Sunday!
I hate Daylight Saving Time.
Anyway, Neil Gaiman’s The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains: A Tale of Travel and Darkness with Pictures of All Kinds
Page One tells you something that happened a long, long time ago. Something else happened long ago. This is the story of long ago.
And the tale is told in a tight focus of something that happened, say, five years ago. As the story continues, hints are mentioned of the incidents that brought us here until the culmination of the story is the revelation of what happened long, long ago. Then the story of what happened long ago is wrapped up.
Then you go back and re-read Page One with your new knowledge and it reads completely differently. And you close the book and you say “whoa”.
A few months back, Schilling told us his theory that Tyrion is at least partly GRRM’s take on Miles Vorkosigan. Well, had I read this story prior to hearing that theory, I would have said that this is Gaiman writing a short story using a Tyrion of his own… but now I wonder if this isn’t his take on Miles instead. Perhaps it doesn’t matter.
This little story is one that you will read, go back and re-read the first page, and then close the book and say “whoa”.
So… what have you been reading and/or watching?
(Photo is “Movie Night“, taken by Ginny, used under a creative commons license.)
I hate Daylight Saving Time.
I think it starts a bit too early, but I like the concept.
Besides, that ship has sailed.Report
So I should stop hating it?
Is that how hate works?Report
Well if you want to irrationally hate something, you have every right to do so.
Just like I have the right to roll my eyes at you.Report
I am now into the 4th book of Gene Wolfe’s Book Of The New Sun. All I can say is Holy Christmas! In his subverting of the genre and all its tropes, it makes Martins books look childish and hamfisted. At first glance the books come across as typical late ’70’s early ’80’s fantasy, but by the time you are 2/3 through the first book, you know that something deeper is going on and that many things don’t add up the way the narrator presents them. By the second book, you realise the narrator is a liar…
(I wont say any more, as I don’t want to spoil the fun.)Report
Also, watched Last Man on Earth. Much better than I thought it would be, and very bleak. The wife thought too bleak and stopped watching halfway through, but I found the starkness highlighted the jokes.
Also go caught up on broad city. gurl unir zbirq ba gur fgencba wbxrf. Insanely hilarious.Report
I felt the same way about LMOE. I went in thinking it was going to be straight comedy, and was pleasantly surprised to find it was pretty damn dark comedy.Report
@chris
“I apologize to the cast and crew of Cast Away. They nailed it.”Report
That was a great scene, as was the one in the parking lot.Report
Well, had I read this story prior to hearing that theory, I would have said that this is Gaiman writing a short story using a Tyrion of his own… but now I wonder if this isn’t his take on Miles instead.
It is a short book.Report
Man, if that really was Martin rewriting Miles, that would really, really upset me.
… I don’t think it truly is though (although Martin does like giving Tyrion “adventures”).
Tyrion is what GRRM wishes he could be.
Old King Robert is who Martin actually is (well, more in the tv series. GRRM is sooo parodyable.)Report
In A Dance with Dragons, Tyrion recalls fixing the drains at Casterly Rock.Report
Must have missed that part with Miles (what book? I know I’ve got it at home.).
I don’t mind GRRM giving hat tips to other writers (lord knows, Sam’s one) — but cloning the protagonist is pretty dire.Report
@mike-schilling
I recall reading that someone once told GRRM that they thought Tyrion was what you would get if Miles Vorkorsigan was raised by wolves. His response was: not wolves, lions!Report
Asshole tiger perhaps?
(This is an actual character in Japanese lore, my translation is good and just and takes minimal liberties).Report
That was me 🙂Report
I purchased the Buried Giant this week and am currently reading The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy. I also get to pick up Jenny Unglow’s book about Britain during the Napoleonic Wars this week.
There are times when I really want to read fiction but find it much easier to concentrate on non-fiction.Report
I’m watching Red vs Blue. I thought I would like it, but graded on a curve. Turns out that it’s actually pretty good with or without a curve. I can’t tell if it would be better or worse with real animation.
I finished Man in the High Castle, which I was underwhelmed by. I think I just didn’t quite “get” it.
