Derik Badman's Journal

Oh what have I read or seen the past 2 weeks...

• Extraordinary People by Joanna Russ, a few short stories that were quite excellent. She never over explains the situations in her work, forcing you to pay attention and make inferences. I really should reread The Female Man.
• Probably tried and gave up on more library books...
• Read Books 1 and 2 of Monstress and am now rereading (and just got the latest volume 7 which picks up where Book 2 ends) and taking notes for a TCJ review.
• Read Books 1 and 3 of the collected Ms. Tree, a pulp detective comic I remember seeing ads for back in the 90s (probably when DC picked it up but maybe from its earlier run with Eclipse and Aardvark Vanaheim). It's decent genre fare but never really gets beyond plot. The art is pretty awful in the early ones (which are collected in book 3), but decent by the time DC picked it up (which are the stories in Book 1). In those stories it's got that great "premium" coloring from the early 90's, a step above traditional 4 color comics, but not yet overwhelmed by gradients and muddiness like modern digital coloring.
• Listening to my first Phillies game of the year on the radio while I type this. Got out the radio. I always prefer the radio announcers and something about the way the game sounds are mixed on the radio just sound so much more "in person" than when you watch on tv. Perhaps its just because of the bleed of the crowd and the vendors coming into the announcers box. (Though I guess that could happen in tv too.)
• Over halfway through season 2 of Carnival Row which is still decent but never great. It succeeds well at visuals and world building, but the plots often feel rushed and often rely a lot (particularly in the relationship between the two protagonists) on stubborn people being excessively stubborn and not explaining themselves. There's a monster that appears around episode 5 that is just horrific, great design, truly grotesque without also just being over the top.
• A few episodes into the last season of Picard which, like previous seasons, is a neverending parade of "oh look we brought back x". This time a lot of the Next Generation cast are showing up and more prominent and even an episode 3 appearance by DS9's changeling (no Odo yet, though he is referenced once). Beyond that, it feels like a lot of plot doing nothing much at all.
• We really enjoyed the first season of Extraordinary a british comedy about a powerless young women in a world where everyone has a superpower. It's just really funny, and avoids being too hard on the main characters.
• Chippy the chipmunk appeared on the porch today for his first appearance in many months, I guess his winter sleep is over and it's time to refill the stores.
• Almost halfway through Zola's Nana which so fare is interestingly plotless. There is a milieu and a great variety of characters, but so far there is no particular throughline I can identify to the events. Two of the chapters were devoted to party scenes which brought to mind Gaddis' great party scenes in The Recognitions.
• Started this manga series Frieren: At Journey's End which drew me in on its premise. The story starts at the end of the heroes' epic adventure. The eponymous protagonist is an long lived elf who by chapter 2 is visiting her former companions who are now dead or dying. Curious to see where it goes. So far it has that quietude that reminds me of Aria or Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou but with magic.
• Probably watched some movies though I'm blanking on them at the moment...