What I watched: We’ve been watching an older show, Eureka, which ran for five seasons between 2006 and 2012. In this show, the geeks have inherited the earth, or at least the small town surrounding a top-secret government research facility, and the hero is a former US Marshall who becomes the inadvertent town lawman. It is a fun look at mad scientists, alien artifacts, and a social structure where the smartest folks are at the top of the social food chain, and personality quirks are overlooked if wrapped in brilliance (akin to money excusing actions in our society.) The show ages pretty well; one of its’ running gags involves a smart house with sentient AI running it…as far as smart houses go, what was rare in 2006 is now fairly common as we head into 2021. Eureka is charming and easy to watch, runs about 45 minutes per episode, and always provides a happy resolution. It is a good choice if you like to watch TV while practicing a hobby or doing chores.
What I read: I’ve been on an Orlando A Sanchez kick lately. I read Walking the Razor, the latest (book 12) in his superior Montague and Strong Detective Agency series. Montague is a mage about to go dark, Strong is the cursed of Kali with a bond to a hell hound puppy, and various wizards, gods, magic ninja sects, creatures, and realities collide.
I also read his slightly older Sepia Blue trilogy now available as a set for a low price. Set in New York City, there are warriors vs. unholy creatures, political intrigue among sects, cool magic powers, yadda, yadda.
Finally, I’ve started his Warriors of the Way Pentalogy, because the 5-book combo is a good price and I like the author. I think that this series would make a better TV show, it feels as if it is begging for a visual medium. Or, maybe, there is a limit to the number of martial arts battles that I can read about before my eyes glaze over. So the books include good guys, bad guys, mystical wisdom, sentient weapons manifested by a thought, battles for the safety of various planes of existence, and lots of young warrior-dude angst.
What I listened to this week: I’ve been in the “C’s”, with Caravan Palace, Chet Faker, Chicos de Nazca, and CSNY on heavier rotation:
Caravan Palace, Moonshine:
Chet Faker, Talk Is Cheap:
Chet Faker, Low:
Chicos de Nazca, you Daze Me Up:
Chicos de Nazca, She Is On Me:
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Country Girl:
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Suite: Judy Blue Eyes:
So, dearest DeadSplintertarians, what is up with you? Is everything alright with you? What are you up to? What have you watched, read, or listened to? Please tell us what is up with you!
I’m literally watching a fireplace on my TV. The sound is lovely. (And it’s on Disney+ so Olaf runs through giggling every once in a while.
I just finished the Mandalorian and found the finale (no spoilers) very exciting! (And I don’t even know that much about Star Wars.)
@MegMegMcGee that sounds hyggeing. It started in Scandinavia, the TV fire watching, or was it in the UK? We finished the Mandalorian as well. Did you watch to the very end of the credits for the extra bit of film surprise?
I did!
I hope you made @Lymond’s Mandalorian cocktail for the finale.
…I finally made a start on season 2…think I’m around tyhe halfway mark so ought to get to the finale sometime this week with a bit of luck
I watched Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults on HBO Max. It’s fascinating.
I’m reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Father Christmas Letters as one of my yearly Christmas Traditions. It’s a charming little book and the drawings are beautiful.
I’m listening to local band frigidkitty. Their album Indulgence was released a couple of days ago.
World To Save
Little One
@Hannibal I have never heard of that sweet sounding book, but bet that I would enjoy it!
@Elliecoo, it’s lovely! He wrote his children a letter from Father Christmas for 20+ years. They get more and more elaborate over time and even incorporate some of the ideas from The Hobbit and LOTR . The drawings and lettering are meticulous and must have been very time consuming. It was truly a labor of love.
ive been watching tokyo ghoul now that ive finally gotten around to picking it up again after mentioning it last week
im somewhere in season 2 now and its still holding my attention…tbh thats pretty rare for me…im not very good at series and tend to lose interest…there was one episode that very nearly made me stop watching but i got through it and things got back to being stuff i like…. but yeah…torture is a good way to get me to stop watching
anyways…currently reading a die hard christmas
thats right…its die hard…illustrated and in rhyme in the style of twas the night before christmas
and at the moment…not actually listening to anything… really…i need to go shopping but i dont wanna…. so im stalling
Procrastination can be an artform…
lol ive got it down to one for sure
i’m a gifted doerer of nothing
ive got looking busy but doing nothing down to an artform too
anyhoo…i put on me big boy pants and did the shopping…mostly coz its nearing dinner time and thats what i needed to go shopping for
annoyingly i forgot the catfood so i’ll have to go again at some point today….
you can expect me 5 minutes before closing time supermarket
I need that book!
lol…far as i know its still on amazon…tho i got it a couple years ago
I’m trying to think of Christmas rhymes for Hans Gruber. Snow Tuber?
