Reading

Entry tags:

memage

Saturday is just hanging about, and doing a meme

Feeling a little accomplished? I got my new LEVOIT Humidifier set up in the living room. It covers about 600-700 sq feet of space. I was also able to set it far enough away from appliances, walls, and put a plastic foam yoga mat beneath it. It looks nice actually. Better than the fan I'd set up there previously - and is currently taking up space in the pantry closet. (I keep meaning to clean out that closet, but I can only do sections of it, and most of it - will just have to wait until the damn knee heals.)

Currently robot vacuuming, while my light Xmas lights twinkle. One may need a battery replacement soon. It's getting dark earlier now - although it feels like the same time? Around 4:50pm.

It's cold today, I guess? I've not been outside the apartment? But the sky was blue, and barely a cloud creased the horizon.

The shoes I bought mother - finally arrived on her doorstep, just in time for Xmas. But the paperback book that I bought her - has no delivery date and has yet to appear, and seems to be perpetually stuck somewhere in the USPS postal system. Annoying, but hardly worth fretting over - it was only $20. If it is never delivered, I'll get a refund. It's kind of amusing, that Amazon which started out as a book distribution organization - has managed to misplace a book.

Dreadfully behind on the Question a Day Mememage - so below:

December Question a Day Mememage

12. Do you have a range of different glasses for different types of drinks or just one type?

Not really. I tend to grab whatever is available for the most part. I have a couple of metal glasses, and a tall green glass, that I use a lot. But mainly I drink out of a variety of water bottles.

13. When you open your front door to a guest, what is the first item (apart from you!) that they see when they come inside?

The rug on the floor before the pantry door. I have a long foyer hall, with no real views of the rooms within, which I adore. Provide much more privacy than my old apartments did.

14. What’s your favourite type of biscuit/cookie? Ever made biscuits/cookies at home from scratch (for example at Christmas)?

Chocolate chip. Sometimes double chocolate chip. Yes. As a child, we made and decorated sugar cookies (don't any longer). Also about twenty different kinds of cookies.

Made chocolate chip all the time when I was growing up and well into my forties. I have some wonderful childhood memories revolving around cookie making. In recent years? I've made gluten free - which are harder to do well. Actually if you can pull off gluten free cookies that are low in sugar, and vegan - you are ahead of the game.

(Biscuits in the US - look like THIS.)

15. Do you have any maple syrup? What’s your favourite way to use it?

Yes. Pancakes

16. Do you still use post-it notes to remind you of things?

At work, yes, but not as often as before.

17. Do you use a tablecloth on your dinner table?

Don't own a dinner table [no room], so no.

18. Have you ever been ice skating?

Yes, many many times. But not recently. Not really a fan?

19. What’s the last thing that made you laugh out loud?

Buffy, I think? I've been rewatching. Actually something mother said on the phone.

20. Have you ever had to wear a neck tie?

Not that I recall - maybe once as a costume?

Entry tags:

buffy

Friday took the day off for physical therapy and watched Buffy to comfort itself

Took the day off, had physical therapy ("PT") at 2 pm. Slept until 8 am, took a shower, made breakfast (fried eggs - sunny side up, fresh raw spinach, and grits), iced leg, did knee exercises, and watched several Buffy S5 episodes. (I'd forgotten a lot of it - so it was bingeable.)
( Me rambling on about Buffy S5 episodes Fool for Love through Into the Woods )

Someone on Twitter asked - if you could only pick one vampire series from these four vampire series to keep - "Buffy, Angel, Vampire Diaries, and Interview with a Vampire" - which would it be? ( Read more... )

Listened to a bit more of the Juliet Landau Revamped podcast - and what works for me are her interviews with fellow castmates, producers, directors, writers, etc. She's an excellent interviewer. Also her insight on backstage tricks of the trade, and the process of filming. What does not work are the "Dru" commentary (which is annoying - a little Dru, goes a long ways), and the navel-gazing regarding her dysfunctional parents. ( Read more... ) But other folks are loving it, subscribe to it, and pay for it, so what do I know?

Latest on the reboot - is no, no one else in the original cast has been contacted. They have to get the pilot off the ground first. They do it differently now? They shoot and air the pilot, as a movie, if it takes off, then they order more episodes, and air those, usually just six to ten episodes, if they work, then so on. Right now - they just asked for the pilot.

