What I Watched: Nothing of note – April is a month that has a heavy workload with accompanying hours devoted to it. So, for the next several weeks I’m going to feature shows which I would like to watch but haven’t gotten to yet. If you have watched them, please carry the conversational ball!
The Guardian review: Shōgun reminds me of the heyday of epic 1990s cinema, as did Masters of the Air. Although a world apart in terms of setting and approach, they are, oddly, fitting bedfellows. This, too, is gorgeous television that looks as if it cost a fortune to make. Wise choices have been made – most obviously, that the audience can be trusted to handle a bilingual story. This seems like common sense in a globalised television landscape but it is not hard to imagine that a modern version of Shōgun could have been made entirely in English, which would have dented the intellect and power of the story. As it is, this great drama trusts its own composed pace. This makes for good-looking, self-assured and often enthralling television.
What I Read: More books by Helen Harper, the Wolfbrand Archives, a spin-off from the Fire Brand series featuring Devereau Webb. I really liked them both and was disappointed to see that the series was limited to two books. Here are the blurbs:
Licence To Howl: Devereau Webb is riding high. He’s a powerful werewolf with a killer combination of intelligence, wits and strength and he’s learning more and more about his abilities every day. He isn’t usually the type to take orders, however, and that has to change with his new role as a supernatural spy within the British security services. Tasked with heading to Rome to infiltrate a mysterious gang with terrorist links, Devereau has to call on all his newfound skills to prevent disaster from happening. That might be prove to be the easy part. He’s also determined to convince a certain sexy vampire that he’s the man for her.
What could possibly go wrong?
The Noose Of A New Moon: Devereau Webb is in uncharted territory. He thought he knew what he was doing when he chose to enter London’s supernatural society but he’s quickly discovering that his new status isn’t welcome to everyone. He’s lived through hard times before and he’s no stranger to the murky underworld of city life. But when he comes across a young werewolf girl who’s not only been illegally turned but who has also committed two brutal murders, he will discover just how difficult life can be for supernaturals – and also how far his own predatory powers extend. (The Noose Of A New Moon follows on from the events in Midnight Smoke, the third book in the the Firebrand series although it can be read separately.)
What I Listened To: Common Goldfish, good stuff: Feel the Fuzz; Neon in the Dark; Siren Songs; and Tottenham Ritzy.
Thank you for playing Brain Drain! How are you, dearest ones? Darling DeadSplinterites, what’s going on? Please do share with us!
ive been watching great teacher onizuka
its a little twisted but oddly wholesome…..i love it
It has a driver’s high, eh?
O.o was about to say it has nothing to do with driving….but i googled for posterity
lol…..i did not know that
holy shit…..its literally in the title…..omg
how do i even dress myself daily?
(uhh..badly is what the missus would say….something along the lines forfuckssake those trackies make you look like a hobo cept even they wouldnt wear that sweater,,,get fucking dressed)
I saw Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen remake on Netflix.
I thought the “Downton Abbey meets Breaking Bad” angle worked better in the first half, but it still stayed entertaining to the end.
…it’s better than I’d expected…but of the ones I didn’t see benefitting from a prequel series I’d say sexy beast has the edge on it…that one actually…washes its face, if anyone knows that expression…at least from my viewers’ viewpoint…can’t speak to whether it actually makes a profit
(Googles) Oh! It means “it’s a wash” (duh).
…the way I’ve always understood it in a business context was that it paid for itself…so…break-even would just wash its face but a profit puts it in squeaky clean territory?
…like a thing that’s worth the candle
…shogun got off to a promising start but I’m not caught up yet…ditto the three body problem
…will say this, though…went to the second half of dune…with someone who hadn’t read the books or seen lynch’s version with the guy from twin peaks & sting…& brolin does a decent job in patrick stewart’s shoes…but between all the rising chords & portentous bass rumblings…it might have overdone the “show don’t tell”?
…it telegraphs heavily that X is *important* or Z *significant*…but if you don’t already know how or why then…not much beyond a pretty picture for you to get your teeth into
…are they planning a third installment?
…the books got pretty nonsense-heavy pretty quick as I recall but this effort seems weirdly thin
…oh, & there’s a statham movie that’s…bang in their lane…so…this time the spec ops program he used to be in went for a bees & hives analogy instead of your usual predators or whatever…hence it’s called “the beekeeper”…quite fun, though
Adds Bee Keeper to list…
I’m also watching Shogun & very much enjoying it.
Going up north to help the daughter move out of her apartment, so long clean garage! She hasn’t found a place down south yet & just got offered another job working with beavers. She better not quit her new job to go work seasonally with beavers!
Anyways, this one is for @Farscythe, though the way our algorithms have merged, he may have already heard it…
one more…
That was fun. Ozzie-esque screams and hysterical posturing for the win. Better pump the gas . . .
@loveshaq ive seent the video in my recs havent watched it tho
holy shit….dale earnhardt…i did not make that connection seeing the title and i really should have
fuck me nascar metal
i am here for it!
yo @splinterrip you know theres a bit of a smear campaign underways against bo of the fifth on youtube?
what are your feefees on that?
i mean human trafficking is a serious offense……its also a very broad one….can even be done with the bestest of intentions
i wasnt there at the time…so fuck knows
but i do feel if you done the time….it should be a bygone
you know…..fuck up…take the hit…and learn
something rehabilitation
issa bit wierd people are coming after him
what kind of justice system do you want to have?
punitive or rehabilitive?
coz you cant have both….second chances need you to let go of the first fuck up
…it’s been around for a while…basically the short answer is “I dunno but the people who want it to be a big deal sound like bigger assholes than he does”?
