Book Review: Destroy All Humans Vol. 1 by K. Ise and T. Yokota

Destroy All Humans, They Can't Be Regenerated Volume 1 written by Katsura Ise and illustrated by Takuma Yokota

Hajime Kano is a nerdy middle-school student in 1998 Japan. The new, hot craze is Magic: The Gathering (MTG), a trading card game set in a fantasy realm. Players fight one-on-one with constructed decks. Kano is the star player in his grade and wishes he was the star student. The real academic star is Emi Sawatari, his rival since she transferred into his elementary school. She always comes out ahead and is completely aloof to his competitive and nerdy nature. She complains that he's cluttering up a school room with "non-essentials" like MTG cards. The next weekend, he goes to a neighboring city where a shop hosts MTG tournaments. It's his first time there, so he's both awkward and amazed. The shop's star player hasn't been beat that day so he decides to try his "all black" deck against her. He wins the first round but she comes back in the second round. Before it's finished, he drops his D20 (a 20-sided die used to track health). They both go to the floor to pick it up. He knocks his hat off and she recognizes him after he's already realized who she is...Emi Sawatari! They strike up a friendship based on their fascination with the card game.

This book provides a nice twist on the usual school-based manga. Typically the school is weird or overly specific or the interest is in the school's sports team. Here, the school is just a social setting that creates a contrast between Kano and Sawatari that is countered by their afterschool hobby. I don't have nostalgia for MTG (I've never played it). Even so, this story is charming.

Recommended.

Movie Review: Scars of Dracula (1970)

Scars of Dracula (1970) directed by Roy Ward Baker

This late entry in the Hammer Dracula series starts with the local villagers burning the castle of Dracula (Christopher Lee) who has sucked the blood out of one of their daughters. The fire ruins most of the castle but fails to kill the vampire. Years later, Simon (Denis Waterman) is celebrating the birthday of Sarah (Jenny Hanley), his girlfriend. She's also infatuated with his younger brother Paul (Christopher Matthews), a Lothario who has to leave town because of a tryst with the burgomaster's daughter. He flees to a countryside town where the local innkeeper won't give him shelter. He heads to the local castle where he is hosted by Dracula, to his everlasting peril. Simon and Sarah search after Paul, leading into a conflict with Dracula (and those incompetent villagers).

The movie doesn't stint on gore or cleavage, typical Hammer offerings. Lee gets a lot of screen time, which helps, though his performance is less than in other Dracula films. The plot is a bit ramshackle, with some seemingly random killings and a slow investigation. Dracula commands a lot of bats which do some of the killing for him, especially a slaughter at the start. The fake bat unfortunately looks very fake (how does it hover in place?), and when a group of bats appears, they only fly through the scene one at a time, underlining the fakeness at the cost of terror. The ending is more satisfying with a dramatic and unexpected kill for the Count. Also, it's fun to see Patrick Troughton (the Second Doctor in Doctor Who) as Dracula's lackey.

Mildly recommended--this was just okay. Lee's other Dracula films are more satisfying.

Geocaching February 2025

The geocaching month started off with me visiting my brother in Virginia and squeezing a few caches during the visit. Dunn Loring Cache was an easy find even if the park had more trash than I was expecting.

I guess the lamp didn't fit in the can?

Travel Goodies Cache was nearby and an easy, though unphotogenic, find.

The next day I found Out on a Limb, obviously on a tree, and I'm Watching You!, which involved an eye, not a camera.

The limb location

I went to Rockville for some shopping and made the amazing discover of F. Scott Fitzgerald's grave! The Great Gatsby is a multicache based off the cemetery. Also in the area, I found Foxy, a fun wherigo cache, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, another multicache based off the church where the cemetery is, Across the Street from East Rockville, a simple cache, and J&J Beer, or is it Bear?, another easy regular cache.

Fitzgerald final resting place

The fancier grave I thought was Fitzgerald's

More of the graveyard

The church

It was a slow month with only 11 finds, bringing the grand total to 1723.

Book Review: The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

Four British women flee the rainy, dull end of winter at home for a month-long holiday in a small castle in Italy. Mrs. Wilkins saw an ad in the newspaper that caught her eye, promising flowers and sunshine. She noticed another patron at her club, someone she barely knows from church, staring at the same spot in the paper. Miraculously she talked to Mrs. Arbuthnot about the ad and they started making plans to go without their husbands. The cost was pricey, so they advertised for other women to come, winding up with older, widowed Mrs. Fisher and younger, single Lady Caroline Dester. Having little in common other than the desire to get away seems like a recipe for disaster but the Italian castle's atmosphere brings out the best in them as they get past their inner barriers and open themselves to beauty and love.

