before the ballooning rush of air or sound
Today is my dad's 79th birthday. He celebrated by sending a group text to all of us on his new phone. Yay technology!
***
Today's poem:
After the Blast
It happened again just now, one word
snagging like fabric on a barbed fence.
Concertina wire. You said: I didn't see the body
hung on concertina wire. This was after the blast.
After you had stood in the divot, both feet
in the dust's new mouth and found no one alive.
Just out of the shower, I imagine
a flake of soap crusting your dark jaw, the phone
cradled like a hand on your bare cheek.
I should say: love. I should say: go on.
But I'm stuck on concertina-
the accordion's deep inner coils, bellows,
lungful of air contracting like a body caught
in the agony of climax.
Graceless, before the ballooning rush
of air or sound. The battering release.
~Elyse Fenton
***
Arrow: Seeing Red
HOLY SHIT THIS SHOW. I CANNOT EVEN. THEY TOTALLY MADE ME CRY. FIRST WHEN MOIRA TOLD OLLIE SHE WAS PROUD OF HIM FOR BEING THE ARROW (MY PARENTAL VALIDATION KINK THANKS YOU), AND THEN IN THAT WHOLE FINAL DEATH SCENE. OH MY GOD I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING.
I mean, once Moira admitted she knew Ollie was the Arrow and they forgave each other, I knew she was going to die, but I didn't think it would happen until the season finale. I FEAR HOW THEY ARE GOING TO TOP THIS.
Like, we all knew Slade was going to replicate the Sophie's Choice of Shado's death, but I kind of thought it'd be Laurel and Sara again (with Sara being the unlucky sister), and Moira does what Ollie did last time (though Slade doesn't see it that way, since he didn't hear the truth of what happened and now he doesn't care), and Slade rubs salt in the wound with that remark about how it's too bad she didn't pass the courage on down to her son, and then the "honorable" death via sword. HOLY SHIT, SHOW, I DID NOT KNOW YOU COULD DO THAT.
Also, how much has Stephen Amell improved over the course of these two seasons? He's been so good lately! Oh, honey.
The episode was weird - like, why is Roy totally regressed to wordless punching when Slade was functional on the island after being injected? (I suppose it could be handwaved as a less-good version of the mirakuru?) And how are they gonna rehab him after he killed a cop and backhanded Sin? Is it wrong to hope that Roy cacks it - his integration into the show has been bumpy lately - and Thea becomes Speedy for real? Because Oliver is going to tell her his secret finally? Either way, I really want Thea (and Sin) on the team! LADIES LADIES EVERYWHERE COME ON SHOW.
But as always, I think it's the end and there's still so much more to go (the same thing happens with the Good Wife - I don't get how they fit SO MUCH into a 40 minute episode) - Moira is about to reveal that Malcolm Merlyn isn't dead and the car gets T-boned! I thought it was going to turn out to be Sebastian Blood, angry because she didn't drop out of the race as she said she would, but no! IT'S WORSE. SO MUCH WORSE. HOLY CRAP.
So Malcolm is totally going to come back to avenge Moira/protect Thea right? I'm not crazy? That's totally where this is going? I mean, I don't think Malcolm was in love with Moira, but she was his to kill (or not) and Thea's his only surviving child, so I definitely think a return to Starling for the Dark Archer is in the cards.
Meanwhile, I really hope that wasn't supposed to be Sandra Hawke as the mom of Ollie's sekrit baby (SEKRIT BABIES. I DID NOT THINK THEY'D GO THERE THIS EARLY.) because that woman was white and Sandra Hawke was half-black and half-Korean. COME ON SHOW. DON'T WHITEWASH CONNOR.
(Is it wrong that I also want to see Cheshire? Because I really do. Maybe Sara is going back to Nyssa - that was my guess anyway - and Cheshire could be with the League. I would enjoy that.)
Speaking of Sara - I really liked how they paralleled her journey this season with Ollie's last year, and made it clear that Felicity is the one who gives him hope. (I ship it so hard, you guys!) I also like that while Ollie couldn't do that for Sara, Sin did. I really like Sin a lot and want to see her more! I also don't want Sara to die, though I don't mind if she goes away for a bit. It's gotten a bit crowded in the Arrow Cave.
Also, Felicity, for all that she didn't get much to do, had some great lines in this episode:
"Anyone else crave dim sum after fisticuffs?... Dumplings for one it is." and "Can you get into those leather pants with that knee?" and "It's not like you can buy [Tibetan pit viper venom] over the counter... unless you're in Tibet. Then... maybe." ♥FELICITY♥ (Also her and Diggle - man, I like Diggle/Lyla, but I also like the idea of Digg and Felicity doing it on the DL while Ollie's oblivious.)
Seriously, though, if you are looking for a kickass live action comic book show - that requires no prior knowledge of the comics (though it provides a lot of fun Easter eggs if you have some) - you should be watching Arrow. It's on Netflix (and also available via the usual suspects, I ... suspect)!
Here is a list of s1 episodes that are essential: The pilot, "Year's End," "Trust But Verify," "The Odyssey," "Dead to Rights," "Salvation," "The Undertaking," "Darkness on the Edge of Town" and "Sacrifice." If you enjoy it, then you can go back to watch the s1 eps you've missed, since they do provide some character intros and relationship stuff that is important down the line. And then watch all of season 2, because it is KILLING it. The show's not without its issues - there are few PoC and there's a classic fridging of one of them, and it took half a season to find its feet - but when it's working, it really works. (And early on, the fight scenes, the Ollie/Diggle relationship, Ollie's inappropriate chemistry with his younger sister, and the at-first brief flashes of Felicity will carry you through. Oh, and Susanna Thompson is gloriously regal as Moira Queen, Ollie's mother.)
