ziparumpazoo

Not a robot

Fri, 13 Apr 2018 03:52:16 GMT

Have finished marathoning both seasons of The Good Place. I really didn’t expect it to be so smart and entertaining. It’s been a long time since I’ve actually laughed out loud at anything on tv, but I’ve got a thing for Farscapian (it’s a word. yes) levels of ridiculousness as a cover for a deeper story arc.

Also, Ted Danson's delivery of “I mean, what do you get someone who eats unicorns? A unicorn bib! Yes! NO!”

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reading, watching, etc...

Wed, 28 Mar 2018 21:39:42 GMT

It's nice that the offspring are of an age where we are all reading the same level of books, more or less. Makes the book budget for a little farther.

Reading:

Artemis (Andy Weir). The Martian was kind of a niche format - the first-person science-lecture-as-we-go style worked well because one could assume that Mark Watney was just talking to himself to maintain his sanity. It doesn't work as well in Artemis because there are a ton of other characters for our hero to interact with. Still, once you get into the flow of the story, it's less noticeable. Also, the relationship between Jazz and her father was nicely written, and the scene where her father is demonstrating his drop-down prayer rug invention so he is always facing Mecca exactly, even from the moon, was kind of sweet.

Ready Player One (Ernest Cline) The book that completely undercuts our household saying of "there's no bonus points for being more right". So of course if appealed to the teenager and the pre-teen boy. The 80s nostalgia was fun, and there were a couple of twists that would come as no surprise to anybody who's has an online persona, but mostly I found it far too contrived. Things just work out way too conveniently.

Bonfire (Krysten Ritter) Yes, the same Krysten Ritter of Jessica Jones. Beach reading. Quick and entertaining, the way the book is set up is not so much a whodunnit, as a 'what-exactly-did-they-do?' Typical small-town-with-a-secret plot, where the villains are obvious from the start, though what exactly they are covering up is not.

Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro) So I bought this one because iBooks had it on as a promotional special. It's a first-person reminiscence of a clone raised to be an organ donor, about growing up with her two friends in an isolated residential school, and then reuniting with them later on towards the end of their lives. I didn't want to like this book. It was rough to start with, the characters annoying, but damn did the style sucker me in and leave me sobbing in my bathtub by the end.

Watching:
I spent more time at soccer practices, music and swimming lessons this winter, so if it's not on Netflix or some other on-demand platform, I probably won't get around to watching it.

Star Trek:Discovery Loved it for so many reasons. Also, the most satisfying part for me was that it was a complete story arc, not the Voyager-esque episodes with everything neatly tied up before next week with no lasting consequences. Looking forward to season 2.

What Happened to Monday/Seven Sisters (depending from which country you stream your Netflix, movie). In a not so distant future, where overpopulation and famine have forced governments to undertake a drastic "One Child Policy," seven identical sisters live a hide-and-seek existence pursued by the Child Allocation Bureau Of note, the sisters are adults, all played by Noomi Rapace (Prometheus), Glen Close is incredibly creepy, and who would have pictured Willem Dafoe as the grandfatherly type? The plot is dystopian sci-fi meets action movie. Enjoyed it, even if it did get a little gory at the end.

Thor:Ragnarok Basically, Marvel meets Farscape, no? Thor and Jon Crichton would get on famously.

Tallulah (Netflix. movie) I'm just going to link you to the summary on Wikipedia for this one. There's nothing unusual about the plot, however the execution of it was excellent. Mind you, I've never seen Allison Janney or Ellen Page give a bad performance, regardless of the script. Also, the film doesn't shy away from pointing out that maybe some women shouldn't have children and that's okay too. Bonus: short appearances by Uzo Aduba and Zachary Quinto.

A Wrinkle in Time Gorgeous, slightly updated but still faithful to the book with an emphasis on acknowledging that oneself is worthy and is loved. Nice to watch a children's movie that isn't overtly trying to sell a franchise or product tie-in. Go see it in theaters. Support this film!

Jessica Jones Season 2 is a rarely mentioned Day 2 After Trauma. This was not an easy season to watch, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I read an review somewhere that I can no longer find, complaining that while the theme of the season was anger, it was also about how violent that anger was. I'd counter that it was refreshing to have it acknowledged that women's anger is just as violent as men's anger, though often seen as far less acceptable. This season centers on how one uses that anger and what choices they make. Fingers crossed for season 3.

The Good Place I'm blaming tumblr gifsets on this one. Just started it but it's weird enough that it appeals to me.

er...that seems like a long list, but it pretty much covers like that last six months.

