C.E. Murphy's Blog, page 70
June 9, 2015
Recent Reads: Forgotten Suns
I think I only managed to read one book in May, which is somewhat embarrassing. OTOH, it was Judith Tarr’s FORGOTTEN SUNS, which is strong, appealing space opera.
It’s space opera with YA sensibilities: only one of the main characters is actually a young adult, but all three of the main characters are on journeys of self-discovery. The character I felt was the lead (a hard call, as all 3 stories are insanely well balanced, but hers is the catalyst for all that follows), Aisha, is the 13 year...
June 8, 2015
Picoreview: San Andreas
Picoreview: San Andreas: exciting!
I saw a review that said “this is a movie about earthquakes having a vendetta against the Rock,” which mostly made me think “Didn’t they see 2012, in which earthquakes were literally chasing John Cusack?”
San Andreas was much better than 2012, which is not meant to damn with faint praise, given how utterly awful 2012 was. (I liked 2012, but it was disaster movie porn. It was not good.) But I spent far more of San Andreas on the edge of my seat than I expecte...
June 6, 2015
Picoreview: Spy
Picoreview: Spy: very very funny. Very vulgar. Very kick-ass. Very funny.
Two weeks ago I’d had no intention at all of seeing Spy, because the trailer made it look like it was probably all about making mockery of the fat lady. I then read a review from a reviewer whose politics I like (Scott Mendelson; he reviews movies for Forbes and is a left-leaning liberal feminist) which said “despite the trailers that is not what this movie is,” and then I read a few more reviews that all said the same...
June 5, 2015
house hunting
We’ve been house hunting. I feel like I’ve been doing nothing at all work-wise (that’s because I’ve been doing nothing at all work-wise) and I feel like I don’t know what I HAVE been doing, although house hunting has been part of it.
We went to look at a ridiculously cool place today. I mean, it’s literally a Georgian manor house. It’s not a BIG manor house (4br), but it’s literally a Georgian manor house and it’s on about an acre and is in the middle of a city. I’ve been saying that all I re...
June 1, 2015
Picoreview: Tomorrowland
Picoreview: Tomorrowland: boring.
I really wanted to like it, as it had a message I certainly support, and there were a lot of good *pieces*, but overall it failed to click.
It did not help that the opening seven or eight hours twenty minutes felt like somebody higher up at Disney had said “The audience is never going to understand this if you don’t explain it to them” and forced the director to put George Clooney on the screen talking directly to the camera, and then when that was a painful...
Birthday!
I have awakened upon this, the occasion of my 42nd natal day, with a killer headache. Probably not enough water yesterday. #hydrates
Yesterday I served up bbq pulled pork, applesause, potato salad, pasta salad, green salad, and baked beans for the family. I made everything except the baked beans, which Mom made. It was all really really good, although as Sarah pointed out, in retrospect, too much work for my own birthday. (Mom DID offer to host, but for some reason I said nah, it’s cool. Some...
May 27, 2015
very slow progress
I’m making such slow progress with organizing/packing/whatever that I feel like I’m not doing anything at all. Still. Again. Whatever.
And again, it’s not true. Saturday a friend came over and watched Young Indiana for a few minutes while Ted and I ran out to get boxes-for-books from our local bookstore, who had very kindly set some aside for us. There is now a giant pile of (flat) boxes in the dining room, where they are depressing me by Taking Up Space. It’s only going to get worse when I s...
May 25, 2015
Love Conquers All
1.9 million people turned out to vote on Friday, a 60.5% turnout that saw the highest number of ballots ever cast in an Irish referendum.
1.2 million of those people voted for marriage equality.
It seemed pretty clear by half an hour into the count that it was trending heavily toward a win for equality, but everyone here remained on pins and needles through the morning, growing increasingly hopeful as it appeared the measure wasn’t just going to pass, but was heading rapidly toward a landsl...
May 22, 2015
Marriage Referendum
Ireland is going to the polls today to decide whether or not marriage is for everybody. It’s apparently the first time in the world that the question of marriage equality has been put to a national vote, so frankly, it’s going to be a huge fecking embarrassment if it fails.
I voted at about 11:30 this morning. The polling station said turnout was excellent so far. Last night in Dublin I walked by half a dozen people inside a block wearing YES! buttons, and a friend who works in city centre s...
May 21, 2015
TV on DVD: s3 Arrow
TV on DVD: s3 Arrow: If I were stronger, I would stop watching Arrow now.
It’s not that I don’t like it. I *do* like Arrow; I’ve liked it from the start. I have issues with all the secret-keeping (issues which paid off in spades this season, actually, especially at the end), but I really like it and normally I’d be happy to watch it through five seasons, which is as far as it should go even if it’s probably going to go a lot farther. I want to see what happens with Diggs, particularly, becaus...
