Of Swords and Parasols

The kitty has found a home.  It seems that because they have 2 female cats, my parents just assumed the new one was a she, but they found out yesterday that it's a he.  Anyway, he now has a home.  With about 7 other cats.  One of whom looks just like him(except this one IS a female) who was found the same day, 20 miles away.  *shakes head*

Work lightened up a bit this week, but that basically means that it'll get really, really busy sometime this week or next week.

As I already went on quite a bit about Saiyuki earlier this week, I'll spare you a rehash(for now) and move on to the other stuff...

Novels:

"Have Glass Slippers, Will Travel" by Lisa Cach(romance) It...it...it's fiction me...seriously...the girl has Wonder Woman nighties(I want!) reads a lot, lives online, and when making a collage of things that "feel right" it's mostly of period pieces, mostly british productions, predominantly featuring Ioan Gruffud decked out as Horatio Hornblower.  Now, she DOES have this odd Oprah fixation, but I can look past that...Oh, there's also a rather fun and cute Cinderella/twisted-My Fair Lady plotline too, and a guy in a kilt, but fiction-me is the most important part.

"Lion of Macedon" by David Gemmell(historical fantasy)  *sniffle*  I told Damon that Gemmell died earlier this week, and when I saw him again yesterday, he asked if I was going to tell him that Santa Claus was dead too, or something(it took several minutes to convince him that it wasn't an ill-advised joke on my part)  Anyway, very good book.  probably challenges "Dark Moon" as my favorite of his stand-alone books.  It's about the life of Parmenion, a general/mentor of Alexander's(as in, "The Great")  As, historically, Parmenion is more of a role than a person, Gemmell had a lot of leeway, and he used it well.  It's also, apparently, a prequel to "Dark Prince."  Which, naturally, isn't available here(but while talking, DAmon said he had it, so YAY! on that front)

"Brightly Burning" by Mercedes Lackey(fantasy)  This poor book has been languishing in my backlog for about 2 years now.  I basically binged on Lackey's Valdemar books for a while, then got sidetracked by her urban fantasies and then the historical fantasies and got this one just after the Valdemar binge.  Not my favorite of her Valdemar books(I'm partial to "By the Sword" and the "Mage Winds" trilogy, though I haven't read all the Valdemar books yet) but a good one, though it takes a bit longer than most Lackey books to get going.  Basically the story of what happens when life regularly screws over a nice, shy guy with lots and lots of power.

Comics:

Bleach Vol 2-14:  Ooooooh...I have become so hopelessly addicted to this.  And oooh does the end of Vol 14 leave off in an evil spot...The first six books(more like 5 3/4) books where it was basically Rukia and Ichigo hunting down hollows and going to school were good(with the addition of Uryu helping jump start things in Vol 5) but when the other soul reapers show up in the tail end of Vol 6 and the attention shifts away from the hollows to the soul reaper's society(think medieval japanese court w/ powers and you'll have a decent idea) is when it really takes off(and just after that is when the art starts getting much better)  Also, why oh why must my favorites keep trying to kill each other...at least Ichigo/Uryu and Ichigo/Renji are past that(after too much blood and skewering to be good for my heart in the latter case...thank goodness Magatsu in "Blade of the Immortal" helped prepare me for these things)  Hopefully Renji/Uryu won't get too serious if they go at it...

Age Of Bronze #23:  Sigh...it took me around 6 weeks to 2 months to get ahold of this...if other people who read it also have that much trouble getting it, then no wonder Shanower is having to consider switching to trades-only.  A good issue, odd that it has Achilles on the cover, but he's nowhere to be seen inside.  That's actually a good thing, as, while the Greek camp is fun and all, we don't get to see enough of what's going on in Troy, so this was a nice break from that.

