Book Review: Ready Player One (and Other Stuff)

Ready Player One: Simply one of the greatest books I’ve ever read, but not for the usual reasons.  The story line is a bit contrived but if you’re between the ages of 12 and 45 and have an appreciation for video games, and 1980s – 2000s male-oriented film and television, you’re going to enjoy the book.  It’s the first I’ve read where I actually understood all of the popular culture references.  I truly couldn’t put it down and flew through it.  After I read the book, I watched the movie and while the graphics were spectacular, it left a lot on the table.  Given the length of the book, one can’t expect the movie to stay true to form – parts of the book would be boring if one doesn’t appreciate all of the 1980s culture detail and they needed a movie with mass appeal – but the movie failed to capture the spirit of the book and was overly reliant on action scenes in lieu of bouts of nerdiness and character development.  I know this is typical but in this case, the book was SO, SO great and the movie was sort of “eh.”

For those of you who made it here, here’s an AWESOME wedding band that can be had for under $400.  Yes, I would never in a million years taint my marriage with a kitschy ring like this, but the ring is pretty damn neat, nonetheless.  Perhaps a memento to slide on the old Ugly Stik?

Finally, has anyone ever heard the noise created by skipping stones/rocks on ice?  Per How Stuff Works, “Ice is kind of weird. For one thing, despite being solid, it’s less dense than liquid water. And for another, it’s been known to make some rather jarring noises. Skip a stone across a frozen lake and you might hear a high-pitched sound that’s both familiar and otherworldly. It’s like the chirp of an exotic bird. Or a laser blast from a galaxy far, far away.”  Here’s a 1-minute video on YouTube of the unique phenomenon.  Give it a listen!