What I've been watching and reading and writing lately...
Not a whole lot _to_ be watching. I've already posted on the TV pilots I've seen, and those are really all the ones I'm particularly interested in seeing early. The others I'll just wait until they come on TV.
So what else is there during the summer? Well, I haven't downloaded any of the new Dead Zones, 4400s, or Flash Gordon to check out, and they haven't started airing here, so all that's left is reality tv, which I don't particularly feel like talking about, reruns, which don't deserve much talking about, and a handful of new (or new to me) stuff.
1) Masters of Science Fiction. Limited run anthology show of adaptations of short science fiction into one hour episodes. Stellar idea. Wonderful. There are hundreds of short stories out there that would make awesome one hour episodes. Hell, you could even do one ep that's a bunch of short short science fiction, each a few minutes in length (like "They're Made Out Of Meat").
Execution? ... Well, they've aired four out of six produced, and it looks like that's all that's going to be aired. The first was just plain dull, and not a good start at all. It had one bit of an interesting premise (the type of memory loss where you can't form new memories after a certain point), but beyond that it was boring. Second ep was slightly better. It was watchable at least, but really nothing all that great. I missed the third - it was pre-empted by football in my area. I've tried to download it but the one torrent doesn't seem to be active. Finally, there was one by Harlan Ellison which... it had some cool production values, and some decent elements to it, but when you put it all together, it didn't work very well. People didn't react in any reasonably intelligent way (if you want their blood, why not let them come home first and take it there), and the _why_ of the ending was never explained.
So its a little disappointing that they took a great idea for a series, and so completely wasted the opportunity.
If I were going to do this, and I had an order of 6, just 6 to do? Off the top of my head (and cutting off ones that were already adapted reasonably well several times or are likely to have major rights issues because they're tied up with movie properties):
Jeffty is Five, by Harlan Ellison
The Star, by Isaac Asimov (was adapted as a Twilight Zone, but was poorly done and I think it could be done much better)
The Light of Other Days, by Bob Shaw (or perhaps others from the same concept, since the first was rather short, combined together into a longer story).
The Little Black Bag, by C.M. Kornbluth
Anda's Game, by Cory Doctorow (because I like it and it'd be nice to include some newer works)
Something with robots/AIs, not by Isaac Asimov, maybe. Or a 'potpourri' episode with really short stories like I mentioned before.
(I tried not to repeat authors)
I've also been working my way through Classic Who. See, aside from some very dim memories of childhood, I started Who with the first Doctor, Hartnell, and watched up until the start of Pertwee. After that, the station that was airing them didn't think it was cost effective to buy anymore episodes. So, I've been gradually trying to finish up Pertwee. I'm not done yet, but I'm close. I just finished Invasion of the Dinosaurs. It was okay, but very cheesy in its effects. I preferred Time Warrior, which introduces Sarah Jane Smith. Already I like her better than either of Pertwee's other companions, and that's not just cause she was in the new Who. She just seems a little more active and I liked that she decided the Doctor must be a villain early on. (Though there did seem to be a little glitch in the plot, where she walks into the Tardis looking for the Doctor... while the Doctor is standing right outside it talking to another scientist), with neither of them apparently noticing the other). After seeing the introductions of the Sontarans (I saw one lone Sontaran ep before, as the station that aired Who inexplicably bought a 2 part Baker episode as part of their initial package.. well, it's not that inexplicable, I suppose they had the deal for 2 more episodes and didn't want to get the first 2 parts of a longer story, so Baker's was the first 2 part episode they could get), I really would like to see them appear in the New Who. They're one of the few big races left and they really don't need a whole lot of SFX, just simple costuming.
Invasion of the Dinosaurs was a bit amusing in that it had SJS being captured twice, using the exact same ruse. But ah well. Death to the Daleks is next, followed by Monster of Peladon, and then the last Pertwee story, Planet of the Spiders.
Anyway, I didn't _watch_ all the Pertwee up to where I am, the files are stupidly large and I didn't want to download a bunch of episodes I wasn't interested in, so I did a combination of watching episodes and reading transcripts. I did want to make sure to watch all the episodes with Daleks, and a few other milestone episodes. The Three Doctors was a hoot, mostly to see Troughton again, who's still one of my favorite Doctors.
Otherwise though... still not a fan of Pertwee's era. Firstly, there's the whole 'exiled on Earth', which really limits your story possibilities. Secondly, he seems to be a more combative Doctor than others, always springing out his Venusian Kung Fu. In his favour, he has the Brigadier, and he introduced the Master, although the Master seemed to pop up altogether too much - I like him and the idea of him, but he's the type of character I think is best used a little sparingly.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to when Pertwee dies and Baker takes over.