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blows off the cobwebs

Wed, 28 Mar 2018 03:16:12 GMT

So I invested in a waterproof fitness tracker with GPS for reasons.
Okay, nothing freaky or dire - I upgraded to a touring kayak this year and I want to be able to track where I’ve actually been with it because topology looks a lot different from the water.

Anyhow, I looked at the Apple watches only briefly,despite having invested in their iPhone line for years, because who the heck decided an 8 hour battery is fine for a watch, let alone something that claims to do everything but wash your dishes?!

In other news...still alive. Have read stuff, have watched stuff, have even written stuff. May even report on some of it soon...

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Sounds like a bad cover band, Sam

Sun, 17 Sep 2017 02:26:14 GMT

When you end up at a fibre festival and discover gradient-dyed yarn that is both local and geeky: Kara Thrace & Her Special Destiny hand dyed gradient yarn

Unfortunately sold out at the show, but I ended up taking home a cake each of Yes Sir, Captain Tight Pants! and 37?!. Now to decide what to make...

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New Longmire book: The Western Star

Wed, 13 Sep 2017 17:29:52 GMT

Review: DAMN YOU CRAIG JOHNSON! Damn. You.

That is all.

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The Dark Tower...when movies stray

Tue, 08 Aug 2017 21:22:13 GMT

So I went to see The Dark Tower on the weekend. Having been burnt by pretty much all the movie adaptations of Stephen King novels, the only expectation I had going in was that Idris Elba would be awesome.

( Idris Elba did not disappoint )

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Fri, 04 Aug 2017 22:00:41 GMT

Date night. Going to see The Dark Tower.

I have been waiting for this movie since I was 11.

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vacation brain

Tue, 25 Jul 2017 18:52:44 GMT

Back at work and in the office today. All that writing and reading I'd planned on doing while I was off did not get done, though it's not unexpected - I'm not very good at sitting still when I'm not on the clock.

Went camping with the express purpose of hiking some trails and getting some kayaking in. Success on both fronts. The weather cooperated nicely, even if the brain didn't. Witness the litany of things I forgot to pack:
- a pot (amazing the number of things you can cook in a single frying pan in a pinch)
- a lid for the non-existent pot to put over the frying pan
- camp chairs (can be attributed to a lack of space)
- a strainer for pasta (used a slotted spatula to pick noodles out of the pan)
- a coffee pot of any sort (see comment #1 regarding the frying pan)(I have three camping perks in a bin under the stairs. There's no excuse for this one)
- pancake syrup (picked wild blueberries and used as substitute with extra bacon grease while cooking. Yum!)
- the dials for the camp stove that fell off and which I found and put in a VERY safe place LAST summer. (Used the pliers in my tackle box to turn the propane up or down - who needs eyebrows anyhow?)
- the frozen pork chops for one night's supper (thank god they never made it out of the freezer and not left sitting on the counter)
-Miscellaneous tongs, oven mitts, and other cooking-over-the-fire paraphernalia (I was a boy scout. I got this one with my eyes closed. Witness me brandishing my marshmallow roasting sticks!)

Books I did finish: The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules (Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg) - The League of Pensioners, unsatisfied with the treatment at their retirement home, plan and execute a series of white collar crimes, escalating in a bank robbery. Tranlated from the original Swedish, it's both a fun read and a clever statement on the invisibility of aging.
Next up on the nightstand: Yiddish for Pirates (Gary Barwin). From the author's website: Set in the years around 1492, Yiddish for Pirates tells the story of Moishe, a young man who, enchanted by maps and seeking adventure, leaves the shtetl to join a ship’s crew. There he meets Aaron, our ribald yet philosophical parrot narrator who becomes his near-constant companion. With a beakful of Yiddish jokes, this wisecracking bird guides us through a swashbuckling world of pirate ships and exploits on the high seas.

Here, have a vacation picture:

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Because we can all use more cat pictures

Thu, 13 Jul 2017 03:03:04 GMT

Have one of my kitty in a kayak from this evening

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Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2

Mon, 15 May 2017 01:15:57 GMT

I have seen it. Need ALL THE FARSCAPE CROSSOVER FIC NOW PLEASE!!!!

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bathroom reno

Sun, 23 Apr 2017 01:20:37 GMT

I have been to the big box hardware store twice today, and the local hardware store three times. I think this might be a personal best.

Sad part is it was mostly to get parts to correct things the original builders were too lazy to do properly.

