I broke down and watched ENDGAMƎ. This is a Canadian mystery series available in the US on Hulu. The solution follows a Nero Wolfe method but uses a Gatiss/Moffat Sherlock conceit when the lead begins to seriously examine potential suspects and motives in his own head.
The "detective" is Arkady Balagan, Russian chess champion who refuses to leave his hotel after his fiancee is killed. Balagan uses a grad student with an interest in chess and the hotel staff to do the legwork for him. The only reason Balagan gets involved solving crimes is to pay his bill at the hotel so he won't have to leave, taking crimes that the police can't or won't solve.
ENDGAMƎ has witty characters, good acting, and a fun script. My only complaint is the central conceit, that a grandmaster chess champion can solve crimes no one else can, that the skills necessary for chess translate over. This is even addressed in the show. Creator and showrunner Avrum Jacobson hung a lampshade on it by having a few people note that the only reason they could see that a man would hire Balagan to find a missing child was to provide his own alibi.
Not bad. Very interesting. I'll definitely look into watching the rest of the series.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Thursday, April 10, 2014
On Reactions to the Stephen Colbert News
I've noticed many people growing concerned with the announcement of Stephen Colbert as the new host of The Late Show. Some are worried that CBS won't let Stephen be Stephen and others don't want The Colbert Report to be canceled. There are a couple of things you need to know.
Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report is a character. Stephen refers to that character as a "well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot." The show has been on for almost ten years and Stephen has played the character since his days on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Ten plus years is a long time for an actor to play one character, and most actors like to freshen up their careers with new projects. (This is also true of others involved in creative endeavours: writers, artists, musicians, etc.) To be an artist of whatever stripe, you must be a shark: stop moving and you die.
Making a daily show of whatever nature is labor intensive, more so when the show focuses on topical humor and requires new material. It would be difficult for Colbert to manage two shows of that nature.
Will CBS not let Colbert bring his best work? They'd be foolish not to. Letterman built his empire pushing against the boundaries of what was believed to be permitted by the corporate structure above him. I'm certain that Stephen gave his producers at CBS an idea on how he would take the show, if not present them with a complete plan and a few proof-of-concept segments. They know what they're getting, though this doesn't mean that a CBS executive won't have an aneurysm over a schtick.
Stephen is of Second City. Some of you know what that means, others not so much. You know the 80s comedies you love so much? The Second City Theater has its fingerprints all over them, in cast, writers, production, and support. Saturday Night Live was founded by Second City alumni. They're known for working well on the fly. Improv theater is their forte.
Stephen Colbert has shown his training and skill four nights a week, most weeks of the year. You know his level of talent and ability. He'll do well.
I do, however, feel sorry for whoever fills Colbert's shoes.
Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report is a character. Stephen refers to that character as a "well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot." The show has been on for almost ten years and Stephen has played the character since his days on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Ten plus years is a long time for an actor to play one character, and most actors like to freshen up their careers with new projects. (This is also true of others involved in creative endeavours: writers, artists, musicians, etc.) To be an artist of whatever stripe, you must be a shark: stop moving and you die.
Making a daily show of whatever nature is labor intensive, more so when the show focuses on topical humor and requires new material. It would be difficult for Colbert to manage two shows of that nature.
Will CBS not let Colbert bring his best work? They'd be foolish not to. Letterman built his empire pushing against the boundaries of what was believed to be permitted by the corporate structure above him. I'm certain that Stephen gave his producers at CBS an idea on how he would take the show, if not present them with a complete plan and a few proof-of-concept segments. They know what they're getting, though this doesn't mean that a CBS executive won't have an aneurysm over a schtick.
Stephen is of Second City. Some of you know what that means, others not so much. You know the 80s comedies you love so much? The Second City Theater has its fingerprints all over them, in cast, writers, production, and support. Saturday Night Live was founded by Second City alumni. They're known for working well on the fly. Improv theater is their forte.
Stephen Colbert has shown his training and skill four nights a week, most weeks of the year. You know his level of talent and ability. He'll do well.
