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Wednesday didn't turn out exactly as I'd planned.

Went to class for 9 and had a talk about the role of stress in terms of healthy eating, then the usual exercise session. My friend attended the Wed class for the first time in a while so we partnered up which was great as some nattering and laughing helps the circuits go fast. Nothing new or unusual that Rosie had us do, but we were doing goblet squats when she came up to us and said if we wanted to go spicy go from a goblet squat, to an overhead one-armed press with the weight, then swap hands in a clean dip movement, so I tried it and man, my coordination got up and walked out of the hall *g*

From there we were supposed to go home and get changed before going to an appointment in Sunderland, except it turns out the appointment was actually a telephone one, so no need to go into town that early. Got that done and would have been able to chill out except Kayleigh had asked if we could pick Megan up at the vets at 4:30 as she'd been in and sedated for a skin scrape and biopsy.

Now, that would be cutting things tight as we had a table booked at a restaurant next to the theatre for 5:30, but agreed thinking it shouldn't take that long to get her and take her back to Kayleigh's. And it didn't, except when I was opening the door, juggling the cat carrier, meds, and discharge instructions one of Kayleigh's other cats got out, and I spent time chasing him to get him back inside. Thankfully, Lucy and Bodhi had come home by that point so they took over the chase, and in the end we were only five minutes late, after amazingly getting a great, and very close to the theatre, parking spot.

Poor Megan though, she's got a skin condition that is focussed on her face and she's had to have steroid and antibiotic injections for years now to keep it under control. Which obviously, isn't ideal, and then to top it all, recently, those started not to work either leading her to look like this. I'm only linking and not putting the vid in my post as her face looks so bloody and sore. The vet wanted the biopsy etc to ensure a new treatment they're thinking of will help, but until then Meg has to be weaned off the steroids before starting this new treatment in three weeks. It'll be off brand, and something designed for dogs, but the vet does think it'll help. I hope so anyway as she's been through so much, she was a rescue when mam got her, then had to move to Kayleigh's when mam died, and she just deserves a chill and itch free life.

So, left there, and spent time worrying that Daniel was back inside -- they did get him back in btw, and got to the restaurant just a little late. Like the last few times we've eaten there, we were seated on the window tables which are on a high ledge with the chairs being the actual window ledge and the tables tall barrels. But, they were comfortable enough, and as always, the food was delicious, the service great -- though they did charge for a salt and pepper pizza and not salt and pepper fries meaning the bill was much higher than expected, but that was soon sorted, and the atmosphere buzzing. Mainly because, with being literally next door to the theatre, it was full of theatre goers all looking forward to the show, and what a show The Choir of Man was!

This is getting long, so cut for ( details )

Yesterday I had an appointment booked with a tech who was coming to check our TV monitor. I'm a member of a service that sees what you watch, and then you get paid for that info. It tends to pay for Christmas which is great, but the monitor hasn't been picking up for a while so he was coming to change it for a new version.

I was up and about early to make sure he could access behind the TV easily, only to get a phone call 15 minutes before he was due to say he'd called in sick. Which couldn't be helped I know, but was frustrating. Then Pauline phoned asking if we wanted to go out for tea, her treat, and I wasn't about to say no.

So that's what we did, and the food and company was good, even though we were the only people in the restaurant the whole time we were there, which felt a little strange.

Now James has just messaged saying he's had a fall at work and is having to sit with an ice pack on his knee. No sign of them sending him home yet. He says he's fine, but we'll see I guess. I wouldn't care but literally this morning we were talking about how it's been months since he's needed time off sick. Talk about jinxing the situation.

ericareyes

( Read more... )

missizzy

Between one thing and another, I haven't been playing much of Dragon Age: Origins since I started it ages and ages ago, but I did reach one milestone today: I reached the part where it started requiring more memory to run on a modern computer than it wants to allow itself, forcing me to scramble to figure out why it was crashing and than how to install a mod/patch that would get it to just use the extra memory. Just as well I'm not streaming it right now. Also, I'm pretty sure I've finally started the game's proper plot. I currently have a fluctuating crush on Alistair, who is my main candidate for romancing at the moment, but I probably should meet the other characters before making that decision. Also, the more he and Morrighan snipe at each other, the more I wonder if I should just ship them together instead.
Also, a week before I head down to Atlanta! I've actually joined a discord for people going to the live show, and I might be doing a meetup with some of them at the aquarium, though the plans for that don't seem to be concrete yet. Though this weekend I also feel like I should book my flights to and from San Diego; it's closing in on two months before that as well.