…from what I found when I poked about to see where the fire under all the smoke was…he spent some time as a merc, basically…& he also spent some time involved in “ops” to extract women from (ironically enough) human trafficking scenarios…which included transportation across borders…& the charges seem to have stemmed from one of those
…I suppose it’s possible they had their wires crossed & got duped into playing trafficker…but it seemed more plausible that the only way the people involved would have pressed charges for being “saved” would have been due to the same coercive forces that they’d tried to help them escape…but they did transport them across whatever line it was & his take on responding to people trying to paint him as a bad dude was pretty much to say “occupational hazard” more than “it was a fair cop”…so absent more facts than the don’t-trust-him crew seem inclined to proffer…& minus the stuff they seem to want to say it says without actual evidence that it does…I’d still be more inclined to hear him out than not, I think?
[TL:DR …the people coming after him for that don’t appear too keen to get into the underlying details…& come off like he scares them & they want to cancel him because that’s how they fight they culture wars…& I’d bet big money none of them ever rescued a hostage or a trafficked woman…which it seems he has a time or two…so it might say more about him than them that they want to keep blowing that smoke]
kinda figured youd say something like that
is the hypocrisy of sending people to jail to do their time and then holding it against them what gets me
im a terrible judge of peoplw,,,,,but bo seems like good ones to me
…hear you on the hypocrisy thing…it’s kind of a problem that both the law & the penal system are schizoid…they claim to be rehabilitative more than retributive…but the recidivism rates suggest they fail at both more often than not…which seems arguably twice the reason why once someone’s served their time that ought to draw a line under it…for…most stuff
…but…that’s easier said than done?
@Farscythe, I’d asked @SplinterRIP about that a while back, maybe in a direct message. Because what the fellow has to say is generally sensible and fair, and it would hurt my opinion of him if he was a sex offender. I’m not too sure that those folks can be rehabilitated. The trafficking thing I understand, best laid plans and all that. Actually, my only current complaint with Beau that his beard needs a bit of grooming, maybe a slight trim. . .
Been busy with mom and work.
Watched the better episodes of ST:TNG aka late 3rd season onward. I know Gene Roddenbury didn’t want conflict among his crew (or any conflict for that matter) but without it the show was a stale imitator of the original. Not a popular opinion, but some of the Brannon Braga early episodes were quite good.
Went to the time travel well too often, but it worked with Tasha Yar’s daughter (the anti-Spock). Yesterday’s Enterprise was a pretty good episode.
Wife is out of town so this might be my chance to watch The Beekeeper in between basketball games.
…I’d say it sounds like letting your hair down…only your man statham…not a lot on top of the dome…& I wouldn’t want him stumbling over my comment & deciding he’d like to know where I lay my hat?
…speaking of which…that road house reboot…seems like gyllenhaal was after his version of that warrior flick tom hardy bulked up like a brick shithouse for…but kinda disappointed if I’m honest…had whatshisface in it giving it large…conor macgregor…who I might struggle to tell apart from tyson fury…particularly when playing a character that’s obviously supposed to be one of them things you can say if you’re an aussie or @elliecoo said it was ok this one time…wouldn’t want to hurt the tender feelings of them lads…but…you know how sometimes people talk about a gait being all “cock of the walk”?
…’nuff said
WATCHED
Wolverhampton lose to West Ham. F-ck me, hell of a way to lose the game. By and large, Wolves whole season is going like this. A goddamn rollercoaster, but safely out of the relegation zone.
LISTENED
We bought some vinyl today. This Colin Hay album has been a highlight.
READ
It’s been so long since I’ve recorded a book in here, I dunno what I’ve missed. Apologies for any repeats.
Feet in the Clouds: A Tale of Fell-Running and Obsession by Richard Askwith. Despite being an American, I’ve actually been to a fell-running camp (Lakes District), and do a lot of trail running here. So fell-running books are fun for me. This one goes through a lot of history as the author prepares, fails, and then succeeds in his efforts to run a Bob Graham Round, which is an iconic effort for long-distance fell runners worldwide (as plenty of YouTube videos will attest). Engaging story with great historical details. If you think you would be interested in guys and gals who run up UK mountains in the absolute shittiest weather, then I highly recommend it. Otherwise, might be too niche for folks.
Desert Notebooks: A Road Map for the End of Time by Ben Ehrenreich. As a dweller in a region labeled “high-mountain desert”, desert travel/ecology/ethnobiology books appeal to me. Despite the fact that I pretty much agree 100 percent with this guy’s views — politically and environmentally — I found myself wanting to get this done and find something more interesting. The book is less about the desert than the author and his issues. As an old guy, I find this to be prevalent among younger writers. But I’ll just say it: I don’t know the writer well enough to care about the writer. I will read about the desert, but I do not want to read about all your drama (writing fellowships, socio-political undercurrents, it’s hard to find a house, etc.). Those issues are actually common, and not at all interesting to read about.
Drama is not my thing either.