Another movie from the summer that I hadn't seen yet, Stardust was a lot of fun. A bildungsroman about a young boy from the north of England passing beyond the (Hadrian's?) wall to recover a token of his love from the lands of magic. So many of the elements were borrowed from traditional folklore, but combined in a way that felt both authentic and fresh.

The magic is really handled well. The subjects of magic, for example, mostly transformations and illusions are great. For example, the boy turned into a goat, and then the two goats turned into people, have a very authentic feel, and lead to a number of humorous moments. The voodoo magic that kills one of the princes isn't quite as authentic to the northern european traditions that the movie mostly pulls from, but it's still the indirect magic of fairy tales, not the fireball magic of d&d and action fantasy. It's also a nice touch that just as the hero of the story is trying to reach adulthood, the witches lose a bit more of their youth with each spell and are desperately trying to recover their youth and appearance.

For the most part, the humor works and doesn't get in the way of the story. The unfortunate long-running joke involving DeNiro is the only exception that comes to mind.

Definitely a recommended movie. Five out of five stars.

The second half of the move was today. There was some anxiety yesterday about whether payment for the move had actually been received and therefore whether we would actually get our things, and some more anxiety from the movers since they didn't seem to know where to drop off our stuff. But that was all worked out by morning, and the huge truck was parked in front of the house before 9:30.

Rosemary took some time off, first just an hour or two, then the morning, then all day. We set up with me checking off boxes as they came in, and she directing the traffic flow. The process was faster and smoother than the pick up. And since we had things to do, wasn't nearly as boring.

The only problem so far is one broken shelf. The movers hadn't realized they had this extra shelf, and had driven away. We called them before they were fifteen minutes away, and they drove back, but in the meantime, something fell on the shelf and it broke. Sigh. Still. if that's the only broken thing, I'll be happy.

We spent the rest of the day starting the unpacking. We got little floor protectors for the furniture, as per our lease, and set up the entertainment center. The house has gone from empty to full - of boxes. Now that's my task for the next week or two. Start getting through all these boxes.

I'm calling this part one, because the arrival of all our stuff will be moving day part 2.

It made for a long, mostly uneventful day. Up at six, showered and with a donut and cup of coffee from Dunkin's and a paper by 7. Finding one more box that can fit the papasan ottoman and using the paper for padding - done by 8:30. Then checking mail and the blog sites for fifteen minutes then check the phone for messages. Over and over again. If I'd thought of it, I should have just been checking occasionally by cell instead of disconnecting and reconnecting, but I was too tired to think of that.

By 10:30, the truck, a full-length tractor-trailer, had arrived. The driver was a little confused because he was looking for Rosemary. We got that squared away, then there was confusion over cars parked in the reserved parking. Which is funny, because after the signs were posted, from Friday until Sunday, no one parked there. But 8:30 Monday, the only day the signs were valid on, there they were. So I had to call city services who put me through to police dispatch. And in the meantime, the cars moved. So another call back to cancel the first call. I'm going into detail here, because at least during this point of the day, stuff was happening. I could do things to make the move happen more or less quickly.

One of the three guys, the same one who was confused about who exactly I was, went through the house to reinventory. He was very disturbed to find that we actually had about 190 pieces of things moving, not the 140 he had planned for. I didn't point out to him that I could have packed the book boxes two or three in a bigger box, making them unmovable, but under the 140 count, if I'd known that was necessary. I showed him everything we were taking, and everything we weren't. He pointed out that all our furniture is particle board and they don't guarantee particle board will make it. Not having much choice, I agreed that he should take it anyway, and I'd accept the consequences.

That took me like three minutes.

Then, nothing.

Until about 1:30, I sat on the steps going to the unit above us, outside, in the shade. It didn't take long before I was bored just sitting there. So I found the folder with my copy of the inventory and took out some extra sheets of paper and started a stream of consciousness journal. If any of it has the slightest redeeming value, even as much as this journal, then maybe I'll post some of it later. Once the sun moved to the point where I had no shade, I went across the street and had lunch. That took twenty minutes. Then I hid in the shade on that side of the street, just sitting on the sidewalk as though I had no home. And I guess at that moment, I didn't.

More nothing happened.

There was one brief moment where I was useful. They wanted to know whether the entertainment center came into the apartment in one piece. I said, yes, that movers had done that before, but that I hadn't seen how. They said it was broken, that one side was coming off. I pointed out that that was actually a door on the side. They said they'd get the unit out of there. I went back to daydreaming outside and watched fifteen minutes later as it came up the stairs, upside down. But at least out.

More nothing.

And then, about 4:30, they needed me again. Well, they needed my signature on all the paperwork. And like that, they were gone, along with everything else.

I did a quick sweep on the floor, mostly kicking up dust. It'll need more over the next couple of days. I put out some of the furniture that is going to trash. Set up my sad little mattress. Answered a few phone calls, and tried to nap for about half an hour before my regular monday night game. Maybe my last one, or I might make it to the one next week.

So, that's about it. It's empty and lonely in the house, lonlier than it was with all our stuff still in it. It doesn't feel like a place people live, but like a squatter's apartment, like Nick in 21 Up. I'm so eager to be with Rosemary in Eugene, in our new place, next Wednesday. And in a month or so, we'll be living like real people again.

That's it, I finished the last box about 1:30 AM. By 2:30, I finished the other clean-up activities I had set for myself, such as setting some stuff that's not getting moved into one place, and labelling some boxes that hadn't been properly labelled yet. I think all the boxes are labelled, but I may find a couple more tomorrow. Tomorrow (actually today), I'll have to finish up a few little things like hiding this computer, and maybe taking one box to morgie.

