The Nokia 770 was finally released, but only available online. I waited patiently for them to appear locally. Jorge finally spotted one in the wild, at a CompUSA in Michigan. I braved a snow storm and headed out to my local CompUSA and picked up the only one in inventory. I was almost giddy when I got home and plugged it in to charge. And then I used it.

The review Eric wrote for Ars Technica sums up my feelings on it nicely. I really wanted to like the 770. It had the potential to be a great device but severely fell short on expectations. The hardware seems underpowered, with the lack of RAM crippling the performance. Beyond that, the software itself was buggy — even for a first release. I could forgive the occasional glitch or two and wait for an update but the persistent issues with the UI — slow visual response to operations, applications crashing or refusing to start without restarting the device and the minimal working configuration options made it a profound disappointment.

Apparently I’m not the only one to return the Nokia 770, either. When Jorge returned his, the manager came to talk to him. He wanted to know if it was really that bad, because his store had seen a 100% return rate on the device. Let that sink in for a minute: every single person who purchased the Nokia 770 at that store returned it. That doesn’t bode well for a future revision of the device to address the flaws in this virgin release. Nokia had a great idea, but the poor execution leads me to proclaim the Nokia 770 the most disappointing gadget of 2005. Better luck next year, guys.

Starring Hank Azaria, David Hyde Pierce, and Tim Curry, this piece of “musical theatre” is absolutely brilliant. The theatre was packed. The play was funnier than I expected. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much or so hard. I even bit the inside of my cheek somehow in the process. The show bills itself as playing “Broadway in Chicago” and indeed their quest is to reach, wait for it, Broadway! But they can’t get to Broadway if they don’t have any Jews. What a dilema!

If you get the chance, go see this show. I suspect it’s going to be one of the hot shows to see when it hits Broadway.

On a brisk autumn day, a thirteen-year-old boy stands on the shores of the gray Atlantic, near a silent amusement park and a fading ocean resort called the Alhambra. The past has driven Jack Sawyer here: his father is gone, his mother is dying, and the world no longer makes sense. But for Jack everything is about to change. For he has been chosen to make a journey back across America–and into another realm.

One of the most influential and heralded works of fantasy ever written, The Talisman is an extraordinary novel of loyalty, awakening, terror, and mystery. Jack Sawyer, on a desperate quest to save his mother’s life, must search for a prize across an epic landscape of innocents and monsters, of incredible dangers and even more incredible truths. The prize is essential, but the journey means even more. Let the quest
begin. . . . – Publishers description

I was initially intrigued by the description of the Territories. It reminded me of Stephen King’s world of the Dark Tower. There were enough similarities to make me wonder if all of King’s worlds are inter-connected. If you are a fan of the Dark Tower series then I would recommend this book. If you’re new to Stephen King’s style of writing, then I’m hesitant to give it a thumbs-up.

It was difficult for me to really get in to this book. The first half of the book moved at a snails pace. I really had to make a conscious effort not to put it aside and convieniently forget where I put it. So with difficulty, I reached the half-way point, geographically-speaking. Jack, the main character in the book, is now half-way to his destination. I don’t have the book handy now, but I think this was somewhere close to the two-thirds mark of the paperback. And then it got good.

Sure, the first several hundred pages were slow, boring and painful to read. I am not familiar with Peter Straub’s style of writing, so I wasn’t sure if this was a handl-off point between authors. I’m not sure how the task of writing a colaborative effort such as this would be partitioned off between participants. Something had changed, though. The story began to flow, and the pace flew by at a much more enjoyable clip.

By the time the climax was approaching, I couldn’t put the book down. After all, I had paid a price to get to this point. Hours of agony and suffering spent reading through what should have been the victim of a zealous editor. I had earned the right for some satisfaction, and I wasn’t disappointed. The story finishes in what I consider typical Stephen King fashion. Things happened that you don’t expect, but in the end you’re okay with that.

If you’re a hard core Stephen King fan, then it’s worth toughing it out through the first half of the book. If you’re not, then it may not be worth it for you. The slow pace of the first two thirds of the book left a sour taste in my mouth. I’m not in a rush to read the sequel,
Black House, after this experience.

I’ve only read one of the stories so far, and I felt I should say something about it, since it’s a rare treat indeed for any fan of Robert Jordan. New Spring tells the story of the meeting of Lan Mandragoran and Moiraine Damondred and the beginning of the search for the Dragon Reborn. It is one of the few stories published that take place previous to the beginning of the Wheel of Time series (another being the story of Lews Therin and the Hundred Companions raiding the Dark Ones prison) and was quite enjoyable to read. Truth be told, I had a hard time putting it down, and an even harder time resisting the urge to comment on it (an urge while I obviously failed to resist).

I’ve previously read about half of the other authors works, but those I haven’t come highly recommended. I can’t wait to read them all.

The show is great fun for any age, young or old. If you ever have the chance to watch these two swordsmen, don’t pass it up.

There are a few things lacking in w.bloggar. It’s spellcheck leaves something to be desired. The included dictionary doesn’t have “friday” listed as a legitimate word! Other than that slight annoyance, I haven’t run into anything I don’t like yet. It almost makes it too easy to post.