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I finished The Grand Complication by Allen Kurzweil this week. It was published in 2001.  The novel is about a reference librarian named Alexander Short who embarks on an after-hours antiquarian project that gradually preoccupies him and his partner, Henry James Jesson III.

I basically did not like this novel. I didn't find much in it that was very good. The storyline is quite rocky. The main character is relatively developed, but he's got this naivete about him that seems to come and go whenever the author needs to use it.  The other major character, Jesson, is quite simply weird. Although we seem to be told a great deal about him, I don't feel like I was supposed to believe any of it. And on top of all we are told, I feel it does not really explain any of Jesson's motives or ideas.

There are parts of the story that are simply odd and weird. For example, the very unpleasant scene in Jesson's bathroom which resulted in one of the character's touching another character's private parts. For no reason. Really. The scene is just there for some unknown bizarre reason that doesn't seem to be in line with any part of the characterizations or storyline.

Short and his wife have a downright spiteful and evil relationship. It is one thing to have a troubled marriage, I suppose, but these two are just bizarre. She's high-strung and wild, he's aloof and spineless. Its not a nice relationship - so at the end of the book when the reader is supposed to believe that the relationship is all patched up, it ends up feeling contrived.  There's an feeling of weird sexual fetishes subtly underlying much of the storyline, I think, which I did not like.

As far as being "intelligent," I am not so sure. I mean, I feel terms get tossed around that to a lay-person would make the book seem "smart," but in some cases its benign intelligence. There are a few Latin phrases that everyone seems to be familiar with. For example, "veni, vidi, vici," and "festina lente."  Everyone probably knows these if they have an ounce of education. But Kurzweil uses festina lente and it seems like he thinks that the reader should be impressed? Or that he thinks using Latin makes his book "smart"?   Short uses terms like octavo and quarto to describe books in the library.  However, unless one is a publisher or an antiquarian, nobody is exceedingly familiar with these sizings. So this I would expect an explanation for, not for festina lente. But we don't get one.

Anyway, its not a good read, though it is a very fast read. I generously give the book 2 stars, because it still was readable in some sense.

2 stars

I finally finished this book. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - published in 2005 in Swedish, 2008 in English. I got it for Christmas in 2010, and I finished it at the end of June in 2011. I muscled through the first 250 pages and then couldn't go any further. I had the sense that I was finally moving beyond the setup and the action and thrill would begin, but I dropped it anyway. Finally, I made it through the book.

I'm told that the title in Swedish is "Men Who Hate Women," which I guess is somewhat apt. After all, there are murders and rapes and such.  This series of books is often referred to as the Millennium series/trilogy.  This takes its name from something in the book. There are a bunch of characters - but the main character is a journalist named Mikael Blomkvist.  Blomkvist publishes a political/financial expose magazine called Millennium. 

Blomkvist is not a terribly interesting character. He's the hero and its obvious he is the hero. He survives getting shot at, when he goes to jail he has a pleasant time, all the women adore him, etc. However, he's also somewhat daft for someone so "James Bond."   The other main character, who's story we learn along side Blomkvist's story - until the two narratives run together, is Lisbeth Salander.  She's crazy. Seriously. But she's apparently quite intelligent, too. (She's the girl with the tattoo.....)

I can understand why this book was a big bestseller. It does have a huge story and a complex narrative.  Its graphic enough that all the folks that love intrigue and mayhem will enjoy it, and its intelligent enough that it takes brainpower to follow along with the storyline.  After all, Blomkvist is caught researching the Vanger family - and the reader's got to keep a handle on at least 10 characters to make it all make sense. This gets tedious - prepare to keep your bookmark in the genealogy chart.  The story has a variety of levels, there is not just some simply surface story. Everything is interconnected and the story involves a whole lot of companies, people, and timelines.

