Late-night post update. I’ve been sickly the last 3 days or so. It’s never fun being sick and my mind is moving very slowly. I said I wanted to give everyone a recap of where we left on in Adventures Through The Window. It’s been 3-4 weeks since we’ve had the podcast with sickness, family problems, and so on.

In part one, James suspected his substitute teacher was up to something when he saw the man fleeing from his Vice Principal! James followed him into a world like nothing he’d ever seen. Part two continued with James’ adventure in this strange new land by leading him to a mysterious floating staircase. When James finally found his way down, he’s in the clearing of a colorful, strange forest, no staircase in sight. There were three paths that James could take, and eventually he decided on one.

If you’d like to read the first 2 parts, you can do so here. The story starts again with part 3 next Tuesday, as we see where his choice of paths takes him.

Released in October of last year, Uncharted 2 was easily the best game of 2009 as far as I’m concerned. The dialogue is hilarious and the characters are as good, if not better, than the first. The new romance angles are pretty great as well. No, angleS was no accident, Drake gets to battle jealousy almost as often as bad guys.

For anyone who didn’t try the first game, Uncharted is just a great action movie made into a game. Nathan Drake is a treasure hunter–or smuggler, depending how you look at it–with a tendency to find trouble. The prize this time? The Cintamani stone and the Kingdom of Shambhala. I won’t turn this into a history lesson, but if you google those you’ll have hours of good reading, I promise!

The interspersed history added into the Uncharted series is what makes it so magnificent to me. They take places that have lived in the world’s imagination for years and make them quite a visual treat. I don’t really want to give away all the cool places Drake visits, but let me assure you that they will impress you as well.

And all of that isn’t the best part of this game. The characters, and the voice actors who played them, are just fantastic. They witty back-and-forth banter really is top notch and made me laugh constantly. Whoever is running around as Drake’s sidekick gets to help you with traps and triggers as well, making some of the puzzles a lot more fun to figure out. It’s the characters that make it all so much fun.

As with many games these days, there’s also a multiplayer system. There’s nothing unique here when compared to other shooters, but they did pull off a good amalgamation of other popular games. They also added a fun ranking system that lets you purchase upgrades and show off your ability. Everybody loves to show off their skills, yea?

Uncharted 2 easily gets a 5 out of 5. This game is worth checking out.

After much deliberation, Samantha and I have decided not to move to San Marcos. The decision came first and foremost because we really don’t want to leave her grandparents with DaDave in this condition. This is a time when they need us most, so we can’t just up and leave on them! They have been such pillars of strength and wisdom, always there when we’ve needed them.

So we’re looking at it in a positive light. It is true that San Marcos would have been beautiful and probably much more “us.” Who knows, perhaps we still might try to live there eventually (hopefully very near the Guadalupe River if so!). Since we’re not leaving, the plans have changed to fix up the house and the yard. We did a whole lot in the yard today. It was fitting for Earth Day, though we didn’t remember that until after the fact. We were just that attuned with nature I guess!

So I can cross moving off the 2010 to-do list! Which makes me think I need to do a post with updates about that.

I’m getting back into things this week. I want to thank you guys for hanging around! I thought surely my subscribers were going to drop these last couple weeks. Happily, it has not been so! DaDave has had some positive news. His cancer hasn’t spread past the liver, and they expect a good outcome. We still have the highest hopes for a speedy recovery!

Next Tuesday we’ll get back into the weekly podcast. Next Sunday or Monday I’ll probably do a catch-up post to remind everyone what’s going on in Adventures Through The Window. I also have some reviews to catch up on, and a number of other things. Consider this fore-warning of many posts to come.

To get back into the postings, I’ve decided to share something I wrote recently. David, who narrates our podcast, has decided to get back into music and we’re talking about making some geeky rap songs with a medieval theme. I’m told the official term is Geek-hop, dig it. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity! This is the first song we’ve been working on. He’s a lot better at beats and such, and he’s helped me a lot with editing. I don’t know that this will be the final draft (I’m actually quite sure it won’t be), who knows what will happen once the recording starts. I feel like some things need tweaking, but I’m curious how he’ll interpret it and read it.

I hope you guys enjoy!

Ridin’ through the forest on the back of my horse,
behind me come shouts as they follow my course,
A glimpse of my face was enough for their advance,
Not all blindly came, but most would want this chance.

