To-read pile, 2026, February
Mar. 1st, 2026 08:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rmc28Books on pre-order:
- Platform Decay (Murderbot 8) by Martha Wells (5 May)
- Radiant Star (Imperial Radch) by Ann Leckie (12 May)
- Unrivaled (Game Changers 7) by Rachel Reid (1 Jun 2027)
The release of the third Heated Rivalry book - which was only announced in January after the TV adaptation got wildly popular - is pushed back by eight months. I'm assuming this is to allow Rachel Reid more time to finish it and/or engage with the adaptation of the second book, The Long Game.
Books acquired in February: none (wow)
Borrowed books read in February:
- The Hidden Oracle (Trials of Apollo 1) by Rick Riordan [3]
- Camp Half-Blood Confidential by Rick Riordan [3]
- The Dark Prophecy (Trials of Apollo 2) by Rick Riordan [3]
- The Burning Maze (Trials of Apollo 3) by Rick Riordan [3]
- The Tyrant's Tomb (Trials of Apollo 4) by Rick Riordan [3]
- Camp Jupiter Confidential by Rick Riordan [3]
- The Tower of Nero (Trials of Apollo 5) by Rick Riordan [3]
- The Singer of Apollo (Percy Jackson and the Olympians 5.5) by Rick Riordan
It's been a really intense month, mostly with ice hockey commitments, so what reading I have managed has been entirely the ongoing Riordan read-through. Trials of Apollo successfully grows Apollo from intensely irritating in the first few chapters of the first book to someone I cried over in the last book. Plus I have now watched both seasons of the Disney+ adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians and oh boy do I have Opinions, especially on the second season. They get a lot of details right, the casting is excellent, and yet they get the heart of the story so so wrong. (Will I still watch season 3 when it comes out? Probably! Maybe they won't mess it up as badly?)
Anyway. Onward into March.
[3] Physical book
No Longer Winter
Mar. 1st, 2026 07:51 ampoliphilo March begins wet and windy, but it's no longer winter, right?
There's a pigeon somewhere out there in the gardens singing, "If you think I'm sexy..."
Israel and the USA were reportedly gunning for Ayatollah Khamenei- him in person, nobody else- and the news this morning is they've got him....
There's a pigeon somewhere out there in the gardens singing, "If you think I'm sexy..."
Israel and the USA were reportedly gunning for Ayatollah Khamenei- him in person, nobody else- and the news this morning is they've got him....
Shorter month, shorter posting, it seems - Late February 02026
Feb. 28th, 2026 11:21 pmsilveradeptI feel like we need to start with this, because I'm runnning into situations where people have clearly not internalized one of the most important things to remember about stochastic parrots that they are calling Avian Intelligence. It's all based on vector maths and probabilities. It does not know what is true, nor what is accurate, when it is constructing what word to select next. That it manages to get things correct is by accident, and by the providence of having training data that contains the correct information in it. When it constructs sentences and so on, it does so based only on what the training data and the vector math, with some fuzz factor built in, says the next word is, regardless of whether that's the right word or not. (Admittedly, being able to do the vector math is helpful, because it allows for a certain amount of synonym substitution and can make a search engine more robust at finding relevant answers if you don't hit the exact keywords. There's an aside here about how many engines are transforming your queries so that you search for things that will serve you ads or that will steer the results to prioritize those who have paid for top search engine ranking, such that even things that are good that come from machine learning are then transformed to evil purposes by capital and their priorities.)
Also up top, Dreamwidth is recruiting volunteers who would be willing to file documents in United States courts talking about the chilling effects on your speech and online activity that various state laws trying to curb social site use by teens would have, and especially from parents who would be willing to detail the way those laws would interfere with your parenting decisions. Comments screened, signing up is not committing to writing such declarations. Also, risks involve things like having to use your wallet name, and possibly having your wallet name and your Dreamwidth identity linked in publicly-available court materials or at least materials available to the state and the court.
(Because South Carolina is the latest entity to join the circus, South Carolina users are especially helpful right now, but all kinds of states have legislation that's looking to join the circus. Why South Carolina? Well, they're charging people with "contributing to the delinquency of a minor" by being an identified adult in a teen-focused anti-ICE school walkout planning chat and expressing support for the walkout. Among other things they're trying to do to supposedly protect teens from the corrupting influence of adults.)
The worry about the presence of new media is perennial and perpetual, but it's not the new medium, or the new screen, that is the issue, it's the way that content is designed and presented that's trying to fragment attention and deep thinking. Accessibility and multimodality are awesome things, but there's a lot of design work that's been put into keeping us scrolling and viewing ads rather than using our tools to think and engage deeply.