Gargoyles #1:  *whew*  I was slightly nervous about this one, but it was good(and also took too long for me to get ahold of!  But not as long as AoB)  As advertised, it follows the first bit of season 3 about as I recall it, as Weisman was involved with that, and I'm looking forward to seeing what original stuff it'll have.  No Fox, Owen, Baby Xanatos or MacBeth, but I guess I can't have EVERYTHING I want in the first issue(but I should!)

DVDs:

The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.:The Complete Series:  About 4 discs into this.  It's as good as I remember, though I'd thought Dixie was in it more and had forgotten how much I like Socrates(or maybe being 12 years older lets me appretiate him more...probably that...)  This show is proof that you CAN make a deliberately anachronistic show work when played straight(as opposed to blatantly anachronistic and not caring) but only if you know the material so wel that you could make the show meticulously accurate, right down to whether it rained in detroit that day.  It's a western with sci-fi elements(they're only just becoming more obvious...if I recall the eventual revelations correctly, it involves time travel) and modern sensibilities played completely straight, and it works almost perfectly(once every few eps, it'll be slightly too clever, but that only ever lasts a few moments)

Captain Blood/The Sea Hawk:  Or "Errol Flynn's pirate movies"(if he has other's on DVD, TELL ME!)  I wasn't completely sure about these...I've loved Flynn's "Adventures of Robin Hood" since...uhm...birth?  Potty training?  Somewhere around there, but until now, it was the only one of his movies I've seen.  Fortunately, I love them both.  "Captain Blood"  isn't as smooth as "Sea Hawk" or "Robin Hood"(but then, I think I read somewhere that it was also Flynn's first major role) but was quite, quite good and fun.  And it had Olivia DeHavilland.  "Sea Hawk"  largely took the elements of "Robin Hood" that worked(including a lot of the cast, but NOT DeHavilland, though the cast thing likely has more to do with studios at the time than anything else) and puts them at sea.  Heck, some of Flynn and Brenda Marshall's conversations were highly reminiscent of Robin and Marian's in "Robin Hood."  However, instead of detracting from the movie, it made it better(but also left me with a serious hankering to rewatch "Robin Hood")  Also of note:  yes Hollywood, fun yet serious historical movies ARE good.  Next up will be the westerns in my set(both of which have DeHavilland...how is it possible that they WEREN'T deliberately paired...)  NOTE: Amazon still has the signature collection for $30

Classic Comedies Collection (Bringing Up Baby / Libeled Lady / Stage Door): Thankfully, "Dinner at Eight"  was completely standalone in its suckage and I loved all three of these.(Though "Philadelphia Story" is my favorite of the movies in the set)  "Bringing Up Baby" was a little different from how I'm used to seeing Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, but was quite a good bit of madcap fun.  "Libeled Lady" was one I was uncertain about, but Myrna Loy and William Powell made it my favorite of these 3, and makes me really want the "Thin Man" movies.  "Stage Door" is probably about as much girl power as you could get in the 30s, and handles some serious issues admirably, while still being a comedy.  Were I to rank the movies in this set, it'd go "Philadelphia Story" "Libeled Lady" "Stage Door"  "To Be or Not To Be" and then "Bringing Up Baby."  "Dinner at Eight"  I shall henceforth try to regret, and "Bringing Up Baby" is better than any modern attempts at slapstick.  Watching these, I finally realized why why I loved the classics and "Remington Steele" so much, but can't stand most modern comedies.  Currently, Hollywood assumes we have to brain, and so they rely on dirty jokes and physical(often uncomfortable-to-watch) humor.  The classics(and Steele and a few others) however, assume that intelligent beings are watching, and the humor is largely reliant on quick wit and intelligence, and the actor's ability to deliver the lines with good timing and the proper "oomph" with the physical and slapstick parts as the backup.  Sadly, this set isn't hugely discounted anymore...

 

1 person has seen 2 of the graduation pics(no gloating) the rest of you can see them when I either find or give up looking for the others.

