Media Thoughts
In this hobbit household, the term "mixed media" usually refers to having more than one type of deli meat in a sandwich. Ah, hobbits!
Further thoughts on the new SyFy show "Caprica"
In last Friday's episode, we get further detail about a "video game" which has been mentioned previously in passing, "New Cap City." This game is basically an MMO like World of Warcraft, although it (like their entire Internet) is virtual reality-based, and the players have avatars that look like themselves, and the experience is considerably more immersive. As soon as the show spelled this out, I smirked on my couch, thinking how clever the show really plays to its audience. No doubt so many SyFy viewers either play this style of game or certainly have heard of it. Wise move, I thought, sending a shout-out to the home team.The character on the show who is essentially the audience's guide to this gaming experience remarks to another character who is ignorant of this game that he logs out of the game as little as possible; he feels that inside New Cap City he can "be somebody." And that's when "Caprica" throws out the zinger I didn't expect. The non-gaming girl responds, "Maybe if you didn't spend so much time inside the game, you could be somebody in the real world." Whoa! Them's fighting words in a gaming circle, honey!... I like it.
"Caprica" is playing with its audience, at once introducing themes it thinks its target audience wants to see about "alternative lifestyles" of all sorts, including not just sexual orientation and forms of marriage, but even using a virtual world as the sum of one's social experience. At the same time, it's challenging those models -- neither outright condemning them, nor even putting them in danger. The show is asking questions of the thinking viewer, however, prompting meditation and even discussion (at least in this household). I think it's clever, and I like it.
It's worth noting, however, that every single die hard new gen "Battlestar Galactica" fan I know who has yet weighed in on the prequel isn't enjoying it much. I'm not surprised. The style of the show is indeed very different. The characters, themes, and certainly the setting aren't the same at all. I've mentioned before that I think this is a good thing since I kept hoping for something different from BSG than what it delivered, and I'm getting what I want from "Caprica" so far in spades. I just hope there are enough viewers with tastes similar to mine to keep the show going, and continuing on the same track on which it started.
Movies
We've recently been to see "Shutter Island," and "The Crazies." The latter was exactly what I expected: not quite zombie horror survival action. Fun! No in-depth analysis is necessary for this film. Ian and I went to see it as part of our date for OUR FIRST WEDDING ANNIVERSARY which just passed on Saturday, February 27, WHOO HOO, and it was a delight. We had a fun discussion after the movie about how our ideas about priorities for survival in such a situation are very practical compared to Movie People, and how much we like the movie "Zombieland" for honoring that. Double taps to the head are NOT overly violent, they are in fact necessary for survival during the Zombie Apocalypse! You also need a good pair of shoes, and a melee weapon at all times because you will eventually run out of ammo. I mean -- duh. Who doesn't know all this?
"Shutter Island" is more enjoyable as a movie than it was as a book. My mother happened to be on a marathon of reading Dennis Lehane novels recently, including this one, and she insisted I read it. While I liked the movie, this is not my style of novel. The story also involves a lot of wordplay, anagrams, and codes (which figure into the book in considerably greater prominence). When you see it in writing, it's very easy to figure out, and further -- very easy to note that something is awry with these funny spellings all over the place. Whereas when you merely hear them spoken (or when entire plot elements are left out), it's much more dramatic. The film has a good theme, creepy, "crazy people in bathrooms" sorta thing. My mother and I were each impressed that the entire cast managed to handle Boston accents well, particularly Leonard DiCaprio (whom I think generally gets a bad shake as an actor; I think he's pretty good).
Household Projects
I'm making progress on two complimentary projects: watching our entire DVD collection in alphabetical order, and knitting a sweater for myself. Last night I finished off the letter D with "Bram Stoker's Dracula." Yes, that starts with a B, but it's filed under D since I'd never think to look for it under Bram. This brings me not only to the letter E, but also to the third of about eight folders of DVDs. EXCITING! Next up is "The Emperor's New Groove" (since I'm skipping "Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas" having just watched it in December).
I've knitted my sweater from the bottom up to the armpits. One sleeve is finished. Last night I made significant progress on the cuff of the second sleeve. I've knit 18 of 20 rows, and that cuff is almost finished. This is the hardest part for me, so I'm delighted to have zoomed through it flawlessly last night, and have it behind me.
The cuff is just standard 60 stitches cast onto double-point needles, then ribbed: knit 2, purl 2 for 20 rows. Easy-peasy, right? Well, ancora imparo/I Am Still Learning. I unraveled and redid Cuff #1 three times before getting this right. The first time I was definitely screwing up since I didn't have the rhythm of when to knit and when to purl quite figured out, and I kept twisting the yarn and accidentally picking up stitches! NIGHTMARE! The second time I suspect I did it just fine, but panicked, thought it was wrong, and unraveled anyhow. The third time was juuuust right! Cuff #2 had no such problems since I knew to expect it wouldn't look quite right until I'd done about 3 or 4 rows. Sure enough, easy-peasy this time. That shows you what a little experience and confidence can do!
