shadowkat: (Default)
1. I may be cancelling my cable soon - I can't get NY1 unless I upgrade to the $120 a month option, and seriously? Not sure it's worth it.

Optimum appears to have fixed the problem - the DVR is working finally, as is the internet. Read more... )

2. I listened to several podcasts at work - because I was bored and gone were the days in which I had to entertain myself by doodling or listening to music or surfing the net... now, when I'm bored, I can entertain myself with podcasts on my mobile phone via youtube. Gotta love technology.

* Joss Whedon, His Life, His Work, He's Here via Connecticut Public Radio. Read more... )

* Willow, a podcaster, feels the need to talk about Neil Gaiman, prefacing it with the fact that she's been a huge fan of his works and now has to figure out how to deal with the fact that well...maybe she shouldn't continue to support him in any way The bulk of this - is the podcaster explaining why she's going to put her collection of Neil Gaiman books in a cabinet with the collection of Harry Potter books, out of sight and out of mind. And will no longer support him financially in any way - ie. by buying his books, etc.
But if people want to do something other than that - that's up to them and on them, and no judgement. (Actually there's lots of judgement, but she's trying very hard not to convey it.)

I also briefly listened to this Felicia Day Speaks to the Joss Whedon issue - basically she states: "I'm not going talk about Joss because I don't want my experience to negate someone else's experience with someone. He was an amazing friend and mentor to me, but at the end of the day, I can only represent me, and I definitely can't negate other people's experiences, so I'm not going to say anymore."

To wit, Michael Rosenbaum relates that he can identify - he knew Kevin Spacey, and never had any bad experiences. He did two movies with him, and never had any issues. But Day refuses to say more than, yes, that's the same thing she had with Whedon.

I give Day credit for that.
my two cents such as it is )

3. Dancing with the Stars

Mother informed me that the people on this show were getting paid upwards to $650,000, and the winner got $50,000 on top of the signing fee of $100,000 or more.

I was shocked. I thought the contestants did it for free. They don't. They are paid for every episode they are in.

Mother got this information off of instagram or FB, she can't remember.

Also, apparently there was a huge controversy about Chandler (the Disney Star).

* I was apparently right, the audience didn't vote for her because they saw her as a professional dancer who hadn't improved.

* they resented that the race card was raised at all - since the audience didn't care about the race of the dancers. And considered it irrelevant.

* The husband of the choreographer, who did the final tennis ball dance number with the Bachelor and winner, was furious with Carrie Anne - the judge - for critiquing and ripping apart his wife's choreography, which he thought was fantastic. Carrie Anne wanted Chandler (Disney Star) to win not the Bachelor.

I looked it up. How Much Do they Make on Dancing with the Stars
blurb )
Mother said the gymnast made about $650,000. The rugby player was up there as well, with at least $650,000 or more.

Well, that explains a lot. I wondered why some of these folks did this. I thought it was for exposure. Nope. Money.
shadowkat: (Default)
So got curious and finally decided to listen to Council of Geeks youtube video analysis of the Tortoise Media reporting on Gaiman allegations

This is a surprisingly decent dissemination and critique of an insanely sloppy journalistic presentation about a topic that deserved so much better. Surprisingly, because the commentator's youtube channel doesn't come across at first glance as remotely reliable. But, they are more reliable than the media outlet. Shame on you, Tortoise Media. If the women don't get justice - blame Tortoise Media, who had the story fall into their lap and handled it abysmally. [ Note: to date no real charges have been filed and it is not in the justice system or the courts, outside of the court of public opinion which doesn't quite count? Although it can disseminate an author's career.]
sigh the gory details for the curious )

The commentator has a second podcast - Additional Allegations - this goes into detail on various bits left over from the last podcast. I stopped listening to it half-way through, it was giving me a headache.
Read more... )

For those who are fans of certain works...here's the status according to our old buddy the internet (which isn't as reliable as I'd like but what can we do?):

Good Omens S3 in Jeopardy, etc

As of three days ago:
Appears Gaiman offered to to step back from the production of Good Omens and is not attending Bezos top secret Campfire Literary Retreat this year )

And this article Sandman First Look etc.. states that while NETFLIX's Sandman S2 is moving apace for a 2025 release date, Gaiman is conspicuously absent from the marketing and production. (He was front and center previously). Meanwhile Good Omens S3 is put on indefinite pause. And the Graveyard Book has been suspended by Disney (it was a children's book adaptation so that is hardly surprising, also, Disney). Dead Boy Detectives was cancelled - which I honestly think had zip to do with Gaiman, but who knows really?

