Things seen and read
Sep. 21st, 2012 02:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethI've been reading and watching DVDs again. And then feeling guilty because it's not college work. And then staring blankly at college work and going back to things blowing up.
Dresden Files Ghost Story was a good read. Consequences and causes and new rules and new twists. I read it in one day.
I've also been reading a lot of short stories, but the problem with those is however good they are I stop for about ten minutes and then want another one, so I read a lot in a row and they blur. Same with the novellas collection I finished.
I've been thinking of subscribing to Analog. Regular doses of short story. Dad had a subscription for decades, so I've got a book case full, but after he died it just seemed like a Thing to have to buy it myself so there's a lot of years of gap now. Also, there's knowing I haven't read every one I already have, without knowing which ones I haven't read. It's like the way my book catalog has stalled because I know there's about a book case worth left not cataloged but I can't remember which shelves where are the unfinished ones. So I'd kind of have to start again. On 1500 books.
*blinks*
With Analog I could get a digital sub now and not use the shelf space. But that would feel weird, because already so many paper copies. I will ponder.
DVDs: Finally watched Sherlock Holmes 2. That was... well I was annoyed about the bits I thought I'd be annoyed by. Why waste characters like that? I quite liked the things blowing up bits, but it didn't seem like a mystery to solve or a set of clues to follow or, you know, detective work. And the dialogue was odd. I don't know what felt off about it but it felt sort of half done. Wasn't impressed.
Still pretty though. :eyeroll:
Finally found a very cheap copy of X-Men First Class.
And again, annoyed by all the annoying bits (you should not be able to figure out the evil and dead count by ethnicity and gender).
Charles is kind of a dick. I mean, he's bordering on creepy, and then he crosses the border. Mind control: not really for good guys.
Also, Magneto has the best story. I mean, compelling motivations, goal to achieve, character arc, and that thing where he turns out to be pretty much right. Slight problem with going from 'they try and kill us' to 'so lets kill all of them', but it's an easier sell than Xavier's 'why don't we all just get along' pitch. Basically by the end of the film Magneto is tragic yet glorious technicolour fully fleshed out guy, and Xavier is... rich overconfident guy who met reality face first. So team Magneto wins all the sympathies.
Plus, that is one seriously good looking man.
It's really, really difficult making the good guys as interesting as the bad guys. They're powerful and determined and oh so close to being right, and you want them to change that little bit so you feel involved, or of course you've had that day where you're so sure it would all work better if you ran the world so there's sympathy. And obviously here there's bad guys and worse guys, and then the bad guys are the ones doing what everyone's cheering them on to do.
The X-men's moderate version is just a lot harder to cheer for. Protect everyone, even the ones trying to kill you? Yeah, that's... frustrating.
Ethical though.
I have got The Avengers on DVD but I was going to do college reading before watching it.
I'm really not keeping up with college reading. And I'm only doing one lesson this semester.
Still, it's so much easier to be awake enough to watch stuff blow up that it is to be actually awake.
Dresden Files Ghost Story was a good read. Consequences and causes and new rules and new twists. I read it in one day.
I've also been reading a lot of short stories, but the problem with those is however good they are I stop for about ten minutes and then want another one, so I read a lot in a row and they blur. Same with the novellas collection I finished.
I've been thinking of subscribing to Analog. Regular doses of short story. Dad had a subscription for decades, so I've got a book case full, but after he died it just seemed like a Thing to have to buy it myself so there's a lot of years of gap now. Also, there's knowing I haven't read every one I already have, without knowing which ones I haven't read. It's like the way my book catalog has stalled because I know there's about a book case worth left not cataloged but I can't remember which shelves where are the unfinished ones. So I'd kind of have to start again. On 1500 books.
*blinks*
With Analog I could get a digital sub now and not use the shelf space. But that would feel weird, because already so many paper copies. I will ponder.
DVDs: Finally watched Sherlock Holmes 2. That was... well I was annoyed about the bits I thought I'd be annoyed by. Why waste characters like that? I quite liked the things blowing up bits, but it didn't seem like a mystery to solve or a set of clues to follow or, you know, detective work. And the dialogue was odd. I don't know what felt off about it but it felt sort of half done. Wasn't impressed.
Still pretty though. :eyeroll:
Finally found a very cheap copy of X-Men First Class.
And again, annoyed by all the annoying bits (you should not be able to figure out the evil and dead count by ethnicity and gender).
Charles is kind of a dick. I mean, he's bordering on creepy, and then he crosses the border. Mind control: not really for good guys.
Also, Magneto has the best story. I mean, compelling motivations, goal to achieve, character arc, and that thing where he turns out to be pretty much right. Slight problem with going from 'they try and kill us' to 'so lets kill all of them', but it's an easier sell than Xavier's 'why don't we all just get along' pitch. Basically by the end of the film Magneto is tragic yet glorious technicolour fully fleshed out guy, and Xavier is... rich overconfident guy who met reality face first. So team Magneto wins all the sympathies.
Plus, that is one seriously good looking man.
It's really, really difficult making the good guys as interesting as the bad guys. They're powerful and determined and oh so close to being right, and you want them to change that little bit so you feel involved, or of course you've had that day where you're so sure it would all work better if you ran the world so there's sympathy. And obviously here there's bad guys and worse guys, and then the bad guys are the ones doing what everyone's cheering them on to do.
The X-men's moderate version is just a lot harder to cheer for. Protect everyone, even the ones trying to kill you? Yeah, that's... frustrating.
Ethical though.
I have got The Avengers on DVD but I was going to do college reading before watching it.
I'm really not keeping up with college reading. And I'm only doing one lesson this semester.
Still, it's so much easier to be awake enough to watch stuff blow up that it is to be actually awake.