Neptune's Brood by Charles Stross
Part One: Chapter 8
Interlude
Friday, 13 June 2014
Thursday, 12 June 2014
TV
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
1x03 Love Thy Neighbour
Vera
4x04 Death of a Family Man [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
1x03 Love Thy Neighbour
Vera
4x04 Death of a Family Man [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Wednesday, 11 June 2014
TV
Goodness Gracious Me
Reunion Special
Have I Got News For You
47x08 (23/5/2014 edition; extended repeat)
Law & Order: UK
8x07 Hard Stop
Well that felt very finale-ish, which considering there's one more episode to come -- and it's now the last-ever -- is kinda odd.
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
1x02 George's House
Reunion Special
Have I Got News For You
47x08 (23/5/2014 edition; extended repeat)
Law & Order: UK
8x07 Hard Stop
Well that felt very finale-ish, which considering there's one more episode to come -- and it's now the last-ever -- is kinda odd.
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
1x02 George's House
Tuesday, 10 June 2014
TV
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
1x21 Unsolvable
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Game of Thrones
4x09 The Watchers of the Wall
Awesome, in a very literal sense!
Mad Men
7x03 Field Trip
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
1x01 The Job Interview
Thought I'd seen the first few episode of this before, but I don't remember this one in the slightest. We'll see later, then. Anyway, it's still very funny, which isn't always true of old sitcoms, even popular ones, or so I find.
1x21 Unsolvable
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Game of Thrones
4x09 The Watchers of the Wall
Awesome, in a very literal sense!
Mad Men
7x03 Field Trip
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
1x01 The Job Interview
Thought I'd seen the first few episode of this before, but I don't remember this one in the slightest. We'll see later, then. Anyway, it's still very funny, which isn't always true of old sitcoms, even popular ones, or so I find.
Monday, 9 June 2014
TV
Cowboy Bebop
1x12 Jupiter Jazz Part 1
1x13 Jupiter Jazz Part 2
Disadvantage of my accidental gap: I only had a vague recollection of the events these episodes called back to.
Advantage of our modern internet-enabled era: I could just read up on episode five online.
Gavin & Stacey
3x06 Episode 6 [series finale; 2nd watch]
Law & Order: UK
8x06 Bad Romance
1x12 Jupiter Jazz Part 1
1x13 Jupiter Jazz Part 2
Disadvantage of my accidental gap: I only had a vague recollection of the events these episodes called back to.
Advantage of our modern internet-enabled era: I could just read up on episode five online.
Gavin & Stacey
3x06 Episode 6 [series finale; 2nd watch]
Law & Order: UK
8x06 Bad Romance
Fiction
Neptune's Brood by Charles Stross
Part One: Chapters 6-7
Yep, decided to continue with this. It's still a mite too obsessed with explanations of arcane future economics, but I'll trust on the concurrent narrative for a little longer.
The Waiting Stars by Aliette de Bodard
Second Hugo-nominated novelette, which won the same award at the Nebulas last month.
Considerably better-written than yesterday's, but I'm not sure how I feel about it in itself. I guessed the 'twist' before the halfway point, though it's not just concerned with pulling the rug from under you -- there's questions of imperialism and colonialism here, with neither 'side' being presented as the villain, instead alluding to both the positives and shortcomings of each.
But, in my opinion, it's not long enough to pull off the emotional punch I think it's (in part) going for -- unless you unreservedly buy into these characters at lightning speed, you need a much longer work to feel for them, and to feel for how the change effects them at the end.
Probably won't get my #1 place on the ballot, then, but it's not bad. It can be read for free at the above link.
Part One: Chapters 6-7
Yep, decided to continue with this. It's still a mite too obsessed with explanations of arcane future economics, but I'll trust on the concurrent narrative for a little longer.
The Waiting Stars by Aliette de Bodard
Second Hugo-nominated novelette, which won the same award at the Nebulas last month.
Considerably better-written than yesterday's, but I'm not sure how I feel about it in itself. I guessed the 'twist' before the halfway point, though it's not just concerned with pulling the rug from under you -- there's questions of imperialism and colonialism here, with neither 'side' being presented as the villain, instead alluding to both the positives and shortcomings of each.
