sabotabby | Entries tagged with nerrrrrrrrrd

I'm not having the greatest day and I have so much to do but also I have completely burnt out on being a responsible adult and I need a break, so I'm going to shitpost.

Confession time: I have never successfully finished the first Dune book. I'm sorry

frandroid ! I tried! I will probably try again! On paper it sounds like everything I like but for some reason I bounced off of it. I did see the David Lynch adaptation and of course the Denis Villeneuve adaptation and for some reason I was Googling about it when I came across spoilers for the thing that happens later in the series.

Which is to say—and sorry to spoil a 43-year-old book for y'all—in Children of Dune, Leto II Atreides, son of Timothee Chalamet, realizes through his prophetic visions that the only way to stop all of humanity from dying is to fuse with a larval sandworm, and by God Emperor of Dune he is almost all sandworm except for his head and arms, and has been ruling for 3500 years. Obviously the idea of a giant sandworm guy with a tiny little human head and arms is the most hilarious and perfect thing ever and also I think he eats all the other sandworms??? maybe?? If I'm wrong about this don't correct me.

Listen if Villeneuve doesn't give me a giant sandworm with a tiny head and arms eating all the other sandworms what is even the point of adapting this series, I ask you?

Anyway being a visual sort of person I had to go look up how artists had portrayed this fellow over the years and I was not disappointed. I mostly stuck to actual covers but there were a few pieces of what might be fanart that I thought were cool so I left them in.

I tried to credit as much as I could but also I'm very tired and lazy, so if you happen to have more information, let me know and I'll edit it in.

( God Emperor of Dune illustrations, ranked from worst to best )

Anyway, that is my ranking; let me know if you agree, disagree, or found even cooler ones that you'd like to discuss!

Warning! This is a very half-assed theory post about some thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head lately and should not be taken as any more than that. It's punching up but since it has to do with public shaming, humiliation, and embarrassment, as well as discussions of transphobia and racism, I am putting it all under a cut in case that's a trigger for folks.

If you want to read about how I'm a good person, this isn't a post about that. And if you want a more deeply considered opinion from a smart person, check out ContraPoints' video about cringe, which a better blogger would have rewatched before wading back into this Discourse.

( brace yourself, discourse is coming )

I've finished it so now we can talk about it!

Background: Sandman was the first comic I ever got into. Sandman got me into comics—it was the first comic I encountered that made me think, "hey, this medium might be for people like me." I have reread it more times than I can count. I still think it's one of the greatest comics of all time. When I was in high school I did Death's eyeliner spiral every day and my vice-principal thought it was a tattoo.

So to say that I was looking forward to this but also had apprehensions is an understatement. There have been many horrible ideas about adapting it. I was pretty confident that Gaiman's involvement would ensure that it was at least decent but you never know.

Spoiler-free version: I loved it. It's as good an adaptation as I could have possibly hoped for. They nailed the spirit of the original while making necessary changes to update it and make it work for the medium. The casting choices were near-perfect and there were times when I was just overwhelmed with emotion. I'm not terribly concerned with visual effects, as I do think the CGI looked good but will inevitably feel dated, but I think they did a good job with them. My quibbles are of the minor variety. I let out a little squeal at the end.

My biggest concern was "did they get Death right, tho?" and they got Death right. They got Death perfect.

( Spoiler version )

Anyway, what did you think? I'm interested to hear from both people who read the comics and people who are coming into the show brand new with no expectations.

I am sorry, I am so very sorry, but I am going to hold forth about Star Trek, about which I have Opinions. Not because there are not more important things going on in the world, because there absolutely are, but because I am procrastinating on editing a scene that is annoying me and blathering about pop culture is fun, and because I think there will be more interesting discussion here than in the comments on YouTube where I initially expressed some of these ideas.

So! I am really enjoying Strange New Worlds, with the exception of the one episode that was a blatant rip-off of a famous Ursula K. LeGuin story that made no sense for the setting. All of my critique here is said with love—I think it's the best written of the NuTreks and it in general makes me very happy to watch every week. But we must also criticize the things we love because we are nerds and nitpickers and because culture reproduces ideology, etc.

And while I think it does most things well, it does disability kinda badly.

( Spoilers for everything up to and including the penultimate episode below. )

I've been so exploited at work lately that I legitimately forgot that this is normally when I go in a big march and then to the CNE.

