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Looking Back At Christmas Day 2024
Dec. 26th, 2024 08:35 amIt was okay. Quiet when I needed it to be, noisy when I wanted it to be.
No notes.
No notes.
COMICS: SWORD # 1-3
Mar. 29th, 2021 06:51 pm"The mutant space program", they call it now.
A station that used to house six thousand people of assorted species, now repurposed to run with 300 or so Earthly mutants of the newborne Krakoan nation using it as a platform for exploration, research, diplomacy, defence.
A mixture of dreamers, pragmatists, working stiffs, grifters...and fanatics.
The first three issues read well together. Even with the intervention of the "King in Black" crossover, which I write off as the latest consequence of the original Secret Wars mini-series from the early 1980's. From there to Venom/Eddie Brock...eventually to this.
I'm having fun reading.
A station that used to house six thousand people of assorted species, now repurposed to run with 300 or so Earthly mutants of the newborne Krakoan nation using it as a platform for exploration, research, diplomacy, defence.
A mixture of dreamers, pragmatists, working stiffs, grifters...and fanatics.
The first three issues read well together. Even with the intervention of the "King in Black" crossover, which I write off as the latest consequence of the original Secret Wars mini-series from the early 1980's. From there to Venom/Eddie Brock...eventually to this.
I'm having fun reading.
MOVIES: The Good Liar
Dec. 30th, 2019 10:02 pmIt was what I'd hoped for, albeit in ways I didn't entirely expect and should have.
I'm not sure how much more to say at this point...?
I'm not sure how much more to say at this point...?
Bus Pass Tech, Movies, Eco-Protests
Sep. 28th, 2019 10:35 amOkay, I got my bus pass updated for next month. I'm still not happy with my bus pass becoming a surveillance device, thanks to Presto tech. The fact that I can look at my own travel data patterns this way still means that others who have no business wanting to know can find out too by criminal means.
Movies? I saw Ad Astra last night. I've heard it argued that it looks like a defence of toxic forms of masculinity...and I don't see it. If anything, it argues for better self-awareness among male humans. The influences of Apocalypse Now, Heart of Darkness, 2001, The Martian and so on are certainly there. Ruth Negga is certainly under-used as an actor here, which I think is a mistake. But it's not one that's confined to her alone, I'd say. Between the VFX work, Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones...that's the core of the show. And Pitt and Jones put in the work as much as the VFX artists did.
(I'd like to have a separate, nerdish discussion of what decisions and how much work went into the infrastructure as depicted in Ad Astra. I will probably write a separate post for that topic.)
I didn't get to participate in the Global Climate Strike demonstrations yesterday here in Ottawa, but from what I saw on Kent Street between Albert and Slater at noon hour, it was well attended in its own right.
More on other topics later.
Movies? I saw Ad Astra last night. I've heard it argued that it looks like a defence of toxic forms of masculinity...and I don't see it. If anything, it argues for better self-awareness among male humans. The influences of Apocalypse Now, Heart of Darkness, 2001, The Martian and so on are certainly there. Ruth Negga is certainly under-used as an actor here, which I think is a mistake. But it's not one that's confined to her alone, I'd say. Between the VFX work, Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones...that's the core of the show. And Pitt and Jones put in the work as much as the VFX artists did.
(I'd like to have a separate, nerdish discussion of what decisions and how much work went into the infrastructure as depicted in Ad Astra. I will probably write a separate post for that topic.)
I didn't get to participate in the Global Climate Strike demonstrations yesterday here in Ottawa, but from what I saw on Kent Street between Albert and Slater at noon hour, it was well attended in its own right.
More on other topics later.
TREK: "Project Daedalus"
Mar. 15th, 2019 05:39 amDamn.
That was brutal.
Spoilers in comments, please...because I do want to discuss this episode.
That was brutal.
Spoilers in comments, please...because I do want to discuss this episode.
