This is the website of Abulsme Noibatno Itramne (also known as Sam Minter).
Posts here are rare these days. For current stuff, follow me on Mastodon
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 Author: Orson Scott Card
Original Publication: 2002
Started: 2010 Nov 23
Finished : 2010 Nov 30
Format: Kindle
5563 locations / 8 days
695 locations / day
So, we’re now up to the 7th book in the Ender series. Shadow Puppets picks up soon after the last one ended up. But the main source of drama switches again, and the book seems to start moving back to the more philosophical sort of orientation as books 2-4 as compared to the more “things happening” sort of orientation of Books 1, 5 and 6. Which is OK I guess, but in this case a bunch of it seems to be pushing the whole “the purpose of life is to produce children” sort of agenda. Which actually started to get annoying.
The main plot point is that Bean, who is a genetically enhanced individual who gains great intelligence at the expense of abnormal growth patterns and an early death, initially intended not to have any children at all. But he is convinced otherwise. But they decide to create a number of embryos, test them for his condition, and only actually bring the ones without the condition to term. But, oh my, the people helping in this process are in league with the bad guy, and all the embryos, both with and without the condition, are stolen. Then we run around trying to get them back while also working to thwart the bad guy’s global plans.
I mean, I guess it is OK, but just a bit too much of it was centered around the “must have children, children are the meaning of life” thing. I’d say of the books in the series I’ve read, this was the weakest so far. I mean, it wasn’t horrible or anything, just not at the level of some of the others.
 Original Release: 1969 Apr 19 to 1969 Jun 21
Date Watched: 2010 Nov 25
Queue: Who
Format: DVD
Time for another Doctor Who, and this time it is finishing up the last story from the Second Doctor, The War Games. We started it back in August with Disk 1.
Picking up the story, it turned out that the Second Doctor and his friends had ended up in the midst of war games where humans were plucked out of time and were fighting each other as part of some nefarious alien plot, while thinking they were still fighting the wars they had been plucked out of.
In this second disk the action moves from within the war games themselves to the alien headquarters. The Doctor goes back and forth with the menacing aliens, along with the one person working with them who is actually from The Doctor’s own people. All this plot stuff though is basically all just to set up the ending though. This is the last Second Doctor story.
So basically, at the end of the main part of the adventure here, the Doctor realizes that the only way to undo the mess that has been caused is to call his own people into the situation, to have them clean things up. Of course, there is the problem that he is a fugitive from his own people. Basically, the Time Lords have a policy of non-intervention in the affairs of other people. The Doctor chafed under those restrictions, stole a Tardis, and then traveled the universe getting involved with things interfering all the time (to make things better). As such, he was an outlaw. In any case, calling in the Time Lords mean that the Doctor himself is caught. He is given a quick show trial, then is sentenced to a regeneration (although they didn’t call it that yet) then exile on Earth. (His companions are made to forget all but their first adventures with the doctor and are put back where he picked them up.) And thus ends the Second Doctor.
The regeneration at the end… well, the start of one, you don’t actually see the transformation into the Third Doctor, is the main point of interest in this whole adventure. Otherwise it is a bunch of running around, although it has a few funny Second Doctor moments.
Oh, and Amy and Brandy were really amused at the faces some of the bad guys made as they hypnotized people at various parts of the story. That was indeed funny.
| In the latest Curmudgeon’s Corner…
Sam and Ivan talk about:
- Tax Plan
- DADT
- Obama Long Game
- Power Outage
- Tron Legacy
- Christmas Trees
Just click to listen now:
[wpaudio url=”http://www.abulsme.com/CurmudgeonsCorner/CC20101219.mp3″ text=”Recorded 19 Dec 2010″]
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We think it is the neighbor’s cat, but it now likes us too. It has been trying to come in with us. I am not sure either Roscoe or my allergies would appreciate that though.
For the first time in years. The ones I was wearing were actually two sets ago. The last set I lost in the ocean in Florida about six years ago after only having them about a year. So I reverted to my previous pair, which probably were of mid-90s vintage. and they were very very very scratched up at this point.
So all I can say now is, oh my gosh, I can SEE!
| In the latest Curmudgeon’s Corner…
Sam talks about:
- The Real Obama
- More Wikileaks Reactions
- Assange Rape Case
- How Information Spreads
- Bernie Sanders
- Operation Payback
Just click to listen now:
[wpaudio url=”http://www.abulsme.com/CurmudgeonsCorner/CC20101214.mp3″ text=”Recorded 14 Dec 2010″]
or
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(Picture taken 2010 Dec 7 03:28 UTC)
As of the time this post goes live… 05:54 UTC on the 13th (9:54 PM on the 12th Pacific, 12:54 AM on the 13th Eastern) Alex will be exactly 15 months old. I’ve fallen way way behind on posting pictures and video and such, just too many other things going on. Maybe I’ll catch up eventually. :-) But of course time keeps on marching, and Alex keeps growing and learning new things every day.
Lets see, some things from the past few months.
- Well, just in the last few weeks he finally really “gets” coloring and is grabbing his coloring book and special pens that will only color on THAT book and excitedly using them.
- He is very good about following “Please take this to mommy” type instructions. He understands, runs to do what was asked, and claps for himself when he does it successfully.
- When he finds coins he runs to one of several coin jars we have in the house and puts them in. (Also followed by a squeal and clapping.)
- He knows how to turn on his iPod nano and change songs, and will happily find something he likes then dance to it, holding the iPod to his ear.
- Almost anything thin and rectangular is a phone. He’ll pick them up, hold them to his ear, and talk and talk and talk. If it is a real phone with someone on the other end he gets even more exciting and he will pace around the room while talking to them.
- He will run up to his sister’s door and knock until she comes out and plays with him.
- When he is bored with what is on the TV or the music that is playing on our family room entertainment system he knows how to change what is on or turn it off. Even if the rest of the family is watching.
- He sneaks the dog food all the time. Both he and the dog enjoy this quite a bit.
- He will try to get the dog to chase him as well, running up to the dog, then running away squealing and laughing. Sometimes Roscoe will follow.
- His vocabulary continues to grow of course. Most sounds still aren’t words, at least ones we can understand, but the percentage that are increases every day.
- He is all about putting things away (sometimes the right place, sometimes not, but that doesn’t matter, does it?)
- This also includes things like trying to plug headphones in. Sometimes where they belong, sometimes not.
- He will help put on or take off his shirts by putting his arms up appropriately.
- He climbs everything, and (usually) can get down safely on his own.
- He knows how to take apart his potty piece by piece, then touch the two contacts together to make it sing. He’ll occasionally sit on it too, but of course would not even consider making it sing the way you are supposed to.
- He has several more iPhone apps he likes, including one where he pushes piano keys and makes music. He also now knows however how to push the button to get to the main menu when he is done. He hasn’t quite gotten yet how to START his games though.
- Although he has used utensils to eat for a long long time, he is now pretty darn good at using both forks and spoons. (Knives, not so much.)
- And lots of other stuff…
As I write this (a bit before it is scheduled to post) it is time for dinner now, so I need to stop. But anyway, Alex is 15 months now. A year and a quarter. He is so big! Oh, and quite a personality too. :-)
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