Simon Mac Donald

Friday Book Review: Old Man Logan

2010-01-01T11:51:00.000-05:00

At some point you would have to think that there are no more Wolverine stories to tell. The character has been in constant publication since his inception in 1974 not to mention the X-Men movie series and any number of animated tv shows. Currently Wolverine appears in at least five monthly comic books and guest stars in numerous others.

It is this overwhelming baggage that writer Mark Millar immediately jettisons in Wolverine: Old Man Logan. In this book we see Wolverine fifty years after some climatic event in which the worlds super villains banded together to eradicate the worlds super heroes paving the way for their rule of the USA. He is now a retired from the super hero business and living as a pacifist with his wife and two children. He hasn't fought since the villains did a number on him back during the culling of the heroes fifty years ago.

It is at this point that I have to stop to point out the two points of inspiration that this book draws from. Firstly, Millar is borrowing from himself when he takes a number of bits from his Wanted story. Both books are set post the take over of the world by super villains and both books are ultra-violent. Which makes me appreciate the irony of the situation as the main character is a pacifist.

Secondly, there is a thematic comparison between Old Man Logan and Frank Miller's, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. As both books deal with iconic characters coming out of retirement. However this book is nowhere near as good as the The Dark Knight Returns.

The plot of this book involves Logan (i.e. Wolverine) working on his farm to provide for the meager needs of his family. Sadly, the farm is falling behind on it's payments to the Hulk Gang. This leads to Logan taking a job to drive/ride shotgun for the now blind archer Hawkeye as he delivers a package. This will require the duo to drive cross country and cut through territories ruled by the Hulk Gang, the Kingpin, Dr. Doom and the President. Of course on the trip across country, hilarity ensues!

The trip across country unfolds like a typical movie plot with the two odd leads acting as the mis-matched couple. One a pacifist the other a potential drug runner. Sadly, the plot is not very exciting and it involves moving the protagonists from set piece to set piece. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if this was originally a movie script that Millar repositioned into a comic book by adding the trappings of the Marvel Universe.

The only two questions going into this book are what happened to Wolverine fifty years ago to make him into a pacifist. I won't ruin the reveal here but I found it to be unsatisfying. Millar tricks the reader into not thinking about incredibly unlikely the situation is as the deed itself is so overwhelmingly horrific. The other question is when will Logan give up his pacifist ways and embrace the Wolverine identity again. This isn't much of a mystery as you know from page one that it is going to happen.

The one thing I really liked in this book was Steve McNiven's art. The book has a very wide screen cinematic look. McNiven gets to imagine the Marvel Universe in the near future which allows him to play with the look of heroes and villains.

Unfortunately, McNiven's art can't save the shoddy writing in this book. The story is very predictable and in the end I have to pants this book. Maybe I've just grown immune to Millar's writing style which is a continual one upping of the violence level to absurd levels.

Latte Art

2009-12-30T11:12:00.000-05:00

Some neat art done using latte foam.

New Starbucks Reward Program Launches Today

2009-12-26T12:40:00.000-05:00

The new Starbucks reward program which I've previously posted on launches today. You have been warned.

Friday Book Review: Paris 1919

2009-12-25T09:42:00.012-05:00

I like to think that I'm pretty well versed in history. I know a lot about ancient civilizations like the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians because let's face it, those eras are super cool. I even think I know a considerable amount about more recent history from World War II to the present day.

But there was definitely a lack of knowledge about the time immediately before and after World War I. Sure I know that the assassination of Frans Ferdinand is the answer to the trivial question, what started World War I? Other than that I'm sketchy on the details and that is where Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World comes in.

It really is a fascinating book. It is broken out into chapters focusing on individual countries. Detailing their demands at the peace conference, their major players and the resulting new boundaries once the treaty was eventually signed. I found this to be real interesting as the world's boundaries were redrawn pre and post World War I.

The other major part of the book was pointing out the mistakes made during the treaty which directly led to the outbreak of World War II. You'll understand why allies in WWI like Italy and Japan fought on the Axis side during WW2.

