(no subject)
Currently Knitting: Butterfly Mittens. I figured what I wanted to do with the pattern-I even did a gauge swatch up for a number of different options! But while doing the gauge swatch, I kind of. . . forgot to check my gauge. Starting over with 40 stitches instead of 44. . .
Currently Reading: Still working on Perdido Street Station. I’m starting to realize that reading long passages on fake esoteric philosophy of science theories might require more concentration than I have when I’m on the elliptical. Perhaps I should try reading those while sitting down.
Currently Watching on Netflix: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Rayguns! Jetpacks! Sky Pirate Angelina Jolie! I can’t say I’m too fond of Polly, but it’s an awesome little bit of fluff.
Currently Open in Other Tabs: Anomie, a Sherlock vid.
Also on the Sherlock angle: John and Sherlock Make a Baby (From Stuff they Find Around the Flat) Yes, it's technically kidfic. It's still good!
Night of the Living Trekkies: Three different people have linked me to this book trailer. Do you think they’re trying to tell me something?
The Newest Hyperbole and a Half: I know, I know, but this one literally had me wheezing with laughter!
The Complete Brioche Website: I’m trying to decide if I want my next large project (you know, after I finish the mittens, a pair of socks, maybe a beard balaclava and probably some Christmas presents) to be a 2-color brioche blanket or the brioche sweater. I know the sensible answer is ‘neither, are you crazy?’ . . . but it’s so tempting. . .
I can't believe it's taken me a week to get an episode reaction post up . . . work's been kicking my ass lately, working six days, 50-60 hour weeks.
And then I went and spent a sizable chunk of my overtime pay on comic books and ice cream, like a sensible adult.
So: Episode Reactions! Right! Spoilery bits separated by seed art, because what else am I going to do with pictures of seed art?
Merlin-Spoilers for 3x01 and 3x02
I really don't expect much from Merlin-a little slapstick, some homoerotic shenanigans, Anthony Stewart Head plotting to drown magical kittens and choreographing parts of his next synchronized puppy-kicking routine, a slash dragon. Oh, and unicorns. Canon unicorns. That's really all I require.
But, uh, the last two episodes were actually kind of good. Weird, I know.
I mean, it's still giving me everything I want-plus Arthur shirtless! Merlin in chains! But now it has extra things, like character progression, sweet Arthur/Gwen scenes, and a budget.
Seriously, where'd they get a budget from?
I do wish they'd handle Morgana better (and do something with Gwen). Do they have Morgana smirking every five minutes to remind us that she's still Eevil? They really didn't have to make her Eevil to make it believable that she'd carry a grudge against Camelot-she's been lied to, poisoned, drugged, and is under constant threat of death. She's always been shown as headstrong and idealistic-why not emphasize that, instead of the eevil smirk? Are they afraid that we'll root for Morgana instead of Uther? Because honestly, I'm doing that even with the smirking.
Ah well, there's still plenty of Morgana/Morgause goodness.
Next episode looks like it's getting back to normal. But at least now I have some hopes that some of the stuff that I'd like to happen (Gwen to figure out something's off with Morgana and tells Arthur, Gwen figures out Merlin's magic, Arthur figures out Merlin's magic, Sir Leon gets a personality), might actually come true.
Ex Machina, Trade Paperback volumes 4 and 5
Yay for Bradbury backstory! Now all I need is more Wylie and my life is complete.
And 'it wasn't like that!' Of course not, you poor, poor too-earnest-yet-horribly-closeted man.
Also, apparently the Mirror!Universe/Evil Twin equivalent for women is a butch haircut instead of a goatee. Good to know!
