Stuart Thompson’s Recently Read Books – April & May 2007

A strange and quiet thing happened last year amongst the melee of distortion that filled my life.  Without realizing it, I had stopped reading…completely!  I’ve gone through times in my life before where I read more certain months and less others depending upon what else is going on in my life.  However, never before have I simpled stopped reading altogether.  Somewhere in the confusion of everything that happened last year, I simply stopped outright.  It was only a couple of months ago that I realized this and ever since then I’ve been deepening myself in all of the wonderful books I’ve missed.

For a bit of fun I thought I’d put a list up here.  Its been really nice to catch up on some books I’ve wanted to read over the last six months, especially those that friends of mine recommended.  I keep a list of recommendations from friends, not only on books, but also on places to visit and things to see.  Oddly enough, despite the fact that I wasn’t really reading anything, I would still add their recommendations of books to my list.  So, without further ado, here is Stuart Thompson’s book list for April & May of 2007.

Decoding the Universe
ISBN: 978-0143038399
Decoding the Universe by Charles Seife is about the modern evolution of Information Theory.  The classic physics of the seventeen and eighteen hundreds paved the way for the quantum physics theories of the twentieth century.  Over the last hundred years, more and more knowledge has been gathered and understood about the continually evolving information theory.  It is becoming generally accepted that information theory is a superset of classic physics and quantum theory and actually extends closer to a grand unified theory than any previous understanding.  This is the second book written by Charles Seife that I’ve read and I hold his writing ability in the highest esteem.  He has a unique ability to present complex scientific concepts in very understandable ways, a talent that many technical writers unfortunately lack.  I can highly recommend both this book and Zero, which I read a couple of years ago.  For more information on Decoding the Universe, check out the article from my technical blog here.  I wrote to Charles Seife to congratulate him on such a great book and received a very nice response from him.  Great author, great scientific journalist, and all around nice guy!

Something Wicked This Way Comes
ISBN: 978-0380729401
Something Wicked This Way Comes is a Ray Bradbury classic that was recommended to me by Meaghan.  It tells the story of two young boys and the adventures they encounter when a dark carnival comes to town just a week before Halloween.  Bradbury uses evocative language and insightful descriptions to tell the entire story, sometimes slipping into a mock prose rather than a traditional narrative.  This book is fifty percent story, and fifty percent experience.  I wasn’t as engrossed as I think I could have been had I read it in my teens, but I certainly enjoyed it and thank Meaghs for the recommendation.  If you’ve got a spare weekend and a six pack of cool beer, this would make an awesome Sunday afternoon read.

Everyone Worth Knowing
ISBN: 978-1416543008
Everyone Worth Knowing is the second book by the author of The Devil Wears Prada.  Basically its chewing gum, but it was on my shelf half-finished from about the time I stopped reading and it felt unceremonious to leave it unfinished.  It’s amusing to read, lends a lot to The Devil Wears Prada and ends on a happy, uplifting note.  Meh!

Battle Circle
ISBN: 978-0380018004
Battle Circle by Piers Anthony is absolutely superb.  It was recommended to me by a friend of mine at work: John Goalby.  From the point I finished book 1: Sos the Rope, I was absolutely hooked.  Telling the tale of nomad tribes in post-apocalyptic America, Anthony has created one of the finest works of science fiction I’ve read.  I finished all three books in the space of a week, often unable to put them down until late into the night and then avidly reading again before work early in the morning.  I have since used several of my favorite character’s names from this book for characters in The Lord of the Rings Online.  If you get the chance, pick it up for $3 from your local used book store and enjoy!

Say It In Six
ISBN:978-0836210417
Say It In Six challenges you to do just that, in meetings, and in any future presentations.  An appropriately short and worthwhile read about speaking efficiently and involving others in your presentations.  Six minute meetings are the new corporate power stroke and companies not adopting them will soon realize their competitive advantage is being eaten up in 54 minute chunks.  Principles absorbed and put into practice; so far it has been working well.