Awesome poster by Will Burrows on FB:

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Genuinely glad I paced myself with Good Omens such that I watched the finale tonight, when I needed it most.

Crossposts: https://sabotabby.livejournal.com/1550965.html

Obligatory squee post.

( spoilers obv )

Crossposts: https://sabotabby.livejournal.com/1490262.html

I GM'd the first game of our new Rocket Age campaign! Note: I have never GM'd before unless you count the game of Honey Heist I ran with my kids.

Opening disclaimer:

Me: So I don't know what I'm doing and you guys are going to help me. But let's get this straight. We are here for one thing and one thing alone.
R (who is 10): TO KILL NAZIS!
Me: TO KILL NAZIS...WITH RAYGUNS!

So that's an auspicious start, I think.

Crossposts: https://sabotabby.livejournal.com/1451799.html

If you somehow missed it (which would not be surprising, given the lack of fanfare that it seems to be generated), The City & the City is out and I watched the whole thing. Perfectly legally, of course.

Spoiler: It is everything I hoped it would be.

Watch on YouTube

The trailer doesn't do it justice; it is much less a thriller/mystery (even if you didn't read the book, it's obvious whodunnit) and more of a haunting, surrealistic meditation on the absurdity of borders. It's the first of China Miéville's novels to be adapted, and not the one I'd consider the most obvious choice, but they pulled it off far better than I'd expect.

The story goes something like this: Two cities, the dilapidated, vaguely Eastern European Besźel, and the modern, vaguely Middle Eastern Ul Qoma, occupy the same geographic space but exist in different countries For Reasons. Citizens cannot freely travel between one, even though neighbourhoods and streets can exist simultaneously in both cities; there's a complicated set of rules and passports, enforced by propaganda, clothing, posture, colour-coding, and the mysterious all-seeing Breach, who are swift to disappear any violators. Walking film noir archetype Inspector Borlú stumbles upon the murder of an American exchange student studying in Ul Qoma but found dead in Besźel, a crime which may be linked to the disappearance of his wife and the existence of a rumoured third city, Orciny.

( spoilers )

Crossposts: https://sabotabby.livejournal.com/1450365.html

Watch on YouTube

I saw it! At the AGO, at a glamorous gala event for which I was rather underdressed and unprepared. :)

The backstory is that that Nalo Hopkinson is one of my favourite authors of all time and Brown Girl In the Ring is her second-best book (after The New Moon's Arms, which I'm convinced is the best mermaid story that anyone has told or will ever tell). I also was one of the many backers on IndieGoGo, so I come in with some biases.

This said, there was a lot to love about the film. Mostly, it felt like the world of the book, mysterious and beautiful, with hope peeking through cracks in a landscape of urban decay and despair. The filmmaker, Sharon Lewis, made the correct decision in creating a prequel inspired by the novel rather than attempting a straight-up adaptation, which I think is just too complicated and internal to work as a feature film. It looks gorgeous, from the cinematography to the costume design, it sounds gorgeous, and the casting is spectacular. The standout for me was Shakura S'Aida (who also performed at the reception, along with the brilliant Measha Brueggergosman) as Mami, who stole every scene she was in.

My criticisms are broadly of the reach-exceeding-grasp variety; I don't think they had the time they needed to film everything they needed, and so there are a lot of extreme close-ups, flashbacks, and flash-forwards that occasionally feel like they're filling space that wants to be filled with plot and worldbuilding. It skirts the edge of Hopkinson's vision of post-apocalyptic Toronto, but never quite shows us everything we want to see. I wanted at least about half an hour more of story, or, preferably, an HBO miniseries.

This said, it is ambitious and well-made and would entirely recommend. It's getting a short run at Yonge-Dundas if you missed the opening.

Also, I got to meet Nalo Hopkinson and gush at her in a nerdy fangirl way and she handled this with grace and tolerance. And mentioned that there will be An Announcement on March 1st, which I can only hope is a new book from her.

Crossposts: https://sabotabby.livejournal.com/1442822.html

Just arrived in Riga, Latvia. Thought, hey, this hotel is teh cute!

Anya is like, "This hotel is familiar."

