The job has been crazy lately, and not in a good way. People there always act like children, but they've been especially special, acting like spoiled brats, and meek little me is ready to slap a bi***. So I took a couple days off just to recharge my dealing-with-this-crap energy. Later today, I'm going to bake and shop, and nothing else. Well, maybe I'll watch a little Dollhouse. :P (Of course, me taking two days off meant I had to train my sixth temp. And she can't cover for when I need off on Christmas Eve, so it might be seven before the year is out. My life is this)
Also, I bought a car! A new car. Brand new. Never been driven. And it's blue. Does this make me an adult now? It's being delivered to the dealership soon, so I'll share pics when that happens. Having a brother that works in a dealership is very convenient. :D
My Red Velvet Cake Mix was part of 2 cool Christmas round-ups: Cake Whiz's 25 Awesome Christmas Treats and Chocolate Moosey's Gifts from the Kitchen Holiday Guide (which includes a giveaway, so go check it out!)
Sunday is a very special day. Can you guess what it is?
Books- Dial H Volume 1: Into You
I'm not usually a big comics reader, not because I don't enjoy them, but because I'm weird about starting things from the beginning. But then DC comics hired my absolute favoritest author in the entire world to write for the New 52 Initiative, and, well, I couldn't resist.
What I didn't realize at first is that Dial H is a revamp of an older comic called Dial H for Hero. I don't know much about the original, but I doubt it was much similar in anything but premise. China Mieville has a very unique voice, and this first volume was very China Mieville. It is dark, and gritty, and downright terrifying, coupled with Mieville's absurd humor and satire. One of the things I've always loved about him was the rhythm and the patter of his dialogue, especially when it came to his monsters, and that was allowed to really shine in this format. And the illustration by Mateus Santolouco is perfect for it. His characters look like something I'd imagined from one of Mieville's books-- Boy Chimney, in particular, I could see perfectly at home in Kraken, maybe even as Goss *shudders.*
I'm enough of a fangirl that I've also noticed some of Mieville's more common faults are present here as well. He's not called the father of the New Weird for nothing, and sometimes he gets so wrapped up in the weird, that he forgets how people normally think. Dial H doesn't have the benefit of his prose (which, as a fangirl, I do miss) to cover that up, but I think it's subtle enough that it's not hugely noticeable. After all, you expect weird in a comic book.
The story follows a pretty classic origin story format, but with a Mievillean twist. Nelson is just some average shlub, overweight and with a heart condition, with a friend in a less than respectable line of work. When his friend, Darren, gets attacked by some of his work associates. He finds an old, broken down phone booth and tries to call for help, but ends up turning himself into a superhero for a brief amount of time. He later meets Manteau, a hero with her own dial, and they join forces to stop the bad guys and save the world. What I like is that Nelson doesn't immediately hunkify when he gets the Dial (although, he does find the motivation to start working out, there's no insta-supermodel moments), and that Manteau isn't some sexy young love interest. Her affection for Nelson is definitely more maternal than anything else, and she falls into the crotchety old mentor category, which means I immediately love her. Also, I like the hints at a larger story, that Nelson might be losing himself to these personalities that he dials, that they are actually real superheroes from alternate universes. I think this series is definitely going to be an interesting read.
TV
Sleepy Hollow- Despite the fact that this is a horror show, I've never found it scary. Until this last episode, holy crap. What is it about a haunted house? And it was good. I'm not sure where Tom Mison's been hiding, but he's an excellent actor (he was apparently in Parade's End. And Mr. Bingley in Lost in Austen. Umm, how did I miss that?). My one problem was the all-too-convenient plot device of Abby's vision. It would have been better if she was a little more confused as to what it meant, or if she got it in pieces, rather than one massive info-dump.
Castle- Umm, Alexis, why are you talking about having babies? You've known Pi(e) for only a few months. You're not even out of college. NO BABIES.
Supernatural- *SCREAMING**MOAR SCREAMING**FOREVER SCREAMING*
Agents of SHIELD- I liked this episode. Because it was all about May. As far as I'm concerned, they can drop everyone except her and Coulson.
Posts from this week
I'm enough of a fangirl that I've also noticed some of Mieville's more common faults are present here as well. He's not called the father of the New Weird for nothing, and sometimes he gets so wrapped up in the weird, that he forgets how people normally think. Dial H doesn't have the benefit of his prose (which, as a fangirl, I do miss) to cover that up, but I think it's subtle enough that it's not hugely noticeable. After all, you expect weird in a comic book.
The story follows a pretty classic origin story format, but with a Mievillean twist. Nelson is just some average shlub, overweight and with a heart condition, with a friend in a less than respectable line of work. When his friend, Darren, gets attacked by some of his work associates. He finds an old, broken down phone booth and tries to call for help, but ends up turning himself into a superhero for a brief amount of time. He later meets Manteau, a hero with her own dial, and they join forces to stop the bad guys and save the world. What I like is that Nelson doesn't immediately hunkify when he gets the Dial (although, he does find the motivation to start working out, there's no insta-supermodel moments), and that Manteau isn't some sexy young love interest. Her affection for Nelson is definitely more maternal than anything else, and she falls into the crotchety old mentor category, which means I immediately love her. Also, I like the hints at a larger story, that Nelson might be losing himself to these personalities that he dials, that they are actually real superheroes from alternate universes. I think this series is definitely going to be an interesting read.
TV
Sleepy Hollow- Despite the fact that this is a horror show, I've never found it scary. Until this last episode, holy crap. What is it about a haunted house? And it was good. I'm not sure where Tom Mison's been hiding, but he's an excellent actor (he was apparently in Parade's End. And Mr. Bingley in Lost in Austen. Umm, how did I miss that?). My one problem was the all-too-convenient plot device of Abby's vision. It would have been better if she was a little more confused as to what it meant, or if she got it in pieces, rather than one massive info-dump.
Castle- Umm, Alexis, why are you talking about having babies? You've known Pi(e) for only a few months. You're not even out of college. NO BABIES.
Supernatural- *SCREAMING**MOAR SCREAMING**FOREVER SCREAMING*
Agents of SHIELD- I liked this episode. Because it was all about May. As far as I'm concerned, they can drop everyone except her and Coulson.
Posts from this week
