Murai Tanrei Junmai

I've had a lot of sake, and Murai Tanrei Junmai is still my favorite.

Smash TV Arcade Stick

Our friend Lucas was recently married and for a gift James had a great idea. I had just come off my Street Fighter IV inspired arcade stick building kick, and Lucas was a big fan of Smash TV. So James said "build Lucas a dual-stick controller for Smash TV on MAME." James would pay for the parts and I would build it. So it was born.

I used a GP-Wiz40 USB controller from GroovyGameGear.com. This makes it a generic HID input that works on any PC or Mac. The sticks are Happ 8-way Competitions. The construction is MDF with a particle board top panel (I wanted to keep it authentic as possible). The control panel overlay is a reproduction of the arcade original from MameMarquees.com. And of course it has red T-molding, just like the arcade. A final touch was a lighted coin slot-style button for adding credits. It's a bit large but... "I'd buy that for a dollar!"

More pics, including during construction, here.

New car stereo

After my last stereo died, I finally bought a new one. My requirements were simple:
1. Bluetooth built in
2. iPod control from the head unit
3. Time alignment
4. 7+ band EQ (preferably auto-EQ)
5. F/R/Sub outputs.
6. Non-tacky looking (I don't like it when the car looks like a disco because the stereo is all lit up).

I settled on the Eclipse CD5030, and as a bonus it was a very reasonable $300 at Crutchfield. I just installed it last Thursday, so I've had a couple days to play with it. Work recently gave me an iPod Nano as a "thank you" gift, so I loaded it up and I'm leaving it right in the car as a dedicated music server for the head unit. The HU browses the iPod quickly and easily. The volume knob acts as the click wheel, so it's nearly as nice. The Bluetooth is smooth, sounds good, and connects immediately. The screen is very visible and fits plenty of information.

I do have a one complaint though. When you shut off the car, the iPod pauses and will automatically restart when you turn the car back on, which is great and the way it should be. But, if the iPod has actually turned off (which it does after several minutes) the HU will not immediately start playing the iPod where you left off. Instead, it will start up with the radio and I have to hit the source button to switch to the iPod. It's very fast and easy, but it shouldn't be needed, IMO.

Regardless, it's a nice unit and I am very happy with the purchase.

I don't remember it being so messy back there.

Ink

I watched this movie on a whim via Netflix Instant Watch. I think it made it on my queue from one of the Netflix recommendations, which usually recommend total garbage Hollywood films, but this time it struck gold. This movie rocks. I know I tend to write movie reviews where I essentially say "this movie was fun" end of story. So for this one I will go into a bit more detail about why I liked it, since I'm sure it needs a bigger sell being an indy flick with no marketing. So here's a nice bulleted list:

• Visuals. This movie is visually more interesting, creative, and striking for $200k than Avatar's $500M. The saturation and lighting are stand outs here, and dominate the film from beginning to end.
  
• Audio. The audio was wonderful. The special effects, from dimensional travel to fight scene punches, was top notch. It really stood out, which is really saying something since the visuals were already really distracting!
• Choreography. The fight scenes were awesome. The camera work, the stunt work, the special effects, the lighting, everything came together for truly brutal fight scenes. Not many movies pull this off so well. Most movies end up looking choreographed, like some bad kung-fu film. These fight scenes actually appear like people are trying to fuck each other up, and succeeding. The only other film in recent memory that pulled that off was Casino Royale; specifically the hotel staircase fight scene.
• The characters. Many characters didn't have a lot of screen time or lines, but despite that they still appeared to have depth. I really liked the lead female story teller, Allel played by Jennifer Batter, and her friend Gabe played by Eme Ikwuakor. Allel was just cool; she was kick ass, stylish, and good looking. Gabe had maybe two lines yet I really liked his character and was interested in him. The main character, John, was also done well. I didn't really like him, but he's not necessarily someone we are supposed to like.
• The story. It's a fairy tale. It's not cerebral or enlightening, but it is entertaining. It is a short story about a short conflict about interesting characters in an interesting fantasy world.

So there you have it; the specifics of why I enjoyed the film. Now go watch it before Hollywood starts pumping money into writer/director Jamin Winans and ruins him like big budgets always do.

Mini Ninjas

I got Mini Ninjas for 360 for Christmas. I then put down every game I had been playing (L4D2, MW2, Tekken 6) and played this straight to the end. It's such a great game. As my wife says "they must have taken time to study 'cute' in order to make this game." There is nothing ground breaking about the game play, except maybe that it's fun, which is sadly not a common theme in video games these days. It plays and feels a lot like Zelda or Okami. You play a band of ninjas pursuing an evil warlord to shut down his world domination plan, as always. There are items you collect along the way, and plenty of samurai to beat the tar out of. It has stealth kills, super attacks, special moves, magic spells, ninja equipment, herbalism, fishing, etc, as you might expect. Except they are all cute versions of said features.