I really enjoyed this book. It's a very long read and the information quotient is very dense. I recommend this one as a borrow from your local library.

Idiot Proof Coffee Mug

2009-12-23T14:15:00.003-05:00

I love this Drink Selector Mug I saw over at Gizmodiva. You can setup your preferred coffee order directly on the mug for error free coffee ordering.

Friday Book Review: Wireless

2009-12-18T12:21:00.006-05:00

While I'm not usually a huge fan of short story collections I couldn't pass up Wireless by Charles Stross. He's been one of my favourite sci-fi authors since I read his post-singularity novel, Singularity Sky.

In this collection we get to see Stross take on a number of different genres like the cold war era Missile Gap, the mind bending time travel Palimpsests, his net neutrality collaboration with Cory Doctorow called Unwirer and my personal favourite Down on the Farm. In Down on the Farm we get another mission from Bob Howard of The Laundry. The Laundry is a secret British organization that is a cross between MI-6/computer hackers/warlocks.

All of the stories in this book are quite enjoyable and I recommend this book as a buy to all sci-fi lovers.

Pricey Tea

2009-12-16T09:57:00.000-05:00

This $2,500 bottle of green tea better cure cancer. Why else would you spend that much money on tea?

In Depth Look at the Rise and Fall of Starbucks

2009-12-16T09:00:00.000-05:00

The Phoenix has an in depth article with Bryant Simon the author of Everything but the Coffee: Learning about America from Starbucks. In the article Mr. Simon talks about the rise and fall of Starbucks. Arguing that the extension of the Starbucks brand nearly destroyed the company.

Tea Flavoured Hot Chocolate

2009-12-15T09:52:00.000-05:00

From Lifehacker: add a little interesting flavour to your hot chocolate by adding some tea. They suggest using vanilla or peppermint. While personally I think this sounds kinda gross I do love peppermint hot chocolate so I may have to give this a try.

Coffee Wil Not Sober You Up

2009-12-10T09:14:00.001-05:00

Apparently using coffee to sober up once intoxicated is a myth. In fact the combination of caffeine and alcohol impairs your decision making abilities even worse than alcohol alone.

So if you are out and you've been drinking. You don't need a coffee, you need a cab.

Coffee vs Prostate Cancer

2009-12-09T09:52:00.000-05:00

Ah coffee, is their nothing you cannot do? New research shows that coffee consumption reduces your chance of getting advanced prostate cancer.

Thanks to Paul and Ryan for pointing me to this article.

Make Your Own K Cups

2009-12-07T08:39:00.000-05:00

If you have one of those K Cup coffee brewing system you may want to check out this post on making your own coffee pods. It may save you some money in the long run.

Friday Book Review: House of Mystery Volume 1 - Room and Boredom

2009-12-04T19:03:00.008-05:00

House of Mystery Vol. 01: Room and Boredom is basically a contrivance that allows DC to put out an anthology book of short stories but I like it.

Traditionally anthology books don't sell well in the comics medium. However, Vertigo has put on a few of their heavy hitters on to this book in hopes that it sells well. Teaming up on the writing duties are Matthew Sturges and Bill Willingham who are the driving force behind the Fables universe. See my review of Fables Volume 1.

In House of Mystery the story opens up with Cain talking to his brother Able, yes that Cain and Able, before returning home one afternoon. Sadly upon Cain's return to his house he finds it is missing. Cain is distraught about the chain of events and vows to find his missing house. A quick note in DC continuity: Cain is the caretaker of the House of Mystery while Able is the caretaker of the House of Secrets.

We flip over to the house where we are introduced to the core concept of the book. People wander in and our of the house where they can enjoy the food and drink at the bar. However, money is no good at the house and you need to pay up by telling a story. This allows guest writers like Bill Willingham to step in and spend a few pages spinning a yarn about whatever he feels like at the moment.