On the face of it, this looks like the sort of book I would never be interested in--the inner monologues of unhappy women brought together by circumstance. Instead of wallowing in their misery (I am looking at you, Joy Luck Club), they have a transformative experience that is unexpected and delightful (for the reader and the characters). They learn about their suffering, which comes from a combination of external factors and their own choices and dispositions. They realize they can change as they learn more about each other and open theirselves up to goodness. The tale is so sweet and uplifting, I am glad to have read it.

Recommended.

This book is discussed on A Good Story Is Hard to Find Podcast #350. Check it out!

Sample quote, Mrs. Wilkins describing her home life:

"The great thing is to have lots of love about. I don't see," she went on, "at least I don't see here, though I did at home, that it matters who loves as long as somebody does. I was a stingy beast at home, and used to measure and count. I had a queer obsession about justice. As though justice mattered. As though justice can really be distinguished from vengeance. It's only love that's any good. At home I wouldn't love Mellersh [her husband] unless he loved me back, exactly as much, absolute fairness. Did you ever. And as he didn't, neither did I, and the aridity of that house!" [p. 109]

Cute Kid Pix February 2025

More photos that didn't make their own post...

My brother celebrated another birthday at the beginning of the month at our local habachi restaurant. We went home for cake and ice cream (since he doesn't eat cake, though he was gracious enough to blow out candles).

Why not have both?

My son's bass teacher recommended he move up from the quarter-size to the half-size double bass. We went to Bob's House of Basses to get the best deal with a quality instrument. 

Getting set up at home

Book Review: Usagi Yojimbo Book 13 by Stan Sakai

Usagi Yojimbo Book 13 by Stan Sakai

More adventures with the ronin rabbit, Miyamoto Usagi...

My Father's Swords--Usagi heads out on his own after his last epic adventure, running into the son of a fellow samurai who died many years ago in battle. Usagi is impressed with the lad who has his father's swords. Even more, he has the passion to honor his father's memory by becoming a worthy samurai. Usagi also discovers a melancholy secret along the way. The story is very touching.

The Demon Flute--Usagi wanders into a terrified farming village. Many people have been killed in the night by an unknown presence. All they know is sinister flute music plays and darkness descends before death comes. Usagi decides to confront the horror for them, resulting in a supernatural showdown. It's another fun story.

Momo-Usagi-Taro--Usagi buys some treats for orphans and is invited to the orphanage for dinner. He tells a story of a magical child who goes on a great adventure. The story is fun to read but puts the kids to sleep! Usagi leaves as another benefactor shows up with money for the children. It's a sweet tale with a cryptic ending.

The Hairpin Murders--Usagi comes to a new town and joins in an investigation of some murders by Inspector Ishida. Ishida is at first wary of Usagi who is very observant but warms to him quickly as they are summoned to a second victim's death. The story unfolds nicely with some clever twists. Ishida is an interesting investigator.

The Courtesan--Directly following on the Hairpin Murders, Usagi follows a woman whose nightly travels are being harassed by masked assailants. Turns out, the woman is part of Lady Maple's entourage. Lady Maple is a highly respected and fabulously beautiful woman. She has a dark secret that Usagi is pulled into when she invites him to her castle as a thank you. The story has the usual action and intrigue and makes for another fine adventure.

Tameshigiri--Medieval Japanese sword makers would prove the worthiness of their blade by performing ceremonial cuts on corpses. Many corpses were taboo for this practice, for example, ones of murderers or that had tattoos. This background is the basis for this story. Usagi is still in Ishida's town and another set of murders occurs. Their investigation leads them to a local clan of sword makers trying to get out of their mediocrity by demonstrating the excellence of their craftsmanship. The conflict involves investigating and a bunch of fighting, the usual sort of adventure for Usagi. The story is interesting and reveals yet another facet of Japanese historical culture.

Recommended.

Movie Review: Spy x Family Code: White (2023)

Spy x Family Code: White (2023) directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi and Takashi Katagiri

Based on the hit manga series and the hit anime series, this film presents a stand-alone story in the lives of the Forger family. Loid Forger is a super-spy for fictional country Westalis. He is on Operation Strix, trying to gain the trust of Donovan Desmond. His main approach is through Desmond's young son Damian who is at a prestigious school. To infiltrate the school, he poses as a family man, making a deal Yor Briar to pretend to be his wife (though she is really the elite assassin "Thorn Princess"). They adopt Anya from an orphanage to be a student at the school (though she has telepathic abilities and can read minds). They also have a dog named Bond (though he is a former military test animal who can see the future, which only works in the story since Anya can telepathically read his visions of what will happen). 

Anya's school is running a dessert-making contest that will be judged by the school's director. Loid knows from his files that the director's favorite dessert is an old-fashioned dish served in a northern region of the country. The family travels north to sample it and get ideas so Anya can practice cooking it before the big day at school. As happens to this family, a whole other spy mission springs up causing mayhem, excitement, danger, and comedy. A lot of events are very improbable, but the whole basis is extremely improbable. The story is fun and the characters are endearing. If you've liked either of the series, this is more of the same entertaining storytelling.

Recommended.