So my friend bought a UFC ring toy, and this is what he thought about it:  
   I bought the UFC Basic Octagon Playset today. It was a little trickier to put together than I thought it would be (had it backwards at first; last time I disregard the instructions because “How hard can it be?”) but once assembled it looked great—like a real UFC Octagon shrunk to miniature size and placed in the middle of my living room. The package says it’s as “Real As It Gets” and they aren’t lying.

    So anyways, once it was together I decided to take it for a spin. I plopped my Michelangelo and Leonardo TMNT action figures into the middle of the ring and put them through their paces, UFC style. (Actually I disregarded every established rule; Mikey had his nunchuks, Leo had a pizza-tosser, and it did not end well.)

It was more fun than playing with action figures ought to be for someone my age. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I’m thinking of investing in Randy Couture and Stone Cold Steve Austin action figures… so I can host a rematch of their Expendables fight in my backyard, for myself and any friends who decide to show up. (Oh, and before someone tries to get clever and say that Stone Cold isn’t an MMA fighter, I’ll point out that this is just pretend, so it’s okay. In fact, in some ways this sort of thing makes a playset better than a real UFC match—I think they could get away with changing the packaging to read “Better Than Real Life!”)

    So that rematch  will likely happen at some point. But first? Robocop VS Goku from Dragon Ball Z! To my knowledge, it’ll be the first time Robocop’s been involved in a professional fighting competition since his appearance at WCW Capital Combat on May 19, 1990.

    It’s going to be one to remember!

Ender's Game

I just finished reading Ender's Game , by Orson Scott Card, and really enjoyed it. It was well worth the read!

Remember, the enemy's gate is down.

ParaNorman

I was lucky enough to see an early screening of ParaNorman on August 8th and I really enjoyed it. The stop-motion always amazes me. As for the movie, the character development was very well done and the story was intriguing to say the least. I really enjoyed it, and hope that you will too.

Antimatter by Frank Close

I just finished reading Antimatter by Frank Close. It was a very good read, and I feel that I really learned a lot from it. If you're interested in the applications of antimatter, the history of it, or even some of the crazy things you've heard about its uses as a weapon or as part of a rocket, then you should certainly check it out, as it goes over all of these and much more.

Final Theory by Mark Alpert

I just finished reading Final Theory by Mark Alpert. Being interested in physics, the premise of the novel interested me -- what if Einstein had found a unified theory but hid it from the world, frightened at what that theory might lead to. While the novel had some neat twists and turns, the plot seemed to be pushed forward solely by little coincidences. Second, seemingly bright characters are constantly doing stupid things. These two things completely ruined the novel for me. For instance (small spoiler?) in a chase in the dark, a water gun is dropped on the floor in the exact spot the pursuer is, tripping him and buying just enough time to make it away. If these kind of things happened on occasion, it would be forgivable. However, when these things drive everything forward, it becomes a big letdown for a story that had so much potential. So while I can say that there were some interesting elements to this book (in particular, I enjoyed the mercenary Simon and the physicist Monique), they aren't enough to make it worth reading. If I hadn't already purchased the book, I feel that my time would have been better spent somewhere else.

Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez

I still remember finishing the last page of Freedom (TM) (Daemon) by Daniel Suarez. After reading great novels like that, a certain feeling of sadness always takes over, as I come to the realization that there are no more novels from them to read. That feeling of disappointment faded recently, with the release of Kill Decision . An adrenaline fueled novel with political and technological sophistication, coupled with current events that add to its realism, I found Kill Decision to be exactly the novel I was waiting for. The characters were engaging and the constantly evolving story felt terrifyingly close to reality. It was a great read, and if you are a fan of Daemon and Freedom, you must check it out!

Einstein Wrote Back: My Life in Physics by John W. Moffat

I bought "Einstein Wrote Back" when it first came out, and I had it sitting on my reading pile this whole time. I'm an undergrad in Physics, and so I thought it would be an interesting book to read. Finally, when I felt I had been lazy enough with my reading habits, I picked it up.

I thought it gave me a good feel of the academic world of physics, and of the interactions people go through when they are doing serious research. It also gave me a picture of the cutthroat hierarchy of academia at the same time.

If you have an interest in physics and the life of a physicist, it's a very worthwhile read. You won't find many other people who have had as many interactions with the great physicists of the twentieth century as Moffat.

If you aren't a science buff, however, I wouldn't recommend reading this book. It goes into detail about things that you may not find all that interesting, although passages, such as his childhood during World War II, and his introduction into physics, were quite fascinating.