the message in the bottle is the booze

Catching up on Meme:

14. It’s World Lizard Day – have you ever visited a reptile house or seen a lizard up close? Do you have a favourite?

Yes. But a long ass time ago. Favorite?

I've always been partial to the Komodo Dragon and the little gecko - which changes color and is all over Hilton Head Island, South Carolina where my mother resides. I see them all the time down there - often where they shouldn't be.

My brother had lizards as a kid - at one point one of our cats got in their container and attacked them. My poor brother was beside himself - blaming himself for their injuries. Their tails grew back. They were Skinks - although much larger than in the pictures.

Reptiles don't bother me, just arachnids.

15. Do you have any clocks that need to be wound with a key in your home?

Nope. They are all electronic digital clocks.

16. Have you ever played a wind instrument such as a recorder?

Nope.

****

I was pondering this today? Why is it that they never seem to adapt the books that I want them too? It's why I don't care one way or another about book to film adaptations.

Five books that I wish they'd adapt into series - but alas, probably won't?

* The Chronicles of Lymond
* The Dresden Files [ETA: yes, I know it was developed into a television series - but it doesn't count, it was not many episodes and it was a half-assed effort. I want another attempt.]
* Anne McCaffrey's Dragon Riders of Pern or Crystal Singer Series
* Elizabeth Peter's Vicky Bliss Series
* Maria Doria Russell's The Sparrow and Children of God

Mother told me that the book I published would have worked really well as a movie or series. But I knew that would never happen. I don't have the contacts. It's all who you know - and that business is insanely insular, exclusive and incestuous. I know because I know people who have tried to work within it. The reason we have so many workplace satires is because the entertainment business is the most toxic workplace out there.

(I jumped on Reddit last night to discuss the X-men casting with folks and got annoyed. Sigh. The X-men fandom is more annoying than the soap opera or doctor who or Buffy fandom, and I didn't think that was possible.) The X-men Online Fandom on Reddit was fighting over casting (these folks are incredibly shallow? Seriously, they are caught on age, looks, and costumes?) and what stories Marvel would adapt from the X-men comics (nobody wants the Dark Phoenix Saga apparently - that's because Marvel has attempted to adapt it three times now, with mixed results) - which is among the few series I've wanted them to adapt that they kind of have, just not very well? And not closely enough to the comics to satisfy me. I don't understand why they don't do close comic book adaptations - I mean it is a visual medium. It's not a look a book that doesn't have any pictures. The comic has it all right there?

On the casting? I was appreciative of the posters who aptly stated - we aren't casting directors. Everyone cast in a Marvel film (including Robert Downey Jr.) has to do extensive auditions. They don't just cast anyone. And they go through lots of folks. Also in superhero films - if a casting choice doesn't work out - they can kill them off like that. Professor X has been killed off about ten times in the comics.

( the online fandom fight aka why I only lurk )

Lazy weekend. Spent most of it dozing in my armchair - due to lack of sleep the night before. The weather hasn't necessarily been all that bad? Today it is in the 70sF (20s C) and overcast, with rain in the afternoon. Yesterday in the low 80sF (high 20s C).

I'm always exhausted by the time the weekend hits. I have no idea why. I remember having more energy when I was younger, busier and working a lot harder during the week.

Finished Book 1 of Dungeon Crawler Carl, now onto book 2, Dungeon Crawler Carl's Doomsday Scenario. The nice thing about this series is that I would never write it. So reading it - doesn't necessarily give me ideas or kill the ones that I already have. That's admittedly a mixed bag. I tend to look at books (films and television series) through two lenses? 1) the more "Objective": As a writer and writing critic- what is the writer trying to do here, what is the writer's aims and how does it further the story? What tricks are they employing? Does it work? Does the narrative style work? 2) the more "Subjective" - is this story working for me? On an emotional level? On an entertainment level? Why or why not?

Since I'm more of a macro than micro person, I don't really get that caught up on the fine print or itty bitty details or the logistics/fundamentals of how the world works. For example? I don't care if the world building is feasible or the word syntax is perfect. I skim over a lot of that? Or I handwave it - so there may be things in this book that will drive someone who is highly detail oriented crazy, but I didn't even notice.
( vague spoilers )
The characters are well drawn, I can see them in my head, with next to little description. I also can see the world. And hear the voices. While there's a lot of exposition being dropped constantly - it's told in an interesting enough manner that it doesn't distract or slow down the reading. And it does a good job of making the antagonists as interesting as the protagonists, and providing clues to more world-building and mysteries to keep the reader engaged.

I'd say it's different than just about anything else I've read within this particular subgenre of sci-fi. While it reminds me a lot of John Scalzi's writing style, and some of Stephen King (who is more horror than sci-fi), it isn't really like either? It is similar to Ready Player Now, but I like the book better than that one - and it moves faster. The game is also more interesting with higher stakes. And while the satire and the tone bears some resemblance to Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it's far more accessible to a broader audience than Hitchiker is, and less esoteric. Hitchhiker is also dated.

At any rate, the story is working for me, along with the characters and world building. I really like the central characters and want to know what happens to them. And it's a nice fast read that doesn't require a lot of concentration and makes me laugh (which I require right now).

Overall? 4 out of 5 stars.

***

Re-watched Spiderman: No Way Home. Yep, Spiderman: Brand New Day is the better movie - from a purely objective perspective. Why? It unlike No Way Home, can work as a stand a lone. It nicely reboots the series. And it works various Marvel characters into the plot, without over-exposing them, or forcing the audience to watch all the movies to figure out what is going on. Marvel's biggest problem post-Endgame, was that they had all these exposition heavy movies that linked to each other and to television series. You had to watch everything to figure out what was going one with few exceptions, and they all had convoluted plots. No Way Home's plot makes no sense? Even the characters are confused by it. They spend half the movie looking at each other - going "huh?" ( Read more... )


Also tried to watch Loki s2 this weekend and kept dozing off during it. To the point, that it got incorporated into my dreams. I kept hearing Loki saying "And here I am" every once and a while.

This series has the same problems as No Way Home. ( vague spoilers for Loki )