I don't know. What they may not realize - is the fandom loves the original cast and has their own ideas what they want to see? And it may be diametrically opposed to what the fans writing and producing the pilot and continuation want to see? The Buffy fandom like all fandoms is kind of fractious?
***

Finished the Paul Newman Memoir and onto the Larry Silverstein one about the fight to rebuild the world trade center. Larry is 93 years of age. I didn't realize that, until I started listening to the book and realized he met his wife Klara in the 1954. He was 70 when the Twin Towers fell. He's writing about the struggle he had to rebuild them - in his 70s. So far, my main take away, is there has to be a specific spot in hell just for all the real estate developers on the planet. Although it is interesting - learning all about real estate development in the 1950s and 1990s, also the pitfalls of working with big government agencies like the NY State Port Authority.

***

PT was frustrating. ( Read more... )

Did manage to make it to Union Grocery on Court St. ( Read more... )

And it rained heavily this morning between 6am and 10 am. Then stopped. Sun came out. Then got gloomy and rained briefly after 3pm. It's windy now. I'm staying in and off the knee the rest of the weekend, except for knee exercises.

Off to bed.

Current Mood: pensive
Current Location: Munich

Entry tags:

Pluribus 1.08

In which someone becomes Sheherazade, but is it Zosia or is it Carol?

( Spoilers go on the charm offensive )

Neurodivergent Rights...

Found on Face Book of all places:

Apparently, I'm neurodivergent - since I have a grab bag of a lot of these:

For those who can't see it? It breaks down visual and audio coordination issues into categories:

1. Dyscalculia - Difficulty with visual/spatial coordination, counting, doing numbers in sequence or sequencing (example? Unable to count by sevens), difficulty working word problems...

2. Dyslexia - difficulty reading aloud, mis-pronouncing words (often substituting words or finding another word), difficulty reading aloud, problems retrieving words, difficulty with writing or spelling, slow and labor intensive reading

3. Dysgraphia - symptoms include cramped/sore hand, poor spatial planning of sentences and margins, frequent erasing, inconsistent letter and word spacing, poor spelling and missing words and letters

4. Dyspraxia
Symptoms include: difference in speech, perception problems, poor hand-eye coordination, poor balance and posture, clumsiness, fatigue.

Better late than never, I guess? But I wish this information was more accessible and prevalent in the 20th Century and early 00s? Along with the advocacy.

Current Mood: happy

Entry tags:

(no subject)

I was all geared up to talk about The Game Awards, but now I'm mostly meh. I don't have anything new or exciting to say about it. Like with the actual awards? I'm not one of the cynics. I don't think E33 should have won fewer awards. It's just that good.

As for the announcements, I'm most excited about Exodus and the KOTOR follow-up, Fate of the Old Republic. Which I know won't be around for a few more years, since it was more of an announcement for hiring and funding use (and to get us RPG fans fired up wayyy ahead of time). Not at all impressed with the 'big reveal' they saved until last. A live-service hero shooter? THAT'S your biggest announcement? Yeah, fuck that.

I haven't yet played the new 'Thank You' DLC for E33 yet since I um. Started a new game? I can't help myself! Also hoping to play Dispatch soon. And I picked up Control from PS+.

I have about 2k of my epilogue/sequel to my FTH fic and I really hope I can finish it in time for the FTH deadline. If I don't, my recipient has already said it's okay but still. I was HOPING.

The new antidepressant is still working well! The only thing against it is the joint pain. I've got a pretty bad elbow out of it. But I'm used to pain so I'll take that if it means less to no depression.

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: Munich

Entry tags:

This and that and history

Watched completely on Apple +: Down Cemetery Road, a new series (I would have written miniseries, except I hear there'll be a second season), based on an earlier novel by Slow Horses author Mick Heron. Starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson, both cast somewhat against type and having fun with it. Emma Thompson plays Zoe, a cynical private detective right out of the hard boiled age, if that one had female cynical hard drinking PI's, Ruth Wilson plays Sarah, starting out as somewhat naive, idealistic and disorganized. (I have seen Ruth Wilson in roles where she isn't a brilliant sociopath before! I swear I did! But Alice and Marisa Coulter are just so memorable!) Zoe starts out the story married, to another P.I. who is more the benevolent goodshoe type and whom she has feelings for but cheats on and generally argues a lot with, while Sarah is with a guy hiding total jerkness between a placid facade, but before the pilot is over, neither of these relationships are existent anymore. Both women - who live in Oxford, not London, which is a change, but the action doesn't stay there - through different ways find themselves uncovering the central dastardly plot which unsurprising given the author the show is based on involves fuck-ups by awful government agencies and the attempt to cover this up which leads to an ever higher body count. The Zoe and the Sarah storylines after a brief meeting in the pilot stay apart for half the season, and I was about to complain, but then the second half reunites them and gives me these actresses playing superbly against each other. If I have one complaint, it's that there wasn't really a pay-off for the existence of Talia the new defense secretary. But presumably in the second season?

