• THE THING: Finding an apartment.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        An aprtment hunt
            which may have ended quickly...
                I hope not too quick!
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  So I have to find myself a place to live! Looks like the house is closing on September 18th. We just had a home inspection; as long a Mr. Inspector Man doesn't suggest we should tear down and rebuild, I think it's on!
  
  So I'm looking... the ad that caught my eye said the following:
  
  

  1 Br lakefrt, Fplc, W/D, Utils incl for one prof'l. $975

  
  There was also a location and a phone number listed, but with all my problems with stalkers lately, I figured I'd leave that info off.
  
  The only thing that was concerning me was the "...for one prof'l." bit. What does that mean? I checked my Electronic Pocket Oxford English Dictionary, and the only word that starts with 'prof' and ends with 'l' is "professional". I might not fit into that category. Am I a professional? I'm an astronomer... does that qualify me as a professional? I can't be sure.
  
  The only other word that it could have stood for that I could find in there was "profiterole"... but that seems to be a chocolate-covered cream puff. I might be considered a cream puff, in the athletic sense.
  
  Anyway, the ad sounded perfect! Lakefront... I live by a lake now! Fireplace... it was a household requirement when I was house shopping before!
  
  So I called the guy and went over to check it out. I really like a bunch of things, but I am in the middle of a little mental debate.
  
  A good thing: It's easy to get to, and certainly no further away from work than I am now.
  
  A bad thing: The apartment is kind of small. The kitchen is very galley. Almost a closet. I will need to buy a little island to have some counter space.
  
  A good thing: It is right on the water, the view of the lake is amazing. There is a wide deck onto which you are led by double doors flanked by tall windows. And I have access to the lake! I can bring the boat!! And no lake fees! I can even swim right off the dock behind the house. Oh, and the owner has a jacuzzi on the deck that I am free to use. And there is plenty of room on the deck for my yard furniture (I built that table! Sort of...) and the grill.
  
  A bad thing: It's somewhat small. It has an eat-in living room.
  
  A good thing: It has a bar in the living room. A BAR! Also, there is a liquor store and an Italian restaurant within easy walking distance. If you know me, you're probably wondering why I haven't moved in already.
  
  A bad thing: It's quite small. The bedroom is really a raised area without full-sized walls around it. There are half-high divider walls.
  
  A good thing: It has a fireplace. Well, really a wood-burning stove. But that's FINE! Might even be better... the more contained the fire is, the better. And the guy who owns the place (he lives in the top half of the house) gets wood that apparently I can use! Sweet.
  
  A bad thing: It's rather small. I'm not exactly sure where the couch would go. Loveseat -- no problem! I might be able to put the couch on the bar...
  
  A good thing: It's just a single apartment. I get to park in the driveway. There are no neighbors, except for the guy upstairs. He lives alone and seems real laid back.
  
  A bad thing: It's really small. I will need a storage unit or two to hang on to most of my stuff. You know, I always though I had too much stuff, anyway. But it is seriously small, even for having little stuff. Apparently, there used to be a couple living there. They must have been conjoined twins.
  
  A good thing: All is included in the rental price. Electric, heat, water, cable, everything. The only thing that is not is the phone. Maybe I'll just get a cell phone with unlimited minutes. *-gulp-* I ditched my cell phone a while back -- I don't know if I can return to the land of the cellular zombies.
  
  A bad thing: It is small. The cat will think she is still in her cat carrier once I let her out.
  
  It seems that there are a ton of GOODs and just one decent-sized BAD. I think I can overcome it. Also, it will be a month-to-month lease, so if it is way too much for me to handle, I can always bail after 6 months or something.
  
  I shall keep us posted...
  

• THE THING: This little story: The Poacher, by Ursula LeGuin.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        A brief adventure
            of a boy leaving his life
                to tunnel elsewhere.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  I don't think I've read any Ursula LeGuin before! I've read SciFi/Fantasy stuff my whole life, and I always saw her stuff creeping around, but never picked anything up.
  
  This was a nice tale of a boy trying to tunnel his way out of his miserable life. He lives with an abusive father that forces him to steal mushrooms and trap animals from private lands. One day, he stumbles upon a wall of brambles... he spends years cutting his way through to see what is on the other side. He finds a sort of secret garden back there -- there is a castle inside, but everyone is asleep, as if under some spell.
  
  Hey, living among a bunch of somnolent folks is better than being with abusive, awake people.
  
  He decides to stay.
  
  It was a great story for sitting outside on a summer day. It went quickly, and was a bit epic, which is surprising for a story that took me about an hour to read, and only had one character who wasn't comatose.
  

Final Score on the Chris Worth Scale: $2.00. No explanation, except for what I've poked in up above.

• THE THING: This radio station: WDST, Radio Woodstock -- World Class Rock
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
  
  
  

  Always employing           music that I'm enjoying.               Never annoying.

  
  
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  [I wonder if that is the first rhyming haiku in history. Sorry about that.]
  
  WDST is from Woodstock, NY. Not exactly where the big ol' concert was held, but it is its namesake.
  
  It is, I'm pretty sure, the last independently owned radio station on the planet. If you are listening to another station, it is probably owned and homogenized by Clear Channel... 25% of the ears directed towards a radio are directed to a station owned by one company. Hey, whatever -- it's capitalism, right?
  
  I just have to say that WDST has the best music and DJs I have ever heard. I used to live close enough to tune in live, but now I have to stream them via the Internet (gotta love this Internet thing.... I hope it sticks around...).
  
  In the time that I have been sitting here, I jotted down a bunch of bands I've heard -- There was David Bowie, Widespread Panic, Ben Harper, Blondie, Lifehouse, Erin McKeown, REM, The Who, Coldplay, Natalie Imbruglia, and the Gin Blossoms. Those are the ones I recognized... there were a few others whose names I failed to catch. Ryan Adams just ended a song. Right now there is something on I don't know, but I LOVE IT. Something about a painkiller. The line that just went by was "You give me so much love that it blows my brains out..." OK... Hang on...
  
  I'm back!! I just looked up that line on Google -- the band is apparently "Turin Brakes". They are wonderful. I love this station.
  
  If you like music you'll like this station. "What kind of music?" you ask? Just music. They just play music. What a refreshing change... there's not really a format. I think they most closely fit into what is called "adult alternative" but they are NOT limited by that at all. Just check it out...
  
  Edwyn Collins just came on...
  

• THE THING: This movie: The 13th Warrior.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
  
  
  

  Action, adventure,           arabs, norsemen, cannibals.               lots of big battles!

  
  
  
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  This movie was on SciFi yesterday afternoon... I usually don't watch movies on TV, but I seem to be on a TV movie kick lately.
  
  This was a perfect TV movie! Not too deep, but with enough action and mystery to move things along.
  
  Antonio Banderas gets drawn into an excursion to help some Norse fellows (12 of them, plus him -- the 13th Warrior! Get it?) take care of some cannabalistic demon dudes who are ravaging some northern city.
  
  The intro is brief and concise. The plot is trim and ever-forward. The characters are grim and purposeful. No one is terribly likeable, but are certainly duty-bound. There's a lot of honor being bandied about. Basically, the whole thing is about Antonio going from sissy-boy to butt-kicker. It made for a fun afternoon.
  
  

• THE THING: This movie: The Importance of Being Earnest.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
  
  
  

  Tries to be clever,           and surprising and funny.               Doesn't pull it off.

  
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  I'm sort of on a Reese Witherspoon kick, I guess, since I Haiku Reviewed Pleasantville a few Blogs ago!
  
  In this movie, she's crazy.
  
  The show follows some guy who lives in the coutryside, and pretends to have a brother named "Earnest" so he can run off and play in the city on a regular basis. [Why can't he just say, "I wanna go play in the city!"?]
  
  He visits his friend, who pretends to have a sick buddy named "Bumbry" so that he can run off and skip out of social engagements. This dude also seems to have some furious monetary issues -- he doesn't pay for anything. He doesn't even pay his butler.
  
  The first guy (I don't remember anyone's name) is in charge of his cousin, who seems to have fallen in love with the made up person named Earnest. Check this out: She loves someone she has never met. And is her cousin. Yikes.
  
  Basically, all the people are either lying or in love with someone who is lying.
  
  Well, the whole thing comes to head when all the people who pretended to be someone else come together. Everyone's trying to marry their cousins, and people are related all over the place. It seems to try so hard to be funny and clever, but it just seems muddled and incestuous.
  
  On the good side: The acting seems pretty good, and the sets and costumes required some effort!
  
  But, it was not my favorite film ever, I must say...
  

• THE THING: This book: Ariel, by Steven R. Boyett
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
  
  
  
  

  Sounds silly at first,           then gets dark and dangerous,               no happy ending.

  
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  If someone had told me what this book was about before I grabbed it on a whim from Fictionwise, I would have never read it. And, though I guess I would have not been the wiser, I would have been missing out on a great one.
  
  With that known, I am still going to lay out a brief overview for the rest of the world...
  
  It takes place somewhere near present day. For some reason, all of a sudden, all machines (basically) and electronics and explosions stop working. No phones, no lights, no motorcars, not a single luxury. At the same time, magical things begin to work. Wizards appear, as well as mythical creatures like griffons and dragons. Of course, unicorns show up, as well.
  