I do, however, feel sorry for whoever fills Colbert's shoes.
Monday, March 31, 2014
(Re-) Reading: Shockrockets by Kurt Busiek & Stuart Immonen
The late 1990s brought us a number of imprints from comic book companies that focused on the creators instead of the working of corporate IP. Dark Horse had Legend with Art Adams (Monkeyman & O'Brien), Frank Miller (Sin City), John Byrne (Next Men), Mike Mignola (Hellboy), Mike Allred (Madman), Geoff Darrow (Big Guy & Rusty the Boy Robot), and Paul Chadwick (Concrete.) Malibu had the Bravura line, with Jim Starlin (Breed), Steven Grant & Gil Kane (Edge), Marv Wolfman (Man Called A*X), Dan Brereton (Nocturnals), Howard Chaykin (Power & Glory), and Walt Simonson (Star Slammers). I will recommend all of the above. It's always good and entertaining to watch creators work at the top of the skills,
But my favorite imprint, was Gorilla Comics, through Image. Karl Kesel gave us Section Zero. George Perez did his magnum opus, Crimson Plague. Mark Waid's book was Empire and he would later utilize the same themes in Irredeemable and Incorruptible. Mike Wieringo brought his fantasy Tellos over. Kurt Busiek gave us a post-apocalyptic (or maybe a world on the edge of apocalypse) coming-of-age science fiction story called Shockrockets.
Shockrockets is the story of Alejandro Cruz, who is growing up in a world attempting to recover from an alien invasion. Cruz has amazing ability working with odd leftover alien tech and machinery, but the world and most people are barely surviving, living at subsistence level. Cruz isn't expected to be able to make a living with these skills, but maybe his children will have a better life. He finds himself near an attack by a General Korda, a hero from the war who believes he deserves more from his victories than medals and the survival of the Earth. A team of flyers, Shockrockets, who use alien tech from the war for combat and rescue missions show up to stop the general. One of their number is shot down as he was attempting a run to take down Korda's war machine. The fighter was operational while the pilot was shot. Cruz, having gone to help the pilot, hears that everything is riding on that one attack, and as he sees the pilot is too injured to fly, climbs in and finishes the run. This is only the beginning of Cruz's association with the Shockrockets, later going on to train and officially fight beside them.
As with all of Busiek's work, Shockrockets is fun, and Immonen did some of his best work here. Busiek said he wanted Shockrockets to do the same for its audience that Heinlein's juveniles did for him. He handles the coming of age theme well, and delivers on his intentions.
But my favorite imprint, was Gorilla Comics, through Image. Karl Kesel gave us Section Zero. George Perez did his magnum opus, Crimson Plague. Mark Waid's book was Empire and he would later utilize the same themes in Irredeemable and Incorruptible. Mike Wieringo brought his fantasy Tellos over. Kurt Busiek gave us a post-apocalyptic (or maybe a world on the edge of apocalypse) coming-of-age science fiction story called Shockrockets.
Shockrockets is the story of Alejandro Cruz, who is growing up in a world attempting to recover from an alien invasion. Cruz has amazing ability working with odd leftover alien tech and machinery, but the world and most people are barely surviving, living at subsistence level. Cruz isn't expected to be able to make a living with these skills, but maybe his children will have a better life. He finds himself near an attack by a General Korda, a hero from the war who believes he deserves more from his victories than medals and the survival of the Earth. A team of flyers, Shockrockets, who use alien tech from the war for combat and rescue missions show up to stop the general. One of their number is shot down as he was attempting a run to take down Korda's war machine. The fighter was operational while the pilot was shot. Cruz, having gone to help the pilot, hears that everything is riding on that one attack, and as he sees the pilot is too injured to fly, climbs in and finishes the run. This is only the beginning of Cruz's association with the Shockrockets, later going on to train and officially fight beside them.
As with all of Busiek's work, Shockrockets is fun, and Immonen did some of his best work here. Busiek said he wanted Shockrockets to do the same for its audience that Heinlein's juveniles did for him. He handles the coming of age theme well, and delivers on his intentions.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
The Wind Rises: Thoughts on, rather than a more traditional movie review
It begins, as most things do, with a dream.