Started to watch and stopped watching: Gunpowder on Amazon Prime. Look, show, two podcasts managed to turn me around on James VI and I and got me interested in Stuarts beyond the Restoration era, I'm in the market for this ! I'm also with you pointing out Catholics got a truly rough deal in the late Elizabethan and in the James era. But Kit Harrington brooding as Robert Catesby isn't going to cut it, and who does Mark Gatiss as Robert Cecil think he's playing, Shakespeare's Richard III?

Started watching, may or may not continue: The Name of the Rose, new tv version on Disney +. I mean, if there is an early 1980s novel begging for the miniseries treatment, it's absolutely that one, the OG Murders at a Monastery story. I would have thought a mniseries could offer the chance to include a lot more from the novel than the movie was able to, but foolish me, the show creators instead thought they needed some adiditional subplots. Adson now starts out as not really a novice, though he wants to be, because his father wants him with the imperial army instead. That's right, he now has Daddy Issues. (This is where you can tell there must be some American money involved.) William of Baskerville, aka the cleverest Holmes avatar in another setting before House, is played by John Turturro, who doesn't look anymore like the (reddish blonde) William of the book than Sean Connery did but does a decent job playing him. Somewhat unsurprisingly, like the movie, the series beefs up the part of Bernard(o) Gui. Who in the book shows up only in the second half and leaves again long before the big showdown, but Jean-Jacques Annoud already decided he didn't want an evil inquistor going to waste, but apparantly so did the creators of this one, so while Gui still doesn't arrive in the monastery before half point, we see him being evil and fanatical en route in every freaking episode. Did I mention there are new subplots? About which Adson, who is our narrator (voiced as an old man by Peter Davison, omg, that was a nice surprise), can't know?

( More spoilery observations for the first part of the series )

Incidentally, the excellent podcast History of the Germans (currently in its "Fall and Rise of the House of Habsburg" season where the family with the famous chin and lower lip first seemingly hits rock bottom in three generations before young Maximilian marries Marie of Burgundy) did a great episode last year about the actual political and theological background of the rl events The Name of the Rose touches on, hilariously summarized as "Der Kurverein zu Rhens - starring William of Ockham and the cast of the Name of the Rose". You can listen to it or read the transcript here.

Monday is just getting by and that may be enough considering

On the subway this morning - it was hard to find a seat - not because seats weren't available - but that they were occupied by the homeless, who are mentally unstable and can be violent. They also smell. And may carry illness. So everyone attempts to give them a wide berth.

I did sit near one man, who was putting on a ratty old pair of old boots. ( Read more... )

On the way home, after disembarking from the subway at Church Avenue, and climbing the steps to exit near Denny's Pub, I stumbled upon a street filled with pigeons. Their heads tucked under their wings, all sleeping on the sidewalk beneath the overhang. There must have been at least thirty or forty of them sitting there.

**
Whoa. A lot of folks died this weekend, and rather tragically. The news was...depressing this morning, more so than usual? On social media and on ABC.

( What the actor who played Luke Spencer, Rob Reiner and his wife, Brown University students, and Bondi Beach celebrants...all have in common..they died this weekend. )
Damn. No wonder I'm depressed.

***

I don't know if anyone else feels this way? But sometimes, I feel as if I have no control over anything? My art, my writing, my life.

I bought two gifts for my mother, slippers and the Paul Newman memoir - neither have been delivered and both are stuck in transit. I looked up the Paul Newman gift - it tells me that weather delays are responsible. I looked up the slippers - it's stuck with FedEX in Georgia. So frustrated, and worried that Momma wouldn't have anything under her tree - I bought her a Suduko Calendar and a 2026 book of Sudoku puzzles.