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not folding up shop

Sun, 16 Apr 2017 15:37:45 GMT

With recent TOS-related shenanigans over on LJ, I've been debating following fandom suit and deleting my journal there too. I've decided against it.

- They have my data. They always have, since the first post. It's the nature of data replication for high-availability and backups. Since they don't publicly state their backup retention policy (other than to note that they keep your data for up to one year in the TOS), even if I delete today, it doesn't mean my content is gone. It's just not accessible to me.
- More content makes searching for something more difficult. While any type of search is probably carried out using scripts and keyword searches, the larger volume of data, the longer it takes to search. Realistically, my 589 posts are not going to slow it down that much, if at all, but it's a bit of electronic data noise and cover for journals that could be targeted.
- Fandom history. Oddly, I still get comments on older stuff posted here, even though it's all also hosted on AO3, so somebody has bookmarked links. I'm seeing more journals disappear without a forwarding address, more fic disappearing without any archiving, and the fangirl in me is a little sad at this.
- I've been very careful from the start to not post anything that could identify me personally, either in any post, or in my account settings. The TOS says I don't have to.

It goes without saying that you need to do whatever you need to do to feel safe online. I'm not saying everybody should stop deleting their journals. Not at all. These are just my reasons for leaving it where it is. I may stop cross-posting at some point, if only because my flist is a ghost town and most people who are still posting are here on DW.

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my hand slipped

Fri, 04 Nov 2016 17:26:43 GMT

I used to write a lot. Then they have me the ProjectThatWouldn'tEnd at work, despite not having ever been a PM before, never mind one of this scale. I think it broke me temporarily because I haven't actually written anything in over a year.

Then elfin lamented the lack of Vic/Cady fic under the Longmire tag at AO3, and this happened. Words, how I missed you. S5 spoilers.

(I'll) Hold Your Hand Grenade (3283 words) by ziparumpazoo
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Longmire (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Cady Longmire/Victoria "Vic" Moretti
Characters: Cady Longmire, Victoria "Vic" Moretti
Additional Tags: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Female Friendship, impromtu sleepovers, season five spoilers, appropriate use of swearing
Summary:
"Have you ever killed a man? I mean, with your job, the chances of killing someone are higher than average, right?" In which nobody wants to go home alone.

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Lurk-mode disabled

Tue, 02 Aug 2016 20:41:57 GMT

Probably the best thing about reading Joe Hill's novels are the offhand references to his father's books, like the mention of Midworld and Derry in NOS4A2, or Frannie Goldsmith in The Fireman (there's probably more I missed) . Like picking up a comfortable fic canon that references a bunch of other fic.

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Wed, 30 Sep 2015 00:08:53 GMT

My Endomondo running app has an auto-pause setting. It should be called the "had to stop and pet a dog" setting.

I use it a lot.

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I wrote a thing

Thu, 07 May 2015 17:30:26 GMT

Oh jeez it's been so long...

Swing (713 words) by ziparumpazoo
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America (Movies)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers
Additional Tags: partners to friends
Summary: They spar and she calls him for holding back against her, like she's made of bone china and he doesn't trust her not to break.

Or, how Natasha and Steve find their groove.

( Or read here... )

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Sun, 05 Apr 2015 01:09:01 GMT

I might just have accidentally watch two-thirds of the first season of Agents of Shield.

Damn you Netflix! Damn you!

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untitled post

Sat, 04 Apr 2015 14:50:32 GMT

I need to remember to actually post, instead of just writing them in my head...

Movies:
Penguins of Madagascar - meh. What was funny in small doses is not so much over the course of ninety minutes. Or maybe I just fell asleep because it's the first weekend in a month without work or houseguest?

Home - Loved it. It doesn't waste effort trying to play to both audience levels, like the majority of kids movies, but does try to appeal to a broader, more diverse fanbase. The crowd scenes feature characters of different races and cultures, and while Jim Parson's alien, Oh, might be the initial draw in the previews (which showcases the majority of Oh's jokes), it's Rihanna's character, Tip who is the real star. It's Tip's adventure to find her kidnapped mother that drives the movie, while the growing understanding between Tip and Oh come in second. (And for a change, the alien is not the wise, all-knowing with something to teach humanity). I've read a lot of reviews talking about how important this movie is for young girls, especially non-white girls, and I agree, a million times yes! The look on my niece's face when she left the theater after seeing somebody who looks like her on screen is confirmation, however this movie shouldn't be ignored for little boys either. No, it's not 'for them', but kids are sponges - if they see variety, they'll accept it as the norm. I mean, my oldest still won't watch the original BSG because he can't get past Starbuck being a guy in that series - that's all he's ever known.