musesfool

While this isn't thematic or plot-related or anything, I did remember one thing I wanted to comment on from PoH because it's probably the most relatable* Carl has ever been to me: ( minor spoiler )

*There's a post on tumblr that I think I've reblogged a couple of times, that notes that characters don't need to be relatable for me to enjoy them, but they do need to be resonant. This was a case where something was both. *g*

In more real world news, last I checked (earlier today), the MTA and the various railroad unions are still far apart on finalizing a new contract, so it's entirely possible there will be a strike starting on Saturday and the LIRR will stop running. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if there were an eleventh hour agreement to prevent that, but I also wouldn't be surprised if there weren't. In the face of this uncertainty, my boss made going into the office on Tuesday optional (and non-tenable if there is a strike, since she lives out on the island), so I have opted to not go in regardless. So all my cupcake baking will have to wait until next time. (I think our June in-office day is also currently non-tenable because it's a day when there will be an afternoon World Cup match and nobody wants to be in Manhattan during that, but especially around Penn Station or the Port Authority, as required by many commutes, but we'll see what happens when we get there.)

In other work news, they are scheduling our annual summer staff picnic someplace up in Dutchess County(?!) and everyone on my team is like, WTF? DNW! about it (it appears I will already be on PTO for it, so at least I'm well out of it). I also had some charter bus horror stories to share, from my own personal experience, so I hope the folks managing that have great intestinal fortitude, because managing transportation for large groups for an outing is the worst, and they're planning to do it from multiple locations. They're also requiring people show up for the busses at like 8:30 am and they won't leave from upstate to come home until 4 pm (the team planning this had to be talked down from making it 5 pm), and it's at least a 90 minute drive (longer to/from Brooklyn or Queens) and then you still have to commute home from the pickup/drop-off location. I think this is an even worse proposition than the Governor's Island location, which required a railroad > subway > ferry trip from me so I noped out of it repeatedly. The one time I went, many years ago now, was when it was from 1 - 4 pm at Riverside Park, which is super accessible by subway and also not a full day affair. It's also why I dislike corporate events on boats (which I have also had experience with) - you're just stuck for the length of the affair with no escape.

Anyway, now that I've fully exposed my asocial personality, I will hit post. *g*

*

Current Mood: surprised
Current Music: The Mets are...winning???

twistedchick

I went to look at my Circle here -- haven't done it in a very long time -- and found X's in places where check marks were. Does X mean a ban or block? Or something else?

yourlibrarian

1) This was a new one. Finished a game on Board Game Arena, and the person says in the chat window that they're asking this because they wrote a novel and many short novels, would I be interested in reading them? They're in Italian but I can use Google Translate. We had had no other interaction during the game. Um sure, we're all so incredibly short of reading material these days that random offers to read novels of unknown topic (which we must translate) will no doubt be jumped on by many a random card player…

2) Speaking of books, apparently Barnes & Noble is doing well and expanding.

3) This discussion of how a Deep Space Nine tie-in series both anticipated our current political situation, and at the same time had to have its final installment posted to AO3, was interesting in various ways. A tale of how stories come together as well as the difference between writing fanfic and working for publishers.

4) Speaking of our current political situation, I've been trying out CIA, which is an ok show for background stuff. What caught my attention is that their episode airing February 23rd had reference to a weapon that could be sold to Iran to control the strait of Hormuz. Unsurprisingly, Trump has been watching the wrong TV shows.

5) Apparently our dystopian future is already here, given this story of what it's like to work as an AI trainer. Although not the main point of the article, the insight it gives into what's happening in the entertainment industry is also grim.

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beanside

Hello from the misty fjords outside of Ketchikan, Alaska! We are a little ways away, as we do not get in until about 11am. It's probably going to be a rainy day, but I'm a member of the don't care club. I'm going to be in Ketchikan! This may/may not be a tender port. That means if all the docks are full, we may use the lifeboats to get to shore. Then, when another boat leaves, our ship will pull in, and we'll be able to just walk back on. Not looking forward to the tendering, but we'll deal.

We've got a crab feast at noon, which is all you can eat Dungeness crabs, yum. Then we have nothing except walking around the town to get souvenirs.

This morning, I'm planning to grab breakfast, and maybe run to the shops to see if they sell suitcases. We've bought so much shit that we need a little more room to pack it all. Not a big one, just a wee one for bits and bobs. Either Jess or my sister will pack their fanny pack in their personal item, and then use that as a carry on. It'll be great.

We're back on the boat a bit early, as we have two appointments, but more on that later.