I also spent a portion of the day - fighting to get Crazy Org to provide payment for two Union perks owed to me. I succeeded with one (which was admittedly the more important and greater of the two), and am making some headway on the other (which granted is just $100 (post taxes - $50), but that $100 could pay for this month's PT).

Iced my knee. Did exercises. Tried not to overdo.

And at home, worked on a drawing of a homeless man that I saw on the subway, and surrounded him with pigeons.

Me: I feel I've accomplished little in my life. I'm second guessing all of it.
Mother: You've survived

And I suppose that's something? There but for the grace of God go I?

I'm grateful for what I have, every single day, my City reminds me of that. It thrusts those who have far less under my nostrils.

Charisma Carpenter (played Cordy on Buffy and Angel) stated recently on a podcast that she loved New York City, because no matter how down or depressed you felt, you could always see somebody who was worse off - not only that but you could watch them find a way to keep on trucking. Thinking to yourself, if they can do that...then well, so can I.

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Location: Munich

Entry tags:

january meme

The January Meme Strikes Back

Pick a date below and give me a topic, and I'll ramble on. I'm good at talking. It can be anything from fandom-related (specific characters, actors, storylines, episodes, which Disney Marvel shows are my faves and why, why the world should give the Tudors a rest and make a Stuarts era show or several instead, which 18th century ladies need their own series, etc.) to life-related to favorite tea brands to whatever you want.

They will probably be brief, or not, depending on the subject. Also, I reserve the right to decline prompts that I don't feel equipped to meet.

Topics: you can get an idea from my tags/from the stuff I usually ramble about/from things you maybe wish I talked about more but don't. Also, please feel free to check out the 2025 meme, the 2024 meme, the 2023 January meme, the2022 January meme, the 2021 January Meme, the January Meme: 2020 Edition, the 2019 one, the 2018 meme, the 2017 edition , and the 2016 January meme to see which topics I've written about in past years.

January 1 -

January 2 - Five places everyone should visit in Germany (

redfiona99)

January 3 - Which incarnations of the Doctor would get on best with which Starfleet Captains of Star Trek? (

lightofdaye)

January 4 -

January 5 - Favourite Hiking Spots around Munich (

mildred_of_midgard)

January 6 -

January 7 - Six favourite platonic relationships in the MCU (

itsnotmymind)

January 8 -

January 9 - Something about the Brontes (

sajia_kabir)

January 10 - Charles I. - Man of Blood, Martyr, Idiot or Well-Meaning but Hopeless? (

watervole)

January 11 -

January 12 -

January 13 -

January 14 -

January 15 -

January 16 -

January 17 -

January 18 -

January 19 -

January 20 -

January 21 -

January 22 -

January 23 -

January 24 -

January 25 -

January 26 -

January 27 -

January 28 -

January 29 -

January 30 -

January 31 -

Entry tags:

Mainly reviews and nattering on about television shows...

1. Still doing the Buffy/Angel rewatch. Watched Episodes 4, 5, and 6 of Angel S2, and episodes 5, 6, and 7 of Buffy S5.

Takeaways?

Whomever designed Joyce's bedroom has no sense of design. Also it appears to be stuck in the 1970s? It's the worst set in the show, which is saying something, since we have Tara's entirely black bedroom. Joyce's entirely red bedroom vs. Tara's black one, decisions decisions.

Angel/Darla sequence in the Convent Basement in Dear Boy (Episode 5) is similar to Buffy/Spike sequence in the alley behind the Bronze in Fool for Love (Episode 7). ( Read more... )

Another thing I didn't previously pick up on? In Fool For Love - Spike's interaction with each slayer he is trying to kill - involves mothers, not sure the extent to which he's aware of it, though. ( Read more... )

Spike does actually provide some insightful information to Buffy and the audience, not necessarily intentionally - and from his perspective, it's relatively obvious. He doesn't appear to understand why Buffy and her friends don't get it. ( Read more... )

What doesn't quite work in the episode is Riley and her friends. It's also clear from the episode why the writers intend to write out Riley and how. ( Read more... )

2. Watched the 1968 film Rachel, Rachel yesterday on Apple + for $2.99. I rented it. It starred Joanne Woodward, Estelle Parsons, and Jim Olsen and was directed by Paul Newman. ( Read more... )

3. Finished Down Cemetery Road - the series by Mike Heron based on his book of the same name, on Apple +. Apple + has an annoying interface, that is similar to HBO's, in that it is hard to select episodes to watch on it. It automatically kicks you to the next one or makes you rewatch the one you just saw. Also, I can't always tell how many episodes there are, or if I've seen the last one. I looked it up - it only has eight episodes, the last one aired this week, on December 10.

