This that and the other thingamig
Jun. 20th, 2023 08:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Finished Marvelous Mrs. Maisel which is allegedly loosely based on Joan Rivers early career. If you squint you can kind of see a resemblance?
The show works best when it focuses on the friendship between Susie Myerson and Midge Maisel. Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino excel at female relationships and banter. Also, Abe and Joel have interesting arcs, although Joel's arc is kind of cut short due to the rushed fifth and final season - where we see it played out mainly in flash forwards.
The standup? Becomes less and less funny as we go forward. But I may not be the best judge? I'm not much of a fan of stand-up. Few and far between have made me laugh. Most, not all, stand-up tends towards humiliation or insult comedy. I prefer the self-deprecating or the stories that folks like Trevor Noah tell. And Maisel is at her best when she does the same.
Apparently the Gordon Ford show is loosely based on Johnny Carson. Some famous people make their way in - Carol Burnett, Alan Shepard, Lenny Bruce.
Lenny Bruce has the biggest role and impact. And Luke Kirby does a good job with the part.
Of the seasons, the fifth is the most interesting and possibly the best. I'd say S's 3 and 4 were the weakest. Although I did like portions of 4.
If you gave up in 3 - I do rec S5 at least - the flash-forwards are interesting. One episode - a roast of Susie by her colleagues, does a good job with flashback - and here, we finally get to see Midge find out about all of the behind scenes shady doings Susie was up to, and Joel was protecting her from. It results in a falling out between the two besties, but not to worry - they find their way back to each other within the episode. It's oddly written - since instead of showing it through Joel's perspective, we see it from Susie, Midge, and Susie's colleagues. Joel falls into the background almost completely. It's not even clear how he got sent to prison or exactly why - except that it was tied into Susie, and the mob guys who kept asking her and Midge through her for favors. Joel apparently takes it upon himself to resolve this - and trades his business for Midge's, and then endeavors to take down their organization, throwing himself into prison for two years as a result. But we get all this via Midge, Susie, and Mike Carr.
The series was interesting. And the finale episode sticks with me. Instead of ending with her breakout on the Gordon Ford show or showing all of her successes since, they have her breakout on Gordon Ford in the first half hour, the second, we flashback to a last dinner with Lenny Bruce, and then flash-forward to 2005, where she discusses her schedule with her staff - she has to be busy every day, and being on the phone with Susie (who now lives in Hawaii) as the two of them watch Jeopardy together. The end is not Midge's standup, or her premiere on Gordon Ford, but in fact her long-running friendship with her manager. And that's the fade to black.
If they did base this on Joan Rivers - this is where the two diverge, since Rivers never made up with Sue Muengers - her manager, and continued to despise her past both women's deaths. Reality often isn't as delightful as make believe, or as comforting.
2. Burn it Down by Maureen Ryan - takes no prisoners.
If I didn't already know Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Lorne Michaels, and Jared Leto were assholes - I do now.
Murray? Well, he sexually massaged Geena Davis against her will on a film they were on together, turned Seth Green upside down and stuffed him in a garbage can when he was a kid (resulting in Seth hiding and crying), threw things at Lucy Liu and sexually harassed her, harassed women on SNL...he's an ass. You can kind of tell just by watching him.
Chase - bullied everyone on SNL when he came on to host. Particularly women.
Leto - insisted on pretending to be actually crippled on Moribus shoot, and to be wheeled around in a wheel chair.
Lorne? Cold bastard, who bullies his people, and rules over an increasingly toxic work environment. Not to mention discriminatory one. Few if any women of color are hired. People are kept waiting for six hours or more. Toxic behavior is not only tolerated but encouraged. He pushed to have both Andrew Rice Clay and Trump host - at the great discomfort of everyone on the show, rendering images of two dangerous people as seemingly harmless.
I already knew all of this. Just not the degree. Dear Lord. No wonder Whedon stated that he was actually nicer than most of them out there. (Ryan vaguely refers to show-runners like Whedon - stating that she knows of someone who was toxic, kept getting gigs, finally got ousted, but is still trying...which could (unfortunately) by any number of folks, but it does sound like Whedon.)
She goes into lengthy detail about SNL. About the high turn-over. That people describe the experience as being put through the wringer. A high school student and fan of Jimmy Fallon's and SNL, ended up suing because of a twenty-something intern sexually harassing and molesting her on their watch.
