What's up, fiction edition
May. 14th, 2019 09:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bironic
WATCHING
So much stuff whilealpheratz visited.
Theten 11 episodes that've aired so far of the Taiwanese m/m dramedy HIStory3 – Trapped, one of her current fandoms. It's like if someone wrote an earnest but naïve AU where the original high school-aged characters become either police detectives or gangsters and half of them are in clueless love with the other half, only that's the canon. I liked the clam who started needing to fight to keep the amusement from his expression at the antics and/or obliviousness of his crush, whose ears recall Colin Morgan's as Merlin.
Our first episodes of Hot Ones, the YouTube show where celebrities eat a series of increasingly spicy wings between interview questions. We started with Jeff Goldblum, because Jeff Goldblum, and also because the emcee at a recent Jeff Goldblum-themed burlesque modeled her between-act hot wings schtick on his episode. Warning for "daddy" language at the YouTube link, which also featured prominently in the burlesque commentary. :( Our favorite, however, was Gordon Ramsay, hands down. After skipping ahead to when the spice started kicking in, we hurt ourselves laughing. I see we still have contestants like Michael B. Jordan, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Key & Peele and Charlize Theron to look forward to.
The Kenyan f/f movie Rafiki. Enjoyed. Much lingering on beautiful faces, much detail of a few families' lives on the outskirts of Nairobi. Tricky for those seeking happy LGBT+ media, although where the ending falls on the spectrum of happiness or unhappiness depends on your perspective, and we are, after all, talking about a film that was largely banned in its originating country, where you can be imprisoned for 10+ years for having same-sex relations, according to *cough* the movie's Wikipedia page. Hope to hear fromhermionesviolin or others who went to a special screening last night with guest commentary.
The sweet and uplifting Turkish documentary Kedi. If I'd known the movie was not simply about following street cats around Istanbul but also about the people who care for them and those people's views on life, I'd have watched it sooner. But the delay paid off in that I was able to experience it with someone who loves cats. A heartening portrait of community building and doing right by others, including animals.
Half of the Netflix show Special. We appreciated the importance of what it's doing, but the secondhand embarrassment, prominence of plots involving lying and coercion, self-conscious overuse of slang, and focus on the physical aspects of relationships proved too much.
And more, including this week's Game of Thrones episode, which I enjoyed, and which served as payback for Trapped sincealpheratz got invested despite not having seen any of the show before. Anything further on GoT requires its own post.
ETA: and here it is; warning for S8 spoilers.
Thing I did not catch: The DS9 documentary What We Left Behind. I can't believe its only theatrical showing nationwide was last night! I've been enjoying the sprinkle of reactions and screencaps on Twitter but would very much like to see the whole thing when it's released on DVD or whatnot.
VIDDING
Nothing at the moment, although I'd like to make the sports movie vid in time for the FanWorksCon dance party deadline next month. (I can't seem to bring myself to call the party by its proper name of Sparkle Motion. As if its silliness detracts from the work that goes into the submissions. My issue to deal with.)
I don't think I've described the roadblock? Aside from time and desire, that is. Just that I'm trying an editing experiment that makes use of a small source list when those sources are an idiosyncratic drop in the ocean of sports movies, and I don't know how to explain-slash-justify the selection. Part of my brain knows it shouldn't matter, but another part wants a defense ready when someone complains. This was supposed to be a way to loosen up...
Spotify subscription continues to do its job of building playlists and sparking new vid song ideas. Unfortunately, those ideas refuse to align with current projects or sources I'd ever planned to vid. :) The second one so far is a moody female-vocalist folk song I think would be great for Jon Snow or the whole Stark family on Game of Thrones, but I do not want to make it myself. Too bad a handful of vidding auctions closed earlier this spring, or I could've pitched it tokillabeez or sisabet or someone.
READING
Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About It Now by Jane Burka & Lenora Yuen, a self-help book about various roots of procrastination, what it does for different people, and how readers might address their particular issues. Early pages seemed simplistic until the authors would come at you with stuff like 'when you consider a single piece of work as representing your entire capability, and you equate your capability with your worth as a person, then of course delaying completion of the project helps you put off confronting the fear that you're unlovable.' Now to find out whether the second half—the advice portion—has useful ideas that translate into effective behaviors. And yes, the running joke with friends and colleagues has been, "Have you read it yet?"
The book-length poem IRL by Tommy Pico, mostly because I wanted the foundation before reading Nature Poem, the second of four books so far in the series. It's strange reading on page what seems more like performance poetry; it's too bad our library doesn't have an audiobook version. I liked the excerpt from Nature Poem about the white ladies in the Museum of Natural History that appeared in New Poets of Native Nations, and Pico's audio version, recorded, ironically, for a museum exhibit, which Heid Erdrich played for us at the New Poets book event last fall, made the experience all the better.
Recently finished:
- Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse
- The True Queen by Zen Cho
- The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie
They were all fine. If I were feeling better in the head, I'd probably label them "good."
Going to see Karen Russell (Swamplandia!, Vampires in the Lemon Grove) tomorrow withdisgruntled_owl.
So much stuff while
alpheratz visited. The
Our first episodes of Hot Ones, the YouTube show where celebrities eat a series of increasingly spicy wings between interview questions. We started with Jeff Goldblum, because Jeff Goldblum, and also because the emcee at a recent Jeff Goldblum-themed burlesque modeled her between-act hot wings schtick on his episode. Warning for "daddy" language at the YouTube link, which also featured prominently in the burlesque commentary. :( Our favorite, however, was Gordon Ramsay, hands down. After skipping ahead to when the spice started kicking in, we hurt ourselves laughing. I see we still have contestants like Michael B. Jordan, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Key & Peele and Charlize Theron to look forward to.
