RhaenysBee

I’m watching Euphoria which is one of the weirdest piece of entertainment I’ve encountered. I’m not saying it’s any less realistic than the rest of the teen dramas like Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars, because boy those had nothing to do with real high school life either. But this one is so dark and simultaneously has these absurd fits of comedy. I’m still undecided if it all works out and comes together somehow or it’s just all over the place in terms of tone with no excuse. What I can say is that Zendaya’s Emmy was very well deserved. 

Well, I’ve been meaning to share my swimming journey. I used to swim in middle school, nothing serious just practice twice a week, local amateur competitions for swimming pool ice cream and the sheer joy of being in the water. 
After what stretched into an inexplicable 17 year gap I started swimming again in January. The first time went like, let’s do 500m in one go without warmup because hey I used to swim in middle school. Yeah. Right. I could not lift my arms for the rest of the day and since I was stupid enough to do this the day before getting blood work, it also blew my results and my liver enzymes were out of the roof (they went right back down in 6 day when we repeated the test, they are fine).

So for these reasons, the second time went like, let’s do 150m, take a 10 minute break and let’s do 150m again. Which is a joke, it’s like 10 minutes in the pool, it’s kindergarten swim practice. Never mind. We will take it slow, and work it up to 1000m (which is still less than half my middle school swim capabilities), no matter how much time it takes, that much I should be able to do at least. Third time, 200, break, 200. Then 250 break 250, 300 break 300, etc. when I was I getting really f’ingbored and annoyed with the breaks, I skipped them and switched swim styles to force myself to slow down (I’m significantly slower in anything that’s not breast stroke). So I started doing 500 breast, 150 back, 150 breast (I hate free style and my arms are still way to weak for butterfly, which I used to love too) and built from there. 
For the past two weeks I’ve been steadily doing 1000m split 6:4 between breast and back. I will do two more weeks maintaining this and then we are onto 750 breast and 500 back. I love swimming, it makes me feel liberated, powerful and at peace. 
anyway, this long and tedious ramble is trying to say that fitness can be build (back) up no matter how small you have to start (And yes I know my 1000 m swim goal is minuscule compared to people who go from couch to half marathons in a year. Good for them, but my little 1000m goal is my little success that makes me proud and happy and takes me back to a part of myself I used to love and that’s what counts). Yay? 

Catching up on work at the weekend. A bizarre concept, because what have I been doing all week that I have to catch up on work? More work. There’s an odd balance of equal shame and virtue in catching up on work at the weekend. Because Aw you have to work on the weekend you poor thing that’s awful, wow employers do take such savage advantage of one these days! And because Aw damn, really, can’t you do something about it like delegate more or smarten up your time management? But at the same time, it’s also, Wow you’re working at the weekend, damn you must be important and irreplaceable that you absolutely have to work, way to go! As well as Damm aren’t you super dedicated and motivated and committed, way to go! 
Bleh. Can someone please decide and tell me which way I’m supposed feel about it, so I can have one less cognitive dissonance to navigate? In fact I’m fine with either option as long as it’s not the personality splitting coexistence of both. Boy I better get that raise I asked for. 

Today the cardiologist, the sweetest female doctor I have ever met, asked me what I do for a living. I told her I worked in leadership development. Ah so what kinda software do I develop? It’s not software, basically we train the management. Ah and whatever does one develop on them? Well… Ah is it like communication and the like? Yep, communication and the like. Ah. 
Imagine, this poor woman with her vast knowledge that she applies every day to save lives must have never heard anything so dumb, insignificant and meaningless to make a livelihood as developing managers in communication and the like. The sheer dumb corporate hubris to spend 50 hours of several people every week on these things. 

1 hour ago, dbunting said:

Watched Poor Things finally. Not sure what to think about this. I liked the visuals and the, I think steam punk / Island of Dr. Moreau is my feel to the world. Some good performances. Just a strange movie that takes you through a lifetime of experiences, learning, growing mentally, in a matter of months or a year I guess for Bella. 

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Was there supposed to be meaning to her hair growth other than it matching her mental growth? To me they wanted us to know it was getting long and it seemed to match how much she matured through the movie, or am I putting too much into it?

Strangely enough for a movie with a lot of sex and nudity, it never felt like it? IDK, I am glad I saw it but can't think of any reason I would watch it again.