Commercials I hate! There's this sprint commercial where they sing out "ladies and gentlemen," followed by various flight instructions, all being sung as though by a choir, while the scene shows people interacting on their PDA or some. But the singing really irritates the hell out of me, and it's on all the bloody time. It's gotten to the point I have to mute it when I hear the first bit of it. DIE DIE DIE, whoever made that commercial, and allowed it to be produced.
Now to books. First:
Finished: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami (Reread)
I've read it several times already so no new comments really. I still quite enjoy it and it sweeps me up into the story every time.
Started: Scatterbrain by Larry Niven
and
Accelerando by Charles Stross.
Scatterbrain is a collection of short stories, excerpts from his novels, and some essays, a lot of which is concentrated on 'process'. Still, a lot of it feels like adds for his other books. I think I'd feel cheated if I paid more than $2 for it, but since I got it discount, I am enjoying some of the insight he gives on the process of his writing, and particularly the process of collaboration.
Oh, speaking of $2 books, I found First Meetings in the Enderverse by Orson Scott Card for $2 the other day and so I snapped it up. It's just a few short stories, one I already have (Investment Councilor, with his first meeting with Jane), the original novella format of Ender's Game (which I'd never read before... it was okay but I much prefer the novel), and two short stories dealing with Ender's parents. Wouldn't have bothered at full price, but it's nice to have at a discount.
Now, on to a meme! Books and reading meme from soleta_nf...
01. What are you reading right now?
The two books listed above, plus I'm still reading Cyteen by CJ Cherryh.
02. Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
I have some idea, but it's not a clear one. Maybe Odd John, maybe that Miles Vorkosigan two-fer, maybe reread Jumper. Maybe reread The Difference Engine given that I've had a bit of a renewed interest in steampunk recently that I hadn't had when I first read it. I'll choose it at the time.
03. What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
There are no magazines in my bathroom. We don't really have magazines much here. Also, perhaps it's just me but... I never got the whole 'reading in the bathroom' thing. Ideally, I'm never there long enough to read anything, except when showering, and then it's just not practical. It also just seems 'icky' to me.
04. What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
I don't know. I'm usually pretty flexible, but things without much SF/Fantasy content tend to bore me. So probably something in school. Maybe... Fifth Business?
05. What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
Ender's Game, I suppose. Clear, relatively easy to read, and one of my favorite books.
06. Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
No. I avoid libraries where humanly possible, because I love to own my books. Also, librarians are hiding something.
07. Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
Not exactly. There is one book/book series I've read and loved that almost no one I mention it to has heard of, and that's Brian Stableford's Star Pilot Grainger books (collected in one volume as Swan Songs: The Complete Hooded Swan Stories). Beyond that, different people have different tastes so though there may be a book I like that some others don't, it's not consistent to where everybody I talk to (who reads at all) doesn't care for it.
08. Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving?
I don't read while I'm eating generally, and as mentioned I shower (and would be afraid of getting the book wet in a bath). I don't listen to music, and I would prefer music not be playing while I'm reading (unless it's relatively unobtrusive). I will occasionally read while watching TV, during the commercials mostly, or having it on as background noise. While I'm on the computer, again, sometimes, if nothing's really going on - but that's more reading in front of the TV and, while doing that, happening to keep an eye on the computer too. Wouldn't read during sex, and don't drive. I do read while walking, though. When I walk home from work I'm almost always reading (when I walk to work it's sometimes too dark).
09. When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
Tease me? No. There were a few comments that I always seemed to be reading, but I can't recall being teased about it. I do recall some people (though these were mostly friends) being surprised I could read as fast as I did, and testing me by opening the book to a random page and taking it away quickly, and having me recite that I read in that time.
10. What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
Half the night? Probably the first time I read Ender's Game, when I was in my teens. But that's very unusual, as I don't like to read late.
The last book that I simply had trouble putting down, and went back to reading it even though I wasn't walking or riding the bus (since I only rarely read while at home) is Battle Royale.
And finally, to move off of reading and on to writing, I've finished the basic writing of the workshop thing I'm working on, the one with steampunkish elements. It clocked in at about 9600 words. Oops. I guess I got a little carried away. Anyway, I still need (badly) to edit (it's awful, but I think it can be made less awful), and I still love the basics of it even if my implementation sucked.
I'll also probably whittle a shorter version down for workshop posting (since they tend to expect shorter submissions), and leave the longer one as an optional, but I'll post both.