I'm ambivalent about all of them. I watched Sandman, Good Omens and Dead Boy, but I can't say I was in love with any of them. Or feel the need to rewatch - actually I won't re-watch. Dead Boy and Sandman had some disturbing visuals that I'd prefer not to see again.

[I disabled comments, because whenever I post on this topic, I get into fights with people. And no offense? But I'd rather not. I'm just reporting on what I saw on the internet. I honestly don't know what I feel about it.]
shadowkat: (Default)
[On the COVID front? I think I'm getting better? Last night ran a slight fever - at 100.11 or thereabouts. But headache meds (acetametphine/Asprin (NASAI)/Caffeine) and water reduced it quickly enough. I also think the fact that I had the latest COVID Booster in January, along with the Flu Shot is why it's milder than some folks cases have been.

I'll probably call in sick Monday, take another test, and if it is negative, see how I'm feeling on Tuesday and/or Wed - to determine whether I go in to work.]

So, I've become a little fascinated with the topic of worshipping writers and the negative impact that has on well everyone concerned. Former Minister had a sermon on the topic once - in which she stated "you are going to worship something, just be careful what it is." (She was talking about money, politics, etc. But it applies to humans as well.)

Although I do think there is a difference between being obsessed/fannish about something, and worshiping someone. Picking apart a writer's work, being fannish about their work - isn't quite the same thing as idolizing. Or defending a writer - who may or may not have done something terrible isn't idolizing, depending on why? I question allegations, because I have a criminal defense background and was taught to question everything. And let's face it? The internet isn't reliable.

There's an excellent thread on Reddit about it.

Someone states that's why they only idolize fictional characters because they will never let them down. To which someone responds: "Didn't read Go
Set the Watchman, I take it?" (OR the Watchmen, I thought.)

And then in regards to Gaiman** - there's a thread that compares him to another famous and beloved British writer, Charles Dickens, who was also a bit of a mess. (I'm hesitant to call either terrible people, because I know people are more than one thing, and our actions don't necessarily define who we are. And never have. Our actions vary from day to day, one situation to the next, and we have different choices to make each time. That said, I admittedly am uncomfortable watching a couple of actors, and it may be a while before I read a few writers works.)

"This bit "I don’t think anyone should idolize anyone, ever. It’s not great for them, and it’s not great for you, they probably didn’t ask to be idolized (and if they did, holy shit, fucking run)". I've read a lot of Neil Gaiman and I particularly loved American Gods and the graveyard book. So when Neil Gaiman did an event at the Barbican with the BBC symphony orchestra in 2019, I got tickets. I came away disturbed. I didn't see any predatory behaviour or anything like that, but there was such an unhealthy atmosphere of basking in adoration."
Read more... )

Two statements to highlight:

* I don’t think anyone should idolize anyone, ever. It’s not great for them, and it’s not great for you, they probably didn’t ask to be idolized (and if they did, holy shit, fucking run)

*I'm certain that idolization is one of the most reliable ways to bring out the absolute worst in somebody

I agree with both. From everything I've read about famous folks - who do horrible things - it's usually the result of "idolization". They all fall into that trap. And idolization or adoration can be mistaken for love, it's not love. It's a false or empty kind of love that often destroys the object of it. There's parables, fables, fairy tells, and Greek Myths/stories that describe why this is a bad thing.

