2015 turned out to be an incredible  year for videos games for me. That’s a good thing because I was playing for the Extra Life charity to raise money for Johns Hopkins. I’d heard about it when the Giant Bomb guys spoke about it, but this year I had a reason - Johns Hopkins had saved Scarlett’s life twice! I’d experimented with recording myself playing video games when Dan started his Let’s Plays and used Camtasia. But there was no way I could justify paying $100 to record myself playing games. Then I discovered OBS which was, in typical FLOSS fashion, impossible to figure out. But then I found XSplit which had recently gone to having a freemium model. Once I learned what all the terminology was in XSplit I was able to go back to OBS - which I did because they actually catered to Linux in addition to Windows. The most fun moments have been when people have stepped into my Twitch or Youtube Gaming channels and chatted during the game. It brings back the social aspect that I grew up with back before everyone had internet.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown (15 hours):

https://youtu.be/GNSX2FaV2hY?list=PLEJrELYLxNgVMLzx98YPIGhKdSDiGFjaU

I wanted to finish XCOM: Enemy Unknown before 2015 was over and I succeeded. Despite being screwed over by scripting errors in the big “dungeons”, I had a lot of fun with the game. The ending was slightly anti-climactic, but then again, this game only had the barest of storylines. I’d DEFINITELY play it again….once I finished going through the hundred or so unplayed games I already own.

Level Zero by Jaron Lee Knuth

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I understand what Mr Knuth was trying to accomplish with this narrative. While the plot twist was neither original nor unpredictable, it really wasn’t the point of this story. In fact, while reading I was thinking this book would warrant a 1 or 2 star rating. It took a long time to get anywhere and seemed to be too meandering. I figured that’s because it was book one of a series and we weren’t going to get a conclusion. But no, this book stands alone just fine.

Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First of all, I strongly recommend reading this right after The Last Colony. It’s been as long time since I read it and so it took some effort for me to remember the original story beats this was supposed to be referencing.

Second, Scalzi does a great job retelling the story and adding lots of depth to it. It brought a new perspective to events from the last book. The contrast between the way adults and teens handled things seemed spot on.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have not been a part of the Harry Potter fandom, so I don’t know if anything I’m going to mention here has been answered in interviews or wikis, etc. I doubt Ms Rowling had the entire seven book series planned from the beginning. However, it’s pretty clear that sometime around book 2 or 3 she did a general outline of the rest of the series because it has all fight together so nicely - and not in a cheap way. Again, not having been a part of the fandom, I’m unaware if there’s some glaring plot hole, but overall it seems to fit quite, quite well. Each book matured not just in the tone of the prose and the subject matter, but also in the lifting of the veil of protection kids feel from adults. The adults were revealed to be selfish and have impure motives and, in the case of the worst of them, no problems being violent to children.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a character study; a respite from the almost non-stop action of the last five books and the action that must follow in the next one. Therefore, barely anything happens in this book. It even has the delightful audacity to begin with a very British comedy scene involving the [metaphorical] heartburn suffered by the Prime Minister of England when visited by the Minister of Magic.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Harry’s always been wary of his celebrity status, but this book is the first time he’d really rather not be Harry Potter anymore. We learn more than ever about the wizarding world and finally see the Ministry of Magic. In an earlier book this would have been a whimsical journey of wonder. Here Harry learns a dark truth - the adult world is petty and unconcerned with justice. But let’s back a up a bit. The last book tore the last bit of the mask of a children’s story off as Harry had to watch a classmate die and come face to face with Voldemort and his top Death Eaters. It still came as quite a shock to find that Death Eaters had made their way to Uncle Vernon’s suburb and terrorize Dudley.

I could have gone for something more elaborate, but at this age, it’s a lot just to get them awake enough for portraits. There are plenty of months for crazier shots.

First Samuel:

Then Stella:

(For a full-size file for printing - email me)