I just finished the book, and flipping through the photos from the movie, I find myself pretty reluctant to tune into the movie. I know I shouldn’t judge by the photos only but I absolutely loved the novel and my gut feeling is that the movie wouldn’t improve the experience. 

Ticks. Ticks. Ticks. 

not sure what traumatized me more - school lecture about tick season precautions in second grade or Willem Dafoe’s tick infested hand in Antichrist. Nah, I’m sure, it was the lecture. 

19 hours ago, Spockydog said:

It was my birthday the other day. My brother got me my first ever cordless drill (it's a beauty), a laser-beam measurer thingy (OMG WE LIVE IN THE FUTURE), and these socks, which are absolutely lovely. I am blessed.

 

Very happy belated birthday to you!  Lovely gifts and gesture that the brother picked things that made you so happy. 
 

also your cordless drill reminds me, I have a cordless vacuum now! After looking for.. it has to be years, I finally committed on a 25% off sale day and bought a mid range one. The nozzle lights up so one can vacuum in the dark and/or actually see dirt on the floor. I find that groundbreaking. It made me so happy. 

15 minutes ago, Zorral said:

All we need to understand is, since behind every great family and their great fortune is a great crime, for a great family to continue with its great fortune is to commit more great crimes. Which entertains those over whom they maintain their exploitation and dominance via their great fortunes which provides their great power.  

I can see what you mean by the first part, I don’t agree with it as an axiom. I’m not sure I understand the second part. 

18 minutes ago, Kalbear said:

It's pretty and fun, and often funny. Early on in the season there are some real good Ritchie crime sequences and cutting wit. But the ending was definitely a letdown. 

Yep, and that high quality beginning just set my expectations at a much higher standard than the one the ending achieved. 

Got back on a reading streak in the past few weeks and enjoyed the following reads and listens: 

The Twist of a Knife - this is, I think, the penultimate installment of the Hawthorn series with the last novel coming out some time this autumn.  A lovely, reliable, funny whodunnit that pretends to be real on a masterful level. I love Anthony Horowitz. 

Tales from the Cafe - I bought this 200 pages book in Italy for €15. Not mad, because I love to buy physical books on holiday, but ouch nonetheless. Especially at this exchange rate. * moan-moan * I loved the first novel of this series, and had the same experience with this one. It’s a slow burn, it’s a slight culture shock just because it’s so different from the western literature I grew up on and read (I guess I should branch out more toward Japanese authors and their works). But then it arrives and it hits hard and before I know it I’m crying even though I was thinking hmm it’s kinda dry, it’s kinda dull just half an hour ago. Beautiful beautiful storytelling. Worth every cent I spent on the copy. 

Poor Things - I bought this one on the  trip too. It was an impulse buy because the selection was huge, I was short on time. I saw it, I recognized the title and Emma Stone’s face, I recalled that it was something unconventional, I committed and paid. I don’t even know when was the last time I was this happy with a purchase. The book is delightfully creative (yes I’m 100% sold on the fiction masquerading as fact genre), unpredictable, endearing but also macabre (and I’m 100% not sold on Victorian gothic) in the best way possible. I wholeheartedly recommend it and I couldn’t have chosen better in that odd 10 minutes I spent in the bookshop. 

Empire - I listened to this because the Ascent of Money is only available in an abridged version on audible, so I thought, let’s try this one. I learned a lot, I enjoyed the style. So I went on a Niall Ferguson bender and listened to… 

The Square and The Tower - this one was a bit convoluted for my brain, and I did get lost on his train of thought more often than not. The basic concept of hierarchies v networks was interesting enough though. Still determined to find a full version of Ascent of Money to listen to. So after all this, Audible recommended to me… 

Centuries of Change and Ian Mortimer instantly became my resident favorite historian. I loved this so much. Learned so much, was so happy with perspective, the structured, methodical approach, the style, the myth debunking. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Which led me to…

Medieval Horizons - which is a slightly different arch and structure but mostly the same perspective, trivia, message, etc. enjoyed this one a lot too. I do thing centuries of change is a better written book if one goes down the rabbit hole, and doubles down on the topic, this one’s worth the listen as well. 

I added The Gentleman to my sickday(s) watchlist. 

I tried to figure out if and how it was related to the movie by the same title by the same direction. It’s not. ‘Kay. I suppose he just really likes this title?