( Read more... )

4. Re-started S2 of The Morning Show on Apple + - it's okay. Doesn't really start to take off until Episode 3, ( Read more... )

***

Other than that, and doing knee exercises, and icing my knee, and figuring out how to use my new cooking appliance (the NOSH steam/air fryer/bake/toaster oven) - I've not done much. I have tried out a few more video puzzle games - Royal Match (which starts simple then gets hard and feels rigged for money), various attempts at Mahjong games that don't have ads (they seem to acquire them after a certain point) and I have to delete the game entirely because the pop up ads freeze the phone. There's a nasty AI cleaner ad that really froze the phone and had me worried, but once I deleted the game - it went away.

Did manage to cook a biscuit (American version not the British - think small scone), and crisp some gluten free french bread in the oven.

It's easier to use than expected and meets my needs. Also smaller than expected and doesn't take up as much space as I feared. This may work. I'd been holding off getting one due to the spacing issue. But it doesn't appear to be a problem.

***

A little lonely this Xmas. Be happy when it's over. Mother is a little lonely too. Crazy Org is the reason I'm not spending it with Mother, which is annoying me to no end. (I'll save you the gory details.)

Oh, well, I have nice lights up, the lobby is well decorated, there's some snow on the ground, and presents wrapped in Amazon gift bags under the tree. I'd say I miss the other wrapping, but this is actually easier to recycle.

Current Mood: calm

Entry tags:

film review

Wake up, Dead Man! (Film Review)

Aka the third Benoit Blanc mystery plotted and directed by Rian Johnson. Now, each of these movies has a main character who is not Blanc whose fate and/or motivation to solve the mystery is at the heart of the story - Martha in Knives Out and Helen in Glass Onion respectively - and in this case it's Father Jud, played (well and movingly) by Josh O'Connor. In each case, the movie's structure harks back to the classic age of detective mysteries with various twists and turns and a grand denouemonet while also commenting on the here and now in its social satire. If Glass Onion among other things went for the tech bros and the self satisfied "disruptors", Wake up, Dead Man! is very much about the US under the Orange Menace despite his name not mentioned even once. And lo and behold - it even offers hope. And hey, there is even a Star Wars gag. (Just for the record, I still stand by The Last Jedi being the only one of the sequel movies which actually tries to do something new and creative with the franchise. #RianJohnsonwasRight . The gag has nothing to do with that at all, though.)

( Vague spoilers have to offer from their own free will in order for it to mean something )

Entry tags:

angel,
buffy

Buffy S5 and Angel S2 Rewatch Family & Untouched

It's cold, and gray, and gloomy outside. The Oak Tree outside my window is finally shrugging off it's leaves.

Me: the tree outside my window is holding onto its leaves and stubbornly not letting go of them.
Mother: Is it an oak?
Me: An oak?
Mother: Oaks tend to hold onto their leaves for a long time.

Re-watched Buffy S5, Episode 6 "Family" written and directed by Whedon, and Angel S2, "Untouched", written by Mere Smith and directed by Whedon - and I thought whoa, both these episodes feature characters who have abusive and controlling fathers. And some of the same dialogue? Whedon literally took dialogue from Smith and inserted it in Family. The dialogue exchange between Bethany (the victim of the week in Angel) is the same as the exchange between Tara and her father in Family.

Whedon definitely has a thing for "abusive fathers" in his stories.

Family is a better episode than I remembered - if you ignore Tara and her abusive family. ( Read more... )

I'd forgotten Untouched completely, and hadn't realized Whedon directed it, while Mere Smith wrote it. Or how various themes in it were similar to Family. Of course I hadn't watched them closely together either.
( Read more... )

I'm just glad it's Friday...

Should go to bed. But my IBS is acting up, and going to see if it settles?