TV:
Atlantis rewatch. Trio remains one of my favorite episodes ever. If only because Jewel Staite may be queen of the reaction shots. Mostly I want a whole season of Sam, Rodney, and Jennifer go off and have adventures and mishaps throughout the galaxy.
The Last Man is a good episode in it's own right - a nice little AU, which I love. But of course it always makes me want to re-read mrspollifax's A Step Ahead of You. Because everybody needs a good cry, right?

Link:
A Step Ahead of You (8454 words) by mrspollifax
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Sam Carter/Jack O'Neill
Characters: Sam Carter
Additional Tags: Angst, Tragedy, Alternate Timeline, Alternate Universe - Canon, Episode: s04e20 The Last Man
Summary:

In the chaos of battle, sometimes an instant might as well be an eternity.

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2014 fic roundup

Wed, 07 Jan 2015 20:15:32 GMT

2014 fic list

mrspollifax made me promise to do this, so...
I wrote much more than I thought this year, but posted little, so the list is short and only moderately sweet.

The Song of Sarah (The Long Road Home Remix) 5/2014 StarTrek: Deep Space 9; Sarah Cisco; Gen; ~1900 words; It’s not until much later that Sarah learns those missing years were not the waste she'd always thought. Remix 11 entry (links to original story on AO3 page)

Find out I'm wrong (when I thought I was right) 2/2014 Longmire bookverse; Walt/Vic; explicit; ~2500 words; porn battle entry: He's happy to ride shotgun for her.

First Press 2/2014 Almost Human; Dorian/John Kennex; mature; ~890 words; porn battle entry: Dorian has a problem. John has instructions.

A Fire Infolding 1/2014 Longmire bookverse; Walt/Vic; PG; ~1300 words; He found himself glad she hadn't wanted to be alone either.

( navel gazing )

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Things that make a post; the who's really counting anyhow edition.

Mon, 24 Nov 2014 20:13:15 GMT

According to my Endomondo app, I've ran over 100km since the end of August. 122.99, to be exact. Possibly why my already old runners are starting to feel a little flat. I'm also going to need to maybe learn to make friends with the treadmill if I want to keep up this pace over the winter. Running outside at night is fantastic, frostbite and cold-triggered asthma, not so much.

Watched The Other Boleyn Girl last night and found myself near tears at the end, even though, and thank you PBS documentaries, I knew how it would end. The cinematography was gorgeous, with the use of mood setting color - golds and soft greens used for the idealistic country scenes, dark blues and greys for the cold and calculating Court. But it was Natalie Portman's Anne who really blew me away. It's easy to forget was a skilled actress Portman is, until you see her in a role this varied. Not that Scarlett Johansson is any slouch, but this version of the story portrays Mary as much gentler and even tempered than her sister Anne. I don't know how historically accurate the plot line was (see above, pretty cinematography), but it was an interesting angle portraying the Boleyn sisters time at King Henry's Court from Anne and Mary's point of view for the most part, putting a spin on, and adding complexity to the PBS versions that paints them as conniving and power hungry.

Fic rec for the Natasha/Steve folks on my list (and wow I haven't done this for a long time)...it's older and probably I am the last to know as usual:
Without the Usual Cost of Labor by vain_glorious - "Someone just reported to SHIELD that whatever was stolen produced "viable offspring", and we're hoping that doesn't mean what we thinks is does," Bruce says, evidently deciding to take over for Tony after only one masturbation joke.
Baby!fic, kinda, wherein the entire story reads like a running Tony monologue. Sweet without being saccharine, and with a side serving of enough almost-crack to make me grin. Gen and PG.

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Surely I would have remembered

Tue, 18 Nov 2014 18:03:38 GMT

You know that moment when you get a comment on an old fic? So you go to thank them and end up accidentally reading a line or two of said fic because, well, it's old, and maybe you have fond memories of writing it? And then the line or two turns into reading all of said fic, and then you go to hit the kudos button because omg, who wrote this? The prose! I wish I could write prose like this...wait a minute... *facepalm*

And then you spend the rest of the day wondering when you stopped writing like that.

Other signs you might be a grouchy old lady of fandom: getting more than one kudo or comment at once on old fic and not being able to find out how they got directed there in the first place. Searching for recs used to be easy before twitter and tumblr and all the rest.