Yesterday was amazing. It was glacier day, as we went up Endicott Arm to get to the Dawes Glacier.

First up, when we went onto the veranda, there was a noticeable chill in the air. The mountains had become more jagged.

Here and there the rock was dotted with these lovely little waterfalls.

Just before 11, there was a knock at our door, bringing us steaming Holland America Mugs of hot cocoa. It was really good cocoa and the mug is ours to keep. I will be using mine for coffee. It holds the heat really well, and will be a reminder of this trip

Then, suddenly, there it was, the Dawes Glacier in all it's majestic beauty. We had a prime spot, and once in place, the captain began slowly spinning the boat in a circle, giving everyone a view. But as always, Pinnacle Suite got first look. Well, our side of the boat at least.

It was huge and beautiful and amazing, and every other adjective I can't think of. It was also cold as hell. Even from .5 miles away, you could feel the cold radiating from it. We snapped so many pictures and then just stood there and marveled.

None of those really do it justice. It was so immense.

After we bid farewell to Dawes, we headed down for lunch at the main dining room. Good choice me. The food was amazing, and as always they got us a seat by the window, so we could watch the snow topped mountains slip past.

I had a lovely salad topped with Dungeness crab meat, which was the highlight. It was so fresh. It was obvious that they had picked up the crab either in Juneau or Skagway. After that, we did some relaxing until tea came at 3. Tea was as always lovely. After that, we got ourselves prettied up for our renewal of vows.

Our concierge Rachel came to the suite promptly at 4:30am and walked us down to the art gallery where we could wait for them to be ready for us. Everyone we came in contact with seemed really excited for us to do this. Apparently they don't get many and they love doing them.

Before long, they brought me a corsage and Jess a boutonniere, which made them happy. The boutonniere was a real bitch to get on, but eventually it was mostly in place. Then, it was time for the ceremony. We met Captain Paul Adams, who is the master of the Koningsdam. He was lovely, and very intense. When you're his focus, you are the only one in the world for that moment.

The venue, which two days before was a tiny, kind of drab meeting room had been transformed into a fantasy wonderland.

Jess and I walked down the aisle, and Captain Paul did a short ceremony that was just lovely. The vows we repeated were touching and Jess and I both teared up saying them. Afterwards, we posed for pictures with everyone. Captain Paul, and Jayme our cruise director, My sister and brother in law, everyone.

There were a variety of appetizers, and we cut the cake. (More pictures, oh boy!)

A word about this cake. It is fucking enormous. When they said cake, I was thinking a little four inch cake. No, it was a ten inch monstrosity. It's so delicious, but oh lord, we have a lot of cake.

The whole time, Rachel, our concierge was right there with my phone, taking pictures and videos for us to remember the day.

After that, we headed over to a studio for, you guessed it, more photos. These were posed, and the photographer was amazing, and also a loon. We did some with my sister, a bunch of poses together and then a few of each of us solo. It was surreal, but a lot of fun.

Then, we hit the bar and got ourselves a smoked old fashioned. It was very yum, and I really enjoyed it. It was a fairly good amount of liquor and I was feeling it a touch at the end.

Then, it was back to the room for a bit, where the appetizers and cake had been magically transported. We nibbled a few appetizers, and relaxed until it was time to head up to Morimoto by Sea, which is the Iron Chef's collaboration with Holland America.

The food was magnificent. We started with the sushi platter, which had some amazing and fresh fish. After that came shrimp 3 ways. there was panko crusted with tartar sauce, panko crusted with a spicy gochujang sauce, and then teriyaki with a tonkatsu sauce. At the end of the meal they brought us another cake with Happy Anniversary on it. Not technically correct, but very sweet. Of course, more fucking cake.

Then, they brought out our actual desserts, which was a chocolate sphere, filled with marshmallow and chocolate sorbet. We also had gotten cocktails, which might have been a mistake on top of the Old Fashioned. We were all pretty drunk by the end of the meal.

When we got back to the room, our bedroom was decorated with balloons and a Congratulations sign and a big towel animal of two swans kissing.

It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

Like I said before, I really feel like this trip has changed me. I see why Alaskan cruises are so popular, and I see why people cruise for their vacations almost exclusively. The ships are amazing. Everything you could ever want at your fingertips all the time. Holland America has definitely been a good cruise line for us. It's not a party boat, just very chill and a bit refined, and just relaxing. The suite has been amazing. (Check our my Google photo album for a tour of the suite.
It's utterly ridiculous and I adore it.

