Y2/D360 ...TGIF
Mar. 11th, 2022 08:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatHalf watching "Turning Red", the new Pixar anime about a teenage Chinese-Canadian, who lives in Toronto, and turns into a red panda whenever she gets upset or overly emotional. [I gave that description to mother over the fun, and she found it hilarious.] Blends in Chinese folklore into the story.
Innovative in that it a) takes place in Toronto, Canada, and b) Chinese folklore plus cute red panda (who by the way bears a very close resemblance to a red fox but far more cuddly), and c) focuses on a teen girl coming of age with girl friends, none of which are "sexy" but actually real looking, and various body types, and ethnicities, also there's no "Romance".
We've progressed in Disney animation and Pixar. Remember when it was mostly boys, and if a woman or girl was in it or the lead - it featured a romance with a boy who saved her? Well not any more. There's only two or three boys in this - and they don't really save anyone. If anything they are just comic relief. See? Progress. I noticed this with "Encanto" as well. [ Encanto it's not - Encanto is better written and has great musical numbers. I don't quite think what this one has - counts as musical numbers, and certainly not great ones. But it is cute and cuddly in its own way.]
That said? I'm definitely the wrong demographic for it. It's fun in places, but also kind of kinetic and annoying. Twenty minutes in - I wanted to shake the mother.
***
Been trying to avoid the news...but it gets through in bits and pieces regardless. As old college buddy stated in an email wishing me a happy birthday (we've been intermittently exchanging emails every few months since January 2021, after a long silence), that we've moved from the pandemic to the Ukraine.
News Media: Pandemic? What Pandemic? Lookie - a war in the Ukraine with bombings, and kids dying!!
Me: I stopped looking at the COVID MAP OF DOOM.
Mother: They are talking about lifting the mask mandates on airlines and in public places, transporation, etc by April.
Sigh. Oh well, I'll wear the mask as long as I have to. My co-workers do for the most part.
At work - they managed to clear out the homeless who had been camped out in the Air Train building finally. It was becoming a bit of an obstacle course. This was a major endeavor, and required barriers to be put up around all the walls - to keep them away from the heating vents. The Port Authority Police finally got its act together or someone did and cleared them all out - because up until this week, they were camped out en mass in the lobby and second floor of the Air Train building.
***
Mother: What did you think of the soap?
Me: I'm frustrated with the soap. I want less hyper-realism and more soap.
For some reason mother found that funny.
***
Finished watching Turning Red - it improved, slightly, reminds me a little bit of "Brave", which I liked better. It's a mother/daughter coming of age tale. (I'm waiting for a good Chinese Pixar Anime like Encanto, but have yet to see one.)
Also, finished reading.. The Last Slayer by Casey Gilly via Boom!Studios, who took over the rights to the Buffy franchise from Dark Horse a few years ago.
This wasn't bad - it was four issues, and better than most of the Buffyverse comics that I read.
The plot? Fifty year old Buffy is struggling in England fighting vampires, after an apocalyptic event - where the sun was blocked out, and vampires now could freely roam the earth.
A kid pops up, with slayer abilities, and magical ones, claiming to Tara and Willow's child. (In this verse, Tara survived.) Tara and Willow are killed trying to bring back the sun. And the teen finds Buffy, who has been estranged from them for over fourteen years. Buffy trains daily with Anya, who never died. While Giles is dead. Xander gone or dead. And Angel left after he and Buffy got married - apparently she left Spike for Angel, they got married, and Angel left her. (We're told this, not shown, and it's kind of off-hand.) When the girl shows up, Thess, Buffy reluctantly takes her in - and eventually runs across Spike, who is playing Watcher to a coven of teen girls training to be slayers. The actual Watcher Council turns out to be overrun with vampires.
The story ends with Buffy letting loose her slayer in a final burst of sunlight which takes out most of the vampires, and going to live a human life, with the slayer allowed to rest in the here-after. Buffy goes to live out her life with Spike, Thess, and the coven in the London underground - training Thess to be the next slayer.
