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It's happened again, I was struck with inspiration, and started writing. This seems to happen when I do a lot of reading. Thanks to a gift of Kindle unlimited I've read probably 100 books in the last 3 months, maybe more.
The new story has part 1 and 2 complete, and I've got great ideas for part 3. The completed section is 40+ chapters and 80k+ words, so novel length already. This is most definitely a sex story. It's got some of my personal experiences, and fantasies spread through it.
Inspiration did strike a few months ago, but that story was never completed beyond chapter 15 or so. I fell out of love with it, and part of it was to experiment with a different style and pacing. I'm thinking I could wrap it up, when I'm done with Elements of Power rather easily, we'll see if I can find the love.
His Dark Materials
His Dark Materials is a show that aired November 2019 on BBC1 in the UK, then on HBO. It is rated TV 14 for some disturbing events. The first season was 8 episodes, each about 55 minutes long. It is based on the sci-fi trilogy of the same name consisting of the books Golden Compass (aka Northern Lights), The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. The first season primary covers the Golden Compass arc, a second season has been ordered.
I haven't read the books, but I did try reading Golden Compass a long time ago but don't remember why I stopped. I do remember it being confusing. The series too can be a little disorienting, as it takes place in a world parallel to our own, and much of the first episode is world building.
Understanding the world of Lyra (Dafne Keen) who sees her world through the eyes of a prepubescent girl, orphaned and raised as the ward of Jordan College, Oxford, is difficult at first. Further episodes continue to reveal various forces at play. Prophecies about Lyra state that she will do great things in the future, as long as no one tells her that she's supposed to do so. It's astonishing the number of people who are in the know about her, and have to keep this secret, while helping her as best as they can.
Her universe is one filled with airships, Edwardian style, and a steampunk vibe. Cars are early 1920s when visible, and ocean going boats still carry sails even if they have engines.
The special effects are great, especially the dæmons, a creature which every person in this world has. Dæmons are considered exterior manifestations of the human soul, and can change shape when people are young, but become fixed as a single animal at the onset of puberty. Dæmons can also speak, and are generally limited from going more than a few feet from their human. They also cause pain to their human if injured, and visa versa. At death a dæmon disappears in a sparkle of light.
Additional characters include a race of polar bears, known simply as 'the bears' who talk, and work metal fashioning suits of armor that they wear. There are also witches, and a totalitarian government known as the magisterium. It is an excellent example of world building.
The story also slips into our universe, or at least one like it, with another character that is destined to meet Lyra someday, a boy named Will.
It's an adventure tale, well acted, but if you have trouble with British accents (yes plural) you might need subtitles. If you like grand adventures, unexpected surprises, and the knowledge that no adult is truly to be trusted by any child, then you will probably like this show.
It's currently available according to a quick Google, on Amazon Prime, HBO streaming, BBC streaming, and Hulu+. If you don't have those then you can watch it here after you start up your most powerful ad blocker: https://projectfreetv.fun/series/his-dark-materials/
I wouldn't try torrenting it, or using any download service, it's not secure or private. I'm not advocating piracy, but I've heard that the dmca doesn't apply to streaming, thus the link I provided. I'm NOT a lawyer, you're responsible for your own ass, like usual.
Spoilers Below:
Some have referred to the book series as a young adult novel, but the author has insisted that it was written with no target audience. Considering the story primarily revolves around the kidnapping and torture of children in scientific experiments, it's hard to understand why people think this would be good for kids.
Lyra grows up believing that she is an orphan, that her parents died in an airship accident. She occasionally gets to see her uncle, the adventurer scientist Lord Asriel Belacqua (James McAvoy). She eventually gets sent from Jordan College to stay with Marisa Coulter (Ruth Wilson) an accomplished scientist, and rare woman scholar. Lyra eventually discovers the two characters are actually her parents, and she's an orphan because of abandonment, not a tragic accident. Again, not sure why anyone would think this is for kids, even teens.
She escapes from her mother several times, each time after revealing her mother is behind ever more perfidious deeds, as she desperately tried to find the kidnapped best friend, a real orphan named Roger Parslow (Lewin Lloyd), who has been caught up in her mother's schemes. Roger is not one to go on adventures, he would rather grow up to work in the college kitchens. His stoic friendship and loyalty to Lyra is therefore heartbreaking when (too much of a spoiler).
Avenue 5
Avenue 5 is a tv series that aired on HBO January to March 2020. It's a 30 minute sci-fi 'comedy' with 9 episodes. It stars Hugh Laurie (the guy from the TV drama House, and the excellent comedy Jeeves and Wooster).
I have 'comedy' in quotes because I never actually laughed out loud, but the final episode of the season got a couple chuckles from me. I think this is referred to as Cerebral Comedy. It is also full of acerbic wit, funny characters, and an intriguing look at the friction found between competent people and the guys in charge. Additionally it is profanity loaded, but funny not in what is said, but how it's worded. Something that the creator of the show (Armando Ianucci) is known for. The episodes are not stand alone like a situation comedy, and it's better to watch it as a long movie than as individual episodes over several days.
With that said, it was only 9, 30 minute episodes, and it was totally binge worthy. Hugh Laurie is a fantastic actor, and the premise is interesting. In fact the whole thing keeps you guessing as to what's going to happen next, the entire time. For TV that's an accomplishment all by itself.
