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Oh, sweet Neptune's briny pants
And yesterday sort of ran away into a blank check of housecleaning and errands, but I did get out without being rained on and the slight undercooking of the brownies meant they collapsed like molten chocolate cake when I cut into them, so it could have ended worse.
1. The mail brought my contributor's copy of Not One of Us #48, containing my poems "Danger UXO" and "Natural Phenomena." The first is a wolf-hour poem, written after I was reminded of a minefield in my head; the second is about the relationship of listeners and sirens. The issue itself opens with a story of ghosts and resistance from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ashlyme (about which I will enthuse at you especially, because I got the chance to read it in draft form and now it has a home) and closes with a bloody injunction from handful_ofdust and in between there are things like cucumberseed on apocalypse and Patricia Russo on purple-eyed cats and cake. There are links here, if you'd like a copy or a subscription. The theme is opportunity. You might as well take advantage of it.
2. The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (2012) (because I refuse to refer to it by the American re-titling, as if the presence of scientists in an adventure should scare most audiences away) is an absolutely delightful hour-and-a-half of sight gags, silliness, adorable flightless birds, pigs not actually being a kind of fruit, the Royal Society, an escalating series of those chase scenes Aardman loves where you start with someone quietly taking a bath and end up waving your hands incoherently to explain the Easter Island head, baking soda, vinegar, some serious libel of Queen Victoria, and I feel like it sums up something about the movie somehow that it uses Brian Blessed as a blink-and-miss-it punch line—when the endearingly enthusiastic, dreadfully underqualified Pirate Captain is filling out his entry form for the Pirate of the Year Award, the options for "Roaring" are "Regular," "Incessant," and "Brian Blessed"—and then Brian Blessed actually shows up. Unsurprisingly, he's very loud. The secondary characters are not much more fleshed out than their names (the Pirate with Gout, the Pirate Who Likes Sunsets and Kittens, the Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate—although I appreciate that not only does that particular Chekhov's gun never go off, pretty much nobody notices it's on the wall in the first place), but I assume more time with the regular cast is the sort of thing sequels are for. I spent the entire film thinking I should recognize the voice of Charles Darwin and then he turned out to be David Tennant, so he's a lot more talented than I thought he was. Martin Freeman is kind of playing Martin Freeman, but he looks sweet in that scarf.
3. God of Vengeance is coming up at the Marvell Rep. I should start making plans.
1. The mail brought my contributor's copy of Not One of Us #48, containing my poems "Danger UXO" and "Natural Phenomena." The first is a wolf-hour poem, written after I was reminded of a minefield in my head; the second is about the relationship of listeners and sirens. The issue itself opens with a story of ghosts and resistance from
ashlyme (about which I will enthuse at you especially, because I got the chance to read it in draft form and now it has a home) and closes with a bloody injunction from handful_ofdust and in between there are things like cucumberseed on apocalypse and Patricia Russo on purple-eyed cats and cake. There are links here, if you'd like a copy or a subscription. The theme is opportunity. You might as well take advantage of it.2. The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (2012) (because I refuse to refer to it by the American re-titling, as if the presence of scientists in an adventure should scare most audiences away) is an absolutely delightful hour-and-a-half of sight gags, silliness, adorable flightless birds, pigs not actually being a kind of fruit, the Royal Society, an escalating series of those chase scenes Aardman loves where you start with someone quietly taking a bath and end up waving your hands incoherently to explain the Easter Island head, baking soda, vinegar, some serious libel of Queen Victoria, and I feel like it sums up something about the movie somehow that it uses Brian Blessed as a blink-and-miss-it punch line—when the endearingly enthusiastic, dreadfully underqualified Pirate Captain is filling out his entry form for the Pirate of the Year Award, the options for "Roaring" are "Regular," "Incessant," and "Brian Blessed"—and then Brian Blessed actually shows up. Unsurprisingly, he's very loud. The secondary characters are not much more fleshed out than their names (the Pirate with Gout, the Pirate Who Likes Sunsets and Kittens, the Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate—although I appreciate that not only does that particular Chekhov's gun never go off, pretty much nobody notices it's on the wall in the first place), but I assume more time with the regular cast is the sort of thing sequels are for. I spent the entire film thinking I should recognize the voice of Charles Darwin and then he turned out to be David Tennant, so he's a lot more talented than I thought he was. Martin Freeman is kind of playing Martin Freeman, but he looks sweet in that scarf.