Today, we have two meetings after Ketchikan. First is to look at our wedding pictures and see what we want to buy. Second is to meet with cruise consultants and see what kind of deal they can get us for next year. After this, we've decided that we want to do it again. This time, we'll do the California Coast, which is out of San Diego. It's another 7 day, on the same ship, which I now affectionately consider "our" ship.

So, instead of Hawaii, where the room would cost half as much as the cruise, we'll have everything catered to us, and save on food, since it all will be provided. It's also in November, so I'll have a bit more time to save up on PTO.

That's important, because I think when we get back I am going to go to the ortho and get my knee looked at. It hasn't slowed me down, but it has hurt quite a bit, and I'd like to fix that if possible.

Tomorrow shall be our last day at sea, and then back to reality on Saturday. We'll head down to Seattle and fly home on Sunday. It's been so amazing that I really don't want it to end. But alas, all good things.

I go home with a boatload of memories, and SO many pictures and souvenirs. I'm so glad we took a step out of our comfort zone and did this.

And now, I shall get dressed and ready to face the day. The guys we made friends with are coming over at 10:30 for cake. (You will eat some of this freaking cake. I might grab breakfast before then.

Everyone have an outstanding Thursday!

setsuled

Watch on YouTube

Spicy '90s cinema often seems so quaint now. I watched Atom Egoyan's 1994 film Exotica again, which is his most famous film, though it's by no means well known in the mainstream. Last time I watched it it was because I was so into his Chloe with Amanda Seyfried that I wanted to see the film that put him on the map and, as I recall, I found it nowhere near as satisfying. I still don't find it the kind of visceral, sexy fun that Chloe is but I found myself more compelled to puzzle out just what he thought he was getting at.

It doesn't feel like it's set in anything resembling real life, but none of Egoyan's films do, which is part of their charm. Exotica is the name of a strip club in the movie which I doubt much resembles any real life strip club. Egoyan has said he was interested in the "ritual" of strip clubs, the girl stripping and the man encouraged to look but not touch. The patrons of Exotica are all quiet men, solemnly sitting alone at their tables while naked or partially clothed women's bodies gyrate before them like animated sculptures. It's about as different as you can get from the noisy, party atmosphere you see in other movie strip clubs, like in Anora or even Flashdance. I don't know, maybe Canadian strip clubs are different.

Exotica is set in Toronto. Bruce Greenwood plays Francis whose fixation on a dancer named Christina (Mia Kirshner) seems to go beyond sexual. Actually, by the end of the movie, you may wonder if there's anything sexual about him at all. It's only by default that one figures there must be. Elias Koteas plays Eric, a DJ at the club who provides a ruminating, running commentary. Christina's shtick is to wear schoolgirl uniforms complementing her small frame and youthful looks. "What is it about schoolgirls?" Eric asks the audience and starts talking about innocence and purity.

In a scene with a character played by Sarah Polley, Francis explains that the difference between adults and children like herself is that adults have "baggage" which contributes to certain base level of tension in any extended interaction between two adults. Perhaps this is why he prefers the company of girls to women, or women he can convince himself are girls.

Of all the characters, Christina remains the most enigmatic by the end of the film, which is fairly normal for movies about a man obsessed with a woman or girl, though just about the opposite of what I found so interesting about Chloe. It's the enigma itself the feeds the flame of obsession, the give and take between the fantasy the man projects on the woman and the reality of her personality and motives. Sometimes the two meet, sometimes there's the shock of discord when any difference is discovered. Sometimes it's this give and take that gives a relationship piquancy. In this case, Christina is quite eager to be the fantasy for Francis, temporarily, night after night, but it's most definitely not sexual. Or isn't it? The movie's choice to avoid suggesting it in any way only makes me wonder at it any more. It is a strip club, after all. Crucially, we learn absolutely nothing about Francis' wife. We don't even know if they're separated or divorced.

The information we have about Francis is so tightly controlled as Egoyan spools out the mystery. Not unlike the stripper on whom the patrons project their fantasies, we are compelled to project our own ideas on Francis. Surely we're not crazy for assuming he's horny if he's paying a stripper to give him a private dance. What I'm not sure about is if Egoyan is ultimately saying there's nothing sexual about Francis' motives or if his problem is a vast iceberg of unexamined sexuality. Maybe this movie just needed to be longer.

Anyway, Christina's strip tease to Leonard Cohen is still cool. Though not especially sexy.

Exotica is available on The Criterion Channel.

