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This and that...and the other thing...
May. 28th, 2024 07:27 pm1. Hmmm, having thought about it? I agree with this review of RT Davies' Doctor Who Episode 73 Yards or as Brevoort aptly describes it - the Twilight Zone Episode of the series.
He's right the story collapses in on itself at the end. It makes no sense that everyone runs in disgust from the older version of Ruby. And when the two meet up, the whole story is unraveled.
He calls it - a Bridge too far, when the writer goes a touch too far and can't explain the story and uses "magic" as a quick explanation.
My own take? I found it intriguing up to the point the Prime Minister reacts to the woman, gesturing to Ruby, but after that point it kind of fizzled out. I wasn't sure why people were running away from the woman in fear, or how the woman convinced the PM candidate to give up. It felt very Twilight Zone meets Black Mirror to me - but seemed to not quick stick the landing - and took the easy way out.
There was a lot I liked about the episode - the Welsh Folklore is a quick grab for me. (Although I never saw anything close to that when I wandered about Wales in the 1980s collecting lore, and it was pretty developed back then.) I also rather like Ruby, even though the character reminds me a little too much of Clara in some respects. The actress is doing a marvelous job. Missed the Doctor, more than I expected. The horror trope - of Ruby never being able to get close, and those who do abandon her and everyone, was creepy. But I'm not sure it was wise to leave it unexplained?
2. Two cyclists tried to run me over on the sidewalk. They were grown men, joyriding on the sidewalk very fast. And they yelled at me for walking on it and not jumping out of their way, forcing them to swerve. I was burdened with groceries and minding my own business walking along a sidewalk in Ditmas, Brooklyn - which is residential area.
"Watch where you're going, BITCH!" they said. Thirty-something men.
ME: Sidewalk is for pedestrians, you nitwits. Street is for cyclists. You should be in the street not the sidewalk. My safety takes precedence over yours.
They didn't hear me, they were going too fast, and a ways a head. I'm hoping the elderly couple that I'd passed earlier, along with the young man, were okay. They were facing in the opposite direction. I'm also rooting for a car to run them over either driving into its driveway or when they dart across the street.
Cyclists have become a menace in NYC. I've started rooting for the motor vehicles to crash into them. They don't follow the rules, nor believe the rules of the road pertain to them.
3. I'm not sure what to make of my A/C - every once and a while it has a crackling sound. As if there's something in it? But it goes away and isn't constant. I do not want to get a new A/C - it's working fine otherwise. Or seems to be. Although when Wales visited on Sunday, she kept asking for a fan. I was fine. She made the same complaint over Christmas.
4. I've been watching Bodkin on Netflix...it kind of put me to sleep this evening. It's supposed to be a satire on podcasts (I don't listen to any so have no clue), and a mystery. The mystery is more interesting, and I like Dove, but the other characters are kind of ho hum or annoying. I don't know if I'll stick with it.
5. Books...
* Been listening to Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie which is basically about a sentient ship that has broken off into ancillary parts, and we're following one of the adjacent parts - who is in a human. ( Read more... )
* Gave away Yellowface - it's Wales book now. I bought it for her. She loves this type of thing. I do not. We don't necessarily have the same tastes, but I know what she likes. (I buy to others tastes not my own, when I get them gifts. I do at times try what they like to figure out why they like it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.)
( Read more... )
* Still working on Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies - it's slow going. I think it's the writing style that's putting me off - it's a bit too formal for my taste or has a kind of prim Victorian tone, that doesn't work for me?
* People online still think that GRR Martin will finish his Song of Ice and Fire (aka Game of Thrones) series. It's not happening. ( Read more... )
Martin also said (or social media thinks he said it, he could have been misquoted, it happens more often than one might think) - that people who adapt books think they have ownership - they don't, and 99% of the time the adaptation is nowhere near as good as the book.
He should know better - having done his own adaptations. Most recently the Tony Hillerman novels. I like what John Le Carre said on the topic - which is that an adaptation is another person's/artist's interpretation of his work and he's curious to see how differently they interpreted the story from him. He'd rather it be different than lock step and barrel so to speak, because it makes it more interesting and a new work of art. But once he sells the rights to someone to adapt, or puts the book out there for others to interact with - it's no longer really his, it's theirs.
I agree with that. And adaptations aren't better or worse than the original, just different. Martin helped adapt Game of Thrones, he was an executive producer and consultant, he aided in casting, and he wrote episodes. He's being disingenuous stating otherwise.
* With a credit - got King of Diamonds for my next audible read. It's a non-fiction account of a jewel thief in Dallas Texas during the 1960s, written by a journalist who was following the case a the time. It's about $21.98 normally, but I got it free with a credit. (I'm a subscriber to audible.)