  The story mainly follows the journey of a boy named Pete, and his unicorn, titularly named Ariel. Normally, one might think that a magical world without the disruption of industry might be a nice place. I mean I know there's not a lot of the things we take for granted, but there's MAGIC! You can do whatever you want! Sounds pretty sweet to me, anyway. Some things are nice -- when The Change occurred, all the air and water pollution seemed to go away. But aside from a few niceties, mostly the world is a sort of post-apocalyptic nightmare. It definitely has a scrounge-and-horde Mad-Max-style feel to it.
  
  When I found out this dude penned his book when he was 18, I was quite impressed. And the afterword for this e-book reissue has a lot about his "creative process". It reminded me of how I write, and legitimized (in my brain) my own writing style. NOT my Blog-writing style -- that's quite a bit different than my fiction work. Nothing legitimizes my Blogs... :)
  
  Anyhoo, it's a dandy of a book -- the plotline sounds as if it belongs in the "Young Adult" section, but the violence and horror keeps it out of there, for sure.
  

Final Score on the Chris Worth Scale: $14.95. If they print this thing in trade paperback, buy it for your collection. Otherwise, Buy eBooks!

• THE THING: The movie called Pleasantville.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        Starts out as expected
            but builds unexpectedly...
                quite a lot to see.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  Pleasantville was on TNT last night! And there was nothing else on that I wanted to see. For some reason I have wanted to see this film for YEARS, and just always passed it up for something else.
  
  I was not disappointed.
  
  The springboard into the main part of the story is a sort of silly, bad Twilight Zone or Amazing Sotries device, but it got us to where we needed to go -- two people from the a modern world trapped in a TV show from half a century ago.
  
  The clash of societies has been done before, but this was an interesting look at it, I thought. There was a nice unfolding of the pristeen, perfect Pleasantville world. Everyone seems nice, decent, and, dare I say, pleasant. The town seems rather homogenous. But as they interlopers introduce modern thoughts into their society, the people are unveiled. Some are truly pleasant, some hold back feelings that they wish they could release, and some are downright dangerous and violent.
  
  The film hints at elements, images, and issues of religion, racism, choice, beauty, tolerance, and suppression (many others... this is a tiny list). Sometimes it's quite overt, and other times it's a bit more subtle. I actually would like to see it again to see what I missed.
  
  It is presented in appropriate style, with a fine attention to detail.
  
  It's an enjoyable watch (if a book can be a "good read", a movie can be an "enjoyable watch"!) -- funny and clever. Or, perhaps more appropriately: nifty and keen.
  

• THE THING: This series of books by Jack Vance:
  
  
  
  
  • Lyonesse Book 1: Suldrun's Garden
    
  • Lyonesse Book 2: The Green Pearl
    
  • Lyonesse Book 3: Madouc
    
  
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
  
  
  
  
  

  Starts out tedious           Seems too much to get it all.               Then draws you all in.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  The epic proceeds.           An investment in book 1               requires book 2.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  The epic concludes.           More magic, battles, secrets.               a grande finale.

  
  
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  When I began the first book in the series, Suldrun's Garden, I was instantly confused. The first chunk of the story consisted of verbose descriptions of the countryside and its history. I was unengaged, but for some reason decided to continue. The story proceeded into some interactions between kings and their offspring. It spent sometime following the birth of an unwanted daughter (Suldrun). Suddenly, a whole world of kings, wizards, faeries, trolls, and complete other worlds are introduced. A story that began at an intolerably slow pace flipped into a whirlwind of characters and places that seemed impossible to keep track of. Characters travelled in disguise and with assumed names. My brain was swimming...
  
  I almost discarded the book about a dozen times.
  
  But as the threads of the story are cleverly interwoven, I found that I had invested too much time and effort, and I craved the payoff. I could see, unfolding before me, what could possibly be the most epic fantasy story I had ever read. It had a sort of potpourri of everything fantastic. For a time it seemed disjointed... a regal clash of kings on one chapter, a troll eating children in the next... but it somehow worked to build a full, rich world.
  
  The characters are consistent, but develop throughout. The third book ties up loose ends from the first. This series of three is a tidy package of a huge fantastic world. I must compare it, in style, scope and quality to what is probably my favorite series of books: The Amber Series, by Roger Zelazny (available all together in The Great Book of Amber).
  

Final Score on the Chris Worth Scale: All three together, I would score the package at $40. It was tremendous, surprising, and original. I shall read them again, and that is a rare thing.

• THE THING: A bug bite.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        Vicious mosquito
            managed to find my butt crack
                and got a mouthful.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  Tonight I was just sitting outside trying to read a bit. I KNOW that dusk is when the blood sucking insects appear and begin their nightly feed. I KNOW that they have an exceptional effect on me. I KNOW that when I get a tiny little bug bite that I swell up like crazy.
  
  I did NOT KNOW they they could possibly slide down my pajama pants and bite me on MY BUTT CRACK!! I HAVE A BUTT CRACK BUG BITE SWOLLEN INSATIABLE ITCH!!!! I have about 6 other bites on my feet, as well, but the crack one is the one about which I am mostly concerned.
  
  My only consolation is that the mosquito received ass blood. Wait! He actually receive ass CRACK blood, which, I think, would be even worse. I have never been a blood sucker, personally, so I do not know the nuances of blood from a variety of places, BUT IF I DID, I can only assume that ass crack blood is the nasty blood.
  
  So, a mosquito is flying around with blood extracted from BETWEEN MY ASS CHEEKS.
  
  Man, it's itchy.
  
  

• THE THING: A dream
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        I had my first dream
            which had a commercial break.
                TV overload?
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  It was so odd. I was just having a regular dream last night -- nothing major, I think it was a repeat. It was a just one of my classic, oridinary dreams like Sorority Car Wash, or Sorority Pillow Fight, or Sorority Locker Room Towel Fight... nothing unusual.
  
  When, right in the middle (I swear this actually happened!), my dream went dark, and went to commercial. I remember it quite well (I just woke up, actually). I went just like this:
  

  ---

  
  The scene opens to two guys sitting in an apartment.
  
  Guy #1: "Hey, where's Jeff?"
  
  Guy #2, with a big smile: "He's out trying out his new birthday present. That I got him." Guy #2 sits back with a smug smile.
  
  Guy #1 leans forward inquisitively: "What'd you get him?"
  
  Guy #2: "A new parachute!"
  
  Guy #1: "A new parachute? That's pretty cool. Jeff loves parachuting. But a new parachute is expensive. You don't have any money. Where'd you get it?"
  
  Guy #2: "I got it at cheapusedstuff.com. It's the best! They have everything you could ever want! This parachute was just twenty bucks!"
  
  Guy #1: "You got Jeff a cheap, used parachute?"
  
  Guy #2: "Naw! This one was new! It said it on the site!"
  
  Guy #1: "I've been to cheapusedstuff.com. They just sell used stuff!"
  
  Guy #2: "Not the parachute. It said that it had never been taken out of the packaging."
  
  Guy #1 thinks for a second a asks: "What did it say, exactly?"
  
  The camera zooms in a Guy#2, face all squirreled up in a pose of thought -- it zooms right into his forehead, and the camera fades to his memory. We see the computer screen that Guy #2 saw. The description next to the picture says simply "Never opened!" The point of view of his memory centers on the word used in cheapusedstuff.com. Then back to "Never opened!" Then back to used. And back to "Never Opened!" The point of view zooms back out of Guy #2's brain and we find him just screaming. The picture fades into a guy with a helmet an goggles (who is obviously Jeff) screaming in exactly the same fashion.
  
  The screen goes black, but you can still hear the screaming. There is a voice over that says "cheapusedstuff.com. [that shows up on the screen] Where you can get anything you want, cheap and used. But, please be careful."
  

  ---

  
  And then it was right back into Naked Invaders From the Planet Sorority, or whatever the "main" dream was.
  
  I can't believe even my BRAIN has commercials now. By the way, cheapusedstuff.com is not a real site. I woke up an looked for it right off once I woke up. If it had been a real site, I think I might have freaked out. I would start wearing aluminum foil helmets to protect my brain from getting beaming with any more corporate advertising.
  
  Although, since I did check for the site immediately, apparently is was a good, effective commercial. I suppose I'm pleased that at least my brain isn't making bad commercials.
  
  

• THE THING: The website called Real Ultimate Power.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        This is a website
            In reverence of ninjas.
                Pretty dang funny.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  Sorry I haven't posted in a while!!
  
  I am posting this little link to this website to fill in at least something! I promise to do better in the future... (yeah, right.)
  
  Actually the site makes me laugh. It must be done by someone young, or just acting young -- he has claimed that his name is Robert Hamburger, and he has "...a picture of my best friend Mark showing off. He's a lot older than me and almost done with puberty, which is bragable."
  
  I don't remember how I found this site. It was a while ago, and made me crack up. I can't explain it -- the site is pretty low-brow. Actually it's pretty much NO-brow. And I should warn you that the main page has some goofy annoying music.
  
