ziparumpazoo: Tree covered in pink frost (Default)
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.
ziparumpazoo: Tree covered in pink frost (Default)
Review: DAMN YOU CRAIG JOHNSON! Damn. You.

That is all.
ziparumpazoo: Tree covered in pink frost (Default)
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.
ziparumpazoo: Tree covered in pink frost (Default)
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?
ziparumpazoo: Tree covered in pink frost (Default)
Happy first day of Spring in the northern hemisphere...
Untitled
Monday's storm brought three-foot drifts across my driveway. Last year at this time we were wearing shorts.

The ISS passed over my house this morning. I waved, but I don't think they saw me among the snowdrifts.
TV I am watching right now: )
Also, I heard rumor that Fringe's Jasika Nicole will have a guest spot this season. \o/

Books I have recently read: Longmire )
So, in summary, I'm looking forward to June and the next novel's release. Also, looking forward to A&E airing season two of the series sometime over the summer.
ziparumpazoo: Tree covered in pink frost (Default)
Anybody have a copy of Firestarter handy? Mine's gone missing at some point over the years (I read it in second grade, it's been a while!) and so far the internet doesn't seem to think this particular fact is worth checking: I need to know the name of the college where Andy McGee participated in the Lot 6 experiments. Please and thank you. :)

*Eta: Found by 'rith and elf. :)
ziparumpazoo: White cow with red, blue, and yellow polka dots (GeneTheWonderCow)
Got my Fringe Exchange recipient and breathed a huge sigh of relief - pretty much carte blanche with whatever I want to write within the bounds of the request. Because sometimes the 'Ohgodwhatiftheydon'tlikeit?!' can be pretty intimidating.

Speaking of... I think I'm one maybe three people who loves where Fringe is going this season...
Fringe 5.05 )

In other news... just finished reading Connie Willis' Blackout/All Clear. Highly recommend if you like stories about time travel and causality with a little bit of mystery and drama and humor thrown in. I may leave a better review later, once I'm recovered from it. This was one of those book universes I was sad to put down.
ziparumpazoo: Tree covered in pink frost (Default)
Thanksgiving long weekend, followed by a short week wherein there is just as much to do as in a regular week is not as much of a holiday as it seems. However, there was, and still is pie.

Things have been too busy around here lately to have an opinion on anything, so here you go all at once. *g*

So, Fringe )

Books )

Seems I haven't made a post here in ages without spamming y'all with pictures. Wouldn't want to break that trend. ;)

I managed to find some cheap graduated neutral density filters and filter mount online a while back, and by cheap, I mean inexpensive - not brandname, but good enough for my level of photography that I can play with them and decide if this is something worth splurging on more expensive glass or resin filters. Basically, what a graduated ND filter allows you to do is use a slower shutter speed or a wider aperture than you normally would be able to use in bright conditions in order to allow more light (and hence, brighter colors, or that misty look to waterfalls and oceans) through the lens. You can also use them to even out the ground and the sky in a landscape shot without the need to over- or under-expose one or the other.

So, even though it was snowing/raining out the day they arrived, there I was sinking into the not-yet-frozen river bank to try them out:
IMG_4948

Photography )
ziparumpazoo: (Literature)
... or technical guides and white papers, but I have no interest talking about those at the moment.

Finished The Wind Through the Keyhole: A Dark Tower Novel last night and really enjoyed it. I'd probably like just about any excuse to go back and visit Midworld again, and this would have worked well even as a standalone story (or, three, technically). However it also felt very much like King wrote fanfic to his own 'verse, taking bits and pieces of canon that had been set up along the way, while using the characters to spin an entirely new set of stories from the original source and shows us a slightly different side to Roland. Categorize this as part of the 'Dark Tower High School AU' along with Wizard and Glass. My only complaint is that I would have liked more of Susannah, Eddie, Jake, and Oy in the telling.

The jacket from the book I just started reads as:

"More than an anthology, METAtropolis is the brainchild of five of science fiction's hottest writers Elizabeth Bear, Tobias Buckell, Jay Lake, Karl Schroeder and project editor John Scalzi who combined their talents to build a new urban future, and then wrote their own stories in this collectively-constructed world. The results are individual glimpses of a shared vision, and a reading experience unlike any you've had before. "

Collectively-constructed world. Shared vision unlike any I've had before and a reading experience unlike any I've had before? Um... dear copy writer, meet the internet - not just a collection of barking cats. *g*

Profile

ziparumpazoo: Tree covered in pink frost (Default)
ziparumpazoo

April 2018

S M T W T F S
1234567
891011 121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930     

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 4th, 2025 01:53 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios