My two favorite bands of all time are Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull. Earlier this year, Jennifer and I got the chance to see an excellent Pink Floyd cover band called Brit Floyd. To my surprise, Jennifer really liked the concert, and wanted to hear more of Pink Floyd. That only left introducing her to Jethro Tull.

Well, it turned out I would get my chance. Ian Anderson (the guy behind Jethro Tull) was doing a world tour promoting his new album, Homo Erraticus; the tour touted that not only would he perform material from his new album, he would perform the best of Jethro Tull. Needless to say, we got tickets as soon as I learned about it.

The concert was tonight. To be perfectly honest, it was something of a disappointment.

The first half of the concert, aside from the last two songs, were all songs from Homo Erraticus. The songs pretty much reminded me of one track from Jethro Tull’s last album, J-Tull Dot Com, called “Hot Mango Flush”. That track was kind of discordant, and had rather nonsensical lyrics. The music from the CD felt the same way; as “Hot Mango Flush” was easily my least liked Tull track, you can imagine I didn’t care for it.

Once they got to the actual Tull material, things improved a bit. I knew the songs, and the musicians were all good and played very well… with one notable exception.

Is it sad that the one whose name is on the group is the weakest of the group?

Anderson’s instrumentals on flute and mandolin were excellent as always. However, his singing was terrible. He was off-key, his intonation was off-sequence, and it sounded like he was straining badly. Personally, it reminded me of when I would sing karaoke and would sing a song that was out of my range; in those cases, my voice would break and end up rasping near the end. Anderson was no different.

The sad thing is that he had a backup singer that would sing alongside him, and he honestly sounded more like Anderson in his prime than Anderson himself did. The backup singer would alternate with Anderson on lyrics; Jennifer and I were both of the opinion that he should have stayed on vocals and Anderson should have stuck with instrumentals.

The real telling sign of how this concert reflected Jethro Tull was what happened afterwards. After the Brit Floyd concert, I played Jennifer some Pink Floyd because she wanted to hear more of it. After this concert, I played Jennifer some Jethro Tull to prove that Anderson wasn’t always that bad.

It’s a real shame, because with this concert I’ve decided never to go to any more Jethro Tull or Ian Anderson concerts. If this was any indication, Anderson’s singing career needs to end. He can stay with instrumentals when touring and have someone else sing, but he needs to give up the singing part himself.

It’s almost October, so you know what that means. Halloween is upon us! :-)

I try to make it a ritual to find a couple of different ways to entertain myself throughout October, whether it be going through a book, a video game, or some movies on the day itself. For example, a couple of years ago I played through the entirety of DOOM 3: BFG Edition. I’ve also watched movies on Halloween night such as John Carpenter’s Apocalypse trilogy (The Thing, Prince of Darkness, and In the Mouth of Madness), Psycho, and Bram’s Stoker’s Dracula. This year, I’m thinking of doing both, plus adding a book or two to the mix.

I’ve mentioned in an earlier post that I’ve picked up a new copy of the original Dracula novel. I may go ahead and do a re-read of it. In addition, I have a copy of Stephen King’s novel The Shining that I picked up while visiting the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado (the inspiration for the hotel in the novel). Admittedly, I never got around to reading it, so this month would be a good time to rectify that oversight. :-)

On the gaming front, there has been an indie horror game that I’ve tried that might be fun to try and beat: Five Night’s at Freddy’s. You play as a security guard in a Chuck E. Cheese pastiche called Freddy Fazbear’s, where you have to stay alive despite the animatronics coming to (accidentally?) kill you, and the limited power to operate the security cameras, lights, and doors. A typical game session provides plenty of paranoia and jump scares, as you frantically try to locate the animatronics in the restaurant and risk having them screeching at you unexpectedly. While I picked up the iOS version for my iPad, I’ve come to find I need to get the PC version. I’m not proud of this, but I was playing the game while in bed and tossed the tablet away when one of the animatronics caught me unexpectedly and screamed right in my face. With the iPad not in a protective case, I was lucky it landed on the mattress.

As for Halloween night itself, I’m thinking I’d like to do a relatively innocuous double feature. As I’ve decided not to go to the Alley Theatre production of Dracula, I figured I would watch the original Dracula film starring Bela Lugosi, as it was based on the same stage play. The second film would be The Crow; it’s not horror, but it does take place on Devil’s Night. It also helps that it’s one of my favorite comic book movies. :-)

All in all, I think I’m pretty much ready for this upcoming October. I’ve got good books, a good game, and good movies. I just hope I get to be able to get through them all. :-)

So, Jennifer and I got to have an interesting night out a couple of weeks ago. :-)

One of our favorite authors is John Scalzi, who wrote the Old Man’s War series and the homage to Star Trek called Redshirts. His latest book, Lock In, was released a couple of weeks ago, and he kicked off his book signing tour here in Houston at Brazos Bookstore. We had gone to the book signing for Redshirts when it was released, and it was fun enough where we knew we had to go to this one. :-)

There was a pretty good crowd for a Tuesday night, and it ended up being a lot of fun. Scalzi read two sets of materials, then did a Q&A. Afterwards, he went ahead and began the signing. Jennifer and I both got our own copies; Jennifer went first, and told him how she earned her geek credentials by introducing me to his work. (This is true, as she introduced me to Old Man’s War a few months after we started dating.) He made sure to note that in his autograph. As for me, his first question to me was, “May I ask how you acquired that shirt?”

