Overdue blathers

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17 November 2013 @ 09:12 pm

Overdue blathers

Last week, I listened to the Night Vale episode that features The Desert Bluffs version of The Sandstorm. Oh, boy—from the radio announcer's hug-it-out patter to the heavily accordion/accoustic-guitar-based background music, that episode hit inspid Pollyannaism on all counts. It was gloriously dreadful! \o/

Other recent entertainment: we've been watching The Bridge, which Netflix probably suggested. The combination of it being on the FX channel and featuring Ted Levine pretty much guaranteed we'd at least try it. So far so good. We also went to see Elysium last night. More random gore than I'd like, but the story and performances were good. My husband pointed out that they steampunked Matt Damon's character, which was not untrue. Jodie Foster's character was irredeemably heartless, which is a different kind of role for her.

On the home front, my son took a science test last week which had a section on picking the most important scientist of the last however many years. He picked Edison, and then about two sentences in decided that what the answer really needed was an argument for Edison via the embittered POV of Nikola Tesla! As you do. Let's hope the science teacher finds that both a legitimate answer and also hilarious, as opposed to... not having a sense of humor. o_O

So, Nanoing? I've been meeting my

wrisomifu goals and creeping along on my Yuletide fic, but that's about it. I thought there would be variety this month, and adventure, and really wild things, and yet... no. :(

Tags: me, movies, my_kids, recs, recs-podstuff, tv

11 comments | Say what you feel

11 comments —

( 11 comments — Say what you feel )

tsuki_no_bara on November 18th, 2013 06:15 am (UTC)

i love that christopher wrote a defense of edison from tesla's point of view. i hope his science teacher has a sense of humor about it.

i'm not sure how i felt about the bridge, but i really liked ted levine in it. he's always good, tho.

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halfshellvenus on November 18th, 2013 06:22 am (UTC)

That whole idea of Tesla arguing for Edison (but with angry, resentful caveats, etc.) just cracked me up, and it's SO Christopher. If his sister can turn anything into an art project, he can make anything into a creative writing exercise. Last year's science report on the Elaphant Seal ("the pinnacle of pinipeds" who "fights for land and lady") was a classic example.

With The Bridge, I find the characters interesting, even when they frustrate me (Marco, and the rancher's wife). I'm glad Levine is getting to be something more than a borderline buffoon, though I still think that "Monk" episode where he interrogates a chimpanzee by mocking it with various monkey-based humiliations was just classic. :D

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desertport on November 18th, 2013 06:45 am (UTC)

Am I to understand your son is writing historical real person fiction in his science class? So awesome! \o/ I hope he does well on his test!

The sandstorm episodes were kind of fascinating, because Desert Bluffs is so pollyanna-ish, as you say, but then at the end Cecil's all like, There is blood and viscera all over the radio equipment! and my assumption that we have reliable narrators went right out the window. Now I keep trying to catch Cecil being unreliable, but haven't quite managed yet.

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halfshellvenus on November 18th, 2013 07:00 am (UTC)

historical real person fiction in his science class?
You know, he actually is! And what's more, it seems he really couldn't help himself. It's a much better outlet for his boredom than talking in class. :D

but then at the end Cecil's all like, There is blood and viscera all over the radio equipment!
Yes, that was fascinating! I wondered if it was more that Nightvale embraces the darkness (and yet tries to find some sense of normalcy and remains optimistic) while Desert Bluffs is just a false veneer over some very frightening things, indeed. It could go either way-- is it the Desert Bluff context which lies, or is it Cecil?

Both places seem to have pet spiders, which is just... *Yihhh!*

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minnesattva on November 18th, 2013 11:45 am (UTC)

In college I was in a small class studying Chaucer, and at the end we had to write an essay about which of the Canterbury Tales we thought was best. I wrote mine as a fistfight amongst my classmates, which the professor grading me joined in on, each of them making an argument for their own favorite tale, but of course mine won out. :)

I even remember making fun of how the guy was bald, and I still got a really good score. :) Of course it helped that by then I knew the professor pretty well, this having been the second class I took from him, and he'd invited us all around to his house and cooked for us and stuff, but still. :)

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halfshellvenus on November 18th, 2013 05:46 pm (UTC)

That REALLY takes a sense of humor, on the professor's part.

So much more fun for everyone than a straightforward essay, though-- especially if you're the guy who has to read them year after year. :D

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minnesattva on November 18th, 2013 06:43 pm (UTC)

I could write anything for him; I was so lucky. I wrote another essay where I said that other poets thought that imagination (I think it was imagination) was like oregano, but Wordsworth thought it was like eggplant. He thought it was great.

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anyonesghost on November 18th, 2013 12:47 pm (UTC)

I'm waiting for StrexCorps. v. Glow Cloud. I'm pretty sure it's coming. I was talking to John Peters -- you know, the farmer? -- and he was saying that ... well, maybe I shouldn't tell you what he was saying. The Sheriff's Secret Police are everywhere.

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halfshellvenus on November 18th, 2013 06:10 pm (UTC)

Rabbits are not what they seem.

Perhaps they are in league with the city beneath the number 5 pin lane at the Desert Flower Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex. :O

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