Dr. Gladys West, whose precise measurements of the planet made it possible for the Global Positioning System network to come into existence, and therefore commercial (and military) satellite navigation, has died at 95 years of age. Another contribution of painstaking measurment and mathematics that undergirds so very much of the technological world today.
The Reverend Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist and occasional punchline of a joke, has finished his ministry at 84 years of age.
( What Have the Fools, Grifters, and Bigots Been Up To This Time? )
Last for tonight, twenty-five years of a very popular early-Internet meme, matching visuals to the "Invasion of the Gabber Robots" by the Laziest Men on Mars, who would also give us the Pusher and Shover robots in a different viral video.
(Materials viaadrian_turtle, azurelunatic, boxofdelights, cmcmck, conuly, cosmolinguist, elf, finch, firecat, jadelennox, jenett, jjhunter, kaberett, lilysea, oursin, rydra_wong, snowynight, sonia, the_future_modernes, thewayne, umadoshi, vass, the ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
meta_warehouse community, little_details, and anyone else I've neglected to mention or who I suspect would rather not be on the list. If you want to know where I get the neat stuff, my reading list has most of it.)
Also up top, Dreamwidth is recruiting volunteers who would be willing to file documents in United States courts talking about the chilling effects on your speech and online activity that various state laws trying to curb social site use by teens would have, and especially from parents who would be willing to detail the way those laws would interfere with your parenting decisions. Comments screened, signing up is not committing to writing such declarations. Also, risks involve things like having to use your wallet name, and possibly having your wallet name and your Dreamwidth identity linked in publicly-available court materials or at least materials available to the state and the court.
(Because South Carolina is the latest entity to join the circus, South Carolina users are especially helpful right now, but all kinds of states have legislation that's looking to join the circus. Why South Carolina? Well, they're charging people with "contributing to the delinquency of a minor" by being an identified adult in a teen-focused anti-ICE school walkout planning chat and expressing support for the walkout. Among other things they're trying to do to supposedly protect teens from the corrupting influence of adults.)
The worry about the presence of new media is perennial and perpetual, but it's not the new medium, or the new screen, that is the issue, it's the way that content is designed and presented that's trying to fragment attention and deep thinking. Accessibility and multimodality are awesome things, but there's a lot of design work that's been put into keeping us scrolling and viewing ads rather than using our tools to think and engage deeply.
Dr. Gladys West, whose precise measurements of the planet made it possible for the Global Positioning System network to come into existence, and therefore commercial (and military) satellite navigation, has died at 95 years of age. Another contribution of painstaking measurment and mathematics that undergirds so very much of the technological world today.
The Reverend Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist and occasional punchline of a joke, has finished his ministry at 84 years of age.
( What Have the Fools, Grifters, and Bigots Been Up To This Time? )
Last for tonight, twenty-five years of a very popular early-Internet meme, matching visuals to the "Invasion of the Gabber Robots" by the Laziest Men on Mars, who would also give us the Pusher and Shover robots in a different viral video.
(Materials via
adrian_turtle, azurelunatic, boxofdelights, cmcmck, conuly, cosmolinguist, elf, finch, firecat, jadelennox, jenett, jjhunter, kaberett, lilysea, oursin, rydra_wong, snowynight, sonia, the_future_modernes, thewayne, umadoshi, vass, the meta_warehouse community, little_details, and anyone else I've neglected to mention or who I suspect would rather not be on the list. If you want to know where I get the neat stuff, my reading list has most of it.)
2026 Disneyland Trip #11 (2/28/26)
Feb. 28th, 2026 10:05 pmtorachanIt was hot today, so we decided to go down for dinner instead of earlier in the day and that was the right choice. By the time we got down there around five, it was really quite pleasant and it wasn't long until the sun started going down.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Sometimes keeping busy is the best way to cope with horrid news.
Feb. 28th, 2026 10:37 pmgremdark( Brief discussion of current geopolitics )My fiance and I spent the morning doing yard/beautification work at our fabulous local trans org's new community center, which is still a fixer upper. I moved a giant load of downed branches and picked up two bags' worth of trash, and my fiance assembled a trampoline someone had recently donated. Later we agreed that doing that work was the only reason we felt even remotely sane for the rest of the day. The org we worked with does exemplary work for local queer folks and immigrants. It's good to spend time with the other people in our community who care about seeing that work done, and doing something positive with my hands was a great way to burn off the fear/anger energy. A little group of teenagers showed up and did some raking. It was really lovely to see them.
In the afternoon, while alternately obsessing over the news and resolutely trying to think of other things, we went to a dear friend's surprise birthday party. When she first came in, ~30 of us were packed into a back room waiting to leap out. One of our number was her two year old nephew, who predictably started wailing just as everyone shushed. One of his parents hustled him out a back door, and my friend was none the wiser until our cue. The party was a roaring success. I only knew a handful of people there, but her husband had done a wonderful job with the guest list and everyone got along excellently. And there was prosciutto at the buffet.
