newnumber6

Since I only get one comic book a month now, that's what I got:

New Mutants #6 (not bad for a 'heroes returning from the dead' crossover plot)

Full reviews as usual at my comic reviews site for anyone interested.

Also picked up at the used bookstore (for only 50 cents!): Year's Best SF #9 (short story collection).
Pretty sure I don't have that one, stories in it by Doctorow and Stross among others, should be worth a look. And even if it WAS a rebuy, hey, 50 cents!

Work was okay, although they showed up earlier than I did, so a lot of work awas done for me. Which is good, I guess, since I still get paid the same amount, but I still feel bad. Ah well.

On the way to the comic store I noticed a building was owned by the "WTF Group". WTF? Anyway, drizzly the whole day so I didn't get any reading while walking done either. :P. Ah well.

No comics of course. New Mutants seems to be running a little less-than-monthly, since I should have been out to get that by now, and it wasn't on the list for next week either. At this rate, it might come out along with Runaways, making it only one trip to the comic store this month.

Work was okay, though hot. Quite hot. As was the walk home. Sweat got in my eye which is always a pain.

In other news, Neil Gaiman won the Hugo for his novel The Graveyard Book, making me once again one short of having completed all the winners. DAMN YOU NEIL GAIMAN! I was actually semi-rooting for Cory Doctorow's Little Brother because I've read and enjoyed it, but Gaiman's usually a good read so I have no qualms about buying another one. The other big Hugo news for me was Whedon and Doctor Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog winning the Hugo for best Short Form movie/tv/video

And... yes, something I've been waiting for for a while. AMC has announced that it will be adapting Robert Kirkman's comic "The Walking Dead" as a series. That's right, an ongoing zombie survival TV series. I've only read bits and pieces of the comic (I have a series interest-block on Black & White stuff), but what I've read seems pretty good. (Thanks to angelophile on the heads up on that) Maybe this will make up for AMC's travesty of the Prisoner. (Okay, I'm pre-judging there, which I shouldn't do. But it's so FUN! I will watch that and give it a fair chance, even if some of what I've seen does not fill me with excitement).

Found an announcement on what the 'Big Disaster' in the upcoming (midseason) series "Day One" is. Here. I dunno, normally I'd be all over that as a TV series premise, but somehow it seems less than what I'd hoped for _that_ as a series. Oh well, still probably worth a look.

No comic day of course, as it seems I only pick up comics every other week.

Work was okay.

In other news, today was the day. It comes once a year. Children around the world look forward to it. Well, okay, not the last one, unless my life is a lot weirder than I expected. It's... Haircut Day. Yes, I got my annual haircut (I like my hair longish during the winter for warmth, short during the summer for coolness). No pictures though, you'll just have to imagine.

In other other news, remember way back when my old new computer died and I had to get a new one? Well, left wondering all that time was the status of my data, which existed on a HD that was dying and possibly precipitated the total death of the computer. Anyway, I finally got an IDE External HDD enclosure (late B-Day gift), so I could connect that drive to my new computer through USB. It's very slow, chiefly because, every once in a while, the drive decides it'll go to sleep for an hour or two and not transmit any data at all (when it's working well it's a little slow but a respectable speed). And sometimes it just doesn't recognize it at all. But I eventually got the most critical stuff copied over, and am now slowly copying over the non-essentials (the "yeah, I could probably download this again but it'd be a pain to find it all and remember what I had and why" stuff), and then I will perform an autopsy, reclaim the vital internal organs, and give the HD its final rest. Technically even if I couldn't recover data off it it wasn't that big a deal, I'd already backed up the essential stuff some months back, on my old old computer. About what I would have lost is something like 5 months worth of the writing I did on the old new computer (but I do most of my writing on my old old computer so that wasn't much), and maybe a couple passwords.

However, my new computer came close to getting me evicted! Well, and my own stupidity. See, yesterday we got a notice from the landlord company, basically saying the rent cheque bounced and we had 24 hours to give them a money order or they'd start eviction proceedings. As it turned out, I'd forgotten to deposit my paycheck at the end of the last month (actually, my last two). I thought I had enough money to cover it regardless, but as it turned out, I had just _slightly_ less. As in, 'much less than the cost of my computer', so if I didn't have to buy one of those a couple months back, it really would have been fine. Embarassing, but, ah well, one rushed trip to the bank later and it got sorted out.