I was all right with Journal, she seemed to fit a need as much as anybody else in the Mayor's office did0but I'm really disliking January so far. She somehow gets the highly selective position that her sister had, and is conspiring with another character so Hundred will be (horror of horrors!) voted out of office? I enjoy Ex Machina because it's essentially Superheroes dealing with petty bureaucracy (and yes, I know that there's entire Iron Man plot lines that are essentially fighting patent law with lasers). But that subplot seems to be designed to point out everything that can go wrong with the conceit-Supervillains coming up with elaborate, melodramatic schemes to. . . do really mundane things. It's a sort of rube goldberg storytelling that's almost a parody of itself.
. . . .
I'm still trying to talk myself out of buying the next volume tomorrow.
Mad Men-Peggy vs. Joan
One of the things I've always liked about Mad Men is that everybody always is right-or at least, everybody always thinks they're right, and even the worst arguments tend to have a little bit of truth to them (Don and Betty's fights come to mind).
Still, I was kind of surprised to watch 'Inside Mad Men' and have it sound like everybody thought Joan was the one that was 'right' It hadn't even occurred to me that modern viewers wouldn't side with Peggy.
After thinking about it. . . Joan was right about one thing-Peggy wasn't really helping out Joan, and it was a little patronizing for her to expect Joan's thanks afterwards. Peggy's actions aren't going to make the boys respect Joan more. But Joan’s never been about that sort of respect. She’s always been about getting people to do exactly what she wants by convincing them that it’s exactly what they wanted to do. She can make people pay when they misbehave (Peggy with the copy machine, Don with Ms. Blankenship), but it's always circumspect-if anyone ever accused her of punishing them, I'm sure she'd deny it.
And despite everything Joan said-Joan didn’t handle it. She could have-Joan could have gotten him fired, if she wanted. But she chose not to. The actions she chose-to give weak hints to supervisors hoping that they’d follow up on it, and she blew up at them in a way that might have felt good at the time, but isn’t going to help the problem. Getting rid of the vending machine looks like petty revenge compared to the straightforward firing.
And yes, everybody is going to think Peggy is a humorless bitch for firing someone over a drawing-but does anybody think that the office fratboys considered Peggy to be a font of humor before this? She didn’t lose anything from this. She was already humorless, but now she’s humorless bitch who can and will fire your ass. Joey can still draw pictures, but nobody has to see them anymore.
. . . and now it's time for me to download the next episode.
Currently Reading: Still working on Perdido Street Station. I’m starting to realize that reading long passages on fake esoteric philosophy of science theories might require more concentration than I have when I’m on the elliptical. Perhaps I should try reading those while sitting down.
Currently Watching on Netflix: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Rayguns! Jetpacks! Sky Pirate Angelina Jolie! I can’t say I’m too fond of Polly, but it’s an awesome little bit of fluff.
Currently Open in Other Tabs: Anomie, a Sherlock vid.
Also on the Sherlock angle: John and Sherlock Make a Baby (From Stuff they Find Around the Flat) Yes, it's technically kidfic. It's still good!
Night of the Living Trekkies: Three different people have linked me to this book trailer. Do you think they’re trying to tell me something?
The Newest Hyperbole and a Half: I know, I know, but this one literally had me wheezing with laughter!
The Complete Brioche Website: I’m trying to decide if I want my next large project (you know, after I finish the mittens, a pair of socks, maybe a beard balaclava and probably some Christmas presents) to be a 2-color brioche blanket or the brioche sweater. I know the sensible answer is ‘neither, are you crazy?’ . . . but it’s so tempting. . .
I can't believe it's taken me a week to get an episode reaction post up . . . work's been kicking my ass lately, working six days, 50-60 hour weeks.
And then I went and spent a sizable chunk of my overtime pay on comic books and ice cream, like a sensible adult.
So: Episode Reactions! Right! Spoilery bits separated by seed art, because what else am I going to do with pictures of seed art?
Merlin-Spoilers for 3x01 and 3x02
I really don't expect much from Merlin-a little slapstick, some homoerotic shenanigans, Anthony Stewart Head plotting to drown magical kittens and choreographing parts of his next synchronized puppy-kicking routine, a slash dragon. Oh, and unicorns. Canon unicorns. That's really all I require.
