My wall
We went to the UK in 2009 to ride our bikes. On the wall, as of today, is a selection of our very favouritest pictures from that trip.
(The small pics closest to the side are from our first trip; the gilt-framed picture is a print of a Blaeu map.)
Comics: Wonder Woman and Birds of Prey
So yes, I’m getting me some graphic novel lovin’.
I don’t have much background in Wonder Woman and her universe; I knew that her people are Amazons, and that was about it. I don’t know whether the origin story posited here was partly or totally a reboot, etc etc. It kinda doesn’t matter, actually, at least not for my enjoyment of the story. There were obviously bits that didn’t have the emotional impact that it might for long-term fans; I could see it was devastating when friends got hurt, or turned on Diana, but I didn’t feel it as much as I might have. And I certainly didn’t have the GASP reaction that I bet others did when the Big Nasties were revealed. t did feel it, though, when the truth about Genocide was revealed; and I certainly got cranky at Zeus and his great big awesome plans for replacing the Amazons.
So yeh, thoroughly enjoyed this. The story is dramatic and action-filled and angsty in good ways. It’s not heavy on character development, but that’s partly what the pictures are for I guess. And I liked the pictures. Yes Wonder Woman has no pants, but she’s rarely posed in such a way that that’s an emphasis, or a sexy sexy thing. And there is an emphasis on the violence of what she’s confronted with, and the fact that she gets a beating is not shied away from.
Going to get me more Gail Simone WW, I think.
Speaking of Gail Simone…
This is clearly part of an ongoing story about the team called Birds of Prey, but it also works as a stand-alone story about them and their missions. I’ve not read any stories before that feature teams of superheroes going up against super villains, and have really only seen this on the screen in X-Men. I really enjoyed the way that the pictures allowed the fights to be shown both in close-up and panoramically, encompassing the entire fight – something that movies manage and that books just can’t get across in words with much impact.
I liked the characters a lot, even though I struggled to keep track of a few of them (they kinda melded together). However, Oracle really was my absolute favourite: a former Batgirl, now in a wheelchair (… well, in a wheelchair here; I know that NOW they’ve rebooted it and she’s able-bodied again) and with awesome techno-fu. And defending her team from a usurper. She’s brilliant.
Again, I really enjoyed the art – some ridiculous costumes but some not, and usually dealt with as if they’re practical, if that makes sense. I enjoyed the story, and I enjoyed the interactions between the characters too.
Lady rock
This is my new, somewhat ironic name for rock at the harder end of the spectrum that has at least a female vocalist. It’s not perfect, it’s hardly classy, but you know; some days it’s what you come up with, and it sticks. Anyway, a few weeks ago I wrote about how I seemed to have very few lady rockers on my playlists, and that I was looking for recommendations. I got quite a few, which was awesome! … and I haven’t managed to audition all of them yet, because I’m both occasionally slack and frequently time poor. (Why am I writing this, then? because this is how I prioritise my time.) Anyway, I thought I would report back my finds so far.
My post was inspired at least in part by listening to the Superjesus, only one of whose songs I owned at the time, and that from an old JJJ compilation. So I bought Sumo II, and I am totally loving it. Their lead singer rocks madly! I’ve also bought the iTunes essentials album of Garbage, which includes some songs I’d not heard before, and rediscovering the glory that is “Cherry Lips” is worth quite a lot. Of other stuff that I already knew but didn’t own, I’ve also bought the Divinyls’ “Science Fiction,” because I heard it on the radio and remembered how much I liked it.
Then there’s the new stuff. Let me go alphabetically, which means starting with The Breeders, who were care of Tansy. I previewed a fair bit of their stuff and in the end bought four songs off the album Last Splash. While I like the idea of albums the reality is I don’t listen to them consecutively most of the time, so there seemed little point in buying the whole lot when most of them didn’t immediately grab me. “Cannonball,” though?
And “Saints”? BRILLIANT.
Next, Butterfly Boucher. I did not find her via anybody I know. Instead, I heard “5678!” as part of the playlist on a Qantas flight recently…
… previewed the rest of the (eponymous) album on iTunes, and bought the whole thing. And I love it. It doesn’t really scratch my rock itch (er… push my rock buttons? Float my rock boat?), with maybe the exception of the fine “I Wanted to be the Sun,” but… I just love it.
Courtesy of Helen I listened to George’s “Release” and absolutely went mad for it. This is the sort of song I’d listen to on repeat for my walk to work. I bought the rest of Polyserena, the album it’s on, and to be honest the rest of it’s not working for me quite as much. But I’m still willing to give it a go.
And… actually that’s all I’ve bought. I’ve trialled a few of the others that were suggested and they weren’t really my thing. And there are still some, as I said, that I haven’t got to. It’s an evolving thing.
Randomly Yours, Alex 