Unfortunately, the writing is very boring. And perhaps some of that is the translator's fault? The writing style is flat. Its just flat. Deadpan. The most outlandish item can be told to the reader in the flattest, emptiest tone. And I think that is why I had take a break from the book after the first 250 pages.  Its not bad writing, i.e. idiotic and foolish. Its just deadpan. I've read that this book is a thriller.... well, no I don't think so.  However, the last chunk of the book is exceedingly more interesting than the front half.  So much so that, yes, I am vaguely interested in reading the next in the series. I want to know what's going to happen next with Blomkvist and Lisbeth. 

The crimes in the Vanger family are gruesome. Sexual deviants and murder and such. However, told in this deadpan style, its hard to be shocked. However, if you think about it, this is quite twisted stuff.  It makes me hesitant to say this is a great novel because there were these sick elements that I find quite disturbing. Writers/creators/artists who write about these things leave me a little wary because while I am not naive, I still think its weird for people to write what is classified as "entertainment" (i.e. fiction) to include these topics/subjects.

3 stars

I recently read "Magic Bites" by Ilona Andrews, published in 2007.

I read this book because I am starting to work my way through a list of what is called "urban fantasy."  This term provoked an interesting discussion on the over-genre-ization of novels these days.  What the heck is "urban fantasy?" I mean, I know what people mean by it, but is it really something? Really? Isn't it just fantasy or fiction? 

Anyway, Ilona Andrews is actually:  two writers, Ilona and Gordon. From their website we learn:  "We write urban fantasy, an odd hybrid of a genre that includes elements of mystery, fantasy, and horror. Our stories are set in a modern setting that has a touch of paranormal to it."  Frankly, I wasn't very surprised when I found out that its a team of authors.  Somehow, though they do write seamlessly together, there was something about the writing in this little novel that made me think that either the author did a LOT of research on some very minor details, or the editor really was picky in some places.

"Magic Bites" is the first novel in the Kate Daniels series. The website says: "Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for magic… One moment magic dominates, and cars stall and guns fail. The next, technology takes over and the defensive spells no longer protect your house from monsters. Here skyscrapers topple under onslaught of magic; werebears and werehyenas prowl through the ruined streets; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst of knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds. In this world lives Kate Daniels. Kate likes her sword a little too much and has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, she must choose to do nothing and remain safe or to pursue his preternatural killer. Hiding is easy, but the right choice is rarely easy…"

Its an easy summer reading book. I mean, you do not have to muscle through this one. Which is nice. I was truly afraid it would be very... how can we describe it?... very romancy/girlie.  And sure, the main character is a chick, but she's not some damsel in distress full of love-struck big hearts. And that is very much a good thing for the book.  Look at Kate's picture on the front cover. Its a really good cover, actually, drawn by Chad Michael Ward. The picture isn't some silly ditzy girl.

The enemies, villains and allies such are formed through alliances that seem more or less to want to keep the status quo.  One fantastic thing about the story is that vampires are not some neo-Gothic, emo romancy types. Vampires in this series are entirely monsters - basically, like zombie insects. And this is so wonderful because I am sick of the ridiculous characterization of vampires as "cool". (Twilight/True Blood)  Anyway, I am interested in reading more about the beasts.

Some may be a bit confused or dissatisfied with the start of the book - feeling its very in media res. I suppose it does start that way, but its okay, and it works for the book.

Overall 3/5 stars.

I finally got around to reading "Special Topics in Calamity Physics" by Marisha Pessl.  It was published in 2006 and is the author's first published novel.  According to Wikipedia (not the most truthful of all sources), Pessl had several attempts that failed at getting published.

The book is often compared to "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt, which I have also read.  I don't know that that is a fair comparison, although while reading this book, the comparison did cross my mind. Ultimately, the books are quite different, and I think that any association is just because our minds work well with analogy and similarity.  

Personally, I think this book draws from an autobiographical standpoint.  Pessl was born in Michigan and went to a private, co-ed school in Asheville, NC. This is very much like the main character of the book, Blue van Meer.  The dust jacket describes Blue in this fashion:

"....a brainy, deadpan, and preternaturally erudite girl who, after traveling from one remote academic outpost to another with her professor father, has a head crammed full of literary, philosophical, and scientific knowledge.  (She is also a film buff and can recite pi out to sixty-five decimal places).  When she is sixteen, due to certain nuclear events, her previously dull life is forever transformed."

