Book Review: Usagi Yojimbo Book 16 by Stan Sakai

Usagi Yojimbo Book 16 by Stan Sakai

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

Showdown--Usagi and Gen travel together, winding up in a town that is terrorized by two rival gangs. Both gangs are vying for control of the town; the local cop is a spineless sell-out who gets money by providing information to both gang leaders. Usagi and Gen decide to rid the town of the brigands by joining either side and manipulating them into leaving. It's the classic Yojimbo tale with a little twist that makes for a fun tale.

Escape!--Chizu is called to her clan headquarters for a reckoning. She has been involved with Usagi's adventures, sometimes to the detriment of the clan's ambitions. Having to fight her way out is just the start of her problems.  This story is interesting but seems like it is a bit of long-term plot advancement that will pay off later.

Three Seasons--Three different people are at an inn and tell tales of their run-ins with Usagi. Each story is entertaining in itself but the final reveal of who is asking was a surprise to me. The story also sets up a future adventure, probably.

The Shrouded Moon--A superstitious gang boss rules the next town Usagi and Gen wander into. His lucky charm gets stolen by Kitsune, a street entertainer and thief that Usagi has run into many times before. She is working for a mysterious character and is glad to take Usagi and Gen's help, but not to fill them in on the details. It's another interesting story that turns out about how your would expect.

Kitsune's Tale--Kitsune's backstory, how she became a street performer and thief, is told as she and Gen are traveling. It's another fine bit of character development by Sakai.

Recommended, highly for Usagi fans.

Movie Review: Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Star Trek: First Contact (1996) directed by Jonathan Frakes

The United Federation of Planets is under attack by the Borg again. The Enterprise, under the command of Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), is ordered to stay on Neutral Zone patrol. The UFP higher ups are concerned about Picard, who was once assimilated by the Borg, changing sides during the battle. The captain and his crew decide to disobey orders and fly off to Earth where a gigantic Borg cube is attacking. With Picard's insider knowledge of Borg tech and design, they are able to take out the mega-cube. In a last ditch effort at victory, the cube fires a sphere at Earth that slips through a time hole to Earth's past. The Enterprise is in pursuit and sees the Earth turn into a Borg planet after the sphere vanishes. The Enterprise races into the time hole before it collapses, taking them to Earth in the mid-21st century.

They destroy the Borg sphere but not before (1) the Borg fire on an Earth settlement and (2) the Enterprise is boarded by some of the Borg. The Borg start assimilating crew members and refitting many decks to suit their needs. Picard naturally does not want to give up his ship to the menace, so he works with Data (Brent Spiner) and Worf (Michael Dorn) to fight the enemy. Data is captured and taken to the Borg Queen (Alice Krige), who tries to seduce him into unlocking the ship's computer so they can take control. Part of her seduction is giving Data flesh, an unfamiliar experience that he has a hard time dealing with.

Meanwhile, on the planet, Riker (Jonathan Frakes), LaForge (LeVar Burton), and Troi (Marina Sirtis) are helping the encampment. They are by a missile silo where Zefram Cochran (James Cromwell) has built a ship that will be able to travel faster than light, thereby gaining the attention of nearby aliens and making first contact, bringing Earth into its interstellar age. The ship needs repairs. The Enterprise crew has a hard time helping Cochran and not geeking out, telling him about all the statues and schools named after him. Cochran is a hard-drinking guy who is doing this project for money, not fame or to help mankind step out into the greater universe. Cochran has a hard time dealing with the new-found pressure.

The story does a great job balancing adventure, drama, and comedy. Picard has a crisis about getting revenge for what the Borg did to him, giving him a more interesting story arc and some moments of very physical action and self-doubt. Data also has a crisis about how human he could really become with the Borg's assistance, questioning whether he should change alliances. Cochran's crisis about fame leads more to comedy but also some interesting character moments. The human drama is blended in nicely to the storyline, making a very satisfy film.

Recommended, highly for Star Trek fans. This is easily the best of the Next Generation movies.

This movie is also reviewed on A Good Story is Hard to Find Episode #357. Check it out!

Cute Kid Pix May 2025

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

Our youngest had his Spring GT Elementary Sinfonia Concert in May. The orchestra is a special, audition-only orchestra that gives students the opportunity to work on more challenging material. He had a good time and looked great playing his bass.

