Me gusta leer y ver la tele

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Batalla en las montañas

Después de mucho tiempo de inactividad, este verano sólo participé en un torneo y quedé tan mal que no lo puse por estas tierras. Tras el fiasco, decidí volver a apuntarme al clásico campeonato de Warhammer en Alcoy confiando en hacerlo mejor, y debo decir que mis míticos elfos oscuros hicieron un papel realmente bueno.

La primera partida fue contra un ejercito Bretoniano, esos que son todo caballería medieval y bloques de campesinos armados con lanzas y arcos. Fue bastante bien, y no por que yo luchase bien, sino más bien porque mi rival falló todo lo que podía fallar más allá de la lógica y las estadísticas. Ni qué decir tiene, el pobre fue masacrado por una cantidad ingente de flechas.

La segunda partida se complicó un poco. Mi rival dirigía a los temibles guerreros del caos, gente semihumana semidemonio con caballería pesada y magos que son también guerreros. Lo bueno es que son pocas unidades y caras; lo malo es que son jodidas de matar, pues son muy duras al tener mucha magia. Recurriendo a una técnica probada, lo inflé a disparos también, ya que combatir de frente era un suicidio. Al mismo tiempo, estuve huyendo por toda la mesa hasta que me pilló y me destrozó dos unidades bastantes caras, pero aún así salí victorioso. Fue una victoria marginal, pero una victoria a fin de cuentas.

Por último, me enfrenté a un imperial. Estos son los que mezclan caballerías pesadas con armas de pólvora y tanques que funcionan con vapor y algún que otro cañón. La partida empezó mal, y esta vez al que dispararon con cañones y mosquetes fue a mí. Me volaron bastante gente de mi ejército, pero con mis unidades voladoras y caballerías ligeras en el segundo turno tenía aniquilado casi todos sus tiradores. Las caballerías pesadas me costó un montón matarlas, y el tanque a vapor directamente lo ignoré porque no podía matarlo, dado que necesitaba cosas que pegaran con mucha fuerza y mi ejército es más de esconderse y disparar
flechas. Volví pues a masacrar a mi rival, y para mi sorpresa gané el campeonato, porque los de la mesa uno decidieron empatar. Como veis en la foto, el premio fue un SpaceHulk edición limitada, un gran juego que han reeditado.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Reading List: November

It looks like I have read surprisingly little this month. As a matter of fact, I can't recall another month in the last six years in which I read this little. How did this happen? Well...

1. I did watch the first season of Hex (more on that soon), and the eighth season of Scrubs.

2. I watched weekly episodes of Flashforward, V, and Plutón BRB Nero.

3. I spent a lot of time playing Assassin's Creed and Prince of Persia.

4. I devoted a lot of my free time to an illustration I was commissioned to do. (More on that soon.)

5. Some of the books I read I didn't particularly enjoy, which means I took a long time to finish them.

All these factors combined prevented me from reading too much, so I will try to compensate next month. Let's talk about the three books I actually read.

Fablehaven
A friend let me borrow this book by Brandon Mull, and I really enjoyed it. It is a book for young adults, and it deals with teenagers, magic, and strange events. Fablehaven is the first book in a series, and I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to turn it into a movie (or a franchise), so I'll be paying attention to IMDB.

Indigo Springs
This book by A.M. Dellamonica is one of the books I was referring to a couple of paragraphs ago. The premise was interesting, but the pace was too slow, the dialogue stilted and very unrealistic, and I just didn't like the way the story unfolded or how it was told. As it happens, the only thing I enjoyed in this book was the gorgeous cover by Julie Bell.
It took me forever to finish Indigo Springs because I had no interest in reading it after a while, but I forced myself to continue... which happened really slowly. As a matter of fact, I took a couple of breaks in between chapters to read some passages from Ovid's Metamorphoses and a handful of chapters from Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Dart. In the end, I did return to Indigo Springs and suffered through its pages until the torture was over.
There is a sequel in the works I will make sure I don't buy.

T is for Trespass
The best book I read this month hands down, and one of the best books I've read this year. I told you all about it yesterday, so go enjoy my musings there.

Other than that, I have been reading Kushiel's Dart, which is also very slow-paced in the beginning, and ridiculously long. I am on page 500, and the book has over 900 pages, but now it's getting more and more interesting, so maybe I'll be able to finish it faster than I thought. At any rate, I hope December brings a lot more books!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

The Infuriating Kinsey Millhone

I just finished reading T is for Trespass, perhaps one of the best books in the great series by Sue Grafton. This time, Kinsey is working against a formidably cunning opponent, and she will have to try her hardest to have a happy ending.

At first, I was a little bit skeptic of this book because of the split narrative. Up until R is for Ricochet, Kinsey narrated all her adventures in first person. However, S is for Silence introduced a change in this (for me) cherished tradition, and the Kinsey-narrated chapters alternated with third-person passages in which we witnessed events that Kinsey would later discover. It took me a while to start enjoying S, and I think it was because of this split narrative, so when I saw T had a similar structure, I was worried. However, the book sucked me in right from the start, and I can now say it is one of my favorites in the outstanding series. This time, instead of being flashbacks, the third-person chapters offer a different point of view in Kinsey's investigation --her nemesis's point of view, to be precise. Grafton makes the most out of this literary device, and we get to see Kinsey in a way we've never seen her before: through the eyes of her enemy. Needless to say, the results are hilarious, and I just wanted to keep reading.

Sounds interesting? Well, that's because it is, so if you haven't checked out Kinsey's adventures yet, do yourself a favor and start learning your ABC's.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Donde comen siete

Según la página oficial de Stephen King, el incansable escritor ha anunciado recientemente que ha tenido una idea para un octavo volumen de su serie The Dark Tower, que, como bien sabemos terminó con la séptima entrega. Este octavo capítulo tiene el título provisional de The Wind Through the Keyhole, y King dice que tardará como mínimo ocho meses antes de empezar a trabajar en el manuscrito.

Por supuesto, no voy a desvelar nada, y más sabiendo que mi querido coblogueador Halagan se está leyendo la serie, pero, sabiendo lo que sé sobre cómo terminó The Dark Tower, no puedo sino preguntarme qué pasará en este nuevo capítulo de la saga. Habrá que esperar como mínimo hasta 2011 para averiguarlo.

Friday, November 27, 2009

The Lesbionic Woman

Want to see Olivia Munn's antics as an unlikely (but very hot) cybernetic heroine? Then check out The Lesbionic Woman, a very silly, very short video starring the Attack of the Show hostess that obviously spoofs a certain TV show. Call me crazy, but I think this would actually improve the original premise. Enjoy!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Vampire Gummy Bears

A girl in my Cartooning Club is obsessed with horses, vampires, and gummy bears, so I suggested she drew a horse gummy bear, which I proceeded to draw as well. After we were done, we decided to kick it up a notch and combine all three to create the first vampire horse gummy bear (or perhaps just vampire gummy horse) ever, which I also rushed to portray. Silly as these concepts were, we had a blast, and that's all that really matters. Enjoy!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Pokerface

Do you know Lady GaGa's hit song Pokerface? Have you ever found yourself wondering how it could be improved? Well, wonder no more, my dear friends, because I have the elusive answer you've spent countless nights looking for. The perfect way to improve this pop concoction would be… to have Christopher Walken recite it on TV. You're welcome.

PS: For a mash-up of both Lady GaGa and Christopher Walken performing the song, make sure you watch this hilarious video.