But, in my opinion, it's not long enough to pull off the emotional punch I think it's (in part) going for -- unless you unreservedly buy into these characters at lightning speed, you need a much longer work to feel for them, and to feel for how the change effects them at the end.
Probably won't get my #1 place on the ballot, then, but it's not bad. It can be read for free at the above link.
Sunday, 8 June 2014
Fiction
The Exchange Officers by Brad R. Torgersen
Starting reading for the Hugo Best Novelette award -- essentially, a long short story.
Not too impressed by this one. The dialogue is hilariously poor, loaded with clunky exposition, as is some of the prose. Otherwise, it's essentially about a space fight between The Right And Good US Of A, who are unnarmed because they're just in space for nice exploration, and The Evil Chinese, who are kinda armed because they're Evil gorrammit. The other nominees will have to be pretty poor for this to end up highly-ranked on my ballot.
Not available to read for free online, but apparently included in this podcast.
The Ink Readers of Doi Saket by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
The last nominee for the Best Short Story award... and my favourite, too. Interestingly, all the nominees are "magical realist"-type stories rather than obvious SF/F, which I wouldn't have expected (especially given the more 'obvious' style of the nominees in other categories).
This one is set in Thailand, apparently by a Dutch writer and then translated into English. Which doesn't really mean anything, it's just unusual.
Read it online for free at the above link.
Starting reading for the Hugo Best Novelette award -- essentially, a long short story.
Not too impressed by this one. The dialogue is hilariously poor, loaded with clunky exposition, as is some of the prose. Otherwise, it's essentially about a space fight between The Right And Good US Of A, who are unnarmed because they're just in space for nice exploration, and The Evil Chinese, who are kinda armed because they're Evil gorrammit. The other nominees will have to be pretty poor for this to end up highly-ranked on my ballot.
Not available to read for free online, but apparently included in this podcast.
The Ink Readers of Doi Saket by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
The last nominee for the Best Short Story award... and my favourite, too. Interestingly, all the nominees are "magical realist"-type stories rather than obvious SF/F, which I wouldn't have expected (especially given the more 'obvious' style of the nominees in other categories).
This one is set in Thailand, apparently by a Dutch writer and then translated into English. Which doesn't really mean anything, it's just unusual.
Read it online for free at the above link.
this week on 100 Films
One brand-new review was published to 100 Films in a Year this week...
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor (2013)
Also, new to the new blog were...
Atonement (2007)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
More next Sunday.
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor (2013)
That The Day of the Doctor delivers — and how — is part miracle and part relief, and all joy for the viewer. [And] for the majority it wasn't just a success, it was a triumph. Evidence? The record-breaking global audience; it was the most-watched drama in the UK in 2013; its theatrical release reached #2 at the US box office; it won the audience-voted Radio Times BAFTA for last year's best TV programme; and, last week, a poll of Doctor Who Magazine readers asserted it was better than the 240 other Who TV stories to crown it the greatest ever made.Read more here.
Also, new to the new blog were...
Atonement (2007)
even more astounding is 13-year-old Saoirse Ronan as Briony, wise beyond her years as the over-imaginative girl who causes so much misery. In many ways she's the lead character, but as she shares the role with two other, older actresses, it's no surprise she's up for Best Supporting Actress... She's certainly one to watch...Read more here.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
The visuals in general may be Benjamin Button’s strongpoint, holding up a variety of era-evoking colour palettes and other design elements as it passes throughout the 20th Century... For a director who has a reputation in some corners for exhibiting excessive flair with swish shots and effects, Fincher shows steady restraint here — as he did in Zodiac, and Se7en, and all the moments in his other films where it was appropriate.Read more here.
More next Sunday.