It was rather fun for the first 5-6 episodes. Then I kinda got tired of it because it was buildup on buildup on buildup and I found myself asking, To what? For me the magnitude of the climax was disproportionate to the amount and complexity of all that buildup. The way I see it, we didn’t quite arrive anywhere surprising, impactful, meanigful, fun, punchy. It was much ado for very little. I like the dynamic, the cinematography, the editing, the style of storytelling, the visual experience, I even liked the acting quite a bit. I certainly enjoyed the whole thing more than The Gentleman movie. If they ever made a season 2 I would probably tune in out of curiosity. 

Today I didn’t work and napped for a sum of 5 hours in the afternoon. I feel like a different person. This is the most glorious feeling I have experienced in months. I think I might be actually rested. Insane.

Okay no, this is ridiculous. Up until some point it was semi-believable what’s been going on in this Africa storyline in 1923, but we are so long past that. 
 

So I’ve been ill - again… here’s the strep binge fest rundown: 

The Full Monty 1997 - rather short, very British, very retro, absolutely heartwarming. It claims to be a comedy but it’s so much more. 
The Full Monty 2023 - probably the first time ever when I say that it was worth to make the reboot. Beautiful, heart wrenching, relatable, lovable, intelligent, balanced little show. I will actually rewatch this. 

Downton Abbey New Era - big screen format just doesn’t work when you have a cast of 20+ regulars and you even have to squeez out a plot. I can’t not love it because I love Downton, but it lacks the depth, the nuance, the richness of the series. Still, a sweet collection of compulsory downton moments and tropes. 

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - so I did watch this the night I had fever and a migraine so I was half asleep and half out of it. It was sweet, the cast is amazing, but it lacked a hook and the pace was a bit too slow. Recommended it to my mum, exactly her cup of tea. 

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - I liked this one more, perhaps because a lot of the character stories arrived in this one (took two films with the pace). I was also feeling less shitty when I watched which may contribute. But I’m not okay watching Maggie Smith “die” twice within a couple days. 

1923 - welllll. I watched 6 episodes… I have feelings. Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren are wonderful. I love them. But Ford is a little bit frail and doesn’t command the same screen presence he did even 10-15 years ago or the one Costner indisputably does. That impacts how you buy into the Dutton family power and position. Mirren course corrects this a lot though. Jerome Flynn fails to give me the villain vibes. And then there’s Spencer and Alexandra. Now I love the Africa bits, I love that it’s not CGI but real drone shots and filming tricks. Breathtaking. I like Spencer, even though he is neither Costner nor Luke Grimes. I think it’s the hairstyle, or the mustache … I digress. Alexandra is an interesting one. I really like the character, very much fits the Dutton woman archetype but still playful and fun. But there’s something about the delivery, like they are trying too hard. There are these odd little moments when it feels overacted and disingenuous and it snaps me right out of the story. I don’t know if it’s a direction because they want a stark juxtaposition to broody quiet rough Spencer or the actress is still trying to find her tune with the character. I don’t know. I both love the character and feel like she’s nails on a chalkboard.The themes, the set are too similar to Yellowstone. I kinda feel like with the history text book in fifth grade, there were foraging and animal skin tents and cave drawings and domesticating dogs and horses, next chapter, bamm, Sumer city states. How did that happen? So yeah, I’m looking for what happened between 1894 and say 1914, if anybody would, thank you. As for the native American girls school storyline… I watch this gratuitously brutal and completely disjointed substory for half, HALF the entire show before it finally turned out how it relates to any of the main story. Why? Why wouldn’t you hint sooner? Why wouldn’t you do something, anything narratively to avoid the sensation that it’s a separate series within the series? I’m not saying it’s not good, I enjoy it, but I am saying for me it comes third after 1883 and Yellowstone. 

On 4/8/2024 at 4:34 PM, Relic said:

I quite enjoyed 1883 and 1923, way more so than the few episodes of Yellowstone I've watched. 1883 is pretty brutal, 1923 is a bit campier in certain moments but also extremely melancholic in others. Both are miles ahead of OG Yellowstone imho.

I finished 1883. Or more like it finished me. It ripped out my heart, chewed it up raw and retched it right out. I spent 95% of the last episode in convulsive sobs. It hit home and it hit hard. It was beautiful and brutal and beautiful. It was indeed miles ahead of Yellowstone. Then again, very different goals with those two shows. Well, I will go now and try to think about something other than death. Like... I need a grocery delivery in the morning. 

