Catching Ducks

When I originally saw the commercials for Orphan Black, I was intrigued and set my DVR to record the premiere. Unfortunately, it premiered on March 30, 2013, and I was very distracted by the UConn women advancing through the tournament on route to their eighth championship. I watched the first few minutes of the pilot, and decided I didn't want to spend time with the main character. She seemed to be a thief and a grifter and a drug dealer and a bad mother, and I lost interest. I'm pretty sure I deleted the episode without even finishing it. (I needed the room on my DVR for basketball!)

A few months later, I started hearing about how great it was, so I decided to give it another try. I got season 1 DVDs from the library, and tried again. By the end of the second episode, I loved it. But it really did take me until then to get hooked.

By the end of the second episode, you've met the other two main characters, and gotten to know one of them a little bit. In addition, you've learned a little more about the first main character. She still makes bad life choices and can be difficult to like, but she's not the loathsome person she first appeared to be.

Season one is fantastic. It's got drama and action and romance, and a twisty-turny plot. And lots and lots of female characters. So many shows throw in a female character and call it a day (ahem... Elementary), but Orphan Black is fairly bursting with women. And a they each have a distinctive personality. (It's almost as if women can be individuals, and not generalized into one representative!)


Spoilers:

Snibevgr zbzragf...

Jura Fnenu & Nyvfba svefg zrrg. Obgu Orgu naq Xngwn ner bayl bafperra sbe n srj zbzragf orsber qlvat, fb Nyvfba vf gur svefg arj pybar jr ernyyl trg gb xabj. Gur qvssreraprf orgjrra Fnenu naq Nyvfba ner fgevxvat.

Jura Fnenu zrrgf Pbfvzn. Gung jubyr frdhrapr bs Fnenu qenttvat Sryvk gb gur fhoheof, naq Nyvfba guerngravat Sryvk jvgu ure tha, gura Pbfvzn cbccvat bhg naq qbvat ure pnfhny yvggyr "uryyb" jnir.

Fnenu qevaxvat gur fbnc va onguebbz gb trg bhg bs grfgvslvat. Pyrire naq onqnff. (Naq tebff.)

Sryvk grnpuvat Nyvfba ubj gb cergraq gb or Fnenu.

Nalgvzr Fnenu-nf-Orgu vf fgnegyrq, naq gnxrf n srj frpbaqf gb svaq ure Pnanqvna npprag.

Uryran gnyxvat gb Cnhy'f cvpgher, cergraqvat fur vf Fnenu.

Gur fprar va gur svanyr jvgu Fnenu, Nyvfba, naq Pbfvzn ng Sryvk'f ncnegzrag.

Sryvk. Whfg va trareny, Sryvk.

Labels: Orphan Black, review: TV

One of my favorite things in music is when an artist/group will remake another artist's famous song. I have two requirements, though: 1) The versions must be sufficiently different from each other, and 2) Both songs must stand on their own as good songs.

A really great example is the song "Dreams". The original version was released by Fleetwood Mac in 1977:




On the 2012 Fleetwood Mac tribute album "Just Tell Me That You Want Me", the band The Kills did their version of it:

Labels: music: covers

"I volunteer!" I gasp. "I volunteer as tribute!" There's some confusion on the stage. District 12 hasn't had a volunteer in decades and the protocol has become rusty. [...] In some districts, in which winning the reaping is a great honor, people are eager to risk their lives, the volunteering is complicated. But in District 12, where the word 'tribute' is pretty much synonymous with the word 'corpse', volunteers are all but extinct.

I started hearing about "The Hunger Games" (by Suzanne Collins) many years ago, before the movies came out. It sounded interesting (A trilogy set in a dystopian* future with a female hero? Sign me up!) but when I started the first book, I quickly became annoyed with the writing style. A couple of years later I rented the first movie (and by "rented", I mean checked out from the library) and I absolutely loved it. So when I found the book at the library sale for 25¢, I decided to give it another try.

This time I pushed on, and -- even though I knew what was going to happen -- became engrossed enough in the book that the writing only occasionally bothered me. And it is a fantastic book. The world is great, the characters are great, the story is great.... I just wish the writing was a teensy bit better.

The world-building is excellent, and the story moves at a such a quick pace that you just want to keep reading and reading. But the best part is the main character. I've often said that my favorite characters are badass smart-asses, and Katniss definitely qualifies. But I also love the idea of her: It's rather uncommon to have a female lead be prickly. (Veronica Mars is the only other example that comes to mind.) She's not mean or cruel, she's just had to survive a difficult life, and closing herself off from everyone but her sister and best friend is how she has protected herself. I also love that her skills come from years of practice. I mean, I love Buffy and Friday and Xena and other superheroes-with-special-powers, but sometimes it's nice to see regular people be awesome because of their hard work.