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: A club
Current Music: "Radagast the Brown" The Hobbit OST - Howard Shore

lilly_the_kid

I adore their relationship and had to make this vid. Hope you'l enjoy!

Fandom: Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
Music: I got a Name by Jim Croce
Characters/Pairing: Thunderbolt/Lightfoot
Summary: If you're going my way, I'll go with you.
Warnings: injury, sadness

here on AO3

shadowhive

So I was thinking of doing a post later but ughh.

So in the last post I mentioned chasing up the hospital appointment and we kept an eye on the phone the last days in case I heard anything back. This morning (about 15 minutes ago) mum called saying there was mail from the NHS, not one but two letters. Both said the same thing. I’ve got an emergency appointment…

But it’s on Monday. At 3:15.

Neither of those things are ideal exactly. Having the appointment be so late pretty much means coming back might be a nightmare (the last bus is 6:15 so if they keep be bouncing around I might miss it, especially since that’s not the direct bus from the hospital either). Being Monday isn’t ideal either. On one hand, it’s not the weekend, on the other it’s a few days away (and more issues). But the time is the bigger issue. If it was earlier in the day it wouldn’t be as bad but so late? Ugh!

It’s also messed up plans I was thinking of.

I was wanting to see Obsession, which comes out tomorrow, but the timing tomorrow is so off. It’s at 10:50 and 4 (and two later times but those are the ones I’d go for). The problem is finding a second film to watch to go with those slots. The problem is there’s not much I’d consider seeing. Theres Normal, which I don’t know much about but there’d be a 3 hour gap between them (and I’m not sure how I’d fill, it), there’s Rose Of Nevada which I’m don’t know much about either, but it’d be cutting it close. Then there’s Mortal Kombat II but I’m not sure I’d even like it and haven’t seen the first one.

Ironically I was thinking of just switching days to Monday, to see Obsession with Ciao UFO (which doesn’t have a showing tomorrow so it’s not an option) but now that’s not an option either.

(Also the Burger King voucher I hoped I’d use has vanished from the app and I thought that’d be good for a few days)

And just… ughhhhh.

(And also I’ve got no clue with this uni assessment and I was going to really look into it this morning but how can I when that came?I even just sent a message to my tutor and it just bounced back like ??)

I’m so annoyed by it all. I mean I should be glad to finally have something but why has it had to come so soon and at the worst time?

Current Mood: anxious

musesfool

I finished Parade of Horribles earlier but I totally need to read it again because there's some stuff I don't think I actually understood. ( spoilers )

There were also definitely things I meant to highlight so I could talk about them but then I didn't and now my brain is just !!!! about everything, so I need to reread at a slightly slower pace.

We interrupt this post because I need to complain about some umpiring in this Mets-Tigers game - Baty didn't even touch his helmet and the umpire says he challenged the call (and lost, so the Mets are out of challenges) and they showed the replay and his hand stops at eye-level - he never touches his helmet! Ugh. That is some bullshit.

Anyway! Overall ( spoilers )

Oh, now this umpire just fucked the Tigers on a pitch clock violation, so I guess it evens out? Idk idk.

One last DCC thing: ( I guess this is obliquely a spoiler )

Again, anyway, I will reread and then have more to say, I'm sure. Right now, my brain is soup. However, one thing I will always remember is ( spoiler )

*

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Mets losing to the Tigers

beanside

Greetings from the mouth of Endicott Arm/Dawes Glacier! It's an overcast, lightly foggy day, but I'm hoping some of it burns off before we reach Dawes Glacier.

It's still beautiful. Today shall be a much needed chill day, where we can relax and enjoy sipping hot cocoa on the veranda and freeze our buns off. It's going to be glorious. Then, at 4:30, we shall go to get our pictures taken, as it is fancy night. I want plenty of pictures of this journey.

At 5:30, we have our renewal of vows, which is sure to be a lot of fun, and beautiful and meaningful. The vows they offered were absolutely wonderful, and we stuck with them. The captain will come down and mingle and do the ceremony. Then, there will be cake (Vanilla cake with vanilla icing and raspberry filling.). Then, it's off to Morimoto by Sea for what will hopefully be an excellent meal. Then, probably back tot he suite to relax and digest.

Tomorrow is our last port, Ketchikan, and I'm a little sad about that. Alaska has been so beautiful, and I have loved every minute of it.

Yesterday was a busy day, filled with shopping and then the train that took us 20miles into the mountains. The seats were incredibly tiny and uncomfortable as hell, but the views took your breath away. Or that could have been the 2,850 elevation we reached.

