Gord’s Comments (group member since Apr 06, 2017)

Gord’s comments from the Vampires, Weres and Fae! group.

Good luck today and have a ton of fun.

Yah, happy fanboy/girling all around this morning.

I've never cosplayed in my life but Vash was one of the few characters I ever considered cosplaying. For those that are curious this is Vash

This might be exciting for only me but meh...

Dark Horse Comics announced that they are giving the Berserk treatment to Trigun. You guys may have noticed me slowing working on the Berserk Deluxe Editions over the last couple years and they are beautiful books. They are three volumes in one and run from 6-700ish pages. They are blown up from the original tankoban size to an 11"x14" page size with a leather bound hardcover. If you are a fan of the series these are beautiful books. The original Trigun series will be in one book coming out in December and then Trigun Maximum, the sequel series will be starting next year.

This has some extra meaning for me as well. Berserk was the series that got me into Manga and Trigun was the series that got me into anime. I've wanted to read the series that the anime was based on but it's hard to find. I wonder if it's to early to request that the library buy a copy?

https://twitter.com/DarkHorseComics/s...

The challenge book is done and that was such an awful read. My first 1 star book this year and it earned that rating with great gusto. Thankfully it's Friday and I've got a great stack of books I know I'll like lined up for next to purge this nasty thing from my mind.

I think the odds are stacked in my favor on this one. It's a Canadian publishing company and a Canadian author. Libraries here like to carry Canadian content for obvious reasons so it's stacking the odds in my favor. That being said it's a bit of a long shot so I won't be surprised if it gets shot down.

Thank you Cee!

I've read through the Innkeeper series a couple of times now, Prime reading material.

I've actually read The Queens Gambit, it was alright, but it put me on the trail of that series. The library has the second book and the second book was released as serials as well. Combine that with tit being short and it's the perfect candidate.

The House Witch, this is a book that has popped up on my radar a couple times and sounds right up my alley but my library does not have it. I think I should bug them about it though. It's a Canadian author and there is a physical book not locked in Amazon hell.

I'm turning to those of similar taste for some challenge help and I know you guys are much more in tune with this stuff. I need a book that was previously released as serials online. Basically a book that had chapters released online before the book was published. I do believe Hidden Legacy has some stuff like this but I just finished a reread of that.

I don't know about anyone else but I am so ready for the weekend. I would love for it to be longer but I'll take what I can get currently.

It's weird stories like this that I need right now. The news as of late has not been... uplifting shall we say.

As for the water debate, there are things you can add like medicine, multivitamin powder, etc where you can still consider it water. If you are adding sugars, sweeteners, etc, etc, then it's not really water any more. You are veering into the realm if weak Koolaid. As for myself, I do dip into things like pop, iced tea, etc I mainly drink water. I probably drink 1-3 liters of water a day depending on what I'm doing, the weather, etc. The hotter it is and the more I'm moving about the more I drink. The more sedentary I get the less I drink.

Legos would be legit fun. This is trying to build something with needle nose pliers because there is no room for my fat fingers.

Nothing like working for hours on the most piddly of stuff only discover that one part was made wrong so now you have to take it all apart, get new parts, and start all over again. So much fun...

I remember in years past that there were articles about the smoke drifting down over the States. It all depends on the wind direction, speed, and how bad the fires are. It's a little better here this morning but still a bit smokey.

I was actually watching Phillip DeFranco yesterday and there was a bit about "AI Friends". Basically phone apps that utilize ChatGPT to create conversations with you. I guess if it helps people then great but it just feels kind of weird to me. A part of me gets it though. There are times where people just want companionship but still just kind of feels weird.

Yup. Before work I got to read about two morons, not the ones mentioned above, talking about their sex life and their bosses sex life. So much fun /s

Well the walk this morning is going to be interesting...

The morning started hot and normal for a heatwave/dome/what ever they are calling it. Then the wind shifted, the temp plummeted, and now the sky is this weird grey/orange/yellow color. Oh and everything tastes/smells like campfire.

For those that might be confused it has been a bad spring and there are wildfires everywhere around here currently. There are 87 active wildfires currently in this province and 62 more in BC.

I'm reading Killing Them Softly and oh man this book is painful. The book is 95% dialogue which is a thing. The problem is that the dialogue is supposed to be a Boston accent so nothing flows normally. Combine that with the fact that most of the dialogue involves two massive morons and it devolves into an endless flow of stupidity, racism, and sexism. It's not like the story doesn't progress it just progresses at a snails pace as these two morons babble on about nothing.

I have some mixed feelings about AI art and AI in general. There is of course numerous examples of AI being used for nefarious purposes. Scam calls where AI is used to replicate a family members voice for instance. There have also been instances of AI being used as scams in art related things. Contest, to create fake portfolios, etc.

I also understand the concerns around AI being used by big corporations to squeeze an extra dollar out of the bottom line. Being used to replicate a VA's voice or to just create a voice instead of paying a person to use their talents. Same with AI being used to create art for projects instead of paying an artist or artists to create something. There is also the concern about AI and copyright which is just a massive bag of worms to crack open. I do believe that there is at least one or two cases heading to court already in regards to this.

I think AI can be an interesting tool to use but I think that there are a lot of boundaries, rules, laws, what ever you want to call it that need to be established. Unfortunately our laws and governments take forever to catch up with new tech so it will be the wild west for a while to come.