The book is told from the point of view of Blue.  And Blue will consistently and thoroughly inundate the reader with a variety of "references."  Some people might find this tedious.  Unless you're a reader of such an appetite like Blue, then you will probably find that her endless quoting of books she's read is overbearing.  However, I didn't mind at all, and frankly, enjoyed most of those parts as much as or more than the storyline itself.  What the dust jacket said about Blue is accurate, especially the point about Blue being "deadpan."  She is often shy and socially-inept which appears throughout the book as a deadpan innocence.

Overall, its a good book, and that is looking at it from a distance.  As you get closer to the book, its not quite as good as one thinks that it is.  Its certainly not a bad book, but it just isn't on par with great books.  One of my main thoughts about this book is that Pessl was never really certain where the story was going - as if she just sat down to write, using her life as a vague guide, and just wrote whatever hoping the storyline would fall in step.  It kind of does and it doesn't all at once.  The book seems like a real investigation of the relationship between Blue and her father and their nomadic lifestyle across the USA.  A reader might expect that the book would be focusing on Blue's struggles to get accepted at Harvard University.  However, somewhere in the second half of the book, the book veers off this course and there are a couple of dead bodies and suddenly its a murder mystery - but without the suspense and thrill.  A whole pack of characters (Blue's peers at school) are heavily developed, reworked, reworked again, and then discarded as meaningless and with distaste.  And in the end, the reader feels a bit unsatisfied because there are several items left unsaid, which, frankly, someone ought to just say, but we are left to surmise on our own. In this type of book, I do not think leaving things unsaid or incomplete works.

One of the pitfalls that Pessl falls in from time to time is the over-metaphoring of things.  Sometimes, when trying to write as a genius, erudite Blue, Pessl describes something or someone or some event with a bit too much metaphor.  Its easy to fall into this - thinking that everything has to be over-metaphored.  Overall, though, Pessl keeps most of it witty and/or interesting. But sometimes it does get tedious. Its a tough balance to strike, and I can see how Pessl overdid it. What I cannot see, is why the editors did not point some of this out.

There are some hysterical lines in the book, though.  At several of them, I penciled in "LOL" so that whomever reads this copy next will know that I agree that these lines are amusing. Sometimes such lines are both witty and also demonstrate that Pessl does have a knack for describing the awkward and thoroughly human moments that people experience.  For example, driving to a house, Blue shares: 

"At the end of this nauseating parade of woods and pastures and nameless dirt roads... I'd find not a house, but a black door barred by a velvet rope, a man with a clipboard who'd look me over and, when ascertaining I didn't know Frank or Errol or Sammy personally (nor any other titan of entertainment), would declare me unfit to enter, by inference, to continue living."

3 stars

I finished the April 2011 issue of Analog Science Fiction & Fact.  Every issue I read makes me truly love these little issues more and more.  There is just something incredibly loveable about their size and contents. I love that its all science fiction stories.  But interspersed are actually hard science articles and snippets that deal with actual concepts, anecdotes, and ideas.  I also like the editor’s letters and the listing and recommendations of newly published science fiction works.  Basically, Analog is the best thing (or one of the top five) in the magazine industry.

This issue was much better than the previous issue that I read through.  The cover art was done by Jean-Pierre Normand.  Normand has done many other covers for Analog as well as Asimov’s Science Fiction.

CONTENTS (fiction only) and my rating

Hiding Place – 3 *s

Ian’s Ions and Eons  -  4*s

The Flare Weed  -  5*s

Small Penalties  -  3*s

Two Look at Two  -  3*s

Blessed are the Bleak  -  2*s

Remembering Rachel  -  3*s

Quack  -  3*s

Balm of Hurt Minds  -  3*s

By far my favorite story was Larry Niven’s “The Flare Weed.”   Interestingly, this “story” is only two pages in the issue.  (Or one page, if you like.)   Niven’s contribution had the utmost wit, frivolity, science, and seriousness all wrapped up in an easy-to-read catchy story.   Niven is a master of science fiction, and it was a joy to get this little snippet from him in this issue.

