twmac

I wonder how they are doing?

I've almost finished The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter - it is a collection of short stories with a feminist bent, that does not shy away from detailing sex and sexuality (wanted to use the term 'erotic' but that feels like the intent was to titilate, which doesn't feel right). They are retelling of fairy tales of sorts and it is interesting how things like Fables feels influenced by it, even if it wasn't. There is a line from one of the Beauty and the Beast pieces that really struck me: "I was a young girl, a virgin, and therefore men denied me rationality just as they denied it to all those who were not exactly like themselves, in all their unreason" This was written in the late 70s and is as biting as most stuff I have read. Really good stuff.

I might look into that - if I can get the other visa I want then I would have 2 years to work on it. I'd actually like to study film too! @Roderick Yeah, it is eye-rollingly annoying because I'm overly qualified for the position, but the 'easiest' visa requires a degree regardless of whether I tick all the other boxes.

Going to endorse getting a university/college degree of some sorts. If you have no interest in learning and don't know what you want to do, find something cheap, online, whatever. In recent years, as I approach 40, I've had several doors closed to me, despite over 15 years of experience in my field due to lack of university degree not allowing for a visa application. I could literally have a degree in one of those straw man targets that anti-SJWs always attack and it would make no difference to most government bodies if it was related to what I am applying for, they just want to tick a box.

Thanks for the tip, the thing is, I live in Thailand and English language books are difficult to come across so Infinite Jest will get finished once I've finished the Ginger Baker Biography and 'Chronicles of a Liquid Society' by Umberto Eco.

After seeing people elsewhere be so positive about Infinite Jest, I was really worried that I was going to be alone on this. But Infinite Jest, so far, is a interestingly written, but utterly bizarre reading experience for me. I've given up on reading the end notes because I've found them to be largely uninteresting and do nothing but break up whatever flow the book has. There are some moments where I am utterly rivetted (like the section with the person talking about their addiction and how they attempt to hide it, or Hal clipping his toe nails as he talks to his brother) mixed in with pages and pages of writing where I know I am reading the words but no information is going in. I enter a sort of meditative state and the next thing I know I've gone through 3 pages but I have no idea what I have read. I usually go through books pretty quickly, but there is an emotional investment that comes with reading this book, much like picking up a JRPG, where you know you have to go at the author's pace and that pace is positively glacial. I don't hate the book, I just don't really know what I am doing with the book either. Glad someone mentioned the timeline, I had completely ignored that and just assumed it was not continuous but had no care for why.

You're absolutely right. Yeah, I did a light sweep but not enough. Glad you liked the THQ/Toys for Bob mash up. Also, this story is actually loosely based on a true story about a Pokemon tournament that an old co-worker went to, where she actually did that.

Sooo, took me a bit longer, and it is twice as long as the rules dictated, but I finally finished 'Dance of the Loot Goblin' https://medium.com/@twmac/dance-of-the-loot-goblin-6a0e8c022909

They do Peggy so dirty though.

Good point about Sea of Thieves - as someone that actually enjoyed that game, it was sad to see it dismissed.

I tried to watch Barry last night while I was drunk... I need to give the first episode another go because I am perplexed as to why people like it.

I just finished a glut of films and tv shows in my regular binges: Burn Burn Burn A film about 2 women that decide to fulfil a friend's dying wishes and spread his ashes at different points in England. It isn't brilliant by any means but there are enough guest spots from English actors that dip in and out for snap shots of stories that intermingle with the main themes that it ends up being a solid if unremarkable film. The First Purge After listening to the Be Kind and rewatch it podcasts about the purge films I decided to take a dive and watch this one. I actually ended up really liking it and felt that it probably had more to say than the third film. Some strong performances and enough action to satisfy. Surprisingly good. Russian Doll So, according to friends Natasha Lyonne is just doing more of her OitNB schtick here, but having given up on that show after the first season, I am really enjoying this tale of a woman who keeps dying and waking up on her Birthday. I don't want to say too much but it was a fun spin on Groundhog Day and elicited more than a few laughs. Co-created with Amy Poehler and some of that shines through. Nightflyers Based on some G RR Martin novella, about a ship trying to make first contact with what they believe to be alien life. Earth is dying, everything is a mess, etc, etc. I was sort of into it at first, especially because of the opening that I thought was actually the last episode for a second. It then just starts getting way too convoluted in ways that are just all too much, the show introduces about 4 potential 'bad' guys and then spins shades of grey on them. Some gruesome deaths, people going insane, blah, blah, blah. Not good, not bad, just a thing.

I actually didn't mind it, except for Kevin Hart's character who is just flat. I thought Jack Black was adorable, because they could have just had his character whine and moan about being a fat guy for the whole film but instead he does it for about 10 minutes and then just rolls with it.

I was referring specifically to the discussion related to making RDR2 being 'most disappointing'

I'll check it out. I guess for me what I found compelling was what Sgt is talking about, the paradigm shift in how games like Rockstar's are viewed. I think Brad comes off as stubborn in that argument, sure, but he had already given a litany of reasons why he though RDR2 is great (I don't like it). Dan gave some good arguments too, that align with why I have never liked Rockstar open world games. I just thought he was being really cheeky but openly playing on previous strong-arming tactics to get certain games into the top 10 list and the like. Brad's venemous responses to that felt more like irritation at at the brazenness of Dan's schemes. The conclusion also felt like, others (Abby in particular) were not that happy with the end result. Still it made for great listening on my long drunken holiday in Cambodia. As a person whose top ten list looked like this: https://gamecritics.com/aj-small/ajs-top-10-of-2018/ It was nice to see the mixture of games being more interesting this year.