On Threads, at least I think it was threads, it might have been Twitter - someone asked, how do you respond if someone states "I don't like you."
( Read more... )
***

Speaking of liking things? Tried to read a negative review on Good Reads about a new Illona Andrews novel coming out. But half-way in, I realized the reviewer a) had only read 35% of the book, b) didn't really like Illona Andrews writing style all that much, c) wasn't much of a fan of the high fantasy or portal fantasy genre, d) hated a series of novels that I had enjoyed in that specific genre, and after checking their previous reviews/likes, discovered they loved Peter Watts' Blindsight - which I can't seem to read or listen to more than five percent of without going to sleep. (They also adore Martha Wells books and Miss Marple Mysteries (which I read when I was a kid and liked well enough.) In short, the reviewer is a hard speculative sci-fi fan, parlor room mystery reader, and Illona Andrews novels are NOT hard speculative science fiction or parlor room mysteries. That's not their genre. And outside of the Murderbot series and possibly Miss Marple, we do not like the same novels.

In short, I couldn't tell from their review whether I'd like the novel or not. Just that I don't tend to share their taste, and we'd most likely clash if we ever interacted online or off. ( Read more... )

That said? I admittedly read a lot of reviews - because I'm curious to see what folks thought about xyz, and have often seen or read the work prior to reading their review of it.

I'm a curious soul, and it often gets me into trouble - as being curious tends to do.

**

Off to bed, now that the IBS has quieted down.

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Location: on the train

Entry tags:

Pluribus 1.07

In which we get a crossover between a Werner Herzog movie and a Robert Altmann one.

( Manousos or the Wrath of God… )

Entry tags:

memage

Thursday is tired and wishes it was Friday

I don't know what it is like elsewhere? But this is turning out to be a bitterly cold December in the Northeastern US, specifically New York. It felt like 18 degrees F or -7 C with windchill today, in actuality 34 degrees F or 1 degrees C. Bitter, bitter wind. But sunny and pretty outside with a blue sky and scattered white puffy clouds.

Mememage - Question a Day (because I'm slightly behind, too busy writing about Buffy for the upteenth time. You'd think I'd get bored of it eventually, but apparently not? I can't remember where I left off? I had to go back and check - can't have any repetition, can we? I might contradict myself.)

8. Today is Green Monday: the most lucrative shopping day of the year. This is usually the last day that people can shop online so that the purchases can still arrive in time for the holidays. What’s the last thing you bought from an online retailer?

Sudoko Book and Calendar for my mother, and I did on Thursday (as in today), but it can still arrive in time for the holidays.

9. If you have a battery smoke alarm in your home, do you check the batteries regularly?

No, it's one of those newfangled ones that has batteries which last ten years. Combo smoke/carbon dioxide detector. Although, now that I no longer have a gas stove/oven, less chance of carbon dioxide poisoning.

10. Do you have a blanket you can snuggle under on your couch/sofa?

Yes, but I don't own a couch or sofa. I own armchairs. And an ottoman/coffee table.
( Read more... )

11. How often do you chew gum (or bubble gum)?

I no longer do. I can't - high in sugar. Also it sticks to my teeth, and loses it's taste too quickly.

***

Knee was hurting last night, but it's better today. I've also been off of it more, giving it a rest. Did some exercises, but once it began to ache, pulled back a bit. Iced it as well.

***

Making headway through the Paul Newman Memoir - which is a lot better than the Ethan Hawk documentary, also a lot kinder to Newman. Making me think Hawk is a bit of a judgemental prick? ( Read more... )

Also making headway through "Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem" which is more romance than mystery, and there's no mischief or mayhem. It's okay. I'll most likely finish it? But I wouldn't rec it to anyone?

***

Me: So where did you get that strap that we're using for the exercises?
PT: Amazon.
Me: What do you call it?
PT: Stretch Strap for exercises or stretching strap.

Sure enough that's what it is. Stretching Yoga Straps for Physical Therapy

I've noticed a pattern of late? I see something I want, I ask people where they got it, and they state: From Amazon.

Damn. Amazon is doing well.

I also bought humidifiers. My skin is drying out, I have a dry cough, and my lips are chapped. Time for humidifiers.

***

Saw a stray cat (at least I think it is - might not be) on the way home. It's fairly healthy for a stray, so may be just out and about. But thought, it's awfully cold for a cat. Granted they have fur but still.