I’m watching 1883 and it’s not what I expected, but better in a lot of ways. I respect and appreciate that it’s not a classical western, that it’s not the same as Yellowstone set in a different time with a different cast and different costumes. The Duttons are the same, in terms of character archetypes, values and personality traits but that does more for the story than it takes away from the characters. The slow, melancholic but raw, powerful atmosphere is beautiful, to the point that I can cry multiple times per episode, quite different from the Yellowstone vibe. Male character writing is sublime. Cinematography and directing is sublime. The on the nose narration by Elsa irks me to no end, but other than that, the themes speak to me and touch me more the Yellowstone. At the beginning I rather disliked Elsa, because sassy maiden archetypes generally annoy the life out of me, but as the story progresses I understand and appreciate why she is the narrator and why it couldn’t be any other way. Overall I’m happy with this show albeit it’s a heavier watch than Yellowstone. I suppose that’s what makes it more meaningful and more beautiful. I don’t suppose I included spoilers. 

17 hours ago, Buckwheat said:

*pokes thread*

So how is ... anybody still reading this thread?

Yep, though the frequency is certainly shrinking to occasionally. 
 

17 hours ago, Buckwheat said:

am this close to finishing my dissertation. Really stressed about that whole thing these days, but I am finally optimistic about finishing this whole ordeal. I just need to get feedback from my advisor and the commitee, I hope I won't have much to redo and correct at this point.

Awwww, what great news! Huge congrats to you for such progress! You are slaying that dissertation, I’m sure it’ll be finished for good soon. How will you celebrate?  
 

spring is the same, in that it’s essentially summer. I’ve never been a huge fan of the heat, especially its coming on so suddenly and since hormone therapy, I’m even less so. But I really enjoy the sun, the birds chirping, the blue skies. 
 

I’m doing fine, I’ve been back on a reading streak and had luck with picking some really lovely books too. Took a little Easter trip to Italy with my dad and his new crew. It reminded me that I actually love traveling I just can’t really afford it anymore  I also got through a very stressful work period and now the back pain it yielded is beginning to subside as well (at least I’m hoping the back pain was stress related, not anything else - but just in case, beside the hoping, I’m awaiting a CT scan too). And so the whole ordeal yields more than extra trips to the doctor’s, I’m hyping myself to ask for a raise. Which I don’t expect to get, but it should at least train me to be braver in life. I also regularly swim now, and i don’t get how and why I lived without this thing for 17 years. 

26 minutes ago, Zorral said:

This will not last.  Trust me.

Well if the rumors that Kevin Costner is leaving the show are true, than things will go downhill pretty quickly, I expect. But it was a fine fine experience while it lasted and I can move on to the Harrison Ford spinoff now. No expectations for those though. 
 

And sure, I don’t literally love everything about the show, there were some dumbass elements, but overall I would rate it at a solid 9/10 for the characters, the dialogue, the themes, the nuance, the intelligence of the writing, the cinematography, the animals the costumes and the overarching story so it safely falls into the love love love category even though I’m not trying to pretend that it’s perfect. 

I finished Yellowstone and aside from some small scale structuring issues and a couple abandoned side plots, it was freaking phenomenal and my most favorite tv experience ever since the 2022 Buffy binge. I love love love love everything about this show and I even appreciate and respect the parts I didnt love. If I still knew how that it works, I would now exchange my board avatar for Beth, because it’s been a while I had a new crazy blondie avatar. Also no other tv show ever had me have three simultaneous tv crushes on the characters. I think the max had always been two. 

Im still in because I somehow think I’ll be able to conjure up the time  

On 2/4/2024 at 9:41 PM, Buckwheat said:

 And I am here with my jeans which are getting decidedly too tight - I had to buy a size bigger than usual the last time I went shopping. I gained some weight in the past few years and I don't like it. I am trying at least to eat less sweets.

Each to their own struggle. I’m glad to be getting close to the pre Covid weight. In the past four years I just couldn’t put on weight for my life no matter what I did, some shit or the other hit the fan and I lost the couple pounds I gained over months overnight. Really really determined to put on at least 5 more pounds this year. 
Sweets are the most difficult to eliminate, I feel you there. 