The tentative title is Steampunk Allie and the Omniscope.
So what else is there during the summer? Well, I haven't downloaded any of the new Dead Zones, 4400s, or Flash Gordon to check out, and they haven't started airing here, so all that's left is reality tv, which I don't particularly feel like talking about, reruns, which don't deserve much talking about, and a handful of new (or new to me) stuff.
1) Masters of Science Fiction. Limited run anthology show of adaptations of short science fiction into one hour episodes. Stellar idea. Wonderful. There are hundreds of short stories out there that would make awesome one hour episodes. Hell, you could even do one ep that's a bunch of short short science fiction, each a few minutes in length (like "They're Made Out Of Meat").
Execution? ... Well, they've aired four out of six produced, and it looks like that's all that's going to be aired. The first was just plain dull, and not a good start at all. It had one bit of an interesting premise (the type of memory loss where you can't form new memories after a certain point), but beyond that it was boring. Second ep was slightly better. It was watchable at least, but really nothing all that great. I missed the third - it was pre-empted by football in my area. I've tried to download it but the one torrent doesn't seem to be active. Finally, there was one by Harlan Ellison which... it had some cool production values, and some decent elements to it, but when you put it all together, it didn't work very well. People didn't react in any reasonably intelligent way (if you want their blood, why not let them come home first and take it there), and the _why_ of the ending was never explained.
So its a little disappointing that they took a great idea for a series, and so completely wasted the opportunity.
If I were going to do this, and I had an order of 6, just 6 to do? Off the top of my head (and cutting off ones that were already adapted reasonably well several times or are likely to have major rights issues because they're tied up with movie properties):
Jeffty is Five, by Harlan Ellison
The Star, by Isaac Asimov (was adapted as a Twilight Zone, but was poorly done and I think it could be done much better)
The Light of Other Days, by Bob Shaw (or perhaps others from the same concept, since the first was rather short, combined together into a longer story).
The Little Black Bag, by C.M. Kornbluth
Anda's Game, by Cory Doctorow (because I like it and it'd be nice to include some newer works)
Something with robots/AIs, not by Isaac Asimov, maybe. Or a 'potpourri' episode with really short stories like I mentioned before.
(I tried not to repeat authors)
I've also been working my way through Classic Who. See, aside from some very dim memories of childhood, I started Who with the first Doctor, Hartnell, and watched up until the start of Pertwee. After that, the station that was airing them didn't think it was cost effective to buy anymore episodes. So, I've been gradually trying to finish up Pertwee. I'm not done yet, but I'm close. I just finished Invasion of the Dinosaurs. It was okay, but very cheesy in its effects. I preferred Time Warrior, which introduces Sarah Jane Smith. Already I like her better than either of Pertwee's other companions, and that's not just cause she was in the new Who. She just seems a little more active and I liked that she decided the Doctor must be a villain early on. (Though there did seem to be a little glitch in the plot, where she walks into the Tardis looking for the Doctor... while the Doctor is standing right outside it talking to another scientist), with neither of them apparently noticing the other). After seeing the introductions of the Sontarans (I saw one lone Sontaran ep before, as the station that aired Who inexplicably bought a 2 part Baker episode as part of their initial package.. well, it's not that inexplicable, I suppose they had the deal for 2 more episodes and didn't want to get the first 2 parts of a longer story, so Baker's was the first 2 part episode they could get), I really would like to see them appear in the New Who. They're one of the few big races left and they really don't need a whole lot of SFX, just simple costuming.
Invasion of the Dinosaurs was a bit amusing in that it had SJS being captured twice, using the exact same ruse. But ah well. Death to the Daleks is next, followed by Monster of Peladon, and then the last Pertwee story, Planet of the Spiders.
Anyway, I didn't _watch_ all the Pertwee up to where I am, the files are stupidly large and I didn't want to download a bunch of episodes I wasn't interested in, so I did a combination of watching episodes and reading transcripts. I did want to make sure to watch all the episodes with Daleks, and a few other milestone episodes. The Three Doctors was a hoot, mostly to see Troughton again, who's still one of my favorite Doctors.
Otherwise though... still not a fan of Pertwee's era. Firstly, there's the whole 'exiled on Earth', which really limits your story possibilities. Secondly, he seems to be a more combative Doctor than others, always springing out his Venusian Kung Fu. In his favour, he has the Brigadier, and he introduced the Master, although the Master seemed to pop up altogether too much - I like him and the idea of him, but he's the type of character I think is best used a little sparingly.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to when Pertwee dies and Baker takes over.