No real plans today.  Would be a family dinner or some such, but Mom and Dad are on their anniversary cruise, and Jen and Myles are in Stanford with her parents, I think.  So, mostly just enjoying being off today.

Drove by the movie theater.  Think I'll try for the 12:50 showing tomorrow, before heading in to work.

The cats think that I should be getting up around 8 even though I don't get to bed until 2 or 3.  I need to discuss that with them...

I am reminded of why I don't do laundry on Sundays...people leave their laundry in the washer while they're in the pool, and it sits there for forever, tying up the machines.  Sadly, this was the last clean shirt this morning when I went to the closet, so it was necessary.

2 down on the Negima icons...dunno how many it'll be in the end.

Between Amazon's "Big DVD Sale"(which evilly did not include Poirot DVDs) Walenbooks "4 for 3" manga sale and Hastings's recent intake of secondhand manga, all progress on backlogs save novels has been fully reversed(and that hasn't recovered yet from a few weeks ago)

The influx of manga, however, made me realize that books that came out during a school crunch were put away on the bookshelf and forghotten...books that normally wouldn't rest there long(anyone really think I'd intentionally leave "Death Note" "Hikaru No Go" "Inu Yasha" or "Fruits Basket" languishing for 2 months?)

 Looks like I'm getting back to doing these once a week.  I have discovered the dark, dark side of Amazon Prime...an order of 5 books and 1 dvd set is due to arrive tomorrow.  It's coming in 4 boxes...

Also, I just popped "Steamboy" into the DVD player and it had the FF: Advent Children trailer, and now I want to watch that again...

Moving on...

Because I have nothing better to do(well, that I have the energy or motivation for) and the current work situation results in plenty of reading time(along with frustration with the general situation and a certain coworker's primadonna hissyfits)




Currently Reading:  "The Wizard of London" by Mercedes Lackey(wait...I thought I was trying to ease off the fantasy novels for a bit...)
Currently Watching:  "Desperate Housewives: Season 1"(which I suspect I'm enjoying far too much)

Lotsa stuff... I think about 3+ weeks worth...comics, novels, trades, dvds, etc.

::crosses fingers::

Not as in detail as the first try, because, you know, it's midnight(or at least, 5 till as of the commencement of typing)

Been on an anime/manga binge the last few days, and so, to make sure they don't get lost when half the f-list goes "hmph...anime/manga...next..." a couple of classics:

Arsenic and Old Lace:  This is one of those movies that relies 95% on over-the-top antics and comedy to carry the entire thing, as opposed to story.  It works though, primarily because it's actual humor, and most clever, as opposed to today's so-called "humor."  If this movie was made today, it'd be 2 hours of grossout, crass, and dirty jokes, as opposed to actually being, you know, funny.  Not a favorite, but worth the watching.
The Philadelphia Story:  Much better movie, though I'm not quite sure I would have chosen that ending(though I have no problems with it...it's just not quite the ending I would have chosen)  Very smart show, with humor that relies on wit and intelligence.  It seems odd to me, though, that Jimmy Stewart won a Best Actor award for it.  Don't get me wrong, he was great, I just didn't see what would make him stand out above all the others.

Books I've been reading:

Most of the books I've read the last six weeks or so, though four were in just the last two weeks...the temporary transfer to verifications leaves me lots of time to read...

"The Chocolate Mouse Trap" by JoAnna Carl(mystery)  A bit of a disappointment, sadly.  Carl is now trying to be "modern" and forcing technological Deus Ex Machina into my nice, cozy little small town mystery.  Grr...I read these things to AVOID technology in my mysteries...only mystery series I've seen where I didn't mind all the technology was Veronica Mars, and that's because it never provides more than the "shoeprint" type of clue...it's still 99% her brain that figures it out.  Sigh...Still a good book, though, and I have no plans to drop the series.