As for someone surpassing Junji Ito... not happening. That man is the master of horror and knows how to utilize the page and the page flip so well.

Nothing but work ranting here

(view spoiler)[
The rest of this month is going to be stupid stressful. My coworkers wife got her surgery date and he wants to be there for her for the surgery and afterwards to make sure she has no issues. It's perfectly reasonable and I've got no issue with that. It just means that he will be gone for two weeks starting next week. Of course those two weeks are during the end of the month where everything is super busy. I already see all the work that needs to be done and there is a lot. It doesn't help that I can't get parts in advance to start working on anything early either. I already feel myself turning into a grumpy bear. (hide spoiler)]

I've never gone as far as reading the wrong book but I've definitely had my wires crossed as to what book I'm looking at. It usually happens with the one word title that is nothing but a generic word.

Time for that weekly recap and I don't have as much to talk about this week but that's alright.

Foxglove Summer -4 Stars
This was the last book that I've read previously in this series and I don't remember a lick of it which is kind of weird. At the start of this book it felt a bit filler like especially after the bombshell ending of the last book. Here is Peter getting taken out of his element and sent out to the country for a case that has nothing to do with The Folly. The brilliant part of this book is that as time goes along it is slowly revealed that this case is indeed a Folly case and that it is far from a filler novel. This novel has a ton of development for Peter as a character as well as giving a very small tease for things to come. To paraphrase "In a year things will go to *#&%". This was just an enjoyable read and I can't wait for the next one.

This brings me to a small rant. Not about the book though. As I started this one I went to request my copy of the next one and my library didn't have the audiobook of the next book or anything else in the series. I found this to be a bit odd but the library has all sorts of partial series. I submitted a request and it got denied. Not because the library didn't want it but because the eContent provider will not sell the library the remaining books in audiobook format. The library has ebooks and physical books but they are not allowed to purchase the audiobooks. Why? Who the hell knows but man is it infuriating. It also puts me in a bit of a pickle. I could just easily read on in the series with no problem but I really enjoy the narrator. I might even go so far as to say this narrator has provided one of the best audiobook experiences for me since I've started listening to audiobooks. I really want to continue this series on audiobook as the narrator has essentially become Peter Grant to me. Needless to say, there is a part of me that is contemplating just buying the books for myself but then I'd be giving the publisher, the one who refuses to sell the book to the library, my money and I don't know if I like that idea.

W.I.T.C.H. Part I: The Twelve Portals, Vol. 1 -4 Stars
This was a series that was low down on my radar as my library didn't have them and it wasn't a "I need to read this right now" kind of situation. Then one day while browsing through the new comics I discovered that the library had purchased the entire series. I figured that was a sign to give these a shot. This comic was very odd but in a good kind of way. These are Italian comics written for Disney (or a Western audience) but the Japanese influence on this series was incredibly clear. This was essentially a magical girl comic. I'm far from an expert on the genre but even I can recognize the most basic of tropes. Combine that with an art style that is clearly inspired by manga while still being it's own thing and it creates this odd little comic. Speaking of art style it screams 90's to me while still looking clean and not dated. Looking at you 90's muscle bound ultra violent comics. Needless to say this comic has hooked me in and I want more. Not sure if the quality will continue but for now I'm here for the ride.

A Fire Among Clouds -3 Stars
This was an odd find while browsing through Hoopla. It's a fantasy comic set in late 15th century Mesoamerica and is of course heavily influenced by the culture of the time. This book was of course helpful for many a challenge but putting that aside it was an interesting read. I love exploring fantasy books that pull from different cultures and mythologies. It just gives me, as a reader, something new to experience. Now this comic pulls from a webcomic that the author created and it kind of shows. For a comic that was 320 pages there wasn't a lot that happened. We met our characters, we established who they were, and set up the running plot for the story but that was about it. It felt like the story only really got started at the end. Still, there is enough here that I will probably be back if a second book ever comes out.

Beauty and the Feast, Vol. 7 -3 stars
More food, more wholesome moments, more weirdly ecchi splash pages that contradict the entire tone of the series.

Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 21 -3 Stars
The shine of this series is definitely wearing off for me and I think it's just a problem I have with gag manga in general. After a while I crave story, I crave growth, I crave development. You get that in this series but it comes in little itty bitty drips before the author falls back into that gag manga rhythm. It also doesn't help that this one opens with a section based around my least favorite character, Yamai, being her usual psychopath self. I really do not like this character and her "trait" just feels weird in what is, for the most, a pretty chill series. I'm far from done with this series but I'm starting to get more critical of things.

Now we get to the "what's next" section of this post. I swore that I was going to request less books from the library so I wasn't stressed all the time trying to keep up with all these due dates and what not. Lets just say that hasn't worked out very well. I've currently got 2 audiobooks out with one more coming in soon and another 20+ books signed out. I really need to knuckle down and clear this out a bit.

The Hunchback Assignments
This is what I am currently listening to on audio. It's a reread but I needed another steampunk book while I wait for to come in. The audio was a bit rough in the beginning when it sounded like the narrator was talking to me through a tin can and string setup.

Reincarnated as a Sword (Light Novel) Vol. 3
This is the book that I am currently working through as I've renewed my loan of it twice now. It's off to a good start and giving what I was wanting from the series.

The short list after this book is
and some more manga