene where he does the robot, pretending to spank his wife … priceless.
TV: NBA finals. I wasn’t partifularly sad to see the king go home early. And the Magic’s coach was another I was glad to see hit the showers. Now … anybody by Kobe.
Games: Chess. Yeah, goin’ old school. Playing some AI, and mostly losing. But, with this game, I DO feel good about HOW I play, regardless the outcome.
Theater: My company division announced a collaboration with Cirque with respect to project natal. Working with a few of the Cirque folks on some concepts for that event … very cool!
May 2010
Books: DEVICES AND DESIRES. I’m new to K. J. Parker’s work, but I’m loving it.
Music: John Coltrane, Giant Steps. There are just times when you have to listen to Coltrane, like several times a week, really. Try it, you’ll see.
Film: Iron Man 2. Sorry, gang, while there’s eye candy here, it fails for me because the film inverts my sympathies—I wound up rooting for the villain. Downey Jr. is funny, but extremely unlikeable. I couldn’t wait for him to fail or die. On the other hand, Rourke’s character gave me a reason to see his revenge actualized. I’d have been okay with a bragadocious Downey Jr., if I’d believed there was something beneath it. Sorry, not this time.
TV: Lost. Coming to an end, but better that than shark jumping. I’ve been impressed with the levels of intricacy all along the way. Sometimes a big uneven, but mostly real good stuff.
Games: Bubble Pop, when I’m extremely bored. I don’t really like the game, but my cell phone is antiquated.
Theater: The Taming of the Shrew with Marc Singer. You know him as the Beast Master—which I loved, by the way. But before that he played Petruchio, and knocked it out of the park. I went back and watched this again, and loved it better than the first time!
December 2009
Books: THE LOVELY BONES. Here's another one that had been in my stack for a while. The immanent film was the forcing function to bump it up in the queue. Glad I did. We'll see if Peter Jackson can pull it off. And, anything “I Spy” for kids. If you spend the time—beyond just finding the stuff in the picture—there are some funny things in these.
Music: Bing Crosby's White Christmas. It sounds cliché, but there just aren't guys like Bing anymore. That generation of cool doesn't exist now. There are a few guys trying—and I'm glad they're trying—but Bing had an easy manner I just don't find in current cool cats. Love his voice.
Film: The Road. Read this book last month, saw Viggo play it this month. There are a few issues with the film, but I was willing to forgive them. As a metaphor for life—and McCarthy's own comment/concern over his relationship with his son—this is powerful. ALSO … Scrooge! The Albert Finney version—best Christmas Carol version ever! Finney is brilliant!
TV: Okay, my main joy right now is Sunday football watching the Colts. I became a Colts fan when Eric Dickerson began to run from them, coming over from the Rams. I suffered some abysmal seasons, but the Colts have been awesome the last several years, and they're putting together a fantastic year.
Games: Poo and Ergo. A couple of games from Catalyst game labs. On both ends of the spectrum—base to heady—these are flat fun. Get ‘em.
Theater: (New category) Saw a local production of a show called Citizen Scrooge. It's a mash up of Citizen Kane, A Christmas Carol, It's a Wonderful Life, and so many other pop culture Christmas references that your head will swim. And it's hilarious! Check your local playhouses to see if they've picked this up. You won't be sorry.