It's tough to explain why the game is so fun without actually playing it. The atmosphere is definitely a big part of the charm. The audio, the stage design, character animation, everything adds to the charm. I plan on playing it again to find all of the collectibles. I played the game on "hard" the first time through because I suspected it would be an easier game (aren't all games nowadays?) and it actually challenged me a bit. I really had to whip out some spells and use my abilities to take out the warlord's armies. It was far from actually being hard, but more than I expected. I felt it was a good balance.

So I looked up the developers to see what else they had done. It's IO Interactive, and they had done the Hitman series and Kane & Lynch. How disappointing! Such garbage games when there is obviously a lot of talent in the studio.

District 9

I know I am way late on this one. It just came to DVD. I meant to see it in the theater, but never made it there. I finally saw it this last weekend. Best sci-fi movie in years, next to Star Trek. But Star Trek is Star Trek, so it doesn't count. Not going to bother talking about this one, since I am probably the last person on Earth to finally see it. Suffice it to say, the buzz is deserved, it's good.

Sherlock Holmes

Avatar seems to be dominating movie talk this past month. Everyone is raving about the amazing graphics and the terrible plot. Well to be honest, the movie just does not look interesting to me. "But the graphics!" you say. Sorry, the art direction looks boring and uninspired. Sure, the CG is really well done and highly detailed. But you can't polish a turd.

So instead I saw Sherlock Holmes. I know, I know. I was horrified at the trailer. I thought, "they've ruined Sherlock Holmes; fuck you hollywood!" But a trusted movie-goer recommended it to me (believe it or not, my Mother-in-law) and so we went. And I liked it.

First of all, Robert Downey Jr. is an awesome character actor, and if Iron Man and Tropic Thunder didn't prove that to you, then this movie is one more piece of evidence. Jude Law is also a strong actor and works well with RDJ. But the best character of all is turn-of-the-century London. Seeing 1890's London recreated with such grimy detail was way more fascinating than some florescent alien jungle with electric blue cat people.

So did it ruin Sherlock Holmes? No, it didn't. The stories are still there for you to read, unadulterated. But this is a new, almost comic book hero approach to Sherlock Holmes. And it's fun. I also very much like how they interpreted Holmes' character as being almost autistic. In a scene where he is waiting for Watson in a busy restaurant, we see Holmes nervously taking in all the details and conversations around him, overloading him in fact. I think this is a brilliant explanation for Holmes' almost anti-social behaviors, drug use, and middle-of-the-night fiddle playing. If you've read the stories, then I think you would agree, it fits.

So, while not an Oscar winning tear jerker or blockbuster CG masterpiece, Sherlock Holmes is a good, fun movie. And I can't ask for anything more.

Turtle Beach Earforce X31

I've owned two Earforce X1's in the past (the first one the cord went bad, either from the cats or from me stepping on it) and I really think it is a great headset for the 360. It only had two problems, 1) the cord, 2) I tend to yell into it because I can't hear myself talk. #2 is particularly troublesome because it defeats the purpose of wearing headphones, which is to be quiet.

So for Christmas, I was given a Turtle Beach Earforce X31. I had tried the previous generation, the X3, but it was terrible. The voice chat had a constant high pitch whine to it and the wireless was IR so it was all static and very sensitive to line of sight from the transmitter. Turn your head and gone. This X31 is RF, so no line of sight needed. The talk-back chat is great, no more yelling into the mic. It still has some of the high pitched whine with the chat, but that's livable given all the advantages it provides. One last thing is this thing chews through batteries. It takes two AAAs. If the batteries are brand new, they last 6 hours or so, which isn't too bad. But you can imagine how many batteries this thing will drain over the years. I tried my rechargables, but they last 10 minutes, not even enough time for a single round of MW2. Bah!

Overall, they are nice and a huge improvement over the IR versions. I recommend them.

Mushi-shi

Mushi-shi looked like something that was going to be really great. Mushi as used here refers to basic, almost ghost-like lifeforms that are closest to the Earth energies. If you remember the Lifestream from Final Fantasy VII, then you have a basis of understanding. Mushi are made of that lifestream. Ginko, the main character, is a Mushi-shi, or Mushi Master. He travels the land in search of mushi to study them, and often save people from them. Mushi are not evil or good, they are just animals, and sometimes their lives come into conflict with humans.

