Good Morning - 3, 2, 1...

Looking this quote up that I thought was Terry Pratchett, I learned it was actually from Will Durant.

"Civilization exists by geologic consent, subject to change without notice."

A 6.1 earthquake (as of this writing) rolled through the Bay Area this morning.  It was centered south of Napa near American Canyon.

We were awakened by the shaking, and then heard a thump and something breaking.

We got semi-dressed and went downstairs.  The cats were fine in their room.  None of the glasses had fallen.  Then Jennifer called from a room upstairs.  A propped up piece of art had shifted forward and knocked two ceramic tea light holders to the ground.  One landed an the other, and that's what made them break.

Otherwise, we're fine.

Ice Cream! We're Gonna Eat Ice Cream!

Last night, I had an early dinner at Barclay's.  It was wonderful as always, but they only have two desserts.  One is an apple crumble which is not for me, and the other is an ice cream and brownie thing which while being excellent is too much for one person.

So I went out looking for dessert in Rockridge.

Now, I get off BART at Rockridge every day, so there are a few things I see every time I go down College.  One is Zachary's Pizza, but once I stopped staring at that side of the road, I noticed a fancy light-up sign that simply says "Ice Cream".

So last night, I walked down to a shop called Smitten.

I looked over the flavors and asked if they offered tastings.  The cashier apologized and said that since each order was made right then that tasting wasn't possible.  That's when the large stainless steel tank that is the size of a beer brewing tank registered; that and the safety placard on it.  Then I looked at the flavors stations that had elaborate blenders with little hoses over the bowls.  And I asked, "So you make the ice cream with liquid nitrogen?"  And she smiled and said, "Yes, liquid nitrogen."

SCIENCE!

I got the TCHO chocolate ice cream with TCHO chocolate sauce.  I also only got two scoops because I was warned.  The scoops are a little bigger than the typical gelato scoop (maybe a circle made by my middle finger and thumb), and the ice cream in somewhere between regular ice cream and gelato as well.  It was very smooth and really rich.  I'm taking Jennifer there this weekend.

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And speaking of TCHO chocolate, I was walking past their new factory at the corner of 67th and San Pablo Avenue (yes, it is actually that close to my home), and I could smell the chocolate.  I'm so looking forward to the factory being open for tours and tastings.

I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful thing like a chocolate factory only a couple blocks from home.  I'm sure it could be a lot worse...

Farewell, Grand Jester

Last night while Jennifer was doing some work, I read that Robin Williams had died.

We were fortunate enough to get to see him live three times at Bimbo's, but he affected us so much more than that.

I'm not a fan of Garp or the Nights at the Museum, but "Hook" is one of my favorite movies.  And I watched "Mork & Mindy" regularly when I was growing up.

But what I will remember the most about Robin Williams are his stand-up albums.  I got a cassette copy of an album from a friend in high school, and then another from friends at church.  I know now that one of those would have been "Reality, What a Concept" and the other was "An Evening with Robin Williams" (that's the video, the album was "Throbbing Python of Love").  These became much like the early works of Bill Cosby: only a few people my age knew about them before the big album came out.  Everyone knew about "Bill Cosby: Himself" and everyone knew about "A Night at the Met".  And then there was a drought of stand-up albums aside from Comic Relief.

The times I saw him live, he was "Working on Material..." were in preparation for "Live on Broadway" and "Weapons of Self Destruction".

Jennifer and I thoroughly enjoyed "The Crazy Ones", his latest TV show, and could see the joy his cast had working with him.  I have to wonder if the cancellation of the show contributed to his depression.

Memories of him will always bring me back to some of the more joyful parts of my life as I laughed alone, with my friends, and with my wife at the antics, wizardry, and occasional genius of Robin Williams.

I will certainly feel the loss.

My Book Report

So let's see where we are.

I have recently read the latest Kate Daniels book, Magic Breaks, from Ilona Andrews.  In keeping with the theme, may I just say the the manure carts never stop hitting the windmill.  I was happy for the forward which states that while the book may seem like a last book, they are under contract for three more.  It is another wonderful continuation of the series, and I highly recommend it.

Then I tried to read a new series beginning with Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines.  I had scanned a recommendation from iO9, and it soon disappointed.  I had picked it up because it was described as a good story with super powers.  Since i had recently read Steelheart, I thought another in that vein might be good.  Then the zombies appeared.

I have to figure there is a geek somewhere in Japan that doesn't like anime.  On another island in the Land of the Rising Sun is another geek who is tired of Kaiju.  And sometimes I feel I'm the only geek in the US that doesn't like zombies.  I've read one zombie book (Death Troopers), and was kind of "meh..." about it.  I've only watched two full zombie movies, and those was "Sean of the Dead" and "Zombieland", and that's only because they were comedies.  Now it's not like I'm disparaging Doctor Who, but zombies are a big wedge of the geek pie chart.

(Oh wait, I also saw "28 Days Later", and then maybe 20 minutes of "28 Weeks Later".)

In Ex-Heroes (not really spoiling anything, this is revealed pretty quickly), a meteor falls to earth and seems to be the catalyst for some people getting super powers.  Then somehow (I stopped reading before this reveal) that also starts creating zombies.  I think I could have made it through, but then Clines started in on the graphic descriptions of the zombies.

Look, I get it.  There are dead-ish bodies walking around.  They're rotting and missing limbs, appendages, or digits.  And they're the full cross-section of the population.  We all have seen it.

So I moved on.

I read a few of the short stories in George R.R. Martin's Rogues.  The Neil Gaiman story was great as was Patrick Rothfuss'.  But they were each about supporting characters in a great book and a great series.  It just made me want more.

So this morning, I had a little time, so I started going through my library of e-books, for something else.

I moved over the Grimnoir Chronicles by Larry Correia, and the Huger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.  But then I saw the Kage Baker folder.

I remember reading the Company series, having started it early on, and reading each book as it came out.  I quickly wondered how it would be to read it straight through.  And so that's what I'm doing now.

Go and See and Laugh

So Friday night, Jennifer, John, and I went to see "Guardians of the Galaxy".

If you haven't seen it yet, you must.  All the descriptions are right.

It has the buried epic potential of "Star Wars".  It has the humor of "The Fifth Element".  I'm not sure if I agree with the parallels to "The Last Starfighter", but then it's been a while since I've seen that one.

And then there is the overall connection with the Marvel movie-verse.

Yeah, yeah, I know it has an official name, but if it is called the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) then if Warner/DC gets their act together will Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman be in the DCCU?

Anyway, to digress further, while I did read some Marvel comics as they came to me as a kid, and I watched the horribly animated "Spider-Man" cartoons as a kid, I've been a DC guy.  Even after stopping reading comics, I've wanted DC to get off their ass, get their shit together, and get moving on their own movie-verse.

That being said, if you've seen the movies (and after this weekend with a loan from John, I am), then this compilation is grab-you-by-the-balls moving:

And then, once you're all caught up on the MCU, specifically "Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier" and "Guardians of the Galaxy", then you will enjoy this comic from Texts from Superheroes: