This is what I absolutely love about the internet. I’m browsing through a computer game newsgroup tonight and one of the threads turns to books, specifically fantasy novels. As I’ve mentioned here before, I’ve been on a fantasy kick for over a year now, re-reading some of my old favorites from my youth and disovering some new ones (most notably George R.R. Martin, China Mieville and Steven Erikson). Anyway, a number of authors are discussed. I mosey over to my instance of dc++, which is running, and do a search on a number of the authors mentioned. Within 5 minutes I’ve downloaded about 12-15 different novels to look over.

For those of you who would accuse me of theft – I will end up buying the novels that interest me. While I have a much greater tolerance for reading in front of the computer than most anyone I know, I still can’t manage to read through novels that way. I’ve tried 😉

(oh, and right off the bat, Robin Hobb looks promising, it reminds me of George R.R. Martin already)

Man, those auctions went over extremely well, I had hoped to get $90-$100 out of them and managed to score almost $170, so color me a happy camper. They went well enough that I’m going to put more online this week. I’m about as broke as I can manage to get, between medical bills, xmas and the recently dead hard drive I have had to lay out a ton of cash. I’m in recoup mode, even going to sell off some of the board game collection, only the ones that are of lesser interest to me though, not the avalon hill stuff.

What is Quorn? Now I know. I’d read a bit about it here and there, and now I’ve finally had a chance to sample some. It’s not bad, tastes a bit like chicken thats been cooked too long, at least in the form I bought it, which was ‘reasonable copy of roast chicken.’

Quorn, for those not in the know, is yet another in an endless line of ‘Textured Vegetable Proteins.’ I’ve been eating quite a lot of them lately. For the most part they are at best just ok, and most of them suck. Most people have encountered them in the form of veggie burgers like Boca Burgers (which are actuallly very tasty).

Anyway Quorn is a product out of the UK and is marketed as the perfect TVP. I don’t know if it’s all that but I thought it was good enough that I’ll buy it again. They carry it at my local health food store. It turns out it’s mostly made out of mushrooms. It’s high protein, very low fat and cholestoral, and a good amount of fibre. On paper anyway it’s great for you. If you’re feeling adventurous, give it a shot, your heart will thank you later 😉

I keep forgetting to post this. Have you bought a CD from a music retailer between 1995 and 2000? If so the RIAA owes you up to $20. They lost a lawsuit over price fixing and as part of the settlement they have to pay back the consumers they swindled. If too many people sign up we get no money and it goes to charity, but supposedly almost no one is signing up so far. So Go sign up!. Worst case you get some spam from the RIAA, best case they send you a check for $20.

Man it has just not been my day for the last 24 hours. First Lisa and I broke up, which though not entirely unexpected was still a downer. Then While I am sitting in my office ruminating on the end of yet another relationship my boot volume on my desktop pc starts making the click of death. It’s on its way out, meaning I will need to reinstall windows and all its components. There goes this weekend plus several days. Then I get in the car this morning and the Saturn makes some very ominous ‘your brakes are failing’ noises when I stop at the first traffic light. I had a hint this was coming from when I drove down to NY a few weeks ago but at the time I chalked it up to ice on the brake pads. So much for that theory. This is going to be a very expensive couple of months for me.

Well, it’s official. Lisa and I broke up last night. This is a bummer. Not a major bummer, there were some issues between Lisa and I that were giving me cause for concern about the long-term viability of our relationship, but still a bummer. She was a decent person and fun to be around, I will definitely miss her, and Samantha as well.

Well, not really. I bought The Cartoon History of the Universe on a whim when I was ordering christmas presents, figuring it would be a guilty pleasure, but as it turns out it’s a great, often amusing ‘clif notes’ version of world history through the time of Alexander the Great. There are two other volumes as well. I can’t recommend these highly enough – if you’re feeling a little rusty on the basic history they taught you back in high school this is a wonderful and entertaining way to give yourself a refresher.

Check out symbols.com. They have a huge searchable encyclopedia of symbols, everything from radiation to Danger, here there are people who will arrest you. No fooling – there’s all kinds of cool stuff. They also have a downloadable version of the encyclopedia.

I have a number of auctions up on ebay. If you’re looking for a spare video card for that linux box in the closet, or a cheap PS2 game to while away the winter with, I’m your man, get bidding!

😉

Long live King Rat. Err, or the proletariat, yeah, that’s the ticket 😉

What the heck am I on about? I just finished reading China Mieville’s King Rat, a post-modern fantasy set in London in the modern age. The story concerns Saul, who through a tragedy discovers that he’s the son of the deposed King of the Rats, a quasi-lycanthrope whose life is at risk at the hands of the Pied Piper. The King of the Rats need Saul because he’s a half-breed, part man and part rat, that’s immune to the allure of the Pied Piper’s tune. What follows is an entertaining and very twisted fantasy/horror story as Saul comes to terms with his heritage and struggles to overcome the Pied Piper’s schemes.

This is the second Mieville book I’ve picked up. I absolutely loved Perdido Street Station. King Rat was a bit of a letdown in comparison, but that’s not to say it’s a bad book, it’s quite good. It’s also Mieville’s first. Now I have The Scar to read, which is his third and a sequel to Perdido Street Station. I’m really looking forward to it.