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1. Thank you for the responses to the post about my Dad, mucho appreciated.
2. Television
The emmy's kind of bewilder me. But so does most people's taste in television. After watching four episodes of White Lotus (during which I either fell asleep or my attention wandered), and seven episodes of Daisy Jones (ditto), I've decided that neither is to my liking, and I'm moving on. Whiny dramas about rich twenty-somethings visiting beautiful locals whinging about not having a purpose, don't do a lot for me. I'd rather watch a cartoon about elves, magicians, and dragons (which is what I did) or a show about people trying to survive in the Canadian wilderness.
Wales loves those types of shows. I fall asleep during them. I fell asleep during Lost in Translation. Didn't like it at all. All of Sofia Coppola's films - I fall asleep during. She has an ethereal quality to her work that Wales loves and I despise.
* Night Agent - I think I've figured it out. Not positive. But the bad guys aren't as clear cut as I thought - if I'm right. It's suspenseful. I liked The Diplomat and The Bear, better.
* Dragon Prince - The Mystery of Arvasos (Netflix) - this is a four season cartoon with 9 episodes in each season. I'm still in S1, with about three or four episodes to go.
It's interesting. It's animated. About two human youngsters, and an elf, who are attempting to return a dragon's egg to a Dragon - in order to stop a war. Lots of people are trying to stop them. But the villains are not quite as clear cut as I thought, and rather interesting. Also, one of the characters is death, female, and a military commander, the villain (male) was the lover of the King (who he may have had a hand in killing - not clear), and the King is POC. So it's a diverse cartoon. I like diversity in my television series. I'm finally getting it. It only took forty-fifty years of my lifetime.
* Alone S9 - actually enjoying this season - it's humbled some incredibly arrogant outdoorsmen. Benji was annoying me. He's put out in the Canadian Wilderness to survive. And he has this attitude that he can take whatever nature throws at him, and can't wait for it to break him. And everyone should do this. It's easy. Then he shoots a poor Beaver with an arrow, and goes after its meat, and arrogantly eats the meat off the hide.
Of course he gets Beaver Fever. Actually the two idiots who trapped the Beaver and bragged about taking down a black bear for food - are the two who get sick with "Beaver Fever" or giardia (a parasite that is in water and infected meat). What I like about the series is it gets across that you need to respect nature and live in harmony with it. Nature doesn't play games. And there are things in nature, which you can't see, that are microscopic, that can and will kill you. These guys thought the Polar Bears were their biggest enemies, nope, microscopic parasites that live in water and infect Beavers.
Benji does a 180 when he gets Beaver Fever and has to tap out. "I've been humbled by this experience," he states. "I realize now, that I underestimated the risks involved."
The one's who survive the longest are the ones who aren't arrogant and figure out two things: 1) how to build a warm, dry secure shelter with a working fire place, chimney and stove, and 2) can hunt and find enough food for themselves. Usually fish. Rabbit. Grouse.
*Daisy Jones and the Six - the only characters I like in this series are the supporting Black characters, Bernie and Simone (who reminds me of a young Donna Summer). I don't like Daisy or the Six. And in the seventh episode it's all about Daisy going off to Greece to get married, and Simone traveling to Greece with her girlfriend to be the maid of honor, and attempt to talk Daisy and her rich new husband into returning to the States, so Daisy can go on tour and take advantage of her big break and stop feeling sorry for herself.
It's very...stupid. A biopic about Fleetwood Mac would be more interesting.
Stevie Nicks had more personality and talent than Daisy.
3. Books
Almost down with Dying Politely by Geena Davis - it's an interesting book. Davis went out of her way to change how gender is portrayed in Hollywood. After she had kids, she noticed there were no female characters in kids shows, movies, animation, etc. That the mother was either killed violently in the beginning, (the father was fine), or we just had one or two women if that. Appalled, she collected data on it - and looked through everything. Put together a case, and a presentation. Contacted all the major studios that created children's television shows, films, etc. And made her case - politely. She started with Disney. They were staggered. And realized that somehow or other she was absolutely right, and they'd unintentionally, and possibly subconsciously done exactly that. So, after her presentation - they went to work to change it and she worked with them to do so - indicating where it needed to be done and why. This was back in 2005. [So we can thank Gina for Mona, Encanto, Zootopia, and various others having their focus on female characters, and balancing out the stories more often. Geena pushed the view - why can't a woman play this role too? Why can't we flip the genders here? She won a second Oscar for her work in this field. Her argument was if we provide more diversity in roles for women in cinema and television - more women will reach for those roles themselves. The CSI effect - women forensics officers lead to more women applying for those jobs. The Hunger Games - lead to more women learning archery. And so on.]
She also established Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media along with a film festival featuring films by women, hosted in Arkansas.
Founded in 2004 by Two-Time Academy Award Winning Actor Geena Davis, the Institute is the only global research-based organization working collaboratively within the entertainment industry to create gender balance, foster inclusion and reduce negative stereotyping in family entertainment media.
This institute looks for gender equality in Hollywood for all genders, including trans, and non-binary.