The animation is top notch. In fact the entire production is wonderful. The only thing lacking is story. Each episode is independent. There is no common thread other than Ginko, but even he has no story. In a way, it is refreshing to have a character who just is, and isn't some complicated, conflicted emo whiner or some other stereotype. But also it means there is no motivation to watch the next show. Nothing to keep you going. No hook. The mushi are completely out of left field and so each episode is free to do and be whatever it wishes. Sounds great, but I think in this case it hurts the show.

In short, the show has a lot of production quality, but weak on story. The result is a 7 disc series in which I have watched the first two discs and am not real motivated to continue watching. So I am switching to a new show.

The Supernatural

I know it's a bit late for Halloween, but I just finished watching ゴーストハント (Ghost Hunt).　I really enjoy supernatural shows, and this anime was a good one.　It had a good mix of Western ghost lore applied to Eastern mythology and religion.　Unfortunately, it was a short run, just one season.　Other good supernatural themed shows I've enjoyed include:

• X-Files - Of course.
  
• Supernatural - Currently running season 5 on CW.
  
• xxxHolic - Waiting for season 2 to come to the US.
  
• Vampire Princess Miyu - The original OAV, not the TV series!

Next up in my anime queue is Mushi-shi; looks to be a good one, at least visually.

日本語で 話しましょ！

This fall semester I am back to studying Japanese. Now I am in the credited classes, JPN101, instead of the continuing education class I was taking before. It's a much quicker pace, 5 credits, homework, quizzes, etc. I am studying more, practicing more, and loving it. I really remember more from my previous classes than I thought I did.

Here's a set of study aids I use:
1. Denshi Jisho - Online dictionary, w/ Kanji lookup.
2. About.com Verb Conjugation - A quick reference for conjugating common verbs.
3. Japanese Verb Conjugator - A search engine for conjugating any verb.
4. Minna no nihongo renshuu - A nice practice site with great activities for reviewing your knowledge. Covers 101 and 102.
5. Talk Now! Japanese - A cheap software package, good for vocabulary practice. I have an older version I found on a discount rack for $15.
6. Learn in your car - An audio CD set for practicing vocab and phrases in your car or iPod.
7. Oxford Beginner's Japanese Dictionary - A great dictionary for beginner's, includes notes on honorifics, conjugation, tense, etc. All in hiragana/katakana, but also gives the Kanji.
8. エリンが　ちょうせん　にほんご　できます - A Japanese TV show to help non-native speakers learn Japanese. Two things I really like about it is the immersion, and the kanji. It's 100% in Japanese, even though it is targeted at the beginner. And it shows kanji with furigana for everything, which I really wish they would do for all Japanese learning material. So when you finally start to learn kanji you have a foundation of familiar kanji because you've seen them again and again in the show.

Finally, if I can give any advice whatsoever, it would be to learn hiragana and katakana before you even start learning the language. Memorize them, it's not hard, and take all your notes with them and just skip right over romaji. Romaji is terrible, particularly some versions of it. The sooner you are in kana only, the sooner you will be reading/writing smoothly and quickly, and you will avoid some spelling pitfalls introduced by the jump from romaji to kana.

Rock Band 2

When I went to Pax 2010 with Admiral Nelson, we stopped at the local GameWorks and had a blast playing Guitar Freaks and Drum Mania. I was sold on the idea of a drum game, and I have since bought Rock Band 2. The price came down when The Beatles: Rock Band was released, so I got the package deal for $99 (drums, guitar, game). I absolutely love playing the drums on this thing.

Guitar in RB2 is not as fun as Guitar Hero, but still a good time. I say not as fun because the Medium difficulty is too easy (I actually struggle to stay awake while playing) but then Hard difficulty is a huge leap and just too difficult. In Guitar Hero, Medium had hammer-ons and pull-offs and other things to keep it interesting. RB2 doesn't really start to do anything interesting until Hard, but then it is all too much. It adds hammer-on/off, the 5th button, and way more complexity. Too much complexity for one step up in difficulty.

In any case, the game was well worth the cash, especially since my wife will actually play with me. She is saving her earnings to buy the ruby rings.

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.

Ninjato

When my mom dropped $200 cash on me for my birthday (a big surprise BTW) I had all kinds of things I could spend it on. But I tend to look at cash and gift certificates like this: spend it on something you normally wouldn't buy. Because that's usually what gifts are. You don't buy someone a gift certificate for an oil change for a reason. Gifts are superfluous, fun things. So I bought a ninja sword.

Like I said before: I'm a geek, through and through.

