Inglorius Bastards, remembrance of things past

Yesterday I went to check out the new Tarentino movie. Afterwards in Tikis, several guys remarked that they would probably see this movie multiple times, also in the theater. Not surprisingly, the Matrix was brought up (I watched it 2x in the theater and probably 10+ times since). I had a flashback to high school times. It was summer in North Carolina and I was with Gemma, Lucy and some boys. We ate Goodberry's frozen yogurt cream before the movie in an enormous empty parking lot. Lucy was raving about how she loved the movie. I still remember the black skin chunks dotting the purple of the blueberry ice cream and the texture of the yogurt on my tongue. It was really a madeleine moment.




Vanilla with blackberries


Goodberries

Summer passing

suspended zone
The beginning of the rest of my life

I went on a bit of a book binge recently since I joined GoodReads. Below is a list of books I read, including a bunch of YA literature that was rated highly on the site.

Booklist:
The Barrytown Trilogy (3.5/5)
The Alchemist (2/5)
Time Traveler's Wife (2.5/5)
The Midnighter's Trilogy (3.5/5)
The Uglies Trilogy (4/5)
Twilight Trilogy (3/5)

None of this list really consists of great literature, but they were all pretty fun to read. I liked the Barrytown Trilogy a lot, revolving around the lives of Rabbitte family in Dublin. The books complement each other nicely, building up to a nice cohesive whole, but the gem of the three is definitely The Van. The Van is about Jimmy Sr. (the best character out of the trilogy) who starts a fish and chips truck stand with a friend and the hysterical, sad, moving situations that follow. I can't judge totally subjectively, because I read all the novels in order, but maybe it wouldn't be as powerful without the other books as well (i.e. the character development you see in Jimmy Sr. as he confronts the fact that his daughter is pregnant).

The Alchemist and Time Traveler's Wife are both totally overrated books. Referring to the first, I know that self help/enlightenment books have to be overly simplistic and trite, but this one is really going too far. My problem with the Time Traveler's Wife (probably accentuated by the fact that I was aware of its existence for a long time before I tried reading it) is that it that the writing style is mediocre though the concept of the story has so much potential. What is worse, is that Niffengger puts in all these pop culture and literature references in an attempt to make this into some kind of loftier literature, which it is absolutely not. I expected more from the reviews I read beforehand. Additionally, Clare and Henry are too good looking and "attractive" as people. They are also way too well read, artsy, and cool...which is not at all convincing. However, it was fun to read unlike the first, which was kind of a drag.

The last several trilogies fall into the YA (young adult) category of lit. It is mildly embarrassing to admit, but I am unapologetic about liking these types of books. Scott Westerfield writes sci-fi topics in a realistic way. I really liked the Uglies trilogy especially...where he presents all these interesting ideas in a highly digestible and entertaining way. The Moonlighters trilogy doesn't end that strongly in my opinion, but it was also highly entertaining. Finally, the Twilight series (now a major motion picture), was pretty ridiculous, but I still enjoyed it. I have a weak spot for vampires and sappy romance.

Math Game: 8-bit game for four legs and a dock

I was playing with the Airguitar yesterday when I remembered a game that I played in the past. In Boston, when it became too hot during the summers, we used to take my car and drive to Mystic lake where Tuft's boathouse is located. Though it is not legal to swim at that spot, it is the best location and has plenty of parking space. The best times to go are during the night towards the end of summer the water has already been heating up throughout a period of several months.

At those times, we swam always with the lurking fear that the lochness monster might be in residence that night. But to get to the point, the game I mention is a game to be played with four people and eight legs*. Each of the players sit on the dock with their feet sunken into the water.

Leg in the water = 0
Leg out of the water = 1

The left most person starts by raising his or her left most leg out of the water (1), then as fast as possible count 2 (10), 3 (11), 4 (100), etc... in binary. The goal is to not mess up and go fast. The result is a lot of splashing and of course if someone lifts their foot incorrectly there is a punishment of having to jump into the lake.

*Note: More or less legs can be added or subtracted, but then it wouldn't be an 8-bit game.