This week on Mark Watches:
Episode Reviews
Monday: Battlestar Galactica - The Plan
Tuesday: Jekyll - Episode Three
Wednesday: Jekyll - Episode Four
Thursday: Jekyll - Episode Five
Friday: Jekyll - Episode Six (finale)
Meanwhile over on Reads, Mark continues Looking For Alaska.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
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nanceoir 111p · 694 weeks ago
It's looking like a fun episode, I hope.
Also, I kind of want to knit that red vest that lady's wearing. It looks neat.
rainbowsinside 87p · 694 weeks ago
Legend of Korra opening sequence right here guys!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kecWETS1Zck
I have so many feelings about this!
Medli 141p · 694 weeks ago
just read the phrase "stop motion prose"
nearly choked on dinner laughing
notemily 139p · 694 weeks ago
Dragon Elexus 124p · 694 weeks ago
Ugh, what's up with the tough questions? This is almost worst than the last one. Very rarely do I read a well recommended book that I completely disliked.
I guess....Dune, maybe? Its my dad's favourite series, and I know that people around the world love it. This first book was okay, but I felt rather uninspired to read the rest. For me, its just sort of...there.
nanceoir 111p · 694 weeks ago
One of my main sites (an online Hogwarts called HOL) has a chatroom, and Doctor Who is something we discuss every so often. Sadly, a lot of the Who fans there are not cool and show this by disliking Martha. Last night we had a bit of Doctor Who talk, and, well, I think you'll approve. (Note: in this conversation, I'm Cosmo.)
[03:18:53] <Crackalackin> i still think the best martha epi was teh Shakespeare Code
[03:18:54] <Crackalackin> XD
[03:18:54] <OmgRoseWTH> lol
[03:19:03] <OmgRoseWTH> I loved that one
[03:19:09] <Kvothe> I SAY TO THEE
[03:19:11] <Kvothe> EXPELLIARMUS!
[03:19:16] <Cosmo> Good ol' JK!
[03:19:22] <Crackalackin> lol
[03:19:28] <Crackalackin> and i will have to say
[03:19:30] <Kvothe> Yes that was definitely my favorite Martha episode
[03:19:37] <Crackalackin> Shakespeare was a very handsome man
[03:19:39] <Kvothe> but omg GRIDLOCK
[03:19:39] <Crackalackin> YES INDEED
[03:19:40] <Kvothe> >________>
[03:19:49] * Kvothe twiiitches
[03:19:58] <Cosmo> Gridlock=Rose loved drugs=amazing.
[03:20:03] <Crackalackin> lol
[03:20:16] <OmgRoseWTH> lol
notemily 139p · 694 weeks ago
you guys OMG
Did y'all see this post on Mark's tumblr?
It's a video of a bunch of nerdfighters doing a farewell dance to Single Ladies for another nerdfighter
and like
after the dance the nerdfighter who is leaving MAKES A LORD OF THE RINGS JOKE
WHICH MARK DOESN'T GET
BECAUSE HE PUT OFF READING LORD OF THE RINGS IN ORDER TO BECOME A NERDFIGHTER
I just can't. the irony is too much
Dragon Elexus 124p · 694 weeks ago
There've been a few books I've been surprised by, but there's only one that going into I thought I'd definitely dislike; Artemis Fowl.
This is odd, because if I read the synopsis for a similar story today, I probably would be really excited. So I think this series really was instrumental in opening me up for new stories and concepts.You see, I had learned that I loved fantasy quite a few years before, but had never gotten into Science Fiction. It was weird. Partly it was because my dad's attempts at selling it were not very good (books with shlock, B-movie like covers, and the Foundation Trilogy for an eleven year old.) But mostly I just knew I wouldn't like it. I was a girl. All those stupid technology stuff were for guys.
Do you see how ridiculous this was? I loved science. But media had taught me that I should hate science-fiction. I couldn't like robots, or super-heroes, or anything that wasn't sparkly and pink. But my dad got me this book over the holidays, when I'd run out. I protested, but I really was bored without anything to read...and it was funny. Interesting. Good characters, Engaging plot. I liked it.
As I've gotten older, I've seen more holes and errors in the series, especially the later books. But reading those really set me up for enjoying so much of the media I like today.
Tauriel_ 109p · 694 weeks ago
I've just read a very fitting (and witty) signature on another discussion board:
"Haters gonna hate. Ponies gonna pwn."
This NEEDS to be turned into a GIF so that we can use it during Mark's reading of LOTR whenever there's pony action! :D
Medli 141p · 694 weeks ago
what
what is this movie
I don't even
what
Dragon Elexus 124p · 694 weeks ago
Well...this is rather ambiguous, isn't it? What defines "Classic"? Talk about a vague term!
In all honesty, I don't like a lot of old, old books, plays and stories, such as things from the Victorian period and earlier. Although, perhaps 'story' is the wrong term. I like the tales well enough, and respect them, but I often have difficulty enjoying the prose. Its just a very different style. There are ones from a lot earlier that I did enjoy, but I wouldn't feel comfortable listing as my absolute favourite.
I think I'll have to go with "To Kill A Mockingbird". That really is a spectacular book, about growing up, about understanding the world, and about blind prejudice. Its less than a century old, I believe, but definitely qualifies as a classic. I don't think its themes will ever loose their impact.
(Also, I suspect HP is a classic in the making. But only time will tell).
NB2000 115p · 694 weeks ago
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/videos/p00m7qjb
Once again, no idea if it's region locked or not.
echinodermata 118p · 694 weeks ago
I have a feeling LotR is one of the most anticipated things Mark will ever cover.
(And I think we'll be making comments in the likeness of WHYYYYYY MARK and GET TO LORD OF THE RINGS ALREADY every other day or something until we start.)