Still haven’t started Gotham.Report
The Man In The High Castle turned out to be a much different story than the one I thought I was reading. I wasn’t sure what to think of it either. I might re-read it at some point.Report
It’s a very disturbing book; and one that probably doesn’t age as well as far as we are from the implementation of the Marshall Plan.
If you can find it (out of print) read Deux Irea, Dick & Zelazney wrote it together. I’d put it at one of my top-10 weird, twisted books ever, and I’m a weird, twisted-book kinda gal.Report
Sorry, that’s Deus Irae.Report
The PKD book I’d recommend unreservedly is The Transmigration of Timothy Archer. Archer is a slightly fictionalized version of Archbishop James Pike. You don’t need to know that to enjoy the book, but after I did some looking, I was surprised how many of the odd things about the character were factual.Report
Adding that Eye In the Sky and The Gameplayers of Titan were pretty good too.
(His later VALIS-era stuff I find nearly unreadable.)
Also…..I watched a documentary about Dan Harmon on Netflix the other day. It occurred to me that if someone were to make a biopic about Philip K Dick….Harmon should play him.Report
@mike-schilling @will-truman @glyph
If I was to recommend some PKD, I would go with Ubik, A Scanner Darkly and then Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. Of course, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is fantastic.Report
Flow My Tears I read not too long ago. I am starting to suspect I like his short stories (I have a couple collections of his) better than his novels, but this wouldn’t be unusual for me.Report
@james-pearce – yes, from what I have read of Harmon, it would probably be very easy for him to play a Dick.Report
I don’t like Flow My Tears. I think it’s because the main character is (unusually for PKD) pretty much a jerk, and so I didn’t care what happened to him.Report
The reason I like Flow My Tears so much is that it was the first PKD I read that I really started to understand his idea of Are You Who You Think You Are.Report
I can’t imagine RvB in any other format. (It’s hard to tell if they lost something as time went on just because the joke got worn, or because they went to newer versions of Halo *and* the joke got worn)Report
@kolohe Admittedly, I am a bit more partial towards another format in part because I have difficulty telling some of the characters apart. Not all of them, but Sarge-Simmons in particular, as well as Caboose-Doc.
Season 3 was a bit of a disappointment. It kind of shifted directions away from the thing I liked about it (two squads, in a canyon, fighting a pointless war).Report
I plowed through the first season and a half of Black Sails last week. The constant forming of alliances, betrayals and then re-forming is a bit tedious at times but overall I found it entertaining. Very similar to Game of Thrones that way. It covers a time period, the ‘golden age’ of piracy, that I was not overly familiar with so of course I went down the Wikipedia rabbit hole when I was done and there are all sorts of new historical details to store in my memory bank. Because it is on Starz there is plenty of nudity and they touch on both gay and lesbian relationships. One of the big reveals was the existence of a gay affair when the viewers were led to believe that the character was involved in a heterosexual affair. I don’t have an opinion on it, but it does turn the dynamics between some of the characters on its head.
Walking Dead finally got interesting again last week. Hoping they can keep it together for a bit. Lots of potential interesting stories to tell if the writers can stay on track for a change.Report
Jaybird, a question for you.
John Stewart on RAW: weird attempt at cross promotional synergy, or weirdest attempt at cross promotional synergy?Report
I thought that ZZ Top on Raw was probably the weirdest crossover they did until Jericho yelled “HOW IS THIS FAIR?” and they responded “How?” and Jericho yelled “HOW? HOW? HOW? HOW?” and they started playing La Grange.
Anyway, to answer your question, when they had each of the presidential candidates give a short “Get Out The Vote!” speech on Raw (“do you smell what Barack is cookin’?”) and then had an Obama impersonator fight a Hillary impersonator (with a Bill impersonator at ringside hitting on the female fans), that was the weirdest attempt at… I don’t even know what that was an attempt at. It’s like Papa Vince said “Screw them. They don’t regulate in our favor anyway.”
Jon Stewart on RAW is no weirder than the three year period where Kane beat the crap out of Pete Rose at every WrestleMania.Report
I can see a significant enough overlap between ZZ top fans, Pete Rose fans, and WWE fans. The video for Legs, breaking Ty Cobbs record, and peak Hulkamania all occurred with a few years of each other, so anyone that was 12 years old at the time would have a special place in their hearts for each for the rest of their lives.
