Friday, January 31, 2014

Friday blarg

  • Happy Year of the Horse/Lunar New Year/Chinese New Year/all that
  • Hasta la vista, January. I really never noticed you were here, what with the weird, summer-like weather and dry conditions!
  • Dear FSM: if you would be so kind as to send us rain, that would be really nice.
  • Can't seem to get rid of this goddamn cough. Sigh.
  • Dear Mother Nature: if you would be so kind as to send us rain, that would be really nice.
  • 2014 is not, thus far, filling me with joy. I'm getting slightly-numb to bad news now.
  • So, Yahoo's emails got compromised. That's after Target and some other big store got their data compromised. And the NSA is pretty much illegally spying on everyone and their cousins' cousins. I swear, it's a wonder anyone bothers to use the Internet anymore. Maybe we should just go back to barter and letters delivered by someone on a pony.
  • Seriously. Someone send us some rain here. This is getting kinda scary.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Smaug-tastic

Hobbit cast genderswapped by cosplayers. This? This pleases me.

Wherein I pontificate more on stuff

So the Peter Capaldi god-knows-what-number-he-is Doctor's new look has been revealed. I gotta say I approve. Nice callback to the Pertwee era. Capaldi can only rock in this role. I just hope they find writers who can be worthy of his epic level of awesome.



Apparently "Intelligence" is in ratings freefall. I suppose it's not a coincidence that the writers for that show suck...



Here I'm trying to save cash and bag-lunch it at least a few days a week. And I forgot my damn sandwich this morning. Sigh.



Finished "The Crimson Vault" by Will Wight. Goddamn that was a good book! The second half of the story was non-stop awesome. I love the world Wight has built up. The magic system is weirdness itself, but I like the rules behind it. I'm curious to see where he'll go in the third book and what he's got in mind for his heroes.



I'm eagerly and impatiently awaiting the next offering by Anthony Ryan: "The Tower Lord". I've re-read "Blood Song" a few times now and need more. The last author who hooked me like this was Patrick Rothfuss and while I adore Rothfuss, he's so cagey about his status on his third book, I've pretty much just put him in my George R.R. Martin category and assumed I won't see anything for the next eon or six.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Almost to the day

A week later I can finally kiss that goddamn cold good-bye.

No, I'm not going to kiss it. I'm going to kick its germy ass out the door. My sleep schedule is back to normal and I can breathe fairly normally (or as normally as one can in the wind and allergen-filled crappy air around here). Ugh, what a suckfest that was.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

yeeeeesh

Man, this bug is hanging on like spider-man. Just does NOT want to let go!

I've had a sinus headache for a week now. The cough is pretty much gone (shockingly-enough) but the stuffy-sinus stuff just won't stop.

And I was one of the lucky ones by getting the worst of it over the MLK three-day weekend. The Nyquil-excessive sleep treatment did wonders to get rid of that fever in only a couple of days. I know some folks who have been sporting it for more than three days now.

And this isn't even the flu!

Glad I got that flu shot.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Lessons learned from the plague

  1. Sleep helps.
  2. Nyquil is magic. Okay, I already knew this...
  3. It's not allergies when you're wearing three layers and you're still shivering on a day of record high temperatures.
  4. Nyquil-induced slumber can fix neck/shoulder pain from excessive mouse use.
  5. Never underestimate the power of a short, hot shower.
  6. BBotE can counteract the worst of the aftereffects of Nyquil. Just.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Three days

Three days of sinus headache, cough, and general malaise. Two of those days had fever and chills in the mix. As it is now, my cough is loose but still luring sea lions inland.

Nine hours of sleep Friday night into Saturday morning. Ten more hours of sleep Saturday night into Sunday morning, this time with some Nyquil in the mix. Thirteen - that's right, thirteen - hours of sleep Sunday night into this morning.

The fever's gone and the chills mostly so.

This sucks.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

figures

I've got a three day weekend. First time in 16 years I've got MLK off as a paid holiday. What happens? I get a cold. Sigh.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Sherlocked Out

Saw S03E03 of "Sherlock" known as "His Last Vow".

So... yeah. Is it spoilery to just generally whine about how stories are told without getting into specifics?

I'm honestly not sure.

Okay, I'm going to do a crapload of carriage returns. Keep reading if you're unconcerned about vaguely-worded spoilery things.









































































Still there? Okay.


So this entire season of "Sherlock" hasn't really been about Sherlock Holmes and John Watson solving crimes. It's been more about a bit of naval gazing fanfic mixed in with exploration of the Sherlock-Watson "bromance". The antagonists were, at best, weak tea. Only "The Sign of Three" (S03E02) had any mysteries in it worth mentioning and, while those were clever, they got short shift to the main story of the wedding of John and Mary.

I liked the addition of Amanda Abbingston (the spouse/partner of Martin Freeman) as Mary Watson, but the so-called revelation in "His Last Vow" was ridiculous and cliche. The whole plot of "His Last Vow" lacked any real mystery at all and the antagonist was a serious let-down.

Given that the writers only produce three episodes a season, I'd had higher hopes for series three of "Sherlock". I guess Moffat and Gatiss are tapped out. Sad, given the rich material to draw from, but there you have it.