It's depressing folks. Humans do not handle power well. Although it does validate my dislike of SNL.
3. Ugh, reading slump continues. I am giving up on The Witch King. I am finding it difficult to follow. My attention keeps wandering. I think I may have too much of a brain fog on the subways and trains to read this. (I read mainly on my commute, and lately, I tend to be kind of tired?)
I did sleep better last night. Went to be around 9:30-10. Woke up twice in the night. So not too bad.
Maybe got 6-7 hours.
Anyhow...I can't read something with War scenes, I get bored. War scenes in books tend to bore me on a good day. Sleep deprived? Having hot flashes? Sweating? Forget about it. Also not that interested in demons inhabiting humans. The fantasy world - is not well described, and the dialogue isn't grabbing me - so I'm kind of getting a little lost?
I'm not saying its a bad book. I really don't know. Just that it is not holding my attention.
Also, somehow, I accidentally wasted a credit on an audible book that I did not want. I don't know how it happened. Just that it did. Either that or the Universe decided I should listen to The Last Action Heroes? Somehow I doubt that. I got paranoid for a bit at work - thinking maybe someone hacked into my account to get me to use a credit on The Last Action Heroes - but that seems patently absurd. So most likely a tricky finger? I don't know. It's not that easy to expend a credit.
Anyhow, I'm hunting a new book to read. I may end up reading either one by Cat Sebastian, or there's one that I started on the train about a former film maker, who lost the ability to walk, committed suicide, is now in a mental health facility - who gets offered a job to help find missing supernatural creatures in Hollywood. I didn't know I owned it. It's weird.
It may be a Kindle Unlimited. It did win fantasy awards. I'll see if I can locate the title...ah, it's called Borderline, Arcadia Project #1 by Mishell Baker.
Here's the snyopsis...
A cynical, disabled film director with borderline personality disorder gets recruited to join a secret organization that oversees relations between Hollywood and Fairyland in this Nebula Award–nominated and Tiptree Award Honor Book that’s the first novel in a new urban fantasy series from debut author Mishell Baker.
A year ago, Millie lost her legs and her filmmaking career in a failed suicide attempt. Just when she’s sure the credits have rolled on her life story, she gets a second chance with the Arcadia Project: a secret organization that polices the traffic to and from a parallel reality filled with creatures straight out of myth and fairy tales.
For her first assignment, Millie is tasked with tracking down a missing movie star who also happens to be a nobleman of the Seelie Court. To find him, she’ll have to smooth-talk Hollywood power players and uncover the surreal and sometimes terrifying truth behind the glamour of Tinseltown. But stronger forces than just her inner demons are sabotaging her progress, and if she fails to unravel the conspiracy behind the noble’s disappearance, not only will she be out on the streets, but the shattering of a centuries-old peace could spark an all-out war between worlds.
No pressure.
It's at least different. The Cat Sebastian Book that I toyed with is The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes.
synopsis:
Marian Hayes, the Duchess of Clare, just shot her husband. Of course, the evil, murderous man deserved what was coming to him, but now she must flee to the countryside. Unfortunately, the only person she can ask for help is the charismatic criminal who is blackmailing her—and who she may have left tied up a few hours before…
A highwayman, con artist, and all-around cheerful villain, Rob Brooks is no stranger to the wrong side of the law or the right side of anybody’s bed. He never meant to fall for the woman whose secrets he promised to keep for the low price of five hundred pounds, but how could he resist someone who led him on a merry chase all over London, left him tied up in a seedy inn, and then arrived covered in her husband’s blood and in desperate need of his help?
As they flee across the country—stopping to pick pockets, drink to excess, and rescue invalid cats—they discover more true joy and peace than either has felt in ages. But when the truth of Rob’s past catches up to him, they must decide if they are willing to reshape their lives in order to forge a future together.
Cat Sebastian is kind of adorable. She writes a lot of m/m romance novels and irreverent historical romances about people who defy the trope. Basically her stuff is subversive as all get out. Which is why I like it.
A lot of genre, sorry to say, is repetitive. Actually a lot of literature is repetitive and derivative. I can't read beach books and dysfunctional contemporary family novels any longer, without going to sleep. Surprise me writers, or don't bother. I've fled to subgenres for my own sanity.
But I'm also a touch bored of romances.