Spoilers:

Yrg'f gnyx n yvggyr zber nobhg Xngavff orvat cevpxyl. Bar bs zl snibevgr fprarf vf jura ure zragbe Unlzvgpu vf gelvat gb cerc ure sbe ure GI vagreivrj, naq gurl pna'g svther bhg ubj gb cerfrag ure va gur orfg yvtug. Svefg gurl gel purrel ("Lbh pbzr npebff zber nf fhyyra naq ubfgvyr."). Gura gurl gel uhzoyr. Gura... "Gur arkg ubhef ner ntbavmvat. Ng bapr vg'f pyrne V pnaabg thfu. Jr gel zr cynlvat pbpxl, ohg V whfg qba'g unir gur neebtnapr. Nccneragyl V'z gbb 'ihyarenoyr' sbe srebpvgl. V'z abg jvggl. Shaal. Frkl. Be zlfgrevbhf. Ol gur raq bs gur frffvba, V nz ab bar ng nyy. Unlzvgpu fgnegrq qevaxvat fbzrjurer nebhaq jvggl, naq n anfgl rqtr unf percg vagb uvf ibvpr. 'V tvir hc, fjrrgurneg. Whfg nafjre gur dhrfgvbaf naq gel abg gb yrg gur nhqvrapr frr ubj bcrayl lbh qrfcvfr gurz.'"

Ohg V ybir guvf. V ybir gung fur'f fb ubarfg. Gung fur fgehttyrf gb cynl gurve tnzr, rira gubhtu fur xabjf ubj vzcbegnag vg vf. Fur qbrf yrnea, gubhtu, orpnhfr fur unf na rnfvre gvzr cynlvat sbe gur pnzrenf nsgre fur naq Crrgn unir jba. Fur fgvyy fgehttyrf, ohg fur unf vzcebirq.

Bar bs zl bgure snibevgr guvatf nobhg guvf obbx, naq ubj Xngavff vf cbegenlrq, vf gur ebznapr nfcrpg. Vg'f Crrgn jub vf ybirfvpx sbe ure, abg gur bgure jnl nebhaq. Xngavff tebjf gb yvxr Crrgn, ohg fur vf sne gbb ohfl fheivivat gur neran (naq yngre, gur cbyvgvpf) gb ernyyl guvax nobhg uvz yvxr gung. Ntnva, gung'f na hahfhny naq vagrerfgvat pubvpr. Naq -- zbfg vzcbegnagyl -- vg svgf jvgu gur jub fur vf naq jvgu jung ure yvsr unf orra yvxr. Sebz n lbhat ntr fur jnf erfcbafvoyr sbe srrqvat ure zbgure naq lbhatre fvfgre. Fur'q orra va fheiviny zbqr sbe lrnef, naq gung nyybjrq ure gb sbphf ba fheivivat gur neran.

Svanyyl, V ybir gung fur naq Crrgn jva orpnhfr bs guerr guvatf: 1) Fur bhgfznegf gur tnzr-znxref, 2) Crrgn gehfgf ure, naq 3) Fur naq Crrgn ner oenir.


*Why does spellcheck not recognize "dystopia" or "dystopian"? Or, as I've noted before, "spellcheck"?

Labels: review: book, The Hunger Games

I first watched season one of In the Flesh when it originally aired on BBC-America last year. Season 2 recently aired, so I re-watched season 1 on DVD before I started watching season 2. Season 1 is short, even for a British show: just three one-hour episodes.

In the Flesh is a zombie show, but only sort of. Before the series begins, there was an uprising, and the dead rose from their graves and terrorized the living. Eventually someone figured out what was making them rabid, and created a medicine to make them normal again. Now the government is re-integrating the zombies back into society.

As you can see from the trailer above, the show is beautifully shot, with lots of wide open spaces and grey skies that give it a haunting feel that matches the story. In a lot of ways, season one is about grief. Everyone is grieving -- zombies grieve for the things they did when they were rabid and the life that they can't get back; the living grieve for their dead loved ones that are lost forever and their undead loved ones that are changed forever. Everyone is trying to adjust the new reality.

Despite the zombies, I would not describe it as a horror show. It's really just a drama with a scifi/supernatural element. It's sad, but it has some sweet moments and quietly funny moments.

When I first watched it, I wished there was more because I loved it so much. This time, I almost wanted that to be all there was, because the story makes such lovely arc over those three hours.


Spoilers below... (Use rot13.com to read them.)