Legend
ISBN: 978-0345379063
David Gemmell was a journalist working in London when he wrote Legend, a book which launched his career as an author.  I love science fiction and fantasy books, so perhaps it was predictable that I would love the story of Druss, Captain of the Axe.  Either way, I read this book in about two days straight, again unable to put it down.  I’ve been very fortunate in that several of the books I have read recently have been superb…Gemmell kept up the streak in style and has added another wealth of enjoyment to my recent literary adventures.  It is apparently the first in a complete series about the Drenai people.  Powell’s may be getting another visit this weekend for the rest, considering that today was payday!  Legend was all about heroism, mysticism, and the power of morale.  Fighting a battle you cannot win only became that way because you accepted defeat.  Never underestimate the power of having a Legend beside you.

That’s it.  I don’t know if this shall be the only Stuart Thompson’s Recently Read Books.  We’ll see.  It has been quite fun writing about them and bringing the enjoyment of their pages back to mind.  For now I’m just glad to be back in the proverbial saddle.

Nintendo Wii

Meaghs and I have been looking for a Nintendo Wii now for weeks.  We both had the original Game Boy growing up and loved to play what is arguably the greatest classic Mario game of all time: Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins.  However, everywhere we checked the stores in our area were sold out.  There were often shadowy rumors of shipments that might appear in the middle of the night, but the few systems that did arrive were snapped up extremely quickly and we had no interest in queueing outside stores at 5:00am just to get a chance at perhaps buying one.  Fortunately while in Target this weekend to pick up a copy of Guitar Hero II, we noticed that there were a few systems sitting there in the racks.  At first recoiling from disbelief, we quickly snagged a sales attendant and soon had our hands on the elusive Wii.  Woohoo!  The system ships with one controller and the add-on “Nunchuck”.  Knowing that we’d want to play together, we quickly invested in a copy of a party game pack that came with an extra controller.  The game pack contains some classic style games like a duck hunt ripoff, tanks, and other minigames that would use the Wiimote well, and only cost $5 more than an extra controller would on its own.  Deal!

We also purchased a copy of Rayman: Raving Rabbids because it looked like a lot of fun and was something we’d wanted to try ever since hearing about the Wii.  Target were out of Nunchucks so we took a quick jaunt down I5 to the ever-popular Fry’s Electronics.  There, we were able to pick up a second Nunchuck and a copy of Super Paper Mario.  I played the original Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door on the GameCube and absolutely loved it.  So far, we’ve played through the first two chapters of Super Paper Mario together, taking turns with the controller, and we absolutely love it.  The superb game design and polish that existed in the GameCube original has been enhanced a thousand-fold and the addition of the Wiimote is brilliant.  At any point during the adventure, you can turn the Wiimote towards the screen and use it as a kind of detective-style clue hunting device.  It can reveal secret doors and levers and pointing the Wiimote at any on-screen character or object will provide help information for that item.  Lots of fun!

In Rayman Raving Rabbids, you get to participate in a vast number of minigames in an attempt to please a horde of rabbits who have taken Rayman (you) hostage and throw him daily into a sort of wacky roman colloseum.  You get to “run” by shaking the Wiimote and nunchuck in opposite directions up and down really quickly.  You have to “draw” around shapes of food by pointing the Wiimote at the screen and using it like a long-distance remote echasketch.  The screenshot below is of a game where you shoot plungers at the rabbits in a wild-west scene in an attempt to thwart them.  It’s all really well put together and a lot of fun.

The Wii in general is extremely well presented and sports a well-polished interface.  Nintendo have been occupying a strange space in the gaming market for the last few years.  Their dominance from the days of the NES, SNES, and N64 has certainly waned, despite the fall of their long-time rival Sega.  The Playstation was the first part of that decline and the PlayStation2 and XBox pushed them out even further.  I was dubious when I heard that the Wii was not going to compete either graphically or in terms of competitive licenses, but now I see Nintendo’s game plan and I really like it.  They have carved themselves a superb part of the market and with a continued commitment to quality titles will soon re-establish a dominant position in the market.  Their virtual console service is very similar to the XBox Live Arcade and its great to see a lot of the Sega Genesis titles being released there in addition to the obvious NES, SNES, and N64 games.  I’m impressed.  I was playing the original Streets of Rage on the virtual console this morning while laying in bed.  It was a great way to wake up and simple enough to spend just twenty mindless minutes reliving an old classic.