But the venn overlap between even occasional Daily show viewers and even occasional WWE viewers? That might well only exist right here at MD.
(and no politics, but the funny thing is that the only things John McCain likes more than war and restricting free speech are attempts to regulate sports. also, Mama Linda ran for Senate under the elephant banner a couple years after the donkey match you describe)Report
Holy cow, I never even looked at it like that.
Hell, Bob Barker and Ozzy and Sharon hosting RAW (another bunch of weird matchups) probably fit the same mold… I remember the kids who stayed home sick in 9th Grade all came back the next day talking about how Bob Barker went grey and “OZZY” was what all of the boys wrote on their knuckles (even at the Christian school!).
Tapping into forgotten nostalgias… whoa. Papa is even smarter than I had hoped he would be.
With that said, I imagine that he’s trying to do the same thing for a decade ago, rather than three of them.
Because I betcha that he didn’t want the Jon Stewart of 2014… he wanted the Jon Stewart who replaced Craig Kilbourne.Report
This weekend I have watched Earth to Echo, Thunder and the Magic House, and Mr. Peabody and Sherman (the movie released last year), each at least twice. We also read fairy tales and fables, each a few times.Report
Was Earth to Echo okay? I keep waiting for E.T. to be remade well and it never is…Report
Why not just rewatch ET? We just did. I think it holds up.Report
The symbiotic link scene involving the beer and the frogs becomes more painful for me each and every time.
Plus the Drew Barrymore thing is weird.Report
He loved it, and I mean loved it. Of the three movies I mentioned, it’s the only one that kept him in his seat for its entirety. I thought it was cute. As a simple quest story, and it’s entertaining enough, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone over the age of 11.
I would rather watch E.T.Report
E.T. is a great film, Spielberg at the height of his powers. The only thing I can say against it is that he’s also at his most manipulative. I laughed, I cried, I was fearful, I was relieved, I was triumphant, and each one exactly because that’s what Spielberg made me feel.Report
I am convinced that the truly great films of the 80s, the ones that hold up as timeless works of art are Raging Bull, Blue Velvet, and E.T.Report
Rufus,
if you don’t put Stand By Me on that list, I will slash you.Report
Someone needs to give Rufus a calfskin wallet for his birthday.Report
No mention of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome?Report
I posted on the wrong thread, so:
https://ordinary-times.com/blog/2015/03/06/weekend-83#comment-999819Report
I’ve had limited time this past week. I did manage to watch the first few episodes of Better Call Saul, though.
And I started Kazuo Ishiguro’s new book The Buried Giant, but I’m only about 50 pages in — partially because of time, and partially because Ishiguro is a writer to be savored.Report
I think it’s a fine and well-executed idea, which I never expected to say about anything called BCS.Report
@mike-schilling I agree. So far, I think it takes the best storytelling elements of BB without ever really feeling like a BB knock-off, which is a neat trick.Report
BTW, bravo to whomever put the post counts back on the main page.Report
CK is the saint who did all of, or at least the bulk of the recent the fixing.Report
All.Report
I figured, but I didn’t want to offend anyone else who might have done a tweak or two.
So like I said, saint.Report
you saint een nuthin yet… (I have not yet begun to glitch)Report
Not sure if this is related or not, but all the old sub-blog comments have disappeared..Report
@mike-schilling – NOOOOOO!!!!!
I’ve reused comments before, but rarely so soon.Report
On the comments closed/open on old sub-blogs, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t anything I’ve done. Also, the comments are still showing on at least one old sub-blog I checked.
The defunct sub-blogs have not been maintained and were not, as far as I know, prepared for archiving in any particular way, making them especially susceptible to deterioration, breakage, and eventual evaporation unless steps are taken.
