Consumption Backlog

It has been nearly three months since my last post, mainly because I just haven’t had much to say. Here’s a batch review of what I’ve been doing instead of blogging, in no particular order.

• X-Men: The Last Stand — Pretty good, but not as good as the first two.
• Penguin by Design : A Cover Story 1935-2005, by Phil Baines — Fascinating study on the evolution of Penguin’s book covers. Historical rather than instructional.
• Build Your Own Website The Right Way Using HTML & CSS, by Ian Lloyd — Great introduction to web design, aimed at the absolute beginner, with none of the messy presentational garbage still being taught in most books. A more indepth review is forthcoming eventually.
• Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett — PTerry only writes good books.
• Saucerful of Secrets : The Pink Floyd Odyssey, by Nicholas Schaffner — Well told biography of the band.
• Superman Returns — Very disappointing. All glitz, no substance. Heavy on nostalgia, short on originality.
• 10,000 Days, by Tool — Damn good, though less experimental than their two previous albums, harkening back to 1993’s rocking Undertow.
• Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works, by Erik Spiekermann and E.M. Ginger — Entertaining overview of the hows and whys of good typography.
• Future Noir : The Making of Blade Runner, by Paul M. Sammon — The intriguing story of how one of the most enduring and influential science fiction films of all time was made, with detailed analysis of all its minutae for the hardcore fans.
• Shadow of the Colossus — An entire game of boss battles, defeating stunning giants one by one. The first several giants are easy enough to beat that one is lulled into thinking the game is too simple, but the challenges soon become very challenging.
• Boagworld podcast — Weekly show on modern web development trends and practices. Amusing and informative.
• Trader Joe’s 3 Bean and Beef Chili — The best chili I’ve ever had from a jar.
• Rescue Me — The finest show on television, irreverent and intense, and often hilarious. Denis Leary finally got his edge back.
• Comics & Sequential Art, by Will Eisner — Seminal masterpiece on the art of graphic storytelling.
• Venture Bros. season 1 — A strong standout in the Adult Swim lineup, chock full of geekery and cheekery.
• In the Beginning…was the Command Line, by Neal Stephenson — Humorous and enlightening history of the computer operating system.
• Company, by Max Barry — Brilliant corporate satire, shocking in its plausibility.
• Firefly — I never watched it in its original run on Fox, but now thanks to Netflix, I too can gripe about the tragic cancellation of this excellent series.