The first story, “Hiding Place,” was unique and curious.  It was written by Adam-Troy Castro.  Apparently he used concepts and storylines from this story before in other works.  It was a little darker than I normally read; however, I think that it has a lot of potential.  I was glad to be introduced to this world by the author even if I did not give it 5 stars.

The story “Ian’s Ions and Eons” is a really good story if you enjoy time-travel and the ethics thereof.  Do not think that this is merely an ethical digression, though. The story is interesting and I think it was the second best of the issue.  It was written by Paul Levinson – who is a well-published author and commentator in the media (from NPR and CBS to the History Channel and all sorts of newspapers). He is also a professor at Fordham University.  Anyway, reading this story makes me want to read some of his actual fiction novels that have been published by TOR publishers.

Of the remaining stories, the one most noteworthy was Jerry Oltion’s “Quack.”  Again, Oltion is a well-published author (in fact, he had a story in last month’s Analog issue).   I liked this story quite a bit because I think that it describes the personalities and attitudes among doctors and scientists as well as the influence of the media very accurately.   It provided a surprising point of view and I recommend reading this story to anyone who is in the fields of religion or medicine.  Just because.

Finally, although I prefer not to discuss the non-fiction articles and snippets in Analog, I have to make an exception this month.  I really liked Jeffery D. Kooistra’s article for the section:  The Alternate View.  He wrote a snippet about “AUTHOR FALLS IN LOVE WITH E-READER.”  One of the reasons that I am praising this article is that a week after I read it, I was still thinking about it.  It is also quite well written – engaging and interesting.  And, most importantly, its causing me to re-examine my opinions regarding e-readers, the future of literature, and human knowledge. That’s a good article.

MEAN:  3.22
MEDIAN:  3
MODE:  3

Sandwiched between Grant Morrison storyarcs, the Batman storyarc "Grotesk" is a relatively self-contained, quality story written by John Ostrander with art by Tom Mandrake.  "Grotesk" ran from #659 - 662, which were the first issues of 2007.  I suspect there was either a printing/publishing error at the time or Morrison's arc wasn't ready, so DC threw in this 4-issue story to bridge the gap.

I don't think that "Grotesk" will ever be given as much acclaim as it should be simply because it falls in the middle of Morrison's run.  The four books previous to "Grotesk" were "Batman & Son," which is the first storyarc with Grant Morrison as the regular writer on the Batman series.  It deals with the revelation that Bruce Wayne had a son with Talia, the daughter of Ras-al-Ghul.  Hello Damian Wayne. However Morrison's famous run gets interrupted in January of 2007, and we get "Grotesk."

There's a lot that I want to say about all of this, and hopefully I can say it in a coherent manner.  I am on the fence, as they say, regarding Morrison.  I guess, I didn't really know much about him or his work - but I only heard the noise that all the folks on his bandwagon were making.  His name was uttered with hushed awe and reverence.  One must praise Morrison.  And after surfing online, watching some videos, and reading some interviews, frankly, Morrison seems like a really arrogant dude who needs to avail himself of a few more meat 'n potatoes meals. So, my first impression of him is that he is insufferably arrogant.  However, then I read the "Batman & Son" storyarc.  I admit, it was good.  Its factual:  its a good arc. Is it the best arc that I have ever read? No. But can I see this stuff developing into a widespread rolling good time with the Batman? Yep. So, maybe all this racket I've been hearing about Morrison is justified.

But before I have to deal with Morrison, I get these 4 issues of "Grotesk."  First of all, I disliked the covers quite a bit. I kind of did not want to read the arc because the covers looked yucko.  All four covers in this arc were done by Greg Lauren, who, for whatever reason, hasn't done a whole lot in the industry.  I'm not sure what to think of this. Has he not done much because he's really not good? And if he's not good, how did he ever land four covers of DC's big bad Batman title? 