  Just to give you a little taste, this is how Mr. Hamburger describes ninjas:
  "These guys are totally awesome and that's a fact. Ninjas are fast, smooth, cool, strong, powerful, and sweet. I can't wait to start yoga next year. I love ninjas with all of my body (including my pee pee)."
  
  It's silly and vile and juvenile. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
  
  

• THE THING: This movie: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        Extraordinary
            is way too strong a word for
                this very bland film.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  I have to admit, this was one of my Summer Wanna-Sees... From the first 30 second preview I saw -- right through the longer ones -- this looked to be a fun ride. If the preview was that easy to enjoy, I could only imagine a film to match.
  
  About 1/2 way through, I was sitting, staring at the screen thinking, "I wouldn't care if this ended right here, right now. I don't care if they all die. I really don't care if they fail or succeed." I don't think that those thoughts have crossed my mind ever before.
  
  I don't want that to indicate that this is the worst film I have ever seen! There were some epic scenes and giant-scale props. But somehow they weren't impressive -- there was no sense of awe. I was just thinking, "Oh, c'mon, now, that's just silly."
  
  There were a couple twists to the plot, but instead of saying, "WOW!" I just thought, "Oh. Hm. Lookitthat."
  
  I was actually quite incredulous... I was so terribly hooked by the trailers, and then was totally let down by the film.
  
  Possibly my entry expectations were a tad too high. If I wasn't expecting a fun, engaging, thriller, I may have appreciated it more.
  
  

The Final Score on the Chris Worth Scale: $1.99. Wait for a rental. On the discount rack. When the video store has burned down, and only The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Bio-Dome, The Land Before Time 8, and Series One of Felicity on DVD with Special Features survive the blaze. Maybe that's a smidge too harsh...

• THE THING: This game: Odin's Ravens.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        A two-player game.
            A strategy and racing game
                with lots of choices.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  This is part of the Kosmos 2-player games series -- I have a few of them, and they are all set up just right for 2 players. They all are designed with a quick 2-player game in mind. The ones I have are mostly card games, with a lot of strategy and variety. Odin's Ravens looks like another good one.
  
  This is a card game, and there are 4 mini-decks that are used in the game. One deck is the one that makes the "board" where the play takes place -- they are cards with icons of different types of land on them -- each hard has two icons. When you play, you sit across from each other, so that the two icons form a path for each player -- each player has a different path to take.
  
  Two other decks are the cards for playing the game -- they are identical, and each player gets one. The majority of the cards have icons which match the icons on the play board -- the majority of play has an almost Candy Land-style simplicity to it: if you want to move over a mountain space, you have to play a card with a picture of a mountain on it. You can alternatively play a pair of cards to move -- a pair acts sort of like a wild card. This is a brilliant way to keep from having to wait for a single card forever -- some games keep you just waiting for one or two cards to show up. There are also Odin cards which allow you to change to terrain - to help you or slow your opponent, or to move an opponent back, or you forward, or to place an obstacle on the path.
  
  At the end of your turn, you have the option of making the path longer. If you are behind, you can try to make the end distant to allow you a chance to catch up. The problem with this strategy: you get more points the further you are ahead, so lengthening the course could lengthen your opponent's lead.
  
  Also, you get to put cards away into a little stash pile to be used later. This allows you to grab more cards to use for the next turn, and can as much as double the amount of cards you can play per turn. There is some strategy there, because you can only play from this extra stack of cards in the exact opposite order you lay them down (a true 'stack') -- it takes some furious thinking ahead (and the board can be changed around on you in the meantime!), but it can pay off big-time.
  
  The fourth mini-deck is a tiny little one, called the Magic Way cards -- there are only 6 cards. These each have 2 pictures on them, showing what cards you can play to grab one of the cards. Whoever has the most of them at the end of the round gets a 3 point bonus. It doesn't sound like much, but it gives you the chance to earn some points and use some otherwise useless cards if you are a bunch behind. This deck seemed kind of silly at first, but it can help out a little in an otherwise frustrating situation.
  
  I've only played this a few times (I've only owned the game for about 3 and a half hours as of writing this), but I can definitely see some great re-playability. It has different startegy each time... and a round can go by in just a few minutes. The rules are easy to learn, but allow for some very deep strategic play. Luck plays a big part, but I can see someone learning the strategies and possibilities and winning consistently with a consistent strategy.
  

• THE THING: This movie: Ghost World.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        I shouldn't have liked
            a girl-coming-of-age film
                but I kind of did.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  This was a movie borrowed from the library... a free rental is always good!
  
  I wasn't sure about it:
  Things against it: it was a movie about 2 girls who just graduated high school. Also, (though this is rather pompous) I've never heard of it.
  Things going for it: it had Steve Buscemi, and Thora Birch (she was in American Beauty -- I didn't remenber her name at the time).
  
  It turned out to have a sort of Harold and Maude feel to it. Just a little bit. It was not nearly as quirky and goofy.
  
  It was certainly grabbed my attention. The acting was pleasant, and the characters were not outrageous enough to be annoying -- just different enough to be interesting.
  
  The story goes like this: Enid and Rebecca tend to enjoying annoying people, and they find a desperate personal ad from someone looking for a person he met in an airport briefly. They call him up, pretending to be her, and get him to show up at a restaurant as a preactical joke, and to just see who he is. Enid ends up being intrigued by him, and befriends him. Things get a little out of her control...
  
  Now, what is it with me and endings?! I guess I just get too caught up in movies and just want more! The same happened in this movie -- it ended on a sort of oddly uninteresting and unresolved note. Just ignore that sentence, it's just me, I think...
  

Final Score on the Chris Worth Scale: $4.95. For one that I saw for FREE, I feel like I got a bargain.

• THE THING: This game: Diceland (specifically, the Deep White Sea edition.)
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        Quite a bit of luck,
            some assembly required.
                Quite replayable.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  James Ernest has made a nifty original game with Diceland. As of the writing of this, there are 4 sets available -- The one I bought called Deep White Sea, two different sets which take place in space, and one called Ogre.
  
  They all seem to have similar rulesets, with some interesting changes between each. Each set is independently playable, but it seems that you can add different sets together. I only have the one set, so I can't speak to this very much.
  
  Let's talk about the game: first of all, the dice are made of shiny card-stock paper. They come in flat sheets -- you have to punch them out and assemble them. I really like that part, actually. It does take some time investment, but it's kind of nifty in an origami sort of way. The dice are really much sturdier than you might imagine. There are 25 all together; 5 teams of 5 dice. The Deep White Sea set has 5 different teams to play with -- the game is originally meant to be played with 2 players, but you can easily play it with more... there's enough dice to actually play with 5 players, though that might be a little crowded on the table. The dice are good-sized - they're about 2 inches on a side. That's because each face has a bunch of information -- it has a picture of your character, and describes that character's abilities.
  
  You roll a die to put your character into play -- the way it lands tells how strong the character is, how far it is from death, its attacking and defensive capabilities, and who else on the table it can attack. Most of the dice can only "see" in a certain derection, depending on how it lands. So, if you throw a die, and it lands so that the point is staring off the edge of the table, there is a good chance it's a little useless. Some dice can "see" in all directions...
  
  They each have different attacks and defenses. I just pulled one out whose name is Jarik, and she is an assassin, who has many attacks that use poison. If a character is poisoned, it takes extra damage each turn. Many characters (mostly robots) are immune from poison! There are a bunch of varieties of attacks and defenses of this sort -- it's pretty common in role-playing and collectible card games. I'm sure you sort of get the idea...
  
  This is really a game for role-playing and card-playing game geeks. Which means I love it. I've only played it a couple times, but it is quite obvious that there is an equal amount of skill and strategy involved. The damage system is so wild -- each die has a marker on each face that you push on if it takes damage. The sides of the dice are numbered 1-8, and the push takes you to the next lower numbered face. If you take damage when you are on side 1, your character "dies" (it's actually only out of commission for one turn).
  
  Each of the characters has a definitely feel for it -- the way it attacks and defends is unique. You get attached to your team members and develop favorites.
  
  The character art is tremendous. The rules are easy once you've played 2 or 3 times, and the interactivity of tossing your character into the fray and anticipation and axiety associated with how it lands makes it an engaging game.
  
  I recommend it highly. It's relatively inexpensive ($15). I've only played a 2-person game, but I could see how a multi-player game could be exciting, as well. I intend to get my money's worth out of this game. And I'll probably end up getting the other sets, as well...
  

• THE THING: This movie: Hulk.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        Amidst a flurry
            of comic book-based movies
                another good one!
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  OK, the commercials had me worried. The Hulk guy looked goofy! He was way too huge, and seemed to look different sizes in different places in the previews. He seemed over-exaggerated...
  
  I'm not sure if they were just showing the most outrageous shots of Hulk, or it was different in context, but I thought he looked pretty realistic in the movie itself. Well, as realistic as a man mutated into an eleven-foot growling monster can look.
  
  I should admit: I am not a comic book junkie at all. I did watch the Hulk show on occasion in the late 1970's, but I was a bunch younger then. I don't remember all of the ins and outs of the characters, but I did enjoy watching some big green guy beat up stuff, and I also enjoyed the confusion the general public shared about why his pants ripped from the knees down, but the rest of it, covering his naughty bits, stayed on.
  
