It may not be completely legit to review all four of Dan Simmons' Hyperion novels in the same article—it's questionable whether the series functions as a single, cohesive whole, or two parts, or four. One review is less work for me, though, which makes me considerably less likely to quit. (Please, don't hurt me.)

The four novels of the Hyperion series—Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, and The Rise of Endymion—easily split into two parts. The first two books follow a group of characters on a pilgramage to a planet on the edge of a huge interstellar empire—each one hoping to find the answers to the mysterious events of his life, while the rest of humanity is on the brink of war. The second two books are set several hundred years later, showing the aftermath and resolution of the events in the first half of the series.

The first book is just fantastic. Structurally, Hyperion resembles The Canterbury Tales—each of the pilgrims telling his own story to the rest as they move toward their uncertain destination—and it's very well done. Each story is distinct in style and memorable in its own right, and Simmons weaves them together wonderfully. In fact, if the series had ended with the first book, I think I wouldn't have minded, despite the fact that it ends in a cliffhanger.

The second book wasn't quite as interesting from a writing standpoint as the first, but the ideas presented were interesting and it provided what I thought was a very satisfying resolution to the action in the first. Several mysteries remain by the end of Fall, but somehow they seemed to be the sort that didn't need explaining.

Unfortunately, the third and fourth novels didn't really live up to the first two. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy them at all, but big chunks of the text got bogged down in discussions about human history and the nature of the universe. Even when there was action taking place, I often found myself skimming over the scenes, just trying to see what happens next.

Overall, I'd say that this series was worth the read, but I most likely won't come back to it.

Started: 2008-07-21 | Finished: 2008-09-24

Purchase from Amazon

Jason's cradle, which we keep next to our bed, has an attachment with three buttons on it. One turns on a little nightlight, one plays a little song, and the third makes the cradle vibrate. We call that last one Jason's "snooze button."

It's a pretty common feature on baby seats, cradles, and swings, because apparently they find it soothing. In Jason's case, it's soothing enough to keep him asleep for an extra few minutes while we prepare ourselves for a feeding or changing. It's a real lifesaver, I tell you, because it means that only one of us has to be up and doing things, and the other can just "hit snooze" and go back to sleep.

Unfortunately, the motor on the attachment seems to have died. I replaced the batteries a couple of days ago because we noticed that the vibration was getting weaker, but while that always works with his bouncer and swing, the vibration in the cradle is now almost non-existent. So, unless I can fix it or get it replaced, it looks like we're back to the old-fashioned ways of rocking him and patting him to keep him calm in the night.

Jason is a month old today, and I have to say that it has been a real learning experience.  I am finding out new things about him, as well as myself, every day.  Here's a smattering of things I've learned about Jason:

Jason is rather unreasonable. For example, having a dirty diaper makes him very upset. However, attempting to change his diaper usually makes him even more upset.  About the only thing that will calm him down after a diaper change is eating, which can be a little tricky because he seems to have inherited his bowel timing from his father and usually poops during or after every meal.

Jason makes the most adorable noises in his sleep. He coos and grunts and peeps and chirps. Sometimes it sounds like he's having very intense dreams, though Juliette and I wonder whether he's had enough experiences yet to really dream in a way that's recognizable to us. At first, his sleep noises had us worried that he might be uncomfortable or upset, or that he might wake up too soon, but as we've gotten to know him better we've become a bit less apprehensive.

Jason has very little control over his limbs. When he's upset—which sometimes seems like most of the time that he's awake—he flails his arms and legs, clawing at his face and, if he happens to be in my lap, stomping on my genitals. (He's very strong, by the way. Sometimes after a few well-placed kicks from him, I wonder whether I'll be able to give him a little brother or sister.) Even when he's not upset, though, he still jerks around from time to time. Sometimes he puts his fingers in his eyes. Oddly, it doesn't seem to bother him much when his fingers are deep underneath his eyelids. No, what bothers him is when I take his fingers out of his eyes. It's like he's saying, "DAAAaaad! Can't you see I put that there for a reason?"

He makes the cutest faces. There's the one where he's content and just looking around the room, staring wide-eyed at everything. He also sometimes curls his lip like a tiny Elvis impersonator. I think the most adorable face he ever makes is the one right before he starts to scream—it's such a sad face that I literally can't help but say "Awwww." I've often wanted to try getting a picture of that face, but I've always figured that I probably should be comforting him instead of trying to capture the look he gets when he's about to be really upset.