*double checks book to make sure*
yeah…they got around that issue by only name dropping him in parts that dont need to rhyme…lol
I’ve been binge watching true crime shows on HLN On Demand and yesterday I saw one where the *prime suspect was a person I know in real life.* Granted, we haven’t seen each other in years and I vaguely recall some sort of disturbance in his Facebook timeline a few yrs ago but I check into fb a few times a year so my friends literally get married and have babies and get divorced without me knowing. I won’t say the show because it feels like two degrees of doxxing, plus he was never charged. Still it was weeeeeeiiiird.
Also, the number of people who just fucking POOF without a trace is staggering. Seems like it shouldn’t be a thing with all the technology, but it is.
@PumpkinSpies, well that just makes a person go hmmmm.
Do you think he did it?
No. I think they focused on him because he was the acrimonious ex, but he was home during the window of the “event” (they never actually found a body).
I hope his reputation hasn’t been destroyed by the investigation.
I creeped in his Facebook after watching the episode (which aired originally last year, even though everything happened in 2011/12). He seems ok. Has a job, has the kids. It could be a lot worse, I suppose.
I got bored and started plugging names into various inmate locators one day and found that the kid who used to kind of bully me in junior high is doing life for murder.
Several years ago my daughter got a FB message from a guy she knew in HS. He said he was newly single and wanted to know if she’d like to get together. She didn’t reply because she hadn’t known him well, he was more a friend of a friend. A couple of weeks later his arrest was all over the local news. Turns out he was single because he’d murdered his girlfriend and chopped up her corpse to dispose of it. 😬
Whoa. One can never be too careful.
Well that’s horrifying.
Late question for Dr. Lemmy. @Lemmy Kilmister Did you see that coming? And what is your opinion on children who were abused/bullied at home by siblings or parents becoming abusers/bullies. Is this an unbreakable cycle?
Well there was a reason I tried his name in the inmate locator, sure.* I don’t know about 1-1 causation, but a good number of my jail clients experienced childhood abuse and neglect.
*Many states’ Department of Correction have an inmate locator online, wherein you can plug somebody’s name in and it will tell you what facility they are housed in so you can write to them or put money on their account, or just be assured that they are still locked up, etc.
I have some family who I think demonstrate varying effects of abuse. The youngest struggles hard with depression and self harm. The middle child is cruel and manipulative (but still a teen so I have hope that that could change). The eldest is shaping up to be successful and extremely driven – she’s putting herself through college, took a difficult but prestigious internship that has morphed into a great job, and she is determined to show her asshole father she didn’t need his support for any of it.
I enjoyed Eureka. And check out the related show Warehouse 13, if you haven’t – I probably preferred it of the two. It’s in the same universe and there were some crossover episodes. I didn’t watch either as they were airing, but probably shortly after, almost a decade ago. So I don’t remember all the particulars, but I do remember one plot line on Eureka involving the autistic boy being kinda upsetting… like the mom trying to change the whole world to make her son not autistic or something?
I’ve mostly been watching youtube lately. Lots of former Bon Appetit employee content – Sohla on Binging with Babish, and now Claire and Gaby on their own channels. Also discovered a fun show on PBS digital studios called Monstrum. The episodes explain the origins of different monsters around the world. They did a great three parter on zombies.
Been reading Pride/Prejudice, which is hilarious. It’s a slashfic version of Pride and Prejudice, but it matches the original tone amazingly well. Highly entertaining.
Oh, and I’ve been listening to a lot of Rasputina.
@BigDambHeroes we will try warehouse 13; I understand that there are seed ome crossover characters. And Bon Appetit staffer video sounds good to me.
ill have to check out pride/prejudice
it can live next to pride and prejudice and zombies in my bookcase
damned manky unmentionables!
I loved Warehouse 13 but never watched Eureka so wasn’t even aware of any crossover. Now I think I need to watch Eureka.
Darn it, stupid phone, some, not seed ome. Grrrr.
Sorry I’m late to the party, I discharged my final duty today for the thing that’s been the source of so much strain over the past couple of years. I don’t yet feel that sense of relief that I was hoping would come, but maybe once I can get my heart to stop pounding all the goddamned time it’ll kick in. Anyway…
Watched: finished Asshole Abbey. Honestly, the last episode was quite possibly the worst of them all. It was like watching one of those 70’s sitcoms where everything gets wrapped up in a nice, little, perfect bow. It was painful to watch all of the contrived resolutions to the point where I was able to predict the remaining parts of the episode when we were only half way into it. Quite possibly the worst Masterpiece show I’ve seen–but don’t tell Cousin Matt. We got started on The Crown this week (Mrs. Butcher got a DVD of season one as a birthday gift), and that show is much better.
Read: Honestly, my reading has taken a steep nosedive. I haven’t read any books in months and even my longform internet reading has pretty much stopped. But, I’m working on the family cookbook so there’s that.
Listened: Been on an OV Wright kick this week:
Congrats on losing a cause of stress!