It's a nice little fanfic. I'm not sure it completely works - but I'd say that about most of the Buffy comics.
And it's appreciably short. I prefer short comic arts, less expensive, less likely to disappoint. Also, it has less characters and focuses on the ones I liked - Anya, Willow, Tara, Spike and Buffy - jettisoning the ones that had begun to annoy me.
I also checked out the Angel comic - about Angel and Cordy doing a detective show, while Angel Investigations continues business as usual. It's not bad. Definitely a different verse than Angel - here, Fred is a slayer, Wes her watcher, Spike a champion, Gun - Angel's lawyer and agent. Angel and Cordy have gone all Hollywood and are doing Angel the Series, with Cordy playing the cop, Kate. (So basically Angel S1 is the television series they are doing, while the AU verse is a revised take on Angel S5.)
It's different - definitely reads like fanfic. But at least its different.
***
Cold weekend. Cancelled plans with Wales - due to a nauseous sinus headache from hell slanting towards vertigo, which didn't let up until close to 7 PM. So no real appetite. I definitely did not want the burger, fries and margrita - which is what I had wanted earlier in the week and we were making plans for this Friday. But meeting after work is problematic - Wales gets off work at 5:30-6pm, and wouldn't get there until closer to 6:30pm. I get off work at 4pm and would get there around 5 pm. Plus, we'd be meeting in her neck of the woods - which means she'd walk home from the restaurant, and I'd have to take another subway. It's better to do it on a weekend.
The weekend is out - due to bad weather. Tomorrow - we're getting a winter storm, and then on Sunday, cold temperatures. It's supposed to rain, sleet and snow tomorrow. Then on Sunday drop into the 20s, with a high of 35 degrees, if that. (Farenheit temperatures). I'm hoping it warms up on Monday and Tuesday - since we won't have any heat all day Monday and well into Tuesday, or hot water. I'll be at work - but I worry about my neighbors who won't be.
***
Well, I've rambled on enough tonight...here's a picture:
[The cat isn't mine - he belongs to my kid brother. Cats are too high maintenance for me - I kill house plants. Also I'm allergic. The most I can manage is a mouse - that lives in the walls, and pops up when it thinks I'm not looking.]
Innovative in that it a) takes place in Toronto, Canada, and b) Chinese folklore plus cute red panda (who by the way bears a very close resemblance to a red fox but far more cuddly), and c) focuses on a teen girl coming of age with girl friends, none of which are "sexy" but actually real looking, and various body types, and ethnicities, also there's no "Romance".
We've progressed in Disney animation and Pixar. Remember when it was mostly boys, and if a woman or girl was in it or the lead - it featured a romance with a boy who saved her? Well not any more. There's only two or three boys in this - and they don't really save anyone. If anything they are just comic relief. See? Progress. I noticed this with "Encanto" as well. [ Encanto it's not - Encanto is better written and has great musical numbers. I don't quite think what this one has - counts as musical numbers, and certainly not great ones. But it is cute and cuddly in its own way.]
That said? I'm definitely the wrong demographic for it. It's fun in places, but also kind of kinetic and annoying. Twenty minutes in - I wanted to shake the mother.
***
Been trying to avoid the news...but it gets through in bits and pieces regardless. As old college buddy stated in an email wishing me a happy birthday (we've been intermittently exchanging emails every few months since January 2021, after a long silence), that we've moved from the pandemic to the Ukraine.
News Media: Pandemic? What Pandemic? Lookie - a war in the Ukraine with bombings, and kids dying!!
Me: I stopped looking at the COVID MAP OF DOOM.
Mother: They are talking about lifting the mask mandates on airlines and in public places, transporation, etc by April.
Sigh. Oh well, I'll wear the mask as long as I have to. My co-workers do for the most part.
At work - they managed to clear out the homeless who had been camped out in the Air Train building finally. It was becoming a bit of an obstacle course. This was a major endeavor, and required barriers to be put up around all the walls - to keep them away from the heating vents. The Port Authority Police finally got its act together or someone did and cleared them all out - because up until this week, they were camped out en mass in the lobby and second floor of the Air Train building.