I realize that this is of interest to probably no one else reading this (sadly it would be if I were cross posting to LJ, where there is a teeny community for such things), but I'm staying in the hotel where they shot Seventeen Moments of Spring (as well as parts of the Soviet Sherlock Holmes.) And if you think I'm not geeking out like mad over this, you don't know me at all.

Fortunately, Anya is the person who introduced me to the series so she is also geeking out and is equally pleased that Stirlitz is watching over the beds in our room, judging whether or not we have adequately sacrificed and fought for the cause of anti-fascism:

Here's the view out the window:

(If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here is my screenshot recap of Seventeen Moments after I watched it and decided that everyone needed to see it. Minus the image hosting, unfortunately; I'll need to fix that at some point.)

Hot damn this was the best series of NuWho. But the finale was kind of a typical finale, in that it was a let-down from the incredible penultimate episode. Which is not to say that it's bad, so much as I'm just really glad we get one more episode with Capaldi because if he has to leave (*tears*) it should be on a high note.

And the thing is I dislike almost all the season finales, because they illustrate the biggest flaws both Moff and RTD have with writing arcs, which is EPIC SET-UP followed by not knowing how to conclude all of the plot in a narratively satisfying way.

The problem is that I figured out a way to fix it.

( spoilers obv )

Crossposts: http://sabotabby.livejournal.com/1410463.html

My last review for terror_scifi is—not coincidentally—my first review for

terror_sffa and is, accordingly, posted in both places. That's right, we now have a community on Dreamwidth! So go over there and join for more reviews, recommendations, discussions, and awesome people.

Crossposts: http://sabotabby.livejournal.com/1400313.html

It seems vaguely horrific to be writing about anything other than politics right now, but someone requested awhile back that I do a master list of all of the movies and TV that I watched so that you don't have to. And to be fair, we all need distraction now and then—perhaps now more than ever.

(All links go to LJ; sorry DW people, but there are a lot of reviews and I don't have time to do this twice.)

Current (good) TV reviews: I review The Magicians, Preacher, and Luke Cage for terror_scifi. My reviews are all tagged with my name there, but if you're looking for specific shows:

The Magicians (currently posting!)
Preacher
Luke Cage

Bad Movie Reviews: They are all tagged (along with the odd bad book and other things) under Cheatsheet of Freedom. If you're looking for specific things:

This Revolution (the one that started it all; a movie about anarchists that sounded really good and even starred Rosario Dawson, but spoiler, it is not very good)

Left Behind (Jesus takes all of the good Christians to Heaven, leaving Kirk Cameron to fight the Antichrist)

Atlas Shrugged Pt. 1 (John Galt takes all the good capitalists to Heaven, I mean capitalist paradise, leaving some actors you've never heard of to fight the socialists)
Atlas Shrugged Pt. 2 (second verse, same as the first)
Atlas Shrugged Pt. 3 (yes I watched the whole fucking thing, why do you ask?)

American Sniper (smug jingoism with a fake plastic baby. I was super drunk the whole time.)

50 Shades of Grey (bad softcore porn, but don't worry, I fixed it.)

The Fountainhead (a rapey Ayn Rand movie about architecture)

Red Dawn (communists invade middle America and are repelled by the high school football team. Note that I have somewhat revised my opinion of the film since I wrote this review, and now view it as a clever satire.)

Rambo III (the one where he joins the Taliban, who are the good guys.)

Battle In Seattle (it is about the Battle of Seattle and is exactly as good as you would expect a movie about the Battle of Seattle to be.)

X-Files Season 10 (okay, not a movie, and not a proper screenshot review, but it was really bad)

Good Movie and TV Reviews: I also sometimes review things I like that are kind of obscure, in the hopes that someone else will watch them and squee with me.

Enthiran (this is my favourite movie of all time and objectively the best movie ever made. It's a 3-hour-long Tamil musical about a killer robot and you should watch it at least 70 bazillion times)

Seventeen Moments of Spring (a Soviet-era miniseries about a Russian spy undercover in Germany during WWII)

Cambridge Spies (a BBC miniseries about the Cambridge Five, a bunch of upper class British kids who spied for the USSR for decades without getting caught)

Babylon 5 (some people found out that I had never seen the show and made me watch the whole thing, so I did. Spoiler: Vir is my favourite and Susan Ivanova is my other favourite)

So yeah enjoy.