There are five characters, the barman, the waitress, the poet, the pirate and the architect who cannot leave the House of Mystery. Whatever they try just drops them right back into the house. In fact the only way they seem to be able to leave the house is via the mysterious coachman. What happens to people who leave with the coachman is unknown to people at the house as no one has ever returned.

It is the newly arrived architect called Fig who starts the connecting pieces written by Matt Sturges into motion. She arrived at the house as she was being chased by a couple of ghost like figures. Once in the house she discovers she has a unique connection to it that none of the other characters share.

I did like the way the mystery was developed in this first volume and it left me wanting more so I have to recommend this as a buy.

New Tim Horton iPhone App, Horton’s Finder

2009-12-03T10:37:00.004-05:00

The iPhoneInCanada Blog has a review of the new Horton Finder app from Majestic Media. The app is used to find your nearest Tim Horton's and is available for free until December 15th.

Buy a Latte, Fight AIDS

2009-12-01T13:21:00.002-05:00

Starbucks is donating a nickel from every latte sold today to help fight AIDS as part of their Join Red program.

Friday Book Review: Fables - Legends in Exile Vol. 1

2009-11-27T12:38:00.007-05:00

Recently I've been on a bit of a Fables kick. I've re-read the first 10 volumes of Bill Willingham's amazing series over the past two weeks.

Fables centers around characters from fairy tales or folklore that have relocated in present day New York City. The reason for this move is that a tramatic battle has taken place between the Fables and the Adversary. This has caused much devastation in the Homelands and the Fables were forced to flee to the real world with as much as they could carry.

The identity of the Adversary is one of the main mysteries in the early books. Luckily there is a resolution to this plot thread in later books.

Fables has a huge cast of characters as it is able to draw from fairy tales all the world over. Many of them you will recognized instantly. Although some may be a bit different than the disneyfied versions you've seen in cartoons.

In the first volume Fables: Legends in Exile you are introduced to a number of key characters but chief among them are Snow White who is the deputy mayor of Fabletown and Bigby Wolf, the big bad wolf, who is also the town Sherrif.

Bigby is investigating the murder of Snow Whites sister, Rose Red, apparently by Jack. This is the Jack of many fairy tales like Jack and the Beanstalk or Jack and Jill or Jack Be Nimble. Jack is a thouroughly dispicable character who is unlikable yet entertaining all at the same time.

The first volume unfolds into a film noir type murder mystery and I have to give this book a solid buy rating. Subsequent volumes deal with different issues like politics, war and espionage all the while advancing the underlying story.

Special mention has to go to the artist of most of the Fables issues, Mark Buckingham, who does an amazing job with the art chores. No space is wasted and some of the most beautiful work he does are in the gutters. That being the space between the panels.

Also, James Jean's work on the covers are breathtaking. So much so they release a book of just his cover art: Fables Covers: The Art of James Jean Vol. 1.

Again I have to recommend you buy the first volume of this great series and please do try some of the later volumes which are just as enjoyable.

Roof Coffee Cup

2009-11-23T11:24:00.001-05:00

From Boing Boing: Guy drives around with coffee cup on top of his car and tweets the reactions he gets.

Friday Book Review: The Lost Symbol

2009-11-20T14:41:00.003-05:00

As promised I have finished reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO! Usually, I like to stay positive with my book reviews so I tend to shy away from reviewing books I haven't enjoyed. However, when I picked this book it was for the express intention of cutting loose with my vitriolic sarcasm. Surprisingly, I didn't hate this book.

A number of years ago when The DaVinci Code was all the rage I decided to look into this hot new author. To that end I checked out Angles & Demons, The DaVinci Code, Deception Point and Digital Fortress. Reading all four of these books in a two week period. I do not recommend reading that many books by a single author in such a short span as you really begin to pick up on their formula. This was very much the case as I can distill the plot for all of Dan Brown's novels down into this simple scaffolding:

An old man dies who is a grand master of a secret society.
The protagonist is called to the scene by the dying grand master and only he can solve the riddle.
The love interest of the protagonist is somehow related to the dead grand master.
There is a grotesque assassin hunting the protagonist and love interest.
Also a misguided member of a law enforcement agency who is chasing the protagonist and love interest.
Behind it all is a secret enemy who is pulling all the strings and it is the person YOU'D LEAST EXPECT!