I'm envious of Ellen Kurshner - who is living the life I can only dream of. But can't obtain. (Granted I'm not bisexual or a lesbian - sometimes I wish I was but I'm not. Men can be difficult.) Envy is always about wanting something you can't figure out how to get. The Artist Way would tell me to work on my novels, and maybe plan a trip somewhere.
Kurshner is also adorable.
4. News..
* My poor relatives are sweltering in Texas according to mother and the weather. It's 120 Degrees in Southern Texas.
* Orcas
Post: Oh no, the Orcas are ramming the Boats
Meanwhile...the novelists on book twitter are plotting how to kill yacht owners with Orcas. Apparently JKR has a 19M dollar yacht and this has given them ideas.
* Also, they lost the submersible containing nine rich people. (It costs $250,000 to take the submersible to see the Titantic wreckage. Apparently some people are willing to pay a lot of money for a Darwin Award.) They can't find it. And are worried - because there's not a lot of oxygen in there. It's international - because nine rich idiots from around the world decided to do this.
Man to his son: How'd you like to visit the Titantic Wreckage in a submersible tank for your birthday?
Son: Oh that sounds really cool!
Me: I don't know this sounds like a horror movie begging to be made. It kind of writes itself.
People on Twitter were upset that people were poking fun of this. (I'm sorry, but am I meant to feel sorry for nine rich nitwits who decided to spend $250K to get the own personal Darwin Award? I'm not that nice.)
5. Oh, here's a drawing I did of a female Captain America in a homemade Captain America costume. I liked it. So I'm sharing it.
The show works best when it focuses on the friendship between Susie Myerson and Midge Maisel. Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino excel at female relationships and banter. Also, Abe and Joel have interesting arcs, although Joel's arc is kind of cut short due to the rushed fifth and final season - where we see it played out mainly in flash forwards.
The standup? Becomes less and less funny as we go forward. But I may not be the best judge? I'm not much of a fan of stand-up. Few and far between have made me laugh. Most, not all, stand-up tends towards humiliation or insult comedy. I prefer the self-deprecating or the stories that folks like Trevor Noah tell. And Maisel is at her best when she does the same.
Apparently the Gordon Ford show is loosely based on Johnny Carson. Some famous people make their way in - Carol Burnett, Alan Shepard, Lenny Bruce.
Lenny Bruce has the biggest role and impact. And Luke Kirby does a good job with the part.
Of the seasons, the fifth is the most interesting and possibly the best. I'd say S's 3 and 4 were the weakest. Although I did like portions of 4.
If you gave up in 3 - I do rec S5 at least - the flash-forwards are interesting. One episode - a roast of Susie by her colleagues, does a good job with flashback - and here, we finally get to see Midge find out about all of the behind scenes shady doings Susie was up to, and Joel was protecting her from. It results in a falling out between the two besties, but not to worry - they find their way back to each other within the episode. It's oddly written - since instead of showing it through Joel's perspective, we see it from Susie, Midge, and Susie's colleagues. Joel falls into the background almost completely. It's not even clear how he got sent to prison or exactly why - except that it was tied into Susie, and the mob guys who kept asking her and Midge through her for favors. Joel apparently takes it upon himself to resolve this - and trades his business for Midge's, and then endeavors to take down their organization, throwing himself into prison for two years as a result. But we get all this via Midge, Susie, and Mike Carr.
The series was interesting. And the finale episode sticks with me. Instead of ending with her breakout on the Gordon Ford show or showing all of her successes since, they have her breakout on Gordon Ford in the first half hour, the second, we flashback to a last dinner with Lenny Bruce, and then flash-forward to 2005, where she discusses her schedule with her staff - she has to be busy every day, and being on the phone with Susie (who now lives in Hawaii) as the two of them watch Jeopardy together. The end is not Midge's standup, or her premiere on Gordon Ford, but in fact her long-running friendship with her manager. And that's the fade to black.
If they did base this on Joan Rivers - this is where the two diverge, since Rivers never made up with Sue Muengers - her manager, and continued to despise her past both women's deaths. Reality often isn't as delightful as make believe, or as comforting.
2. Burn it Down by Maureen Ryan - takes no prisoners.
If I didn't already know Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Lorne Michaels, and Jared Leto were assholes - I do now.