I’m looking forward to the potential of getting more of the classic games for the virtual console and also to the possibility of a new Pokemon designed for the Wii.  We’ll get a copy of Zelda once we’ve beaten Super Paper Mario and I’m anxious to see what else the developers have coming down the pipe.  Vivé la Wii!

Silver Falls with Brian and Ellen

On Saturday, Meaghan and I accompanied our friends Brian and Ellen on a hike around the Silver Falls state park.  The ten falls trail is one of my favorite hikes in Oregon and one that I have had fortune to walk on several occasions.  This was only my second time doing the full length trail, usually I would miss the final loop that passes by North Falls.  The weather, while initially threatening to rain, turned out to be superb.  Despite the fact that the sky was overcast for the majority of the day, we didn’t catch a single drop of rain.  Because of the early time of year the falls were very full, making the sights and sounds even more spectacular than usual.  I’ve seen Silver Falls in springtime, summer, and fall, and have to conclude that while the summer sun is beautiful the fullness of the falls in springtime makes it the best time for a visit.

We met with Brian and Ellen for breakfast downtown at a little cafe called Besaws at eight o’ clock.  Meaghan and I arrived a little early, only to find that they actually opened at eight and so we took a short stroll around the area, pleased to see that the early morning weather was at least holding firm.  Until recently I had spent very little time in north-west portland, and even now I do not know it very well.  It was nice to take the time to wander the streets and take in a few of the shops that I had heard mentioned in conversations.  Breakfast gave not only a nice opportunity to both wake up and catch up with our friends, but also to further assess the weather before emabarking on our adventure.  At around nine o’ clock we were on our way down I5.  We decided to carpool in my Mazda, not only to save on gas but also to give us the chance for conversation during the drive.

The drive down to Salem was relaxing and we were chatting comfortably when I suddenly noticed a large metal barrel sitting in the middle of the lane to our right.  No sooner had I thought “that’s dangerous” than the lid of that barrel came hurtling towards the windshield of my car, kicked up by a car in front of us.  Instinctively, I tried to swerve but it was too late and the metal lid hit the center of the windshield full force.  Fortunately it glanced off the glass, leaving only a few scratches and nobody was injured.  A quick check to make sure everyone was OK and we continued on our way.  Other than that, the roads were fairly clear for a Saturday in May, a sparsity continued in the South Falls parking lot of the state park.  Wonderful!  I hate crowded trails on hikes.  I’d much rather we have the whole park to ourselves.  After a short restroom break, we began our walk along the Canyon Trail.  The South Falls are encountered almost immediately upon this route and were as full as I could ever remember them.

I was able to get some great photographs of the South Falls themselves, but I was particularly happy with the shot of Meaghan, Brian, and Ellen together with the falls in the background.  Having already lost about two hundred feet of altitude from the South Falls parking lot, the trail continues for about a mile before descending down a stairway about another hundred feet to the Lower South Falls.  Whilst the trail has already led behind the first waterfall, it leads wonderfully close behind the Lower South Falls; my personal favorite of the entire hike.  A large pool of water had collected behind the waterfall and it took some fancy footwork and balancing on rocks to avoid getting wet.

We had not travelled too much further along the trail before we were approached by a park ranger.  He was running fairly quickly in the opposite direction, a walkie-talkie in one hand, and a motorcycle helmet in the other.  He asked us if we had seen any injured people along the trail behind us, to which we indicated we had not.  Bidding us good day, he continued his pace along the trail down which we had just come.  Before we reached the Lower North Falls, the next on our journey and about another mile and a half from their predecessor, we saw an ATV part way down an embankment off the main trail.  It looked as though it had been driven down the rather thin hiking trail and had veered off down the embankment as it was now sitting upside down resting against a tree.  After hurrying over to see that no-one was injured, we learned from another park ranger that it had belonged to the first ranger we had seen carrying a helmet.  Apparently he had crashed while using it to ride down the trail, presumably while looking for the missing person.  It was nice to know that the driver of the ATV was OK, but we certainly had not expected so much excitement.  We continued on to Double Falls where we met a family who had also seen the crashed ATV and were speculating upon the missing person and the events that had transpired that morning.

