owlmoose: (Default)
KJ ([personal profile] owlmoose) wrote2015-08-03 08:02 am

Things you do when you're sick for five days

Just a cold, but a bad enough one that I missed three days of work and didn't have energy for much beyond lounging around the house. So what did I do? Consumed a bunch of media!

1. Read comics: Nimona, the latest Captain Marvel collection (Chewie!), and the first three volumes of Matt Fraction's Hawkeye. I've had the Hawkeye books for awhile, and I actually bought and read the first one when it first came out. But then I put off getting the second, and then when I did get it I wanted to re-read the first one before reading it, and then I didn't get around to doing that either. So I read them all in one fell swoop yesterday. And they were great, although predictably I liked the Kate Bishop volume the best. Is the next one out yet? I know it's ending soon, or maybe already has, but there must be at least one more (that was quite a cliffhanger). Nimona was delightful. I don't know whether its initial publication as a web comic messes up its Hugo eligibility, but if not, it's definitely in my first round of nomination picks for next year.

2. Caught up on the last few months of PBS Idea Channel, which I hadn't watched since March or so. Or almost caught up, anyway -- I decided to take a break after the video that discussed Lewis's Law. One of the things I've always appreciated about the host, Mike Rugnetta, is how unapologetically feminist he is, and how he refuses to debate the validity of feminism as a philosophy. So when he spent his entire comment response to that episode pandering to "egalitarians" whose poor feelings were hurt when he compared them to MRAs, I was pretty disappointed. (I don't think egalitarianism, in and of itself, is necessarily a bad philosophy, but those egalitarians who set themselves up in direct opposition to feminism are 1. missing the point of feminism, especially intersectional feminism, and 2. not taking privilege into account.) I get wanting to keep your community open to a wide range of viewpoints, and I concede he may have worded his comparison clumsily, but there's nothing wrong with setting the terms of the debate. I hope this doesn't mean that he either avoids feminist topics in the future, or starts treating them all with kid gloves in order not to offend. Honestly, I'm not sure which would be worse.

3. Picked up my Dragon Age: Inquisition replay. I left my Trevalyen warrior stranded in Halamshiral for months, so I started by finishing up there, and then I played through the remaining Grey Warden quests (as well as a bunch of sidequests in the Western Approach, a few in the Hinterlands, and Varric's companion quest). I left Marissa Hawke in the Fade, and hated myself for it, but I had known from pretty much the beginning that Kendra would make this choice, so I was braced for it. (And my other choice was Alistair, so it's not like that would have been any better.) In truth, I can't think of a good, in-character reason for most Inquisitors to leave the Grey Warden behind -- the Warden is senior in the order and will be needed to help rebuild, while there's no particular political or practical reason to need Hawke alive. Was anyone else able to justify it?

4. Watched a good chunk of Season 2 of Star Trek: Voyager. I never watched all of Voyager, and not long ago I was struck with the idea of revisiting it. I had remembered watching it for a few years, then getting bored when it became The Seven of Nine show, and most of the first season episodes were familiar, but the second season has been almost entirely new to me. I vaguely remember the business with Seska, and a couple of other things, but either I actually didn't watch it regularly or have blocked the whole thing out. It's been enjoyable to rediscover how much I loved Captain Janeway and B'lanna and Harry and the Doctor, and there's no one I dislike (although I prefer Neelix in small doses). It'll be interesting to see when it starts getting familiar again -- I know I was watching when Seven joined the cast, but I don't remember exactly what season that was, and not much about what was happening before that.

5. With T, watched Jupiter Ascending (which was bananas, but a fun kind of bananas, but I didn't fall in love with it as deeply as many of you did -- probably my expectations were dialed way too high), the Roger Ebert documentary Life Itself (which was lovely, and if you have any interest in Ebert -- and can handle watching a man in slow decline, since it was filmed over the last few weeks of his life -- I recommend it), and the first episode of Sense8 (promising, although I don't think I'll be able to binge on it).