Davis also goes into detail about learning archery, and her mother's dementia/Alzhiemers. Along with being diagnosed with ADHD, which changed her life and brought it into greater focus.
Decided to dump the Cat Sebastian for now, and start reading Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube by Blair Braverman
By the time Blair Braverman was eighteen, she had left her home in California, moved to arctic Norway to learn to drive sled dogs, and found work as a tour guide on a glacier in Alaska. Determined to carve out a life as a “tough girl”—a young woman who confronts danger without apology—she slowly developed the strength and resilience the landscape demanded of her.
By turns funny and sobering, bold and tender, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube brilliantly recounts Braverman’s adventures in Norway and Alaska. Settling into her new surroundings, Braverman was often terrified that she would lose control of her dog team and crash her sled, or be attacked by a polar bear, or get lost on the tundra. Above all, she worried that, unlike the other, gutsier people alongside her, she wasn’t cut out for life on the frontier. But no matter how out of place she felt, one thing was clear: she was hooked on the North. On the brink of adulthood, Braverman was determined to prove that her fears did not define her—and so she resolved to embrace the wilderness and make it her own.
Goodreads gave it 3.8 stars, but Good reads also adores...Colleen Hoover and Jo Jo Moyes, so we'll ignore that rating. (For reasons that escape me, a lot of people on Good Reads love abusive contemporary romance novels, which Joyce Carol Oats calls wishfulfillment escapism. JCO's idea of wish fulfillment and mine are not the same. I'd rather go to Alaska and run a dog sled than be in an abusive romance. ) Good Reads reviews are not the most reliable on the planet, and very subjective. So unreliable in fact - I've stopped bothering to read them. We'll see if I stick with the book or not. It's a memoir - which is my least favorite genre. But I like the topic.
Still in reading slump.
Also, reading Sins of Sinister Series with the X-men. And it's not very good. Makes no real sense, and clearly the writers are in love with the character of Sinister - and feel the need to write satire? The Satire, weirdly is better than most American Satire, and has some wit to it. But, overall - I'm waiting for it to actually go somewhere - because I'm kind of lost and trying to figure out if this is just another Marvel AU experiment.
Reading Marvel comics feels at times like reading illustrated fanfiction, except people are getting paid for it. It's about as experimental as fanfiction and as creative - which is why I like it, I guess? Some is better than others.
As you can see? I'm fairly eclectic in my reading tastes. I used to hide my love of X-men comics, but I've decided to stop doing that now. Maybe I'll met other interesting folks who like them?
2. Television
The emmy's kind of bewilder me. But so does most people's taste in television. After watching four episodes of White Lotus (during which I either fell asleep or my attention wandered), and seven episodes of Daisy Jones (ditto), I've decided that neither is to my liking, and I'm moving on. Whiny dramas about rich twenty-somethings visiting beautiful locals whinging about not having a purpose, don't do a lot for me. I'd rather watch a cartoon about elves, magicians, and dragons (which is what I did) or a show about people trying to survive in the Canadian wilderness.
Wales loves those types of shows. I fall asleep during them. I fell asleep during Lost in Translation. Didn't like it at all. All of Sofia Coppola's films - I fall asleep during. She has an ethereal quality to her work that Wales loves and I despise.
* Night Agent - I think I've figured it out. Not positive. But the bad guys aren't as clear cut as I thought - if I'm right. It's suspenseful. I liked The Diplomat and The Bear, better.
* Dragon Prince - The Mystery of Arvasos (Netflix) - this is a four season cartoon with 9 episodes in each season. I'm still in S1, with about three or four episodes to go.
It's interesting. It's animated. About two human youngsters, and an elf, who are attempting to return a dragon's egg to a Dragon - in order to stop a war. Lots of people are trying to stop them. But the villains are not quite as clear cut as I thought, and rather interesting. Also, one of the characters is death, female, and a military commander, the villain (male) was the lover of the King (who he may have had a hand in killing - not clear), and the King is POC. So it's a diverse cartoon. I like diversity in my television series. I'm finally getting it. It only took forty-fifty years of my lifetime.
* Alone S9 - actually enjoying this season - it's humbled some incredibly arrogant outdoorsmen. Benji was annoying me. He's put out in the Canadian Wilderness to survive. And he has this attitude that he can take whatever nature throws at him, and can't wait for it to break him. And everyone should do this. It's easy. Then he shoots a poor Beaver with an arrow, and goes after its meat, and arrogantly eats the meat off the hide.
Of course he gets Beaver Fever. Actually the two idiots who trapped the Beaver and bragged about taking down a black bear for food - are the two who get sick with "Beaver Fever" or giardia (a parasite that is in water and infected meat). What I like about the series is it gets across that you need to respect nature and live in harmony with it. Nature doesn't play games. And there are things in nature, which you can't see, that are microscopic, that can and will kill you. These guys thought the Polar Bears were their biggest enemies, nope, microscopic parasites that live in water and infect Beavers.
Benji does a 180 when he gets Beaver Fever and has to tap out. "I've been humbled by this experience," he states. "I realize now, that I underestimated the risks involved."