It was very interesting and informative, and as stated, utterly beautiful. There were places on the mountain that they'd plowed, and the snow was stacked up over my head.

It was very lovely, and despite the bruise on my thigh from pressing into my seat, it was worth it.

We also did some hardcore shopping for souvenirs, and brought home a lot of touristy stuff.

Then it was back to the boat for a quiet night. First we stopped to get some food, and then went up and relaxed until it was time for our exceedingly fancy dinner at the Pinnacle Grill. My starter was a Dungeness and crabmeat salad, with a siracha aioli artfully decorating the plate. It was excellent. Next was beef short rib with chow fun noodles. It was an enormous and so good. Of course, we tried each other's food. Jess had a very good prime rib, and my sister had the steak and lobster. For dessert, I had a Chocolate and Stroopwaffle cobbler. It was like a warm, barely cooked brownie and was so chocolately and wonderful. We finished off with some delicious macarons.

Then we went back to the suite and watched the sun slip below the mountains.

It was breathtaking.

Afterwards, we saw some seals playing by the boat, and the night was made. Then I slept hard until 6:44am, just in time for coffee to arrive.

Now I shall go forth and get dressed. Our food steward apologized, but the Dutch coffee did not taste right to him, so we have American coffee, and it'a a little weak, so I may go down to the Neptune Lounge and get a cappuccino. Everyone have an wonderful Wednesday!

setsuled

Well, it was nice to get a little decent Marvel content in Punisher: One Last Kill last night, even if it did feel more like John Wick content. Perhaps the key was dialling the ambition way down from where it was on Daredevil and focusing on telling a simple vignette. It helps that Jon Bernthal seems very passionate about the character, enough that he co-wrote the teleplay with Reinaldo Marcus Green, who directed. Green is the director of the Academy Award nominated film, King Richard, which I haven't seen, but One Last Kill does come across as more competently directed and less sloppily edited than a lot of other recent Marvel TV content. And, thank Christ, the fight choreography is good.

A lot of the reviews are talking about how simple the 44 minute special's story is; some are saying it to the show's credit, some to the show's detriment. I liked it. Yes, Frank obsessing over the death of his family is well trodden territory, but it's worth remembering that the thing that defines Frank Castle is that the pain never dulls. I appreciate the perspective from some commentators that it was a mistake to have Frank actually be able to identify and kill the people who killed his family. It is a better idea for him never to get that closure so that the target of his revenge just becomes all murderers. But Bernthal sells the angst and intensity pretty well.

In one of my Daredevil: Born Again reviews, I pointed out how Disney seems loath to portray children in emotional distress nowadays. Despite being very stridently labelled as TV-MA, children play a prominent role in One Last Kill and it's fascinating. I wonder if the people at Marvel were using the TV-MA label with a big wink. After all, it is just ultra-violence, and immature minds never took that as inspiration to do anything, right? And they shouldn't . . . right?

You do kind of see kids in distress in this story. It might be that the limits of the distress shown are more to do with the abilities of these child actors. Good child actors are extremely rare and when one is found they tend to show up in everything, which was why Dakota Fanning was in practically everything during her childhood. So maybe these kids just lacked the chops to show that emotional depth.

But this lack of emotional depth makes it slightly eerie how children are positioned as moral arbiters in this story. It's Frank's vision of his deceased daughter calmly and sternly enticing him away that prevents him from killing himself and it's the little girl hugging him at the end of the episode that signals to Frank, and the audience, that he's done the right thing.

This Punisher story is one of the most reminiscent of Death Wish that I've seen. His enemies are thugs composed of pure malevolence. Perhaps we can thank the fact that the director is a black man that these fodder for Frank's bullets, blades, and ballpoint pen aren't exclusively white guys. But, with respent to the dog that's killed and the shopkeeper that's brutalised, it's worth remembering how the murder and abuse of innocents has been used in political propaganda in the past. It was a key aspect of Battleship Potemkin, perhaps the most famous propaganda film of all time, particularly in the famous staircase shot, which was referenced in season two of Andor. As I said when I was discussing the Punisher a couple weeks ago, I can enjoy the catharsis of Punisher style violence in fiction but I can recognise the difference between reality and fiction. After the assassination attempt at the White House Correspondence Dinner, I wonder if many people lack the critical thinking skills to do so. In theory, that's why we have maturity ratings.

Punisher: One Last Kill is available on Disney+.

