Entertain me

The baby does a decent job of amusing me, but at the moment his limited endurance and hideaway status make him insufficient to meet all my entertainment needs. (NOT that I am having a child in order to have someone to entertain me. Wait, then why am I having a child? And come to think of it, I could nearly substitute "David" for "the baby" in that opening sentence. Hmmm.) Anyway, thank goodness I've found a few other amusements in the past week, as I have been occasionally cranky and wanting a bit of escape.

READING
After several wrong turns at the library over the last month I hit upon a lovely book, one that has lingered on my "Read this?" list for years: The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank. What I thought would be a typical chick lit novel turns out to be a nuanced (fictional) life story told through a series of funny/sad/reflective vignettes. The plot, such as it is, seems to center on the progression of relationships in one woman's life. The perpetually staccato first person narrative style might grate on some readers, but I'm really enjoying it. In particular there are wonderful little one liners throughout, ones that make you laugh and think at the same time. Just my kind of contemporary light fiction.

MOVIE
For more vulgar and masculine amusement this week I turned to the Ben Stiller faux-action comedy Tropic Thunder. I'd wanted to see this in theaters and missed it, so was anxiously awaiting its release on DVD; I was so excited that we watched it the day it arrived (ask David how rarely this happens). Maybe in a different mood, such as in a non-tired-and-pregnant state, Tropic Thunder wouldn't have tickled me so, but for now I really liked it.

This tale of a group of self absorbed actors who come to realize their abandonment in a contrived jungle warfare location is actually the real deal had me laughing nearly beginning to end. I particularly appreciated that it included the strengths of Stiller's comedic style (some very crass humor alongside clever pointed commentary on pop culture) with less of the goofy/painful humor so many of his films thrive on. Also, Stiller didn't hog the camera as much as he often does, thus his awkward character (does he play any other kind?) did not drag down the pace. There was some controversy before film was released about Robert Downey Jr's playing an actor in black face, but I thought this part of the story was one of the funniest (and not offensive). Cast was well used, plot made enough sense so you could laugh without setting reality completely aside (no easy feat for such a ridiculous storyline), and only the ending was a bit disappointing (abrupt, I thought). Recommended for fans of grown up potty humor.

COMPUTERS
Have you heard of Diner Dash or any of its variants? It's a simple but addictive computer game that can completely suck you in if you're not careful. In each of these games you become service worker Flo, whether as a waitress, cook, seamstress, animal caretaker, or whatever other industry game you're playing (there are at least 3 Diner Dash sequels, as well as Wedding Dash, Doggie Dash, Fashion Dash, and others). Settings change, but formula for play remains the same: an odd assortment of customers (firemen, snooty society folk, old ladies with cats, cranky cigar smoking men dressed as chickens, you get the idea) come in during a timed shift and you must meet their requests and satisfy their moods in a timely and accurate manner in order to progress. Your reward at the end of a successful shift is money to upgrade facilities so you can serve still more, crankier customers with an ever greater, more complicated variety of services in the next shift (until you reach the last--there is a definite end, though you can play "endless" variation for a fix after you're done). Up until you've exhausted all levels, you choose which upgrades to take on as you go for ever bigger rewards. Of course more upgrades means more complex task expectations. And the game throws in scheduled curves as well; after so many rounds in one arrangement, the game moves Flo's supplies, machinery, and service counter to new spots on screen, thus ruining any routines you've established to get in the groove and succeed.

Do I sound like someone who has spent too much time playing (and thinking about) these games? Maybe, although I haven't actually played them very much at all. See, I'm too cheap to buy the (IMO overpriced) full game, and the free trials are limited to one hour of savable play then some unknown number of 5-minute stints (which when time expires boot you out quite abruptly). So I might have played a grand total of maybe 4 hours' worth of the original Diner Dash and its sequels over nearly two years. But when I play I always enjoy it, get back into the swing very quickly, and look forward to each new installment in the franchise. Which is why I recommend this game to anyone seeking bursts of free, mindless, computer gaming amusement.