rhivolution | Reading

Still no joy on my hunt for a functional StudioWorks Wiseguy season 1 DVD set (if disc 3 works at all, 'The Marriage of Heaven and Hell' is very glitchy and 'No One Gets Out of Here Alive' refuses to play altogether).

(I'd think about asking Wahl if he has transcripts of his commentaries, but it looks like he doesn't have a website outside of Facebook and the idea of messaging him on Facebook weirds me out.)

I finished watching season 1 of NCIS: Hawai'i this weekend - I enjoyed it overall and I like that one of the season's significant subplots was Lucy and Kate's romance!

I also finally got around to making subtitles for a bunch of the fanvids I finished this year (I'd been kinda putting them off).

cloversome posting in

dw_community_promo

hello!

just wanted to promote my new DW comm

queerbookclub!

the community is a no pressure book club dedicated to fiction books of all genres that are queer in some way! each month we take suggestions on what the next month's book should be and we vote on it. if you're not interested in the book for the month, that's perfectly fine! you are free to come and go as you please. :)

we plan to start in may and currently book nominations for may are open until april 26th.

hope to see you there!

jazzyjj posting in

awesomeers

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished!

Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

glinda

I need some help/advice. (I definitely still know at least a few fannish Canadians right?)

So I’ve been thinking about going on holiday later this year, maybe end of September, beginning of October. Originally I’d planned either coastal Spain or bimbling around the low countries on an inter-rail ticket. (My local airport flies directly to Schipol, trains from there around Europe are easy.) There is - as of like a week ago - an absolute shitshow going on with the new post-Brexit passport controls/biometrics for UK travellers with the current advice being to get to the airport at least 3 hours early. And look, this may all be sorted by September, but I got caught in the post covid/Brexit nonsense on a work trip to France a few years ago - fucking running with a giant rucksack of Camera kit through Charles De Galle airport from passport control to my gate with a gate agent - and I’m not keen to repeat the experience. So between programmes the other day I pulled up seat61 intending to look at fun inter-rail options via Eurostar because, so my internal monologue went if I need to be at the airport that early I better be flying transatlantic at least. And like fuck am I going to the states while Trump’s in office…

…Yeah.

So back in 2008, when I worked in a call centre and used to plan train adventures between calls to keep myself sane, one of my favourite ‘and while I’m dreaming I’d like a pony’ plans was to do the ‘Canadian’, through the Rockies, across the prairies, across a fair chunk of Canada really. I spent way too long looking at pictures taken out the domes of the viewing carriages along that route. It was out of my budget, and oh goodness, I could not cope with the logistical uncertainty - the train shares tracks with freight, which has priority, so when it’s late it’s not minutes it’s hours, even now with the adjusted compensatory timetable they still recommend you don’t book onward travel or flights for at least 24 hours after your expected arrival time. But all these years later, I can afford it - not the fancy ‘prestige’ option, but the tiny individual sleeper cabin? A couple of nights in Toronto and Vancouver at either end to explore those cities and act as a buffer zone? Totally do-able.

Given the state of the world right now, neither Japan or Australia feel entirely feasible right now - I was never going to be willing to fly via Dubai, it was always going to be via Singapore, nonetheless - the logistics are just beyond me right now. But Canada. I could do Canada. And I’ve wanted to do that specific train journey for a very long time. I’d half planned to get my other bathroom re-done, but the thought of taking that money and turning it into a new bathroom suite when there’s so many places I’ve never been and things I’ve never done, just feels so pointless. I want to knock a destination off my life-list.

So Canadians - or just folks who’ve spent time in Canada - what’s your advice? What am I missing/not taking into consideration? Which direction do I go: East to West (with a detour to Vancouver island) or West to East (with a detour to Montreal?) What time of year? (I was thinking Autumn colour but I’m persuadable. However, I remember Chicago in February, and my friend C’s other bridesmaid flew in to meet us from Manitoba, and nothing she said made me want to do Winnipeg in winter…Would Spring be a better choice?) Should I stop off along the way? If so, where? Have I, in fact, lost my damn mind?

Current Mood: curious
Current Music: Alanis Morisette - Head Over Feet

torachan

1. Yesterday was Record Store Day (a day to support indie record shops where they have a lot of limited release albums for sale) and we went to Record Surplus when they opened at nine only to find that there was a huge line all the way down the block. The people working there were passing out order sheets so you could write down the things you were interested in (including backups if your top choices were sold out) and Carla filled hers out, but after waiting for about 45 minutes and seeing the line barely move, she decided to tap out and we just went home.