Sadly, after reading more than one of Dan Brown's novels it becomes laughingly easy to pick out the eventual villain. The Lost Symbol is no exception to the above rules as it follows each one of them with a slight twist that I won't mention for those of you who want to read this book.

Anyway, as I said The Lost Symbol follows Mr. Brown's usual formula and apparently the characters act in such a way that they'll believe anything that anyone says to them over the phone. Regardless, of the current situation where prudence should be exercised.

However the strength of the novel lies in the research done on the Freemasons and the city of Washington D.C. Both of which play a huge role in The Lost Symbol. It is there where I find the book to be entertaining but I confess I have not checked any of the facts laid out in this book but I suspect that some artistic license must have been applied. This is not unlike his previous two Robert Langdon novels Angles & Demons (Roman Catholic Church and Vatican City) and The DaVinci Code (Knights Templar and Paris).

Also, it wouldn't be a Dan Brown book without some religious controversy but I can't get into that without revealing major plot points. Grrr!

As much as I wanted to pants this book I'll have to give it a borrow rating. It wasn't as bad as I expected but maybe I just had really low expectations.

However, I feel bad of those who've shown up looking for me to shred Dan Brown. For that you want to read this sarcastic review of the book by Jennifer McKeown. Well played Jennifer, I couldn't agree more.

Pushing VIA Too Much?

2009-11-18T09:20:00.003-05:00

Starbucks seems to be pushing VIA too hard for some customers tastes. Personally I haven't had any of the baristas ask me if I wanted to buy VIA. Mind you, we're way too polite up here in Canada.

Coffee Infographic

2009-11-17T09:55:00.000-05:00

Funny infographic from The Oatmeal on 15 things worth knowing about coffee.

Free Coffee at McDonald's Starting Today

2009-11-16T08:35:00.000-05:00

McDonald's is having another free coffee giveaway. Come in for breakfast from November 16-29 and get a free small coffee with breakfast.

Friday Book Review: Batman Year One

2009-11-13T10:16:00.006-05:00

Not long after Crisis On Infinite Earths
DC comics decided they needed to reboot Batman for a new generation. To which they turned to Frank Miller the man who wrote and drew the amazingly successful Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Combined with Batman: Year One the two books set the course of a grim and gritty vigilante that Batman would become for the next 20 years.

As the title indicates the four issues collected into this trade we follow the early career of Batman. We see Bruce Wayne returning to Gotham City after more than ten years of training and we see Lieutenant James Gordon joining the Gotham Police Force. Both men are struggling with their new roles in society. Batman is still a little green and has difficulties with his equipment and tackling street level bad guys. While Lt. Gordon is not exactly fitting in with the rest of the corrupt cops in Gotham City.

In this story Miller muddies up the pristine backgrounds of a number of notable Gotham residents. The one retcon that I really didn't approve of was the changes made to Selina Kyle aka Catwoman's background.

All and all it is a good Batman story but not a great one. It's hard to be groundbreaking when you are re-telling a character's origin story that's been around for over 50 years.

I have to rate this book a borrow as it is a good story and the basis for the 2005 movie Batman: Begins.

My Next Travel Mug?

2009-11-12T09:32:00.000-05:00

My next travel mug just might be the Contigo Double Wall Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulated Tumbler as it is excellent reviewed at Cool Tools, Fresh Coffee Gourmet and Amazon.com. I can't can't count how many times I've spilled my coffee hustling to my next meeting.

Rememberance Day

2009-11-11T11:00:00.001-05:00

In honour of Remembrance Day:

In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae, May 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Illy Sneaks into the US Coffee Market

2009-11-10T10:30:00.004-05:00

Italian coffee company Illy is signing up independent coffee shop owners in the USA to stealthfully take on Starbucks.