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fowl weather

Fri, 26 Sep 2014 04:01:05 GMT

I'm away from the office on training this week. Pros: I'm away from the office all week. Cons: the course isn't very good or as in depth as advertised. Sad when the other students are asking you questions because they are unsatisfied by the instructor's answers.

I thought long and hard for something witty or entertaining to post this week, but that ain't happening.
Here, have a picture of a duck photobombing my goose picture instead:

Also, it is officially fall.

Signal boost:fringe_exchange sign ups are open. I'm not in a place where I can make that kind of creative commitment this year, but don't let that stop you from signing up. (It really is a low pressure exchange. And fun.)

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the watching of things

Wed, 27 Aug 2014 18:49:20 GMT

Fingers are crossed that Longmire gets a fourth season. I really enjoyed S3, even though it went a little darker than the first two. I think the stand-alone episodes were my favorite this year though - the writing seemed stronger when they weren't trying as hard to tie all the other subplots together. The cinematography remains pretty as ever.

We just finished watching both seasons of Orange Is the New Black and really liked it. I'm usually leery when a show is a critical darling like this, but was pleasantly surprised to find that while the show is billed as The Prison Adventures of Piper Chapman, A WASP's Tale, from the second or third episode on, the majority of the focus shifts to the other women in the prison around her. Piper becomes more of a gateway into the stories (and yes, they have actual stories, not just the roles of the token POC and queer inmate populations) of the other women. While often idealized for television, most of the backstories presented as character revealing flashbacks are revisited as they drive the current-day plot forward. Sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreakingly human, and often both in the same scene, OITNB has set a new standard for representation.

Also, if Kate Mulgrew had played her Captain Janeway to be as fierce and terrifying as her OITNB character, Red, the Borg would have turned their cubes on their corners and gotten the hell out of the Delta Quadrant. Damn.

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does this thing still work?

Fri, 01 Aug 2014 16:47:13 GMT

It's been so incredibly long since I last posted that I don't even know where to start. Short form: Got my boat operator's license card (it says I'm Competent. whoohoo!), recovering from a minor car accident takes way longer than I'd like (being 20 definitely wasted on 20 year olds), but the kayaking is helping with the upper back problems so long as I don't overdo it. I overdo it. Work was soul-crushingly busy. Went on holidays. Returned to work. Less soul-crushing, but still busy. I can live with that.

Some kayak photos:
( here there be photos )

Reading:
Started reading Wool by Hugh Howey, but had to put it down after the first chapter because those kind of gory bait-and-switch surprises are not what I'm looking for in my summer vacation reading.

Then I read The Giver by Lois Lowry, which I really enjoyed, right up until the ending, which I felt was a cheat for the character of Jonas. Again, the kind of twist not a summer reading priority, however the book is a deeper social commentary than it first appears and I'm still thinking it over.

Books I did enjoy so far this summer: The Martian by Andy Weir, for it's sly portrayal of space exploration in the Chris Hadfield-age of social media (not to mention that it's sometimes downright funny to the space exploration geek in me), and Percy Jackson - The Titan's Curse (Rick Riordan), because it was handy and surprisingly immersive for children's lit, despite the writing style.

Currently reading Mr. Mercedes (Stephen King) because at least I know to expect death and destruction and not to get too attached to any of the secondary characters (or even the ones in the opening chapters - no thank you Hugh Howey)

Watching: What, are you kidding? It's summer! Why are you people in front of your tv's?
Ok, seriously, watching Longmire still and I take back my grumblings at the beginning of season three about dropped plot lines. I'm going to need a second watch of this season end-to-end without all the Viagra commercials though. Graham Greene is killing me playing the bad guy after growing up watching him play mostly the stereo typical comedic or wise Indian roles on tv here.

So. Hi. How are you all?

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Remix fic: The Song of Sarah (DS9, Gen)

Wed, 21 May 2014 02:43:42 GMT

I signed up for Remix 11 and wrote a thing:

Title: The Song of Sarah (The Long Road Home Remix)
Fandom/Rating: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Gen
Characters: Sarah Sisko, Jake Sisko, Joseph Sisko
Summary: It’s not until much later that Sarah learns those missing years were not the waste she'd always thought.
Notes: Original story: In Due Season by beatrice_otter
AU because I was reminded that in canon, Sarah Sisko dies not long after leaving. She deserved a better fate.

( The Song of Sarah (The Long Road Home remix) )

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