GT Elementary Sinfonia

My son

We went to the Main Street Festival in Laurel, Maryland. The celebration was delayed by a propane explosion that happened to one of the booth as they were setting up in the morning. The 9 a.m. parade was canceled but the festival opened at 11 a.m. 

Entering Main Street

My wife would have loved this

My daughter loves cotton candy

I love junk food

This family does not love a skeletal unicorn

Cordoned off for investigation

For Mother's Day, we went into Baltimore to Saint Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church. The inside is not very big but we were able to follow along in the prayer books. Enough congregation was there that it did not feel awkward.

St. Michael the Archangel church

Inside

Afterward, we went to Little Italy and had treats at Vaccaro's, an Italian pastry and coffee shop. 

Vaccaraccino

Rum cake and chai

Tiramisu and ???

Another concert was the elementary school's spring concert with all my youngest's fellow orchestra players from 5th grade. 

The advanced orchestra

The lone bass

My daughter's school had a pops concert night to raise money for the music boosters. It was fun even if she only played in the last few songs.

At the pops

My youngest's school had their field day so I volunteered for one of the stations. After all the "in field" activities, they gathered for a school photo, a race with a few teachers in inflatable costumes, and the fifth graders throwing water balloons at the Orchestra and Band teachers (though the students had to be in advanced levels).

Half the student body

The penguin did not win the race

5th graders go after their teachers!

A few days later were the Simulated Congressional Hearings, where the fifth grade students practiced giving testimony on various issues. My son really enjoyed it.

Ready to give testimony

Hand shaking afterward

We finally celebrated my sister's birthday at a local restaurant. One guess on the type of restaurant...

They did sing in English

My youngest had a presentation at the STEAM fair at his school. That's Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.

STEAM fair presentation

My youngest had an audition for the Gifted and Talented Middle School Orchestra. It was on the last day of May, so we won't know if he is accepted for a couple of weeks. He felt confident about his performance.

Camera shy at the audition

Book Review: Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G. K. Chesterton by Joseph Pearce

Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G. K. Chesterton by Joseph Pearce

This weighty tome (490 pages of text with another 32 of notes and index) covers the whole life of the great Catholic intellectual of the early twentieth century, Gilbert Keith Chesterton. He enjoyed debating from an early age, often discussing issues with his brother Cecil in their childhood (a habit that lasted). As he grew, Chesterton started writing prose and poetry, along with forming informal societies to discuss literature and sometimes even politics. His way of writing and discussing had two key characteristics. First, he used paradox and common sense often. Second, he used gentleness and charity with all his interlocutors. That's how he wound up being friends with George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells while fundamentally disagreeing with them. The book goes over both Chesterton's public career and a lot of his private life. Pearce had access to a lot of Chesterton's letters and other personal writing, a very large body of material.

Chesterton's journey of faith is also chronicled in a fascinating way. He starts as a searcher for truth coming out of the English Protestant background common to the late 19th century. His pursuit of truth eventually led him to becoming Catholic, though his trip was naturally slowed by the expectations of his family and friends who were less keen on Roman religion. His love for others and for truth made him cautious. When he did convert, he was quite certain it was the right decision. 

His brilliant writing style fills the book. There's plenty of quotes, some quite lengthy, giving the highlights of his writing career, showing both his wisdom and his innocence. His style is delightful even when it doesn't quite suit his subject matter. He wrote several biographies though he does not give them the typical historical reviews one expects. He gives more of an impression of the person, what they were like as individuals and how they affected Chesterton's world view. He looked for the greatness in his subjects, not for every last fact or detail of their lives.

This book has the tough balancing act of giving an impression of Chesterton's character and personality along with a detailed historical review of his life. Pearce does a good job presenting both. Chesterton's love of children and of home and hearth comes across along with his desire to present the truth, often in comical and paradoxical ways. Pearce's achievement here is clearly a labor of love, with a great deal of admiration and generosity toward his subject. It's a delight to read even if it is a long read.

Highly recommended to get to Chesterton's life and heart.

Random DC Stuff May 2025

I went on a fifth-grade field trip with my son to see the famous monuments in DC, starting at the Lincoln Memorial. They enjoyed the views of the president and the reflecting pool.

Another monument in the distance

Needed for a virtual geocache

The planned itinerary was to walk up to the Washington Monument, have lunch there, and walk back to Lincoln down the other side of the Mall. We started by visiting the Vietnam Memorial.

