Friday Wrap up...

1. So, the Blacklist apparently had the worst ending ever according to Twitter.

Twitter: What series had the worst ending?
Lisa: I can't decide what was worse Lost or the Blacklist. Lost with a ton of people stuck in purgatory forever - come on. Or Red being killed by a bull.
Leslie: I have to ask - I've not watched the Blacklist for a while now, but do you mean an actual bull?
ME: Ditto - WTF? Did you say bull? Did an actual bull kill him?
Lisa: I don't want to talk about it. I'm too angry.
Me: Now, I'm going to have to look it up - because I'm curious.

I look it up. And...( spoilers for ending of The Blacklist )

Hehe

I'm glad I stopped watching it. The female lead was killed in Season 8 or 9. This is why television series should not be allowed to end on their own terms. Cancel the suckers after five-six seasons, before the writers ruin them.

2. I need to find something fun to do. I also need to find a good book - I'm in a horrible reading slump. I gave up on the Crimes of Marian Hayes, it wasn't holding my attention. I don't care about anyone. I'm ambivalent.

I want to care.

Been reading the X-men comics - which have turned into a kind of speculative sci-fi fantasy epic political thriller/horror tale. They are doing a great job of outlining the problems with technology, AI, and robotics. Just as they did a good job in 2010-2016 of showing the horrors of a charismatic but authoritarian leader.

I like Marvel better than DC - because I find the writers more sci-fi oriented. The writer of Bab 5 is writing Captain America now, apparently.
The art is the best its been in a while.

Dying Politely is kind of boring in places. Although Davis, who is generally speaking polite about all her co-stars and those in films (hence the boring), reams Bill Murray. ( Read more... )

I got the skinny on Thelma & Louise, The Fly, Accidental Tourist, League of their Own, and I'm waiting for Long Kiss Goodnight. Assuming she talks about it - she may not. I hope she does - she talked about Quick Change.

Ridley Scott is a feminist director and among the best out there. He pushed for Thelma & Louise to be made, and did it himself because no one else would do it. He also listened to both women. He was actually easier to work with than Penny Marshall.

Geena Davis also reminds me of how anti-feminist the 1990s were - it wasn't cool to be feminist in the 90s. It was actually a criticism. Sarah Michelle Gellar declined the notion that Buffy was a feminist icon, or that she was feminist. (I remembered that, not Geena). Geena notes how Thelma and Louise was criticized by critics as being too feminist and anti-male. And League of Their Own - got similar criticism. The 20th Century was very misogynistic, wasn't it?

What do I want in a book right now?

I don't quite know what I'm craving but I will when I land on it. I should just try a bunch of books and see what happens. It's not like I have a shortage. I collect books like a dog collects fleas.

It may be a good urban fantasy mystery novel. I might try Illona Andrews again. I've got a lot of her stuff. I like her better than Jim Butcher.

**

3. The Actors finally went on strike. I'm fully supporting both the actors and the writers strikes. They are on the front lines against "AI" and I agree with them.

Note: I will not watch, read, buy anything created by AI. I won't use it.
I've read and seen too many science fiction stories, including the comics I'm reading now - where that doesn't end well.

I barely have any gadgets. I don't like them. I'm not a fan of high tech.

4. What else? Oh, turns out the shooter that shot a bunch of people randomly in Brooklyn and Queens last Saturday - was arrested last Saturday around noon in front of my work place in Jamaica, Queens. Right in front of it, after randomly shooting a older man entering the Air Train building in the neck. He was 25 year old on a scooter, who was traveling about randomly shooting people.

Lovely.

This is why we no longer wander around at lunch time - outside of train platforms, and stay inside the air train building. It is not safe any longer. Not since the meth clinics moved into the neighborhood during the pandemic.

Queens Shooting

Witnesses again described how the assailant had fired while riding a scooter, the police said.

The gunman, who has one prior arrest in New York City, was found by officers at the corner of Sutphin Boulevard and 94th Avenue in Queens and arrested at 1:10 p.m., Chief Kenny said. Officers recovered a 9-millimeter pistol and an extended magazine from the gunman, the police said.

Can we ban guns now? Please?

5. Online folks on Soap Twitter were whinging about the soap again and calling for it to be cancelled. Although all I saw were the people complaining about the people asking for it to be cancelled. This seems to be par for the course for all fandoms. The people who aren't happy with the direction their favorite television series is going - start wanting to cancel it or cancel the writers, while those who are happy get annoyed at them.

At any rate...I wondered if I complain about the Bachelor and the Bachelorette on social media and clamor for its cancellation - will I get my way? Will it happen? What about the commercials for it? Can I make it go away by complaining about it online? How about Fox News? Can I get Fox News cancelled?

6. There's a serious lightening storm out my window at the moment. I rather like the two long windows in the living room - they give a great view of the sky, trees, and storms.

7. On Book and Writing Twitter - there was a discussion about younger readers thinking Gen X was writing folks in their 40s and 50s as immature.
( about characters being too immature )

They also had a discussion about late-blooming writers. A beginning writer in her forties was feeling insecure about well starting in her forties.

Everyone chimed in to tell her - eh, we didn't start publishing books, poems, stories until our late forties, fifties, sixties and seventies.
Let's face it - most people can't afford to write for a living in their early years, and have to get a full time job. And sneak time to write in between. It's not until retirement - that you have the time and wherewithal to do it.

And now? You can publish it yourself, you don't need to convince some acquisitions editor or agent to get it done for you.

8. Music. As you all know, I listen to music all day long. And I've realized a couple of things - various songs that came out during the pandemic do not work post-pandemic. Such as Fuck 2020, and whatever that song is called that Bon Jovi wrote about New York, and the one Alice Cooper wrote. I'm drawing a blank on the names. This is why I'm not a musician, I can't remember lyrics, tunes or the names of songs. No music memory at all.

Another one that doesn't quite age well is Pink's "Dear Mr. President". It just reminds me of when the Republicans weren't certifiably insane.

9. This is my favorite Geena Davis' movie...it's not what you'd think:

The Long Kiss Good Night

It's not a great film, but I adore it. I love Samuel L Jackson in it, and Davis. It's a great buddy movie.