My sister has just joined the ranks of Geekdom!

So, if you did not catch my review of Star Trek from earlier this week, you can either scroll below or click HERE for it. Again, I give it 3 thumbs up. My third thumb grows in a funny place and I don't talk about it that much. So let's rapidly move on!


Currently, I am a very proud big brother.

Throughout the years my little sister, Dizzy Lizzy, has always had a hard time understanding my fond love of the genres of the fantastical. She's lived a far more straight laced life with only slight glimmers of any interest in something a bit counter culturally special. She's married and has a decent job that gives here some pretty heavy responsibility at times.

When it came to any interests, there was a passing fancy of The Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies. So I got her the books for X-Mas one year, she only read through Fellowship and let the others collect dust. She seems to pretend to have an interest in the Harry Potter films, but I'm not fully convinced. She shows mild interest in the TV series LOST and will occasionally say something to the effect, "What did you think of the last episode?" Once I start expounding on it, I usually get cut off by my Mom butting into the conversation about something completely different. I try not to blame Mom since she's usually got one or two martini's in her at that time.

My sister never really got it when I'd be excited about going to GenCon (when it was in Milwaukee, not the cheap imitation they have in Indiana now) or about the opening of a Star Wars movie. She was oblivious to the joy my geeky heart felt.

Well, suddenly along comes something she can finally sink her teeth into (pun, quite lame, but still intended) when a bunch of books and films start coming out featuring a brooding young high school vampire named Edward and his betrothed equally brooding and confused love interest, Bella.

I have to admit, when I first heard about this new phenomenon known as Twilight, I was slightly repulsed. I had a good feeling it was overglorified, cheap tweener romance crap for the young females. I was turned off immediately. When the movie opened and became a huge hit garnering it an immense following, I tried hard to pay no attention.

But, somehow, my sister and some of her friends, got immersed in it. My guess is that they have some serious crushes on actor, Robert Pattinson. But that's just a theory.

In any case, my sister has found new and creative ways to celebrate her love for the Twilight series. She attended the DVD release party at midnight at some Borders store and that same day she threw a Twilight themed diner party. She's really lost into this whole phenomenon.

Well, now she's dragged me and her husband, my Bro-In-Law (aka: cigar partner in crime), into the whole frey.

This all came about as I suddenly got a call on our way home from Minneapolis (Roberto, Iris and I visited some friends there last weekend where we gamed, playing Champions of the Emerald Empire). We stopped in Madison to get some Chinese food and that's when I get the call on my cell. My sister informs me that I'm invited to take a road trip in late July with her and my Bo-In-Law down to Houston to visit my dad.

Imeadiatly I'm a bit suspicious as my sister and dad do love each other, but are like vinegar and water when they start talking about certain subjects. Then the truth comes out. She reveals that after we visit Houston and Austin, my Bro-In-Law and I will drive her to Dallas so she and her friend can attend..... TwiCon! Of course we'll head on home while they party it up at the convention.

Now, I could be an elitist geek about it all and point out that vampires actually burn up in the sun and not" thsparkle" (Yes, I spelled it that way on purpose). I could also point out that there were never any actual FANGS or blood sucking or sirring done in the movie. I didn't even tell my sister that the creator of this whole craziness, Stephanie Meyer, needs to be sat down at a gaming table and play several hours of Vampire: The Masquerade to understand how vampire mythology really works. Nope, I didn't.

Know why?

Because I saw this as a new way my sister could actually GET HER GEEK ON!

It's about time she got into something full throttle enough to want to travel cross-country with her brother and husband to find enjoyment in something fantastical.

Now she will understand my love for the genres. Next time she rolls her eyes at some mention of a video game I'm playing or a Sci-Fi movie I'm going to see, she may ease off and thinks before she passes judgement

I may agree to go if there are a couple of stipulations.

1) Dizzy Lizzy gets me the autograph of one of cute actresses from the film. The dirty old man in me is just waiting to break out!

2) Dizzy Lizzy doesn't complain once about feeling car sick/uncomfortable/irritated the WHOLE trip!

3) Myself, my Bro-In-Law and my dad partake in some serious cigar smoking!

I'm hoping this will help us bond! It should be all very interesting and I'll let you all know how it plays out.

In other news....

I finished off the fantasy game Fable II on the good ol' Xbox 360. Those familiar with the first Fable game will know that there was a lot of criticism around it as it was heralded as a huge, epic, RPG that encompassed the entire life of your main character, from childhood to old age. Unfortunately it didn't take that long to play and compared to other huge RPGs out there, there wasn't a lot of areas to discover and travel around in.

The producers of Fable II try hard to correct this with mixed results. Sure, the world is far more lush and much larger, and there's a heck of a lot more quests to go on. But, like the first one, after you've discovered all of the world and played through the main quest, there's not a lot more to be offered.

It took me a while to get into the game, but once I was, I was quite hooked. But, then I completed everything I could, there wasn't much else. And I was quite disappointed in the "final confrontation" with the main villain. There's no challenge. All you have to do is push one button when prompted and that's the end of him. Kind of a waste after you went through all this character build up only to push one button to defeat your main nemesis.

What does Fable II do right? The whole atmosphere is quite beautiful in a Disneyesque way. And again there's far more to do and explore than there was in the first game. I have to admit that it did get quite addictive once your character gets built up enough to get rolling. But, once you get through the game, there's little more to do. There's still more to do after the main battle of this game as compared to its predecessor, but still a bit lacking.

Look. After they've come out with RPG games like Morrowind, Oblivion and Fallout 3, you really need to step up to the plate if you truely want to be an EPIC RPG VIDEO GAME!

Fable II is indeed a great game, but if it wants to compete with the big boys, it should have been even bigger. It's a lot to ask for, but if competing with the rest, it needs to get cooking.

A great RPG game, but lacking when brought up against its competitors.


That's going to be it for this weekend. Please go out and have a cigar on me. And Happy Frackin' Danny Gokey Day! I can hear the press helicopters fly overhead as his little, "I'm in the top three" parade trots around the downtown area.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em!

Zangz.