I've been watching "The Magicians" adapted from Lev Grossman's books. It's a story about a bunch of magic users who find a gateway into a world that was fictionalized in a bunch of beloved children's books. Halfway through the first season - it's revealed that the writer of the books is in reality a pedophile, with his sister's help, drugged, and molested the children in his charge. When he discovers that they can escape him into a fictional world, a world where he can do whatever he wants - he practices black magic to change himself in order to enter that world. The Writer is portrayed as a charming British writer, with graying hair, and tweed. Looks a bit like Neil Gaiman by way of CS Lewis.
Read more... )
Coincidentally this morning, the lay-worship sermon at my church, via FB, was on how humans, writers or AI creators, create things and then wish to assert control over them. And at what point does the creation become its own entity, with it's own free will, and desires? No longer an extension of the creator? And how do we interact with these creations? As separate from the creator of part of them.

The sermon argues that while all things are ecologically connected and we are indefinably a part of each other, at the same time we are separate entities and once the creation is released into the world - it becomes its own entity.

This furthers the view that yes, you can love Harry Potter and it's world, without supporting JK Rowling's views, or you can love A Tale of Two Cities or a Christmas Carol without supporting or loving Dickens (he's long dead anyhow and I think he's works are in the public domain), or you can adore the works of folks like Gaiman or Whedon without condoning their actions or worshiping them. The creation can survive outside of the creator, and in some cases expand and become more - based on every interaction others have with it.

In short? It is safer (well for the most part - not to the extent you get lost inside of it) to love the fictional work than the creator of the work. Or? Ignore the person behind the curtain, they are but a shyster and a conman, hardly a wizard worth worshiping. But their creation can be loved and adores separately.

** A side note about Gaiman? Unlike Whedon and Munroe, the allegations aren't being reported by any reliable news sources. Doesn't mean they are false, but doesn't mean they are true either. Read more... ) So at this point, I really don't know if Gaiman did anything.

What unnerves me about social media is how many people assume that if XYZ publication reports it is true. Or if someone says it in a publication - than it is true without any fact checking whatsoever. A reputable source fact checks. [I had a massage therapist who fully believed that vaccines were tainted and caused autism because...wait for it...she read it on an internet discussion board???] This is why people died of COVID. How do you know if something is true? There has to be reliable and primary sources, preponderance of the evidence, and a level of accountability. And even then, we don't necessarily know for certain. My father was on the jury of a child molestation case, he and the jury found the defendant guilty, only for the judge to throw out the case because it was determined that the therapists had manipulated the child's testimony to support the ends of whomever wanted custody. And this is easy to do.

That Reddit thread is weirdly disturbing - in how many people misread Scalzi's piece, and how many are quick to judgement based solely on something they read on the internet. And are insanely self-righteous about it.
shadowkat: (Default)
Storm appears to be slowly moving in along with cold front. Although not doing a lot at the moment.

Otherwise it was sunny and mostly clear today. I made a trip to the hardware store, and snagged another milkshake from Carvel.

Mother is living vicariously through my brother and niece. Well actually both my parents appear to be. So am I, I think.

Mother: Your niece got a nose ring.
Me: Why?
Mother: It's trending? I don't know. Apparently her parents said no when she was in the States, so she waited until she got to London, and got one other there. Your brother doesn't get it, since she gets nosebleeds the same way she does.
Me: She's like her parents, she'll do whatever the in thing is, particularly if your parents are opposed to it...and even if it makes no sense. The appeal of nose rings continues to be lost on me.
Mother: it's not a ring around her nose - it's an earring in the nose -
Me: I know what it is, I've seen a lot of them. I don't get the appeal, looks uncomfortable and painful, and considering I barely wear earrings. She has multiple ear piercings. I feel like an oddity - I don't do things just because they look cool or are in.
Mother: No, you are like me.
Me: Well, it's worth noting that nose rings weren't exactly ever in for my generation. They didn't become popular until the 21st Century or well into it. And mainly for those ten to twelve or more years younger. Although I've seen a few folks my age doing it.

My brother is building windows for his barn. He's decided he has to install 40 windows.

ME: 40?
Mother: Yes, that's the number he needs for the side of his barn.
ME: But wouldn't it make more sense just to do a few big ones?
Mother: Not according to your brother. He needs it for insulation.
Me: I get it, I do. But, I'm trying to envision this.. I've seen his barn. The side with the screen that would require windows for better insulation is facing North, the rest doesn't have screens, just walls.

