December 2024 Memage

Memage, I'm a little behind...

18. In 1839 John William Draper took the first portrait photograph of a female face made in US. Do you like having your photo taken?

No. I hate it. It's why I try not to take photos of people. But I do draw and paint my impressions of them from memory - which is interesting, because often I see things that the camera doesn't. For instance I drew and painted an old gap toothed person who was miserable holding a wad of money and trying to get me to use it to buy alcohol for them - but when I drew and painted them - it was a smiling, joyful person holding a snowball. And when I drew and painted an angry young girl in pink, I ended up with an older woman, who was tired and bemused.

Sometimes our inner eye captures things the camera can't?

19. How long do your shoes/boots last (and do you wear some pairs until they fall apart)? How many pairs of shoes/boots do you own?

Sigh. It depends on the brand and how often I wear them. How many pairs? Too many to count. I'm bad at getting rid of clothing and shoes. I finally got rid of the construction boots that I bought in 2007 - on Saturday.

20. In 1946 the film ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ premiered in New York – have you ever seen it?

Yes. I've seen it at least twenty times. I can't watch it any longer. It's memorized. I can literally watch it in my head. There's a group of films that were shown annually on network television during the holidays from roughly 1970s to 2010s. As a result I've seen all of them more times than I can count.

* Gone with the Wind/Ten Commandments and Wizard of Oz (Easter)
* Sound of Music, It's a Wonderful Life, and A Christmas Carol (Christmas)

Also a lot of Rankin/Bass stop motion animated films: Rudolph, Santa Clause Coming to Town, A Year with a Santa Clause, and the Little Drummer Boy (which doesn't date well).

21. What was the first film you ever saw at the cinema?

Dumbo when I was four or five. It was in 1972, a re-release. Disney used to re-release their animated and live action films every so often, this was before streaming and cable. We could only see a lot of films in theaters back in the mid-twentieth century. It took forever for them to air on television. If you didn't see it in the theater? You never saw it.

22. Do you like going gift shopping at this time of year? Are you someone who buys a gift long before it’s needed?

Not really. I buy everything online, as does most of my immediate family. We all hate shopping. And we always buy the stuff around the week of December 12th? Also we send Xmas lists to each other - due to past experiences of buying the wrong things.

23. As of 6 March 2024, 201 cities in 62 countries have a metro system. Have you ever ridden on an underground train (the tube/metro/subways or U-Bahn)?

I live in NYC and work for a major transportation agency. I take subways every day. I've been doing it for more than 28 years. I recommend it over cars, buses, and pretty much anything else. Quick, easy, affordable, and you can read, sleep, or write on them.

I've also taken the subway or tube in Paris and Washington DC.

Books and Television shows not necessarily in that order

1. Someone on Facebook posted this statement by Virginia Woolf.

“Whatever happens, stay alive. Don't die before you're dead. Don't lose yourself, don't lose hope, don't loose direction.( Read more... )

And I thought, wait, didn't Virginia Woolf die by suicide? Yep, she ironically did. I think this was probably Woolf trying desperately to stay alive.

This is a tough time for a lot of folks. The holidays always are. Points at icon.

2. Television...

I finished watching Arcane - both seasons, on Netflix. I loved it. It worked for me, the metaphors, the characters, the relationships, and the themes. And it had a great romance between Viv and Caitlin throughout.
One of the better f/f romances I've seen on television. Usually they don't work for me. But this did for some reason or other.

Also it had fascinating relationships - which propelled the plot, as opposed to the plot propelling the relationships. It's very much a character driven piece, with some interesting themes about technology, science, hubris, and war.

After re-watching the Rankin/Bass & Ralph Bashi 1977 animated adaptation of The Hobbit on HBO Max, I decided to go back to Rings of Power on Prime. (By the way, MAX has all the Lord of the Rings films, including the Ralph Baski animated versions done in the 1970s and early 1980s. I decided to hunt it down after reading a review of the recently released Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim by Athena Scalzi (who isn't quite there yet as a film reviewer or writer. She's sloppy.) She states in her review that this is the first animated film of the Lord of the Rings series. And I thought, Scalzi? You just lost your geek and nerd creds. Seriously, you never showed your daughter the 1970s Hobbit? Or saw it yourself?

Her father is my age. The Hobbit aired on Network Television in 1977 or thereabouts, and then was re-shown in 1979, along with Return of the King Film, which was an abridged version of the Lord of the Rings, and shown as a kind of sequel to the Hobbit. ( Read more... )

Does it hold up well? Yes, and no. ( Read more... )

I tried to watch the animated version of the Return of the King - which I also loved as a child. But it doesn't hold up well at all. ( Read more... )

At any rate - I started watching S1 of Rings of Power again - its a rewatch. I can't remember most of it, and it's kind of necessary for S2. It's very odd - I can remember films I've not seen in years, but can't remember something I saw as far back as last year. I think it may have a lot to do with how much time I spent on it? ( Read more... )

3. Books...

I've completed the audiobook version of Sanctuary by Illona Andrews - while I enjoyed Brinkley's narration and voice, he didn't do a good enough job of vocalizing the other characters - I couldn't quite tell them apart. I've admittedly gotten used to the stellar "Graphic Audio Dramatizations" so that could be part of the problem. It's interesting in how it utilizes Russian folklore, myths and legends. I've learned a lot about modern and ancient Russia in the last couple of years, without intending to, and realized how many misconceptions Americans have about Russia. ( Read more... )

Illona Andrews unlike a lot of mainstream writers, writes and self-publishes side stories about their world. Sancturary is self-published or non-traditionally published. ( Read more... )

Now, I'm listening to the audio book version of the Kate Daniels Wilmington Years - "Magic Tides and Magic Claims" that is dualy narrated by a female and male narrators - in the roles of Kate and Curran. ( Read more... )

Working on "Rules of Redemption by T.A. White" rec'd by Illona Andrews fandom. But, I can't quite get into it? My focus is off. Too keyed up about things work related, I think? I may be better able to read it this week. Still struggling with a reading slump. Audio books aren't a problem, other's weirdly are. It's ironic, considering in 2019, I stated that I couldn't do audio books and didn't understand the appeal. The pandemic changed me in oh so many ways.