And, Book Foo. 3-for-1 special! Or technically 4-4-1 special.

Finished: Chasm City, by Alastair Reynolds
Started: Altered Carbon, by Richard K. Morgan (Reread)

So I didn't much care for Revelation Space, the first novel by Alastair Reynolds. But I figured, it was his first novel, maybe I'll give him another chance. Short version: Not bad. Wouldn't be one of my favorites, but I liked it enough that I'm more willing to try more books by him. I don't really have much in the way of long or spoilery comments, though.

Finished: Shadow and Claw, The First Half of the Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe

This actually counts as two books, "Shadow of the Torturer" and "Claw of the Concilliator", which were, I believe, originally published separately. However, it's also clear that they're all intended to be part of one book. Still, I'm counting it as two, mostly because I didn't much care for it. I can see skill there, but it falls into that category of "Not My Thing". (Minor spoilers beyond, mostly just furthur thoughts) ( Read more... ) Anyway, Claw of the Conciliator part was a Nebula Award winner which means I had to read it eventually. I probably won't finish it though, unless I happen to find the next parts really cheap.

Started and Finished: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Started: Lady of Mazes, by Karl Schroeder (reread)

We all know the plot of PaPaZ, at least in broad strokes. It's mostly Pride and Prejudice, but with zombies. And 'mostly Pride and Prejudice' is, for good or ill, truly what it was. I think after reading this I can satisfy myself that Jane Austen also falls into the category of "not my thing". I can certainly see how other people, people who are not me, can really dig it, but it leaves me cold. Zombies were the only thing that could have gotten me to read it at all. I will be talking more specifically about how they managed the introduction of that element, and so that may count as spoilers, behind the cut, but for my 'short version', I will only need two lines. The first of which is exactly the same as what my review would probably be for Pride and Prejudice. The other is likely not. The two line review: "Needed more zombies. Also, (and I cannot believe I am typing this) needed fewer ninjas." ( Read more... ) So although I didn't much enjoy reading it, I did get it for free and am kinda happy I own it, as a conversation piece if nothing else, if I was the type who had conversations with people or indeed had people over at all. Actually, one of the best parts of the book were the tongue-in-cheek "discussion questions" at the end, which might be perfect if your book club wound up choosing it, locker_monster. ;)

And finally, most of the TV rumor mills are saying Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is dead. I'll wait until official word from somebody involved before losing all my hope, but if its true, I can't say it was unexpected, although it really is too bad. It had a weak middle of the season, but it picked up significantly and I really wanted to see where they'd go from where they left off. It'll probably the show I miss most of this year's cancellations (including likely or even possible cancellations). You know, sooner or later, somebody's going to move a series from TV, and, upon cancellation, take the risk and become a DVD-only TV series. Not a series of DVD movies like Stargate, but an actual series with different episodes. Somebody's gotta be the first. And it'll probably be a SF series that does it. I wish it would be this one, but I doubt it. Oh well, if it does end up here, at least it frees up Summer Glau to play Ninja Ballerina (shut up, I live in my own little fantasy world, the rent's cheap and I have an in with the landlord).

I don't even really blame Fox this time around, because, for whatever reason (and again, I can't blame Fox), the ratings just sunk after a phenomenal premiere. I guess it just wasn't everybody's tastes in a Terminator series. We were lucky to get a full second season at all.

No comics today. Last issue of NYX hits today but I don't like it enough to take the big trip to the comic store. I'll grab it next week with Runaways

Work was okay, came only a few minutes after I did and was relatively light. Unfortunately, that meant again I barely got any reading done, thanks to the snow and/or rain that was constant on the walk there and back. The weather is seriously cramping my reading speed! Ah well.

Computer seems to be working well now that it's all set up. Last night I woke up in the middle of the night coughing and convinced that somehow I, personally, had become widescreen though. I'm sure that's normal and will pass.

Oh, and remember Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the book that combines the text of Austen's novel with new passages setting it all during a zombie apocalypse? Well, apparently Austen mashups are in vogue now, because they're actually working on a movie called... "Pride and Predator". I don't know if the Predator in question is actually The Predator from the movies by that name, and if it isn't I suspect the name will have to be changed because of a lawsuit, but if it is, that would be awesome.

This week I got one book:

Runaways #6 (bit of a weak end to the arc)

Full reviews as usual at my comic reviews site for anyone interested.