Fb yrg'f gnyx nobhg bhe qbhoyl-pybfrgrq lbhat zra. Xvrera inthryl frrzf gb or bhg gb uvf snzvyl (ng gur irel yrnfg gurl xabj ubj vzcbegnag Evpx vf gb uvz), naq lbh trg gur srryvat gung bguref va gbja fhfcrpg gung ur'f tnl, ohg ur qbrfa'g frrz gb or bcrayl tnl. Ur'f gur fnzr nf na haqrnq -- ur jrnef gur znxr-hc naq gur pbagnpgf gb oyraq va, ohg rirelbar vf jryy njner gung ur'f haqrnq. Evpx, ba gur bgure unaq, vf qrrcyl va gur pybfrg. Naq guvf rkgraqf gb uvf yvsr (ree... "yvsr") nf na haqrnq. Rirelbar (ng gur hetvat bs uvf sngure) whfg cergraqf gung ur'f fgvyy nyvir. (Uvf sngure frrzrq gb or va qravny nobhg Evpx orvat tnl, gbb, ohg onfrq ba uvf ungerq bs Xvrera, ur pyrneyl xarj fbzrguvat jnf hc.) Qrfcvgr gur snpg gung Xvrera jnf gur fyvtug-senzrq negvfg naq Evpx jnf gur fgbpxl fbyqvre, Xvrera jnf pyrneyl oenire bs gur gjb bs gurz. Ur jnagrq gb oyraq va (obgu nf n tnl crefba naq na haqrnq), ohg jura chfu pnzr gb fubir, ur jbhyq fgnaq hc sbe uvzfrys naq bguref.

Punatvat gbcvpf: jura V svefg jngpurq vg, V qvqa'g cnegvphyneyl yvxr Xvrera'f sevraq Nzl. Ohg ba frpbaq ivrjvat fur ernyyl terj ba zr. V nccerpvngrq ure pbhentr naq fcvevg.

Naq svanyyl: Sbe zr, gur zbfg vagrerfgvat nfcrpg bs gur frnfba vf Xvrera'f fhvpvqr. Jura lbh svaq bhg gung ur xvyyrq uvzfrys, n ybg bs bgure guvatf snyy vagb cynpr. Uvf cneragf nera'g whfg jbeevrq nobhg uvz svggvat va be tbvat enovq, gurl'er jbeevrq ur'yy xvyy uvzfrys ntnva. Naq vg znxrf uvf erfheerpgvba cnegvphyneyl vagrerfgvat. Sbe fbzrbar yvxr Nzl (jub qvrq bs pnapre), n frpbaq punapr vf n tvsg. Ohg sbe Xvrera, vg'f (vavgvnyyl, ng yrnfg) zber bs n oheqra.

Labels: In the Flesh, review: TV

I think I know why I needed a change for this blog... I've been using it for more than ten years! That hardly seems possible.

I thought about what I wanted to talk about, and I decided that what I would most enjoy would be talking about TV shows, books, and the occasional movie.

I used to review each new TV season, but so many shows premiere year-round now that I can no longer figure out when to do it.

So here's my plan: I'll give my spoiler-free impressions and opinions of a book, TV show season, or movie. Below that I will give more details, but these will be in rot13 so no one will accidentally see the spoilers. rot13 is a simple way to encode text. Just copy the text you want to read, paste it into the rot13 box, and hit the "cypher" button.

Please feel free to comment with your thoughts! (And use rot13 to hide any spoilery details.)

Labels: computers

I'm taking a bit of a break from the blog. I've been very distracted by tumblr lately...

Labels: computers

From "**** the Pain Away" (6.05):


Dr. Finn: Talk to me about what value you place on life.

Pam: Human life or vampire life?

Dr. Finn: Let's start with human, and then work our way up.

Pam: Who's the human?

Dr. Finn: How about me? What value do you place on my life?

Pam: None.

Dr. Finn: Can you expand on that?

Pam: Your insignificance to me cannot be underestimated. You are food -- nothing else. Not even good food. You reek of tuna fish. Truth is, I care more about the life of that tuna you ate than I care about you.

Labels: True Blood

Seen here:


"Today is Copernicus’s 541th birthday. You may remember Copernicus as the man who said 'Hey, what if the Earth went around the sun?' To which the Catholic Church replied 'Hey, what if we set you on fire?'"

Labels: history

From their twitter:


"A horse walks into a bar. The bartender says 'why the long face.' The horse does not understand. It is from a future where language is dead."

Labels: Welcome to Night Vale

From Early-Season Candidates for the 2014 WNBA Most-Improved Player Award:


2. Alysha Clark, F, Seattle Storm: I could probably go on for a while about what makes Clark's story particularly compelling relative to this award: she's a player who a number of fans counted out because she had to make the transition from college post to pro wing, she was cut twice after being drafted in the second round of a weak draft, and has worked her way from being a fringe player to a starter for the Seattle Storm.