On 2/4/2024 at 9:41 PM, Buckwheat said:

The weekend was fine, I met with some friends whom I haven't seen in a long time. One of the friends finished his PhD and celebrated, so we got together

Sounds lovely, congrats on his Phd! Oh I miss friend group get togethers. They are just too rare these days. 30s, I guess… or I don’t have enough friends  who knows. 
 

Apparently my sister, the pickiest eater you will ever meet, describes me to other people as someone who “bakes great cookies”. Consider me flattered. 

I started watching Yellowstone. I.. uhh… whoooh.. whoa… damn… I just… damn... Kevin Costner and Luke Grimes broodily striding and riding through scenic backgrounds emanating power and testosterone and I was bought in 20 minutes into episode 1. Boy oh boy, soppy D class rom com for Valentine’s Day’s officially off the table, give me Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, nature shots and horses. 
I’m sure the story will be fine too. 
also I love the trans generational  dynamics, especially when it comes to Kayce’s son. 
It’s sooooooo sinister and dark. Love this thing. 

On 2/2/2024 at 5:09 PM, Buckwheat said:

Actually, the holiday is on Thursday, and we are getting Friday off as an extra day to make it a long weekend - we don't have to make up for the actual holiday, but for the Friday. We are going to have only a few classes, if any - the elder students have the day off to visit universities (to better decide what they want to do after seconday school) and we get a bunch of primary school students to see our school. I don't know yet what I will be doing on these days, but I fear I will have to go with the rest of the students to see a film about the holocaust - again, after seeing it with the elder students today. I would rather not.

Yes that’s what I meant too. I find it barbaric that these added holiday days should be worked off on Saturdays. But it’s nice that your school will dedicate the day for a uni fair and at least educational films, still better than maths tests like we used to have  

On 2/2/2024 at 5:09 PM, Buckwheat said:

sports, it is certainly the intent that counts - and the perseverance! Keep going and I am sure you will soon see progress.

Or something something encouraging sports saying.

I am having a surprisingly productive afternoon - I was home quite early, so I have already cleaned the bathroom (it was high time for that), changed the bedsheet and the covers, washed the bedding and clothes and hung that, and cooked lunch, ate and even washed the dishes afterwards. Whew. I guess the weekend can start now?

Well I’m enjoying the fact that some of my extra small jeans are getting too tight, so that should be a motivator to keep at it. One of these days I may even hit my pre Covid golden age weight and have a healthy BMI  

yay for a productive day! There’s nothing like going to bed with fresh linen on..! Just feels and smells so nice. Oh I need to buy a new bed linen set as well (I accidentally shrunk a duvet cover in the washing machine). Hope the weekend’s been going great! 

16 hours ago, Zorral said:

They are uneven -- parts of the Rise of Empires series, Ottoman: Mehmed vs. Vlad has quite a bit of good material, revealing parts of this past not often (at least in the 'west') covered or noticed in any treatment of the Ottoman Empire. The Age of Samurai was very good, both in teaching and involvement.   

My dad was at one point rather obsessed with these half historical fiction half docu things about the Ottoman Empire  I watched a couple 10-15 minute bits of it with him pre Covid, but the format is just too weird for me. 
 

12 hours ago, HexMachina said:

I may be wrong but I thought I'd heard something vague about a HBO TV series. I also agree with your opinion on the movies and I know its unpopular to have 1 and 2 as the favourites. 

I am however done with anything HP related so I won't be watching any potential TV show

Yes there are plans for a HP series with Rowling involved in the project. Since she was involved in the films as well and she published the Cursed Child, I’m not sure that’s guarantee of a solid outcome. If it’s ever produced and I’m around (my therapist says I need to a stop talking about my future in conditional sentences and he’s right, so). If it’s ever produced, I will tune in just because the first attempt at adaptation did no justice to the story and the characters, so I would like to see them try again. 

Oh also, I watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince last night while ironing. I was halfway through but I could write a 5 pages essay on how absolutely terrible it is even though it’s one of the better Harry Potter movies. You know, if any big millennial franchise and pop culture phenomenon should get a remake, it’s Harry Potter. The movies beyond the first two, generously three are atrociously bad. 

And I’m still rewatching Buffy. On the rewatch, yes I hear you, Dawn is horrible.  But that aside, my brain wants to bathe in a Buffy script all day every day. I want a lecture series about Buffy. I want a writing master class based on Buffy.