Today we went to see if they had anything left over that she wanted and found several albums on her wishlist, including one of her top most wanted. We probably could have gone back yesterday afternoon or evening to check again, too, as there were only a handful of people who joined the line after us, so after that initial rush you were probably able to just go in the store normally, but it worked out in the end.

2. Tonight Alex came over for her usual Sunday dinner and TV and we were able to give her all the souvenirs we'd collected for her, which turned out to be quite a lot as we'd just been picking up stuff here and there that we thought was something she'd like. We actually found several small items with Gaara from Naruto, her favorite character, just at random shops, when last year we'd had to really go deep into the anime shop areas to find anything Naruto. Maybe it's having a comeback?

3. We've decided to get back into bike riding and that we'd like to get ebikes. The area we live in has a lot of flat spaces, but then also some directions you can't go without a hill, often a steep and/or long one, and having the ebike to get back up the hill would be very helpful, especially for Carla, and (hopefully) make us more likely to actually get out and use the bikes.

I had hoped that there would be somewhere around here that buys used bikes, but there doesn't seem to be, so I'm cleaning the old bikes up to try and sell on Nextdoor or Craigslist or something. I don't think I'll get much for them now, but they cost enough that I'd rather not just put them out on the curb for free. I got mine dusted off and pumped up the tires and took it out for a couple mile ride today and it was so nice. I haven't really ridden my bike much since we got a car again and I wasn't using it for my daily work commute. I'm looking forward to more bike riding in my future, and I think I might even take the old one out a bit while waiting for a buyer.

4. Lately Gemma has been spending a lot of time with Chloe and Chloe has been very tolerant of her. We often see them together on Carla's bed, but the other day they were both out in the dining room by the window.

oliviacirce

NO MORE MISTER NICE POEMS. I have to post this one, though.

( Report from a Besieged City )

umadoshi

(Thank you for the comments on my post yesterday about Claudia. I'll try to respond at least a bit.)

Reading: I finished Rachel Reid's Tough Guy, and then my digital hold on Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shroud came in from the Queens library, so I started in on that. I'm maybe a bit more than halfway through that now? It's interesting and I plan to finish it, but it took a long before I actually got interested, and I mainly kept reading through that chunk because I've enjoyed the handful of Tchaikovsky's other work that I've read quite a lot more than I was enjoying the beginning of this one, so I kept figuring I'd give it a bit longer. I doubt I'll wind up loving it, but I do want to see how things play out.

Watching:

scruloose and I have finished everything we were watching! (And glancing at last week's proof-of-life post to see where we were then reminded me to cancel Crave just now, so yay for that. We'll be back eventually, Crave.) "Everything" in this case was the second seasons of OPLA, Frieren, and The Pitt.

My thoughts on Frieren at this point are, I think, more to do with the experience as filtered through its translation, and I'm going to ignore that for now and instead say the most important thing that I can possibly say at the end of that week of TV watching.

And that thing is this: against all odds, the live-action One Piece (which, as I have said countless times aloud and probably at least once here, if not more, should never have worked at all because it's One Piece, FFS) pulled off Chopper. I am floored. I am agog. I am delighted. I am still sort of mumbling "WTF???" about it under my breath once in a while. CHOPPER.

I won't say that he ever feels so natural to me that I forget he's a marvel of technology onscreen, but he works, and the voice is wonderful, and somehow even when I was at my most aware that he's not being performed by an actor in intensive makeup, he felt like...a stuffed animal/puppet brought to life? Not like CG? (Nothing like the plush Luna from the Sailor Moon drama, for the record.) It's incredible work and I love him so much. (I should also note that I haven't watched any making-of material, so all I know about the creation of Chopper is what Naye mentioned about his huge, shiny eyes accurately reflecting what he's looking at.)

As for what I'll/we'll watch next...I still haven't seen past the initially-released chunk of Justice in the Dark, so I'm trying the tactic of seeing if

scruloose will watch it with me, which means an excuse to start over and refresh myself on the drama, as opposed to my blurry combination of memories from watching those episodes and from reading the fan translation of the novel ages ago.

scruloose is willing to at least give it a shot, so hopefully even if they don't wind up sticking with the show, I'll get some momentum on it.