Trust me! You won't regret it! Have I ever steered you wrong?
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/657555.html.
people have commented there.
***
Today's poem:
After the Blast
It happened again just now, one word
snagging like fabric on a barbed fence.
Concertina wire. You said: I didn't see the body
hung on concertina wire. This was after the blast.
After you had stood in the divot, both feet
in the dust's new mouth and found no one alive.
Just out of the shower, I imagine
a flake of soap crusting your dark jaw, the phone
cradled like a hand on your bare cheek.
I should say: love. I should say: go on.
But I'm stuck on concertina-
the accordion's deep inner coils, bellows,
lungful of air contracting like a body caught
in the agony of climax.
Graceless, before the ballooning rush
of air or sound. The battering release.
~Elyse Fenton
***
Arrow: Seeing Red
HOLY SHIT THIS SHOW. I CANNOT EVEN. THEY TOTALLY MADE ME CRY. FIRST WHEN MOIRA TOLD OLLIE SHE WAS PROUD OF HIM FOR BEING THE ARROW (MY PARENTAL VALIDATION KINK THANKS YOU), AND THEN IN THAT WHOLE FINAL DEATH SCENE. OH MY GOD I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING.
I mean, once Moira admitted she knew Ollie was the Arrow and they forgave each other, I knew she was going to die, but I didn't think it would happen until the season finale. I FEAR HOW THEY ARE GOING TO TOP THIS.
Like, we all knew Slade was going to replicate the Sophie's Choice of Shado's death, but I kind of thought it'd be Laurel and Sara again (with Sara being the unlucky sister), and Moira does what Ollie did last time (though Slade doesn't see it that way, since he didn't hear the truth of what happened and now he doesn't care), and Slade rubs salt in the wound with that remark about how it's too bad she didn't pass the courage on down to her son, and then the "honorable" death via sword. HOLY SHIT, SHOW, I DID NOT KNOW YOU COULD DO THAT.
Also, how much has Stephen Amell improved over the course of these two seasons? He's been so good lately! Oh, honey.
The episode was weird - like, why is Roy totally regressed to wordless punching when Slade was functional on the island after being injected? (I suppose it could be handwaved as a less-good version of the mirakuru?) And how are they gonna rehab him after he killed a cop and backhanded Sin? Is it wrong to hope that Roy cacks it - his integration into the show has been bumpy lately - and Thea becomes Speedy for real? Because Oliver is going to tell her his secret finally? Either way, I really want Thea (and Sin) on the team! LADIES LADIES EVERYWHERE COME ON SHOW.
But as always, I think it's the end and there's still so much more to go (the same thing happens with the Good Wife - I don't get how they fit SO MUCH into a 40 minute episode) - Moira is about to reveal that Malcolm Merlyn isn't dead and the car gets T-boned! I thought it was going to turn out to be Sebastian Blood, angry because she didn't drop out of the race as she said she would, but no! IT'S WORSE. SO MUCH WORSE. HOLY CRAP.
So Malcolm is totally going to come back to avenge Moira/protect Thea right? I'm not crazy? That's totally where this is going? I mean, I don't think Malcolm was in love with Moira, but she was his to kill (or not) and Thea's his only surviving child, so I definitely think a return to Starling for the Dark Archer is in the cards.
Meanwhile, I really hope that wasn't supposed to be Sandra Hawke as the mom of Ollie's sekrit baby (SEKRIT BABIES. I DID NOT THINK THEY'D GO THERE THIS EARLY.) because that woman was white and Sandra Hawke was half-black and half-Korean. COME ON SHOW. DON'T WHITEWASH CONNOR.
(Is it wrong that I also want to see Cheshire? Because I really do. Maybe Sara is going back to Nyssa - that was my guess anyway - and Cheshire could be with the League. I would enjoy that.)
Speaking of Sara - I really liked how they paralleled her journey this season with Ollie's last year, and made it clear that Felicity is the one who gives him hope. (I ship it so hard, you guys!) I also like that while Ollie couldn't do that for Sara, Sin did. I really like Sin a lot and want to see her more! I also don't want Sara to die, though I don't mind if she goes away for a bit. It's gotten a bit crowded in the Arrow Cave.
Also, Felicity, for all that she didn't get much to do, had some great lines in this episode:
"Anyone else crave dim sum after fisticuffs?... Dumplings for one it is." and "Can you get into those leather pants with that knee?" and "It's not like you can buy [Tibetan pit viper venom] over the counter... unless you're in Tibet. Then... maybe." ♥FELICITY♥ (Also her and Diggle - man, I like Diggle/Lyla, but I also like the idea of Digg and Felicity doing it on the DL while Ollie's oblivious.)
Seriously, though, if you are looking for a kickass live action comic book show - that requires no prior knowledge of the comics (though it provides a lot of fun Easter eggs if you have some) - you should be watching Arrow. It's on Netflix (and also available via the usual suspects, I ... suspect)!
Here is a list of s1 episodes that are essential: The pilot, "Year's End," "Trust But Verify," "The Odyssey," "Dead to Rights," "Salvation," "The Undertaking," "Darkness on the Edge of Town" and "Sacrifice." If you enjoy it, then you can go back to watch the s1 eps you've missed, since they do provide some character intros and relationship stuff that is important down the line. And then watch all of season 2, because it is KILLING it. The show's not without its issues - there are few PoC and there's a classic fridging of one of them, and it took half a season to find its feet - but when it's working, it really works. (And early on, the fight scenes, the Ollie/Diggle relationship, Ollie's inappropriate chemistry with his younger sister, and the at-first brief flashes of Felicity will carry you through. Oh, and Susanna Thompson is gloriously regal as Moira Queen, Ollie's mother.)
Trust me! You won't regret it! Have I ever steered you wrong?
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/657555.html.
people have commented there.