I've been thinking a lot lately of another visit to Japan: our 5th anniversary is coming up next year, I'm enrolled in Japanese language class at the local community college, and I just had a blast playing Tenchu Z. I love my katana that I bought in Kyoto four years ago, and I plan on getting another one next time I visit. I certainly do not plan on getting a ninja sword in Japan, not to mention it would be hard to find. The Ninjato as we know it never existed. It is a construct of Japanese film, Hollywood, and anime. The exact origin of the straight sword and square tsuba design seems to be unknown. But it is known to be not historically accurate by any means. So this sword is purely a celebration of the pop culture ninja. So that's why I would feel silly buying a ninja sword in Japan. Instead, I bought a Hanwei Ninjato.

Hanwei is a Chinese company that manufactures many functional historical swords of all types. Martial artists actually use Hanwei swords because they are functional, rugged, and much cheaper then true Japanese swords, or nihonto. So practice and destroy the cheap ones while the authentic ones sit safely on your wall. This sword is made for business. While not folded, it is differentially hardened, and it has a real hamon to prove it. The guys at Sword-Buyers-Guide.com did a review, and they have plenty of video to show how sharp this thing is. I've read that folding is only a matter of tradition today anyways. They used to do it to improve the carbon content of the steel, but that is unnecessary today - though it also makes for a beautiful effect on the blade. Point is, a lot of swords made today are as good as the classics.

So this sword is kick ass. It has all the details that make it feel like a "real" ninja sword: black colors, hamon, flat black saya, square tsuba, and it even has a kamasu-kissaki (the striaght line tip, where others are traditionally curved). More pictures here.

Oh and BTW, I'm adding Edo Wonderland to my todo list for Japan. The ninjas sold me, lol.

And I never posted a pic of it, so here is my Kyoto sword:

Fatal Frame 3

I like me a good scare. Unfortunately, there are few ways to get one. Horror movies are 99% garbage. I hear there's a good author by the name of Stephen King who wrote a few good books. But I tried to read one ("The Shining") and he put me to sleep for five chapters before I gave up. A lot of "horror" video games are terrible in the horror department. Resident Evil hasn't been scary since the first game. Silent Hill, same. Most others are scary in the "monster jumps out of the closet" type scare. You might as well buy a jack-in-the-box for less money. But Fatal Frame... is different.

This is the third Fatal Frame game. I got it off eBay for a whopping $50 new, for a PS2 game! I guess it was a limited run. I've played most of the first game and recently completed the second game. So it was only natural that I now play the third one. And man was it well worth the money.

The gameplay hasn't changed at all. You are still a diminutive Japanese female stuck in a creepy old Japanese mansion full of vengeful ghosts. You are defenseless for a short period of time before you find a Camera Obscura, an antique camera that can damage ghosts when you take their picture. Of course, you do more damage to them the closer they are, and you get a special "shutter chance" when they are actually attacking you. So you are encouraged, if not required, to allow the ghosts to stalk you while you charge the camera and grab a snapshot at the last possible moment before their icy hands grab your throat. And believe it or not, that is not what makes the game scary.


What makes the game scary is the atmosphere. This mansion is creepy. It creeks. It has unseen children singing lullabies. It has ghostly women hiding in corners crying to themselves. It has ghosts who talk as if still alive, replaying the horror of their last moments. It has hooded priests who walk with their Buddhist staffs, which rattle like a chain as they strike the ground. There are little girls, shrine maidens, who are trying to stake you to the ground with a mallet. You know when those are near because you hear this wood-on-stone tapping sound of their mallet as they approach. Run bitch. Run.

The ghost list goes on. But you get the point. They are surprisingly varied in style and execution. And every single one of them is a character in an unfolding past drama. A drama which has spilled over into your own life. This game also links the first two games to this story, including characters from those games. Let me tell you: when you walk through a door and things start to look familiar, until finally you realize you just entered the "rope hallway" from the first game, that is fucking creepy. That is not someplace you want to be. In fact, that is one characteristic of this game that I haven't felt since the original Alone in the Dark. In both Alone in the Dark and this game, there were places that I did not want to be in. When I had to pass through those areas, I ran like hell until I came out the other side.

So in conclusion, I give Fatal Frame 3 a 5 out of 5. I also think it is the best of the series. Most reviews seem to think that 2 was the scariest, and thus the best, but I think 3 actually has it beat. There were some unforgettable moments in FF2; like dropping your camera in the caves and having to run from a pursuing ghost because you are defenseless; or when the little girl turns out the lights on you in the middle of a hallway battle. But FF3 just had more atmosphere, beginning to end. I wouldn't play the game after dark, alone in the living room. When the wife went to bed, I turn it off and play something else. That's how good the game was.