A young man dreams of building a career, a life, in a young, growing profession. The field isn't taken seriously by many at the time, but the young man works at at, imitating his idols for a time, before deciding to scrap things and go his own way. He travels the path from salaryman to head visionary, respected by his employers and those who work for him, His work takes him across the world, permitting him to develop a stronger understanding of what will help him improve his work. Shadows cross his dream, yet he comes back, supported by love. And through it all, a dream grows, is built, until all can see the dream given form.
I might be talking about Hayao Miyazaki. I might be talking about Jiro Horikoshi, as presented in Miyazaki's film The Wind Rises, a fictionalized biopic on the early career of the designer of the Japanese Zero. I wonder how much of the film is autobiographical. Miyazaki's father was the director of Miyazaki Airplane, which made parts for Japanese fighters during World War Two. This permitted young Hayao a more comfortable lifestyle than many in Japan at that time.
While overt magic and fantasy elements are absent this time, The Wind Rises has familiar Miyazaki themes and signatures. Lush, beautiful landscapes liberally pepper the film. The presence of war, both in understanding of what the aircraft will do, to what Japan is building towards, and even echoes of the end of the war shown through a natural disaster in Tokyo, the earthquake of 1923, that resembles, not accidentally, I suspect, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Perhaps I am wrong to say there is no magic in The Wind Rises. There is always magic in a tale well told.
It ends, as it begins, and shows that the dream continues, even when the animators, or engineers, put away their tools.
A young man dreams of building a career, a life, in a young, growing profession. The field isn't taken seriously by many at the time, but the young man works at at, imitating his idols for a time, before deciding to scrap things and go his own way. He travels the path from salaryman to head visionary, respected by his employers and those who work for him, His work takes him across the world, permitting him to develop a stronger understanding of what will help him improve his work. Shadows cross his dream, yet he comes back, supported by love. And through it all, a dream grows, is built, until all can see the dream given form.
I might be talking about Hayao Miyazaki. I might be talking about Jiro Horikoshi, as presented in Miyazaki's film The Wind Rises, a fictionalized biopic on the early career of the designer of the Japanese Zero. I wonder how much of the film is autobiographical. Miyazaki's father was the director of Miyazaki Airplane, which made parts for Japanese fighters during World War Two. This permitted young Hayao a more comfortable lifestyle than many in Japan at that time.
While overt magic and fantasy elements are absent this time, The Wind Rises has familiar Miyazaki themes and signatures. Lush, beautiful landscapes liberally pepper the film. The presence of war, both in understanding of what the aircraft will do, to what Japan is building towards, and even echoes of the end of the war shown through a natural disaster in Tokyo, the earthquake of 1923, that resembles, not accidentally, I suspect, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Perhaps I am wrong to say there is no magic in The Wind Rises. There is always magic in a tale well told.
It ends, as it begins, and shows that the dream continues, even when the animators, or engineers, put away their tools.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013
"With Folded Hands"
The National Science Foundation is working with the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, and NASA to develop robots to work with and aid people in myriad ways.
Come and see the methane lakes of Titan.
The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered an ancient galaxy, one that existed seven hundred years after the Big Bang.
A fire raining comet exploded over Egypt twenty-eight million years ago, back in the Oligocene.
Come and see the methane lakes of Titan.
The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered an ancient galaxy, one that existed seven hundred years after the Big Bang.
A fire raining comet exploded over Egypt twenty-eight million years ago, back in the Oligocene.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
linx
Space archaeologist unlocks secrets of ancient civilizations.
New connections between stacked solar cells can handle the energy of 70,000 suns.
Ancient Roman coins depict various sexual acts. Possibly used for payment in brothels?
A meteorite that landed in California last year carried organic molecules.
New connections between stacked solar cells can handle the energy of 70,000 suns.
Ancient Roman coins depict various sexual acts. Possibly used for payment in brothels?
A meteorite that landed in California last year carried organic molecules.
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