***
Mother: What did you think of the soap?
Me: I'm frustrated with the soap. I want less hyper-realism and more soap.
For some reason mother found that funny.
***
Finished watching Turning Red - it improved, slightly, reminds me a little bit of "Brave", which I liked better. It's a mother/daughter coming of age tale. (I'm waiting for a good Chinese Pixar Anime like Encanto, but have yet to see one.)
Also, finished reading.. The Last Slayer by Casey Gilly via Boom!Studios, who took over the rights to the Buffy franchise from Dark Horse a few years ago.
This wasn't bad - it was four issues, and better than most of the Buffyverse comics that I read.
The plot? Fifty year old Buffy is struggling in England fighting vampires, after an apocalyptic event - where the sun was blocked out, and vampires now could freely roam the earth.
A kid pops up, with slayer abilities, and magical ones, claiming to Tara and Willow's child. (In this verse, Tara survived.) Tara and Willow are killed trying to bring back the sun. And the teen finds Buffy, who has been estranged from them for over fourteen years. Buffy trains daily with Anya, who never died. While Giles is dead. Xander gone or dead. And Angel left after he and Buffy got married - apparently she left Spike for Angel, they got married, and Angel left her. (We're told this, not shown, and it's kind of off-hand.) When the girl shows up, Thess, Buffy reluctantly takes her in - and eventually runs across Spike, who is playing Watcher to a coven of teen girls training to be slayers. The actual Watcher Council turns out to be overrun with vampires.
The story ends with Buffy letting loose her slayer in a final burst of sunlight which takes out most of the vampires, and going to live a human life, with the slayer allowed to rest in the here-after. Buffy goes to live out her life with Spike, Thess, and the coven in the London underground - training Thess to be the next slayer.
It's a nice little fanfic. I'm not sure it completely works - but I'd say that about most of the Buffy comics.
And it's appreciably short. I prefer short comic arts, less expensive, less likely to disappoint. Also, it has less characters and focuses on the ones I liked - Anya, Willow, Tara, Spike and Buffy - jettisoning the ones that had begun to annoy me.
I also checked out the Angel comic - about Angel and Cordy doing a detective show, while Angel Investigations continues business as usual. It's not bad. Definitely a different verse than Angel - here, Fred is a slayer, Wes her watcher, Spike a champion, Gun - Angel's lawyer and agent. Angel and Cordy have gone all Hollywood and are doing Angel the Series, with Cordy playing the cop, Kate. (So basically Angel S1 is the television series they are doing, while the AU verse is a revised take on Angel S5.)
It's different - definitely reads like fanfic. But at least its different.
***
Cold weekend. Cancelled plans with Wales - due to a nauseous sinus headache from hell slanting towards vertigo, which didn't let up until close to 7 PM. So no real appetite. I definitely did not want the burger, fries and margrita - which is what I had wanted earlier in the week and we were making plans for this Friday. But meeting after work is problematic - Wales gets off work at 5:30-6pm, and wouldn't get there until closer to 6:30pm. I get off work at 4pm and would get there around 5 pm. Plus, we'd be meeting in her neck of the woods - which means she'd walk home from the restaurant, and I'd have to take another subway. It's better to do it on a weekend.
The weekend is out - due to bad weather. Tomorrow - we're getting a winter storm, and then on Sunday, cold temperatures. It's supposed to rain, sleet and snow tomorrow. Then on Sunday drop into the 20s, with a high of 35 degrees, if that. (Farenheit temperatures). I'm hoping it warms up on Monday and Tuesday - since we won't have any heat all day Monday and well into Tuesday, or hot water. I'll be at work - but I worry about my neighbors who won't be.
***
Well, I've rambled on enough tonight...here's a picture:
[The cat isn't mine - he belongs to my kid brother. Cats are too high maintenance for me - I kill house plants. Also I'm allergic. The most I can manage is a mouse - that lives in the walls, and pops up when it thinks I'm not looking.]