Crossposts: http://sabotabby.livejournal.com/1383509.html

• I'm going to be reviewing Luke Cage over at

terror_scifi. I just posted the first review, and I'll try to keep it to a weekly schedule if school permits. Incidentally I'm only two and a half episodes in and trying to avoid spoilers, so if you binge-watched it this weekend, try to keep schtum, okay?

• It's been an epic time of concerts. There are more concerts than I can reasonably attend given that I have this annoying need to work for money and such, but I am still managing to hit a lot of concerts. Legendary Pink Dots last Tuesday, the Levellers on Friday, Billy Bragg next Tuesday, and Stiff Little Fingers, Tanya Tagaq, Peter Hook, and Dido and Aeneas all in the near future.

I can't stress enough how completely brilliant the Levellers were. I've never seen them live before, and they were just incredible. I ended up right at the front and danced for like two hours straight.

• Went to the big $15 and Fairness demo on Saturday. It was worth attending.

• I think the pedometer on my phone is fucked. It's seriously undercounting my steps compared to what I'm used to, except for at the Levellers show, where it thought I somehow walked 7000 steps during the time I was inside the Opera House. I checked all the things that it could possibly be and they were all functioning normally, which lead me to the conclusion that Apple wants me to buy a new phone but since I don't want to do that, Apple's going to end up with me buying a Fitbit instead.

• L'shana tova to everyone celebrating it.

My latest review, which is basically 1500 words of me squeeing over another minor character who makes an appearance, is up at

terror_scifi. Also hinted at in said review is my next set of reviews, which will be of Preacher, in yet another attempt to get everyone to watch this new show that I'm really into.

Also, you guys should just all be following

terror_scifi and then I won't make these annoying weekly nag-posts. :)

My latest review, in which there is a threesome and a magic missile spell, is up! Gosh, I'm almost at the end of this thing: two more episodes to go.

In IRL news, ( talk about food/diet )

Tonight I'm hopefully going to see the Cure for free. They're playing not far from my house, at an expensive music festival that I have no desire to see, but apparently if you're outside the park, you can hear everything just fine. If we can't, or we get chase off, there's also the option of going for a pint. So, regardless, a win.

My latest review, a day late due to being excessively social this weekend. This was probably my second-favourite episode of the season and by far the funniest.

My review is up! If you want to talk about haunted houses, dead children, and the Dead Lesbians trope: over this way. Also there are adorable talking animals.

My latest review is up!

In other news, I did birthday festivities this weekend. It involved Ethiopian food and fancy drinks at Shore Leave. Here is a punch bowl that is on fire:

13230188_10156883296460612_209224663394731409_n

13230188_10156883296460612_209224663394731409_n

Okay, it's not a lot of fire. But it was still on fire.

The despair about aging lifted a bit in the presence of good friends, a number of whom I hadn't seen in ages. So that was lovely. Also I got incredibly drunk.

Did a bunch of gardening. I now have almost all of my vegetables in. I'm keeping it simple this year: lots of tomatoes, basil, scotch bonnet peppers, and one experimental ghost pepper. Planted marigolds to help the tomatoes along. Going to pick up some pickling cucumbers tomorrow. The kitten frolicking through the periwinkles is Merlin, one of the tinykittens. Both the two remaining tinykittens and their tinycat mom have claimed my backyard as their territory.

appleblossoms

Bonus pictures of my cats, taken with my portrait lens.

cocoa

And I got boots! They are like this but more black than red, so essentially the same finish as the boots they are replacing, except that a) they are Docs, not Fluevogs, and b) they do not have massive holes in them. So that's good, too.

The best thing of all is that it's a long weekend and I can actually catch up on my sleep and such!

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sabotabby

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The Antisocial Socialist

i'll tell you all my secrets but i'll lie about my past

Entries tagged with nerrrrrrrrrd

Ranking the 15 best/worst depictions of the God Emperor of Dune

Towards a theory of cringe

The obligatory Netflix Sandman review

SNW and Disability Discourse

Labour Day

on a more superficial note

New Who!!!

Milestones in nerdery

The City & the City

Brown Girl Begins

17 Moments of Riga

Doctor Who S10

Quick announcement

Media review master post

Week/end updates

Magicians 1x12

Magicians 1x11 + weekend stuff

Magicians 1x10

Magicians 1x09

Magicians 1x08 + Weekend wrap-up