  Not to ruin anything, but his pants stay on, for the most part, in the movie adaptation, too.
  
  In short, I liked it. I thought the effects were done well, and overdone just enough to be groovy. The acting wasn't too bad, for a comic book movie. The editing and screen effects were brilliant -- the screen often had a comic-book-page-panel effect, sometimes showing different scenes occurring simulataneously ("Meanwhile..."), and some showing different angles of the same scene. There were dissolves and blends and other transition effects and camera angles that just added to the comic-book styling. There was one tiny stylistic moment that I thought was distracting (look for a guy getting engulfed in flames -- I won't spoil anything by saying any more), but besides that it was great eye candy. The way he jumped through the air was just great -- he would bound from place to place like he had the ultimate control over the muscles he was putting to the test (why couldn't they jump like that in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?!? Why do they flail their legs like they're hanging from strings?!? Oh, wait. They are hanging from strings.)
  
  If you want to see a big guy break stuff, and actually have some pretty interesting background story, with some large scale battles, you will like Hulk. It was honestly quite a bit more than I thought it was going to be.
  

Final Score on the Chris Worth Scale: $8.85. That's a bargain if you hit a matinee! It's a perfect summer movie.

• THE THING: This movie: Manito.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        Starts out very slow,
            Quickens to a feverish pitch,
                and then just stops short!
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  ACK! I just started getting into the movie when it ended!
  
  This is one of the films I received as part of the Film Movement subscription. They're usually quite nifty.
  
  This one takes place in Brooklyn, and I think the whole time-period movie is about 48 hours. A kid from the tough streets and a tough background is graduating high school. His brother, Junior, is throwing him a huge graduation party. The first half of the film shows some characters and interactions that don't seem to make much sense... it was a little awkward and odd. But, through the planning of the party, and interactions between relatives and friends, the pieces begin to fit together. It was all rather clever -- and the confusion at the beginning tugged you along in earnest to find out how it all fits.
  
  The camera work and quality is a little tough to get used to -- it seems hand-held, and a lot of the shots are quite close... but it does lend a sort of realistic quality that helps you feel centered in the story.
  
  Once things have come together, and the plot has manuevered you into a place of understanding and caring and interest, the movie ends abruptly! This is really my main problem with it. I guess the writer left it open for Manito II...
  

Final Score on the Chris Worth Scale: $6.00. See it if you can... but you have been warned about the abrupt finality.

• THE THING: This movie: Waiting for Guffman.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        Unexpected whim
            purchase while shopping CostCo,
                expectedly great.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  I've wanted to see this film for a while! I've seen Best in Show and A Mighty Wind, and assumed that Waiting For Guffman would be equally amusing. I was wandering through CostCo, and they had it for a low, low price, so I decided I had to pick it up. I was not disappointed.
  
  The small town of Blaine is putting on a historical pageant for their sesquicentennial festivities. The writer/director/producer (played by Christopher Guest, the main writer guy) takes things way too seriously, but gets the cast really hyped up -- he's actually effective with his effeminate over-professionalism. As they are progressing, they learn that a Broadway producer will be attending the show (the guy's name is Guffman -- thus the title).
  
  If you've seen a Christopher Guest mockumentary, the format will be unoriginal to you. If you haven't seen one -- shame. Shame on you. Go rent one. Hilarious, funny, touching, clever. The semi-written dialogue gives his films a fluid, natural feel. I tend to talk like some of the characters in his movies for days afterward...
  

The Final Score on the Chris Worth Scale: $10.95. You cannot go wrong with a Christopher Guest movie, in my humble opinion. (OHMIGOD!! SOMEONE ON THE INTERNET WHO ACTUALLY WRITES OUT HIS COMMONLY USED PHRASES!!! I'VE JUST FALLEN ON THE FLOOR LAUGHING MY ASS OFF! Really. Is that so difficult?)

• THE THING: My trip to pick up a car.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        Thermometer says
            94 degrees; nice day
                for a long bike ride.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  A little background info:
  FACT #1: I'm home today! I've been taking a bunch of days off to cash in some comp time from work. I work a bunch of weekends and nights (feel free to check out what my job is like).
  
  FACT #2: My wife's car is in the shop. She's in the middle of a release at work, so she really hasn't had the time to pick it up.
  
  FACT #3: It is a beautiful day outside.
  
  SO, I decided to hop on my bike (which I've used about 3 times total), and take a bike ride! It's about 5 miles to the STS Tire and Auto where the car is. Not too bad. Also, most of it is downhill. If I had to come back, there would be NO WAY I would try to make the trip. And I really can use the exercise. Apparently my cholesterol is a little higher than it should be (maybe I should blog about that, too). It will be a nice trip there, and then I can throw the bike in the car and head on home.
  
  I grabbed the water bottle which attaches to the bike, and filled it with ice, and covered that with cold water, so the water would stay cold for the whole trip. I made sure my helmet was adjusted properly, and headed on out.
  
  It was just beautiful. It's a hot day, but while you're riding you can feel the breeze. I've been on a bike about a dozen times in the last dozen years, and I had forgotten how nice and fun it is. It was really energizing, and exactly what I needed during my quasi-vacation.
  
  About half way there, down the worst of the hills, I passed something called "Park Lake". It's a park with a little lake in the middle of it (apropos name, no?). It's strange, because they have little decoy geese in it. They appear to be mangled and dead. This lake is covered with fake, mangled, contorted, dead geese. It's not very attractive, and the only thing I can think is that they do it to prevent geese from landing there. The real geese must fly over, nitice that there is geese carnage below, and decide to move on.
  
  As I was admiring the horrid geese, I noticed an odd sound... sort of a "POP!" followed by a "FLUP! FLUP! FLUP! FLUP!"
  
  Ohmigod.
  
  Flat tire.
  
  The best laid plans of mice and men, often result in a STINKIN' FLAT TIRE!!!
  
  ACK!!
  
  Ack.
  
  Urg.
  
  So I doff my helmet, swig about half of the water down, call the tire some inappropriate names, and start heading home.
  
  By the way. walking uphill in near-100 degree temperatures is not nearly as fun as riding downhill.
  
  Things I noticed on the walk: I passed at least 7 empty Skoal cans thrown on the side of the road... In a 3 mile stretch of road!! Actually, much less than 3 miles, it was all along the main road that passes by Park Lake. I didn't think there was that much chaw being chewed in New Jersey. Perhaps it's just one person who rides that stretch of road, and chucks his tobaccy container out the window of his rusted Ford pickup on his way home from the K-Mart.
  
  I'm pretty sure I spent a bunch of time trudging through poison ivy, as well. I dove into the shower as soon as I got home, perhaps it all washed off. Or maybe that just spreads it around -- I'm not too poison ivy savvy, actually. I might be after this.
  
  At the base of my street, at the bottom of the largest, steepest hill I needed to climb, there is a small field. In it was a deer. It was standing less than 15 feet away, just starting at me. I said some nice things to it, asked it to come over so I could pet it, but it just stood there staring at me. I started to walk on, and I SWEAR the deer glanced down at my flat back tire, saw me sweating through my shirt more than Frank on Trading Spaces, and started laughing. Seriously, this deer was having a hearty chortle at my expense. Or I might have been hallucinating from the heat exhaustion by that time.
  
  To pass the time, I counted footsteps as I went. I might have lost count a smidge once or twice, but by my best guess, it is 4,674 steps from Park Lake to my back door. ALL UPHILL.
  

• THE THING: This book: Milky Way Marmalade, by Mike DiCerto, © 2003
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        Funny and spacey,
            Wild characters and sets.
                This guy loves music.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  The reviews for Milky Way Marmalade, which is available in both eBook form and regular old paper form, that I read all suggested it was a Douglas Adams-style sci-fi adventure. I'm not sure that was real spot-on. Douglas Adams had an original, free-wheeling sort of style and flair that, though it took me a little while to get used to, is still unmatched, I think.
  
  One said "If you read and enjoyed Douglas Adams but felt that it was a little too sane and well grounded in reality then you might find yourself in for a treat."
  
  I think the most important word in that review is: might.
  
  It was fun, don't get me wrong. And had some very out-there characters. And some cool sci-fi type stuff.
  
  But this guy loves his 1960's/1970's music a little too much. It was really distracting. REALLY DISTRACTING. Really. Each chapter is named after, and has a quote from, some classic song. The Doors, The Rolling Stones, Foreigner, The Beatles, Rush, The Moody Blues, Yes... and bunches of others. Basically the main plot was that the universe was slowly having its music removed. And the main character, Quark Caffrey, has been thrown into saving the universe from being devoid of music. Especially music by the people mentioned above.
  
  But the author REALLY likes "Stairway to Heaven". This is the song that the universe was made for and will, eventually save us all. Apparently.
  
  OK, it's a decent song, but it was leaned on, and used, and mentioned, and abused, and quoted a smidge too much.
  
  The space travel, and time travel, and different species, and different bad guys, and different planets, and different spacecraft were all VERY cool. And generally funny.
  