However, I took a good hard look at the first issue there. Three colors: white, black, red. Batman kinda looks like a statue to me here.... cracking, poisoned, diseased... and he's looking up.  And actually after a good 15 minute staring contest, I decided that this is quite a good cover. I usually love color, but the "simple" cover here is very nice in its three colors. By "simple," I mean that its not busy and wild. Horror, noir, unique. Yeah, I had to admit its a good cover.  The next two covers are the weaker covers, I think.  But the last cover? Just like the first in that it is very noir and very unique.  They are a bit surreal and perfectly noir for the Dark Knight. 

The story is quite deep for a quick 4-issue substitute arc.  Grotesk is the name that has been given to the killer who is attacking people in Gotham City.   The City is under a heavy winter storm when Grotesk strikes - bodies with skin on their faces removed - are lit on fire.  Batman and the police struggle to find the connection between those being killed.  Batman follows leads to Amina Franklin.  Her brother died recently, but Batman suspects she is not telling the whole truth about her brother's death.  

Thugs keep pestering Amina, insisting that she owes them because her brother owes them.  Batman saves her, but discovers some of the trouble can be traced back to a project that Amina's brother, Wayne, was working on.  Wayne was a surgeon who was developing the I-GORE.  The I-GORE was a cybernetic-robotic interface that could be used to perform surgeries remotely.  Unfortunately, Wayne Franklin ran into a number of problems - including the failure of the I-GORE to work as hoped for.  Wayne Franklin ended up bartering and borrowing money from a number of individuals as well as having his technology copied by a rival medical group. Russian and Japanese mobsters all make attempts to get the technology, get payment, or exact punishment on Amina. 





Batman soon establishes that the killer running around Gotham being referred to as Grotesk, is actually Wayne Franklin.  Franklin faked his death and has now fashioned a mask for his mutilated face from the facial flesh of his fallen victims.  Grotesk is seeking vengeance against those who hurt him and those who ruined his project.  He is even willing to sacrifice his sister, Amina. 

Grotesk ends up shooting Amina with a fatal dosage as he makes his escape from Gotham. Batman gives chase, and they end up fighting on a boat in the river.  Grotesk is maddened and accuses Batman of being just like all his other enemies.  Batman subdues Grotesk and they notice a large ship bearing down on them.  Batman escapes - making an attempt to save Grotesk.  However, Batman only grabs an artificial arm and Grotesk is crushed and submerged by the oncoming ship's hull.  

Okay, there are a lot of great things about this story.  First of all, it is so noir, it should win a prize.  It takes places in the winter, in Gotham City, mainly at night.  It involves a surgeon who has lost his sanity and who has stitched other people's flesh into a mask to wear.  There are Russian and Yakuza mobsters in the story - shooting people up and threatening everyone.  Both Amina and Wayne are dead at the end of the story.  

Second of all, the story is self-contained.  I did not need to read 100 issues before and after to really understand the inner workings of this arc.  It was contained within 4 issues - however, it had all the depth, tension, and action that one would expect out of a really good Batman story.




Third, the covers represent the story inside. Sometimes (more and more frequently) covers on comics are just eye candy to get readers to buy an issue and the cover art has little or nothing to do with the interior story.  Not so with this arc - these covers practically tell you the story themselves! And the more I look at them, the more I like them, particularly the first and last.

Fourth, I absolutely love the interior art.  Every artist (and writer, for that matter) has their idea on how Batman should be drawn.  Well, the interior artist, Tom Mandrake, nails it.  As I read through issue #659 I was thinking to myself:  "Yeah, this is how Batman should be drawn."  And with that in the back of my head, I realized it was entirely true.  The Batman in these four issues is... correct.  In fact, the story and the art is classic Batman.  These are precisely the stories and depictions that I think of when I think of classic Batman stuff.  And its good. Its a good story. Its good art.

