More Loki
1) Just a reminder that I contribute to the weekly recs post at 
recthething and have made another post to
common_nature.
2) Speaking of things posted elsewhere, I shared this puzzle over at Pillowfort's Jigsaw Puzzles community, for sale or swap. It was fun to put together because we were so familiar with many of the images. When it ended we were talking about how many we had seen and decided to count "seen the whole thing" as "watched" because it was so easy to catch parts of many of these.
So I thought I'd ask others to chime in with how many they've seen (you can click the image to enlarge it and better see the posters).
I have come in with 24 out of 43.
3) Liked the second episode of Loki even more than the first. I love that this is dealing with big concepts and is charging straight ahead into the storyline. The fact that the series is dealing with time and the nature of existence means confronting issues on a cosmic scale that actually fits the character. I think it was clever of Whedon to set up Loki as wanting to be caught in the first Avengers film because if he hadn't been, how would they ever have found him?
By comparison his opposition in Thor 1 was mostly himself or at best a domestic power struggle, and in Thor 2 it was briefly the Dark Elves but again control of Asgard. I feel particularly sure now that he quickly grasped the possibility of faking his death to seize power during the confusion, leaving the actual defeat of the enemy to Thor. Then in Thor 3 it was alternately escaping the Grandmaster and defeating Hela, someone who forever removed the power of Asgard from the cosmic table.
But Loki as a powerful god himself has never been truly explored and I feel hopeful that here it will be, even as we finally get to see him in the role of mischief maker and believer in chaos rather than as grudge holding second son forever comparing himself to Thor.
So I'm glad that we get additional looks at his abilities -- magic to dry himself off, the ability to control others through enchantments, the discussion of illusions vs doubles. But he should also have significantly different physical abilities than humans (which all the TVA staff appear to be -- another weird aspect of the place.) So I wonder how much Loki could hear of what goes on in Ravenna's office, since he should have exceptional hearing.
Also, I can only assume that the enchanted people have been enhanced with all the strength of an Asgardian because they shouldn't be any match for him in that fight at the end. He may not be Thor but he ought to be able to throw someone across the store himself. Yet so far in the show you'd think he was just an ordinary human with magical abilities. Plus he can manifest daggers if not other weapons, why not use them?
Some varied observations:
The conversation between Mobius and Ravenna struck me as significant in some way, the lingering shot on the table rings and the Franklin D Roosevelt High School pen. It made me wonder if Loki will impersonate her at some future point and these things will trip him up?
But why are all these Nexus events on Earth, and so many in the US specifically? I assumed that Mobius is assigned to Earth so that it's his beat, but that doesn't explain why it's the places where Loki goes
Nice shot of the elevator descent, great set design
I forgot that this Loki would know nothing at first about Ragnarok and the loss of Asgard. However how would he know that the Hulk was on the rainbow bridge? At least in the clip that Mobius showed him, he wasn't there.
That side salad is Mobius' entire lunch?
I was amused that Loki talks with his hands to that degree. Of course he's putting on a performance there so he's gesturing even more than normal but it does seem very much like an illusionist's habit.
I also enjoyed his visit to Pompeii because that seemed like the real Loki letting loose. It wasn't just that he loved being right, he was one step short of jumping into puddles. (The classics education must have come in handy there for Hiddleston). Not unlike the bit we got with him swatting at Miss Minutes.
Overall I loved the conversation Loki had with Mobius about creation, the future and what life means. On the one hand it was a great way of doing characterization while doing some exposition about the TVA at the same time. But I also just want this kind of depth in these shows.
One thing I have to wonder about though, is the discussion of "the epilogue". When Loki and Mobius are searching through apocalypses, they are searching in times that have not yet happened by our reckoning. So presumably, given that Mobius is familiar with the swallow extinction, there is a very long part of the timeline still ahead. How much farther does it go? And also, surely it goes back much farther on some planets than others?
Also the wiping out of a building full of people in a hurricane is no apocalypse. Frankly even the entire city of Pompeii doesn't count. Disasters, yes, an apocalypse, no. With the length of time that Thanos was alive, surely some his handiwork would count?
I feel it says more about our culture than the story that the big reveal is that Female Loki is finally brought into canon.