  But this book kind of just used the sci-fi as the vehicle for delivery; it was the cracker. It was really all about the music -- that was the cheese and pepperoni -- that was the main flavor.
  

Final Score on the Chris Worth Scale: $4.95. I just can't give it any more. I spent to much time screaming at my eBook: "Get off the music! I get the idea!!" I'm still recommending it if you like goofy sci-fi romps, but not without the slight disclaimer mentioned throughout.

• THE THING: This movie: Light of My Eyes.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        A chauffeur and a
            single-mom-frozen-food-store-
                owner; their lives entwined.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  This is one of the movies I have received as part of a membership to Film Movement. It's a nifty little movie club, of sorts, in which you get a new, independent or foreign film each month. This is the fifth I've gotten, and they have all been pretty cool.
  
  Light of My Eyes is an Italian love story. It starts with a chauffeur (Antonio), on his way home late at night almost running over a small girl (Lisa) in the street. She is not hurt, and he finds out that she lives with her mother (Maria) who owns a store down the street. Antonio starts to follow them (in a slightly creepy way!); he seems just entranced by this woman. He tries to begin a relationship with her, and she seems to want that, too, at first. But she is too worried about all of the baggage she is bringing -- single mom, financial problems, emotional problems -- so she lets him know that she has no feelings for him.
  
  Antonio is not easily daunted. He gets himself involved in her financial situation, and tries to relieve some of the problems without her knowing. In doing so, he ruins his career, and is now involved in some pretty shady deals.
  
  Throughout the movie, there is narrative from a sci-fi book (I'm not sure which it is! If you know, let me know!), that is being read. I couldn't quite see the tie-in, but I'm sure it was supposed to relate to the story somehow. It was just rather odd.
  
  And it ended way too abruptly. there were some loose ends that I am curious about...
  
  I guess he was just leaving room for Light Of My Eyes 2!!
  

Final Score on the Chris Worth Scale: $7.75... a good solid movie. There was a couple things that were odd or bothersome (besides the fact that it was subtitled... which always makes me feel like I am missing the movie as I read the dialog!), but I'm really glad I got to see this creative and interesting film.

• THE THING: This movie: Hit Me.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        A small time bellhop
            gets a chance at the big time,
                but gets in too deep.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  
  I headed out for the Easy Video looking to find a film I had never heard of before. I was in the mood to see something that I would not otherwise have seen.
  
  Hit Me was on the wall, and it had a picture of WIlliam H Macy on the cover. He's usually a pretty cool fellow. He does nifty movies, and does a good job in them, so I thought I'd check this one out.
  
  Not that it should matter, but he was in the movie for about seventeen seconds! I shouldn't care, but he was on the cover! His character didn't even have a name!! He was just "Policeman" in the credits.
  
  Well, now that my little annoyance has been vented, let's talk about the movie.
  
  The main character is a bellhop named Sonny, who is taking care of his brother, Leroy, who has some sort of mental disability. The bellhop job apparently doesn't quite make ends meet, so Sonny helps to get more money by doing some little illegal things -- an example: he steals VCRs from the hotel and sells them. He seems to be involved in some other dealings, for which he gets beat up, but those aren't really explained. It seemed obvious that it was small stuff, though.
  
  Turns out that there will be a high stakes poker game at the hotel. An ex-co-worker comes to Sonny and explains how they are going to rip it off, and they need his help. All the money from the game will actually be stored in the safe deposit boxes of the hotel. In total, there will be $700,000, and 10 percent of it is his if he helps out. He debates it a while, but then it gets turned into an offer he can't refuse, and now he's part of it.
  
  Of course, as most heist movies go, things go wrong, people get killed, and a bunch of double-crossing occurs. The movie is done well, and is much less confusing than I usually find these things. There is some slow pacing at times, but for the most part it is nicely constructed.
  
  I found Sonny (Elias Koteas) to be a little over-acted. There was some pretty emotionally outbursts that didn't seem to be caused by as much stress as the plot suggested. But, he was supposed to be sort of at the end of his rope, which helped to drive him into his current situation... so maybe it was acted as directed.
  
  Anyway, it was a decent movie. I would recommend it for a night of viewing a film that you wouldn't otherwise pick up.
  
  One lesson learned from the movie -- if you're going to be involved in a big-time heist, especially if you are planning on ripping off a major gangster, you really need to be able to lie...
  
  - "Sonny, where's the cash?"
  - "I don't have it!"
  - "Sonny... where's the cash?"
  - "It's right over there."
  
  That happened a couple times -- it was almost funny, and I don't think it was supposed to be.
  

Final Score on the Chris Worth Scale: $3.85, which is more than I spent on the rental, so I got my money's worth! It turned out to be exactly what I had set out to find.

• THE THING: The game called Grave Robbers from Outer Space!
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        A sci/fi, horror,
            sic your monsters on others,
                B-movie card game.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  
  "It's more fun than blowing up the Earth for it's own good!"
        -- Gort
  
  Have you ever sat around with friends saying, "Hey, we should get an old video camera and make a cheap horror movie!"? Of course you have! Some of you have even done it!
  
  Well, a less expensive, less permanent way to go about that is to play Grave Robbers From Outer Space. The concept is a little suspect, but here's the point -- each person sets up a movie set with a Location (The Cabin in the Woods, The House by the Cemetery, for example), and some Characters in their movie (Spoiled Little Rich Girl, Skippy the Wonder Dog, Nymphomaniac Cheerleader, Bookish Girl with No Boyfriend, and my personal favorite, The Guy Everyone Knows Will Get Killed). You can give props to your characters (for the most part), like Axes and Rifles and Flamethrowers and Chainsaws ("Groovy!") -- characters like Skippy the Wonder Dog can't carry props (prominently explained on the card). You can even give a character a First Aid Kit or a Flashlight to help them out.
  
  "Help them out against WHAT?!" I hear you screaming! Well. I am glad you asked.
  
  You set monsters loose amidst the opposing players' movie sets. Each of the characters, locations, and props have a defense rating -- adding up all their defenses tells how well they will fare against the monster which will be set loose in their neighborhood... creatures like The Gym Teacher, Masked Stalker, Subterranean Cannibals, Say - Is That A Tentacle?, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, and, certainly the best, Space Mimic From Uranus. Each creature has an attack rating -- if it beats the defense rating of the movie upon which it was set loose -- well, somebody didn't make it... a charcter dies and is removed.
  
  There are Special Effects which can be played at any time and that really stirs things up... things like "They Found the Fuse Box!", "Hey, What's Behind This Door?", "What Do You Mean There's No Way Out?", "Good God, They're Radioactive!", "Too Stupid to Live", and "Only the Virgin Survives" all have instant effects, modifying the action. Some just take out a person quickly, some change defense or attack strength of certain characters or monsters, and at least one allows you to force someone to get you something from the kitchen.
  
  There is a lot of variety in the 120 card deck. All the cards are funny; all have 'flavor text' that adds to the humor. Some of the cards have MULTIPLE uses -- The character "Mom" for example can be used as a defense character that gets stronger the more kids she has around, or used as a Psycho Killer monster with an attack strength of 7, instead. It's kind of funny, either way, really.
  
  You play through the deck, or until someone plays a "Roll the Credits" card. At that point, you count up the number of defense points left in your ravaged movie set. The most points wins. It's pretty starightforward. There's some strategy, some creativity (the cards can be combined in some funky ways), lots of choices, lots of luck, and lots of laughs.
  
  It's for 2 to 6 players. A game takes 20 to 40 minutes.
  
  The only complaint I have is that, for the few times I played it, the deck seemed heavily weighted with Special Effect cards. I wish there were more Character cards -- I got beat down pretty bad for a bunch of turns and couldn't get a character card at all. And then, you put ONE down, and he gets beat up pretty quickly. But if you play it enough, a better balance might reveal itself. It's not a one-time-only kind of game -- you'll want to play it a lot.
  
  What might help, AND, if you get too sick of the cards in this deck, they released an expansion set, of sorts... Cannibal Pygmies in the Jungle of Doom is 120 MORE cards. That deck can be played independently, or you can combine the two decks for a 240 card campy-movie double-feature, of sorts.
  
  

• THE THING: The game called Knights.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        A card and dice game.
            You must have some strategy,
                and plenty of luck.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  Knights is a game by a wonderful company called Rio Grande Games. I've only played Knights a couple of times, and I'm still trying to pull together all the strategy, but it seems like a pretty decent game, with a couple fringes of frustration...
  
  Basically, each card has some dice on top of it, telling you what dice roll you have to beat to earn the card. I just flipped up a castle card that has dice showing: 4, 4, 4, and 3 on top. THAT MEANS: You have to beat the "poker hand" of three fours, and a high card of three. So, if you roll three 5's -- that beats three 4's; you get the card. If you roll a PAIR of fives, and nothing else really, you DON'T get the card -- a pair doesn't beat three of a kind.
  
  You are allowed to reroll, Yahtzee style, up to three times, to try to improve your hand. HOWEVER: Sixes are BAD in this game. A six counts as NOTHING. AND if you roll a six, you have to set that die aside, and you can't reroll it. You start the game trying to earn castles, and later tournaments happen, where you roll against other players. Also, later in the game you can try to take castles away from other players by beating their dice rolls. There are cards you can get and use to improve your rolls, or make cards easier to obtain.
  