It was a fair question, as the t-shirt I was wearing had the logo for a game called Midnight Star, for which he had written the story. I replied that I had won it in a Twitter giveaway, and that I was looking forward to the game. His autograph reflected the shirt, and also made reference to Jennifer as well. ;-)

As for the book itself, it’s a really good read. The one thing I’ve always liked about Scalzi’s work is (as he pointed out himself during the reading) is that it’s very accessible and easy to read, yet it doesn’t dumb anything down for anyone. It’s not uncommon for me to start reading in the evening and power through to the end in one sitting; in this case, by the time I had finished it was 2 AM. :-)

The book is a sci-fi noir story, taking place in the near future. The background of the story is that a flu-like disease had ravaged the planet, and that a small percentage of survivors experienced a permanent state of “lock in”, where they no longer have control over their bodies and are trapped, unable to move or speak. A whole industry popped up as a result, to give “Hadens” (those afflicted with lock in) access to the world. Hadens can either use “personal transports” (robots controlled remotely), or in rare cases, Integrators (humans who can allow Hadens to use their bodies remotely). The story follows a new FBI agent who is himself a Haden, investigating a murder possibly committed by an Integrator. The twist comes with no one knowing if the Integrator himself committed the murder, or if he was under someone else’s control at the time.

I really can’t recommend this book enough, especially if you happen to like mystery stories. As far as I am aware, this was the first noir mystery story Scalzi has written, and yet the story flows like he’s very familiar with it. The characters are all interesting, and their motivations and behaviors are understandable and well-explained.

I know there are TV series coming out based on both the Old Man’s War series (titled after the second book, The Ghost Brigades) and Redshirts. I’ll be honest: I would be disappointed if Lock In didn’t find its way to a TV series as well. It’s a great novel in its own right, but the depth of the underlying setting means that this does not have to be the only story in this world.

In short, even if you can’t get out to a signing, be sure to get yourself a copy of the novel anyway. :-)

Today marks the five year anniversary of when Jennifer and I first started talking to one another. As one might imagine, it ranks right behind our wedding anniversary when it comes to our important dates. :-)

It’s amazing how the time has flown. For example, we realized recently that we’ve actually been married now longer than we were dating. It only recently started feeling like it wasn’t just yesterday that we moved in together.

All in all, I couldn’t be happier. Jennifer is the wife/best friend/partner in crime that I always wanted; while she doesn’t always join in with everything I do, she gives me 150% encouragement to do those things, whether it be going to a convention like Comicpalooza, playing Dungeons and Dragons with the guys, or even just trying out a new video game. :-) In turn, she’s introduced me to experiences I would not have done in the past, like going to live theatre, trying new restaurants, and going swimming and the beach. :-)

So, to the love of my life, thank you for finding me, agreeing to date me, and agreeing to marry me. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, and with five years down, I’m looking forward to the next forty to fifty. :-)

I finally have passes to a PAX show.

PAX, for those not aware, is short for Penny Arcade Expo, an extremely popular gaming convention run by the guys who do the webcomic Penny Arcade. Recently, they announced PAX South, a new PAX convention that would take place in San Antonio. As this was far closer to me than any of the other PAX locations (Seattle, Boston, and Australia), I really wanted to go. This afternoon, passes went on sale for PAX South, and I managed to snag myself two passes for Saturday (one for me, one for Jennifer). While a three-day pass might have been smarter, I’m waiting until the next year for that. Jennifer and I both tend to get bored after the first day of a convention, and besides, there’s other stuff in San Antonio and Austin we’d want to do for the weekend.

As it turned out, it was a good thing I got passes as soon as I did. Less than two hours after passes went on sale, three-day passes had already sold out.

The one thing I found interesting is that the one big glitch I’ve encountered didn’t even happen to me. Someone else with the name “Bishop” went through the registration process, and when he went to complete the order, all he got was a blank screen. His bank showed that the payment had gone through, so he contacted PAX and asked them to send him his confirmation. They sent him mine, instead.

How do I know about this? Well, he tweeted about it.

Didn't get a confirmation email for PAX South, so I emailed them. They then sent me a confirmation email for a Scott Bishop (not me).

— Bishop (@RareBishop) July 9, 2014

I found out about it because by pure coincidence, he and I are both followed by Dan Amrich, formerly of GamePro and Activision and currently with Rocksmith, and he pointed us out to one another after that tweet. It’s sounding like PAX screwed up (outside of sending him my confirmation); while the money was definitely paid they have no record of his order. That REALLY sucks, especially if they try not to give him a pass as a result. He shouldn’t have to suffer for their screwup.