See Barn below.


Eh, I looked over more photos, and he has a point. There's more window and screens than I remembered.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to get up the gumption to recaulk my top and enamel the bottom of it. I do have the supplies now, well for the most part at any rate. Also got insulation for the windows, will get more. I have horribly insulated windows.

**

Okay this is getting out of hand, I've had a lot of cousins come down with COVID now. Two of which were vaccinated. One of the vaccinated died of it, granted he was in his 80s and immune compromised.

See? This why I'm still taking precautions.

I need to set up the booster, but I'm kind of holding off to see if I can get it through nutty agency.

**

Finished Baking Impossible - the last challenge was a suspension bridge that required a boat to go beneath it, and a car over the top, plus weights. After I finished watching it, the thought occurred to me that that is a lot of "food waste" right there. What do these reality shows do with all the foods cooked on them? Do they give them to the crew? And for shows like Baking Impossible - do they just go to waste? Because I don't see anyone eating a cake that has been demolished and fallen on the floor, or epoxy made of modeling chocolate, sausage casings, and ramen noodles.

Watching these shows makes me realize how wasteful our society currently is, and how ungrateful. I mean it would be one thing if there weren't a lot of folks in every country around the world starving to death, but there aren't. There's one scene in Maid that is painful to watch - where the maid, whose not eaten all day long, and has hardly any money for food, is told by a woman who is getting her house cleaned out prior to showcasing it for sale - to clean out the fridge and throw "everything" out. The fridge is filled with unspoiled, and good food. A cake. Fruit bowl. Milk, etc. To the brim. And this poor woman who hasn't eaten well in days, and is counting every penny is asked to throw away good food, expensive food, without blinking.

So, I'm thinking as I'm watching these reality baking series - wow just think how many people could be feed with the supplies on these shows. They should do reality baking and cooking shows - where the contestants feed orphanages, or homeless shelters.

***

My difficulty with my writing career - is I'm not good at promoting it or setting up websites that can promote it. I don't even know where to begin.
I'm like my father - I can write, but I can't promote or sell. I remember in college, an art teacher grousing about the problem with the art world is the really good and talented artists had no business sense and couldn't promote themselves effectively (see Van Gough) while the not so great ones, or mediocre artists could (see Andy Warhol). This is true of writing as well, J K Rowling is not a great writer nor is Jim Grishom, but both knew how to market themselves. Yet, there are millions of lovely and interesting writers out there that don't.

I realized this today when I was envying a friends web site, it was so beautifully done. She does do coding for a living, and designs stuff like that, as do my brother and sister in law. (And no I wouldn't feel right or comfortable asking any of them for help. We're not that close.)

***

Mark Hamil made me laugh on Twitter..

Mark Hamill (MarBactrian camel)
[profile] hamillhimself
· Oct 15
Not sure how to feel about so many people suggesting I be shot into space.Rocket


LOL!

It still makes me laugh.

He apparently doesn't want to be shot into space in the giant penis. While I do find it fitting that Shatner was shot into space in a giant penis, because...of course the actor portraying James T. Kirk would be.

***

Oh and...

Here's Vincent Price and an Armload of Cats )

Neil Gaiman keeps informing/arguing with his twitter feed regarding Sandman's release date on Netflix. It's not being released this fall, they just finished filming it. It takes a while to put all the music, SFX, and other crap in. It's kind of amusing really.

I find him charming as well.

Replying to [profile] neilhimself
Fans: “Why won’t anyone
tell us if Sandman is coming out this year?”

Neil Gaiman: “It is not coming out this year.”

Fans: “Why must they keep us in suspense!”


LOL!

He also keeps fighting with fans over the casting. Honestly folks, if the writer is approving the casting - then I'd go with it. I want to see what is in his head, not what is in your heads. I feel the same about fanfic in a way - I'm more interested in the creator of the characters take on the story than a random fan's take. Unless - I'm looking for something specific that the creator won't give me, and a random fan does - I'll go for the fanfic. Or I get obsessed with a pairing, trope, or character and want to see all the angles or takes on it, then fanfic.