BOOKS: Artemis by Andy Weir
Jan. 4th, 2018 02:00 pmI've finished a quick and dirty read-through of it, and I'm mostly happy with it. I'm not anywhere near the science and technology nerd I ought to be, despite living ever closer to several of those possible futures. "Jazz" Bashara, Saudi-born and Lunar-raised, strikes me as an interesting enough protagonist. Not going to call her a "hero", which is likely to be a label she'd reject anyway if she were real. The story's not boring, and getting into the political and economic as well as the technical nuts and bolts always helps keep me interested when it's well-presented. It's as much a mystery/crime drama as a space adventure. The two aspects are well-balanced here.
It's not fair to compare Artemis to The Martian. So I'm not going there.
If I were to adapt Artemis for any other medium, I'd say "mini-series for TV, five to ten episodes". It's got enough characters with their own stuff going on in the background to justify it.
I'll leave the question of whether "Jazz" and her neighbours and family should get a sequel to Mr. Weir.
Bottom line: worth your money, worth your time.
It's not fair to compare Artemis to The Martian. So I'm not going there.
If I were to adapt Artemis for any other medium, I'd say "mini-series for TV, five to ten episodes". It's got enough characters with their own stuff going on in the background to justify it.
I'll leave the question of whether "Jazz" and her neighbours and family should get a sequel to Mr. Weir.
Bottom line: worth your money, worth your time.
Movies: Rogue One
Dec. 27th, 2016 11:20 pmIt's done. I saw it tonight.
I'd been meaning to watch it for a while now, even before starting to hear of the dislike in certain white-supremacist/neo-Nazi quarters for the casting and plot of the film. Hearing of that dislike from such people made it a duty of sorts, if only a form of virtue-signalling.
And then there was the news today about Carrie Fisher's death.
That finally did it. I had to go.
It's strange: I was expecting to have my heart broken, probably several times over in the course of the movie. Those of you who've already seen it can probably guess which points in the story where it should have happened.
It didn't.
But what I got instead was satisfaction. I'm not sure if it's the grim kind, not yet. Given some of the things going on in the real worlds - and yes, I do still know the difference, having trained in some of the skills needed to blur that line for others at animation and marketing classes - one might expect that.
Not sure yet, though.
My ego would have me think it's put a certain amount of steel in my spine, so to speak. Maybe. My ego being what it is, that could make me prone to trouble I couldn't get myself or anyone else out of. So it's a bit much to ask of any movie.
That said, I thank everyone involved in the making of this. Whether you're still able to read this or not. Whether you ever find this posting or not. Thank you.
If you didn't earn from this work what you were led to expect by your employers, I apologize for that. I don't run any of the companies involved, yet I remember the green-square protests of recent years in support of VFX workers' rights to fair pay for the work they've done on movies and TV shows I've enjoyed, having kept an eye on several trade-related websites and other sources. You are artists, you make art for so many of us, and it has a positive value.
Again, my thanks. Take care.
Good night, and good luck.
I'd been meaning to watch it for a while now, even before starting to hear of the dislike in certain white-supremacist/neo-Nazi quarters for the casting and plot of the film. Hearing of that dislike from such people made it a duty of sorts, if only a form of virtue-signalling.
And then there was the news today about Carrie Fisher's death.
That finally did it. I had to go.
It's strange: I was expecting to have my heart broken, probably several times over in the course of the movie. Those of you who've already seen it can probably guess which points in the story where it should have happened.
It didn't.
But what I got instead was satisfaction. I'm not sure if it's the grim kind, not yet. Given some of the things going on in the real worlds - and yes, I do still know the difference, having trained in some of the skills needed to blur that line for others at animation and marketing classes - one might expect that.
Not sure yet, though.
My ego would have me think it's put a certain amount of steel in my spine, so to speak. Maybe. My ego being what it is, that could make me prone to trouble I couldn't get myself or anyone else out of. So it's a bit much to ask of any movie.
That said, I thank everyone involved in the making of this. Whether you're still able to read this or not. Whether you ever find this posting or not. Thank you.
If you didn't earn from this work what you were led to expect by your employers, I apologize for that. I don't run any of the companies involved, yet I remember the green-square protests of recent years in support of VFX workers' rights to fair pay for the work they've done on movies and TV shows I've enjoyed, having kept an eye on several trade-related websites and other sources. You are artists, you make art for so many of us, and it has a positive value.
Again, my thanks. Take care.
Good night, and good luck.