We stopped by the pet store to get crickets for our housemate's tarantula, then ate a quick dinner and headed out to an indie wrestling show at a local bar. It was my first time attending a show at that venue, and I had even more fun than I expected. The highlight was a comedy match between a time-displaced caveman attempting to become our ruler through combat prowess and a gentleman billed as "the world's deadliest talking mime." There were a great deal of invisible walls, lassos, and other props, which couldn't be ruled against because the ref couldn't see them.
I'm glad my day was already booked full, because seeing all the normal people who inhabit the world around me is a great antidote to the dull feeling you get when you spend too long reading headlines without going outside. It is that bad, and it's not going to get better soon. It is that bad, and also today a group of semi-strangers and I made our community space nicer. So many people in my circle of friends and family have early voted because I talked to them about it. It's always humbling and disconcerting to experience such joy at the same time as I'm feeling so much anger, sorrow, and fear. But we need that joy. That's how we keep showing up for each other tomorrow.
I hope you and your loved ones are safe and secure. Good night.
In the afternoon, while alternately obsessing over the news and resolutely trying to think of other things, we went to a dear friend's surprise birthday party. When she first came in, ~30 of us were packed into a back room waiting to leap out. One of our number was her two year old nephew, who predictably started wailing just as everyone shushed. One of his parents hustled him out a back door, and my friend was none the wiser until our cue. The party was a roaring success. I only knew a handful of people there, but her husband had done a wonderful job with the guest list and everyone got along excellently. And there was prosciutto at the buffet.
We stopped by the pet store to get crickets for our housemate's tarantula, then ate a quick dinner and headed out to an indie wrestling show at a local bar. It was my first time attending a show at that venue, and I had even more fun than I expected. The highlight was a comedy match between a time-displaced caveman attempting to become our ruler through combat prowess and a gentleman billed as "the world's deadliest talking mime." There were a great deal of invisible walls, lassos, and other props, which couldn't be ruled against because the ref couldn't see them.
I'm glad my day was already booked full, because seeing all the normal people who inhabit the world around me is a great antidote to the dull feeling you get when you spend too long reading headlines without going outside. It is that bad, and it's not going to get better soon. It is that bad, and also today a group of semi-strangers and I made our community space nicer. So many people in my circle of friends and family have early voted because I talked to them about it. It's always humbling and disconcerting to experience such joy at the same time as I'm feeling so much anger, sorrow, and fear. But we need that joy. That's how we keep showing up for each other tomorrow.
I hope you and your loved ones are safe and secure. Good night.
Broadchurch
Feb. 28th, 2026 11:56 pmmxcatmoonHey, all -- while I was searching for movies/TV shows in the same vein as the Donald Strachey Mysteries (didn't find any), I came across a TV series (London Spy) that was on a streaming service I've never heard of before, called Xumo Play. And guess what I found while I was browsing?
Broadchurch! Back when I watched it a year or so ago, I could only see the first season (without paying for Britbox). Now this site has all three! I'm very happy to have stumbled across it. Can't wait to watch the rest of it.
Broadchurch | Xumo Play
London Spy was okay, I guess. I've only seen the first episode so far. Now I'm much more excited about Broadchurch.
Has anyone ever heard of Xumo?
Broadchurch! Back when I watched it a year or so ago, I could only see the first season (without paying for Britbox). Now this site has all three! I'm very happy to have stumbled across it. Can't wait to watch the rest of it.
Broadchurch | Xumo Play
London Spy was okay, I guess. I've only seen the first episode so far. Now I'm much more excited about Broadchurch.
Has anyone ever heard of Xumo?
Gonna Take Some Time to Do the Things We Never Had
Mar. 1st, 2026 12:10 amaustin_dernClosing Ceremonies. We'd missed opening ceremonies because they were inexplicably early on Friday, like 10 am or something, and there was no fursuit parade, so this was the first big everyone-at-the-convention activity we were at. This is where I finally got to know anything particular about the charity --- Wolf Creek Habitat, for the second(?) year in a row --- and that the 2,525 attendees raised a total of like $35,000. We were wrapped up enough in our own problems to have missed them, wherever they were.