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: A street
Current Music: "Five" - Bill Evans Trio

abyss_valkyrie

I got Daphne Bridgerton for the current round at

tvmovie20in20 and had quite an interesting time with the iconmaking. Most of the icons wanted to end up blue/purple/pastel so it was fun trying to make them not be, but I do feel like the whole set did end up being in those colours,lol. They are free to take and use. Comments are loved.

Preview:

( 20 icons of Daphne Bridgerton )

musesfool

Things, and also, stuff:

- NEW DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL TODAY!!! 🙌 🙌 🙌

- I did cancel the expensive hardcover in favor of the kindle edition and stupidly didn't think to check when the ebook actually becomes available. At midnight last night, I was refreshing my order page but the book was not yet available. A quick search revealed that Amazon releases things at midnight Pacific time, which I guess makes sense considering the location of their headquarters, and it saved me from staying up past my bedtime reading, but I was a little disappointed.

- Needless to say, not a whole lot of work got done today because I was READING. Luckily, I only had one meeting and that meeting doesn't require written notes, so...I answered emails and teams chats, but was otherwise glued to the book. ( minor spoiler from early on ) I'm sure I will have much more to say once I'm done reading. *g*

- Speaking of DCC, I learned the other day that the Avs' goalie, Wedgewood, is a fan (apparently he is a BookTok-er? or something?) and also last month, the Avs did a DCC-themed pet adoption night at which their mascot dressed up as Carl and all the potential adoptees were named after characters in the books. I can only imagine what the majority of people in that arena, who probably haven't read the books, thought was happening.

- Speaking of hockey, I am now kind of torn between rooting for the Habs and the Sabres, mostly because of Martin St Louis and being reminded about Mother's Day 2014 and also that if the Habs won it all there would be no White House invite to be grossed out by. I still think it's going to be Canes vs Avs in the end, and I guess I'd be rooting for the Canes, but that is a very unappealing final, imo.

- Once hockey is done, I will be able to catch up on SO MUCH TV: new seasons of Deadloch, For All Mankind, and Paradise, plus that surprise episode of The Bear that dropped last week and that new season (coming June 25th!), plus I still haven't watched s2 of Andor or Poker Face, and there's a new season of My Life Is Murder, as well! And I need to catch up on Abbott Elementary, too, and finish my Orphan Black rewatch. It is a lot!

*

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: At the Beach, In Every Life - Gigi Perez

abyss_valkyrie

For Round 22 at

characters20in20 I got Morgana from BBC Merlin & I could not be happier! 20 icons of this beauty...<3
All icons are free to take and use. Comments are loved!

Preview:

( Sometimes you've got to do what you think is right and damn the consequences. )

firecat

I wrote what I thought was a fun and helpful comment somewhere on R3ddut. The mods decided it was written by AI so they removed it. Do I get a statue with three arms and six fingers per hand as a reward? Should I missspel more words in my next comment?

beanside

It's 5:48am and it's feeling early. We didn't get to bed until around 11:30, so I don't have a clue why I'm upright, but whee, lets start this day.

Today, we have Skagway and the White Pass railroad. I'm sure it's going to be amazing, but it's got a lot to live up to after Juneau.

We didn't arrive to Juneau until about 1:30, so we packed it in on the ship in the morning. First up, we headed up to the Lido deck and grabbed breakfast. Jess had a berry crepe, which they said was amazing, and I had an eggs Benedict and a hashbrown. Plenty of food on the buffet, which was very tasty. After that, it was off to the thermal spa, where they have heated lounge chairs and a giant jacuzzi with two waterfalls that you can move to pound on your neck, shoulders or lower back.

We baked ont he loungers for a bit, then relaxed in the tub for a while. Then, it was back to the room to get ready for the day. After that, we relaxed on our verandah and watched the mountains slip by.

Being that this was our first cruise, we were not sure where we needed to go to get off, so I asked Rachel in the lounge what to do. Not only did she let me know it was on deck A, but also said that when the time came, she would walk us down.

True to her word, she came and led us down to the gangplank, and before we knew it, we were setting foot in Juneau Alaska.

I had rented a car, but it was at the parking lot on the other side of town, so we hiked. It was near a restaurant called the Twisted Fish, so we decided to sit and eat there. Good choice, tired me. The food was delicious. We all got fish and chips. Jess had codfish, we had halibut, and it was phenomenal. The fish was obviously super fresh, and was just delicious.

After that, we loaded up into our baby blue Toyota Highlander, and headed out. My sister was struggling a bit, so I drove her to the shopping, and circled, which also gave me a feel for the car. Nice car. Not the newest, but it ran beautifully. Once shopping was done, we headed for the main even, and I drove us out to Mendenhall Glacier.