  They also included 5 'blank' card to make up your own new helper cards to the game!
  
  IF you like dice games like Yahtzee or Farkel, or even Pass the Pigs, you'll probably enjoy this, as well. Sometimes, though, just like in those games, the dice just seems to be against you, and it can get frustrating.
  
  Knights is for 2-6 players, and a game takes between 20 and 40 minutes.
  
  
  BY THE WAY: Rio Grande Games makes some amazing games. One is called Carcassonne, which won all sorts of awards, and has expansion packs and new versions. It's one of my favorites.
  
  There's a strategy card game called The Gnumies, which is an odd bidding game with some insane strategy involved. Points go up VERY quickly for pairs and triples, etc. of cards, so cards which are worth 1 or 2 points at the beginning of a game can become 50 or 100 real quick.
  
  And they have a bunch of two players games. Lost Cities is quite easy to learn, has beautifully drawn oversized cards, and is possibly my favorite 2-player card game.
  
  Lastly, I will mention another 2 player game they have called: Hera and Zeus. I kept reading wonderful reviews of this game, suggesting it was the next step for players of Lost Cities. People LOVED this game. I got it, and the directions seemed incomprehensible. We tried to play it a bunch of times, but it was just too convoluted and odd to figure out. Then, one day I was determined. We played a few hands and started to get the knack. It's actually a VERY wild game! It takes some getting used to, but it's worth a long look.
  
  

• THE THING: The game called Blink
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        It's really quite fast.
            Sort of like Uno on crack.
                Easy and crazy.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  I am quite surprised this is my first card/board game review! I do own a bunch of games. Trust me, it will be the first of many.
  
  Blink is made by Out of the Box Publishing, a compauney that also makes Apples to Apples, which is still up there as one of the most fun games you can play with a crowd.
  
  But we're here to discuss Blink. It has a deck of cards -- each has 3 properties, a Color, a Shape, and a Number of objects. I am currently staring at a card with Five Red Moons. Next card: Four Blue Stars. Next card: Three Green Triangles. Next Card: One Yellow Water-droplet. I think you get the idea...
  
  You can play a card on another card if at least one of those things matches. On the discard stack, you can play a card with Five Yellow Water-drops on top of a card which has Five Brown Stars. Because they have 5 in common. Get it? Real simple. Just like in Uno you can play a same number or a same color card. SO what's the big deal??
  
  Well, you don't take turns. You each get half the deck, and have to slam your half down as fast as possible. It gets pretty hectic. And it goes QUICK. 60 seconds is a LONG game.
  
  I've only played it a few times, but so far it seems pretty fun for a quick time killer. There are variations in the rules for 3 or more players, but it's meant for two people to be slamming the table. It takes you about 30 seconds to learn how to play and 60 seconds to play a whole game.... it's sort of a card game with Arcade Style Action!
  

• THE THING: A commercial for Honda Accord.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        Yes, a commercial!
            Just a cool chain of events...
                Ain't physics nifty?!
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  Yes, it's true, all you out there in Reading My Blog Land -- I am reviewing a commercial. I tend to enjoy commercials -- you see, I have a short attention span. If I was in grade school today, I wouldn't cerrtainly be on a triple dose of Ritalin. They would have made a new classification of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder just for me.
  
  But, really, this Honda commercial is cool. WAY cool.
  
  Go watch it, and come back and we shall discuss.
  
  Didya see it?? Cool.
  
  OK, first, I need to tell you my favorite parts: The fan, when it gets unplugged because it went too far. The wiper walker thing was WAY cool. And the speakers grooving away was cool, too.
  
  I was really confused because I thought they cheated with the wipers, but apparently there is a moisture sensor on them -- they come on automatically when they get wet!
  
  It says it took them 606 takes to make this film. For 605 times, it failed for some reason. Dang, those guys got paitience! And they must have been standing behind soundproof glass, because you know they were all screaming "C'mon, BABY! C'mon!! GO GO GO!!! C'mon!!! DON'T MESS UP!!" And them, when the car came off the ramp they had to be screaming like mad.
  
  Especially after over six hundred tries.
  
  I'd have given up at around 11.
  

• THE THING: This game for the Palm OS: Void
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        Space combat and trade
            A very steep learning curve
                with a fun payoff.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  Yes, I am reviewing as game for the Palm, which I play on my Handspring Visor. The Palm is not really a gaming platform, and most of the ones I have are word games and puzzle games from AstraWare.
  
  But I stumbled across Void at one time -- I even forget where. I downloaded a demo, which allowed you to jump to a few different worlds, and then cut you off. Well, I needed more! I was pretty addicted, so I ended up buying the whole thing. For $10, that's really not too bad.
  
  It reminds me a lot of a couple old PC games in the Wing Commander universe: Privateer, and Privateer 2. They were great! You could fly your ship, make upgrades, and get missions, and trade goods. Void is quite similar...
  
  The game really has 3 chunks:
  First, you can trade goods. Buy 'em cheap and sell 'em high! It's pretty simple.
  Second, you can fly from space station to space station -- there are over 400 to choose from! It's a pretty big universe out there. And there are some bad guys trying to shoot you down. If you shoot them, you get a bounty AND their cargo!
  Third, you can accept missions. Sometimes it's transporting people from one station to another, sometimes it's hunting down some nefarious bad guy, sometimes it's running illegal drugs or DNA to a secret lab somewhere (you do that, trust me, the cops will be on your tail).
  
  It took me a little while to get any money, and to not get killed every two stops! Once you've upgraded your ship a little, it gets a LITTLE easier. MAKE SURE you buy Cargo Insurance once your ship is all stocked.
  
  There are slow spots in the game, and it is a little repetitive at times. The graphics are tremendously simple faux-3d outlines (slightly reminiscent of Tempest, at least for me). But it's fun! You can go off and do your own thing -- shoot bad guys, or just run goods to make some money! You kind of make up your own role in the game -- the directions suggest you can make your living as a Trader. Bounty Hunter, Pirate, Mercenary, or Black Market Trader.
  
  If you want a great, realtively inexpensive time killer on the Palm, and you like sci-fi action games, go for Void.
  
  

• THE THING: This Playstation 2 game: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        Sharp graphics, controls.
            Fast cars, bikinis, big guns.
                Violent AND fun!
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  A couple months back, some kid was selling Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for PS2 ata garage sale I attended for $15!! FIFTEEN DOLLARS!! It's still FORTY FIVE DOLLARS USED in the stores! I obviously picked it up.
  
  I have had a few days off work, and have spent a couple hours each day playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on my Playstation 2. Don't worry, non-console owners, they have it for PC now, too. This is THE game. I played through all of Grand Theft Auto 3 (OK, I didn't get through the last mission -- tried for MONTHS, gave up and sold it back). That was awesome. I never thought it could get better. Oh, I was so wrong. I just had to stop and blog about it.
  
  Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (for brevity's sake, known as GTA:VC from here on in) has a bunch going for it: graphics, sound, story, and free-play-ability.
  
  GTA:VC is first a beautiful game. Vice City is basically Miami. And the city is bustling with people -- sunning themselves on the beach, roller-skating down the sidewalk, sitting on a bench, mugging other people. It's amazing. The environment is so immersive. And things like lighting are insane. Don't drive towards the west at sunset, the glare is terrible. The neon lights are beautiful. The variety of buildings and clothing and cars is incredible.
  
  But one of the greatest things is the music. There are bunches of radio stations in Vice City, and when you are driving the car/motorcycle you stole, you can change the station. It is all real music from the 80's. It's incredible. The music is so good, they released a soundtrack. It's on SEVEN CDs!! It's got tons of stuff from the 80's -- Herbie Hancock, 2 Live Crew, Kurtis Blow, Hall & Oates, Wang Chung, Bryan Adams, The Fixx, Lionel Ritchie, Rick James, Mary Jane Girls, Kool & the Gang, Twisted Sister, The Cult, Autograph, Tesla, Tito Puente, Foreigner, Reo Speedwagon, Night Ranger, Jan Hammer, The Human League, Blondie, Tears for Fears, Corey Hart, Thomas Dolby, A Flock of Seagulls.... this is just A FEW of them!
  
  So what's the point of all this?! Is there a story?? Sure! You are a thug, recently released from jail, who has been asked to do a drug deal for your old gang. It goes very, very wrong. All the people you are with get killed, and the ambushers take the money AND the drugs. So now, you are stuck here -- no money, no weapons, no friends, with your old gang all pissed off. So, you start freelancing for some people around town. The jobs you do introduce you to gangs here and there, and you are generally getting people all pretty annoyed at each other. It's quite fun. So far, I've had missions where I've need to kill a bunch of people, run drugs, shoot guys from a helicopter, shoot them from a boat (there have been a bunch of boat-race kind of missions -- quite fun), scare some members of a jury... stuff like that. VERY wild, very violent, and VERY not for the little ones. Actually, they should probably make you take a psychological profile test before you buy the game.
  