@butcherbakertoiletrymaker that is funny, because my first thought was OMG don’t let CousinM see this! Very glad to hear that the nasty work has ended. Where do you go from here? Wait until you are super bored and we are all vaccinated and you and the Mrs. can come visit, we can do a dual FYCE post!
Sign me up.
I’ve actually got a plan for the new year but I won’t offer any spoilers because there’s a long read coming this week.
Love your long reads, can’t wait @ButcherBakerToiletryMaker
HOW DARE YOU! Actually, if want an exercise in “Downton Flabby”/What was I thinking? watch the movie. It’s available online, forget which service. It barely rises to the level of the better season finales or the Christmas shows. Now, if you can time travel, go back a little over a year ago and pay top dollar to secure reserved seats at a movie theater, because it went into somewhat limited release and tickets were tough to get. I think The Better Half paid about $35 per for ours. I’ve seen shows in London’s West End that cost less. For extra fun, go with someone who didn’t watch the show (like the Better Half) and spend the next day or three explaining what happened as questions trickle in. I will not give away spoilers but I think it’s well-known that what sets the plot in motion is King George V and Queen Mary come to Downton on a “Northern Tour.” “So how are they related to the king?” “They’re not, but there’s an episode when Lily James, playing freewheeling flapper Cousin Rose, is presented at Court and a small story arc involving their son, the Prince of Wales, who famously renounced the throne to be with Wallis Simpson—” “You have an amazing memory for someone who can’t remember my cell phone number, the number I’ve had for almost 20 years…”
This will come as no surprise to anyone but I have switched my superfandom allegiance over to “The Crown.” If I ever change this username it will become “Porchie.” In real life he was the Baron of Porchester and ultimately assumed his father’s title, becoming the 7th Earl of Carnarvon. In a nice twist, “Downton Abbey” was filmed at Highclere Castle, the Carnarvon family seat, which is nowhere near Yorkshire, and is now home to the late Porchie’s son, the 8th Earl of Carnarvon.
If you would like a palate cleanser, watch “The Favorite.” It’s a very good movie and stars Olivia Colman as Queen Anne, who shows up in Seasons 3 and 4 of “The Crown” as Queen Elizabeth II.
If you can’t get enough “Downton Abbey”-esque soap opera, watch “Belgravia,” written by Julian Fellowes, who brought us “Downton Abbey.” It’s a quick 6-episode one-off so you can binge the whole thing over the course of a day.
Now my brain is well and fully drained.
Jesus. No way am I telling Mrs. Butcher that there’s a movie.
right…now that i am listening to stuff
listening :
yep….blind guardian is still my favourite band…
Watching: Nailed It! on Netflix with Other-Husband when he’s home, and Tanked or Stargate on Hulu while I’ve been crocheting. Side note: why do I always think it’s gonna be SO EASY to put together a hundred and some little crocheted patches into a whole blanket??? Why do I do this to myself? Anyway. Nailed It! is hysterically funny and if you haven’t watched it, go watch it! Tanked is great… I now desperately want a giant fish tank, and I want these guys to install it. They’re a real trip to watch. Think my landlord will mind a 6ft tall permanent tank in the middle of the living room? Nahhh…
Reading – She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who lived Her Songs by Sarah Smarsh. It’s interesting. I’ve always liked country music, and Dolly Parton, though I’m not a rabid fan. My grandma, though… she would have loved this book. She was a country girl, grew up on a farm, and always listened to female country singers like Dolly and Loretta Lynn. This book is about women like my grandmother.
I normally read 3-5 books a week, but my brilliant idea to make several Christmas gifts has gotten in the way of that! I’m looking forward to getting these projects DONE (2 blankets and a shawl) and being able to curl up in my library chair with a cheesy romance novel or 3.
oh also now watching destination f
seriously….just type that into youtube and watch what turns up
its worth it
What I read: The dozen or more desperate emails a day I get regarding the Senate run-off elections in Georgia. I ask to unsubscribe from one list and two more seem to pop up in its place. I too want Ossoff and Warnock to win, but I am of the Stacey Abrams school of thought when it comes to elections: you can’t buy them. You can fund get-out-the-vote efforts and pay for more campaign workers but ultimately I don’t live in Georgia, I’ve never been to Georgia, and I’m guessing I will go to my grave never having been to Georgia, so it doesn’t really matter where it counts: at the ballot box. How much out-of-state money was poured into Amy McGrath’s run to unseat Mitch McConnell? He won by 20 points.
I find it hard to swallow how much money is wasted on our broken election system. Donations shouldn’t be any part of a winning strategy. It’s all gross. I think I read a while back about a model somewhere where candidates don’t take donations but get a certain equal amount of public funding for ads and such? Also I know there are some cities where people are given a certain amount of money to donate to whichever candidate they choose, but that’s still kinda weird.
I’ve done some volunteering in the general to register voters and get people mail in ballots, which is a form of helping I feel much better about. I had planned to do more volunteering for Georgia, but I’ve been kinda burnt out. I think I’ll get it together to do a bit more volunteering before the runoff.