MetaAnomie

Man, I have just been so busy since I got back to Japan — and the kids’ sleep schedule has been all over the place which has made things all the more interesting. I had one interview a couple days after I arrived and did a bit of an online shopping spree the other day. I have totally exhausted the hard disks in my computer and am in desperate need of some more storage, so I put in an order for an external eSATA chassis, interface card, and two 2TB drives. Hopefully that will be enough to hold me out for general data storage and backups for a little while.

I also put in a order for a LinkTheater (and another external HD to connect it to). Having kids means you pretty much get to watch zero TV, and I have been wanting a digital storage device of sorts to save programs so I can watch them at later times (and to save shows for the kids). This one caught my eye because one, its hard drive is external, meaning you can increase the size or swap them around eliminating worries about space limitations, and two, I had been wanting a way to connect my PC to my TV to watch programs and whatnot, and using the LinkTheater LAN connection I should be able to do that as well. Anyhow, we will see how well it works once I get it in.

I watched Avatar with my brother and dad when I was back in the states and rather liked it. The visuals were just downright stunning. Unfortunately I was only able to see the 2D version, but I have heard nothing but good things about the 3D one as well. I would love to see it.

Anyways, the story was entertaining enough but not fantastic perhaps. It was mainly a combination of elements and ideas that you have most likely seen before in one form or another. That’s not to shit on it though — as I said, it does at least keep you engaged. And the bad guy is badass.

As for books, I picked up a copy of Maddox’s “The Alphabet of Manliness.” It was pretty much in the writing style that he uses on his blog, and the content was on that level as well. If you like his blog, you would like it — it’s pretty damn funny in parts.

I also picked up a copy of “Flash Forward” by Robert J. Sawyer. My brother was telling me about the series on ABC (which I haven’t seen yet), and noticing the book it was based on in the bookstore, I grabbed a copy for the flight home. It is probably one of the better books I have read in the past year or so; the story is really original and catchy. If you haven’t heard of it yet, essentially the plot centers around the entire world blacking out at the same time for a little over two minuets, and everyone getting a brief glimpse of their own future — and of course all the different human and scientific repercussions of that event. As for the story, I really have no major complaints. On the other hand, the writing wasn’t anything to write home about. Not distracting per se, but not fantastic either. Either way, it was definitely a good read.