I thought it was a mistake to eliminate the sub-blogs, and was not privy to whatever discussions were held about what to do with the archives of posts and comments. I’m generally in favor of saving everything at old links eternally or longer. I believe (until and unless I’m allowed to look at the database I cannot be sure) that all of the old comments are still “there,” if in limbo, and can be made accessible again – a solution I personally would prefer since some of my favoritest comments ever commented were made in those threads.Report
sub-blog comments have disappeared
Nah, I checked YouTube, and all the comments are still there.Report
There are no comments at, for instance, https://ordinary-times.com/burtlikko/2013/01/monday-trivia-no-94/ .Report
Please, please, please.
I have much love for the old Mindless Diversions comments. They were sooooo much better than the posts.Report
Maybe Randy Harris won that one by osmosis. He was that good.Report
I checked the thread for the post @mike-schilling linked, and the comments are still there, yet not, kind of like in the episode where Kirk was thought dead but was actually sorta floating in a ca. 40% opacity overlay/double exposure universe. To be specific, they’re still in the databased, and can likely be summoned back into this plain of existence by someone who knows the magic spells.Report
I have the spellbook from Bard’s Tale 3. Would that help?Report
My search for “Bard’s Tale 3 Revive Old WordPress Comments Spell PHP” doesn’t show anything readily applicable, but maybe something will turn up if we can refine the query.Report
Schroedinger’s comments.Report
I just watched ep 7 of Fortitude and… ewwwwwwwwwwwwReport
Jay and I are still watching Sleepy Hollow, and I’ve been alternating between HIMYM rewatch (up to season 4 now), and season 5 of Glee (I mostly watch TV if I am exercising or putting away laundry, so the music is kind of nice even though I feel like the show jumped the shark a while back and I spend some time muttering “STOP BEING STUPID ABOUT (whichever character they are being stupid about)” every single show).
Dman’s wife and I have started rewatching all of ST:TNG (I’ve maybe seen 50 out of the 177 episodes, MAYBE, feels more like 20 – and she’s seen every single one). I think it will take us a few years, but it should fill the gaps between on-the-air-now shows nicely (we are currently in a lull between Librarians being over for now and Outlander not restarting until April). Tonight we watched the pilot, which I had actually never seen! But I had read the novelization of the pilot (I read basically 90 percent of the SF paperback section at my local library as a kid/teenager) so I knew what was going to happen. Still, it made me happy to finally watch it.
Readingwise, I have *mostly* been reading about complex trauma disorders and fibromyalgia, as part of trying to sort out my life, and that is about as fun as you might imagine it to be. But I also read an intriguing YA paranormal/Arthurian/Templar thinger with a half-Pakistani female protagonist (Devil’s Kiss, by Sarwat Chadda). Right now I’m in the middle of the far-more-intellectual-than-I-expected Floating on a Malayan Breeze, by Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh. It purports at first glance to be a travelogue about going around Singapore and Malaysia on a bicycle as a post-grad-school best-friends lark, but is actually the story of 10-11 years of first-person investigation into life in both countries (sparked off by said lark), with tons of historical context and political rants and some light (ie human readable) economic analysis, by a Singaporean economist whose father moved there from Malaysia. It’s super interesting, but I can only pay the amount of attention to it that it deserves for about 30 pages at a time, so it’s taking a while.Report
Floating on a Malayan Breeze looks super interesting. I will have to look that one up, thanks @maribou !Report
@aaron-david You’re welcome! I hope you enjoy it.Report
@maribou We have been watching Star Trek, starting with TNG in order by star date (too geeky?) we are up to DS9 and Voyager starts in one more episode. Also binge watching GoT season 3 as just got season 4 in the mail. We gave up cable about three years agoReport
@anne The star date order is a pretty cool idea. I once watched the Whedonverse in a similar fashion, and the viewing was all the better for it.Report
Did DS9 get its starship yet? They must have, they weren’t allowed to get one after Voyager started…Report
@anne No such thing as too geeky – that’s awesome :).Report
@tod-kelly ooooh I’ll have to try that! @kim yup got the Defiant and taking it out every chance they getReport
And this is why you don’t write stupid clauses into the contract of TV series. Berman and Braga gave them a pretty long time to figure out some way to get a starship. Don’t mess with the writers, it rarely ends well (well, except for that bit with the Berber, and I think that won’t spoil it).Report
It is a possibility Oregon won’t be participating in DST much longer. I’m okay with that! 🙂Report