Jason has a very unfortunate predilection toward waiting until his diaper is off before peeing. We've tried to be watchful and cover him before it happens, but, I swear, the kid is like some kind of ninja when it comes to peeing. Oftentimes I will get the new diaper on and be congratulating myself on avoiding a diaperless pee when I will realize that his shirt or the pad under him is wet. And this will be despite the fact that I was watching the entire time. (He hates having a wet shirt, but, of course, not quite as much as he hates having his shirt changed.) I've tried to think of ways he can put this talent to good use later in life, but so far I haven't come up with anything.

On a related note, I have learned that an infant is capable of producing a truly astonishing amount of poop. What's more, Jason can poop so powerfully that drops will fly off the changing table and halfway across the room before hitting the ground. The time that happened I was actually impressed enough that I didn't even really mind cleaning up the carpet.

The more time passes the more I think that he must be the most beautiful baby ever. Juliette and I have seen a whole lot of other babies since Jason was born, and not one has been as cute as he is. Actually, that very phenomenon has made me wonder a bit whether he's actually as cute as we think he is, since I'm sure those other parents think the same thing about their own kids, some of whom I'm pretty sure I'd find odd-looking even if I weren't a parent. It doesn't really matter in the end, of course, but I do find it kind of interesting to think about.

The main thing I'm learning, though, is that there's always something new to learn. He's growing and changing so fast that it seems like I barely have time to get used to something before it's different again. I do find myself looking forward to him growing up a bit—I really can't wait until he starts smiling and laughing, and it'll also be nice when I can sleep more than a few hours in a row—but I'm also finding myself a little sad that he actually is growing up. And that's something else I'm learning: I never knew before how true it is that time seems to fly when you have a child, but it really is going fast, and I really have to step back and enjoy this time while it lasts.

Ever since Juliette and I got our dog, Cooper, people have been telling us that we had to read Marley and Me. Juliette finally got around to it as part of her annual summer reading kick and convinced me to pick it up next. After V, I needed something easy to read that would get me emotionally involved. Well, this fit that bill perfectly. I'm always a little suspicious of bestsellers, but this was just great.

As a dog owner, there was a lot I found familiar, both in the highs and lows of Grogan's life with Marley. Cooper isn't anywhere near as neurotic as Marley, but he has had some bad times, and in Marley's antics I could recognize some echoes of Cooper's worse moments. And, likewise, the joy of having such a loving, faithful companion is something that, I think, all dog lovers will recognize.

It's strange how having a dog has changed my outlook on this sort of thing. Just a couple of years ago, I don't think that I would really have connected with this book. All of this dog stuff just seemed a little silly to me. And now? Well, I can tell you that by the end of this book I was literally bawling.

Marley and Me was hilarious and heartwarming in turn, and I have to agree that it's a must-read for any dog lover—assuming there are any left who haven't already read it.

Started: 2008-07-12 | Finished: 2008-07-20

Purchase from Amazon

So, as usual, this review is very late. So late that surely everyone who wants to see it must have done so. I do have a good excuse this time, though. But enough of that—what did I think of the movie? Well, I have to say, I had very high expectations going in and I was not disappointed.

Naturally, most of the buzz surrounding this film centered around Heath Ledger, it being his last completed film. And, indeed, his performance as the Joker was simply amazing. Nicholson's Joker (in Tim Burton's Batman) certainly must have been a shock to people who were used to seeing Cesar Romero in the old TV show. But as far as Nicholson took his performance, Ledger did that much more with his Joker. The amazing—and kind of scary—thing about Ledger's Joker is that he seems so plausible. And that plausibility is, in part, what makes The Dark Knight seem like less a superhero movie than a thriller that just happens to have a superhero in it.

I think that difference in tone is a big part of what makes this such a good movie. I mean, we're all getting a little sick of the superhero thing, I think. There have just been too many of them in the past few years, and they're all kind of running together. It's mostly the same combination of special effects and superhero angst. So, seeing a movie like this one where the film doesn't really revolve around the title character is quite a breath of fresh air.

What else. I have tended to like Aaron Eckhart in the other movies I've seen him in, and I continue to like him in this one. (Just a note, the rest of this paragraph will contain some mild spoilers for those who are unfamiliar with the Batman universe.) He did particularly well in this one leading up to his change into Two-Face, giving his performance just the right touch to show us an bright, upstanding District Attorney while hinting at what he will become. Unfortunately, he didn't really manage the transition into villain quite as well—his wrath at the end of the movie just came off as a little cartoonish.

