The lego brick turns 50 today! Check out this fantastic timeline. I still want the Castle! Pretty much the peak there - kids with there freak Bionicles today!

This past Saturday I brewed beer..again and like the first time all over. I rolled down to Brian’s place and we set about doing the deed. I arrived around 9:30am and we finished up around 4pm. According to Bri’s recounting, it looks like things went ok. I still feel like I could have done more, but at the same time I was hesitant as it had been so long (aka 3 and half years! LAME!) since last time and this was my first experience with all-grain brewing.

I really enjoyed it. I think the combination of brewing and the company made the day great. I love the mad scientist factor and the “It may hurt you” point of doing this.

Brian has definitely hooked me up. I think he is a great mentor for this. I would like to get more space (which I mentioned before) and do this myself on a regular basis. Not the frequency that he does, but say once a month. That feels reasonable to me.

I wanted to post the label I made…..3 years ago and can only find the first draft, which is much different than the end result, perhaps totally different would be a better description.

Seriously…..Quantum of Solace….that is the title of the next Bond flick. At least for now. I mean that is really bad. Sounds like they are onto “We can reinvent everything Bond kick” including giving the film an art-house name that no one will remember and some lyricist will commit suicide trying to squeeze it into a theme song.

CNN: Producers reveal title of new James Bond

Thanks to UJ for bringing this to my attention.

Well…like we all need more online distractions. Now one that I can watch with my kids. Sesame Street Online.

I finished this tome some time ago and my lazy butt is writing the review now. Isn’t that special!

The book is another of discworld, though less so than others. This is/was Terry Pratchett’s first Young Adult novel of the disc. It is like a gateway drug for discworld. Not truly addictive, but enough potent ency to make you want to consider coming back to the “pusher man”.

The book is a take on the Pied Piper folktale so we get a two-for-one on the fantasy/folklore scale, more bang for your buck if you will. The story follows Maurice, the amazing cat who is the master mind behind the money making scheme, which is basic but effective. They - Maurice, the rodents and the boy piper - go from town to town and bring their “plague”, which the piper can “relieve” them and they all split the money from this “public service”. The plan is going along merrily but there is discord as the rodents and boy decide they are ready to retire. Maurice convinces them they need one last scam and they can move on. And the last town is where all the fun unfolds.

This is the first Discworld book especially targeted at younger readers. What does this mean as compared to say typical Discworld fare?? It means 2 things to me:

1. Less wordplay/puns - Though they are still there, the references to oddball spellings and grammar or social references are toned down. I think this is ok, appropriate and matches the need of a YA book. It does not mean the Pratchett word skillz are not there - just the opposite - in my opinion. By being constricted to a YA frame, he has to uses his sizable arsenal of vocabulary to still play tricks with out references being lost. But like a great Looney Toon, there are nuggets for the “grown-ups” here (who are you looking at?)
2. Less Discworld back references - This is also wheeled WAY back. As I said above, this is like a Discworld gateway drug. The references here are mild and in theory the book could almost exist in its own world. What is interesting though is that the core of this book is referenced in Reaper Man by Pratchett (though Maurice is called Keith there).

The word play in the book - one of the great things about reading and even looking at a Pratchett novel - is based around the book more than the world. The rats have great names. Darktan, Dangerous Beans, Peaches, Hamnpork, Sardines - all of which were things that they read when they became “aware” before they knew what they were and like what they sounded like.

The book has some dark and frantic stages at the end that I found surprising for a book that was YA. Again though, and I am admitting my own bias here, the word adult does appear in that category. Mr. Pratchett also does a great job of laying out the landscape and you can see the “fairy tale/folklore” being poured out before you. I really enjoyed that.

I would be misrepresenting the book if I was not to mention the references or tribute or perhaps ripped-off (in theory at least - sorta) of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Though the stories are not similar at all, the rats have very similar traits. It has been some time since I have read the book and watched the film, known to all of you as the Secret of NIMH (where the main character’s name is Mrs Brisby because of concerns over trademark with Frisbee - go figure!). Jonathan from NIMH and Darktan seem very similar to me. (note to self….rent movie….wallow in the days of when Don Bluth was “sayin’ something”)

The book does not truly lock into the Discworld saga in a way that is essential but it is a nice starter book, but I would recommend others first (Reaper Man is my favorite).

On a personal reading note, Terry Pratchett has revealed he has rare, early-onset Alzheimer’s. As he states - he is not dead - but why someone with a mind as sharp as his gets this horrid disease is a real imbalance in the “cards you are dealt” game of life.

Some Mad Scientists at University of Southern California have found a way to extend the life of yeast to 800 yeast years. Sure, this could have crazy carry over to the human side, but for now - think of the beer possibilities!