With the convention officially closed we had a couple hours of unscheduled time and spent some of it in Hospitality --- bunnyhugger finally got some alcohol from the free bar; I missed it altogether --- and somewhere around here we picked up the rumor that depending on just when the Renaissance Center renovations start, if they start next year, then Motor City Furry Con might be forced out into some other venue, if one fits.
bunnyhugger used the time to take her daily half-hour walk. I went back to the video game room where they were once again playing Wreck-It Ralph on an overhead projector. They were always playing that or Tron Ares I think because it didn't look like what I kind of remember from Tron Legacy. I finally got some time in on Quick And Crash, the target-shooting game with a fun exploding mug as the final target, and I managed one time even to shoot the mug. I wasn't doing very well. I also stunned bunnyhugger by playing the Crazy Taxi video game --- how often do I play arcade games? --- because it was right by the pinball and it had looked like a lot of fun. It is pretty fun, yeah, have to say.
And the pinball games? Surfers was still working, doing better than it had last year, although the flippers were sorely weakened by three days of heavy use. I'm not sure it was still possible to make the candycane shot that's the real points mine. Bow And Arrow was still going strong, though, apparently unfazed by all its attention. bunnyhugger and I got a last couple games in just before the close of the gaming room, with bunnyhugger once again putting up just over 100,000 points. She was eerily consistent on the game all weekend. I was more erratic at it, but the final game, after two bad balls, discovered just what happens if you max out the bonus, which you can collect mid-ball with the right shot: you can light an extra ball, and that let me get to enough points to collect another extra ball, so I ended up coming achingly close to properly rolling the game.
bunnyhugger got into her Cerberus kigurumi --- while she'd had some time fursuiting Saturday it was just too much to bring the suit from the car to the Headless Lounge and back again --- and got appreciative congratulations for having chosen to wear a neat three-headed outfit. And we went to the Dead Dog Dance, taking in the last hours of a convention that wasn't really our thing. The DJ brought the songs to a stop at 10:00 and then rolled out one more song to close things out that I couldn't tell from what came before. And then the guy in charge of the AV came out and did two or possibly more songs before bringing the Dead Dog Dance, and the last event of the convention, to an end. They did not play the ChipTunes version of Toto's ``Africa'' that had finished Closing Ceremonies.
We did a last check of lost-and-found and careful examination of the path back to my car --- and to the next floor up in the parking garage, where we'd parked for a few minutes before discovering the pedestrian-overpass-level was free --- without finding bunnyhugger's hat. Can not recommend losing precious gifts from family members, would not do again.
Our full day at Six Flags America got interrupted by rain, most of which I didn't photograph. We just waited stuff out in the food court. But ...
It really was raining, though, as you can see from the raindrops coming out of the trees.
The steampunk-themed midway with a fresh coat of water. Not bad, is it?
Here's Steamwinder, the ride we most wanted to get on in Steamtown besides the roller coaster. So, each of the big levers rotates, with the seats staying horizontal, and all four of the levers is in time so they always just miss the others, but keep looking like they are on the brink of contact. Meanwhile the whole base rotates around a vertical axis. It's a much more intense and fun and delightful ride than we expected.
This is just the sign for Roar, which doesn't put the A in a separate color the way the logo posters in the station do.
Did you know they had character meet-and-greets? Neither did we until it was too late.
Here's that picture of a white polka-dotted chef alligator mascot that you were asking about.
Trivia: An Ottoman Financial calendar, or Marti calendar, was in use in Islamic border countries (like Turkey) from 1676. These years began on 1 March, and had a 29-day February in Julian leap years. Source: Mapping Time: The Calendar and its History, EG Richards.
Currently Reading: Lost Popeye Zine, Volume 85: Dragon or Overgrown Lizard?, Ralph Stein, Bill Zaboly. Editor Stephanie Noelle.
Daily Happiness
Feb. 28th, 2026 08:50 pmtorachan1. We walked up to the bagel place this morning for breakfast and, in addition to my bagel, I got their passionfruit matcha latte again. It's really good!
2. I got a new corner shelving unit for the garage and put it together today. I meant for it to go in the corner between two of Carla's CD shelves, since something needs to go in that space, but it turned out to be too large. The shelves can be moved out a little from where they are now to allow something larger between them, but if they're moved enough to make space for this, it'll block an outlet on one side and either go further behind the couch on the other side than I'd prefer or we'd have to move the couch further down (which could be done but idk I like it where it is). But there is another corner that also needs something and it looks perfect there. That's the corner where we had the Christmas tree, but there's still plenty of room to put the tree there again even with the shelf in place.
3. It was very warm today so we decided to go to Disneyland for dinner rather than breakfast or lunch, and it was the right choice. It was actually very pleasant in the evening.