Current Mood: pensive
Current Location: Munich

Entry tags:

The Return (Film Review)

Yes, about a year after it was released in the English speaking world, The Return finally made it to German cinemas, thus still arriving before Christopher Nolan's big budget take on the Odyssey next year. Like many another person, I assume sight unseen that Nolan's take will be pretty much the opposite, given that The Return focuses exclusively on, well, the story of the suitors harrassing Penelope and Telemachus and Odysseuys' return to Ithaca with ensueing consequences, has thrown out the Gods and any other magical elements entirely from the story and takes place solely on Ithaca within a few days with a small ensemble of characters. (Incidentally, the "Penelope and Telemachus on Ithaca/ The Homecoming" part of the story actually is the main tale of the Homeric epic, which reliably surprises everyone who reads it. The adventures with Sirens, Cyclops and Sea Monsters part is contained in the middle where Odysseus (not the most reliable narrator under the best of circumstances) is narrating it to his hosts and a relatively short portion of the story.) All this being said, having now watched it, I would call The Return a good movie with some stellar performances by our leads - Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes uniting their actory prowess for the third time - , but that it fails in one important regard as an adaptation of the Odyssey, and no, it's not because there are no Gods and other supernatural beings around. But again: as a film, it is great and immensely watchable.

( Tell me, Muse, about a PTSD ridden war veteran and an island under occupation )

Entry tags:

Wednesday is tired, and nursing a bum knee

Per the PT, I've an irritated or nappy meniscus:
( Read more... )
***

Watched Buffy S5 episode 5, "No Place Like Home", which oddly, I liked better than Episode 4. (Hmm,as an aside, television writers seem to like annoying characters, and somewhat whiny characters, don't they?)
( Read more... )

Off to bed. I hope.

Entry tags:

Tuesday is cold but hanging in there...

Had another PT appointment on Monday, which...went okay, I guess? ( Read more... )

Work party and work in general made me want to walk out the door and retire today. But alas, I can't. I'm not positive, but I have a feeling Breaking Bad felt much the same way.
( Read more... )
Today was my father's birthday - which FB decided to alert me to. Annoying considering my father was never on FB and disliked it. My father, had he lived, would have turned 90. He died in 2022 at the age of 86 just short of his 87th birthday.

So feeling a bit down and out today. Not helped by the bitter cold snap plaguing New York and the East Coast at the moment. It was 18 F degrees this morning, I think that is -6 C. Tomorrow it is supposed to get up to 45 and possibly rain, practically balmy.
****

Buffy S5 Rewatch

Episode S5.4 Out of My Mind

Definitely enjoying Angel more this go-around, probably because I've watched this season one too many times? That said, the dialogue in this episode for the most part is rather good. And there are some good bits here and there.

The episode is mainly about Riley and Spike.
( Read more... )

Off to bed and other things.

(no subject)

There are so many things I want to do. I'm not getting younger, so I should just quit procrastinating.

One thing is that I want to get through my TBR list! Or at least whittle it down. My reading has dropped off dramatically, but I still keep buying books. WTF, self. I signed up for Storygraph a while ago, but now I'm serious about it! Got to keep up with what I'm doing. (username greeniegreen)

I keep wasting time on Tumblr--not that I don't love Tumblr, but I could be doing things other than staying up to date on the latest in meme culture.

And I have so many WIPs. *flails* And I REALLY need to finish the epilogue to the fic I'm posting. Before I get to the end of the chapters I have!

One thing I definitely need is new glasses. I can't even see the screen well enough to make icons anymore, and I used to love that. :( I can read just fine, but small details are fuzzy and I can't make graphics/icons with fuzzy eyes.

Entry tags:

memage

Sunday ran errands, laid about, and well memage...

I have to make dinner - but alas, I am procrastinating. Probably due to a late lunch of salad and snickerdoodles (gluten-free softbaked, tiny snickerdoodle cookies courtesy of Trader Joes). I did go grocery shopping and scored Beechers World Famous Mac and Cheese (gluten free), Capullo's frozen almond crust pizza, Capullo's almond dough spinach and cheese ravioli, spicey salad greens, grilled salmon, and almond/coconut creamer.

Managed to watch a bit more of Down Cemetery Road with Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson, it's not as good as Slow Horses. By the same guy, Mike Herron. But it drags in places, Ruth Wilson (Sarah) is getting on my nerves and I can't decide if it is the actress or the role? She's gotten on my nerves on everything I've seen her in - so it may well be the actress? Emma Thompson on the other hand is excellent in it - I'm watching for her. I don't like the plot though. (I've seen it done one too many times, I think?)