But, uh, the last two episodes were actually kind of good. Weird, I know.
I mean, it's still giving me everything I want-plus Arthur shirtless! Merlin in chains! But now it has extra things, like character progression, sweet Arthur/Gwen scenes, and a budget.
Seriously, where'd they get a budget from?
I do wish they'd handle Morgana better (and do something with Gwen). Do they have Morgana smirking every five minutes to remind us that she's still Eevil? They really didn't have to make her Eevil to make it believable that she'd carry a grudge against Camelot-she's been lied to, poisoned, drugged, and is under constant threat of death. She's always been shown as headstrong and idealistic-why not emphasize that, instead of the eevil smirk? Are they afraid that we'll root for Morgana instead of Uther? Because honestly, I'm doing that even with the smirking.
Ah well, there's still plenty of Morgana/Morgause goodness.
Next episode looks like it's getting back to normal. But at least now I have some hopes that some of the stuff that I'd like to happen (Gwen to figure out something's off with Morgana and tells Arthur, Gwen figures out Merlin's magic, Arthur figures out Merlin's magic, Sir Leon gets a personality), might actually come true.
Ex Machina, Trade Paperback volumes 4 and 5
Yay for Bradbury backstory! Now all I need is more Wylie and my life is complete.
And 'it wasn't like that!' Of course not, you poor, poor too-earnest-yet-horribly-closeted man.
Also, apparently the Mirror!Universe/Evil Twin equivalent for women is a butch haircut instead of a goatee. Good to know!
I was all right with Journal, she seemed to fit a need as much as anybody else in the Mayor's office did0but I'm really disliking January so far. She somehow gets the highly selective position that her sister had, and is conspiring with another character so Hundred will be (horror of horrors!) voted out of office? I enjoy Ex Machina because it's essentially Superheroes dealing with petty bureaucracy (and yes, I know that there's entire Iron Man plot lines that are essentially fighting patent law with lasers). But that subplot seems to be designed to point out everything that can go wrong with the conceit-Supervillains coming up with elaborate, melodramatic schemes to. . . do really mundane things. It's a sort of rube goldberg storytelling that's almost a parody of itself.
. . . .
I'm still trying to talk myself out of buying the next volume tomorrow.
Mad Men-Peggy vs. Joan
One of the things I've always liked about Mad Men is that everybody always is right-or at least, everybody always thinks they're right, and even the worst arguments tend to have a little bit of truth to them (Don and Betty's fights come to mind).
Still, I was kind of surprised to watch 'Inside Mad Men' and have it sound like everybody thought Joan was the one that was 'right' It hadn't even occurred to me that modern viewers wouldn't side with Peggy.
After thinking about it. . . Joan was right about one thing-Peggy wasn't really helping out Joan, and it was a little patronizing for her to expect Joan's thanks afterwards. Peggy's actions aren't going to make the boys respect Joan more. But Joan’s never been about that sort of respect. She’s always been about getting people to do exactly what she wants by convincing them that it’s exactly what they wanted to do. She can make people pay when they misbehave (Peggy with the copy machine, Don with Ms. Blankenship), but it's always circumspect-if anyone ever accused her of punishing them, I'm sure she'd deny it.
And despite everything Joan said-Joan didn’t handle it. She could have-Joan could have gotten him fired, if she wanted. But she chose not to. The actions she chose-to give weak hints to supervisors hoping that they’d follow up on it, and she blew up at them in a way that might have felt good at the time, but isn’t going to help the problem. Getting rid of the vending machine looks like petty revenge compared to the straightforward firing.
And yes, everybody is going to think Peggy is a humorless bitch for firing someone over a drawing-but does anybody think that the office fratboys considered Peggy to be a font of humor before this? She didn’t lose anything from this. She was already humorless, but now she’s humorless bitch who can and will fire your ass. Joey can still draw pictures, but nobody has to see them anymore.
. . . and now it's time for me to download the next episode.