X-Men with Friends (and family)

My wife and I have had a $50 gift voucher from Fandango since Christmas. We finally got to use it yesterday. Finally. It’s not like we haven’t tried. Of course, we’ve only been to three movies since the holidays. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1 was the first. We forgot that we had the certificate. Then the in-laws kept the kid for a weekend and we decided to see Thor. We were running behind and had about ten minutes to get into the theater when I found out that you had to order the tickets online and use the certificate there. Almost twenty dollars for two people. Man, I love my Netflix.

This time we were successful. The wife was off early on a Friday and the kid had a few hours left at daycare, so we took full advantage with lunch and pre-purchased tickets for the 2:20 at Vista Ridge. A quick call to a friend that I left hanging for the midnight showing and we were set. Fortunately, said friend is very understanding of commitments with family and doesn’t dog me about it. Too much.

I read comic books but maybe not to the extent of some. I know the origins of the heavy-hitters and some of the smaller arcs, but X-Men I’ve never been to educated on, so if there were a flub somewhere, I wasn’t gonna notice it. If I have questions, then said friend is available. The guy is a veritable walking wiki.

Enjoyed the movie, though wife and I agree that the origin stuff was a little dull here and there. I thought the whole naming bit while they hung out at the secret hideout was a little cheesy, but then I figured, hey, they’re kids and I got over it. Kevin Bacon plays a good bad guy, but I thought his ending was little lame. Would’ve loved to see him go out better than he did. All in all, the ending could’ve been a little better.

In closing, a decent movie, better than number three but not as good as the first two. Don’t take my word for it, go see it, make your on judgement and let me know what you thought. Oh, it was good to see Michael Ironside and Oliver Platt, just wish they had bigger roles.

Texicon and ReaperCon

Two conventions this weekend for you gaming nuts! Texicon is in it’s second year and is for all lovers of board games, role-playing games, and miniatures. In addition to actual game play there will be seminars on how to get the most of your gaming time. Follow the link to see more info, and trust me, there is a lot!

 

ReaperCon is a convention held at the headquarters of Reaper Miniatures in Denton, Texas. They have a few gaming sessions and lots of painting seminars. If you are into miniatures, this is a good place to go. The staff are super cool and they show you how the miniatures are made. I’ve seen their name around since I started playing back in the day. Here’s the link and check out their new miniatures just for the con! (Just click the picture!)

Stan Lee, Leonard Nimoy and Carrie Fisher headline Dallas Comic Con

May 21st and 22nd are two big days that a lot of people are going to remember for a long time! Dallas Comic Con has come back to town and signing autographs are three huge names in comics, TV and movies!

Stan Lee will be manning a table to sign your favorite photos or memorabilia and I’m sure he’ll entertain with a favorite story or two. This is his first showing Dallas in over ten years!

 

 

Leonard Nimoy is questionable on his retirement, so this may be one of his final appearances. Aside from being cast in two J. J. Abrams projects, Star Trek (affiliate link) and Fringe (affiliate link), he will soon be heard as the voice of Sentinel Prime in the upcoming Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

 

Carrie Fisher has a wonderful career so far with movies and a Broadway play based on her book, Wishful Drinking (affiliate link). I loved her siting in Kyle Newman’s Fanboys (affiliate link)  She does the voice of “Angela” on Family Guy (affiliate link) and has been on several shows across the networks.

 

The show will be at a different venue this year, so make sure you check out the map! The program guide is up on the site so that you can see the civic center map, also. Anyone got plans to go and if so, whose the main autograph that you’re looking for?

Lewisville Science Fiction Book Group and Dave Ramsey’s Stupid Tax

Louis Barber is the head of a small book club here in Lewisville that used my store for it’s meetings before we closed the doors about 6 weeks back. As much as I wanted to join the discussions, it never failed that I was either working or out of town or something else had plans for me. Well, I contacted Louis just the other day to find out about the next meeting and found that I was almost too late. I wanted to participate so bad that I decided that I was going to find the book and make a go of it come whatever.

Since I had some remaining Borders Bucks and a coupon and still had my Plus membership (thank you Borders management for not taking that away) I decided to head to the closest one and pick up a copy. Didn’t really think about how far away it was until I was half-way there. Doing the math, with a coupon, $5 in credit and an extra 10% off for the Plus card the $16 book only cost me $5 and change. But, the 40 mile round trip made up the difference in the 2 1/2 gallons of gas at $3.89 a gallon. I ended saving .75. If you’re familiar with Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover(affiliate link), you’ll know that he calls this a “stupid tax”. Kind of like driving 10 miles for gas that’s 3 pennies cheaper. By the way, my wife and I used Dave’s makeover to get rid of $43,000 in debt in 23 months. It can be done.

Anyway, I’ve got my book and learned my lesson. If you have read the book or are still working on it, come find us at the IHOP just off of I-35 and Round Grove on Friday night. So far Cowboy Angels by Paul McAuley(affiliate link) is pretty good. Turing Gates and military spies. Good stuff!

This month’s meeting of the Lewisville Science Fiction Book Group will now be held at the IHOP (International House of Pancakes) near the northwest corner of I35 and  E. Round Grove Road. The meeting will be on Friday 13th, 7:30 pm.  (Safest day of the year as all the crazies are hiding). This month’s book will be “Cowboy Angels” by Paul McAuley.

Jaye Wells and Nicole Peeler Book Tour! Oh, My!

For fans of Jaye Wells’ Sabina Kayne series of books, you’ll be happy to know that she is doing a short tour of Texas and Louisiana signing copies of her latest book, Green-Eyed Demon (affiliate link). If your new to the name, she’s a local author and this is her third novel in the series. She and Nicole Peeler will be traveling together across the two states and dealing out snarkiness where needed on their Snark-La-Tex tour.

I have not had the chance to read any of her novels, but now that I have more time on my hands due to the store closing, I may try some of her short fiction. You can find more titles on her website. I did happen to meet her on two occasions. She was at FenCon a few years back and then later she happened to grace my counter at the local Borders where I worked.
Nicole Peeler and I have not met, either in person or in reading. She authors the Jane True series of novels with the first being Tempest Rising(affiliate link). I have seen these on the shelves and coming through my register, so I know there are fans out there. Again, she has samples on her site if you have never read her.
Jaye Wells and Nicole Peeler will stop first on the Snark-La-Tex Tour at the Borders in Allen, Texas on May 15th at 4:00 PM, so that gives you plenty of time to get out of church, get fed, change clothes, go meet these ladies and get back to church. Visit their sites to read the first chapters of their books, find out other tour dates, and read all the juicy gossip that they come across.
Have any of your read a Jaye Wells or Nicole Peeler novel and if so, how did you like it?
Jaye Wells’ Website
Nicole Peeler’s Website