Here are photos of the finished sleeve and its cuff for your oh so thrilling enjoyment:
That's about all you can do with shrimp.
T$
Further thoughts on the new SyFy show "Caprica"
In last Friday's episode, we get further detail about a "video game" which has been mentioned previously in passing, "New Cap City." This game is basically an MMO like World of Warcraft, although it (like their entire Internet) is virtual reality-based, and the players have avatars that look like themselves, and the experience is considerably more immersive. As soon as the show spelled this out, I smirked on my couch, thinking how clever the show really plays to its audience. No doubt so many SyFy viewers either play this style of game or certainly have heard of it. Wise move, I thought, sending a shout-out to the home team.The character on the show who is essentially the audience's guide to this gaming experience remarks to another character who is ignorant of this game that he logs out of the game as little as possible; he feels that inside New Cap City he can "be somebody." And that's when "Caprica" throws out the zinger I didn't expect. The non-gaming girl responds, "Maybe if you didn't spend so much time inside the game, you could be somebody in the real world." Whoa! Them's fighting words in a gaming circle, honey!... I like it.
"Caprica" is playing with its audience, at once introducing themes it thinks its target audience wants to see about "alternative lifestyles" of all sorts, including not just sexual orientation and forms of marriage, but even using a virtual world as the sum of one's social experience. At the same time, it's challenging those models -- neither outright condemning them, nor even putting them in danger. The show is asking questions of the thinking viewer, however, prompting meditation and even discussion (at least in this household). I think it's clever, and I like it.
It's worth noting, however, that every single die hard new gen "Battlestar Galactica" fan I know who has yet weighed in on the prequel isn't enjoying it much. I'm not surprised. The style of the show is indeed very different. The characters, themes, and certainly the setting aren't the same at all. I've mentioned before that I think this is a good thing since I kept hoping for something different from BSG than what it delivered, and I'm getting what I want from "Caprica" so far in spades. I just hope there are enough viewers with tastes similar to mine to keep the show going, and continuing on the same track on which it started.
Movies
We've recently been to see "Shutter Island," and "The Crazies." The latter was exactly what I expected: not quite zombie horror survival action. Fun! No in-depth analysis is necessary for this film. Ian and I went to see it as part of our date for OUR FIRST WEDDING ANNIVERSARY which just passed on Saturday, February 27, WHOO HOO, and it was a delight. We had a fun discussion after the movie about how our ideas about priorities for survival in such a situation are very practical compared to Movie People, and how much we like the movie "Zombieland" for honoring that. Double taps to the head are NOT overly violent, they are in fact necessary for survival during the Zombie Apocalypse! You also need a good pair of shoes, and a melee weapon at all times because you will eventually run out of ammo. I mean -- duh. Who doesn't know all this?
"Shutter Island" is more enjoyable as a movie than it was as a book. My mother happened to be on a marathon of reading Dennis Lehane novels recently, including this one, and she insisted I read it. While I liked the movie, this is not my style of novel. The story also involves a lot of wordplay, anagrams, and codes (which figure into the book in considerably greater prominence). When you see it in writing, it's very easy to figure out, and further -- very easy to note that something is awry with these funny spellings all over the place. Whereas when you merely hear them spoken (or when entire plot elements are left out), it's much more dramatic. The film has a good theme, creepy, "crazy people in bathrooms" sorta thing. My mother and I were each impressed that the entire cast managed to handle Boston accents well, particularly Leonard DiCaprio (whom I think generally gets a bad shake as an actor; I think he's pretty good).
Household Projects
I'm making progress on two complimentary projects: watching our entire DVD collection in alphabetical order, and knitting a sweater for myself. Last night I finished off the letter D with "Bram Stoker's Dracula." Yes, that starts with a B, but it's filed under D since I'd never think to look for it under Bram. This brings me not only to the letter E, but also to the third of about eight folders of DVDs. EXCITING! Next up is "The Emperor's New Groove" (since I'm skipping "Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas" having just watched it in December).
I've knitted my sweater from the bottom up to the armpits. One sleeve is finished. Last night I made significant progress on the cuff of the second sleeve. I've knit 18 of 20 rows, and that cuff is almost finished. This is the hardest part for me, so I'm delighted to have zoomed through it flawlessly last night, and have it behind me.
The cuff is just standard 60 stitches cast onto double-point needles, then ribbed: knit 2, purl 2 for 20 rows. Easy-peasy, right? Well, ancora imparo/I Am Still Learning. I unraveled and redid Cuff #1 three times before getting this right. The first time I was definitely screwing up since I didn't have the rhythm of when to knit and when to purl quite figured out, and I kept twisting the yarn and accidentally picking up stitches! NIGHTMARE! The second time I suspect I did it just fine, but panicked, thought it was wrong, and unraveled anyhow. The third time was juuuust right! Cuff #2 had no such problems since I knew to expect it wouldn't look quite right until I'd done about 3 or 4 rows. Sure enough, easy-peasy this time. That shows you what a little experience and confidence can do!
Here are photos of the finished sleeve and its cuff for your oh so thrilling enjoyment:
That's about all you can do with shrimp.
T$