**

COVID? I'm debating ignoring it, and taking a trip somewhere by myself to a spa in upstate NY. Also, have more or less decided to see Dune in the movie theater, even if I have to drag myself to it, and deal with the craziness.
I just have to figure out which theater to go to. I may research it out.

**

Allergies are making me nuts. It's fall, hello.

Today, I had chestnut flour pancakes with raspberries in them, bacon, a little melted butter and maple syrup. Also for lunch? Chicken and cheese quesidillas with blue corn chips and salsa. And a cold brew ice cream milk shake.

**

Random Photo of the Day..

Sleepy kitty..

shadowkat: (Default)
1. End of the week. Going to try and get sleep, get a chest x-ray on Sat, pay bills, and get exercise. Also drink more water.

Talked to a co-worker today who said that he made oatmeal muffins with steel cut oats. Interesting. I may hunt the recipe for that.

I need to find a baked oatmeal recipe that is workable.

2. My mother finally mentioned to my father that he might have rear-brain alzheimers and discussed the symptoms. He asked for more information, she looked it up on the internet and printed it out for him. He said that this really helped a lot, he was feeling so alone, isolated, and frustrated. Didn't understand why this was happening or what it was.

Rear-brain alzheimers otherwise known as posterior cortical atrophy is what the best-selling British fantasy novelist Terry Prachett died of, eventually.

My father exhibited the same symptoms Prachett had, that's why I decided it had to be rear-brain. This is the portion of the brain that controls vision or how our eye communicates images to our brain.

My father was an artist. Not necessarily for a living. So frustrated one. He could draw just about anything. I get my artistic ability from him, as does my brother. He was going to be a cartoonist at one stage. And has written and published six books.
Also an avid reader and historian.

Now? He can barely read, he can't draw at all, and he can't write. He used to spend hours doing watercolors, good ones, and writing his stories. He can't do it now.
Why?

Symptoms

The symptoms of posterior cortical atrophy can vary from one person to the next and can change as the condition progresses. The most common symptoms are consistent with damage to the posterior cortex of the brain, an area responsible for processing visual information. Consistent with this neurological damage are slowly developing difficulties with visual tasks such as reading a line of text, judging distances, distinguishing between moving objects and stationary objects, inability to perceive more than one object at a time, disorientation, and difficulty maneuvering, identifying, and using tools or common objects. Some patients experience hallucinations. Other symptoms can include difficulty performing mathematical calculations or spelling, and many people with posterior cortical atrophy experience anxiety, possibly because they know something is wrong. In the early stages of posterior cortical atrophy, most people do not have markedly reduced memory, but memory can be affected in later stages.


Also... 9 Things You Should Know About Rear-Brain Alzheimers.

Note Terry Prachett got it at 69, it hit my father much later, closer to 75 or 76, was when the signs started.

“Sometimes I cannot see what is there,” he wrote.

“I see the teacup with my eyes, but my brain refuses to send me the teacup message. It’s very Zen. First, there is no teacup and then, because I know there is a teacup, the teacup will appear the next time I look.

“I have little work-arounds to deal with this sort of thing – people with PCA live in a world of work-arounds.”


That's how I knew it was what my father was going through. He described the same thing. I'd watch him -- he didn't know where the glass was on the table, sometimes he could find it sometimes he couldn't.

Terry Prachette discusses being diagnosed with PCA:



Terry Prachett co-wrote Good Omens with Neil Gaiman, along with the Discworld novels and various others. PCA took away his ability to tell stories, to write, to draw,
to read. But he found ways to handle it up until the end.

I knew Prachett had Alzheimers, and I knew his problems with it long before my father began to exhibit symptoms.

But I didn't know how close those symptoms were to my father's until March 29, 2019.

