contemplativeTo be honest, I can't say that October was all that good a month for me this time around. The toe injury that I suffered has been somewhat of a burden to me this past month, and being without a car (don't ask! long story) since the end of last week has not been one of the real joys of life. Makes going to work and grocery shopping somewhat difficult - especially when you're having problems walking and all! :( The weather was unusually cold for this time of year (at least in the Ottawa valley), and that did not help with all the normal aches and pains on top of the new stuff.
On the book and reading front, I can't say that October was a great month. I managed to read 4 books, plus a parcel load of rpgs, and really enjoyed Teenagers From the Future: Essays on the Legion of Super-Heroes edited by Timothy Callahan and Dark Sleeper by Jeffrey E. Barlough (the first book in the Western Lights series, and a re-read for me). The former is an interesting retrospective on the LSH that offered some insights that were quite good. The latter is a Dickensian fantasy that was quite entertaining the first time through. I'm up to 56 books for the year so far, better than I had expected to be honest, but I've slowed down the last few months (ever since coming back from GenCon Indy). Not really sure why.
Roleplaying-wise, I've been reading all sorts of noir stuff - Noir the RPG, Mean Streets, and The Edge of Midnight. Having a good time getting back into the game again, but have just finished reading The Edge of Midnight RPG again today. Gaming this past month was, to say the least, a bit rough. Neither the Friday nor the Sunday gaming groups enjoyed the Desolation rpg all that much, but that was mainly due to the vanilla nature of the post-apocalyptic fantasy rpg and the fact that they both felt that the Ubiquity game system really doesn't suit the genre too well. Hollow Earth Expedition is still one of my favourite games and the two gaming groups both want to play that system again, but the use of the Ubiquity system for Desolation just doesn't work for them. So, for the nonce we're doing some fantasy noir rpging with The Edge of Midnight and after they get bored with that, we'll see. :)
Didn't really see a lot of movies and films this past month, although I did manage to see one film that is both excellent and shocking.
Went to see the new JMS/Clint Eastwood/Angelina Jolie movie, Changeling. While I knew the writing was going to be good, given that J. Michael Straczynski of Babylon 5 fame had written the story, I was worried about the movie because Clint Eastwood's direction has been good or bad, depending on the film. I had heard something of the plot of the story, and thought I knew what to expect from the clips and the like, but it really did not prepare me for stuff. There is the sub-plot of the child murders and all that makes the film shocking, but the movie is highly disturbing in a lot of ways to begin with, and so the movie won't be to everyone's taste. Angelina Jolie is simply brilliant in the role, and makes the movie worth seeing. Just be prepared for the disturbing nature of the story being told and some of the other elements of the movie.
So, there you go... not a great deal happened to me this past month, other than the toe and the car aspects. Yeah, I know, I lead such a boring hum-drum life. :)