A Post-Moff Universe

io9 has some speculation as to who might replace Steven Moffat on "Dr. Who". My unsolicited reactions to this discussion:
  • Toby Whithouse: Please god no! "A Town Called Mercy" was unwatchable. "The God Complex" nearly made me claw out my brain with pliers. Just... no.
  • Mark Gatiss: Please god yes! Just... yes. Of the options listed, he has the best handle on the show, hands down.
  • Howard Overman: Um... no idea. Never seen his stuff.
  • Neil Cross: SWEET ZOMBIE JESUS NO! "The Rings of Akhaten" was so awful that I nearly had a seizure. I'm actually undecided who did a worse writing job: Whithouse or Overman.
  • Chris Chibnall: "The Power of Three" was cheesy and weak tea, but it was buckets better than Cross and Whithouse's offerings. He's had weak stuff but goddamn... if the fans like Whithouse and Overman over Chibnall in terms of episode writing, I'm wondering what's in the drinking water these days.
  • Neil Gaiman: No. He should stick to novels. I've not been a fan of his forays into "Dr. Who" and would prefer he go off and do other things.
  • J. Michael Straczynski: OH MY GOD PLEASE MAKE THIS HAPPEN!!!! This man is a god. Only good things would come of this. Only. Good. Things.
And there we have it.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Toob Thoughts

I will admit it: "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." is improving. At least the latest episode, "Seeds", was a vast improvement over the previous offerings. Set in one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. academies, it had mad science, a nefarious and shadowy villain, and the birth of a probable super-villain. It also started to do something interesting with the lackluster character of "Skye".

If the writers can keep the rest of the season at this level or (preferably) better, then there's hope for this show.




"Person of Interest" keeps going at its usual level of excellence. This time they went back to the basics and kept the POI crew on Reese and Finch with a little bit of Shaw. With the latest person of interest on an airplane, the story was both familiar and well-executed. It's refreshing to see Reese back to being an unstoppable badass as well as getting a little bit of primary focus.




I recorded the second episode of "Intelligence" but haven't had the time (or the heart) to watch it yet. I need to get around to seeing the recording of S03E03 of "Sherlock" at some point. Why does real life insist on interfering with my entertainment time? Why????

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Review: the Sebenza 21

Been a while since I've gushed and enthused about actual things. I should do something about that.

A while back, life was not going so great. Long story short, I made an extravagant (though - at the time - ill-advised) purchase. I acquired a small Sebenza 21 knife.

Another knife, you say? Yes. Yes I did.

No I don't need another pocket knife. I saw it on a site, fell in lust with it, then kept Googling it as days passed.

I bit the bullet and ordered one about a week or so later.

Buyer's remorse overwhelmed me as I awaited it then the knife arrived in the mail. Any regret I felt was washed away in a flood of exuberant glory.

The Sebenza 21 is truly a beauty. I got the smaller one so as to have fewer issues with local knife laws. I went with the plain, stonewashed handle. So it's stonewashed titanium (I do love titanium) with a not-quite-three-inch blade.

Oh hell. This is what it looks like:



I'm linking to the Chris Reeve site, so hopefully that won't piss anyone off.

The knife comes with a cloth, a wrench for adjusting, and oil all in a nice little presenting box.

And damn is it sharp!

The Sebenza 21 is a popular blade, from what I can see. Best Made offered it for a while and sold out quickly. I've found Knife Art to be a fantastic site and their prices are great.

So shiny...

January. Huh.

Almost halfway through the month and January's got 2014 on a roll of crazy.
  • Record-breaking heat in the Bay Area. I can't remember the last time we had such a long stretch of fog-free weather. The lack of rain is quite troubling.
  • Changes in the pipeline. Potentially, at least. Trying not to get freaked out. Alas, it's not in my nature.
  • Having to force myself to take breaks from computer use. My shoulder/neck issues are returning. Too much time at the keyboard. May be time to invest in a standing desk at home.
  • Getting addicted to "Almost Human" on FOX.
  • F--ing sinuses are killing me.

Friday, January 10, 2014

A lack of

I missed the premiere of "Intelligence", the "Chuck" knock-off that CBS has decided to air. So I decided to stream the pilot from the CBS site last night, mainly out of curiosity.

It stars the guy who played "Sawyer" from "Lost". While any association with "Lost" generally brings up a rage surpassed only by "Battlestar Galactica", I did enjoy several of the cast and Sawyer was a favorite character, mostly for his being such an unabashed jackass.

So, "Intelligence". Yeah. Um... It really wasn't all that good. In a nutshell: super-spy Sawyer (I can't even be bothered to look up the names of any of the characters) has a chip in his head that lets him tap into computers via wireless signals. So he's sort of the organic opposite of the Machine from "Person of Interest". He's also kind of an idiot and starts the pilot with a hopelessly contrived backstory of a "is she or isn't she?" terrorist wife who is MIA and a weird father-son relationship with the scientist who put the chip in his head.

The writers cut to the normal mid-season story quickly by having said scientist kidnapped in the beginning of the episode and stilted exposition follow.