The series takes place in the relatively near future (40 years?) on the Avenue 5, an interplanetary space cruise ship, on its 8 week maiden voyage. The captain Ryan Clark, 'the hero who saved Avenue 3', is played by Hugh Laurie. During the first episode an accident occurs that shifts the projected orbit of the ship, injuring passengers, some severely, and killing one crew member. The result is that their planned slingshot maneuver in the outer solar system is irrecoverably damaged, and the new return time is now several years.
I just realized this is Gillian's Island in space!
What does make this funny are the small comments about various other disasters in comparison. 'worse than when Google folded', 'as bad as when the Pacific became toxic', and other comments such as, 'remember when we had cows?'
The comedy also revolves (orbits?) around the few competent crew members, the mission control back on Earth which is 26 light minutes distant, and the series of increasingly difficult decisions that creates increasingly mind boggling results.
It's these little things that make the show enjoyable to watch. But be warned it's a slow reveal as to who is actually what, and able to do whom. I'm looking forward to season 2, as yet unannounced.
Spoiler warning:
During the series the situation continues to go from bad to worse, we learn the captain is actually just a figurehead actor who is good at making passengers feel confident, and the initial fatality was the head engineer and actual captain of the ship. Then it's revealed that unbeknownst to the captain, the bridge crew are also all actors, and the ship is actually mostly automated, with a few engineers who work out of sight running it.
Additionally, as a passenger, is the owner of the company, Herman Judd (played by Josh Gad), a barely literate, but with huge social media presence, idiot, who's underlings arranged everything this way because he ordered the ship to have a good looking bridge crew.
Also on board is Spike Martin (played by Ethan Phillips, who you might remember as Neelix from ST Voyager), who is a retired astronaut on board to provide education seminars to the kids. He was one of the first 30 astronauts to land on Mars (actually number 30, but the first Canadian!).
If you don't have HBO, then you can find it here after you start up your most powerful ad blocker: https://projectfreetv.fun/series/avenue-5/
I wouldn't try torrenting it, or anything else, it's not secure or private. I'm not advocating piracy, but I've heard that the dmca doesn't apply to streaming. Not a lawyer, you're responsible for your own ass, like usual.
The Boys
'The Boys' is a Prime Video TV series from Amazon. It is full of profanity, sex, blood, & gore earning it's MA (Mature Audience 18+) rating. Also, it's fantastic, full of dark humor and excellent storytelling. The concept is similar to Watchman if you are familiar with that movie/comic, but as a comedy. A hilariously dark and bloody comedy.
I'll endeavor not to provide any spoilers, but it generally takes place in our world, where like our world, every person is their own brand of asshole. The exception is that in this world the last half decade or so has seen the appearance of Supers. Those that go into the hero business seem to work for one company, Vought, who manages them, promotes them, and generally considers them a product that they sell via advertisements, endorsements, and action movies. Their top team 'The Seven' work out of their main office, while the rest work out of smaller offices across the country.
It's a dark comedy because these Supers, like regular people, are flawed but unlike regular people, are unbound by the rules of society. The Boys of the title is a group of people who are out, for various reasons of their own, but primarily revenge, are out to make these indestructible icons pay for the crimes they have committed.
The cast is excellent, the acting perfect, the scripts unique and perfectly executed. Even during the slow scenes the cinematography is beautiful.
The little scenes of these characters in daily life, mixed with the monstrosity of the evil displayed is so perfectly balanced that I was kept guessing who the real bad guys are the entire time, that coupled with the great music, the perfect comedic timing, and cinematography, well it's just a sheer joy to watch.
Season 1 was 8 episodes, about an hour each. It was released in July 2019. Season 2 is expected to begin September 4th 2020.
Cast: Karl Urban, Elisabeth Shue, Erin Moriarty, Antony Starr, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Chace Crawford, Nathan Mitchell, Laz Alonso, Jack Quaid, Karen Fukuhara, Tomer Kapon
Creator: Eric Kripke, from the comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson
Things I didn't like: The usual Hollywood 'gay is ok!' trope seemed tacked on as some sort of lame boilerplate agenda. I don't know if I'm just tired of hearing it, or it's just that it really did feel tacked on for no good reason.
The explicit nudity is nearly all guys. Yes, naked invisible men too, yet we see little to none of any naked ladies. I guess Game of Thrones spoiled me.
Spoilers may be (definitely are) below:
My favorite super character is the pseudo Aquaman known as 'The Deep'. He begins with what seems to be the true villain of the series, yet ends up as simply the adorkable misfit. And yeah, he gets his too.
Karl Urban is fantastic, it took me an episode to figure out he played Dr McCoy on the Star Trek reboot. He was great in that too. He pays a 'no fucks given' character to the T, the final scene leaves so many questions that I'm looking forward to seeing them answered in season 2 this September.
If you don't have Prime, then you can find it here after you start up your most powerful ad blocker: https://projectfreetv.fun/series/the-boys/
I wouldn't try torrenting it, or anything else, it's not secure or private. I'm not advocating piracy, but I've heard that the dmca doesn't apply to streaming. Not a lawyer, you're responsible for your own ass, like usual.
So I watch a lot of TV. I've been thinking about writing a few reviews about some of my favorite things, hopefully brining attention to stuff you might have missed. Is this something you might be interested in reading?
PT
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