Middle North Falls presents the opportunity to cut the hike short by taking the Winter Creek Trail in the case that fatigue has overtaken abmition.  Our foursome decided to finish what we had started and headed down the trail towards the North Falls.  The cutoff only saves about 2.5 miles but relieves little of the necessity to regain the lost altitude and eliminates the very spectacular North Falls in the process.  We were well in out stride, it was only early afternoon, and we had plenty of water left; the decision was an easy one.  There are a couple of good opportunities to wade in Silver Creek along this part of the trail.  Brian, Ellen, and Meaghan all put a hand in the water to test how cold it might be and then discussed the relative merits of dipping a toe into such temperature.  The general concensus seemed to be that it would prove quite cold and was probably best left for another day!

By the time we reached the base of the North Falls, the end was in sight.  After a short but sudden climb up the stairs leading to the North Falls parking lot, we finished the lovely downhill stroll along a forest trail leading back to our starting point.  There is a wonderful opportunity to look back at the North Falls from a distance, between the trees, and from above the now silent cascade that seemed so tall when viewed from beneath.

With a final look back at the last part of the trail, we returned to the South Falls parking lot where we had begun our journey only a few hours earlier.  We stopped at the lodge for a couple of burgers (Meaghan and I) and a couple of chicken sandwiches (for Brian and Ellen) before beginning the return drive to Portland.  We had a fantastic time walking with our friends and enjoying one of the best state parks that Oregon has to offer.  I’m looking forward to the summer and the many other hikes that lie ahead.

Live-in Handywoman

Meaghan rocks for many reasons, but not least of these is her ability to figure things out and get them done.  Capability is something I’ve come to respect and admire more and more in people and I’m so happy to be with someone who has buckets of it.  A while ago, we purchased bedside cabinets to replace the stand-in folding tables that had been sufficing up to that point.  The cabinets came in the typical flat-pack, I think from Fred-Meyer.  Usually, I would be leery of having too many people help me put this sort of stuff together because the instructions are less than clear and the whole affair can turn into a bit of a farse.  No sooner that we were home, however, Meaghan set to it and, after ripping open the boxes and arranging the various pieces into piles, began digesting the instructions and pairing the pictures in the poorly-translated booklet with the myriad items now occupying our bedroom floor.  Impressed with her enthusiasm, I left her to it and returned not thirty minutes later to find the first cabinet almost fully assembled!  Meaghan was sitting in the middle of the floor with a smile on her face, happily finishing up the second of the three drawers.

Within another ten minutes the first cabinet was finished and I was smiling widely within myself, admiring her capability: No requests for help, no screwing things up, no getting annoyed at the first sign of problems.  It may seem like a small thing, but I really value the ability to just get on and do something.  We had arrived home a little late that evening, spending more time than we intended selecting the appropriate furniture.  Despite the speed at which the first item had been assembled, it was getting late and we decided to wait until the next evening to put together the second unit.  Meaghan, having built the first one, could show me how to help her assemble the second.  However, when I got home from work the next day, there was the second cabinet sitting next to her side of the bed, fully put together.  I was again impressed.  Not only had I borne witness to capability, but here was initiative to drive home the point.  Brilliance!

Double Dragon – Untouchable

One of my all-time favorite arcade games, Double Dragon, was released to the XBox Live Arcade recently.  I spent an inordinate amount of time in my youth playing the arcade version of Double Dragon.  This was mainly due to the fact that I’m not a big fan of rollercoasters and so when theme parks became a part of childhood life, so too did the coin-op arcade located at each of them.  I could oft be found spending my twenty pence pieces (about 40 cents) on credits for both Double Dragon, and then later on for Street Fighter II.  I didn’t have home console systems until my later teenage years and the arcades in my home town were where people went to get mugged, so vacations and day-trips that proffered access to arcades were looked upon fondly.