Back to work today -- I don't usually work my part-time gig on Mondays, but I fell far enough behind this week that I want to at least start catching up. Fortunately I think I'm up for it, although I am a bit sad to end my mini media feast.
alias_sqbr: exploding train (train)

[personal profile] alias_sqbr 2015-08-03 03:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Was anyone else able to justify it?

My rather single mindedly pro-elf Dalish inquisitor left slaver Loghain in the Fade with enthusiasm.
alias_sqbr: the symbol pi on a pretty background (Default)

[personal profile] alias_sqbr 2015-08-04 08:55 am (UTC)(link)

I like your icon. "King Alistair approves" :)

umadoshi: umadoshi kanji (Elementary - Joan & mug ( justgraphics3))

[personal profile] umadoshi 2015-08-04 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
Ugh, being sick sucks so much. I hope you're feeling better now!
iamshadow: Still from Iron Man of Tony Stark blacksmithing. (Default)

[personal profile] iamshadow 2015-08-04 04:12 am (UTC)(link)
Hawkeye is complete now. The trade of the fourth volume is due out in about two weeks! If you can't wait, though, you can do what I did and read digital and buy hardcopy later. (I'm getting the hardback 12-22 to match my hardback 1-11, when it comes out.)
Edited 2015-08-04 04:13 (UTC)
iamshadow: Still from Iron Man of Tony Stark blacksmithing. (Default)

[personal profile] iamshadow 2015-08-04 06:27 am (UTC)(link)
If you liked Hawkeye, have you tried Black Widow (Edmonson/Noto)? It's beautifully drawn, and the stories are complimentary in a lot of ways. Clint shows up now and again as does Bucky. It's a more serious story than Hawkeye, but that feels right given Natasha's history and how her activities outside Avengers are to do with penance (red in my ledger, etc.).

The short run (five issue) Hawkeye vs Deadpool is worth a look, too, for the lulz and for deaf representation with Clint using hearing aids, occasional sign and Deadpool accomodating Clint needing to read his lips by having his mask peeled up to leave his mouth free. It also has quality Kate Bishop. :)

Also, the current run of Secret Avengers (Kot/Walsh/Wilson) is cracky fun with a lot of familiar faces. Clint gets plenty of good page time and interesting interactions with a variety of characters (Natasha, Jessica Drew, Maria Hill and Phil Coulson, just to name a few).
iamshadow: Picture of the title card from the Agent Carter short (Agent Carter)

[personal profile] iamshadow 2015-08-05 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
Volume two of Black Widow is out, volume three (the final book) should be out soon, because the last issue has been released. *checks* Looks like first week of October.

As for the others, Hawkeye vs Deadpool is out in a single volume, and Secret Avengers with Kot writing has three volumes out. Secret Avengers had an run the year before (which I think is okay too, don't remember if I've read it yet), so make sure if you buy Secret Avengers you buy volumes that are all the same run, or it'll make no kind of sense. The subheadings for the trades for the current run are 1. Let's Have A Problem, 2. The Labyrinth and 3. God Level. :)
lassarina: (Default)

[personal profile] lassarina 2015-08-05 01:36 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, no! I hope you are feeling better now. ♥

Jupiter Ascending is a weird movie. I am 3000% here for certain interactions (yep hi devoted dog of the military/queen pairing? YUP SIGN ME RIGHT THE FUCK UP and no one is surprised) and I love it in the way where I passionately wish it had been around when I was 15 because FUCK YES would I have been all about that then, and I love it now the way I would have loved it then but maybe not as intensely. at the same time, as much as I love it, I'm not entirely sure it's a good movie, in an absolute sense, but damn did I have fun with it.
lassarina: (Default)

[personal profile] lassarina 2015-08-05 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah. I went to see it twice in theatres because I was having so much fun perving on the knight--when the friend I went with the first time and I realized his name was Cane she just reached over and grabbed my hand and patted it soothingly while I made incoherent squeak-noises. XD