Mount Hood National Forest

This past weekend we camped out in Mt. Hood National Forest. It's pretty awesome out there. We just hung out, took a hike, drove up to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood, took a ski lift up the mountain... all around good time.

Pics here.

Rafting the Deschutes

Back in June, the wife and I went rafting down the Deschutes river with a crew from work. It was a three day trip, starting in Warm Springs and ending just past Oak Springs. We had a good time, and we're looking forward to doing it again. I was in charge of happy hour. So I prepared some Mojitos in 2-liter bottles, brought a bottle of sake, and made watermelon margaritas. Good times.

I fucked up my back pretty good when I jumped from a 30 ft cliff into the river, which sort of ruined my Summer. I'm still healing, a full two months later. So while I won't be doing that again, I will be back on that river next year. Here's some pictures.

Genesis of Shannara

I'm just about done with The Gypsy Morph, the final book in the Genesis of Shannara trilogy by Terry Brooks. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Shannara is a high fantasy world, first explored in Terry Brooks' award winning Sword of Shannara. Since then, there have been a slew of books. There was a prequel trilogy, The Word/Void Trilogy, that takes place in modern day Illinois. This trilogy, Genesis of Shannara, takes place in the post-apocalyptic Northwest and leads into the creation of the Shannara fantasy world from the ashes of the Age of Man.

Brooks is a solid author. While some books are better than others, they are never bad. This trilogy, while not his best, is still a good read. Light and entertaining. Some of his earlier Shannara books had better characters; people that were real and I felt invested in. The characters in this trilogy, with a few small exceptions, never quite come to life. There are a couple supporting characters that I feel are alive, specifically Panther and Owl. But the main characters are a bit two dimensional. In any case, the story itself is serviceable. There's a few plot devices that felt like cop-outs. Like the owl that guides Logan. Where was this nifty owl for the previous two books? Were the faerie creatures out of mana points and recharging?

In any case, I can't recommend this particular trilogy unless you are a fan of Shannara. If you haven't read any Shannara yet, then start at the earlier books (Sword, Elfstones, etc). They're better. If you become a big fan then ultimately you can read this trilogy, but otherwise, give it a pass.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

I was a huge GI Joe fan as a kid. I read the comic, watched the TV show, and collected the toys. I would miss my school bus because I was watching GI Joe repeats. I loved GI Joe, I think maybe more than any other toy line. And I still love GI Joe. Just last year I bought a comic. And I have a couple of the newer action figures.

So, like Transformers, making a live action movie based on something so fond from my childhood is dangerous. You are almost guaranteed failure. The hate was quick to surface, long before the movie was released. I didn't like that they made it an international force instead of an American one. I hated the first character shots. Everyone was in those terrible black outfits that Hollywood slaps on all super heroes. Storm Shadow looked retarded in his white outfit. GI Joe was going to suck, and it was clear from day one.

But somehow, it didn't suck. I saw the movie despite my jaded attitude. And it was fun. In fact, I really liked it. In fact, I will admit that I almost, almost, loved it. Movie Bob over at The Escapist hit the nail on the head. The movie was a lot of fun. It was like all those battles you had with your GI Joe figures and vehicles came to life on screen and did all the wild shit you imagined they did. There are some character changes that purists will surely whine about. But at the heart of it is exactly what every kid loved about GI Joe: good guys and bad guys tearing it up with real and imagined military technology.

Go see it.

And Baroness is HOT.