As usual, Michael Caine was a pleasure to watch, and if Christian Bale and Maggie Gyllenhaal were good without being great, that's OK because the movie wasn't really focused on them. (It really only disappoints at all just because I've seen both of them do really amazing stuff in the past.) Similarly, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman got the job done and I can't find any flaws with their work here, but they also didn't particularly wow me—which they shouldn't have.

This is the last movie I saw before my son was born, which means it'll be the last one I see in the theaters for a while. I'm glad that I'm ending this run on such a high note.

Viewed: 2008-07-19 | Released: 2008-07-18 | Score: A

IMDb Page

Jason Michael Sakasegawa was born on Monday, July 28, 2008.  Monday morning was a bit rough for Juliette and I, as we had had a little scare the night before.  Juliette had had some bleeding that we didn't expect so we went into the hospital around 1 AM.  It turned out not to be a problem—which we had expected, but we figured it was better to be safe than sorry—and we managed to get home around 3 AM. 

Needless to say, we were both pretty worn out the next day, so I decided to take the morning off.  We had an appointment with our OB at 11:15, so I figured I would sleep in a bit and then go into the office after lunch.  The appointment went well, the doctor pointing out that Juliette was dilated about two centimeters—one more than the previous week—and that she thought we might not actually make it another week to our next appointment.  Afterwards, having lunch at Red Robin, we talked to each other about our feelings of excitement and apprehension.

I got into the office at about 1 and I started in as normal.  Juliette called me at 3:24 to let me know she was feeling well, and I settled in for a long day to try to make up the hours I'd missed in the morning.  Nineteen minutes later, she called again, saying that she thought her water might have broken, but she wasn't sure.  I told her to call the doctor and then call me back to let me know what she said.  Ten minutes later, Juliette called me back, saying that the doctor wasn't sure either and thought it might just be due to the cervical exam she'd had that morning, but we agreed that I'd come home right then.

I arrived back at the house at about 4:25 PM and found Juliette curled up in a ball in the shower.  "I'm not doing well," she told me, obviously in a lot of pain.  She sent me out of the bathroom to call the doctor, load up the car, and put the house in order before we left.  Calling the doctor, all I could think to say was "I think this is it," and she told me to come on in to the hospital.

We were in the car and on the way by 5:00, and already things were going wildly differently from how the birth classes had described.  We expected to have the contractions start slowly, maybe 15 minutes apart, getting more frequent over the next several hours or even days.  We expected to be taking short walks to help things move along, to try some slow breathing patterns and light massage.  We had been told this could go on for a while, and not to bother going into the hospital until the contractions were five minutes apart, one minute long, and that this had continued for an hour.  But from the get-go, Juliette's contractions were unbearably intense and coming right on top of each other.  I tried to time them while we drove, but it was no use, they were happening too fast.  We got to the hospital in about twenty minutes and she had at least ten contractions in that time, maybe fifteen.

When we got to the hospital, Juliette was having trouble even walking from the car to the elevator.  When the elevator doors opened, we ran into a labor and delivery nurse who was just coming off shift.  She took one look at Juliette and asked if we needed a wheelchair.  The previous night a similar thing had happened in reverse—as we were leaving the hospital, we ran into a couple coming in.  They had their bags with them, so the woman's labor must have started, but she was wearing nice clothes and make-up, and seemed more annoyed than uncomfortable.  Afterwards, Juliette and I would marvel at the difference between her labor and that woman's.

We got checked in and into our labor and delivery room very quickly.  The staff was very nice and very efficient.  The nurse checked Juliette's cervix at 5:35, and she was already dilated to four centimeters.  Hooked up to the monitor, we could see that, indeed, her contractions were literally coming right on top of each other, starting every minute and each one lasting a minute.  The nurses were all astonished at how fast they were coming—"Gosh, you're not getting a break!" one of them exclaimed.

Throughout the pregnancy, Juliette and I had talked about whether or not she'd choose to have an epidural during labor, but hadn't ever come to any conclusions.  But it was clear from the moment I got home that there was no way she'd be able to make it without medication.  The anesthesiologist got to our room at 6:15, and finally Juliette was able to get a little relief.

Twenty minutes later—one hour after the first check—the nurses checked Juliette's cervix again and by then she was dilated to seven centimeters.  Despite everything that had happened in the past two hours, we were still amazed—the birth class had prepared us to expect it to take many hours to get from four to seven centimeters.  The next hour saw things slow down a bit in terms of the labor progressing, but the monitors were still showing Juliette's contractions coming on without a break. 