Murray? Well, he sexually massaged Geena Davis against her will on a film they were on together, turned Seth Green upside down and stuffed him in a garbage can when he was a kid (resulting in Seth hiding and crying), threw things at Lucy Liu and sexually harassed her, harassed women on SNL...he's an ass. You can kind of tell just by watching him.
Chase - bullied everyone on SNL when he came on to host. Particularly women.
Leto - insisted on pretending to be actually crippled on Moribus shoot, and to be wheeled around in a wheel chair.
Lorne? Cold bastard, who bullies his people, and rules over an increasingly toxic work environment. Not to mention discriminatory one. Few if any women of color are hired. People are kept waiting for six hours or more. Toxic behavior is not only tolerated but encouraged. He pushed to have both Andrew Rice Clay and Trump host - at the great discomfort of everyone on the show, rendering images of two dangerous people as seemingly harmless.
I already knew all of this. Just not the degree. Dear Lord. No wonder Whedon stated that he was actually nicer than most of them out there. (Ryan vaguely refers to show-runners like Whedon - stating that she knows of someone who was toxic, kept getting gigs, finally got ousted, but is still trying...which could (unfortunately) by any number of folks, but it does sound like Whedon.)
She goes into lengthy detail about SNL. About the high turn-over. That people describe the experience as being put through the wringer. A high school student and fan of Jimmy Fallon's and SNL, ended up suing because of a twenty-something intern sexually harassing and molesting her on their watch.
It's depressing folks. Humans do not handle power well. Although it does validate my dislike of SNL.
3. Ugh, reading slump continues. I am giving up on The Witch King. I am finding it difficult to follow. My attention keeps wandering. I think I may have too much of a brain fog on the subways and trains to read this. (I read mainly on my commute, and lately, I tend to be kind of tired?)
I did sleep better last night. Went to be around 9:30-10. Woke up twice in the night. So not too bad.
Maybe got 6-7 hours.
Anyhow...I can't read something with War scenes, I get bored. War scenes in books tend to bore me on a good day. Sleep deprived? Having hot flashes? Sweating? Forget about it. Also not that interested in demons inhabiting humans. The fantasy world - is not well described, and the dialogue isn't grabbing me - so I'm kind of getting a little lost?
I'm not saying its a bad book. I really don't know. Just that it is not holding my attention.
Also, somehow, I accidentally wasted a credit on an audible book that I did not want. I don't know how it happened. Just that it did. Either that or the Universe decided I should listen to The Last Action Heroes? Somehow I doubt that. I got paranoid for a bit at work - thinking maybe someone hacked into my account to get me to use a credit on The Last Action Heroes - but that seems patently absurd. So most likely a tricky finger? I don't know. It's not that easy to expend a credit.
Anyhow, I'm hunting a new book to read. I may end up reading either one by Cat Sebastian, or there's one that I started on the train about a former film maker, who lost the ability to walk, committed suicide, is now in a mental health facility - who gets offered a job to help find missing supernatural creatures in Hollywood. I didn't know I owned it. It's weird.
It may be a Kindle Unlimited. It did win fantasy awards. I'll see if I can locate the title...ah, it's called Borderline, Arcadia Project #1 by Mishell Baker.
Here's the snyopsis...
A cynical, disabled film director with borderline personality disorder gets recruited to join a secret organization that oversees relations between Hollywood and Fairyland in this Nebula Award–nominated and Tiptree Award Honor Book that’s the first novel in a new urban fantasy series from debut author Mishell Baker.
A year ago, Millie lost her legs and her filmmaking career in a failed suicide attempt. Just when she’s sure the credits have rolled on her life story, she gets a second chance with the Arcadia Project: a secret organization that polices the traffic to and from a parallel reality filled with creatures straight out of myth and fairy tales.
For her first assignment, Millie is tasked with tracking down a missing movie star who also happens to be a nobleman of the Seelie Court. To find him, she’ll have to smooth-talk Hollywood power players and uncover the surreal and sometimes terrifying truth behind the glamour of Tinseltown. But stronger forces than just her inner demons are sabotaging her progress, and if she fails to unravel the conspiracy behind the noble’s disappearance, not only will she be out on the streets, but the shattering of a centuries-old peace could spark an all-out war between worlds.
No pressure.
