Four Things! S/B Rec, Stormwatch Writer, Meta, Jazz
--Rec time! Fake Empires by Sam_Storyteller is a gorgeous S/B story with heaping helpings of identity porn and a very fun take on both Clark and Bruce!
--Since hearing that Paul Cornell would be off Stormwatch soon and Peter Milligan would be on it, I've been quite worried about the fate of Apollo and Midnighter. They were just getting their romance off the ground...would that get pushed aside with a new writer? I did some research into Milligan and, um, acquired his out-of-print comic for Vertigo in the 90s, Enigma, and I'm pleased to report that whatever may happen plotwise, Apollo and Midnighter's relationship is extremely unlikely to get neglected.
Enigma is a beautiful and weird story about a man who slowly finds his world transformed by forces he doesn't understand, by a mysterious figure who calls himself "The Enigma," and may or may not be the comic book hero he idolized as a child. A key theme in the book is the hero coming to realize he's gay--in fact, becoming gay under the influence of the Enigma, and when he's given the choice to embrace his sexuality or go back to being heterosexual, he chooses to remain gay.
I am, in fact, a lot more worried about the fate of Jenny Sparks and the Engineer now, because Enigma is not at all kind to its female characters, who are portrayed as forces of selfishness and narcissistic voracity. The one decent female character (who is still pretty inhuman) gets ripped apart from within in a grotesque parody of birth. Mind you, fifteen years is a long time, and I haven't read any more recent Milligan, so I'm sure he's matured in his approach to writing women. *crosses fingers*
--OMG, I'm writing an essay for month_of_meta and I'm nervous about it! Even though it's quite inoffensive and non-controversial, just a look at relatively narrow versus relatively wide fandoms (that is, fandoms with a single source material--like a book with no movie adaptation--versus fandoms with a multiplicity of source material--comics being one of the more extreme versions). I thought I'd look at the spectrum of narrow-wideness and talk a little bit about the advantages and disadvantages of each, along with a look at how most fandoms are gradually widening over time as more versions get made (Sherlock Holmes is a good example of this!) There are a lot of fun essays being posted over there at the comm, go and have a look!
--I've been trying to widen my musical tastes and get into jazz as more than just aural wallpaper. I have omnivorous but plebeian tastes in music and have been trying to appreciate jazz on a more technical level, but with only middling success. I still have no ear for good improvisation, for example, and prefer precise melodies to winging it. However, I have discovered a deep love for the Modern Jazz Quartet, maybe because they were four bebop improvisational players who, when they played together, preferred a more formal style. Also, I'm infatuated with Milt Jackson's vibraphone playing. He sounds like cascades of water turned into music--listen to him here on "Nature Boy.". Just...wow.
--Since hearing that Paul Cornell would be off Stormwatch soon and Peter Milligan would be on it, I've been quite worried about the fate of Apollo and Midnighter. They were just getting their romance off the ground...would that get pushed aside with a new writer? I did some research into Milligan and, um, acquired his out-of-print comic for Vertigo in the 90s, Enigma, and I'm pleased to report that whatever may happen plotwise, Apollo and Midnighter's relationship is extremely unlikely to get neglected.
Enigma is a beautiful and weird story about a man who slowly finds his world transformed by forces he doesn't understand, by a mysterious figure who calls himself "The Enigma," and may or may not be the comic book hero he idolized as a child. A key theme in the book is the hero coming to realize he's gay--in fact, becoming gay under the influence of the Enigma, and when he's given the choice to embrace his sexuality or go back to being heterosexual, he chooses to remain gay.
I am, in fact, a lot more worried about the fate of Jenny Sparks and the Engineer now, because Enigma is not at all kind to its female characters, who are portrayed as forces of selfishness and narcissistic voracity. The one decent female character (who is still pretty inhuman) gets ripped apart from within in a grotesque parody of birth. Mind you, fifteen years is a long time, and I haven't read any more recent Milligan, so I'm sure he's matured in his approach to writing women. *crosses fingers*
--OMG, I'm writing an essay for month_of_meta and I'm nervous about it! Even though it's quite inoffensive and non-controversial, just a look at relatively narrow versus relatively wide fandoms (that is, fandoms with a single source material--like a book with no movie adaptation--versus fandoms with a multiplicity of source material--comics being one of the more extreme versions). I thought I'd look at the spectrum of narrow-wideness and talk a little bit about the advantages and disadvantages of each, along with a look at how most fandoms are gradually widening over time as more versions get made (Sherlock Holmes is a good example of this!) There are a lot of fun essays being posted over there at the comm, go and have a look!
--I've been trying to widen my musical tastes and get into jazz as more than just aural wallpaper. I have omnivorous but plebeian tastes in music and have been trying to appreciate jazz on a more technical level, but with only middling success. I still have no ear for good improvisation, for example, and prefer precise melodies to winging it. However, I have discovered a deep love for the Modern Jazz Quartet, maybe because they were four bebop improvisational players who, when they played together, preferred a more formal style. Also, I'm infatuated with Milt Jackson's vibraphone playing. He sounds like cascades of water turned into music--listen to him here on "Nature Boy.". Just...wow.
Click to view