Outside of that, haven't done all that much? I did manage to clear a space for the upcoming steam oven/air fryer. That I'm hoping works. It should.
It will help tremendously with the nutritious gluten free cooking - if it does. 98% of cooking nowadays is having access to the right appliance.

December Question a Day Mememage

2. Are there Christmas lights in your local town/city? Post a photo if you have one.

Weirdly enough, not. In previous years everyone lit up the outside of their houses in my area, but not this year.

I do have lights on in my apartment, and they have them on in the lobby of the building - which is insanely decorated. (Not sure that's the same thing, though?)

( Insanely Large and Decorated Lobby of my apartment building )

Think 1920s Pre-War Art Deco, with Christmas Decorations.

3. Have you ever hand made a gift (or a card) for someone?

Yes. From the age of four roughly to the age of 21, my brother and I handmade all the Xmas cards that our family sent. My father joined us in later years, then eventually, my mother printed off a watercolor of my Dad's and sent that out. We were famous for our hand made cards.

We did block prints, finger paints, watercolors, drawings, everything. My brother, myself, and my Dad are all artistically inclined. My mother handled the mailing, addressing, signing, and printing if required, also the coordination of the effort.

I don't do it now. Don't have addresses for anyone to send them to - even if I wanted to do it. People just don't provide addresses any longer - hello social media and the internet.

YMMV.

4. International Day of Banks. Do you use more than one bank for your investments/savings/general bill paying, or is everything in one place?

One bank for all the bill paying. Savings/Investments is in more than one place.

5. Do you own anything with fake (or real) fur trim?

Fake fur trim. I don't own real - can't afford it, and...not a fan. I'd rather spend the money on travel or something/anything else.

6. Do you own a microwave oven? What do you use it for?

Yes, contemplating using it to heat up gluten free mac and cheese at the moment. I use it to defrost and heat up items. Sometimes to steam - but the steam oven will do away with that issue. I usually use it to melt butter, heat up stuff, and do it quickly. Don't use it that often.

7. Have you ever tried an alcoholic cocktail, or a non-alcoholic mocktail? Do you have a favourite?

Yes. Both. Favorite? Either a lime Margarita, or a Vodka Tonic with Lemon.
I used to like Cosmopolitians, and for a while Cranberry and Seltzer.

Now? I don't drink any of the above. Off sugary drinks and alcohol for the most part.

Current Mood: pensive
Current Location: Munich

Entry tags:

Spartacus: House of Ashur 1.01 and 1.02

More than a decade ago, the tv show Spartacus was a guilty pleasure of mine. I started watching because BtVS and AtS alumnus Steven DeKnight was the showrunner (since then, he's also gathered additional geek cred with the first season of the Netflix Daredevil), and kept watching because as gory and pulpy and trashy as it was, it (after a bad pilot) turned into something compulsively watchable, with interesting characters galore, complicated relationships and good acting. You can read my review of the first season and the prequel season here, of the second season here, and of the third and final season here.

Now a spin-off of said show has just started (in my part of the world, you can watch it on Amazon Prime, but this seems to be different in different countries - like the original show, it gets shown on STARZ in the US) with the first two episodes released. I was alerted to this a few months ago when Steven DeKnight entertainingly shot down the whiny "Woke!" complaints by the usual suspects that started as soon as the first pics were released, showing, OMG, a black woman in a central role among the cast. (Given the original show had several prominent female characters, some of which were poc, and also had canon on screen important m/m relationships, and of course had at its central subject a slave revolt, it beats me why anoyne familiar with said original show should have assumed the show creators being inclined towards the Orance Menace type of entertainment and (lack of) ethos beats me, but there we are. Anyway, the premise of the show per se didn't feel like a must watch to me (more about this later), and I might have hesitated given all the Darth Real Life stuff dodging me, but all the indignation of ignorant fanatics definitely worked as great advertisement. What is the premise? Basically a canon AU, with the title of the spin-off: "Spartacus: House of Ashur" being a giveaway. I.e. it shows what would have happened if one of the original show's villains hadn't ( spoiler for the original show ) - what would have to Ashur, personally, that is, since everything else that happened in the third season of the original show still did happen in the canon AU which starts in what sounds like not even a year after the original show ended. While Ashur had been a good and entertaining villain, I hadn't exactly yearned for a "What if?" about him, yet, see above, external circumstances plus the fact the show really HAD been compulsive watching for me made me tune in and check out the first two episodes.

( Gratitude! )