In this POST - I link to a Tim Ferris interview with Neil Gaiman where he describes in detail Prachett's symptoms, and I began to cry. They were the same symptoms my father exhibited. I told my mother. But she didn't think to mention it to my father until the other day, when he got very frustrated at his "Memory Matters" course. The assignment was to draw President Lincoln. My father used to be able to draw beautifully. But all he could do was some sort of blob. When they looked at it, he quipped, "I drew Lincoln's brain." And he made a joke of it. But he was bothered by this and told my mother that he felt alone and didn't understand why he couldn't draw any longer. That's when she mentioned what I'd been telling her over and over again since March 29, 2019. That I thought my father had rear-brain alzheimers. He got interested. She looked it up -- said it mentioned Terry Prachett and various sources in the UK. She printed off the symptoms and read them to my father. His eyes lit up. For the first time, he said, he felt less alone. That he understood what was happening to him.

If it weren't for Terry Prachett telling his story, and Neil Gaiman talking about it - I'd have never realized that this is what my father was suffering from -- and I wouldn't have kept mentioning it to my mother, who finally told my father yesterday -- and finally gave him some comfort and an idea on how to proceed.

They've decided to go to the library and pick up various books on CD, and audio books. And see if they can find things that my father can do that are different from what he did in the past.

I'm sharing this - in my own rambling off-kilter way - to show how we can affect and change each other's lives in positive ways without realizing it or ever knowing we've done it.
shadowkat: (Default)
1. Saw the first episode of Good Omens -- which is adapted from Neil Gaiman and Terry Prachet's satiric farce of the same name. I was curious to see how someone would adapt it -- since the book has lots of footnotes, and is mainly two people, an angle and a demon, debating Judeo/Christian moral philosophy and the pros and cons of the apocalypse.

The television series is a lot like the books -- although better paced and a tad less hard to follow -- ie, the footnotes are voice overs, which work better. It reminds me a little of Legion in how it handles the footnotes.

Also, it is adapted by Neil Gaiman, he's writing the television series, and producing it. So we're not seeing someone else's interpretation of his work -- but his own. This doesn't happen that often with novel to screen adaptations. And it stars Michael Sheen and David Tennant, who are actors that tend to get cast for similar roles. Tennant plays the flamboyant Crowley, and Sheen the prissy Arizaphan.
Jon Hamm is stalwart Gabriel.

The soundtrack is...Queen.

Is it good? Eh, depends on what you like. no spoilers just long )

2. Isn't it Romantic?

Eh. This was bad. The critic gave it two stars. I gave it one. Were romantic comedies always this bad? Although technically it's not a romantic comedy, but a meta-narrative on a romantic comedy -- or a parody of a metanarrative on a romantic comedy -- which may be the problem? That's really hard to pull off well. Four Weddings and a Funeral did pull it off, but it's British and subtle. The Brits are better at this sort of thing, apparently, see Good Omens and well, Monty Python.
As did My Best Friend's Wedding -- which was also a satiric take on the romantic comedy. And There's Something About Mary. Also Amy Schumer's Trainwreck did a decent job.
Read more... )

3. Blood and Treasure -- this is on CBS. And it's not bad. It's actually a whole lot better than Whiskey Cavalier and The Catch. I liked The Catch -- but it was horribly miscast. You know there's a problem when the sexiest characters are John Sims and Sonya Walger, who played the bad guys. Peter Krause is a lot of things, but sexy and edgy aren't among them.

Blood and Treasure is a lot better, in part because it's cast largely with unknowns. And it has far more diversified casting than Whiskey did. Not to mention stronger female characters, without falling into gender role cliches on either end of the spectrum.

It also has a definite feeling of Indiana Jones, and is a serialized adventure drama. somewhat spoilery )

Some of the supporting actors I recognized from other things -- whoa there's Doctor Bashire from DS9. I love that actor. I have admittedly followed him around a bit. My two favorite characters and actors from DS9 were Bashire and Major Kira.

It's a bit too shiny in places, to be taken seriously, but overall enjoyable. Brainless summer fun.

4. Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple

I didn't love this as much as lot of people did. And I agree with this guy's Review of it on Good Reads.

Particularly:
Read more... )

It's worth reading for the narrative style. But it falls apart in attempting to go for conventional story tropes. Also, while the satire of Seattle, Microsoft, and the elite is fun, it's also as the reviewer above points out, well-traveled stuff.