Gamespot gave DD a fair review and I agree with the thought that a large portion of the appeal is fuelled by nostalgia.  That said, there is something very charming about Double Dragon that has kept it in arcades for years longer than its piers.  I still see the occasional coin-op version in arcades and family fun centers here and there and, while it doesn’t even compare to the likes of Tekken in terms of graphical prowess, it still holds a special place in my heart as one of the founding releases of its genre.

(screenshots from Double Dragon)

For $5 I was able to get the full version from the arcade and begin working through the various achievements.  It takes about twenty to thirty minutes to reach the final room and kill the boss there, depending upon the difficulty level selected.  However, it will take considerably longer to get most of the achievements.  I was able to unlock the Untouchable award for finishing the first mission without getting hit, which called for a quick victory dance and a few celebratory shouts.  I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get the Hero award (finish the game without using continues) but I’m confident that I’ll be able to get the other eleven with some effort.  It is in this respect that I think the XBLA version of Double Dragon shines the most; the achievements are well balanced, rewarding, and just in scope for a casual player to achieve.  There seems to be a minor issue with the No Swimming achievement intermittently failing to unlock.  I did not receive the achievement on the first run through, despite clearing the river without falling in on both occasions.  There is speculation that clearing the bridge area quickly can help.  I seem to remember that on the two failed attempts I was thrown onto the conveyer belt at the end of mission 2, but managed to avoid it on the successful attempt so that might be part of it.  Either way, it is not a tough one to beat (get the bridge jump right) and you’ll have plenty of opportunities to unlock it if you run through the game the several times needed for the other awards.

The more I play, the more I seem to prefer playing the arcade games over the commercial releases.  Perhaps it is that I am too casual a gamer to get deep enough into the commercial releases.  I certainly find the simplicity of many of the arcade games to be very appealing.  Perhaps the price (average $5 – $10) of the games means that I feel like I’m drawing more value from the games than for the hefty $60 price tag typical of a commercial XBox 360 release.  Personally, I think it is that only the highest quality arcade games from a period of thirty years of development are selected as the nostalgia-inducing few to grace the annals of the XBox Live Arcade.  As the pop-music industry has learned, it is far easier to re-release something that has already hit big and meet with success than to create something new.  The stream of great titles that defined an era of gaming will dry up eventually and I’m sure that the quality of the arcade games released will take a dip as standards are lowered to keep a revenue stream flowing, but for now I’m enjoying the second-coming of some of the all-time favorite games that I grew up playing.  My game of the year for 2007 is currently going to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for being one of the most incredible arcade games ever released for less than $10.  I didn’t get the opportunity to play Castlevania SOTN first time around on the Playstation, neither had I played its predecessor.  I was only vaguely familiar with the series when I downloaded the demo, but have since put an incredible number of hours into the game, making it an outstanding value for money.  I don’t yet have all of the achievements, although I’m almost 190% of the way through (the entire game is played twice, once upside-down, hence the >100%) and it is still exerting great appeal and playability; taunting me to finish.  In terms of a great buy that has brought hours of entertainment and enjoyment for very little expenditure, it simply can’t be beat.

(screenshots from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night)

I’m eager to see what the XBox Live Arcade has in store next.  I can only sit and hope that several of my favorite Sega titles will make the cut.  Playing Double Dragon has whet my appetite for Streets of Rage, and playing Castlevania reminded me just how much I loved the first two Sonic the Hedgehog games.  I was one of the rare people who enjoyed Sonic the Hedgehog 2 more that the first release, but both were such outstanding games that I think they deserve XBLA appearances in their own right.  While we’re at it, how about a re-release of the original OutRun.  Microsoft have really hit upon a superb idea with the live arcade, it’s a wonder to see that the home-realization of coin-op arcades I fantasized about in my youth has actually come to fruition.  I probably spent more in an afternoon over the Easter holidays in the Street Fighter II and Double Dragon machines than both titles cost to buy on my XBox 360 to be played ad-infinitum.  Compared to some of the relatively disappointing commercial titles I’ve purchased recently (Dead or Alive 4), its nice to see that time-tested games can still be enjoyed.  Long live the arcade!