4. Yet another cat enjoying the new lounger.
2. I got a new corner shelving unit for the garage and put it together today. I meant for it to go in the corner between two of Carla's CD shelves, since something needs to go in that space, but it turned out to be too large. The shelves can be moved out a little from where they are now to allow something larger between them, but if they're moved enough to make space for this, it'll block an outlet on one side and either go further behind the couch on the other side than I'd prefer or we'd have to move the couch further down (which could be done but idk I like it where it is). But there is another corner that also needs something and it looks perfect there. That's the corner where we had the Christmas tree, but there's still plenty of room to put the tree there again even with the shelf in place.
3. It was very warm today so we decided to go to Disneyland for dinner rather than breakfast or lunch, and it was the right choice. It was actually very pleasant in the evening.
4. Yet another cat enjoying the new lounger.
Projects and Bunnies
Feb. 28th, 2026 10:16 pmsenmut~ 10trueloves - 5/10 posted
~ Fulcrum and Rex time travel to before Anakin runs to Mace. - NEEDS CANON REVIEW
~ Sequel to Retrieval - 93 WORDS
~ Rachel and Joe meet with BOTH finally aware in Closing Up Shop
~ Drizzt's fallout/Vierna's reactions in the Divining Destiny universe
~ An Atin universe that is more like The Second Clone War or Mine, All of Them - 10 chapters, 1k each - READY TO POST
10trueloves - 5/10 postedRandom Plot Bunnies in Progress
~ Fulcrum and Rex time travel to before Anakin runs to Mace. - NEEDS CANON REVIEW
~ Sequel to Retrieval - 93 WORDS
Potential Bunnies Pending Further Bouncing
~ Rachel and Joe meet with BOTH finally aware in Closing Up Shop
~ Drizzt's fallout/Vierna's reactions in the Divining Destiny universe
Finished
~ An Atin universe that is more like The Second Clone War or Mine, All of Them - 10 chapters, 1k each - READY TO POST
Having Shakespeare Thoughts (as one does)
Feb. 28th, 2026 08:22 pmjennariaWife and I went to a local college production of The Tempest, which was quite decent - original music; Ariel played by two actors/dancers splitting the part, and frequently individual lines; a solid Prospero played by a woman (although the production didn't do anything with that fact). But the thing is -
( On the cross-pollination of Miranda and the specific sub-genre of Chinese web-novels that are all about 'reborn, I fixed all my mistakes.' )
So in conclusion: any recs for stories about Miranda, please. Because she deserves to be better than That Girl Nobody Actually Cares About.
( On the cross-pollination of Miranda and the specific sub-genre of Chinese web-novels that are all about 'reborn, I fixed all my mistakes.' )
So in conclusion: any recs for stories about Miranda, please. Because she deserves to be better than That Girl Nobody Actually Cares About.
war death and destruction
Feb. 28th, 2026 06:55 pmmsilverstarThe US and Israel are bombing (and shooting missiles at) Iran, which is retaliating against Israel, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and UAE. Yemen and Hezbollah may get involved. Pakistan is bombing Afghanistan. Russia is still invading Ukraine. The US abducted the elected President of Venezuela. Cuba is defending itself against exile attackers.
This world is breaking down and it's my country's fault and I hate it. I'm sorry
This world is breaking down and it's my country's fault and I hate it. I'm sorry
Television roundup
Feb. 28th, 2026 09:07 pmshadowkat1. Finished watching a sweet Japanese film entitled Rental Family - starring Brendan Fraiser as a struggling American actor in Japan, who lands a gig with an organization that hires actors to play roles in real family dramas. The film is directed and produced by Hikari.
Here's the synopsis: ( mild spoilers )
I went in blind? But found it to be interesting and moving, dealing with the complexities of human nature/connection and cultural differences. I fell in love with the characters, cried at the end, and found it a moving antidote to the aggravated misanthropy I'd been feeling off and on lately.
It's playing for free on Hulu, if you want to give it a shot.
2. Also watched, much earlier in the week while ill, Ghostbusters: AfterLife - which is directed by Jason Reitman, and stars Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, the kid who played Mike in Stranger Things, and two young kids who are actually pretty good in it (possibly the best things in it), and the remaining stars from the original making cameos.
It's okay? Coon and Rudd are underused. They did more with Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis in the original. The focus is of course on the kids, so think...Goonies meets Ghostbusters? I miss the 1980s films, where kids were utilized better, and there were better scripts, and far less focus on bad CJI. The effects were even better in the original flick. This felt kind of cheap in places (Muncher was definitely showing his age), and not quite as many ghosts. It also references the original a lot, without explaining it - so it kind of assumes you've seen the original Ghostbusters and remember it vividly? (I don't, so it took me a little while to figure a few things out, which I did - relatively quickly. So it's possible?)
It's also on Hulu.
3. Finished Bridgerton S4 - which had dropped the final episodes today. I didn't enjoy this season and used Rental Family as an antidote to my feelings of general misanthropic annoyance. It was aggravating to say the least and no, did not, provide the promised satisfying ending. If anything it wrapped it up a bit too quickly and neatly, and let the villainous step-mother off with barely a scratch.
