Marginalia

[coalescent]

So The Inside premieres tonight (in the States). Some advance word is good, some is less good. I'm hoping I'll be able to make a post about it that starts "I don't usually like crime dramas, but..."; we'll see, I guess.

nhw has posted his mega-meta-review of the Hugo nominees.

Interviews with Christopher Rowe and Stephen Baxter. (That issue of SFSite also has a great piece by Matt Cheney on Robert Silverberg's Worlds of Wonder/Science Fiction 101 anthology.)

SFX really likes Batman Begins. Really really likes. The phrase 'The Godfather with Batarangs' is used.

A new irrational history!

The case against Coldplay. [via applez]

Charles Stross gets profiled and interviewed in The Sunday Times.

Lost has apparently inspired a bunch more TV shows. Given that I haven't been moved to watch any since episode ten, and am slightly tending towards Ben Peek's view, I'm not sure whether this is actually a good thing.

And if you've ever wondered what the guys from Penny Arcade actually look like...

Comments

[danmilburn.livejournal.com]

Well that's saved me the bother of watching Lost at all..

[mattia.livejournal.com]

I'd form your own opinion of it. Me, I like it, and I just finished rushing through most of the season in one go. Considering the whole season's supposed to take place over, say, a month or two, it's probably best to watch it all in one go, rather than drag it out.

It's got its weak points, but it's good, entertaining television, and I quite heartily reccomend it.

[danmilburn.livejournal.com]

I probably won't bother though, just because we don't actually spend that much time watching TV these days.. Have all of Deadwood season 2 to catch up on at some point, and of course we'll be doing The Inside and new Battlestar Galactica.

And otherwise I think I'd rather watch all of Veronica Mars again than something which appears to make all the mistakes that show has skillfully avoided..

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

I probably won't bother though, just because we don't actually spend that much time watching TV these days.

This is my problem. My to-watch list at the moment includes Veronica Mars (watched the first episode last week: it's ace), season two of Carnivale, new Galactica when it airs, season one of Deadwood, the last few of Smallville (for completeness; I'm probably finally giving up on that now as well), most of this season of 24 and seasons one and two of Spooks. And if I haven't found the time for those, I'm not sure I can really put in the investment for something like Lost.

[mattia.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. Deadwood, new BG, Carnivale are all better crafted shows, but if you've got all of Lost to watch straight, so no annoying waits, it's a good piece of TV, perhaps a little slow on the reveals overall, but certainly nowhere near as bad as some make it out to be. The characters are, largely, quite interesting, flashbacks are deftly handled, and for me, anyway, there's enough intruige and potential to keep me watching, anyway. It's not 'great TV' in terms of writing, but it's certainly good TV, and if it revitalizes the market for genre television shows, I'm all for it.

Re: Veronica Mars, any chance I could get a copy? Was too late to go forth and download it in its early days.

[danmilburn.livejournal.com]

Veronica Mars, any chance I could get a copy?

Yep, no problem. It'll have to come on 11 CDs as I still don't have a DVD writer. Think I still have your address from the first Sekrit Santa assuming it hasn't changed since then.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

If you could do me episodes 16-22 while you're at it, I'd be much obliged. :)

[danmilburn.livejournal.com]

Of course.

[mattia.livejournal.com]

Cool! And yes, all details remain unchanged. If you can't dig it up, y'know where to find me. Anything you want in return (not that I've got much right now, mind..)?

[mattia.livejournal.com]

Actually, you could just give 'em to Ban, who is off to th'Italy in a few weeks. I've got a season of TWW, half of '24', and a boatload of Carnivale and Deadwood to watch in the meantime, so I'm not in any particular hurry or nuthin'.

Well said

[applez.livejournal.com]

I concur.

[pikelet.livejournal.com]

I stopped reading the Coldplay piece when the author got incredibly lazy and got his band-timeline wrong.

I bought X&Y yesterday. I think something must have gone wrong at the CD pressing plant, because although the labels and inlay cards say 'Coldplay' on them, they appear to have sold me a hitherto-unreleased late-90s U2 album.

[cellardoor28.livejournal.com]

Although this is not necessarily a bad thing :p

[pikelet.livejournal.com]

You're assuming it's a good U2 album.

[(Anonymous)]

No, it's just not a Coldplay album.

-- tom

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

I stopped reading the Coldplay piece when the author got incredibly lazy and got his band-timeline wrong.

I was quite entertained to see that apparently Coldplay predate Travis. Por forgotten Fran Healy.

I think something must have gone wrong at the CD pressing plant, because although the labels and inlay cards say 'Coldplay' on them, they appear to have sold me a hitherto-unreleased late-90s U2 album.

In his spare time, Chris Martin channels Bono through the medium of interpretive dance. True fact.

[pikelet.livejournal.com]

I was quite entertained to see that apparently Coldplay predate Travis. Por forgotten Fran Healy.

Not to mention Embrace, who were around best part of a decade earlier.

In his spare time, Chris Martin channels Bono through the medium of interpretive dance. True fact.

Does he wear sandals as he salsas?

[danmilburn.livejournal.com]

Although Embrace were always shit and would rightfully have been forgotten about if it weren't for Coldplay..

[pikelet.livejournal.com]

First album = lovely.

Subsequent albums = meh of the highest order.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Oh, no no no. First album has 'Come Back To What You Know, 'Retread', 'Fireworks', and, er, that's it. Second and third albums are not great, but not bad, on balance. Fourth album is meh, except for 'Ashes'.

[danmilburn.livejournal.com]

To be fair I've never actually listened to an entire album. I did see them at a festival in '97 and I can honestly say that the most interesting thing about their set was that Tim Wheeler was watching from the side of the stage..

[zihuatenejo.livejournal.com]

I was about to post a similar comment. "Good Will Out" is 1998 and "Parachutes" is 2000. Also it's not like you can't see the influence of The Verve and the rest of the mid 90's British indie scene in Coldplay.

The case against Coldplay

[ex-susumu64.livejournal.com]

Is that they're rubbish.

[despotliz.livejournal.com]

A new irrational history!

All stories should use the phrase "Stalin’s secret lunar fortress".

I presume you've seen Mundane SF versus Infernokrusher already...

[tizzle-b.livejournal.com]

Lost has apparently inspired a bunch more TV shows. Given that I haven't been moved to watch any since episode ten, and am slightly tending towards Ben Peek's view, I'm not sure whether this is actually a good thing

You're a fool. Watch more and get hooked further.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

But if they never reveal anything, what's the point?

[iainjclark.livejournal.com]

Good characterisation, solid drama, and inventive twisty backstory?

Oh they reveal plenty...

[applez.livejournal.com]

...plenty more mystery! ;-)

At least at the end of S1, one can say with some amount of confidence that one has a sense of what the 'rules' are, and have a relatively good sense of the Geography of the island.

[chance88088.livejournal.com]

That issue of SFSite also has a great piece by Matt Cheney on Robert Silverberg's Worlds of Wonder/Science Fiction 101 anthology

It is a lovely anthology. Great stories and great commentary.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

Yeah--I read it a couple of years back, and thought it was brilliant. There should be more anthologies like it.

what a great idea

[chance88088.livejournal.com]

sounds like a job for you.

<i>Lost</i>-inspired series...

[applez.livejournal.com]

Noooo...cloning bad, very bad ... unless it involves David Lynch, that is. ;-)

[majuran.livejournal.com]

I don't want to say anything that will spoil it for you, but don't give up faith in Lost just yet...