Doug Cornelius .com

I admit that I am a fan of Project Runway.  (I can’t explain my affection for this show.)

Tim Gunn, the fashion mentor for the Project Runway contestants, will be featured in a Marvel comic book.

Read more in my latest post on GeekDad: Who Wants to be a Fashion Superhero?

The author lives an interesting life and can put together interesting stories. Beyond Road’s End: Living Free in Alaska is a series of stories rather than a coherent narrative.

The author, Jan, left her husband for Ed, got married, hopped in Ed’s green van and moved to the Alaskan bush. Ed and Jan didn’t give it all up to live in the Alaskan bush. They didn’t have much in New Hampshire. The longer they stayed in Alaska, the more creature comforts they acquired.

They have many interesting adventures and meet many characters along the way. Characters in many ways, as you might expect in the Alaskan wilderness.

Unfortunately, the author makes the characters seem robotic. She uses forced conversations to carry the narrative. It seems clear that most of the book was written many years after the events took place. I don’t know why she tries to recreate the conversations that took place. They come across as very flat, artificial and two-dimensional. For me, that ruined the book.

I was willing to accept the narrative flaws and loose ends. After all, the book was meant to be autobiographical. Life has narrative flaws and loose ends.

Jan insists on filling the narrative with these artificial conversations. The best parts of the book are those where Jan is more of a spectator than a participant. As she tells in the introduction, she is uncomfortable writing about herself. When talking to Ed, “I hate writing when we are central characters.” That comes across clearly.

In the interest of disclosure, the publisher sent me a free copy with hopes that I would review it.

Which would grab the attention of my five-year old, SpongeBob on television or the bird feeder just outside the window?

Find out in my latest post on GeekDad: GeekDad Unwired: SpongeBob Versus Bird Feeder.

(Okay, so maybe the picture gives away the result.)

Cull through some news stories and you can find out what stories the Obamas have been reading to kids. Oprah’s minions compiled a list and I went out and did some more research.

You can read more on my latest GeekDad post: What is Michelle Obama Reading to Kids?

The Wife and I got a babysitter and went to see District 9.

The movie is directed and co-written by the South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp and shot in Johannesburg and the New Zealand studios of producer Peter Jackson. (You may remember him as the director of the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.) Jackson had originally picked Blomkamp to direct the movie version of Halo.

Was it worth the price of a babysitter?

Read more on my latest post on GeekDad: 9 Things That Parents Should Know About District 9.

Last Sunday I brought The Son to his first game at Fenway Park. I wrote more about this is today’s post on GeekDad: A Visit to Fenway Park.

This was not his first visit to a major league baseball game. Last year we went to a Kansas City Royals game at Kaufman Stadium. (No comment on whether the Royals count as a major league team.) He had a similar reaction to that game. No surprise that Kaufman Stadium lacks the charm of Fenway park.

Last Sunday I brought The Son to his first game at Fenway Park.

No surprise that he was more interested in the food than the game.

Still, he managed to stick around to hear the crowd sing Sweet Carolina, one of his favorite songs. He joined right in.