The statue at Vietnam Memorial

Further down the Mall is 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence Memorial, a small island in an artificial pond. The island also has a lot of ducks on it.

On the island

Bottom feeding?

Pursuing the ducks

The World War II Memorial was the favorite of the boys. It has plenty of space to explore and a nice fountain where visitors can stick their legs in. We did not do that, though other 5th graders did.

WWII Memorial

Atlantic theater

We made it to the Washington Monument, which seems even taller when you are standing right underneath it.

Washington Monument

We ate lunch there and discussed our next plans. We could see the White House and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial from there and opted to go to Jefferson. That was a deviation from the planned itinerary but we had enough time to make it.

I guess I avoided taking pictures of other people's kids

We continued around the Tidal Basin to the FDR Memorial, a sprawling display of the years of his presidency. I was amazed to find a small copy of a sculpture of FDR on one of the information signs.

Mini-he

Not far away is the dramatic Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. Another school group was there at the base of the statue. 

MLK Memorial

My son looking over the Tidal Basin back to the Jefferson Memorial

We made it back to the bus in plenty of time, with a quick walk through of the Korean War Memorial. We were impressed with the Washington Monument's reflection in the reflecting pool (go figure!). 

Another view from Lincoln

Walking around with the boys was a lot of fun.

Book Review: God's'Dog Vol. 1 by J. Pageau et al.

God's'Dog Volume 1: Monster written by Jonathan Pageau and Matthieu Pageau, adapted and drawn by Cord Nielson

A medieval monk (or maybe late classical?) goes on a pilgrimage to the Holy City with a group of monks and soldiers. On one level, the monk is concerned about his vocation, having left an unsatisfactory situation at a desert monastery. Is it a crisis of faith? On another level, he is worried about a creature that is following the group, a dog-headed giant that lurks in the shadows. The men in the group have different attitudes toward the creature without knowing its intentions (if it is rational enough to have any). The fate of the Skins of Adam are woven into the story. These legendary skins were give by God to Adam and Eve as they left the Garden of Eden. The myths say that they can protect or preserve life. 

The difficulty with the creature comes to some resolution by the end of this volume but so much is left unfinished. The story is told to a great extent with images which are quite lovely and follow in the stark tradition of Mike Mignola, the creator of Hellboy. I enjoyed reading this very much and look forward to the next volume (which happily came in the same shipment with this--I am behind on this series but soon to catch up).

Recommended.

Movie Review: Thunderbolts* (2025)

Thunderbolts* (2025) directed by Jake Schreier

Yelena (Florence Pugh), sister of the now deceased Black Widow, is doing covert black-ops for Valentina de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Valentina has a lot of work to get done because she's left her O.X.E. corporate job to be head of the CIA. O.X.E. has been doing a lot of bad, illegal things, so Yelena has been blowing a lot of stuff up. After her latest mission, she goes to see her father Alexei (formerly the Red Guardian, a sort of Captain America of Russia played by David Harbour). She's hoping for advice on dealing with ennui and wanting to quit her job. Alexei says he's content with running a limo service but as soon as he hears she has a line on covert ops work, he wants in. It's not the best father-daughter situation. Meanwhile, newly elected Congressman Bucky Barnes (formerly the Winter Soldier, played by Sebastian Stan) is on the committee trying to impeach de Fontaine, who is trying to stay squeaky clean in the public eye.

Yelena's next assignment is to take out a thief about to infiltrate a secret bunker in Utah that has a lot of O.X.E. equipment and secrets. When she gets there, she finds Taskmaster, US Agent (Wyatt Russell), and Ghost (Hannah John -Kamen) all on similar missions to wipe each other out. As they fight, they release Bob (Lewis Pullman), a civilian who doesn't know anything about what is going on or even why he is there. The group winds up working together to make it out of the bunker (which is set to incinerate them along with all the incriminating evidence) and are forced into partnership against de Fontaine's schemes.

The movie has plenty of action and comedy but the main theme deals with dark pasts, loneliness, and depression. A lot of the characters struggle with what they have done and what they are doing now with their lives. The plot is a bit darker and moves toward a psychological resolution unlike most Marvel films' big fights. 

Except for Bucky, I haven't been that much interested in any of these characters, who were side characters in other superhero films and TV series. I have a lot more affection for them and am actually looking forward to what comes next for Marvel, which I haven't been able to say for quite a while.

Recommended. I like Captain America: Brave New World a bit better, but not by much.