4) What I can't tell from the survey is whether the percentage of difference is within a margin of error from one year to the next, but it seems there's a slight decline in people's satisfaction with TV streaming. From the press release chart this would seem to be largely connected with quality and amount of new content. I'm guessing that after a year when the subscriptions really got a lot of use, more people felt like they'd seen all they wanted to on the services.
What's significant though is that for the first time advertisers are more interested in streaming platforms than traditional TV, perhaps even more people plan to cut the cord in 2021.
"among marketers who had revised their TV plans as a result of the pandemic, CTV ranks as the #1 channel choice as marketers reallocate campaign budgets. Furthermore, marketers state that CTV now represents 18 percent of their advertising spend moving forward, a significant acceleration from a standing start in recent years.
…
Every aspect of the decision-making process of TV advertising, including measurement, frequency and creative, will have to evolve as more consumers shift to CTV…
• The shift from a content-first to an audience-first approach - Prime-time is now anytime, as marketers are no longer tied to a schedule.
• More focus on integrated, cross-channel strategies - To improve the viewer experience, manage frequency and better target specific audiences.
• Focus on non-traditional ad formats - Especially shorter ads.
•
“The TV ad business is at a tipping point. Advertisers can reach more households via CTV than via traditional linear TV for the first time. That trend is not reversing,” said Sims."
5) As my driver's license is expiring this year anyway I decided to get started on the process for a Real ID. This requires a bunch of verification info, something which tripped Mike up last year. Despite providing a major issuer credit card showing our address as requested, the document was rejected because the statement did not say VISA or Mastercard on it.
In my case I was tripped up by my passport. Having gone to the safety deposit box to pull some of the documents, I arrived at the DMV and had the documents examined before they'd let me get in line (something I was grateful for as I would have been really put out at an hour's wait in the hot sun only to be sent home). It turns out the passport had expired 3 days earlier, and even though to get it I would have needed the items they asked for, an expired one would not do. I don't see why not since it's needed for identity verification and in that respect it's just as valuable expired as current since it has my current address on it. But nope.
View poll: Kudos Footer-291
Comments at Dreamwidth
.
recthething and have made another post to
common_nature.
2) Speaking of things posted elsewhere, I shared this puzzle over at Pillowfort's Jigsaw Puzzles community, for sale or swap. It was fun to put together because we were so familiar with many of the images. When it ended we were talking about how many we had seen and decided to count "seen the whole thing" as "watched" because it was so easy to catch parts of many of these.
So I thought I'd ask others to chime in with how many they've seen (you can click the image to enlarge it and better see the posters).
I have come in with 24 out of 43.
3) Liked the second episode of Loki even more than the first. I love that this is dealing with big concepts and is charging straight ahead into the storyline. The fact that the series is dealing with time and the nature of existence means confronting issues on a cosmic scale that actually fits the character. I think it was clever of Whedon to set up Loki as wanting to be caught in the first Avengers film because if he hadn't been, how would they ever have found him?
By comparison his opposition in Thor 1 was mostly himself or at best a domestic power struggle, and in Thor 2 it was briefly the Dark Elves but again control of Asgard. I feel particularly sure now that he quickly grasped the possibility of faking his death to seize power during the confusion, leaving the actual defeat of the enemy to Thor. Then in Thor 3 it was alternately escaping the Grandmaster and defeating Hela, someone who forever removed the power of Asgard from the cosmic table.
But Loki as a powerful god himself has never been truly explored and I feel hopeful that here it will be, even as we finally get to see him in the role of mischief maker and believer in chaos rather than as grudge holding second son forever comparing himself to Thor.
So I'm glad that we get additional looks at his abilities -- magic to dry himself off, the ability to control others through enchantments, the discussion of illusions vs doubles. But he should also have significantly different physical abilities than humans (which all the TVA staff appear to be -- another weird aspect of the place.) So I wonder how much Loki could hear of what goes on in Ravenna's office, since he should have exceptional hearing.
Also, I can only assume that the enchanted people have been enhanced with all the strength of an Asgardian because they shouldn't be any match for him in that fight at the end. He may not be Thor but he ought to be able to throw someone across the store himself. Yet so far in the show you'd think he was just an ordinary human with magical abilities. Plus he can manifest daggers if not other weapons, why not use them?
