Hobbit

Found this today. The book was a joke gone too far, but actually this film trailer looks quite good:

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer...hunter/trailer

Clearly a lot of money spent on it...

Mark

Not only to JRR Tolkien (who would be 120 today) but my eldest, by comparison a mere 23.

Both important to me.

Mark

Happy New Year!

Hope you all had a good Christmas, as well.

Have had a great time with family and catching up on some reading.

Evidently today would've been Asimov's 92nd birthday, as Jamie Todd Rubin has pointed out.

Nice to hear an old master recognised, so I'll pass that link on...

Mark

Just when I was thinking that they are no more, some old missing Doctor Who episodes have been found:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/do...ed-to-bbc.html

Good news: means I shouldn't give up hope yet....

Mark

One of those 'happy accident' discoveries on the Internet.

http://comiccrits.blogspot.com/ John reviews genre books, but in cartoon strip form.

Must admit, his thoughts on Ready Player One (scroll down) match mine. People at SFFWorld LOVED it, whilst I was much more 'meh'.

Shows that views vary: and just because they're different doesn't make them less valuable.

Mark

The Ultimate in Garden Sheds....

http://money.cnn.com/video/pf/2011/1...ouse.cnnmoney/

If I had the money.....

Mark

Having only recently got a DVD copy (and not having cable/satellite) I must say how much I'm enjoying Season Three of Fringe.

I know there's some big revelations ahead, I know some are not happy with Season Four and that there's a cloud over its future at the moment.

But I'm finding that, being about halfway through the season, I love this series. It's been a long, long while since I couldn't wait to watch the next episode of a TV series, like I have with this one. ...

The passing of an iconic author, much loved by many, is always a sad event. With such occasions, it is always worth trying to remember their legacy: what they leave behind can make their bitter-sweet passing easier.

My first encounter with Anne’s work was in the 1970’s, when I read Weyr Search in a story collection. (It was first published in Analog Magazine in October and November 1967.) It was OK, I thought - interesting use of a medieval, or at least rural-type society, with ...

Just finishing off one that's been in the pile for far too long, but read in a couple of days: Pierre Pevel's Cardinal Blades:

Lots of fun: very fast pace, but surprisingly not as much about dragons as I'd expected.



Great cover from the great Jon Sullivan too.


Review for Stephen King's 11.22.63 about done too.

Mark

Had the opportunity to meet Brandon Sanderson on his UK Book Tour this evening.

Lovely guy. Read part of a story he's writing for a new collection from George RR Martin about 'dangeropus women' which he wrote on the plane over to here!

Had time for everyone in his long queue of 60+ people, most with sets to sign. Great range of fans.

I love watching people in these queues: they go away so happy.

And some wonderful questions from the audience, ...

If I lived in London, would love to go to some of these events at the Royal Observatory...

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/places/royal-ob...ience-fiction/

...which I didn't even know until today went on!

Mark

Think THIS is a brilliant idea.... and how cool!

Even the sample sounds brilliant. Roll on 2012!

Mark

Busy times here at Hobbit Towers, not that I'm complaining.

Interviews: One with David Wingrove that we were asked to hold onto for a while went up. David's a lovely bloke and his answers are delightfully honest and quite revealing. Made me think he was the sort of chap I'd love to sit down and share a pint with.

At the same time my review for his Daylight on Iron Mountain went up. Things really step up a gear here, and I'm now very keen to get the next book.
...

Now back from the aforementioned Vampires Rock!.

Was very good: very loud, great musicianship, lots of humour, even when there were power issues. The crowd, though not the biggest I've ever seen, were clearly having a great time. Lots of repeat offenders.

Will go again.

The only thing that spoiled it a little was the rude 'lady' in the Car Park afterwards... and the ginormous Car Park bill...

Mark

Had a nice surprise on Friday when I found I'd won tickets for a suitably Halloween concert: Vampires Rock!



Think it'll be fun, or incredibly cheesy.

Youngest Hobbit is quite keen though.

As for reading: as mentioned before, The Weird is keeping me greatly amused: it's title tells you the gist. Some of it I like a lot, some of it is just unsettlingly...weird.
...