Around 8:30 or so, Juliette's mom made it to the hospital.  Juliette and I had originally planned that I'd be the only one in the room with her, but we were both happy to have her mom there to help and support her.

By 9:05, Juliette was fully dilated—just over five hours since her water broke.

Juliette started pushing with the next contraction, and the look of strain on her face as she pushed was the most intense I've ever seen.  It was hard enough for me to even watch—I can only imagine what she must have been going through.  After about an hour, her contractions started to slacken off and the doctor added pitocin to her IV.  That got the contractions going again, but it turned out to be too much—her uterus stayed in one long contraction until they backed off the pitocin.  Juliette kept pushing, her eyes clenched shut and her lips turning purple from the effort.

After two solid hours of pushing, the doctor finally told us that the baby wasn't progressing.  Juliette's pubic arch was kind of small and the baby was stuck behind it.  Worse, his heart rate was very high, and had been high for a while.  She presented us with two options: she could try a vacuum assist or we could do a c-section.  But, she was skeptical that the vacuum would work, and didn't want to wait too long due to the baby's heart rate.  By now, Juliette was completely exhausted, and just wanted the baby out.  But even so, she turned to me and asked if that was alright with me.  In the previous months we had both agreed that we wanted to avoid a c-section if at all possible, but now, after she'd worked so hard and I'd done so little, it just about broke my heart to see the look in her eyes when she asked me that question.  "Yes," I said.  "You did a great job, honey.  You did everything you could."  Juliette's mom's eyes were shining at the thought of her daughter going into surgery, and Juliette tried to reassure her.  I'm still amazed by her, after everything she had just been through, she was still thinking of everyone but herself.

I donned my OR coveralls and followed Juliette as the doctor and nurse wheeled her to the operating room, while Juliette's mom went to the waiting room.  Everyone went straight in when we got to the operating room, but I had to wait outside for about twenty minutes while they prepped everything.  Those twenty minutes were pretty terrible for me, as I imagined everything that might be going wrong.  But finally they let me in, and I sat by Juliette and talked to her while the doctors worked.  She was shaking violently the whole time, whether from the anesthesia or something else, I'm not sure.  From time to time I peeked around the screen to see what was going on.  I saw them start to make the first incision, and I saw them retracting and reaching in with surgical scissors.  Finally, at 11:34, I looked and saw my son's head poking out of the hole in Juliette's belly.  He was all pale, wrinkly, and slimy, and for a few seconds it was almost like it was a doll's head sticking out of there.  But then he let out a loud cry, and it really struck me, wow, I have a son.  I heard Juliette gasp, and I looked down to see her crying.  "Is that him?" she asked.  "Is he OK?  Does he have all his parts?"  And I was proud to report that he had all ten fingers, all ten toes.

It turned out that it was a really good thing we had done the c-section when we did.  After he was out, the doctor noticed that he had passed meconium during labor, which is a big sign of distress.  More dangerous, if a baby inhales or ingests the meconium, he can die.  So we very well may have saved his life by getting him out when we did.

I went over to the table where the nurses were cleaning him off and suctioning out his mouth and took the first pictures of him.  I cut the cord, and shortly after I carried him over and delivered him into Juliette's arms.  The joy in her voice when she greeted him was just amazing, even though she was still so exhausted.  I looked at him, running the list of names we'd chosen through my head, trying to think which one he looked most like.  Juliette looked up at me and asked, "Can he be Jason?"  I nodded.  "Yeah," I said.

Like just about everyone I know, I'm a big fan of Pixar. I still haven't gotten around to seeing Cars and Ratatouille, but I've seen the rest and I love all of them. In some ways, this movie is the best of the bunch. As always, the animation has continued to get better and more beautiful—which, considering that the first half-hour or so take place in the middle of a giant garbage pile, is saying something. But what really amazed me was the quality of the storytelling. It's an amazing accomplishment to be able to take two characters who each utter no more than four or five distinct phrases throughout the entire film and make them not only sympathetic but lovable and even relatable. There was virtually no dialogue for the first thirty minutes of the film, and yet it was never boring. And the exposition was about the smoothest I've ever seen. I don't know that I can say that this is my favorite of Pixar's films—for now, that honor still goes to The Incredibles—but despite that I think that this is one of the best executed animated films of all time. I don't know how Pixar is going to top WALL-E, but I can't wait to find out.