Work was okay, though late, however it (and the walk to the comic store) were a bit of a pain because of a snowstorm. It wasn't especially cold, and thankfully, at least most of the time, not especially slushy, but the snow was falling the whole time and meant I couldn't really read while walking. The snowstorm probably also contributed to the lateness at work.

Anyway, some random bits of news and such that may be of interest.

Kim Manners, director of a number of SF shows including X-Files and Supernatural (and in fact, who directed the recent SN episode "Family Remains" has died. RIP.

In TV news, NBC had greenlit a pilot for a new series, called Day One. It's described as a post-apocalyptic series after a global catastrophe destroys the world's infrastructure. Sounds like my kind of show. The writer of the pilot has worked on Heroes, Lost, and Alias. So that might be good or bad. He was one of the co-executive producers let go when NBC realized the Heroes ship was sinking and needed dramatic efforts to rescue it, though. I'll give it a chance, because, well, me-likey post-apocalypse.

ABC's greenlit a pilot for a remake of V, by one of the co-exec producers of The 4400. Also may or may not be worth a look.

Also, like Jane Austen? Like Zombie Apocalypses? Well, I have the book for you! It's a posthumous collaboration with Jane Austen is an upcoming novel, "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies". Yes, really. Apparently it combines actual text from the Austen novel with new material making a plot about a zombie uprising, making it a comedy of manners during a zombie apocalypse. I dunno, I kinda dig that kind of thing, at least in theory.

And if you're not sick of zombies yet, apparently there will be an upcoming horror-comedy Zombieland, starring Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslyn.

And there's some more word on casting for the DW Specials this year, over at Gallifrey One's News Page, but I won't be specific because it may be spoilery to some.

Had a Supernatural episode in a dream. Not so much a dream about Supernatural, but actually a plot (albeit, not a complete one). ( Read more... )

Zombie Meme, stolen from lots of people on my flist.

You are in a mall when the zombies attack. You have:

1. one weapon.
2. one song blasting on the speakers.
3. one famous person to fight alongside you.
* Weapon can be real or fictional; you may assume endless ammo if applicable. Person can be real or fictional.


1. I'm choosing THE STAR BRAND. That's right, a weapon 95% of you have never heard of. It's a comics thing. The original one, not the Warren Ellis version. Phenomenal Godly Power + Invulnerability.
2. I dunno... It's the End of the World as We Know It? I'm not a big music guy. Maybe "All you need is love" by the Beatles, because I always thought that was a great song to kill things by.
3. Hmmm... I was going to say River Tam, because she's awesome against Reavers, but then I thought her nifty mind powers might not work on zombies as well, and so she might not be as effective. Plus, if she slips up and takes one bite, she's infected. So I'll stick with Summer Glauity but instead choose Cameron from Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles. Still an ass-kicker, no threat of zombie infection (the skin might potentially get infected but she could probably grow a new one from scratch if she had to), plus, hot post-apocalyptic robot sex after we've dealt with the zombies, and that's always awesome!

Oh, and I hate when I miss these, shoulda posted this one yesterday but I guess I forgot to look at the list:
Happy Belated Birthday, thesexyplant!!! Sorry it's late.

For those on my flist who aren't comic geeks, Marvel Zombies was a sort of joke concept started in the Ultimate Universe in which the heroes of the Marvel Universe (or rather an Alternate one) got infected by a zombie plague and started eating everyone else and turning some (unlike most traditional zombie stories, the zombies had their own intelligence and personality mostly, but they were driven by an unholy hunger and so couldn't stop from feeding, even on their friends or family except perhaps for a few minutes immediately after a feeding). It eventually spawned its own miniseries, spinoffs, statues, and is generally agreed to have been beaten into the ground by this point. It was very dark and occasionally gory but in some ways blackly funny.

But zombies aren't known for staying in the ground...

Somebody created a Marvel Zombies fanfilm.

It's very short, really more a teaser to an imaginary longer fanfilm (and technically speaking doesn't follow MZ canon), and extremely NSFW due to gore, and not all that funny really, but may have a certain amusement factor to Marvel fans or zombie fans just for the mere fact that it exists.

Here's a link to the fanfilm. (Watch past the credits).

