Review Day

There are no spoilers in these reviews.

Dexter, Season Four:
The fourth season of Dexter is better than the third, but not quite as good as the second. This season finds Dexter juggling too many responsibilities and masks, and brings back some of the inherent awkwardness in Dexter's social interactions (unlike last season where he seemed more like a normal guy struggling to be a serial killer). The character of Harry as an inner monologue is a little overused this season, especially one episode where he inserts little sidekick narrations throughout, such as "Where'd he go?" and "Let's go that way!" but the story is well-wrapped from start to finish. John Lithgow is extraordinarily creepy, and deserving of his Golden Globe.

As for the finale, in retrospect it was logical and foreshadowed well but we still found it a little unnecessary. It should make for a great fifth season though.

Final Grade: A

Bottle Shock:
Rebecca picked up this movie because it was supposedly based on a winery we went to in California called Grgich. After finishing the movie and hearing no sign of that winery, we looked on Wikipedia to discover that the one employee who went on to found Grgich was not put in the movie at all, which seems a little spiteful. The movie is pleasant enough and far better than A Walk in the Clouds with Keanu Reeves. Plus, you get to hear Alan Rickman swear, "Knickers!"

Final Grade: B-

The Success of Open Source by Steven Weber:
Since there are no more Girl With The books to read, this was my quick Kindle fix on the beach a couple weeks ago. This tome on open source is full of knowledge, but for people who need to know more about open source for their livelihoods -- it's much deeper than a casual overview of the subject. It's at its most readable when covering historical topics and the people involved, and exceedingly dry and wordy when talking about the legal and political aspects. I retained less than 2% of the final chapter.

Final Grade: B-