The Kenyan f/f movie Rafiki. Enjoyed. Much lingering on beautiful faces, much detail of a few families' lives on the outskirts of Nairobi. Tricky for those seeking happy LGBT+ media, although where the ending falls on the spectrum of happiness or unhappiness depends on your perspective, and we are, after all, talking about a film that was largely banned in its originating country, where you can be imprisoned for 10+ years for having same-sex relations, according to *cough* the movie's Wikipedia page. Hope to hear from
hermionesviolin or others who went to a special screening last night with guest commentary.The sweet and uplifting Turkish documentary Kedi. If I'd known the movie was not simply about following street cats around Istanbul but also about the people who care for them and those people's views on life, I'd have watched it sooner. But the delay paid off in that I was able to experience it with someone who loves cats. A heartening portrait of community building and doing right by others, including animals.
Half of the Netflix show Special. We appreciated the importance of what it's doing, but the secondhand embarrassment, prominence of plots involving lying and coercion, self-conscious overuse of slang, and focus on the physical aspects of relationships proved too much.
And more, including this week's Game of Thrones episode, which I enjoyed, and which served as payback for Trapped since
alpheratz got invested despite not having seen any of the show before. Anything further on GoT requires its own post.ETA: and here it is; warning for S8 spoilers.
Thing I did not catch: The DS9 documentary What We Left Behind. I can't believe its only theatrical showing nationwide was last night! I've been enjoying the sprinkle of reactions and screencaps on Twitter but would very much like to see the whole thing when it's released on DVD or whatnot.
VIDDING
Nothing at the moment, although I'd like to make the sports movie vid in time for the FanWorksCon dance party deadline next month. (I can't seem to bring myself to call the party by its proper name of Sparkle Motion. As if its silliness detracts from the work that goes into the submissions. My issue to deal with.)
I don't think I've described the roadblock? Aside from time and desire, that is. Just that I'm trying an editing experiment that makes use of a small source list when those sources are an idiosyncratic drop in the ocean of sports movies, and I don't know how to explain-slash-justify the selection. Part of my brain knows it shouldn't matter, but another part wants a defense ready when someone complains. This was supposed to be a way to loosen up...
Spotify subscription continues to do its job of building playlists and sparking new vid song ideas. Unfortunately, those ideas refuse to align with current projects or sources I'd ever planned to vid. :) The second one so far is a moody female-vocalist folk song I think would be great for Jon Snow or the whole Stark family on Game of Thrones, but I do not want to make it myself. Too bad a handful of vidding auctions closed earlier this spring, or I could've pitched it to
killabeez or sisabet or someone.READING
Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About It Now by Jane Burka & Lenora Yuen, a self-help book about various roots of procrastination, what it does for different people, and how readers might address their particular issues. Early pages seemed simplistic until the authors would come at you with stuff like 'when you consider a single piece of work as representing your entire capability, and you equate your capability with your worth as a person, then of course delaying completion of the project helps you put off confronting the fear that you're unlovable.' Now to find out whether the second half—the advice portion—has useful ideas that translate into effective behaviors. And yes, the running joke with friends and colleagues has been, "Have you read it yet?"
The book-length poem IRL by Tommy Pico, mostly because I wanted the foundation before reading Nature Poem, the second of four books so far in the series. It's strange reading on page what seems more like performance poetry; it's too bad our library doesn't have an audiobook version. I liked the excerpt from Nature Poem about the white ladies in the Museum of Natural History that appeared in New Poets of Native Nations, and Pico's audio version, recorded, ironically, for a museum exhibit, which Heid Erdrich played for us at the New Poets book event last fall, made the experience all the better.
Recently finished:
- Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse
- The True Queen by Zen Cho
- The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie
They were all fine. If I were feeling better in the head, I'd probably label them "good."
Going to see Karen Russell (Swamplandia!, Vampires in the Lemon Grove) tomorrow with
disgruntled_owl.
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Date: May. 15th, 2019 02:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 15th, 2019 03:56 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: May. 16th, 2019 11:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 16th, 2019 11:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 15th, 2019 03:57 pm (UTC)How are your bumps and bruises today?
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Date: May. 15th, 2019 04:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 15th, 2019 05:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 15th, 2019 12:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 15th, 2019 03:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 15th, 2019 01:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 15th, 2019 02:42 pm (UTC)All right, I walked right into that one.
no subject
Date: May. 15th, 2019 02:55 pm (UTC)I like talking about sports movies! If you want to test out some justifications for your source list on me you have my email.
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Date: May. 15th, 2019 03:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 15th, 2019 04:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 15th, 2019 04:04 pm (UTC)Rafiki
Date: May. 15th, 2019 02:34 pm (UTC)Also, the director (Wanuri Kahiu) tries to make "Afro Bubble Gum" art -- "fun, fierce and frivolous representation of Africa." She has a quasi-Bechdel test for that, which Prof. Edoh read to us, and I didn't write it down at the time but I Googled and got an NPR interview:
Re: Rafiki
Date: May. 15th, 2019 04:04 pm (UTC)>>apparently the Kenya Film Classification Board was willing to un-ban the film if it had had a *less* hopeful ending.
Wild, eh? The Wiki page indicated similar. I wasn't sure how to talk about that further in the review without needing a spoiler cut.
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Date: May. 15th, 2019 09:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 16th, 2019 12:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 15th, 2019 11:19 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: May. 16th, 2019 02:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 16th, 2019 12:57 pm (UTC)If it makes you feel any better, only one of the movies/shows above is on U.S. Netflix. We saw Kedi on Kanopy, for example, and Rafiki in a theater. M and/or a Google search can hook you up with Trapped, though, if you want.
no subject
Date: May. 17th, 2019 01:17 am (UTC)FYI, it's available through YouTube Premium if anyone has that!