Saturday, 7 June 2014
TV
Celebrity Fifteen to One
1x01 (6/6/2014 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Episodes
3x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Gavin & Stacey
3x05 Episode 5 [2nd watch]
Have I Got News For You
47x07 (16/5/2014 edition; extended repeat)
1x01 (6/6/2014 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Episodes
3x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Gavin & Stacey
3x05 Episode 5 [2nd watch]
Have I Got News For You
47x07 (16/5/2014 edition; extended repeat)
Fiction
Neptune's Brood by Charles Stross
Part One: Chapters 3-5
Every time this threatened to get interesting, it slipped into a history or economics lesson about this fictional far-future -- ugh. I was on the verge of giving up... then decided to give it to a fifth of the way through, the end of chapter 4, and it suddenly got interesting, with a chapter-ending cliffhanger and everything. By the end of chapter 5, it's almost downright exciting.
Unfortunately, this is where the free extract provided for Hugo voters runs out. Now I'm debating whether to bank on this new-found good-ness continuing and read more, or assume it will fall back on its old ways and give up anyway.
If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love by Rachel Swirsky
Selkie Stories Are for Losers by Sofia Samatar
The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere by John Chu
Three of the four Hugo nominees for Best Short Story. All are about real-world things with an SF/F twist. If You Were a Dinosaur is clearly the best, The Water That Falls is good but perhaps ends before the end (though perhaps not), and I have no idea what Selkie Stories Are for Losers is really meant to be about.
You can read them all online for free at the links above.
Part One: Chapters 3-5
Every time this threatened to get interesting, it slipped into a history or economics lesson about this fictional far-future -- ugh. I was on the verge of giving up... then decided to give it to a fifth of the way through, the end of chapter 4, and it suddenly got interesting, with a chapter-ending cliffhanger and everything. By the end of chapter 5, it's almost downright exciting.
Unfortunately, this is where the free extract provided for Hugo voters runs out. Now I'm debating whether to bank on this new-found good-ness continuing and read more, or assume it will fall back on its old ways and give up anyway.
If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love by Rachel Swirsky
Selkie Stories Are for Losers by Sofia Samatar
The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere by John Chu
Three of the four Hugo nominees for Best Short Story. All are about real-world things with an SF/F twist. If You Were a Dinosaur is clearly the best, The Water That Falls is good but perhaps ends before the end (though perhaps not), and I have no idea what Selkie Stories Are for Losers is really meant to be about.
You can read them all online for free at the links above.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
This week, a Blu-ray upgrade for V for Vendetta, thanks to the hard-to-come-by Zavvi-exclusive Steelbook. Even though my DVD is a fairly nice limited edition too, there's no point hanging on to it, which is why some numbers go down.
Number of titles in collection: 1,678 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,201 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 477 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 4,173 [down 1]
Number of films in collection: 1,801 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,147 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 410 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
This week, a Blu-ray upgrade for V for Vendetta, thanks to the hard-to-come-by Zavvi-exclusive Steelbook. Even though my DVD is a fairly nice limited edition too, there's no point hanging on to it, which is why some numbers go down.
Number of titles in collection: 1,678 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,201 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 477 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 4,173 [down 1]
Number of films in collection: 1,801 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,147 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 410 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 6 June 2014
TV
Cowboy Bebop
1x11 Toys in the Attic
Gavin & Stacey
3x04 Episode 4 [2nd watch]
Wallander [Swedish]
3x02 Försvunnen (aka Missing)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
1x11 Toys in the Attic
Gavin & Stacey
3x04 Episode 4 [2nd watch]
Wallander [Swedish]
3x02 Försvunnen (aka Missing)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Thursday, 5 June 2014
TV
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
1x20 Fancy Brugdom
The internet can't agree if it's "Brudgom" or "Brugdom" -- but then, neither can the show itself.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Gavin & Stacey
3x03 Episode 3 [2nd watch]
Person of Interest
2x22 God Mode [season finale]
Well that was inconclusive...
1x20 Fancy Brugdom
The internet can't agree if it's "Brudgom" or "Brugdom" -- but then, neither can the show itself.
Gavin & Stacey
3x03 Episode 3 [2nd watch]
Person of Interest
2x22 God Mode [season finale]
Well that was inconclusive...
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