Some varied observations:
The conversation between Mobius and Ravenna struck me as significant in some way, the lingering shot on the table rings and the Franklin D Roosevelt High School pen. It made me wonder if Loki will impersonate her at some future point and these things will trip him up?
But why are all these Nexus events on Earth, and so many in the US specifically? I assumed that Mobius is assigned to Earth so that it's his beat, but that doesn't explain why it's the places where Loki goes
Nice shot of the elevator descent, great set design
I forgot that this Loki would know nothing at first about Ragnarok and the loss of Asgard. However how would he know that the Hulk was on the rainbow bridge? At least in the clip that Mobius showed him, he wasn't there.
That side salad is Mobius' entire lunch?
I was amused that Loki talks with his hands to that degree. Of course he's putting on a performance there so he's gesturing even more than normal but it does seem very much like an illusionist's habit.
I also enjoyed his visit to Pompeii because that seemed like the real Loki letting loose. It wasn't just that he loved being right, he was one step short of jumping into puddles. (The classics education must have come in handy there for Hiddleston). Not unlike the bit we got with him swatting at Miss Minutes.
Overall I loved the conversation Loki had with Mobius about creation, the future and what life means. On the one hand it was a great way of doing characterization while doing some exposition about the TVA at the same time. But I also just want this kind of depth in these shows.
One thing I have to wonder about though, is the discussion of "the epilogue". When Loki and Mobius are searching through apocalypses, they are searching in times that have not yet happened by our reckoning. So presumably, given that Mobius is familiar with the swallow extinction, there is a very long part of the timeline still ahead. How much farther does it go? And also, surely it goes back much farther on some planets than others?
Also the wiping out of a building full of people in a hurricane is no apocalypse. Frankly even the entire city of Pompeii doesn't count. Disasters, yes, an apocalypse, no. With the length of time that Thanos was alive, surely some his handiwork would count?
I feel it says more about our culture than the story that the big reveal is that Female Loki is finally brought into canon.
4) What I can't tell from the survey is whether the percentage of difference is within a margin of error from one year to the next, but it seems there's a slight decline in people's satisfaction with TV streaming. From the press release chart this would seem to be largely connected with quality and amount of new content. I'm guessing that after a year when the subscriptions really got a lot of use, more people felt like they'd seen all they wanted to on the services.
What's significant though is that for the first time advertisers are more interested in streaming platforms than traditional TV, perhaps even more people plan to cut the cord in 2021.
"among marketers who had revised their TV plans as a result of the pandemic, CTV ranks as the #1 channel choice as marketers reallocate campaign budgets. Furthermore, marketers state that CTV now represents 18 percent of their advertising spend moving forward, a significant acceleration from a standing start in recent years.
…
Every aspect of the decision-making process of TV advertising, including measurement, frequency and creative, will have to evolve as more consumers shift to CTV…
• The shift from a content-first to an audience-first approach - Prime-time is now anytime, as marketers are no longer tied to a schedule.
• More focus on integrated, cross-channel strategies - To improve the viewer experience, manage frequency and better target specific audiences.
• Focus on non-traditional ad formats - Especially shorter ads.
•
“The TV ad business is at a tipping point. Advertisers can reach more households via CTV than via traditional linear TV for the first time. That trend is not reversing,” said Sims."
5) As my driver's license is expiring this year anyway I decided to get started on the process for a Real ID. This requires a bunch of verification info, something which tripped Mike up last year. Despite providing a major issuer credit card showing our address as requested, the document was rejected because the statement did not say VISA or Mastercard on it.
In my case I was tripped up by my passport. Having gone to the safety deposit box to pull some of the documents, I arrived at the DMV and had the documents examined before they'd let me get in line (something I was grateful for as I would have been really put out at an hour's wait in the hot sun only to be sent home). It turns out the passport had expired 3 days earlier, and even though to get it I would have needed the items they asked for, an expired one would not do. I don't see why not since it's needed for identity verification and in that respect it's just as valuable expired as current since it has my current address on it. But nope.
View poll: Kudos Footer-291
Comments at Dreamwidth
.