Tenchu Z

I am a geek, through and through. I like zombies, wizards, vampires, Star Trek, and ninjas. You put any one of those things in a game or movie, and you have my attention. So it should come as no surprise that Tenchu was one of my favorite Playstation games. I also liked many, though not all, of the sequels. Tenchu Z is a two year old Xbox 360 game. I played the demo when it came out, and was not impressed, so I took a pass. But I have since heard that some people absolutely loved the game. So I just picked up a copy on eBay for $14 shipped. For $14, you don't have much as far as expectations go. If the game sucks, then so be it, I'll eBay it back for $12. Well, I didn't put it up on eBay, I played it beginning to end, and then some.


Tenchu Z takes a different character approach than previous games. All other games you play Rikimaru, Ayame, or a couple other minor ninjas. In Z, you create your own ninja and take orders from Rikimaru. As you play, you unlock new clothing, accessories, saya, items, skills, and abilities. It was quite rewarding to be honest. I had a lot of fun picking out badass outfits for my ninja everytime I got a new batch of clothing. Little things make me happy.

Gameplay hasn't come very far since Wrath of Heaven. Stealth Kills are still the focus, combat is still weak, items are still completely unneccessary (though fun to use), and the AI is still completely dumb. After the first few levels, I played the entire game on "hard", and the only difference was the guys gained a little bit of vertical field of view, meaning they could actually see you if you were on the roof in the moonlight directly in front of them. The AI is so terrible, they give up chasing you after 5 seconds, usually kicking the dirt in frustration before running back to their predetermined walking route. Some new elements were introduced, like the ability to cling to ceilings, run along walls, stealth kill through shoji, etc. The difficulty didn't really require you to make use of any of these new abilities, but they were fun to play around with anyhow.

The level designs left much to be desired. The maps are reused several times each, with minor differences such as a few daylight missions, different start/end points, and different enemy load out. This isn't so bad since the levels are large enough that changing goals and enemy locations actually is enough to make the stage feel almost new. You can tell they wanted to show off the beauty of feudal Japan with their level design, but just didn't have the resources to do it. Either lack of ability or lack of funds means the levels are all a bit lackluster. I think a little bit more time and artistic talent could have really made the levels pop, and let feudal Japan shine. I also think more environmental changes could really put some variety into the game. Snow could cause crunching footfalls and leave footprints to be found. Rain could make dark nights darker but leave loud puddles to splash through, and muddy footprints at building entries. Stylish, fast moving storm clouds could cause dynamic shadows, blocking moon or sun, so that one second you are hidden in shadow but the next you are exposed as the clouds reveal the moon. The possibilites are endless! It would be a lot of fun to design a ninja game...

Finally, the actual missions themselves could use some variance. You get points for every kill, regardless of where you are (unless they are non-combatants; but if they have a sword they are fair game). Missions that take place in your own backyard still reward you for killing random guards, despite the fact that they are your own countrymen. I think changing mission parameters would make sense but also create interest. Imagine if you were given a mission to assassinate a spy, but since he is in your own territory you are forbidden from killing anyone else. Or even in foreign territory "retrieve the secret documents" type missions, you might want to require total secrecy, so again, no kills. Mix it up!

So you might be thinking that this game really sucks. Well, it's no AAA title, and it certainly has it's flaws. But in the end, the game is a lot of fun. If you like the idea of sneaking around and cutting people down with sprays of blood, then you won't go wrong here. I had a blast and played the game for hours on end. I'll probably go back and grab a few more achievements and play with some more items that I never got to use. If you liked any of the previous Tenchu games, then this one is certainly worth the $14 you will pay for it.

The Dresden Files

I'm almost done with Turn Coat, book 11 of The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. I'm having trouble deciding where to begin, because it's easy to describe the series in such a way as to make it sound ridiculous. And I guess that's probably because it is ridiculous.

Harry Dresden is a wizard for hire in modern day Chicago. He's actually listed in the yellow pages. Most of his work comes from the Chicago P.D., whom turn to him when they can't come up with an explanation. That's how things start. We quickly learn of an international council of wizards, multiple breeds of vampire, werewolves, ghosts, zombies, holy knights, demons, fallen angels, a world of Faerie... Yeah it gets crazy real fast. But the series is really good. Jim Butcher spins complex yet comical tales of modern fantasy noir with a sarcastic and wise cracking main character who is so real that you can't help but think you've met the guy before. It's worth a read if you are a fantasy fan.

Oh, and I almost forgot about Bob, Harry's porn-obsessed spirit servant who lives in a skull in his lab. Instant classic.

Full listing of his books. He also has a traditional high-fantasy novel series going titled "Codex Alera". I haven't gotten around to reading them yet, but I'm sure they are just as good.