It seems a lot of online folk rated these issues somewhat low: 6 / 10 or 2 / 5.  I don't understand that.  I really don't.  I have a hard time wondering what they are looking for and expecting from Batman if this arc wasn't it.  I guess Grant Morrison is the answer.  People want whatever he's selling.  And hey - maybe what he's selling is good, right?  I will find out soon enough.  However, to act like this arc is somehow subpar or not quality is ridiculous!  I do think its unfortunate that it interrupted Morrison's larger arc, but these issues started 2007 - what a way to start a Bat-year!  I only got to read them this week, but they were very much worth the cover price.

Overall:  I give the arc 5 stars.  I give the art 4 stars and I give the writing 5 stars.  This is good stuff. Ostrander and Mandrake were an excellent team and did a fine job with "Grotesk."

I finished this Emily the Strange novel.... Dark Times.  I think it is the third Emily novel, though I am not entirely sure. I had previously read "Emily the Strange: Stranger and Stranger."  

Well, once again we have Emily embarking on adventures in her new hometown: Duntzton.   Unfortunately there is the issue of schooling.  Obviously, Emily hates formal schooling (which makes sense to me!)   On the back of the book we are told that Emily would rather eat lint, wear a full body cast, and skateboard blindfolded rather than go to school.  So, her mother and her Aunt devise a sort of "homeschooling" plan for Emily.  

The main topic of this cirriculum is a History course: family history.  Of course, this involves things such as time-travel, psychic cousins, and dark elixir.  In the course of traveling to the 1790's, Emily meets and learns about her Aunt Lily, that flying fish are a weapon against smallpox, and the usefulness of bonnets.

Overall, this story was slightly more disjointed than I would have liked. I enjoyed the previous novel a bit more. I think maybe its because I didn't really love the 1790's.

Nevertheless, as all things Emily, the story was creative, there was a lot of fun words like "flamdrab!"  Overall, a solid Emily book, but not as good as the other one that I read. I do look forward to reading more Emily.

Also, Raven is truly a fun creation!

3 / 5 stars

I finished watching Criminal Minds season 2.  It was about the same as season 1.  There were a few decent episodes, there were some really not good episodes.  Overall, it hasn't gotten better, but at least it has not gotten worse.  Some of the scenarios/cases are over the top in this season. (I say as if any serial killing is not "over the top".....)  Specifically, episodes "Sex, Birth, Death" and "The Last Word" are examples of really depraved and twisted killers.  In fact, the former is so bizarre and disturbing that I feel its a bit too much to have been aired on network television.

The writers did attempt to develop some of the characters.  We see this with the episode ("Profiler, Profiled") that takes place in Chicago and provides us with some yucky details of Morgan's past. This isn't a great episode, but it does represent the entire season.  Basically, one of the overarching concepts of this season is that those in the BAU are just as much hunters as the killers in the episode "Open Season."   The last episode drives this point home with a scene involving Agent Hotchner.

There are a variety of cases.  One involves Muslim fanatical terrorism, another bank robberies, another the Russian mob.   However, and this is one of my complaints about the show, practically all the killers/killings are traced back to some depravity involving sex.  It seems like the goal of the BAU is to connect how a killing relates to sex - in some way.  Now, surely, there are some sexually-motivated serial killers. However, watching this season, I feel like underneath all the variables and circumstances, it all starts with deviant sex.  Did Freud write this show? Are the writers channeling him?

I still like Garcia.  Elle is gone in this season (and she was the only eye-candy).  Overall, I have trouble rating this series. I guess somewhere between 2 and 3 stars for this season.  It wasn't very good. However, its "easy" to watch in that one episode just rolls into another and another. Moving right along....



I also watched the first season of being human.  This is the BBC British version of the show.  It only consisted of 6 episodes.  However, a lot of storyline is completed in those six episodes, so I guess the writers did a good job.

After the first episode, I was a little unsure what to expect.  It was a lot darker than I thought it would be.  And it has, at times, this amateurish camera-work that seems to me to be what would happen if it was filmed by an amateur soap opera cameraman.  Not that it is bad, it is just very different from what I am used to watching.

