First, an update
1) Interviewed Olympic divers at the FINA Canada Cup Grand Prix, for the radio station. I did the English and French interviews with the Canadians, Q. did the Mandarin ones with the Chinese divers. I know just enough about competitive diving to know that I was not, uh, a competent journalist out there (and am conflicted/cringey at a lot of the sort of questions that do get asked athletes on-air), but it was an experience. I don't even know how we got the connections to go in! Somehow we ended up in the VIP sponsor section, drinking beer and eating mini-cupcakes. All the stuff you see on TV that looks super-organized turns out to be weirdly fluid in real life, like coaches and athletes from a dozen countries and real media and administrators and the demo girls from the Speedo booth upstairs and 10,000 little kids from Diving Canada clubs all running around the edge of the pool while the competition is happening, like they ought to be getting in each other's way, but not really. There was some stellar diving, too, mostly late in the day from the men's 10m final.
So yeah. Avengers movie: only the second-nicest collection of butts on view this weekend. XD
2) Speaking of the Avengers movie, after the chatter on
sub_divided's reaction post I've decided to take the whole thing apart, matchup by matchup, and see how it ticks. XD So that'll be a separate post. I have to say, this is the first time I've gone to see a movie on opening weekend when it's already been playing the Philippines for a week - two weeks?
My non-spoilery take on it is that comic book movies tend to succeed for reasons that movies succeed, and fail for reasons that movies fail, regardless of issues like whether or not they are "true to canon" - that just acts as a mineshaft canary (eg. did the director understand the character archetype, distinguishing traits, or other narrative issues that 50 years' worth of comics writers probably solved, though it's possible they didn't). The Avengers is, I think, the first comic book movie I've seen that succeeds for reasons that comic books succeed (and, in fact, is flawed in the same fundamental ways that latter-day superhero comics are flawed).
3) Next week: seeing three Sophocles plays at the TNM, in the controversial Mouawad adaptation, BECAUSE OF REASONS. Not a trilogy: it's The Trachiniae, Antigone, and Electra. I haven't been to the theatre in who knows how long. I was vaguely thinking that the movies had begun to compete in price, but no more student discounts alas.
4) May is the International Biennale of Digital Art in Montreal, which sort of merges into MUTEK but is split off from Elektra. Whatever. May is the Black-Clad Hipsters Not Dancing While They Stream Avant-Garde Techno Visualizations Over Their Personal Mobile Computing Devices Month. Instead of going to see the Avengers movie on Friday I went to the Contemporary Art Museum for an Alva Noto set, because I am a sad Carsten Nicolai stan who found out about this at the 11th hour and got ridiculously excited. I forgot that techno at the museum is played punishingly loud. This track was a complete monster.
5) EDIT1 -- oops, forgot that it was #musicdiaryproject week! It always sneaks up on me. Posts to come on Tumblr at some point. Awkwardly it is nearly 2PM and I have not listened to any music today at all.
6) EDIT2 -- Obviously, now I feel obliged to rewrite the second chapter of that story about Steve Rogers, which has been lingering at 85% completion for like two months. In a spot of counter-programming, I'm also trying to finish up and post the giftfic I sent to canis_m - that is, she got it, it just wasn't the final draft. XD; at this rate maeran and bladderwrack ought to get their cards by September, I am so awesome you guys.
I have figured out how to add the footer on a crosspost! Go me! /rollsalot (Original post is here: http://petronia.dreamwidth.org/40456.html)
So yeah. Avengers movie: only the second-nicest collection of butts on view this weekend. XD
2) Speaking of the Avengers movie, after the chatter on
sub_divided's reaction post I've decided to take the whole thing apart, matchup by matchup, and see how it ticks. XD So that'll be a separate post. I have to say, this is the first time I've gone to see a movie on opening weekend when it's already been playing the Philippines for a week - two weeks?
My non-spoilery take on it is that comic book movies tend to succeed for reasons that movies succeed, and fail for reasons that movies fail, regardless of issues like whether or not they are "true to canon" - that just acts as a mineshaft canary (eg. did the director understand the character archetype, distinguishing traits, or other narrative issues that 50 years' worth of comics writers probably solved, though it's possible they didn't). The Avengers is, I think, the first comic book movie I've seen that succeeds for reasons that comic books succeed (and, in fact, is flawed in the same fundamental ways that latter-day superhero comics are flawed).
3) Next week: seeing three Sophocles plays at the TNM, in the controversial Mouawad adaptation, BECAUSE OF REASONS. Not a trilogy: it's The Trachiniae, Antigone, and Electra. I haven't been to the theatre in who knows how long. I was vaguely thinking that the movies had begun to compete in price, but no more student discounts alas.
4) May is the International Biennale of Digital Art in Montreal, which sort of merges into MUTEK but is split off from Elektra. Whatever. May is the Black-Clad Hipsters Not Dancing While They Stream Avant-Garde Techno Visualizations Over Their Personal Mobile Computing Devices Month. Instead of going to see the Avengers movie on Friday I went to the Contemporary Art Museum for an Alva Noto set, because I am a sad Carsten Nicolai stan who found out about this at the 11th hour and got ridiculously excited. I forgot that techno at the museum is played punishingly loud. This track was a complete monster.
5) EDIT1 -- oops, forgot that it was #musicdiaryproject week! It always sneaks up on me. Posts to come on Tumblr at some point. Awkwardly it is nearly 2PM and I have not listened to any music today at all.
6) EDIT2 -- Obviously, now I feel obliged to rewrite the second chapter of that story about Steve Rogers, which has been lingering at 85% completion for like two months. In a spot of counter-programming, I'm also trying to finish up and post the giftfic I sent to canis_m - that is, she got it, it just wasn't the final draft. XD; at this rate maeran and bladderwrack ought to get their cards by September, I am so awesome you guys.
I have figured out how to add the footer on a crosspost! Go me! /rollsalot (Original post is here: http://petronia.dreamwidth.org/40456.html)