Current Mood: enthralled

condnsdmlk posting in

vidukon_cardiff

If you're premiering a vid at this year's con, we have two unrevealed AO3 collections you can add your vids to:

Premieres collection – for vids premiering in the Premieres show. Will be revealed once the Premiers show is live.

Themed premieres collection – for vids premiering outside of the Premieres show. Will be revealed after the con.

torachan

1. We already got our tax refunds! Both state and federal were deposited in the account yesterday.

2. I got to sleep easily last night and woke up at more or less my usual time today.

3. Look at this perfectly camouflaged Jasper!

jazzyjj posting in

awesomeers

oliviacirce

It is not uncommon for me to sit on a poem for years and years before posting it, because I collect poems and only have 30(ish) spots per year. I've had this one in the file for long enough that I have it saved in multiple places, but it never does get less evocative or relevant; it's also fascinating to me how different it is from both his earlier and later poetry, while also using language in such a recognizable way. Is Richard Siken in favor with the internet again? I honestly don't care, but I've always liked his poetry, including back when he was a tumblr fandom darling. This is not really a tumblr fandom poem, but it sticks with me.

( Landscape with a Blur of Conquerors )

torachan

Like last time, I will be breaking out the theme parks into separate posts (and some of those may need to be split into multiple parts). This time I had the foresight to actually take notes daily so it should be easier to recreate the timeline than just relying on photos as I did last year.

( Travel & arrival in Osaka )

rachelmanija

This sequel to Annihilation takes an unusual approach. Rather than returning to Area X, almost the entire book takes place outside of it, focusing on the scientific/government agency, the Southern Reach, which has been sending expeditions into it.

Most of the book is bureaucratic shenanigans with creeping horror undertones. The main character, unsubtly nicknamed Control, is slowly losing his mind trying to figure out what the hell happened to his predecessor and why she kept a live plant feeding off a dead mouse in her desk drawer, what is up with the bizarre incantatory literal writings on the wall, and what's up with the biologist, who has seemingly returned from Area X but says she's not the biologist and asks to be called Ghost Bird. There's parts that are interesting but also a lot of office satire which is not really what I was looking for in this series.

About 80% in, the book took a turn that got me suddenly very interested.

( Read more... )

I kind of want to know what happens next but I'm not sure Vandermeer is interested in giving readers what they want.

umadoshi

( years-ago pet loss; old grief and random thoughts )

Current Mood: melancholy

nanila posting in

awesomeers

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished! Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

ineptshieldmaid

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

torachan

1. Both Carla and I had a really hard time getting to sleep last night (I don't think I got to sleep until around four), so I slept in again today, which I do not like, but I am hoping I'll sleep better tonight.

2. I had some very snuggly cats today. They are so glad we're home.

3. I turned in all my library books before we went on our trip, so the day we got home, I put several books on hold and they all came in today, so I went to pick them up. Depending on what branch they're originally at, they sometimes dribble in one by one, so I was pleasantly surprised that they came all at once.

4. When I walked up to get the books, I passed one of our favorite Mexican restaurants and it smelled so good and was almost lunchtime, so I got burritos on the way back and they were indeed delicious.

5. Look at this sleepy guy!

oliviacirce

Take me back to the woods, please. (But actually, I took two pretty nice walks today; could be worse.)

( Yes, That's When )

torachan

This is over two weeks' worth of reading, since I didn't do a post while I was in Japan.

Recently Finished
The Colossus Rises
First book in a middle grade series about a group of kids who discover they carry some ancient gene that can give them super powers but will also kill them soon after it manifests at age 13 unless they can find seven objects that were hidden in the seven wonders of the ancient world. This is clearly trying to be the next Percy Jackson type thing, but while I've never read the Percy Jackson books, I'm pretty sure they must be better than this. The characters were all stereotypes (and there's only one girl in the group of four and she's literally the only female character in the book) and the plot and worldbuilding all felt very haphazard. No interest in continuing the series.

The Disaster Tourist
Translated from Korean. Yona works at a dystopian company that sells tours to disaster zones and when she takes one herself to evaluate whether the company should discontinue it or not, things go off the rails. This was interesting but I didn't love the ending.

Bright
Translated from Thai. When five-year-old Kampol is abandoned by his parents, he is taken in and raised by the close-knit community. This is more a series of short stories than a novel. I liked it a lot.

A Murder for Miss Hortense
First in a new murder mystery series featuring a middle aged Jamaican British sleuth. I liked this a lot. Highly recommend the audiobook.