Needless to say, the show is in British.  Yes, British.  Its that language that I think is like English, but is inflected all oddly and is, therefore, British.  I hate British. I hate it because try as hard as I can, I cannot understand it, so I get frustrated.  All the inflections seem all wrong.  Watching this show took a little bit of work from me because I had to concentrate at times and learn each character's speech patterns in order to grasp the content of the dialogue. 

There are three main characters with about three other supporting characters.  The three main characters are a vampire (Mitchell), a werewolf (George), and a ghost (Annie).  The supporting characters are a nurse (Nina), a vampire posing as a cop (Herrick), and the ex-boyfriend (Owen) of the ghost.  Overall, the characters are not entirely likeable, though you don't really hate them. By the sixth episode, you care slightly about them.  There is a good deal of blood and nakedness, so not a show for the weak stomached.

Sometimes the show is boring - nothing happening, dialogue boring - and then suddenly, there are some really great funny moments. For example, in episode five, George and Annie have a moment that is so funny, I had to pause the DVD player so that I could laugh.  (Its the scene where they beat up the guy in the funeral home and George has a line about "ninjas.")  Also, in this same episode, Annie wants to scare Owen and is practicing being "scary."  Annie tries to make herself seem scary as she says: "Confesssssssssss!" ---- and I think my household will be permanently saying this word the way she says it in this episode.

Bad things:  Annie is stuck in the same clothing. And I hate her outfit and am so sick of seeing it!  Also, some of the language is a bit much - even if it is said in British.  (In fact, one time a noun is used in such a way as I have never heard it used before. Baffling.)\

Overall, I have to give this three stars because even if it doesn't seem great, in a mere six episodes the writers succeeded more than in 40 episodes of Criminal Minds. Also, being human seems like it could get even better as it develops.

In the autumn of 2006, DC Comics was really churning out some interesting storyarcs. As you can read about here, I basically began my re-introduction back into DC Comics with the OMAC Project.  I have been reading along in the stories since then, not too avidly and not too lazily. Its one of many of my reading tasks.  Anyway, its currently summer of 2011, and the big comic events of the year are unfolding with Marvel's "Fear Itself" and DC's "Flashpoint" and "War of the Green Lanterns."    Today, I managed to read through issue #26 of  52.  This means, basically, that I am at the halfway point of that weekly series.  I am aware of the nearly constant complaint by aggravated readers who dislike DC's timeline and "constant crisis" storytelling.  Nevertheless, I boldly read through The OMAC Project and Infinite Crisis, and I fully intend to get through 52, World War III, and then Final Crisis and onward.

I'm getting a pretty good foothold in the DC universe, particularly by this time (i.e. October 2006).  There are a number of major storyarcs running through DC's main titles - and, what's awesome, most of these titles are still low in numbering - so its fairly easy to catch up.  These are the some of the issues from October 2006:



I haven't read all of these; I don't own the Superman, GL, or WW. However, the other issues are ones that I have read. I particularly really liked Blue Beetle - which surprised me. The Batman issue is one of the "famous" ones of the arc that was written by Grant Morrison and includes Batman's first meeting with Damian.   The Martian Manhunter is a limited series (8 issues total), and the JLA book is the first in the series.

These are DC's October 2006 offerings, but soon I know the reading will increase.  In February 2007, DC releases issue #1 of the Justice Society of America and in October 2007 the new volume of Booster Gold starts.

I'm rather okay with my reading in the DC timeline. I've managed to get a much better grasp of characters, even if I don't really completely understand some of the plotlines (does anyone, ever with DC?) There's been buckets of good art and storytelling - even if Marvel's "Civil War" etc. overshadows the happenings of the 2006 DC universe.  Nevertheless, I still currently have most of the titles pictured above on my pull list.  Already I've been wondering about Blue Beetle and what can be done here in 2011 about BB?

So I watched the first season of Nurse Jackie and of Criminal Minds.  Yes, the two are rather different, but they key is, the first was on sale when I got it and the latter was recommended to me by just about everyone.

So, Nurse Jackie is a nurse at All Saints hospital in NYC.  She is the head emergency room nurse (I think).  She's also addicted to pain meds, having an affair, and she bends the rules with regard to hospital regulations - all the time.