Commercials I hate! There's this sprint commercial where they sing out "ladies and gentlemen," followed by various flight instructions, all being sung as though by a choir, while the scene shows people interacting on their PDA or some. But the singing really irritates the hell out of me, and it's on all the bloody time. It's gotten to the point I have to mute it when I hear the first bit of it. DIE DIE DIE, whoever made that commercial, and allowed it to be produced.
Now to books. First:
Finished: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami (Reread)
I've read it several times already so no new comments really. I still quite enjoy it and it sweeps me up into the story every time.
Started: Scatterbrain by Larry Niven
and
Accelerando by Charles Stross.
Scatterbrain is a collection of short stories, excerpts from his novels, and some essays, a lot of which is concentrated on 'process'. Still, a lot of it feels like adds for his other books. I think I'd feel cheated if I paid more than $2 for it, but since I got it discount, I am enjoying some of the insight he gives on the process of his writing, and particularly the process of collaboration.
Oh, speaking of $2 books, I found First Meetings in the Enderverse by Orson Scott Card for $2 the other day and so I snapped it up. It's just a few short stories, one I already have (Investment Councilor, with his first meeting with Jane), the original novella format of Ender's Game (which I'd never read before... it was okay but I much prefer the novel), and two short stories dealing with Ender's parents. Wouldn't have bothered at full price, but it's nice to have at a discount.
Now, on to a meme! Books and reading meme from soleta_nf...
01. What are you reading right now?
The two books listed above, plus I'm still reading Cyteen by CJ Cherryh.
02. Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?
I have some idea, but it's not a clear one. Maybe Odd John, maybe that Miles Vorkosigan two-fer, maybe reread Jumper. Maybe reread The Difference Engine given that I've had a bit of a renewed interest in steampunk recently that I hadn't had when I first read it. I'll choose it at the time.
03. What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
There are no magazines in my bathroom. We don't really have magazines much here. Also, perhaps it's just me but... I never got the whole 'reading in the bathroom' thing. Ideally, I'm never there long enough to read anything, except when showering, and then it's just not practical. It also just seems 'icky' to me.
04. What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
I don't know. I'm usually pretty flexible, but things without much SF/Fantasy content tend to bore me. So probably something in school. Maybe... Fifth Business?
05. What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
Ender's Game, I suppose. Clear, relatively easy to read, and one of my favorite books.
06. Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they?
No. I avoid libraries where humanly possible, because I love to own my books. Also, librarians are hiding something.
07. Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?
Not exactly. There is one book/book series I've read and loved that almost no one I mention it to has heard of, and that's Brian Stableford's Star Pilot Grainger books (collected in one volume as Swan Songs: The Complete Hooded Swan Stories). Beyond that, different people have different tastes so though there may be a book I like that some others don't, it's not consistent to where everybody I talk to (who reads at all) doesn't care for it.
08. Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you’re having sex? While you’re driving?
I don't read while I'm eating generally, and as mentioned I shower (and would be afraid of getting the book wet in a bath). I don't listen to music, and I would prefer music not be playing while I'm reading (unless it's relatively unobtrusive). I will occasionally read while watching TV, during the commercials mostly, or having it on as background noise. While I'm on the computer, again, sometimes, if nothing's really going on - but that's more reading in front of the TV and, while doing that, happening to keep an eye on the computer too. Wouldn't read during sex, and don't drive. I do read while walking, though. When I walk home from work I'm almost always reading (when I walk to work it's sometimes too dark).
09. When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
Tease me? No. There were a few comments that I always seemed to be reading, but I can't recall being teased about it. I do recall some people (though these were mostly friends) being surprised I could read as fast as I did, and testing me by opening the book to a random page and taking it away quickly, and having me recite that I read in that time.
10. What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?
Half the night? Probably the first time I read Ender's Game, when I was in my teens. But that's very unusual, as I don't like to read late.
The last book that I simply had trouble putting down, and went back to reading it even though I wasn't walking or riding the bus (since I only rarely read while at home) is Battle Royale.
And finally, to move off of reading and on to writing, I've finished the basic writing of the workshop thing I'm working on, the one with steampunkish elements. It clocked in at about 9600 words. Oops. I guess I got a little carried away. Anyway, I still need (badly) to edit (it's awful, but I think it can be made less awful), and I still love the basics of it even if my implementation sucked.
I'll also probably whittle a shorter version down for workshop posting (since they tend to expect shorter submissions), and leave the longer one as an optional, but I'll post both.
The tentative title is Steampunk Allie and the Omniscope.