It's the Cinderella trope or a reworking of it, which doesn't quite work for me. ( Read more... )
This season admittedly adapted the most controversial of the Julie Quinn Bridgerton romance novels, entitled "An Offer from a Gentleman". I'd hoped they'd change the novel, do to the controversy surrounding it, and make it a gay romance, since Benedict has been portrayed as bisexual. A m/m Cinderella trope would be have at least been different, and far more interesting. But alas, no. (I can see why - that's very hard to do in this sort of series and remain true to the historical romance genre. Also that's a lot for a writer to take on? A Cinderella class problem and a gay romance at the same time.). But in the end, the only thing they really changed was the ethnicity of the heroine, from what I know of the books (which is very little - I've not read them, nor plan to).
Bridgerton is actually a good example of the difficulty of book to television adaptations, and how they aren't always faithfully adapted, and sometimes that's a good thing, and sometimes not, depending on your perspective? The series is adapted from a popular 21st Century group of romance novels by Julie Quinn, surrounding a titled and wealthy family and their friends in Mayfair London. While it doesn't change a lot of the plots (outside of S3, which did veer away from the books a bit along with the whole Lady Whistledown thread), it does change a lot of bits and pieces of the world and historical period (dicey that - considering it's a regency romance series - albeit not necessarily a faithful one), also changes the genders, ethnicity, and sexual orientation of various characters in order to be inclusive, and for sly social commentary. I wouldn't say it is a biting social satire (Austen, it's not - few romances are), but it is a satire of manners. More politically correct Georgette Heyer, than Austen.
( spoilers )
Oh, Netflix has grabbed a few series - it has all four seasons of Veronica Mars now, also West Wing, Grantchester, and various others.
Here's the synopsis: ( mild spoilers )
I went in blind? But found it to be interesting and moving, dealing with the complexities of human nature/connection and cultural differences. I fell in love with the characters, cried at the end, and found it a moving antidote to the aggravated misanthropy I'd been feeling off and on lately.
It's playing for free on Hulu, if you want to give it a shot.
2. Also watched, much earlier in the week while ill, Ghostbusters: AfterLife - which is directed by Jason Reitman, and stars Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, the kid who played Mike in Stranger Things, and two young kids who are actually pretty good in it (possibly the best things in it), and the remaining stars from the original making cameos.
It's okay? Coon and Rudd are underused. They did more with Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis in the original. The focus is of course on the kids, so think...Goonies meets Ghostbusters? I miss the 1980s films, where kids were utilized better, and there were better scripts, and far less focus on bad CJI. The effects were even better in the original flick. This felt kind of cheap in places (Muncher was definitely showing his age), and not quite as many ghosts. It also references the original a lot, without explaining it - so it kind of assumes you've seen the original Ghostbusters and remember it vividly? (I don't, so it took me a little while to figure a few things out, which I did - relatively quickly. So it's possible?)
It's also on Hulu.
3. Finished Bridgerton S4 - which had dropped the final episodes today. I didn't enjoy this season and used Rental Family as an antidote to my feelings of general misanthropic annoyance. It was aggravating to say the least and no, did not, provide the promised satisfying ending. If anything it wrapped it up a bit too quickly and neatly, and let the villainous step-mother off with barely a scratch.
It's the Cinderella trope or a reworking of it, which doesn't quite work for me. ( Read more... )
This season admittedly adapted the most controversial of the Julie Quinn Bridgerton romance novels, entitled "An Offer from a Gentleman". I'd hoped they'd change the novel, do to the controversy surrounding it, and make it a gay romance, since Benedict has been portrayed as bisexual. A m/m Cinderella trope would be have at least been different, and far more interesting. But alas, no. (I can see why - that's very hard to do in this sort of series and remain true to the historical romance genre. Also that's a lot for a writer to take on? A Cinderella class problem and a gay romance at the same time.). But in the end, the only thing they really changed was the ethnicity of the heroine, from what I know of the books (which is very little - I've not read them, nor plan to).
Bridgerton is actually a good example of the difficulty of book to television adaptations, and how they aren't always faithfully adapted, and sometimes that's a good thing, and sometimes not, depending on your perspective? The series is adapted from a popular 21st Century group of romance novels by Julie Quinn, surrounding a titled and wealthy family and their friends in Mayfair London. While it doesn't change a lot of the plots (outside of S3, which did veer away from the books a bit along with the whole Lady Whistledown thread), it does change a lot of bits and pieces of the world and historical period (dicey that - considering it's a regency romance series - albeit not necessarily a faithful one), also changes the genders, ethnicity, and sexual orientation of various characters in order to be inclusive, and for sly social commentary. I wouldn't say it is a biting social satire (Austen, it's not - few romances are), but it is a satire of manners. More politically correct Georgette Heyer, than Austen.