The supporting cast of Zoey, O'Hara, Akalitus, and Mohammad do a lot of work making the storyline well-rounded and filled out. Without the supporting roles and subplots, the whole series would be a miserable catastrophe. After watching only the first season, Dr. O'Hara (played by Eve Best) is my favorite character, followed by Zoey and Akalitus. The main character? Yeah, I must admit that I am not really fond of her.

The point of season 1 is that Jackie makes every possible bad choice she can and then, at the end, she ends up having everyone she knows angry, disappointed, or frustrated with her. The antics of the patients at the hospital provide a decent background for telling us this story. We are also watching Zoey, a nursing student, develop.  What it all boils down to, though, is that Jackie makes bad choices and at the end of season 1, her choices make people suffer - not just herself. So, we are left up in the air with the last episode - will Jackie's friends just slay her, or can she find a conniving way out?

I watched the season in two afternoons, its not gripping and its not incredibly entertaining, but its not wretched. I suppose I will give this season 3 out of 5 stars. Generally, I dislike the depravity found on Showtime and HBO.



People I know kept hounding me to watch Criminal Minds, and I had heard decent reviews of this series. So, I found season 1 "on sale" for less than a million dollars.  I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, although I knew the main premise was hunting for bad guys.

I was disappointed - overall - with season 1. And by the time I was on disc 5, I was absolutely marvelling that this show has run so many seasons. I was convinced that the other seasons must be really awesome to make up for this nonsense. I think there are 6 or 7 seasons.

Anyway, season one's characters include Gideon (the real boss), Hotchner (the unit boss in name only), Morgan (the token black guy), Garcia (the techie), Elle (the headstrong chick), J.J. (the media relations girl), and Reid (the dorky, socially-inept kid).

Each episode does not deal with a serial killer, but it is the main thing that this FBI BAU (Behavioral Analysis Unit) looks for. They are profilers and they tend to view everything first as a possible serial killing, and then next as some other killing.  We are often supposed to be in awe of their deduction skills - as they examine people and then can tell us great accurate details about the person's personality and lifestyle.  Frankly, this doesn't seem any more tricky than the stuff of fortune tellers at carnivals.

Also, for any of this to work at all, there is a heavy-handed overarching determinist principle at work here. I suppose that's SOME of the point of the show - to get us to consider nature/nurture and so forth. I have to say, though, that all of this comes out flat and ineffectively. After disc two I was asking myself: "gee, how much more odd and convoluted can they make serial killers."  Because after you do the cannibalism, the rapes, and the patterns, what's left? And, also, every (and I mean EVERY) crime is somehow because of the sex. So, watching this show is like watching a determinist Freud show.

The characters.... ahhh.... for 5 discs, they have ZERO personality. They are flatline, boring people. For example, Morgan does absolutely nothing on any of their cases. Really. Its amusing how little he does. He's just there to be "the black guy" and say a few lines. The girl who plays Elle (Lola Glaudini) is the best looking of the bunch, but apparently she's only in seasons 1 & 2. I have no idea what her role in the BAU really is.   Hotchner. Holy crap, Hotchner. I almost quit watching after disc 1 because I just simply couldn't tolerate the boring monotone any further. I get that he's supposed to be the rule-abiding suit-wearing boss. But NO ONE is that monotone. NO ONE.

Garcia is the only character that I really like. And, to be honest, I only like her because of her witty quotes. She's a smart alec and it amuses me.

Some of the script is lame, they say obvious things or tautologies, but I assume this is for the dumb people who watch the show. It is a graphic show, its not the easiest show to eat in front it. Bodies everywhere type thing - much like Bones in that respect.

The last two episodes of the last disc are finally pretty good - and the season ends on a big cliffhanger to-be-continued sort of thing. So that means, I am really stuck watching season 2. Hopefully, though, with the last disc, the show has found its footing and things will improve. Up until that last disc I was glad to be done with this show and didn't want to see any future seasons.

2 out of 5 stars.