"Isabella" and "The English Witch" by Loretta Chase(traditional Regency romance) note for the uninitiated: Trad. Regencies are of the Jane Austen variety, not the clench cover, corset ripping inside variety.  Anyway..."Isabella" was one of the first regencies I read.  I liked it then, but I think I liked it a whole lot more now that I'm more used to the style.  "The English Witch" I hadn't read because it was impossible to get ahold of(barring an absurd amount of money for a 15 yr old 200 page paperback) until this omnibnus was rereleased.  The hero in this one was the nominal villain of the first book.  While I got him, I couldn't understand the girl's motivation at all.

"The Rigante" series by David Gemmell: "Sword in the Storm" "Midnight Falcon" "Ravenheart" and "Stormrider"(fantasy):  Very good little set.  The first two books are pulled out of celtic legend and feature a father/son with a relationship that seems to be very loosely modeled after King Arthur and Mordred, only without the patricidal ending, and  simultaneously healthier and unhealthier.  Backdrop is primarily "Rome invading Ireland."  Kinda.  Because, while these two books seem to have Ireland as the basis for the Rigante lands, books 3-4 seem to be based more on Scotland.  Books 3-4 are set several hundred years later, and the two title characters(the Rigante have "soul names") come from two branches of their descendants.  Those two characters, I think, grow the most of any of Gemmell's characters that I've read, with the possible exception of Waylander.  As a result, I think Kaelin and Gaise(RH and SR respectively) are my favorite of his characters, though I'd put "Midnight Falcon" down as my favorite of his books.

"Deathstalker Coda" by Simon R. Green(sci-fi):  Dear Universe:  Do not piss off the Deathstalkers.  Thank you.  Dear Mr. Green: Please reconsider.  Thank you.  And so ends one of maybe 3 scifi series I've bothered to read more than one book of, and the only one to wear mostly scifi trappings, as opposed to "fantasy world with guns"(hello Mr. Stasheff, I'll get back to your books soon, I promise.  I really wasn't criticizing your books.  See how many of them I own?)  I will now go off to be sad, because it's over.  Oh, and shock at how few main characters died, seeing as it's a Deathstalker book.

"Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth" by Simon R. Green(urban fantasy): quick note:  my current avatar is from the cover.  If this is ALSO the last book in this series, I'll be extra sad.  I don't recall seeing anything from him announcing the end of the series, but this one seemed to firmly wrap things up, so we'll see.  Hopefully there's more, as this series seems to be Green's best outlet for his imaginantion.  As I've said before, his brain both fascinates and frightens me.  I think I want to be him(writingwise) when I grow up.  Still, whether it's the end of the series of the end of this leg of the series, it's a great book.

"The Vampire Earth" books 2-4 by E.E. Knight:  "Choice of the Cat" "Tale of the Thunderbolt" and "Valentine's Rising"(sci-fi):  This is one of those series I referred to earlier.  It's billed as sci-fi, but a more appropriate(and long winded) billing would be "futuristic postapocalyptic military dark fantasy."  Basic concept the the truth behind the vampires myth(they make vampires look like fluffy kitties) and the appearance of the swastika symbol in so many places.  Explaining it would take too long, so I'll just say the books are really good and you should all read them.

"Death at Blenheim Palace" by Robin Paige(historical mystery):  This series has changed a lot since it started.  It used to be about an American author who inherited her British aunt's estate and her neighbor and eventual husband, an English gentleman and would-be detective who's interested in the emerging science of forsenics.  Now it's about an English lord who's a noted investigator, and his slightly eccentric American wife, who writes novels.  The mystery aspect has also been pushed off to the side, in favor of focusing on particular social and historical events and people of the time, with the main characters imposed upon the existing landscape and a mystery threaded in.  So, not the series I originally started reading, but still more interesting than most of the other mysteries out there.  And, unlike some that changed a lot from their beginnings, it still holds my interest despite the changes(yes Ms. Evanovich, I'm talking to you.)

And...that's it.  Next update, I suspect, will have more mysteries and/or historical fiction.