It's at least different. The Cat Sebastian Book that I toyed with is The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes.
synopsis:
Marian Hayes, the Duchess of Clare, just shot her husband. Of course, the evil, murderous man deserved what was coming to him, but now she must flee to the countryside. Unfortunately, the only person she can ask for help is the charismatic criminal who is blackmailing her—and who she may have left tied up a few hours before…
A highwayman, con artist, and all-around cheerful villain, Rob Brooks is no stranger to the wrong side of the law or the right side of anybody’s bed. He never meant to fall for the woman whose secrets he promised to keep for the low price of five hundred pounds, but how could he resist someone who led him on a merry chase all over London, left him tied up in a seedy inn, and then arrived covered in her husband’s blood and in desperate need of his help?
As they flee across the country—stopping to pick pockets, drink to excess, and rescue invalid cats—they discover more true joy and peace than either has felt in ages. But when the truth of Rob’s past catches up to him, they must decide if they are willing to reshape their lives in order to forge a future together.
Cat Sebastian is kind of adorable. She writes a lot of m/m romance novels and irreverent historical romances about people who defy the trope. Basically her stuff is subversive as all get out. Which is why I like it.
A lot of genre, sorry to say, is repetitive. Actually a lot of literature is repetitive and derivative. I can't read beach books and dysfunctional contemporary family novels any longer, without going to sleep. Surprise me writers, or don't bother. I've fled to subgenres for my own sanity.
But I'm also a touch bored of romances.
I'm envious of Ellen Kurshner - who is living the life I can only dream of. But can't obtain. (Granted I'm not bisexual or a lesbian - sometimes I wish I was but I'm not. Men can be difficult.) Envy is always about wanting something you can't figure out how to get. The Artist Way would tell me to work on my novels, and maybe plan a trip somewhere.
Kurshner is also adorable.
4. News..
* My poor relatives are sweltering in Texas according to mother and the weather. It's 120 Degrees in Southern Texas.
* Orcas
Post: Oh no, the Orcas are ramming the Boats
Meanwhile...the novelists on book twitter are plotting how to kill yacht owners with Orcas. Apparently JKR has a 19M dollar yacht and this has given them ideas.
* Also, they lost the submersible containing nine rich people. (It costs $250,000 to take the submersible to see the Titantic wreckage. Apparently some people are willing to pay a lot of money for a Darwin Award.) They can't find it. And are worried - because there's not a lot of oxygen in there. It's international - because nine rich idiots from around the world decided to do this.
Man to his son: How'd you like to visit the Titantic Wreckage in a submersible tank for your birthday?
Son: Oh that sounds really cool!
Me: I don't know this sounds like a horror movie begging to be made. It kind of writes itself.
People on Twitter were upset that people were poking fun of this. (I'm sorry, but am I meant to feel sorry for nine rich nitwits who decided to spend $250K to get the own personal Darwin Award? I'm not that nice.)
5. Oh, here's a drawing I did of a female Captain America in a homemade Captain America costume. I liked it. So I'm sharing it.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-21 06:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-21 02:08 pm (UTC)Yesterday they said nine people. LOL!
I agree = on Twitter novelist Lorraine Berry posted her annoyance that they are all worried about these five people - while a boat load of children and adults, over 500 in all, was capsized and many died.
But the story about the submersible is more entertaining to the news anchors. SMH.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-21 09:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-22 12:17 am (UTC)Apparently in another article that shipperx read - one of the scientists quit after informing the owners of the company that there was no way the submersible could go down as far as the Titantic.
Here's what the BBC article in Guardian stated: "If the Titan is on the seabed and can't get back up under its own power, the options are very limited, according to Prof Greig.
"If it is deeper than more than 200m (656ft) there are very few vessels that can get that deep, and certainly not divers. The vehicles designed for navy submarine rescue certainly can't get down to anywhere near the depth of the Titanic."
But ocean recovery expert David Mearns says that if an ROV can locate the Titan then it should be able to recover it. "A world-class ROV with twin manipulators can actually grab hold of [the Titan] or attach a lift line to it and slowly haul it to the surface," he adds.
Graphic showing the Titanic wreck is 3,800m below sea level way below the 40m a recreational diver can descend to or even the 300m operational depth of a Vanguard submarine."
no subject
Date: 2023-06-21 09:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-21 02:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-21 02:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-21 04:38 pm (UTC)And some developers and science needs to be hindered. People shouldn't be allowed to do whatever they want.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-22 06:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-22 04:32 pm (UTC)