Stolen from randyandrews... okay, so my Great Canadian Zombie Film if I ever do more than idly consider it, apparently won't be the only Great Canadian Zombie project. The Living is apparently planned to be a 'serialized zombie apocalypse broadcast biweekly over the interweb'. What makes it special? Because apparently it's filmed and set in Toronto. Wonder if maybe I should think about trying to be an extra at some point. ;)

Edit: Oh, and to those on my flist that celebrate it, "Rockin' Solstice" since I believe that's sometime in the next couple days.

So yesterday was one of those days that make me wonder if I'm not secretly in control of the universe on a subconscious level. Why? Because I found $20 on the sidewalk. That's not all, you see, because earlier in the week my brother found $20 (and separately in another incident, $10), and he mentioned it yesterday so while I was walking to work I was thinking to myself, "man, wouldn't it be cool to find $20", and then on the way home, there it was. This was similar to another time when I was thinking about how I once found some bus tickets on the ground, and how cool that would have been, and then later that day I spot like 5 of them on the ground. But then my rational skepticism kicked in, ( Read more... )

Speaking of, Heroes was last night. The first of the big TV show droughts. No spoilers here, but it did feel a bit rushed with plotlines seemingly being dropped (there was originally supposed to be one more ep in the volume but they hastily rewrote when the strike seemed unavoidable, so at least there'd be a conclusion to it), and just a weakness overall. I love Heroes conceptually, but I do think they need to make a few changes in writers and maybe directors, because it's not as good as last year and there are really some dumb plotting bits that need to be smoothed out. Particularly (this is not so much spoilery for the last episode, but a problem that's been recurring throughout this season, and contains some spoilers of that) ( Read more... )

WGA is still on strike. 100% support for the writers here. I'd like to briefly rant about two things I keep seeing popping up on people who are down on the writers (and I realize that most people on my flist are rightly supporting the writers or haven't commented at all, but I see it on message and comment boards a fair bit, and I feel like ranting here rather than there):

1) All these writers suck nowadays anyway, TV is so lame I can't watch it, they don't deserve to get paid what they get.
2) Writers are greedy, they make too much money already, and now they want more? And what's this with residuals, they should just do a job and get paid and have that be the end of it like people who do costuming and set design.
My responses, cut. ( Read more... ) Anyway, rant over.

Today/Last night I had another cool zombie apocalypse dream. They're still shambling around in my subconscious, I guess. This one involved the Marvel Zombies, at least at the start. ( Read more... )

Oh, and I'm thinking of doing a DC companion piece for the icon I'm using. But I need ideas, both for what to say and who to use. I've got the Batman one settled (he writers on his livejournal, then gives an example in typical batman gritty style, ending with MY PARENTS ARE DEAD!), but I don't really want to just have the exact same jokes as the Marvel one with different faces, so need ideas for other ones. Feel free to comment.

Edit: Because I just found it. Spider-Man: One More Day. Either you know the rumors and have an opinion, or don't and should ignore this. But as bad signs go? The writer (JMS) himself saying he considered taking his name off the last two issues of One More Day is a pretty bad one.

Happy Birthday incrowder!!!

It's also my grandmother's birthday today, will call her a bit later.

Had a sweet zombie apocalypse dream. Started out in the library in some sort of military base, but (as often happens in my dreams) gradually drifted into being in a shopping mall. Anyway, escaped the library of zombies through the elevator, which took us up one floor to a floor full of toddler zombies, but we managed to close the door before they got in, and then went up one more floor where there were vampires, but they'd just recently eaten so we were good for a few minutes. We saw the zombie-tots (and their parents) clearing out of the second floor nad thought we might be able to fortify it after they left, but instead went to a bookstore on the other side of the mall to try their second floor because it could only be reached by stairs. Then we found (by following a non-zombie) some sort of hidden access to a maintenance tunnel inside the mall, which had its own escalator/people movers, and was almost completely empty except for one 'torso and above only' zombie we ran into and dodged easily. That's about it.

Oh, and I splurged a bit at the grocery store and got some chips, because WTF, President's Choice came out with some new high-falutin' brands. On Monday I saw Buffalo Wings and Blue Cheese and I thought I was just going to get that today, but then when I got to the chip section I was like, "WTF? General Tso's Chicken Flavour?!" and then "WTF2?! Schezuan flavour?!" so I wound up getting 3 bags. Oops. Also pork loin. Actual pork loin, not pork loin chips. But that's not interesting.