The Deep
Fantasy novel about a race of mermaids who were born from pregnant slaves tossed over the side of ships. Only one person in each generation holds the memories of their past, and must share them with the group. Interesting world building, but I never could get that into it.

Night Drop
First in a series of muder mysteries set in 1990s LA, around the time of the Rodney King riots. I liked it all right. Will continue the series.

Teaching What Really Happened: How to Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks and Get Students Excited About Doing History
I am not a teacher nor do I have kids, but this sounded interesting and it was.

An Unnatural Life
A cyborg in prison for murdering a human claims he didn't do it. The MC is a lawyer who decides to take his case and attempt to get a retrial based on the fact that a human jury was prejudiced against him. I liked this but it dragged a bit. It's more novella length, but could have been even shorter.

Two Truths and a Lie
Short story about a woman who mentions a creepy children's show, thinking she's making it up, only to find out it was real and she was on it as a kid. Reminded me a lot of Mister Magic.

Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome
Short story tied to a series of sci-fi novels I haven't read. The novels don't sound that interesting, but this is like a mockumentary style write-up of the world building. I liked it a lot. No knowledge of the series necessary.

Age 16
Graphic novel about three generations of Chinese/Chinese Canadian women and their strained relationships with each other. Chapters alternate between the present when the MC is 16, her mom at 16 in the 70s, and her grandma at 16 in the 50s. I liked it a lot.

Stone Fruit
Graphic novel about two queer women, their relationship with each other, which is falling apart, their role as fun aunts, and their reconnection with their respective sisters. I liked it.

Kokoro no Ichiban Kurai Heya vol. 1
Newish horror manga with a framing story of an online chat group that tells off-the-cuff horror stories based on random words the group suggests. First volume was free on Amazon Japan. Vaguely curious about continuing, but the first volume didn't really grab me, and the overarching plot introduced at the end seems less intriguing, so I'm not sure if I will continue it.

A Star Brighter Than the Sun vol. 5

Mystery to Iu Nakare vol. 16

Saint Oniisan vol. 22

rachelmanija

One day every adult on Earth gets a box that contains a string that measures out the length of their life.

This premise seems designed in a lab to create a book to be read for book clubs, where everyone gets to discuss whether or not they'd open their box and how they'd react to a long or short string. It worked, too. And it is absolutely about the premise. Unfortunately, the book is bad: flat, dull, sappy, American in the worst possible way, and emotionally manipulative.

It follows multiple characters, all American, most New Yorkers, and all middle or upper class. Some get long strings. Some get short strings. The ones with short strings agonize over their short strings. The ones with long strings who are in relationships with people with short strings agonize over that.

One of them is black, a fact mentioned exactly once in the entire book, and one has a Hispanic name. One set is an old right-wing politician and his wife. But all of them have identical-sounding narrative voices. Other than the Hispanic-named dude, who is mostly concerned about job discrimination, and the politician, who just wants to exploit the issue, everyone is worried about having a relationship and children with someone who will die young/worried that they'll get dumped and not be able to have children because they'll die young.

Ultimately, isn't everything really about baaaaaabies? Shouldn't everyone have baaaaaaabies no matter what?

The book is so bland and flat. The strings are a metaphor for discrimination, as short stringers are discriminated against. It explores some other social issues, all extremely American like health insurance discrimination and mass shootings, but only peeks outside America for brief and stereotypical moments: North Korea mandates not opening the boxes, China mandates opening them, and in Italy hardly anyone opens their box because they already know what really matters: family. BARF FOREVER.

It was obvious going in that the origin of the boxes would never be explained, but no one even seemed curious about that. Once all adults have received them, they appear on your doorstep the night you turn 22. Video of this is fuzzy. No one parks themselves on the doorstep to see if they teleport in or what. No one has a paradigm-upending crisis over this absolute proof of God/aliens/time travel/magic/etc that the boxes represent. No one comes up with inventive ways to take advantage of the situation a la Death Note. No one is concerned that this proves predestination. No one wonders why they appeared now and what the motive of whoever put them there is.

The point that life is precious regardless of length is hammered in with a thousand sledgehammers, to the point where it felt like a bad self-help book in the form of a novel. The romances are flat and sappy. In the truly vomitous climax, someone pedals around on a bicycle with the stereo playing "Que Sera Sera" and it quotes the entire song.

It's only April but this will be hard to top as the worst book I read all year.

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