I liked Bernadette better than the reviewer did. Read more... )
shadowkat: eleanor the good place (wonder)
Worth watching or listening to: Tim Ferris Interview with Neil Gaiman -- he discusses among other things the little known fact that Ian Fleming hated writing, but was a great plotter and gave Ronald Dalh two of his best plots and Gaiman even tells us the plots.

1. Apparently at 15 he started a Magazine where he interviewed writers and artists.

Read more... )

2. Gaiman gets across how hard it is to write.Read more... )

3. He does talk about how hard it was getting started --Read more... )

4. He was a late night writer --Read more... )

5. Where Ideas Come From..
Read more... )
6. Terry Prachett and Good Omens
Read more... )

How did Terry Prachett approach mortality? And Alztheimers?
Read more... )
shadowkat: (Default)
1. I overslept this morning by 30 minutes and I'm still tired. You'd think I'd be less tired. But no.

2. Cousin: Anyone who is worried about a Hurricane hitting them, you're more than welcome to evacuate to Chicago and stay with me!

Me (to my mother on the phone): Is my cousin living a hotel or mansion with multiple rooms?
Mother: No, she lives in a tiny apartment with her son and husband. Also is highly allergic to pets.
Me: So, I'm guessing she's hoping no one ever takes her up on this insane offer?

3. Doctor Who Fan to Neil Gaiman Regarding Gaiman's Love of the 13th Doctor

Neil Gaiman: I just watched "The Woman Who Fell to Earth". That was definitely the Doctor, not that I ever had any real doubts. But it's wonderful to see how much of the Doctor, she is.
Brendan TooGood:Oh so you're a new fan because the Doctor is a woman not a real fan of the show since the 1960s then.
Neil Gaiman: My first episodes of Doctor Who were the first William Hartnell Dalek story. You can read about it in my introduction to the first Doctor Who novelization.

Read more... )

4. Am I the only one who doesn't understand the point of Siri and Alexa? I can't get either to do much more than fumble through search engines and find nothing.

5. Mother: Nicki Haley resigned.
Me: Remind me again, which appointee she is?
Mother: The UN rep.
Me: Ah. Interesting timing. Why'd she go? She get fed up finally?
Mother: No one knows.
Me: Is it just me or is the Doofus having troubles keeping the vast majority of his appointees in office? There seems to be a high turnover. Everyone gets upset that they've appointed so and so, then six to eight months later, so and so has flown the coop. I almost want to tell them to just be patient...it will take care of itself.
Mother: Well, this is just before the November Mid-Terms so the timing is suspect.
Me: Okay. (Mother failed to elaborate.)
shadowkat: (Default)
I love this comment made by Neil Gaiman in regards to the diverse reactions to his Doctor Who episode "The Doctor's Wife":

I think it is a good thing that all people do not like all things equally, by the way. There is, as the Romans pointed out, no arguing with taste, and trying to convince someone that they should like something they don’t or not like something they do is pointless and foolish. We like different things, and it’s part of the joy of being human, and part of the reason that I can make a living making art.

So very true. As anyone who has ever spent countless hours on the internet pointlessly arguing with a reviewer/poster who either hated something they loved or loved something they hated can readily attest to.

Gaiman's official blog is rather enjoyable by the way, sort of calm and witty.
The writer clearly has reached a place in his career and life, where he is secure and comfortable with himself and his writing.

The other bit - that he states in regards to the Doctor Who episode, which I readily identified with, is how he tried to avoid the internet when it was broadcast for the sake of his own sanity. He was a little terrified of the reaction. But it was overwhelmingly positive, so all is good.
shadowkat: (Default)
In case you haven't seen it - here's the Wondercon Doctor Who Panel with Neil Gaimen, via Neil Gaimen's
official blog:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=96fgOz0uDzs

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2011/04/if-this-is-thursday-then-i-must-be-at.html

And yes, you too can have Neil Gaimen's blog on your lj correspondence reading list.


Go here: http://syndicated.livejournal.com/officialgaiman/profile

Easy.
Page generated Jul. 4th, 2025 05:41 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios