(no subject)

[shadowkat]

1. Most of the news is just frustrating, rage-inducing, triggering, and depressing. As Lando recently told me, it appears in this society that you have to possess a narcissistic personality disorder to become successful. But I did find a few interesting tid-bits in my scroll through:

* Why Reading Aloud Helps You Remember More Information -- hee. I now feel validated for reading stuff aloud.

* Ancestry DNA Tests - How Reliable Are They

Apparently, it depends on what you are looking for.

Question: Will my DNA test tell me which country my ancestors came from?

Answer: No. DNA traces to geographic areas, not to specific countries or states. For example, it can link DNA to eastern Europe or Scandinavia, but it can't tell you if your ancestors were born in Germany, or Arkansas, for that matter. But records can help pinpoint those locations.

Q: What else will the ancestry test show me?

A: You will get a list of relatives who have tested with that same company and a general estimate of how you are related (such as first or second cousin, distant cousin).These lists can be lengthy.

Q: Once I do a DNA test, can everyone see my results and any other information on the company’s website?

A: You can mark your information private or public. A public setting would show your ethnic information, the family tree you build and your contact information. People can’t see your personal information unless you give them permission.

Q: What does the DNA testing company do with my information?

A: The companies all say they keep your raw DNA data secure. Read the company’s policy prior to testing to be sure you are comfortable with it.

* The Complicated Legacy of a Panda Who Was Really Good at Sex (yes, my thoughts, exactly. And no, the article isn't as interesting as the title -- unfortunately.)

* Voyager Fires Dormant Thrusters for First time in 37 Years

The set of four small thrusters came online Wednesday after NASA engineers noticed the spacecraft’s attitude control thrusters had been degrading for several years. Those served to make minute adjustments to the craft’s orientation to keep its antenna pointed back at Earth and maintain communications with us as it flies through space. Thankfully, Voyager also has another similar set, called trajectory control maneuver thrusters, that were used in the years after its launch to guide the craft around the various planets it passed on the way out of the solar system.

Past Saturn, though, those thrusters were no longer needed and they went cold. Now, almost four decades later, they’ve come back to life without a hitch to take over for the failing attitude control thrusters. The feat required engineers to unearth data from decades ago, as well as refamiliarize themselves with an outdated computer language. Using the thrusters will take some extra energy, a precious commodity for the aging spacecraft, but NASA says the maneuver will add a few years to the mission’s life.

Traveling at almost 40,000 miles per hour, Voyager 1 is one of the fastest things we’ve ever put into space. It’s currently over 13 billion miles away from our planet and passed into interstellar space back in 2012. Data still flows from Voyager to Earth, though it takes around 19 hours to make the trip. That trickle of information will stop in 2025 when the radioisotope thermoelectric generators cease to provide enough power to run any instruments. But for the moment, we’re still in contact with humanity’s most distant envoy. And, it seems Voyager’s still got a few tricks up its sleeve.

[If only other things in our society were this efficient.]

2. Read Entertainment Weekly...

* Ridely Scott (the director behind Alien and Bladerunner) just erased Kevin Spacey from his film, All the Money in the World (based on the true story of the John Paul Getty III kidnapping), and inserted Christopher Plummer. He did it in a months time, re-filmed key scenes, and re-edited. So Kevin was never in the movie, he's been completely deleted from it. When asked why, Scott said he felt it was the right thing to do. What Spacey did should not be tolerated and he should be penalized for it, but not all the other people associated with the film who worked hard on it. Solution? Delete him.

I honestly think this is a game-changer.

* Crazy Ex-Girl Friend is filming an episode with a 100 hit songs...and one of them is about how romantic love is selfish and we're better off without it. LOL!

I did read in a previous EW issue an interview with Rachel Bloom (creator, writer and star of the series) who stated what her intent was behind it:

This is my favorite season. This has been the season I've always wanted to do. In my head, it always did feel like the first two seasons were a prequel. This is the promise of the premise of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - the idea of someone who is fully becoming this trope, but we examine it from her point of view. It's the full exploration of that premise.

This actually explains a lot about the series. It really is a satirical exploration of a trope. The title is meant to be taken literally.

Reminds me a little bit of what Joss Whedon was doing with Buffy the Vampire Slayer -- exploring a trope, and satirizing it at the same time. Just about every name in that series is a play on words.
Or an ironic take on it.