In any event, I’m REALLY looking forward to PAX South. In particular, I’m hoping to say hi to the NetherRealm Studios guys, plus get to try both Mortal Kombat X and Batman: Arkham Knight. I’m also sure there will be other games announced between now and then that I’ll want to try as well. :-) I admit I’m also interested in taking a look around the tabletop gaming area and seeing what’s available. About all I know I won’t be taking part in is the LAN party; even though San Antonio is relatively close, I don’t have a gaming-quality laptop and I’m not lugging my desktop PC to a city three hours away. :-)

Still, PAX South is six months away. I’ve got plenty of time to get excited about it. For now, I’m just happy I’ll finally be able to go to a PAX. :-)

We had an interesting night last night.

I suppose we should have realized something was out of sorts when we started noticing our cat Sasha paying an inordinate amount of attention towards our fireplace. I had caught her in there once, and for a good chunk of the evening she sat in front of it, just staring at it. Of our three cats, Sasha is the hunter; she has the best track record of locating intruders and terminating them. We weren’t sure what was going on, and put it down to her being weird (like she can be sometimes).

We had already gone to bed, had the lights out, and were watching The Daily Show. As we were watching, I saw a black shape sail right in front of the TV. I almost literally did a double-take, wondering if I was seeing things. Then I saw the black shape circling over us, and I brought it to Jennifer’s attention by saying, “There’s something in the room with us.” For her part, Jennifer thought I had lost my mind and meant there was someone in the room. I got up, headed to the door quickly, and turned on the light.

That was when we both realized that I wasn’t seeing things. There was a bat flying around our bedroom.

I’m not proud, but some combination of my “aspieness” and fear drove me to run away. I’m sure the bat didn’t mean me any harm and was probably as scared as I was (if not more so), but I was caught completely off-guard and had absolutely no idea what to do.

Jennifer got out as soon as she could, and we tried to think of a strategy. Pretty soon, she had an idea: she went into the garage, and grabbed a small raft float thing we use for when we go to the pool. It’s large, round, can fold, and the inside is mesh fabric. Her plan was to go into the bedroom, and try and catch it with the float.

Her plan worked flawlessly. As soon as she walked into the bedroom, float open, the bat flew right to it and latched onto the mesh. Our guess is that he hadn’t been able to find somewhere to land until then, so he was grateful for the perch. Jennifer then closed the float like a taco, carried it out the back door, and let him loose.

We’ve scheduled for someone to come out this weekend to check our chimney, just to make sure there are no other uninvited guests. Otherwise, we’re just glad no one was hurt in that little adventure, whether bat or human. :-)

As for Sasha, when the bat was flying around our bedroom, she was sat on the bed just watching it (it was well out of her reach). If I had to imagine her expression or thoughts, it would likely be one single sentence, directed to us:

“I told you so.”

I’ve mentioned it on here before, but my all-time favorite board game is called Talisman. Talisman is an epic quest game for 2-6 players where you play one of several types of characters, on a quest to retrieve the fabled Crown of Command and rule the land. With three regions to navigate, numerous places to explore, many monsters to fight, etc., I find each game lasts about one hour per person playing. I was introduced to the game when I was in eighth grade; sometime in college I lost my set, but my friends Jeff and Malinda got me a new set a few years back, and I’ve been playing since.

I’ve also mentioned that there was a video game version of Talisman in the works, but it ended up being cancelled due to issues with the game’s quality. That disappointed me, because I would have liked to be able to play the game against AI players when I didn’t have actual people to play against.

Fortunately, another company called Nomad Games got the chance to take another shot. :-)

Their first release was a game called Talisman Prologue, a single-player game in which players can follow different quests to learn how to play their character better, culminating in a solo quest to reach the Crown of Command. The game serves as a fun introduction to the world of Talisman, and not only includes characters from the original game, but from some of the expansions including The Blood Moon.

They’ve since followed it up with Talisman: Digital Edition, which is the full board game for multiple players. The game plays with four characters at all times, though if you have fewer than four human players the game substitutes AI opponents. The PC version of the game is tied to Steam, and you can invite your Steam friends to play (provided they have the game, of course).

The game itself plays just like the original board game, and even gives options for house rules. The biggest worry I have with video game adaptation of board games are cheating AIs; the iOS version of Monopoly and PC version of Risk are known to be bad about that. Fortunately, Talisman: Digital Edition’s AI is very balanced and I saw no evidence of unfair dice rolls. The game also allows you to set how long a player has to enter in commands, so as not to let the game get bogged down by one person being away from his keyboard. In addition, games can be left off and resumed at later times.

Since its release, the expansions The Reaper and The Frostmarch have been released, allowing for additional characters, encounters, and endings. There are also extra characters available as standalone DLC, which as near as I can tell are exclusive to the video game. Another exclusive feature of the videogame is the concept of runestones, which are “cards” you can earn that will alter your play experience in future games. For example, a possibility during the game is that your character is turned into a toad for three turns, thus losing all of his/her/its items, followers, and gold. The last runestone I acquired reduces the time spent as a toad to two turns.

All in all, I really have enjoyed Talisman Prologue and Talisman: Digital Edition. Both are available for PC (via Steam) and iPad (not iPhone). It’s a fairly inexpensive way to get to play Talisman, and is very well implemented to boot. I highly recommend giving them a try. :-)