[Theater] Waitress (Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group) Review

We had actually watched the local staging of Waitress during its opening weekend thanks to an ARC promo but I guess things got way busier than expected since I somehow forgot to write about the experience. And given recent plans to cut down on my Geeky Guide blogging time I guess it's a good thing that I've been able to squeeze this review in.

It's interesting how this musical has gained such a strong following since its release given it's based on a movie that may not be all that well-known even for a movie junkie like me. But stranger things have happened - just look at the likes of Hairspray, which was also based on a rather obscure cult classic film and yet became a Broadway success.

This local production was definitely a lot of fun to watch and made for a lovely evening for me and Tobie. By the time this review comes out the show will be on its closing weekend and I can only hope that enough people got to enjoy the show when they had the chance.

[Books] Paddle Your Own Canoe Audible Review

It's far too easy to associate actors with the characters they portray on TV or in movies. It's not always logical nor is it necessarily fair to who they really are outside of their entertainment work. But it's pretty natural for the lines between reality and fiction to blur.

Paddle Your Own Canoe is a quirky little book that is part instruction manual and part memoir. But what it does end up showing is how Nick Offerman is very different from the character that he plays on Parks and Recreation, but at the same time he has a lot in common with him.

I'm glad that I went for the Audible version of this title since it meant hearing his distinct voice reading the book aloud. It's hard not to think of Nick as Ron Swanson, but both men are totally worth getting to know better.

[Geeky Guide] Taking A Breather

So I've been steadily writing reviews and other posts for The Geeky Guide to Nearly Everything for over 9 years now and I'm starting to wonder if it's all still worth it. Blogging seems to be a bit of a more archaic web medium with more comment discussions happening on social media or more engagement with more dynamic content like podcasts and videos.

I don't think I'm quite done with the Geeky Guide just yet - I've poured too much time and effort into this blog over the years to just drop it so quickly. But I do recognize I need to reconsider how I want to utilize this site moving forward and whether or not I want to shift to other formats like podcasting or vlogging.

I'm also going to experiment with shifting my book reviews to places like Amazon or Goodreads, as they may have more value to independent authors there versus here on this site. We'll see how things go come 2019,  but for now expect more sporadic/infrequent updates starting December 2018.

[Books] Battletech: Shadows of War (Twilight of the Clans - Book 6) Review

Nipping at the heels of Sword and Fire comes Shadows of War that continues the story of Task Force Serpent in taking the Clan Smoke Jaguar homeworld of Huntress. The last book covered the final leg of the journey and their initial assault on the planet. This next book covers how hard it is to occupy a world, especially one belonging to the Smoke Jaguars.

This book is pretty brutal and continues singing from the song sheet that reinforces that war is terrible and is not a thing to be celebrated. And this book really goes out of its way to send this message along in almost every chapter as things seem to get worse and worse for everyone quite frankly - no one is spared.

So in some ways the book certainly fulfilled its goals in that regard, even if it felt a little heavy-handed in its approach. And it's not like the last book was all that triumphant in tone nor did it leave me with a lighter feeling of victory at the end. And that darker tone seems to permeate through this follow-up novel.

[TV] Homeland: Season 3 Review

It's been some time since we had watched the first two season of Homeland and for one reason or another we had tapered off watching during the third season. And it's not like the show was terrible enough to merit stopping but it can be a little tiring since it tends to weave narratives that rely on a lot of tension keeping you on edge over the course of the season.

This third season of Homeland felt like an odd little duck since we really threw some of the characters into very strange situations only to have things come together for a rather unusual climatic turn of events. I guess it sort of makes sense as a setup for the season that follows it but on its own the story ends up being a little odd.

Or maybe I'm getting a little tired of some of the drama that keeps happening over and over again. Sure it shows consistency in these matters in terms of how they respond to bad situations but at the same time it's also a little lazy. We can do better.