I leapt from the back and ducked quick into a roll,
the horse kept on running, knowing where to go.
I hid behind a tree as the guards rode on by,
the price on my head brought greed to their eyes.

As they pass I depart back the way that we came,
Snatching up an old cloak and dark, withered cane,
In seconds my appearance looks nothing the same,
Back at the gates to the castle I seem quite plain.

The guards seem suspicious but don’t sound the alarm,
All was going fine till that hand laid on my arm,
I snatch at a knife tucked safe in my cloak,
I slash across his neck and his blood starts to soak.

The alarm bells ring, but it’s part of the plan,
I dash toward the cellar of the King’s right hand,
I sit above the wine racks quietly in place,
A natural chameleon, a mark of my race.

The cellar door slams open up top of the stairs,
the heavy boots of guards pounding hard in pairs,
I watch as they search for any possible threat,
Then they push the king in panting, covered in sweat.

Convinced the king safe, most guards swept from the room,
Little did he know the guards were sealing his doom.
I leapt down from the racks throwing two daggers hard,
Each dagger flew true to the neck of his two guards.

Now alone with the King, I turned and drew my sword,
He falls to his knees saying feeble prayers and wards.
I claimed the Gods would answer nothing he said.
Those eyes showed defeat as I took off his head.

My duty complete, there’s no time to waste,
I had to get away and I knew they’d give chase.
I tossed the worn cloak in need of new garb
Beneath the old rags I was clothed as a guard.

Two more of them died outside the cellar doors,
A flash of surprise as they fell to the floor,
Along the west wall stood a gate to the drain,
A dozen gold coins meant that it wouldn’t be chained.

A breath of relief for the lock was open wide,
I grin at the convenience and then slip inside.
It’s now a straight shot right to the ocean,
That cool morning breeze there to greet my freedom.

We’re still awaiting results from our grandfather’s biopsy. I hope everyone understands why the blog has been pretty silent this last week or two. We’re hoping for good news this week. I’ll do my best to get back to regular posts soon, thanks for your understanding.

Because Alice in Wonderland was one of the books that got me going on this whole classic books series, I thought it was fitting to save it for the last. I’ll probably continue this series down the line, there are plenty of old books just waiting to be read. But my list of reviews for current books is getting too long!

Lewis Carroll is one of my favorite authors for a number of reasons, but mainly because his fantasy is just so much fun to read. Working on the new podcast story I’ve come to realize how much fun it is to write as well. There is a need for subtlety when working in a world of nonsense. Too much of it would have distracted from Alice’s tale.

Really this story comes in two parts. Everyone knows Alice in Wonderland, but Through The Looking Glass is equally enjoyable, if not more so. Those who only watched movie versions of this story, either the Disney version (1951) or the new one by Tim Burton (2010), have really seen bits of both books. These days you often see them combined into one book even.

My favorite aspect of the story is how each chapter is unique. In some ways it’s like a collection of short stories that you only need understand a bit about Alice to enjoy. Any number of Alice’s encounters could stand as its own story. Yet when you put them all together you find they also have a subtle correlation as well. It’s a neat trick.

We’ve all heard somewhere that this is a good story. Its ability to be told again and again in new ways is but one example of that. It’s a short read, too, there’s no reason not to give it a shot. It’s a free ebook and audiobook, too, to add extra incentive!

I’m sorry to report there is no TNS this week. Last week Samantha and I found out her Grandfather, DaDave, has lymphoma. They don’t know what type it is, it comes in dozens of forms. No matter what form it is, a cancer of the lymph nodes is not happy news after weeks of testing.

Writing has had to sit on the back burner these last few days. Luckily we had a good Easter to bring up our spirits a bit. I hope to be back on track by next week. Hopefully you guys will be understanding. We’re hoping for a speedy and full recovery!

So, this is a late Easter post. A friend at work cut himself pretty bad with the box cutters we use. He’s alright they say, a few stitches and couple days of rest. I said I’d work for him tonight, so it was straight from Easter to work.

Easter brunch was a blast. My family doesn’t often all get together like that. The niece and nephews all got to hunt down Easter eggs after having their fill of the dessert table. Brunch was basically endless buffet of goodness. Fruit, soup, shrimp, waffles, bacon, oh yeah, I could keep going. Samantha did say I had to mention there was a hot pink chocolate fountain. It was most excellent. My sister took some pictures so I figured I would share.

I hope everyone had a good day!