I...don't really have words for how amazing that was. Standing in front of this enormous glacier stretched between two mountains...It was honestly awe inspiring.

The picture doesn't do it justice, because it was massive, to the point that it was giving me vertigo looking up at it. I took plenty of pictures, but it was definitely one of those sights that leaves an imprint on your soul. It was just fucking gorgeous.

Then, it was back to drop the car off (which was money well spent). I don't care that they charged me for a full day, it was worth it. We headed back to the ship and relaxed by the port for a few minutes before it was time for whale watching.

We got a group picture on the back of the boat, which was cool, the Mendenhall Glacier was behind us, and I love it.

That was a bumpy ride, but a lot of fun. We saw a few whales, including one that kindly waved their tail at us.

It was super cool, and when that tail came up, the entire boat cheered. I had paid for the private tour, so it was just us and two guys we met on the Facebook Page, who were lovely. The captain was a younger guy who was just as enthusiastic as we were.

On the way back, we circled around a buoy, which some adorable sea lions were basking on.

Then, it was back to the boat to order room service and collapse into the bed.

It was an amazing day, and one I'm going to remember for the rest of my life. Aside from the day I met Jess and the days I married them, it was 100% the best day of my life.

And now, my morning coffee should be here soon, so I will sign off and prepare for Skagway, and the White Pass Railway. It's also going to be epic. Everyone have an awesome day!

turps

We're off to see The Choir of Man at the theatre tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to it as I do love a good feel-good singing heavy show. Plus, reading reviews, as it's set in a pub they have a bit of audience interaction going on -- if wanted, giving some people free pints of draft beer from the stage. Which is typical as we're in decent seats but James doesn't drink at all when driving, and I don't like beer. They should give out draft pop instead *g*

It'll be class tomorrow at 9am. Maybe anyway, Rosie cancelled yesterday's about an hour before start due to a family emergency so I'm not 100% sure if tomorrow will be on. Then we've got an appointment in Sunderland at 2:30, then the theatre at 7pm also in Sunderland, so it seems a bit pointless driving home between. So, I think what I'll do is come home and change after class, then go for tea in town somewhere after that first appointment.

Today I've been re-potting the tomato plants, at least some of them as I didn't have enough compost for all ten. But I've given the greenhouse a good tidy up and enjoyed the pottering out there. Especially when it started raining, there's something very lovely being in the greenhouse in the rain.

I've been catching up on some recorded shows, one of them being The Claudia Winkleman Show. I was enjoying it anyway with such great guests as Dan Levy, Phil Dunster, Cush Jumbo and Josh Widdicombe on the sofa. Then Mr Blobby turned up and Dan's reaction is amazing. He obviously doesn't get the legend that is Mr Blobby. Because Blobby And yes, he was very popular back in the day. Fun fact, when I used to go watch the Wasps Mr Blobby came to the rink and ended up breaking Paul Smith, the Wasps manager's, nose by barging him against the trophy cabinet *g*

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setsuled

Dolly Parton has been cropping up in my life lately. The executor of my father's estate worked for her and her brother, Randy, and on Mother's Day my mother wanted to watch Steel Magnolias. That movie has an impressive ensemble. In addition to Parton, there's Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Sally Field, Julia Roberts, and Olympia Dukakis, though I would say having Olympia Dukakis in your movie is nothing to brag about. Apparently she died in 2021 but her career seemed to really peter out after the '80s ended. There's something very '80s about her, some register of stately smarm that resonated with critics in the '80s but then dissipated around 1990 or so.

It'd been a long time since I'd seen Steel Magnolias so I don't remember much about my original opinion of it. I thought Parton and Daryl Hannah were the strongest parts of the cast this time. I don't think Parton has a lot of range as an actress but she's especially good in supporting roles. I really liked The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, though. I was listening to "Hard Candy Christmas" this past Christmas.

Watch on YouTube

Nowadays, I guess she's known to the younger generation as the old lady in the second version of Sabrina Carpenter's "Please Please Please" music video (not to be confused with The Smiths song of the same name. Yeah, I know, no-one does).

Watch on YouTube

More recently, Sabrina Carpenter was seen performing with Madonna. Nice to see there's a young artist that the pillars of an elder generation are enthusiastic about supporting. One might debate over whether this is good for either the younger or elder artists or if this is a Dial of Destiny thing. Maybe the lesson here is "Seize the moment."

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: A sonic landscape
Current Music: "Dance the Night Away" - Cream

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and the mets put the hammer down

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Day 6, heading into Skagway

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