( spoilers )
Oh, Netflix has grabbed a few series - it has all four seasons of Veronica Mars now, also West Wing, Grantchester, and various others.
(no subject)
Feb. 28th, 2026 09:42 pmaurumcalendulaI've been curious about early (VCR era) femslash fanvids and it just occurred to me to see if anything's on ebay. I found a VHS of Xena fanvids, so here's hoping it arrives safely and cooperates with my VCR player!
Fiction log - February 2026
Mar. 1st, 2026 10:30 ampedantherFiction books
Hazel Gaynor. Before Dorothy (e)
Andy Weir. Project Hail Mary (e)
In progress
Stephen Fry. Mythos (e)
EW Hornung. The Amateur Cracksman (e)
Non-fiction books
Ben Crystal, David Crystal. You Say Potato: The Story of English Accents (e)
James W Loewen. Lies My Teacher Told Me (e)
Jason Morningstar. Fiasco (re-read)
In progress
Simon Lamb. Devil in the Mountain: A Search for the Origin of the Andes (e)
Keri Smith. Wreck This Journal Everywhere
( short, screen, and stage )
( books bought and borrowed )
Top of the to-read pile
Caroline Stevermer. When the King Comes Home (e)
Hazel Gaynor. Before Dorothy (e)
Andy Weir. Project Hail Mary (e)
In progress
Stephen Fry. Mythos (e)
EW Hornung. The Amateur Cracksman (e)
Non-fiction books
Ben Crystal, David Crystal. You Say Potato: The Story of English Accents (e)
James W Loewen. Lies My Teacher Told Me (e)
Jason Morningstar. Fiasco (re-read)
In progress
Simon Lamb. Devil in the Mountain: A Search for the Origin of the Andes (e)
Keri Smith. Wreck This Journal Everywhere
( short, screen, and stage )
( books bought and borrowed )
Top of the to-read pile
Caroline Stevermer. When the King Comes Home (e)
Accumulations.
Feb. 28th, 2026 08:42 pmhannahSomeone moving out of their apartment's always cause for investigation, and sometimes, I get lucky: a couple folding baskets for my closet that replace the cardboard boxes that had been there since I moved in. I'd never gotten around to replacing them with anything, and after a while, just adjusted to their presence and got attached to them.
I'm trying to ask myself why I'm unwilling to let go of certain things I'm not using, like old pajamas. It's an unpleasant inertia. They're not even particularly nostalgic. I think some of it's just me bristling at the idea of getting rid of things, even though I know better. At least a little is there not being good places for fabric to go. If there were some, knowing that would certainly help a bit with conceptualizing not having them anymore.
I'm trying to ask myself why I'm unwilling to let go of certain things I'm not using, like old pajamas. It's an unpleasant inertia. They're not even particularly nostalgic. I think some of it's just me bristling at the idea of getting rid of things, even though I know better. At least a little is there not being good places for fabric to go. If there were some, knowing that would certainly help a bit with conceptualizing not having them anymore.
I know I won't be leaving here with you
Feb. 28th, 2026 05:26 pmgwynEscapade was much fun this year, though as with last year, stupid cancer fatigue put a damper on a lot of things. The best panels were the one for The Pitt and Murderbot, though I would have enjoyed the Murderbot panel more if a) it hadn't been at nine a.m. on Saturday morning and b) hadn't been dominated by one really obnoxious person. The moderator did a yeoman's job trying to rein her in (seriously, I really admired her skills at hardassery), but I had really hoped to talk about Gurathin in the show and the final episode, how SecUnit's memories might have changed him, etc., but that didn't really happen. And when I started talking about him, in typical fannish fashion, someone immediately countered and diminished my comment with how he wasn't what they thought he should be from the books and yadda yadda, so I never really got to make my point. Maybe next year?
But it was good to see people, even if I didn't get all the time I wanted to glom on some folks (par_avion, I'm lookin' at you). Still, there were a few wonderful surprises where some folks I adore and haven't seen in years came to the con, because their fannish brains had been kickstarted by Heated Rivalry. I am so not into that show but the fact that it brought them back out into fandom makes me feel more warmly towards it.
I woke up Sunday morning to news that LAX was in chaos because the Nazis in the government (and I use that term loosely) had decided to shut down TSA precheck and global entry, but after a while that got walked back and by the time I got to the airport, things had settled down a bit and it was fairly quiet. Then the flights started getting canceled by the East Coast blizzard (poor par, she was stuck at the hotel till Wednesday night), and the Mexico flights were stopping because it seemed like half of Mexico was on fire, and it made for a really surreal experience. And now today I woke up to the news about Iran and I just...I really often wish that this fucking cancer would just take me out. This world is just so fucking horrible, and I feel so utterly helpless to do even the tiniest thing about it.