The one's who survive the longest are the ones who aren't arrogant and figure out two things: 1) how to build a warm, dry secure shelter with a working fire place, chimney and stove, and 2) can hunt and find enough food for themselves. Usually fish. Rabbit. Grouse.
*Daisy Jones and the Six - the only characters I like in this series are the supporting Black characters, Bernie and Simone (who reminds me of a young Donna Summer). I don't like Daisy or the Six. And in the seventh episode it's all about Daisy going off to Greece to get married, and Simone traveling to Greece with her girlfriend to be the maid of honor, and attempt to talk Daisy and her rich new husband into returning to the States, so Daisy can go on tour and take advantage of her big break and stop feeling sorry for herself.
It's very...stupid. A biopic about Fleetwood Mac would be more interesting.
Stevie Nicks had more personality and talent than Daisy.
3. Books
Almost down with Dying Politely by Geena Davis - it's an interesting book. Davis went out of her way to change how gender is portrayed in Hollywood. After she had kids, she noticed there were no female characters in kids shows, movies, animation, etc. That the mother was either killed violently in the beginning, (the father was fine), or we just had one or two women if that. Appalled, she collected data on it - and looked through everything. Put together a case, and a presentation. Contacted all the major studios that created children's television shows, films, etc. And made her case - politely. She started with Disney. They were staggered. And realized that somehow or other she was absolutely right, and they'd unintentionally, and possibly subconsciously done exactly that. So, after her presentation - they went to work to change it and she worked with them to do so - indicating where it needed to be done and why. This was back in 2005. [So we can thank Gina for Mona, Encanto, Zootopia, and various others having their focus on female characters, and balancing out the stories more often. Geena pushed the view - why can't a woman play this role too? Why can't we flip the genders here? She won a second Oscar for her work in this field. Her argument was if we provide more diversity in roles for women in cinema and television - more women will reach for those roles themselves. The CSI effect - women forensics officers lead to more women applying for those jobs. The Hunger Games - lead to more women learning archery. And so on.]
She also established Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media along with a film festival featuring films by women, hosted in Arkansas.
Founded in 2004 by Two-Time Academy Award Winning Actor Geena Davis, the Institute is the only global research-based organization working collaboratively within the entertainment industry to create gender balance, foster inclusion and reduce negative stereotyping in family entertainment media.
This institute looks for gender equality in Hollywood for all genders, including trans, and non-binary.
Davis also goes into detail about learning archery, and her mother's dementia/Alzhiemers. Along with being diagnosed with ADHD, which changed her life and brought it into greater focus.
Decided to dump the Cat Sebastian for now, and start reading Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube by Blair Braverman
By the time Blair Braverman was eighteen, she had left her home in California, moved to arctic Norway to learn to drive sled dogs, and found work as a tour guide on a glacier in Alaska. Determined to carve out a life as a “tough girl”—a young woman who confronts danger without apology—she slowly developed the strength and resilience the landscape demanded of her.
By turns funny and sobering, bold and tender, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube brilliantly recounts Braverman’s adventures in Norway and Alaska. Settling into her new surroundings, Braverman was often terrified that she would lose control of her dog team and crash her sled, or be attacked by a polar bear, or get lost on the tundra. Above all, she worried that, unlike the other, gutsier people alongside her, she wasn’t cut out for life on the frontier. But no matter how out of place she felt, one thing was clear: she was hooked on the North. On the brink of adulthood, Braverman was determined to prove that her fears did not define her—and so she resolved to embrace the wilderness and make it her own.
Goodreads gave it 3.8 stars, but Good reads also adores...Colleen Hoover and Jo Jo Moyes, so we'll ignore that rating. (For reasons that escape me, a lot of people on Good Reads love abusive contemporary romance novels, which Joyce Carol Oats calls wishfulfillment escapism. JCO's idea of wish fulfillment and mine are not the same. I'd rather go to Alaska and run a dog sled than be in an abusive romance. ) Good Reads reviews are not the most reliable on the planet, and very subjective. So unreliable in fact - I've stopped bothering to read them. We'll see if I stick with the book or not. It's a memoir - which is my least favorite genre. But I like the topic.
Still in reading slump.
Also, reading Sins of Sinister Series with the X-men. And it's not very good. Makes no real sense, and clearly the writers are in love with the character of Sinister - and feel the need to write satire? The Satire, weirdly is better than most American Satire, and has some wit to it. But, overall - I'm waiting for it to actually go somewhere - because I'm kind of lost and trying to figure out if this is just another Marvel AU experiment.
Reading Marvel comics feels at times like reading illustrated fanfiction, except people are getting paid for it. It's about as experimental as fanfiction and as creative - which is why I like it, I guess? Some is better than others.
As you can see? I'm fairly eclectic in my reading tastes. I used to hide my love of X-men comics, but I've decided to stop doing that now. Maybe I'll met other interesting folks who like them?
no subject
I don't remember Lost in Translation well at all, which says something right there. I didn't mind that it was somewhat slow and meandering but I do remember coming away wondering what the point was.