Reading: who has time to read this week?
Music: banjo
TV/Movie: Babylon A.D.
Link o' the Day: Angst Technology



Today's Ogre's Pick will be a quick one... a quick celebration of the TV show Dexter. I admit that when I first tried watching it several months ago that it didn't take. Sure, the premise of a serial killer who goes after serial killers wasn't a bad one, but after a couple of episodes I said, "meh" and found something else. The character narration was annoying. I have zero interest in the city of Miami. I didn't care enough about the characters.

I waited, then tried again. This time I got a bit more into it. Sure, Miami still fails, but the narration worked better for me this time, and the characters, while mostly still flat, had occasional sparks of interest. I suppose it was the overall story arch that finally got me hooked. It became a bit of a mystery to figure out the truth behind Dexter's background and his connection to the season's villain, The Ice Truck Killer. I figured out the killer's identity pretty early, but I don't think that was any mean feat; it was pretty obvious from the start. The real mystery was his connection to Dexter.

Anyway, the second time around, I started to really enjoy the season and started watching season 2 immediately after. While the 2nd season is definitely weaker than the first, it's still worth watching. Mostly it's because you suspect there's going to be some good stuff for the 3rd season (which I've not yet watched).

So am I recommending Dexter? Sure, for some. It won't be for everyone. It's not the best thriller/drama ever made, but it's not bad. There are no real standouts for actors, but it's the story that sells it--especially the first season. If you watch no other Dexter at least watch the entire 1st season.

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We've been slowly moving stuff over to the new house. Setting stuff up. Moving boxes. Oi. The moving of the boxes. The whole thing is pretty daunting. It's exciting, sure. And it's all going to be worth it. But I just know I'm going to question the whole thing at one point and suggest giving everything away and go live in a yurt instead.

We've had bizarre random act of mischief inflicted upon the new homestead. We arrived the other day to discover someone had moved our welcome mat from the front door to the front gate--perfectly placed, along with a lawn ornament and a rose. Someone had also gone up to the back porch and moved my new lawn mower to the back yard, and stole a cheap folding chair. No malicious damage beyond the petty theft. We're figuring it was kids. Maybe welcoming us to the neighborhood. In any case, we're not going to be o'ertrusting just because it's suburbia, and we've met one of our neighbors (a very nice lady) and gave her our number in case she sees anything suspicious.

Let the adventure of home ownership begin!

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Today's link is to one of the most underrated and under-appreciated webcomics: Angst Technology by Barry Smith. This strip ran for a few years in the early 00s and focused on a small computer gaming company, its workers and their zany, wacky adventures. I'd put it right up there with PvP Online and was very disappointed when Smith went on hiatus and then seemed to abandon the strip alltogether. He's a good cartoonist and had some decent characters and ideas. He's actually done a few different strips, all of which are worth checking out, and all of which you should be able to find from the Angst Technology site.

Cheers!