3. God of Vengeance is coming up at the Marvell Rep. I should start making plans.
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And we can't wait until the pirate flick comes out on Netflix streaming.
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Netflix! That's how I saw it. It's on DVD.
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If I thought I wouldn't miss the play for being jailed, I would. We could all use it.
And we can't wait until the pirate flick comes out on Netflix streaming.
I'm a little sorry I didn't see it in theaters, but on the other hand I would have had to dodge the 3D. Does your local library have it on disc? I get most of my movies from Arlington these days.
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---L.
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As far as I can tell, it was in theaters in this country about as long as that Brian Blessed joke was onscreen. I wanted to see it; evidently I was doing something else that week. At least it can be obtained for home viewing, even if there is no excuse for the change in titles.
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Enjoy when you find it!
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Thank you for the big-up! I'm really looking forward to my copy.
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I was not expecting actual Brian Blessed. I had to communicate the fact to
Thank you for the big-up! I'm really looking forward to my copy.
You should open more magazines! It suits you!
(Also, you should tell me if you've heard back on your Strange Horizons submission. I am feeling paranoid about my e-mail these days.)
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Congratulations on the contributor's copy!
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I'd not heard of this before. It sounds hilarious, and I'm grateful to you for the recc.
...I refuse to refer to it by the American re-titling, as if the presence of scientists in an adventure should scare most audiences away
Agreed. Much like the asinine American retitling of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, this is an intellectual felony which should result in severe punishment for the guilty party.
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Excellent. Enjoy!
*Lest I be accused of prejudice, I also think badly of Harry Potter à l'école des sorciers, not only for the title but for the stripping out of detail and colour.
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Thank you! It's a very strong issue.
I'd not heard of this before. It sounds hilarious, and I'm grateful to you for the recc.
If you are unfamiliar with Aardman Animations, run, do not walk, in the direction of any medium that will allow you to watch Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave (1995). Go from there.
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3. God of Vengeance is coming up at the Marvell Rep. I should start making plans.
You should! I would be happy to go see it with you if scheduling coincides.
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Most welcome!
If you are unfamiliar with Aardman Animations...
I've seen a couple of Wallace and Gromit shorts, years ago, and liked them. Thanks for the recc--I'll try to see that one, sometime.
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I'm rubbish at keeping up with visual entertainment, but I'm managing to follow "Copper" on BBC America (started watching it cos friends of mine were contributing to the sound track), so maybe I'll manage to see some of the Aardman stuff as well.
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I would love to have seen what happened to some of the double-talk in this movie.
You should! I would be happy to go see it with you if scheduling coincides.
Awesome! I'll keep you posted.
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I gave the book as a gift to
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I'm so glad you got to see the pirates movie--we loved it. I liked that that particular Chekhov's gun didn't go off too--oh, I loved all those minor characters. It was so genuinely funny and good natured. And with dodos.
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. . . you could review it somewhere. It's a very strong issue.
And with dodos.
I loved the confirmation of the dodo, because the first time you see Polly, she doesn't look anything like a parrot, but then again this is Aardman: it's not like Charles Darwin looks much like a person. But no: it's not just the house style. (And I was pleased, because I had thought she looked like a cartoon dodo, but there was absolutely no reason for it. Who needs reasons when you can steal a stage show?)
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Then you've probably seen this one. It's just my favorite of the shorts. (And even generated a spin-off.)
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I'll borrow her copy.
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I'm not sure I've seen it in full, actually. Even if I have done, it's years ago.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be on Youtube. Perhaps the library will help me.
It's just my favorite of the shorts.
Which strikes me as a very good reason why I should see it, so.
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And I didn't notice I'd typed
I'd like to write a review. I'm closer to doing it this time than I've been in a while: I've read