  But you don't have to do the missions. There is so much else to do! An easy, non-violent way to make money: steal a cab! Pick people up and drop them off, and get money for it! AND, if you don't get them there on time, and they hop out, jump on out and kill them and take their money! (In real life, I am a very non-violent person. Really.) You can go steal a cop car, and get money for taking out bad guys, vigilante-style. The vigilante missions get harder and harder as you progress. Soon you are going after multiple cars at the same time, each loaded with bad guys... it gets real hard real quick. But it's always fun; the vigilante missions have been my favorite. There's even a little side mission where you can deliver pizzas! And you can always go just shooting people and taking their money and stuff. I tend to go after gang members with a shotgun. They are usually carrying money AND a weapon, so it's worth the price of the bullet. OH! One more thing: They cost money, but if you need that little extra pick-me-up, go pick up a hooker. It can actually make your health go above 100%!
  
  Yes, it is a gruesome, violent, perverse, twisted game. But it's easy to jump in and out of. The controls are fluid -- you can go from running, to driving seamlessly. The graphics are amazing. It actually has decent actors doing the story. It's great all around -- I would say it is THE BEST Playstation 2 game. Period.
  
  And even though it's so violent, it's just a game. Just keep telling yourself that....
  

• THE THING: The Copter Game
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        So very simple.
            Also, very addictive.
                A great time killer.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  Go here: http://www.hurtwood.demon.co.uk/Fun/copter.swf. Right now. It's OK, I'll wait. I'll be right here when you get back. It's silly and fun. Trust me. It might take a second or two to get the hang of it... but go try.
  
  [45 minutes later.]
  
  Pretty fun, right?! Pretty addictive, right? For a game which simply consists of clicking on, or letting go of, a mouse, it's dang addictive.
  
  I found a link to this off Dave Barry's blog. As you all know, he's a funny fella, and his Blog basically consists of links to things on the web related to medical discoveries, public service information, and other helpful things on the web. This Copter Game was suggested to be the site that will end all of your productivity. It's done that for a little while for me.
  
  By the way, Dave Barry's high score, so far: 1482.
  
  That's right, I just told you how you can beat Dave Barry. You know you want to! Go do it!
  
  [45 minutes later.]
  
  My high score, as of the writing of this blog: 1558. Take that, Dave Barry!
  
  I beat Dave Baaaaarry at a stupid Coppp-ter game!
  I beat Dave Baaaaarry at a stupid Coppp-ter game!
  Nyah, nyah nyaaaah, nayh , nyaaaaah nyah!
  
  Enjoy!
  

• THE THING: This movie: The Matrix: Reloaded
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        WILD special effects
            Overly complicated
                Nice ride, bad story.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  ACK!! What happened?!?! OK, I loved The Matrix. From the first preview I ever saw, to the 18th time I watched it, I loved it. It was basically flawless. I mean, a "what if awake is dreaming and dreaming is awake?" story updated for modern sci fi. It was awesome. It hinted at questions of existence and reality, and questioned which to choose: if the fake world is better than the real world... which would you pick? It had references to most modern western fiction, science fiction, and fantasy, and had biblical inferences, as well. It was a beautiful sci-fi film -- in scope, and story, and enjoyment.
  
  And it was well-known that it was the first part of a TRILOGY!! Wow. I could have wet myself. I might have, just a little bit.
  
  I knew I wouldn't get in the first day or week the second movie was released, so I waited a bit. No biggie -- some people had seen it, that was cool. I never need to be the first. OK, I've been to a couple shows where it was opening day (all the Star Wars re-releases, for example. Yep, I'm that kind of a geek. WAIT! I did NOT dress up!).
  
  So then, I finally made it. I saw it a couple weeks back; this is NOT a timely blog. But the movie has been sifting through my brain since then, and the more I think about it, the less I like it. It has the complete OPPOSITE effect of the first movie.
  
  During, and right after, the movie I thought, "Wow. That was wild. The crashes and the scenery and the fighting and the new sort of 'helper' programs and the new ghosty creatures and all the new characters.... Yeah, that was cool." But I think I was just hypnotized by the slow motion at the time. Now that I've snapped out of it I keep thinking. "But what was the...?" and "Who was the guy that...?" and "Why did they...?"
  
  And the main thing I have to say is: The Matrix: Revolutions (the 3rd movie) better have a VERY GOOD EXPLANATION of the last 10 minutes of the movie!!! Even at the time I had a big "Oh my god. They did NOT just do that." go through my head. I think they may have taken this Neo thing a little too far.... we shall see. I don't want to make any rash judgements.
  
  I think I need to see it again. I was really confused with the whole Architect thing. I was really confused as to why Neo has to fight the agents again (Did the writers even WATCH the first movie?! Neo is the guy who KNOWS the Matrix! He can make it whatever he wants to be!! He can fly and, at least in the first movie, could go inside of the guys and blow them up!! Why fight!? Just fly away, fool!) I guess they just wanted him to fight 800 agents at once. Cool effect -- I'm not sure of the point.
  
  So. I am left confused. Maybe another viewing will help. It was DEFINITELY not what I was hoping for (though I'm still not too sure what that is). It was cool, for sure. It had some great fight/chase scenes, for sure. It expanded the Matrix universe, for sure. But I'm not sure any of those had any real impact for me. The movie was just fine, really. No better, no worse. Just FINE.
  
  If you are not a Matrix fan, and ESPECIALLY if you did not see the first one, skip this thing. It's just not worth it, it'll be way too confusing. If you are a HUGE Matrix fan, you really can't miss it, of course. Maybe, if you check it out, you can explain the dang thing to me.
  

Final Score on the Chris Worth Scale: $5.85. I just can't give it more than that, mainly because I really have to go back and pay my admission price again to try to figure out what's going on.

• THE THING: My visit to the doctor.
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        Doctor appointment
            Received a rectal exam.
                Holy violated.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  I had a docotor's appointment for a physical today. Just a general physical to make sure I'm doing OK. Things like cholesterol, blood pressure, cardiovascular stuff, etc. I am not fond of visiting the doctor at all, and now I like it even less.
  
  I was supposed to not eat for 12 hours beforehand, I managed that. They also had given me a plastic cup to carry my urine in. I needed to pee in the cup when I got up, and had to bring it in. I got there, signed in, told them I was there, and I went to hand the urine sample to the desk person. She told me to just hold onto it until I get called. Oh, goody! I get to hold a jar of my own pee as I wait patiently to be called.
  
  The wait really wasn't all that long, so that was OK.
  
  I did have an EKG, which was pretty cool. I never had that done before. Apparently my EKG is all normal. And they did the usual blood pressure, pulse rate, etc. All good.
  
  Then the doctor did his jazz, checking my eyes and ears and throat. Apparently those were all fine, as well. Then he asked me to drop my drawers so he could do a testicular exam. No problem -- it's a little weird to have a fella rooting around down there, but it's not too painful, and it's over once you turn your head and cough. I did that part fine, and went to pull up my undershorts, when I hear the doctor say:
  
  "OK, now step up on the stool, turn around and bend over."
  
  "Nuh-uh!!" I told him.
  
  "Seriously," he said, "Hop up there and bend over."
  
  "What for?!" My voice cracked as I said it.
  
  "We have to do a rectal exam. Please step on the stool, turn around and bend over." He was reaching for the Vaseline as he said it.
  
  I've never had a rectal exam. I think my rectum is fine. I've never had any pain or problems. I guessed that it wasn't going to simply be an external examination of my anus. And my body was rejecting the idea. My mind was racing with ways to get out of there, but when you are wearing just socks and underwear, and the underwear is around your ankles, there aren't many options.
  
  Well, I did it. I stepped up on the stool, turned around, bent over, and grabbed the sides of the examination table with as much strength as I could muster.
  
  I heard him slather up with Vaseline and step behind me.
  
  "Uh, Chris?" he said.
  
  "What?" I asked, through clenched teeth.
  
  "You're going to need to relax your buttocks."
  
  It took me a few seconds to convince the muscles to actually release enough so he could get his finger up there. Although I don't know if he has fingers as much as tentacles. I swear he dug up there at least 18 inches. I could feel it in my throat. He was rooting around in there as if he had lost some change in seat cushions. It was horrible.
  
  And then, at the end, I felt so cheap and dirty as he just tossed a box of tissues on the exam bed and said, "Here. Wipe yourself off with those." It took 8 tissues to scrape all the vaseline out from between my cheeks. I don't think any of the vaseline actually made it into the opening, it just got scraped off on the way in. Yowch.
  
  He told me that he had examined my prostate and obtained a stool sample while he was in there. A stool SAMPLE?! I'm pretty sure he got it all while he was in there. He dug so deep, he probably got some undigested food.
  
  He checked the sample and told me I was OK, no blood or anything. I almost wished there was something wrong, because in my brain, he stuck his whole arm up my rectum for nothing.
  
  Thank god I'll never need to do that again. It is just once a lifetime you have one of those, right?
  
  RIGHT?!?!
  

• THE THING: This movie: X2, which was subtitled as "X-Men United" when they were promoting, I seem to remember...
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        Some new characters,
            and more about the old ones.
                Action, surprises.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  X2 was a pretty fun movie. It started out with a pretty good 'grabber' sequence. Then it let the characters flow a little more than in the first. You didn't need to see the first X-Men movie, but I'm guessing it made the characters easier to relate to... it's hard to tell with the tragic knowledge I have of movie #1.
  