He's right the story collapses in on itself at the end. It makes no sense that everyone runs in disgust from the older version of Ruby. And when the two meet up, the whole story is unraveled.
He calls it - a Bridge too far, when the writer goes a touch too far and can't explain the story and uses "magic" as a quick explanation.
My own take? I found it intriguing up to the point the Prime Minister reacts to the woman, gesturing to Ruby, but after that point it kind of fizzled out. I wasn't sure why people were running away from the woman in fear, or how the woman convinced the PM candidate to give up. It felt very Twilight Zone meets Black Mirror to me - but seemed to not quick stick the landing - and took the easy way out.
There was a lot I liked about the episode - the Welsh Folklore is a quick grab for me. (Although I never saw anything close to that when I wandered about Wales in the 1980s collecting lore, and it was pretty developed back then.) I also rather like Ruby, even though the character reminds me a little too much of Clara in some respects. The actress is doing a marvelous job. Missed the Doctor, more than I expected. The horror trope - of Ruby never being able to get close, and those who do abandon her and everyone, was creepy. But I'm not sure it was wise to leave it unexplained?
2. Two cyclists tried to run me over on the sidewalk. They were grown men, joyriding on the sidewalk very fast. And they yelled at me for walking on it and not jumping out of their way, forcing them to swerve. I was burdened with groceries and minding my own business walking along a sidewalk in Ditmas, Brooklyn - which is residential area.
"Watch where you're going, BITCH!" they said. Thirty-something men.
ME: Sidewalk is for pedestrians, you nitwits. Street is for cyclists. You should be in the street not the sidewalk. My safety takes precedence over yours.
They didn't hear me, they were going too fast, and a ways a head. I'm hoping the elderly couple that I'd passed earlier, along with the young man, were okay. They were facing in the opposite direction. I'm also rooting for a car to run them over either driving into its driveway or when they dart across the street.
Cyclists have become a menace in NYC. I've started rooting for the motor vehicles to crash into them. They don't follow the rules, nor believe the rules of the road pertain to them.
3. I'm not sure what to make of my A/C - every once and a while it has a crackling sound. As if there's something in it? But it goes away and isn't constant. I do not want to get a new A/C - it's working fine otherwise. Or seems to be. Although when Wales visited on Sunday, she kept asking for a fan. I was fine. She made the same complaint over Christmas.
4. I've been watching Bodkin on Netflix...it kind of put me to sleep this evening. It's supposed to be a satire on podcasts (I don't listen to any so have no clue), and a mystery. The mystery is more interesting, and I like Dove, but the other characters are kind of ho hum or annoying. I don't know if I'll stick with it.
5. Books...
* Been listening to Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie which is basically about a sentient ship that has broken off into ancillary parts, and we're following one of the adjacent parts - who is in a human. ( Read more... )
* Gave away Yellowface - it's Wales book now. I bought it for her. She loves this type of thing. I do not. We don't necessarily have the same tastes, but I know what she likes. (I buy to others tastes not my own, when I get them gifts. I do at times try what they like to figure out why they like it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.)
( Read more... )
* Still working on Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies - it's slow going. I think it's the writing style that's putting me off - it's a bit too formal for my taste or has a kind of prim Victorian tone, that doesn't work for me?
* People online still think that GRR Martin will finish his Song of Ice and Fire (aka Game of Thrones) series. It's not happening. ( Read more... )
Martin also said (or social media thinks he said it, he could have been misquoted, it happens more often than one might think) - that people who adapt books think they have ownership - they don't, and 99% of the time the adaptation is nowhere near as good as the book.
He should know better - having done his own adaptations. Most recently the Tony Hillerman novels. I like what John Le Carre said on the topic - which is that an adaptation is another person's/artist's interpretation of his work and he's curious to see how differently they interpreted the story from him. He'd rather it be different than lock step and barrel so to speak, because it makes it more interesting and a new work of art. But once he sells the rights to someone to adapt, or puts the book out there for others to interact with - it's no longer really his, it's theirs.
I agree with that. And adaptations aren't better or worse than the original, just different. Martin helped adapt Game of Thrones, he was an executive producer and consultant, he aided in casting, and he wrote episodes. He's being disingenuous stating otherwise.
* With a credit - got King of Diamonds for my next audible read. It's a non-fiction account of a jewel thief in Dallas Texas during the 1960s, written by a journalist who was following the case a the time. It's about $21.98 normally, but I got it free with a credit. (I'm a subscriber to audible.)