Except Crazy Ex isn't meant to be taken ironically or metaphorically, it's more literal. So subverting the trope by just embracing it fully?

* Films that look interesting:

- Star Wars: The Last Jedi -- it looks like it may be a game-changer. Also appears to be going rather dark? With Luke being set up as an anti-hero?

- The Shape of Water -- sort of the Creature of the Black Lagoon meets Children of a Lesser God via some government conspiracy flick?

- The Great Showman -- I like the trailer. It's the PT Barnum story about building a circus set to music.

A friend of mine has seen Justice League twice now and told me it was wonderful. She loved it.
That if you ignore the backstory, it's a great action flick. Does it's job and is surprisingly hopeful. However...she hates most of the Chris Nolan Batman flicks. Couldn't re-watch them, found them boring. But her favorite Marvel flicks I agree with - Civil War, Winter Solider, Iron Man 1 and III, Thor:Raganorak.

I don't know. Current plan is to see "Lady Bird" with former best-friend on Friday.

Comments

[mefisto]

Re DNA tests

You'll also find instances where the descent might not, shall we say, line up with the formal record. I have 3 examples from my tree, two where one of my ancestors had an affair with a woman not his wife and fathered a child, and one where my g'gmother was known to be illegitimate and we discovered her father via DNA. I've heard reports of other such findings.

These kinds of things don't bother me, but they do bother some people.

[atpo_onm]

A friend of mine has seen Justice League twice now and told me it was wonderful. She loved it.

I got to see it Sunday afternoon. Debated for the last few weeks whether I wanted to, what with the mixed at best, and often negative reviews, decided it's best to decide for myself. After all, when I saw the original Blade Runner many years back, I left the theater thinking it was brilliant. Most reviewers at the time thought very much otherwise. Turns out in the here and now, more people agree with me than them.

Justice League was better than I expected. Yes, there are some definite flaws, but there's quite a lot of good stuff in it too. If like me you're on the fence about seeing it, I'd say give it a go. Personally, the weaker parts for me were excessive use of super-ultra-fast paced CGI in the various battle sequences, but then I have to remind myself that this is a cartoon brought to life, and how you do that is very much a matter of personal taste.

I'd give it a 6.5 overall on my usual 0 to 10 scale, but there were quite a few moments of 7s & 8s scattered throughout.

[shadowkat]

That was pretty much the impression I got -- the critics hate it because they know too much about the film's back story and how it was made, etc. But if you go into it just expecting a fun superhero flick, with none of that in your head, it's a good action movie and a lot of fun. (Assuming of course you like superhero action flicks.) Also, I'll admit Snyder does good action scenes in his films. Also, a lot of the critics go into it -- expecting it to be something other than what it is, a fun superhero action flick.

BladeRunner 2049 -- had similar issues. If you adored the original and have that firmly in your head, and if what you adored about the original was well, Rutger Hauer and it's specific storyline, not the special effects per se, then 2049 probably isn't going to do it for you. In fact, if you could care less about the visuals, and are character centric, and the only quibble you had about the original is it felt a bit misogynistic in places --- you may well hate 2049. OTOH, if what you loved most about the original was the special effects, the world, the ideas, and the Decker/Rachel bit...not the rest, then you most likely will love 2049. If you never saw the original or barely remember it? You'll probably like 2049. (That's the impression I've received from those who saw it. The woman on my DW correspondence list who felt the same way I did about the original, really did not like 2049 -- so I'm going with her take, and waiting for it to come out on "On Demand" or Netflix-- where it is a whole lot cheaper. I loved the original film, but mainly due to Rutger Hauer's performance, and the characters, less so on the world. And my main quibble was it felt a bit misogynistic but then it was noir, so I hand-waved it.)

So subjective, makes it impossible to determine what to see from another's rec of it, sometimes.

[atpo_onm]

I very much enjoyed Blade Runner 2049. It makes several respectful homages to the original, but it's really a new story, and I would strongly recommend seeing it on the big screen. The visuals were often stunning, and I found the characters to be involving. I saw it rather late in its local run here, but if it had hung in a few more weeks, I would gladly have seen it a second time.

I'd give it an 8 overall, with a couple of 9 moments.