  I must admit that I am relatively unfamiliar with the comic book series. I have seen the cartoon on TV once or twice, but I am not a wild X-Men fan. Still, I enjoyed it immensely. I just can't speak to how well it adhered to X-Men proper. I can say: It wasn't childish; they didn't hold back on the violence or language, and there is just some angry butt-kicking all around. A bunch of things blow up, which is always nifty to see. There are some pretty tight scenes with unexpected endings, at least for me. So, if the comics had some nifty stories, and tense moments, it probably did just fine.
  
  I do have a few problems with it, but I am afraid they might be spoilers. [Ignore the rest of this paragraph if you are worried about knowing a thing or two that I, at least, didn't know going into it.] They might have killed off a major character! But I'm not sure. I didn't really quite get the ambiguity at the end. Also, for those fo you who have seen both, is it just me, or is Professor X just the biggest liability there is? He got all brain-poisoned in the first one, and was really the main problem, causing some serious bad news for the whole stinking planet, in this one.
  
  I did enjoy it, and will llikely pick it up as one to own when it comes out on DVD. I'm quite certain I'll check out the third one...
  

Final Score on the Chris Worth Scale: $8.25. That's not an amazing score, since I did pay nine bucks to see it. I'm still having trouble with that -- although if you sit through the credits, there is a LOT of people who need to get paid. There was about 2 full screens just of stunt people.

• THE THING: This show: Hey Monie
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        Terrific writing,
            Great timing, delivery
                in squigglevision!
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  "Dr. Katz" was a show that changed my life. Poor quality cartoons, and the writing and timing and humor of David Mamet. Amazing. Nothing could beat it. But then there was "Home Movies"; a show about little kids making movies. And that is brilliant (it's still on the Adult Swim collection on Cartoon Network). It had the pacing and style of Dr. Katz, and many of the same actors, but somehow was even better.
  
  And even Science Court, a Squigglevision show for kids, was tremendous.
  
  Now there is Hey Monie, which is a show on BET. I have to be honest, I've never watched much on BET. But after one episode, I am hooked. It is pretty hilarious. It still has all the natural-spoken-style writing, with overlapping dialog that you somehow manage to catch all of, that Dr. Katz and Home Movies made famous. The style is certainly similar -- the animation, the transitions, the pacing -- but it has a bunch of elements in character and setting that push it apart a bit.
  
  It follows Simone, who works for a PR firm, and how she manages in an urban setting. The people she works with seem to run with a more upscale crowd. She's managing to make her way in an environment that seems a little tricky to keep up with, but somehow she copes.
  
  I'm not sure why I like it. Apparently it is a co-venture between BET and Oxygen. There's two genres that are generally NOT working hard to cater to my tastes. Somehow it works... I'm still laughing about some of the stuff on last night, 18 hours later. I'd try to quote some of the funny parts, but it would be completely lost in text -- the whole show is about delivery. And writing. And timing. And smart references. But mostly, it's the delivery.
  

• THE THING: The VH-1 100 Top One-Hit Wonders
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        A few surprises
            special guests and Shatner hosts
                a good reminisce
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  OK, I'm actually only reviewing the TOP 20, because that was the only part I saw. It was probably an old show that's being replayed, but I never saw it before. Anyway, I hope this isn't a spoiler for those of you who want to watch it when it comes around again, but this is their top 20:
  
  20 -- She Blinded Me with Science -- Tom Dolby
  19 -- In a Gadda Da Vida -- Iron Butterfly
  18 -- Nothing Compares 2 U -- Sinead O'Connor
  17 -- We're Not gonna Take It -- Twisted Sister
  16 -- Rapper's Delight -- The SugarHill Gang
  15 -- 96 Tears -- ? & the Mysterians
  14 -- Groove is in the Heart -- Dee lite
  13 -- The Hustle -- somebody
  12 -- Baby got Back -- Mix a lot
  11 -- You Light up My Life -- D. Boone
  10 -- 99 Luft Balloons -- Nena
  9 -- Rico Suave -- Gerardo
  8 -- Take on Me -- A-ha
  7 -- Ice, Ice Baby -- Vanilla Ice
  6 -- Who let the Dogs out -- Baha Men
  5 -- Mickey -- Toni Basil
  4 -- I'm 2 Sexy -- Right Said Fred
  3 -- Come on Eileen -- Dexy's Midnight Runners
  2 -- Tainted Love -- Soft Cell
  1 -- Macarena... whoever did that song.
  
  Sorry I forgot a couple of the artists. I guess that's the true sign of a One Hit Wonder -- you remember the song, but not even who did it. You are referred to by your song -- i.e. "The Hustle Guy. You know, The Guy Who Did The Hustle Song."
  
  Apparently I like One Hit Wonders, since I think SIX of those have a perfect 100 rating on my Launch Radio station. And one has a 95, if I remember correctly. I won't tell you which ones, but if you know me, you could probably guess. The Macarena is not among them.
  
  I really have to disagree with putting the Macarena on there. I mean it was HUGE, but only for like 17 minutes, and then it went away. I wouldn't be surprised if I never hear that song again for the rest of my life. Nor would I be sad about that.
  
  There was some cool background info on the show. They talked about ? & the Mysterians (they did "96 Tears", number 15 on the list) for a bit. I had no idea the lead singer's name was ?. Makes me a lot less impressed about the whole "Artist Formerly Known as Prince" thing. Not that I was ever really impressed...
  
  Remembering songs like "Mickey" and "Come On Eileen" and "Tainted Love" and "Take On Me" and a bunch of others was just great. Seeing Thomas Dolby up there was pretty sweet; he's pretty impressive, I think. Aliens Ate My Buick is one of the best albums, ever.
  
  SO, the show was fun, informative, and reminisciatory (sic).
  

• THE THING: This book: The Soul Eater, by Mike Resnick, © 1981
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        Energy creature
            lives in space, lives forever.
                Can it be destroyed?
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  Nicobar Lane is a hunter. His business card simply says, "I kill things." He is one of the best, and there has never been a creature he has not been able to destroy.
  
  There is a legend -- mostly rumors told by near-insane old settlers of the far frontier -- of a creature that lives in space, is basically made of energy, and is impossible to kill. It goes by many names, but the most common seems to be the Dreamwish Beast.
  
  When Nicobar meets up with this creature, he decides to make it his greatest, and most likely his final, hunt.
  
  This is a book by Mike Resnick, thus it is good. I've read at least two dozen of his decent-sized books, and an equal number of his short fictions, and he has no trouble writing in nearly any genre: fantasy, sci-fi, humor, adventure, romance -- he can do it all with equal acumen. If you ever see a book by Resnick (and I swear he's written thousands), just buy it and read it.
  

FInal Score on the Chris Worth Scale: This was not Resnick's best, but still a wonderful 200 pages of action, drama, and unique science fiction -- I'll call it $4.95.

• THE THING: This book: The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club: True Tales from a Magnificent and Clumsy Life, by Laurie Notaro, ©2002
  
• THE HAIKU REVIEW:
        One clutzy writer,
            add friends, neighbors, smokes and drinks.
                Hilarity ensues.
  
• THE FULL REVIEW:
  This is a bunch of short stories and observations from the eyes of Laurie Notaro -- who seems to spend a decent chunk of here time groping in her purse for smokes, trying to bum drinks from people in bars, and avoiding public toilets (I can completely relate -- hey, ladies, you think it's bad when the women miss, I swear some guys think they are urine artists... pissing is their medium. They paint the seat, the walls, the floor. It's insane. Try wading through shoe-sole deep urine just to GET to the soaked seat.).
  
  But I digress. This book is short and quick; easily devoured. There were times when I couldn't hold the book still, I was laughing so hard. She seems to have a fondness for the stronger drinks that I have only seen in one other person -- if I track our family history back far enough, she and I are probably related.
  
  She has had experiences with dentists as inhuman medieval torture devices, and I can relate to that, as well. There is a tale called "A Hole in One", where one of her teeth basically partially disintegrates, and she has to have it removed. It had just successfully been pulled, her mouth was full of gauze, and her lips were full of novacaine, her brain was still a smidge tipsy from the nitrous oxide, and the doctor was finishing up:
  
  'He looked at me oddly, half-smiled, and handed me a prescription.
  
  "It's codeine," he told me. "And with codeine, you need to take it with -- "
  
  "Wee-wee!! Wee-wee!!" I said, in my best attempt at whisky.
  
  "--food," he finished.
  
  Well, I thought to myself, no one's funny with a yard of gauze in her mouth and the lips of a dead woman.'
  
  I'm still laughing at that.
  

Final Score on the Chris Worth Scale: I was originally going to give this an $10.25, but I was was reviewing it, I was remembering some of the funnier bits, and wanting a copy of this to be hanging around to be reread at various intervals, kind of like my tradition of reading "The Santaland Diaries" from David Sedaris' Holidays on Ice a few weeks before every Christmas. SO, due to the rereadable nature of this book, I am adding 33% to my original value, and bringing it up to a $13.63.