I mean, I have signed up for Fandom Trumps Hate (fth2026offerings) (god i hate that fucker so much that i can't even stand to use a perfectly good verb because it's saying his name), but if I get even a bid over my $10 minimum, I'll be shocked. I've done auctions before, but I don't feel like I make much of a contribution, and I know throwing money at some of these horrors are at least some small way of helping, but I'm just not someone who'll generate that kind of money and I can't make many donations of my own.
Still, I'll hope that maybe a friend will feel sorry for me and buy me ;-D . But I have to admit, the basics of this auction confuse me--listings are on DW here, but a lot takes place on Tumblr, and I'm confused about how to publicize my listing. I was able to reblog the auction roundup listing for The Pitt today, but I don't know how one goes about promoting their own listing. Has anyone done FTH before and would be willing to give me some advice? There's only a couple days for browsing, so I would love to see if I could at least generate some attention if someone wants a fic for Marvel, The Pitt, or Fast Color (hah). I feel like in the past, I've seen people's contributor listings on tumblr, but I just don't know how that goes. Ugh, I'm so out of touch.
I broke my toe on my left foot *again* this morning. My third and fourth toes are so fucked up now. I know there's not much to do about it but tape them and take pain relievers, but jesus your toes really make a difference in walking. And I'm seeing a new sports medicine doc about my fucked-up knee, so now we'll have to see how it might affect my walking even more (I have an MRI this week). So much excitement, but as I said to a friend, at least it's not about the cancer, lol. I'm such a fucking klutz. I think I should probably get some of that bubble wrap with the really big bubbles, and put it around the legs of my bed--it won't solve everything, but those legs have definitely contributed to a few of the breaks. This time, I heard a little snap sound!
But it was good to see people, even if I didn't get all the time I wanted to glom on some folks (
par_avion, I'm lookin' at you). Still, there were a few wonderful surprises where some folks I adore and haven't seen in years came to the con, because their fannish brains had been kickstarted by Heated Rivalry. I am so not into that show but the fact that it brought them back out into fandom makes me feel more warmly towards it.I woke up Sunday morning to news that LAX was in chaos because the Nazis in the government (and I use that term loosely) had decided to shut down TSA precheck and global entry, but after a while that got walked back and by the time I got to the airport, things had settled down a bit and it was fairly quiet. Then the flights started getting canceled by the East Coast blizzard (poor par, she was stuck at the hotel till Wednesday night), and the Mexico flights were stopping because it seemed like half of Mexico was on fire, and it made for a really surreal experience. And now today I woke up to the news about Iran and I just...I really often wish that this fucking cancer would just take me out. This world is just so fucking horrible, and I feel so utterly helpless to do even the tiniest thing about it.
I mean, I have signed up for Fandom Trumps Hate (
fth2026offerings) (god i hate that fucker so much that i can't even stand to use a perfectly good verb because it's saying his name), but if I get even a bid over my $10 minimum, I'll be shocked. I've done auctions before, but I don't feel like I make much of a contribution, and I know throwing money at some of these horrors are at least some small way of helping, but I'm just not someone who'll generate that kind of money and I can't make many donations of my own. Still, I'll hope that maybe a friend will feel sorry for me and buy me ;-D . But I have to admit, the basics of this auction confuse me--listings are on DW here, but a lot takes place on Tumblr, and I'm confused about how to publicize my listing. I was able to reblog the auction roundup listing for The Pitt today, but I don't know how one goes about promoting their own listing. Has anyone done FTH before and would be willing to give me some advice? There's only a couple days for browsing, so I would love to see if I could at least generate some attention if someone wants a fic for Marvel, The Pitt, or Fast Color (hah). I feel like in the past, I've seen people's contributor listings on tumblr, but I just don't know how that goes. Ugh, I'm so out of touch.
I broke my toe on my left foot *again* this morning. My third and fourth toes are so fucked up now. I know there's not much to do about it but tape them and take pain relievers, but jesus your toes really make a difference in walking. And I'm seeing a new sports medicine doc about my fucked-up knee, so now we'll have to see how it might affect my walking even more (I have an MRI this week). So much excitement, but as I said to a friend, at least it's not about the cancer, lol. I'm such a fucking klutz. I think I should probably get some of that bubble wrap with the really big bubbles, and put it around the legs of my bed--it won't solve everything, but those legs have definitely contributed to a few of the breaks. This time, I heard a little snap sound!