Medli 141p · 694 weeks ago
I propose that the next time someone brings up the "waaaaah Mark is OFFENDING ME with this BLASPHEMY" nonsense, we quote Men at Arms at them.
"Besides, when you hit your thumb with an eight-pound hammer it's nice to be able to blaspheme. It takes a very special and strong-minded kind of atheist to jump up and down with their hand clasped under their other armpit and shout, 'Oh, random-fluctuations-in-the-space-time-continuum!' or 'Aaargh, primitive-and-out-moded-concept on a crutch!'"
Dragon Elexus 124p · 694 weeks ago
Ugh, I really don't like questions like these. I'm not a negative person. I try to filter anything I really hated out of my mind, and never think of it again.
There is, however, one book.
I think in our high school careers, we all stumble across on book we're forced to read, and dislike. That's fine. Its part of the process of being exposed to literature. Its when you've had to read that book five times, written thousands of words on the subject, analysed every page to the point where your copy was covered in scrawled notes that said dislike becomes something more concrete.
The book was called "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress". It sounds like a really interesting novel, and the type of one I would really enjoy. Its about two young men in communist China during Mao's regime getting sent out to the country side to be re-educated. But....I don't know. First time around, I didn't really like it. The writing was okay (it was translated, and I often find translations can be a bit awkward). The characters were not likeable in the least. It was one of those stories that seemed to focus more on symbolism than plot. If I'd read it once I would have put it down, and never really thought about it again.
But I kept reading. Again, and again, and again. I wrote more about the symbolism and the "trans-formative power of literature" than I ever would have liked, I it definitely got to the point where I was just making stuff up. No writer really thinks so hard about the symbolic function of every sentence. Its...ugh. For me, the study of it was all of the flaws of a bad English system, with none of the joys.
Anyway, its been a long time since I studied it. My little sister is now going through the same course. However, they've changed the curriculum. She gets to study Lord of the Rings instead.
Tauriel_ 109p · 694 weeks ago
Alexander_G 75p · 694 weeks ago
307 days after we went voting, Belgium finally has a government! The guy who got the most votes originally was pretty much a real life version of Vernon Dursely so... that didn't work out. Now we have Prime Minister again and you will NEVER guess who it is(mostly because following Belgian politics is so boring it has been deemed torture under the Geneva Convention)
His name is Elio Di Rupo
He is an immigrant from Italy
He is gay
He wears a bowtie http://static0.demorgen.be/static/FOTO/pe/2/9/5/m...
In fact he is the first gay Prime Minister in the world! My faith in my country has been restored again. Needles to say, hate-mail has been pouring in from conservative parties from all over the world but nobody cares because bowties are and always will be cool.
stefb4 131p · 694 weeks ago
stefb4 131p · 694 weeks ago
Dragon Elexus 124p · 694 weeks ago
Well....this is going to be embarrassing. XD
I said yesterday that I don't hate a lot of books. Neither do my opinions on things dramatically change for the worse over time. I may become more critical of what I read, point out its flaws, or simply become bored by something, but I don't tend to suddenly hate it. Not so with Twilight.
....yeah, see what I mean by 'embarrassing'.
I don't know. The first time I read it I really was desperate for a new fandom. Its very easy to get taken up in a story for me, even one as...odd as Twilight. I say odd because usually I dislike romance driven stories, or are immensley bored by the. But it had it had vampires, and it did have a retelling, which I've always liked. Don't kill me, but I still think the sparkling is an interesting re imagining, if a slightly silly one which is now apparent to just let them walk around in light
I don't know. I never felt completely comfortable with the books. Bella always struck me as whiny, and I got thoroughly exhausted at that part in New Moon. I got tired of the love triangle. But it was only when I started reading the articles on the similarities to abusive relationships and stalking that I realised....yeah, that's fucked up., And I definitely don't want kids, or anyone, thinking that's the basis of a healthy relationship.
Medli 141p · 694 weeks ago
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Dragon Elexus 124p · 694 weeks ago
Darn, another tough one.
We've already gone over my favourite series, so by default, it makes sense that they would be some of my favourites. However, I don't really feel like J. K. Rowling can qualify, because as much as I love Harry Potter, its the only stuff I've read by her. I hope at some point to she writes something else, just so I can experience her work in another setting.
Terry Pratchett is great. He shows amazing diversity within Discwold and other novels as well. On the topic of comedy, Douglas Adams was pretty amazing as well. (If anyone ever picks up a copy of Last Chance to See, that's a wonderful mix of Hitchhiker's humour, with real world education).
In terms of drama, I also quite like Tamora Peirce, a fantasy writer who I've mentioned before, and Jodi Picoult. I will say that Picoult can have somewhat similar protagonists, and falls into certain tropes repeatedly, but she's a great writer who really packs a punch.
Medli 141p · 693 weeks ago
Dragon Elexus 124p · 693 weeks ago
Okay...let's do this:
Discworld: Not completely sure, as I've said before. Probably either Mort or Men At Arms; two really hilarious books.
Tamora Peirce: Once again, I'm not really sure, because there's just so much of her stuff. I might go for one of the Trickster books, because they're all about politics and espianoge, although I really quite like Terrier. Crime novels are good fun.
For Jodi Picoult, it would be without a doubt My Sister's Keeper. Its her most famous novel, and there's a reason for that. Its a really fascinating look into the ethics of genetics, medicine, and freedom of choice, and the effect a terminal illness can have on a family. I would also suggest 'Second Glance', which seems to be one of her less well known novels. It looks into America's history with the eugenics movement, and is another great morality investigation, coupled with an interesting story.
Also: on an unrelated note, who here saw that trailer for the Doctor Who video game that's coming out?