I’ve been reading like a fiend. I’m not sure why I am burying my nose in the books now more than I have been for the last several months. I think at least in part it’s due to the fact that the hockey playoffs and NBA playoffs are on, and I tend to put them on at night and then watch the game while reading. It’s funny, I can sense from the tone of the commentator’s voices when I need to look up to catch the big plays. Anyway I’ve read quite a few books. In no particular order:
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Ha. Don’t I wish. Actually I’m broke, and Nick is coming up for the long holiday weekend. Last time he came up I told him I would score an X-Box and we would play through Halo the next time he was up here, so now I’m selling off some PS2 games on ebay to fund the purchase. Great games, you know you want these games, go make your bids now while you still have a chance to score them.

…or anyone else looking for a slightly used couch bed. It’s a metal frame futon couch that converts down into a bed. There are no obvious physical defects on it. Lisa (ex girlfriend from several months back) needed to get it out of her garage and so it ended up in mine. I don’t want it and it seems a shame to cart it off to the dump, but that’s where it’s going if no one lays claim to it. Speak up or forever hold your peace.

Normally I just IM folks when I see deals like this, but this one is hot enough to mention to everyone: Compgeeks has a great firewire dual 3.5″ external enclosure on sale for $49.99, no rebate crap and reasonable (~$6 for me) shipping. I have this unit, paid almost $100 for it a few months ago, and couldn’t be happier with it. Just fyi in case you’re in the market for drive space. Firewire is often a better solution than native ide storage because of its portability and its low demand on the system bus. Get em while the price is hot as they say 😉

This one is mostly for Kirsten. She noticed a picture of the Yarmouth Mill on the local public access cable channel and asked about it. I happened to be out on my bike a few weeks ago exploring and found a wonderful overlook of the mill. I’ve mentioned before how lucky I feel to live in such a beautiful place. Here’s another example 😉

As an aside, the mill was almost my first office when I moved up to Maine 10 years ago. We were scouting locations, we needed warehouse space and the mill was one of the options. We ended up concluding the cielings were too low and there were too many support columns breaking up the space to make it a practical location. To this day part of me regrets not having gone with the mill though. The company went under after like 10 months anyway so what matter if we picked an impractical office location ;-0

…I’ve finished the Lone Wolf and Cub series. This is one of the best ‘comics’ I’ve ever read, up there with maus and Nausicaa. The art is fantastic and gives a wonderful glimpse into the architecture and trappings of daily life in midievel japanese culture. The story begins near the end of the samurai era under the Tokurawa shogunate. Ogami Itto, official executioner for the shogun, is pushed into a quest for revenge by treachery. What follows is an epic adventure across ancient japan, with over the top heroic combat, emotionally devastating tragedy, and wonderful insights into the japanese character and their (to western eyes) odd notions of honor and loyalty . I give it 5+ stars.

I got out on my kayak for the first time this season yesterday. The weather was beautiful though there was a strong breeze. I made my way about 2-3 miles up the Royal River, launching from Yarmouth. I had hoped to get out onto Cousin’s Island but the breeze was a bit too much, I didn’t want to spend 3-4 hours fighting the wind. Anyway it was a great paddle, I saw a beaver and numerous beaver dens, I’ll post a few more pictures in the gallery.

…I will be buying up a small arsenal of these. Admit it, who among you wouldn’t want to release your inner child and pilot remote controlled paintball firing tanks, mobile artillery, jeeps and more in a grand scale mock battle of Tobruk? Well, ok so I’m the only one who would really appreciate it. Damned cool nonetheless.