Games and Quizzes
Oct. 4th, 2012 08:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
captainsblogI probably should've mentioned that I finally knocked off the audiobook of Hunger Games. It reminded me of a running joke from the 70s about teenagers doing the "Rate-a-Record" segment on American Bandstand- anything, from Beatles to Hendrix all the way down to Gilbert O'Sullivan and the Bay City Rollers, would get the same nondescript reaction: It's got a beat, you can dance to it, I give it a 78.
In other words, or rather word: meh.
Once the basic concept got laid out in the first few chapters, there were just enough twists to keep it from being utterly from District Predictable. Probably the scariest, and most realistic, aspect of the dystopia was how the Capital essentially adopted the model of early 21st-century reality television as their basis for societal control. When you consider that more votes will likely be cast for the finalist of American Idol than for the President of Pre-Panem, you can't argue with that kind of success.
The character development? I'd give it a training score of maybe a 7.8, oddly enough- certainly nothing in the leagues of Rowling or Pratchett or Gaiman (oh my!), but certainly far above the Twilight's last sucking. In time, I'll likely try the sequels, but I'm not in any panting rush to do so. Unless I can score an audiobook of the second installment to keep me company on my 16 hours of driving Saturday and Sunday.
Meanwhile, I downloaded the Rifftrax of the film version, but haven't gotten to it yet and likely won't until the next time Emily comes home with the actual film. Which, from the sound of her busy life, isn't going to be any time soon. If I wind up with a dead evening on Long Island on Saturday, I may Redbox the thing down there and let Mike and the bots entertain me far more than a trip to the Roosevelt Field Mawl ever would.
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Also on my list is trying out the other Games of recent note: the first disk of Game of Thrones has passed on through, and while I'm sure it's not Eleanor's cuppa (and it may not be mine, either), I do want to at least give it a shot. I heard GRRM as the guest star on Wait Wait a few weeks back, and he sounds like an interesting guy. He explained various in-things, among them, "sexposition" (the notion that HBO will let you insert all the backstory you want for as long as you want, provided the characters are naked when you're doing it), and a bet between himself and a Dallas Cowboys fan that led to the creation (and brutal killing, at the fellow bettor's request) of a character named after his Cowboy fan friend.
There was also a bit about how he came up with the idea for the series in the first place, prominently featuring turtles not having sex, which you really have to read for yourself to believe.
I'll probably take that disk with me, too, so I'll have a choice of Games; the Mets' season is, blessedly, over, and there ain't going to be any Islander games at the Coliseum any time soon:P
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Finally, we're three episodes into this year's series of QI, and Alan Davies is on a roll:) Among the things we learned about this past week: John O'Groats is not the northernmost place in Britain; Napoleon never did advise Josephine "don't wash" when he came home from the front; and, weirdest of all on my way to my niece's and friends' half-marathon, the tale of an African ultramarathon which is so tough, your entry fee includes the cost of your burial in case you don't make it.
This series so far is rather gimmick-free. No "Nobody Knows" segments! I don't think they're doing General Ignorance anymore! And Alan's sudden streak seems right up there in terms of improbability with the Washington Nationals finally Letting Teddy Win!:
I'm figuring Obama's seeming "loss" last night was just as contrived, and that he'll be back in the running before the third and final debate is done:)
In other words, or rather word: meh.
Once the basic concept got laid out in the first few chapters, there were just enough twists to keep it from being utterly from District Predictable. Probably the scariest, and most realistic, aspect of the dystopia was how the Capital essentially adopted the model of early 21st-century reality television as their basis for societal control. When you consider that more votes will likely be cast for the finalist of American Idol than for the President of Pre-Panem, you can't argue with that kind of success.
The character development? I'd give it a training score of maybe a 7.8, oddly enough- certainly nothing in the leagues of Rowling or Pratchett or Gaiman (oh my!), but certainly far above the Twilight's last sucking. In time, I'll likely try the sequels, but I'm not in any panting rush to do so. Unless I can score an audiobook of the second installment to keep me company on my 16 hours of driving Saturday and Sunday.
Meanwhile, I downloaded the Rifftrax of the film version, but haven't gotten to it yet and likely won't until the next time Emily comes home with the actual film. Which, from the sound of her busy life, isn't going to be any time soon. If I wind up with a dead evening on Long Island on Saturday, I may Redbox the thing down there and let Mike and the bots entertain me far more than a trip to the Roosevelt Field Mawl ever would.
----
Also on my list is trying out the other Games of recent note: the first disk of Game of Thrones has passed on through, and while I'm sure it's not Eleanor's cuppa (and it may not be mine, either), I do want to at least give it a shot. I heard GRRM as the guest star on Wait Wait a few weeks back, and he sounds like an interesting guy. He explained various in-things, among them, "sexposition" (the notion that HBO will let you insert all the backstory you want for as long as you want, provided the characters are naked when you're doing it), and a bet between himself and a Dallas Cowboys fan that led to the creation (and brutal killing, at the fellow bettor's request) of a character named after his Cowboy fan friend.
There was also a bit about how he came up with the idea for the series in the first place, prominently featuring turtles not having sex, which you really have to read for yourself to believe.
I'll probably take that disk with me, too, so I'll have a choice of Games; the Mets' season is, blessedly, over, and there ain't going to be any Islander games at the Coliseum any time soon:P
----
Finally, we're three episodes into this year's series of QI, and Alan Davies is on a roll:) Among the things we learned about this past week: John O'Groats is not the northernmost place in Britain; Napoleon never did advise Josephine "don't wash" when he came home from the front; and, weirdest of all on my way to my niece's and friends' half-marathon, the tale of an African ultramarathon which is so tough, your entry fee includes the cost of your burial in case you don't make it.
This series so far is rather gimmick-free. No "Nobody Knows" segments! I don't think they're doing General Ignorance anymore! And Alan's sudden streak seems right up there in terms of improbability with the Washington Nationals finally Letting Teddy Win!:
I'm figuring Obama's seeming "loss" last night was just as contrived, and that he'll be back in the running before the third and final debate is done:)
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Date: 2012-10-05 06:38 am (UTC)George R. R. Martin is a very interesting sod to listen to, but my god, the man is fearless with writing.
There's an icon floating around of JK Rowling saying "It's so hard to kill characters." and then a picture of him saying "You're adorable."