By the way, and in response to a post on FB about a new TV series fictionalizing the building of the atom bomb... I've finished reading The Making of the Atom Bomb, by Richard Rhodes. Well written, fascinating and, I believe, even handed and fair. And it gives a pretty good summary of the development of nuclear physics in the first half of the XX century. I highly recommend it to those of you who like reading about science and history!
Just saw the new Star Wars... spoiler-free.. I have a feeling it may be as divisive as Abrams' Star Trek reboot for a lot of the same reasons.. Better than the prequels? Just barely. It actually has a lot in common with Return of the Jedi. Another Death Star (kinda). Another X-wing assault ( you already knew these things). Another Light Saber battle. Etc. Daisy Ridley is great. Jon Boyega is pretty great. Oscar Isaacs is oddly under-utilized. It was thankfully free from any eye-rolling material BUT I thought it lacked a sense of scope, of vastness, of awe, of dread. It was kinda just what it needed to be and not much more. Most of my predictions about the story were off though I feel like the movie I was imagining was much better. And all of my predictions about ehhh family lineage were completely off with one major reveal happening somewhat undramatically. What should have been a BWOMP-BWAAAAAM moment was more like 'wait. what did he just say?' And really a lot of it seems to negate the Rebels' victory from 30 years ago. A lot of questions are just avoided.
There's much to like and it IS pretty fun at times but it falls short of greatness because IMHO Abrams isn't very good at setting up the audience emotionally. In Empire Strikes Back, when Luke is making his way to Bespin there's a real feeling of dread. That kind of storytelling is somewhat absent in this movie.. Like his Star Trek reboot there is a bit of "we have to get the characters from point A to point C.." " But JJ, what about point B?" "FUCK point B.!! You're fired.!"
I briefly saw Junior, (aka Justiiiiiiin Trudohhhh, our present celebrity prime minister) today! Oh be still my beating heart! 8-|
Anyway, I was passing by Place des Arts subway after doing some christmas shopping. I saw him doing one of his photo ops, you know, people taking selfies with him, all that vomit inducing shit. A Radio-Canada journalist (the french CBC) put a camera in my face and went "would you like to ask Trudeau a question?". I told him "j'ai rien à foutre" which loosely translated means I couldn't care less. Journo looked puzzled. For some reason, I've had cameras shoved in my face thrice (must be my good looks) and each time the journos seemed confused when I told them to fuck off. I think these guys always assume that everyone is dying to be on TV.
Now that I think about it, I kind of regret not asking Junior if he doesn't see a contradiction between his apparent support for a large pipeline crossing Quebec and his so-called "environmental concerns". But fuck it, what's the point? I'm sure douchebag would have just waffled.
There's a great french expression for political waffling: langue de bois, which means "wooden language".
I think I liked it more than you Tripp. It wasn't perfect but it gave me the thrills and feelings I was looking for.
I was bothered by some of the "the Empire controls the entire galaxy yet is somehow dumb enough to have an exhaust port that goes straight to the core of the Death Star" type moments. I know the original trilogy had plenty of them, but I don't think Abrams HAD to stay true to that element. It would have been more satisfying if things had been harder to pull off.
I guess I'll stop there. We really need that spoiler button option back.
Tonight, at 21:48 tonight Eastern time), the Earth’s north polar axis will be tipped as far away from the Sun as it will be all year. This means the Sun will reach its most southern position on the sky. It also means we have the day with the least amount of daylight in it, and the longest night.
S___ wanted a pair of western boots for Jesus' birthday, so I went and bought the ones she showed me. Kinda takes the surprise out of the whole giftgiving thing, but at least she's getting something she really wants. The boots were pretty damned expensive, so she better wear the fuck out of them.
I've ruined two of my own gifts so far, just by being with S_____ when I saw them and announcing that I was going to buy them. In both cases she tried to gently suggest that I not... I refused to listen... and finally exasperated she just blurted out "because that's one of your presents.. that's why".
I have to make a point of not shopping for myself this time of year.
You know how the adults talk? Mwo mowp bwop mwop bwop, right? Well, as far as my daughter is concerned (and a large proportion of my students, by the looks of it), that's how I must sound.
Hey, thanks for the heads up on The Leftovers. I've been bingeing on it since Friday. I'm on episode 4 of the 2nd season. You really should try The Last Kingdom.
Hey did you know that members of the muslim brotherhood have infiltrated the Obama administration? Yeah, I read it on the internets!
"I have here in my hand a list of two hundred and five people that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Muslim Brotherhood and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department."
The more things change, the more they stay the same, eh?
Comments
Most of my predictions about the story were off though I feel like the movie I was imagining was much better. And all of my predictions about ehhh family lineage were completely off with one major reveal happening somewhat undramatically. What should have been a BWOMP-BWAAAAAM moment was more like 'wait. what did he just say?'
And really a lot of it seems to negate the Rebels' victory from 30 years ago. A lot of questions are just avoided.
There's much to like and it IS pretty fun at times but it falls short of greatness because IMHO Abrams isn't very good at setting up the audience emotionally. In Empire Strikes Back, when Luke is making his way to Bespin there's a real feeling of dread. That kind of storytelling is somewhat absent in this movie.. Like his Star Trek reboot there is a bit of "we have to get the characters from point A to point C.." " But JJ, what about point B?" "FUCK point B.!! You're fired.!"
Anyway, I was passing by Place des Arts subway after doing some christmas shopping. I saw him doing one of his photo ops, you know, people taking selfies with him, all that vomit inducing shit. A Radio-Canada journalist (the french CBC) put a camera in my face and went "would you like to ask Trudeau a question?". I told him "j'ai rien à foutre" which loosely translated means I couldn't care less. Journo looked puzzled. For some reason, I've had cameras shoved in my face thrice (must be my good looks) and each time the journos seemed confused when I told them to fuck off. I think these guys always assume that everyone is dying to be on TV.
There's a great french expression for political waffling: langue de bois, which means "wooden language".
Accidentally.
I was bothered by some of the "the Empire controls the entire galaxy yet is somehow dumb enough to have an exhaust port that goes straight to the core of the Death Star" type moments. I know the original trilogy had plenty of them, but I don't think Abrams HAD to stay true to that element. It would have been more satisfying if things had been harder to pull off.
I guess I'll stop there. We really need that spoiler button option back.
Looks like it's going to be even more rock-em/sock-em than the last two.
Only 24 hours until our flight leaves for Puerto Vallarta!
I am jealous. Have a blast.
Happy winter solstice, everyone!
I have to make a point of not shopping for myself this time of year.
"I have here in my hand a list of two hundred and five people that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Muslim Brotherhood and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department."
The more things change, the more they stay the same, eh?