Right now, the thing really holding Clark back is two-fold: she's still a low-usage player and a lot of her improved efficiency comes from not turning the ball over as much, which is important but not something that will likely leap out at those voting. Add to that the fact that her defensive work against MVP candidate Maya Moore in the Storm's surprising win over the defending champion Minnesota Lynx is the sort of thing that almost never gets noticed and it might be hard for Clark to get much traction.

Labels: Seattle Storm

Former NFL punter wrote a piece for ProFootball Focus called Punt Game: Sportsballing Really Hard With Your Foot, discussing his suggestions on how to statistically measure punting:


[Currently the NFL keeps track of five measurements.]

5) Punts out of bounds – Pretty self explanatory. The punt went out of bounds. These are either really good and tough to do, if the punter hit the ball the way he wanted to and prevented a return, or REALLY bad, if he shanked it off the side of his foot and it killed some poor child in the fifth row. Unfortunately, the way the NFL tracks it, you just don’t know. All you get is that the ball went out of bounds at some point.

Labels: sports

Form "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" (7.02):


Queen Nefertiti: And you, Amy -- are you also a queen?

Amy: Yes. Yes, I am.

Labels: Doctor Who

At the returns desk of a big box store:


clerk: “Hi, what can I help you with today?”

customer: “Yeah, I’d like to return this vacuum. It doesn’t work very well. I have my receipt.”

clerk: “Okay, let me see what I can do for you...”

[The clerk opens the box to check the contents. Instead of the vacuum pictured on the box, there is a different vacuum inside. In fact, this vacuum is a different size and brand, and is very much used.]

clerk: “Ma’am, it seems that you have placed the wrong vacuum inside this box. It looks like you are trying to return your old, used vacuum and keep the new one.”

customer: *picks up box and runs out of the store*

Labels: Not Always...

I love the dancing in this video:

Labels: music

From "Strange Love" (1.01):


Tara: Welcome to Super Save-a-Bunch.

Customer: Hi, I'm looking for that thick translucent plastic sheeting. The kind that they hang in front of the doors of walk-in refrigerators.

Tara: Uh... We don't sell that here. You can try at Home Depot.

Customer: I tried them already; they sent me here.

Tara: Ahhh....

Customer: Now, I cannot believe you don't have that here. Oh, I don't even know what it's called!

Tara: Sorry.

Customer: But you're supposed to have everything!

Tara: Well, we don't have that stuff. That you don't even know what it's called.

Customer: Your website says that this is the most well-stocked store in five parishes! I just drove over an hour from Marthaville --

Tara: Uh-huh. Does our website have a phone number?

Customer: Well, I suppose it does --

Tara: So it never occurred to you -- before you drove an hour -- to pick up a phone and call us to see if we stocked whatever-the-hell-it-is you're looking for?

Labels: True Blood

From his recap of yesterday's Minnesota @ Seattle game:


"Then we hit the fourth quarter. Brian Agler started the period with a makeshift lineup of Nicole Powell and Angel Robinson in the post, Temeka Johnson at the point, and Noelle Quinn on the wing with Wright. The only substitution he made in the entire period until the last few seconds was to replace Robinson with Camille Little. It ended up working like a bizarre, remarkably effective charm."

Labels: Seattle Storm

From a twitter conversation before tonight's game:


Tanya Ollick: Jenna O'Hea is in the layup line. So she went from 4-6 weeks out [with a broken toe] to at least dressed and participating [in less than two weeks].

Richard Cohen: Explanation: She's Australian.

Labels: Seattle Storm

Seen at Not Always Learning:

Labels: comics, food, Not Always...

Seen here:


tumblr 1: A Roman walks into a bar, holds up two fingers, and says "Five beers, please."

tumblr 2: i dont get it

tumblr 3: No one explain it

tumblr 4: After the Roman drinks the beers, he tells the bartender, "I want a martinus."

"Don’t you mean a martini?"

"If I wanted two, I would’ve asked for them."

tumblr 5: these are the best jokes ever

Labels: random awesomeness

From season 4:


Tucker: What's your name? [WHAT IS YOUR] NAME?? I am Tucker. This is Church. That's Bitch-Pants McCrabby.

Texas: Hey!

Tucker: Well, that's what we call you.

Caboose: Not me! I call you Mrs. McCrabby

Texas: Thanks...?

Labels: Red vs. Blue

The dad is taking his four-year-old on some errands. When they reach their destination, the dad opens the car door to unbuckle the kid from their car seat:


the dad: “You’re free! You’re free!”

the kid: “No, I’m not. I’m four!”

Labels: Not Always...

From her twitter:


"Overheard -- Boy : 'What's your favorite basketball team?' My 9-yr-old : 'WNBA or college?'"

Labels: college basketball, UConn basketball, WNBA