Viewed: 2008-07-12 | Released: 2008-06-27 | Score: A

IMDb Page

This may be the best book I've ever read that I didn't like. Thomas Pynchon is described by some as the one of the world's greatest contemporary writers, which piqued my interest. And his reputation for dense prose didn't scare me too much, after all, I adore Gabriel García Márquez, Jorge Luis Borges, and Gene Wolfe. So, I figured, what the hell? Well, over five months passed before I was done with V, and despite the fact that the book was beautifully written, it was a real slog. I just didn't connect with it. Most of the time I didn't even really know what was going on. Individual lines or even entire scenes would be great, but seemed to have only the most tenuous connection to the rest of the book. Things just happened, for no apparent reason and with no apparent direction. I think that was likely the point—after all, life is, for the most part, aimless and random. But by the end of this book I didn't feel like it was really a worthwhile trek—rather than feeling entertained or enlightened or otherwise enriched, I felt like the author had been messing with me. Maybe I'm too much of a philistine to be able to appreciate a book like this, but if that's the case, I can live with it.

Started: 2008-02-01 | Finished: 2008-07-11

Purchase from Amazon

I'm really disappointed that I saw this as a movie before I saw it on stage. Mamma Mia! has been one of Juliette's favorite musicals since she first saw it in London, eight years ago. (She's since seen it three more times.) So it's no surprise that she was excited about the film. Still, I was a little apprehensive, as I often am about film adaptations of stage musicals. After all, I just about died laughing when I saw Jason Alexander and Martin Short in the L.A. production of The Producers, but the movie version was so lame I hardly cracked a smile. As it turned out, I was right to be suspicious.

One of the biggest obstacles to successfully adapting a stage musical to film is that acting styles are so different between stage and screen. On stage, everything tends to be big, from movements and facial expressions to tone of voice. On the other hand, the camera can capture every tiny detail, so performances tend to be much more subtle and realistic. But subtle and realistic don't work well in a genre where people burst into song out of nowhere. Back in the days of, say, The Sound of Music, film actors were much more presentational in their performances, and, besides, Technicolor just didn't look much like real life. Nowadays, though, a movie has to actually work to be that way. When you look at films like Moulin Rouge or Chicago you see a much more stylized approach to the visuals and performances. Even films that take a more realistic style like, say, Rent or Hairspray, still have a feeling of fantasy to them. Mamma Mia! just didn't have that, and most noticeable way that affected the movie was to make the songs stick out like sore thumbs. That could have been alleviated with some better film and sound editing, but, unfortunately, it wasn't. Especially in the first half of the movie, the songs all just kind of came out of nowhere. It was very jarring.

Another problem? Pierce Brosnan cannot sing. What's more, he knows it. Man, there is little that is more uncomfortable than watching someone sing who knows he's doing a bad job. I respect Brosnan as an actor, but I really think he needs to stick to non-singing parts from now on.

And, of course, as always, I couldn't stand Meryl Streep. Here's an actress who is completely aware of the degree to which she is praised, and it comes out in every moment of her performances. There are few performers I've seen who seem more self-indulgent.

But, despite all that, it wasn't all bad. Juliette and I both particularly liked Amanda Seyfriend, who played Sophie, the girl looking for her father. As Juliette put it, she was "the perfect blend of beautiful and cute." I couldn't agree more—she was just radiant in this film, and her performance had this youthful exuberance that was delightful. What's more, she was an excellent singer, by far the best in the show.

Christine Baranski and Julie Walters were also quite good, and while Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard were both shaky on the vocals, they did alright and were fun to watch.

So, I can't say that I particularly enjoyed this movie, but I got a sense of what the stage play must be like and I'm sure it's much better. Hopefully, having seen the film first won't have ruined it for me.

Viewed: 2008-07-18 | Released: 2008-07-18 | Score: C+

IMDb Page

I've become quite a Will Smith fan over the past couple of years. Certainly the last two films I saw him in—I Am Legend and The Pursuit of Happyness—were very good, and besides being a good actor, the guy just seems really likeable. That might be the only real problem with his run in this movie—the title character is a real jerk, but despite John Hancock's uncouth manner, I couldn't help but like him. Really, though, that's a minor complaint, and I quite enjoyed Hancock. It fulfilled pretty much all of my expectations, being funny with good action. It even managed a few moments of poignancy. All in all, a good experience.

Viewed: 2008-07-05 | Released: 2008-07-02 | Score: B+

IMDb Page