I haven't really eaten today. A bagel for breakfast. Four Inari for lunch. No dinner. Too stressed, I think.

Since the moving guy never called, I have no idea what time he is coming tomorrow. Could be as early as seven, according to when the space outside is reserved. So, to be on the safe side, I'm getting up at 6, to get in my shower and maybe drop off that box and get a quick cup of coffee. If I haven't heard anything by 7, I may snooze on the couch again. Anyway, I'm heading to bed.

All the discussion today on enworld and the other d&d boards is about the announcement today of d&d 4th edition. (I first heard about it through open_design.)

The third edition (and by extension 3.5) was an amazing work, by a talented group of designers who loved the game. I'm sure the 4th ed will be informed by the playtesting over the past eight years, as well as by the market research wizards has done, and will surely be a fun game. The online component sounds interesting - the other online RPG magazines I read, Digital Hero and Pyramid are also online, and I've pretty much only been using electronic character sheet aids like Hero Forge and Hero Designer for the past eight years.

The timing of this shift is personally significant. My time in Boston post-college has been partly defined by playing d&d 3rd edition. From the Awakenings game with Matt, to Bob's Pacsunder campaign, Chris' Vecna and Pyramids campaigns, Mark's Dwarven and Underdark adventures, and finally to Eamon's Hammerheart, Eberron, and Dragonwall campaigns. I've met some very good friends through the game. And as my time here draws to a close, so does this gaming era.

And now, with Wizard's announcement, there is a transition time, an Advent, a liminal time to celebrate the ending of one cycle and the beginning of another. To remember the good that has already occurred, and to expect the good that is to come.

Ever since Bob introduced me to the Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin, I've been hooked, and obsessively check the website for updates on his next book every 2-4 weeks.

No, he's not done with Dance for Dragons yet. But, master merchandiser that he is, he does have an announcement regarding new rpg/wargame miniatures coming out soon. Maybe after I move to Eugene, when I'm trying to get a new gaming group together, I can start an Ice and Fire campaign from the old Guardians of Order book, or from the supposedly upcoming Green Ronin book.

Anyway, here's a sneak peek at the greens for the new minis. The mini for the hound, with multiple helmet options, looks particularly interesting.

Apple just finished a press conference. I'm not going to go into all the details, because I'm sure Apple will already have the appropriate updates to their site by the time you read this. But the new iMacs are shiny. Literally. I'm not as convinced by the new keyboard - it's pretty, but awfully thin, with keys more like those on a laptop.

The application updates are more interesting. iPhoto now automatically groups photos by event - all events on the same day are part of the same event. Of course, you can manually join or split events, so that the multiple days of a vacation can be one event, or so you can separate the little league game in the morning from the birthday party in the afternoon. But it's a smart way of handling the dozens of photos we all take at an event and just dump into iPhoto.

iMovie has been completely reworked - it's an all-new application, just with the same name. Personally, the feature that sounds best is the ability to use media from any source - movie cameras, movies from still cameras, etc. It's been such an incredible pain to try to make movies from my digital camera that I haven't done anything, aside from a little experimenting. It's also nice to see that iMovie has a movie gallery along the lines of the iPhoto gallery - it keeps all your video snippets in one place.

.Mac has been needing an update for a while, and the size bump to 10GB is useful. More useful is the integration with iPhoto. You can now have iPhoto publish your photos to your .Mac site for public viewing, and if you want, you can have other people upload their own photos (say they were also at the same wedding). And then those photos download back into your iPhoto library.

I haven't had a chance to get my hands on any of this yet, of course, so I don't know what'll stand out when I really get a chance to try the new toys. If I get a chance to try them out, I'll post an update.

I saw Paprika last night at the Brattle Theater. A scientist has to recover a device that allows dreams to be viewed and manipulated, or her project of using this device theraputically will be shut down. Her quest becomes grows urgent as the dream and waking worlds become increasingly juxtaposed.

It was a fun movie. Very tight and entertaining from start to finish. And while I feel like I got it on the first viewing, by the end I wanted to watch it again and re-experience some earlier elements to see if foreknowledge changes the feel of the scenes.

A lot of the visuals reminded me of Satoshi Kon's TV series Paranoia Agent, particularly the sky and skyline shots, the wind effects when people fall, and the general character design. One character's interest in film, and the film narratives that play as dreams in his head, are reminiscent of Millennium Actress and the scenes of chiyoko running through film after film.

The surrealism is a common theme in Kon's films, as is the female lead's dual personalities. Presumably Kon is trying to explore the nature of movies: the nature of the separation between actor and character, and the ability of movies to transport us from watching dispassionately from outside to being transported to the world inside the film and watching intimately. Or perhaps instead these films are all about the nature of dreams: the way we can confuse dreams and reality for each other, especially just before falling asleep or as we awake. The differences between our dream personas (and those of people and places we know and see in our dreams) and waking personas.

Or maybe it's all biblical: "For now we see through a mirror dimly, but then face to face." A reflection on the separation between the spiritual and secular worlds. Well, maybe not biblical. But there are certainly supernatural elements in Paprika, mostly in the form of many spirits, especially as the worlds approach and collide.

I don't think any other theaters in Boston are still showing the film, but if you get a chance to see Paprika, give it a shot.

I have had this account for a while now so that I could join Wolfgang Baur's open_design site. But I haven't really been using it.

I'm intending to use it as a place to post during my upcoming move to Eugene, Oregon after Labor Day. And if all goes well, I'll continue posting after the move, to document my Oregon explorations.