Cyber-Sawyer is partnered with a tough-but-generically-pretty secret service woman to protect him (and mainly the chip in his head). Meanwhile, the bad guys are doing something predictable that I'll refrain from spoiling. Needless to say, we get a recurring villain or two from the get-go that fit cliches I thought went out-of-fashion some time back.

What are writers going to use as bad guys when North Korea collapses and China's economy is too enmeshed with ours to risk offending their audience? Oh, I think that spoiled something. My bad.

The pilot was disappointing and the cast was lackluster at best. The story was weak tea and the show had a writing quality that matches "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." (that is not a compliment). I'm sure it'll do fantastically in ratings.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Holmes for the holidaze

Okay, I'm stretching it with my attempt to do clever blog entry titles.

Thanks to a friend's generosity, I was able to see the second episode of Series Three of "Sherlock".

So I'll level with you: I lied in my previous post. The first ep ("The Empty Hearse") was awful and I didn't really enjoy it. I was just being uncharacteristically charitable.

This one, "The Sign of Three" was better, though still too naval-gazing for my comfort. Certainly it was a solid mix of funny and clever. The mysteries were interesting.

Still, I'm finding it astounding that show with three episode seasons does a quality slide in terms of stories this fast. Kind of disheartening.

Navel maneuvers

I saw the first ep of series three of "Sherlock" last night.

I'm not going to review it in any specific detail in this post.

I am going to rant a bit. It may cross into something that might vaguely be considered spoilerish. Perhaps.

I watched the episode with eager anticipation. I love "Sherlock". Moffatt and Mark Gatis have done a fantastic job with the re-imagined show. The episode from season two with the Triads was weak, but the rest of the five episodes were entertaining, if not actually fantastic.

I enjoyed "The Empty Hearse" (the opener for series three) but there was just something that bugged me.

It took me about thirty minutes of watching until it really sank it. It's a lot of what has bugged me about Moffatt's tenure on "Dr. Who" as well as Russell T. Davies' tenure on "Dr. Who".

There's this weird mixture of excessive navel-gazing, patting one's self on the back, and vague homage coupled with masturbatory slash-fic-ing that Davies, Moffatt, and Gatiss have a tendency to do that's really starting to get to me.

Until the most recent ep of "Sherlock", I never got that vibe from Gatiss. He seemed to have his shit together and keep stuff in perspective. I've generally enjoyed Gatiss's offerings in "Dr. Who". They haven't knocked my socks off, but they've been solid enough, especially when compared with the shockingly-weak stuff Moffatt has produced.

Gatiss is credited for "The Empty Hearse" and I gotta say, the ep felt more like something Moffatt whacked-off onto a page.

All three of these men seem determined to take their childhood heroes and sexualize them rather than focus on writing the characters having adventures in the manner in which they're intended.

Example: RTD brings back "Dr. Who" in a modern, brilliant way. Then he gets super-involved in adding sexual chemistry signals followed by tons of snogging and odd affair-like scenarios between the Doctor and his various female companions, most of whom act embarrassingly-clingy and besotted.

Moffatt and Gatiss had fun with exploring homoerotic overtones with "Sherlock" and that was entertaining, but the story of Sherlock Holmes isn't about a sexual dynamic, homosexual or not. It's about solving mysteries. When the focus shifts from being a detective to slapstick and sexual innuendo as the dominant themes, you're no longer writing Sherlock Holmes. You're writing slashfic and there's a place for that: the Internet.

I really wish the new crop of brainiacs would dial down their masturbatory fantasies by a factor of a million and focus instead on just doing good stories.

Moffatt proved with "Blink" and other tales that he can pen fantastic stuff for "Dr. Who". Gatiss similarly has done solid work. Write slashfic on your own time, guys. Post it to a newsboard. Sell it as an ebook on Amazon. Folks will buy it up and feel overjoyed. Don't dilute the main programs in that fashion. It's childish.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Thoughts on Jan. 8, 2014

  • Do not bait 2014.
  • "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." is just not a good TV show. And I'm comparing it with "Arrow" from the CW, which is really, really sad.
  • California is now in a drought. Oh this summer is going to be buckets of fun.
  • California's winter would count as summer in most other parts of the country.
  • Seriously. Do not bait 2014.

Monday, January 6, 2014

salt mining and whatnot

Two weeks of utter sloth and over-the-top gluttony.

Two blissful weeks.

Okay, they weren't all blissful moments in those two weeks. I managed to tweak the hell out of my back the first day of my break and spent the subsequent two days recovering, but it was a muscle thing and quickly went away. I guess I relaxed those muscles nicely.

Consumed beer and cocktails when not stuffing my face with various foodstuffs. Cooked. Actually cleaned (shockingly enough). Did some jogging, just to mix things up. Shuttled a friend to the other end of the Bay Area and explored what kind of gas mileage I get when I'm not driving on city streets. Cursed out Moffatt for what was (in my opinion) a horrible finale for Smith's tenure as the Doctor.

Drank some more. Ate some more. Worked on various side-projects, some work-related, some not.

Now I'm broke, fat, lazy, and trying to get back into the swing of things.

Hello 2014. What do you have for me?