Xenon's Seventh Circle

Friendly Neighbourhood Spiderman

2020-12-14T22:58:01Z

I'm years behind everybody else again, but I got pointed at this video, and it's brilliant. And I may have watched it about three times in a row. See, this is one of the reasons why Tom Holland is the best Spiderman ever (sorry, Nicholas Hammond).

Trust me, this will make you happy. Actually that sounds like a threat. Sorry. But still.

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bounce

2020-12-10T22:30:22Z

Look at this - three posts in less than a week. It must be some kind of record! But I saw a picture on Twitter which is true excitement in .jpg form, and now I have to bother everybody else with it. How have I never seen this until now?!

Robin Of Sherwood and Return To Treasure Island were made by the same people at the same time. So far, so common knowledge. But at some point, this happened: ( ... )

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It is the internet, therefore cats

2020-12-07T22:22:15Z

I thought I'd buy the cats a radiator bed, as I hoped that they'd enjoy it. Being cats, though, I fully expected them to ignore it completely. It arrived, I hung it on a radiator. Two seconds later, almost literally...

( ... )

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Books, largely

2020-12-05T14:39:16Z

Yes, I know. Apart from a fleeting visit with Daleks (Daleks and Jack! On New Year's Day!), I haven't posted anything in about nineteen years. So I thought I'd talk about books.

I usually read non-fic, so I don't post about reading much. I've read a lot of palaeontology and history this year, but I also got back into fiction a bit. Susanna Clarke, who wrote Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, put out a new book, called Piranesi, which is about a bloke in a cave. Sort of. You'll just have to read it.

Then I read a book called Across The Bright Sea, by Lauren Volk, which is supposedly a children's book, but yeah. Whatever. It's about a little girl who was a foundling, raised by an outsider on a tiny island, and it's fab. Shades of the equally wonderful Rooftoppers, by Katherine Rundell, which is also a book about a young girl who was a foundling raised by an oddball. And is also wonderful. Shortish reads, since they're (supposedly) for kids, and both great. Rooftoppers came out years ago, and how it hasn't been adapted for the screen yet, I have no idea.

And then I read A Deadly Education, by Naomi Novik. She wrote the Temeraire series, about dragons fighting the Napoleonic Wars, which gave the world Izkierka the pirate dragon, and her slightly unwilling human, John Granby (and yes, Temeraire too, but he's less interesting). Now she's writing a new series, set in a psychopathic school for wizards. If it doesn't eat you first, you graduate. Very promising first installment.

After that was A Declaration On The Rights Of Magicians, by HG Parry, which is a heavily researched alternate history, in which Pitt and Wilberforce fight demons. Blinking giant doorstop of a book, but fun, and full of real history, as well as monsters and stuff. There's a sequel due out soon. HG Parry is quite new, and has only written one other book so far, which I've bought but not yet read. It's called The Unlikely Escape Of Uriah Heep, and sounds buckets of fun:

For his entire life, Charley Sutherland has concealed a magical ability he can't quite control: he can bring characters from books into the real world. His older brother, Rob - a young lawyer with an utterly normal life - hopes that this strange family secret will disappear with disuse, and he will be discharged from his duty of protecting Charley and the real world from each other.

But then, literary characters start causing trouble in their city, making threats about destroying the world, and for once, it isn't Charley's doing. There's someone else out there who shares his powers and it's up to Charley and a reluctant Rob to stop them - before anyone gets to The End.

Back to non-fic at the moment though - Wonderful Life, by Stephen Jay Gould, on the Burgess Shale, and a book called Survivors, by Richard Fortey, which is about natural history. Fortey's fab. A great writer, and also one of the world's leading experts on trilobites, so you can immediately see that he's a good bloke. Uriah Heep will probably come next.

So there you have it. I also watched the Robert Downey Jr film Dolittle, which is very, very silly, and a lot of fun. I don't think I've watched anything else in aeons though.

If you're feeling friendly, say hello to seal_girl, by the way. She's trying this place out for size. Has been known to write wonderfully arcane crossovers (Ironside meets the Doctor!), so should fit in perfectly with some of you lot...

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W00t!

2020-11-29T19:52:05Z

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Flowers again

2020-10-11T20:37:23Z

A couple of years ago, I found a soupy concoction in a bag in the garage, which turned out to have once been dahlia bulbs. Tesco Finest, apparently, though it didn't look particularly fine. The bag had been in a box, in a cupboard, which is hardly ideal growing conditions. All the same, one bulb had prevailed, albeit producing the most anaemic shoot what ever shooted. So I planted it, and it struggled for a while, but it managed to flower, and very nice it was too.

Took a picture of it today, at the end of its third summer. It's still doing nicely, though it's bloody cold tonight, so I don't know how much longer it will keep going this year. Hopefully it will see out the month.

( The Little Dahlia That Could )

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Rain and grey and grey and rain

2020-10-06T20:57:16Z

It is very wet and grey. I can't get anything done outside, and everything is squelchy, and starting to get cold, so here are some pictures of a few flowers from the summer.

( ... )

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New music

2020-09-29T18:32:17Z

There's a chance 2020 might be taking a turn for the better, with Bruce Springsteen and the Struts both putting new records out. The new Struts song, Strange Days, is as bouncy and energetic as their stuff generally is, and Springsteen's new one is lively too, though not without reflection. There seems to be a subtext about ageing in this new album, and the bits of film that accompany this new song, Ghosts, and last week's new one, Letter To You, show a band who have grown old together, and are comfortable with that. I like it.

Possible antidote to 2020 beneath the cut. ( Snip. )

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Devilish

2020-09-19T19:54:25Z

I have run out of Lucifer. Again. This keeps happening. Even worse, they had to take a shooting break due to Covid, so now there's a looooong break until the rest of season five. No fair, 2020.

But! All is not lost, because I have this: ( Click for picture )

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Music meme

2020-09-12T01:49:51Z

Nicked from a couple of you:

A Place: Thunder Road, Bruce Springsteen
A Food: Strawberry Fields Forever, The Beatles
A Drink: Milk & Alcohol, Dr Feelgood
An Animal: Cry Wolf, a-ha
A Number: 2-4-6-8 Motorway, Tom Robinson
A Colour: Behind Blue Eyes, The Who
A Boy's Name: Flash!, Queen
A Girl's Name: Maria, Blondie
A Profession: I Am A Drummer (In A Rock & Roll Band), Roger Taylor
A Vehicle: I'm In Love With My Car, Queen

And because I'm bored, here it all is just with Queen songs:

A Place: In The Lap Of The Gods
A Food: Brighton Rock
A Drink: Seven Seas Of Rhye
An Animal: Ogre Battle
A Number: In Only Seven Days
A Colour: My Melancholy Blues
A Boy's Name: Ming's Theme
A Girls's Name: Lily Of The Valley
A Profession: Hitman
A Vehicle: In The Space Capsule

And Bruce Springsteen ones:

A Place: Where The Bands Are
A Food: Candy's Room
A Drink: Sherry Darling
An Animal: Kitty's Back
A Number: American Skin (41 Shots)
A Colour: Little White Lies
A Boy's Name: Adam Raised A Cain
A Girls's Name: Mary's Place
A Profession: Murder Incorporated
A Vehicle: Stolen Car

Just be grateful I got bored again before I got around to Dean Martin and a-ha. :)

ETA: I notice the second two both have organised crime as the profession. A slightly unfortunate coincidence!

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Picture Meme, Day Ten

2020-07-25T19:14:04Z

I keep forgetting to do this! Fortunately this is the last one. Ten pictures of favourite fictional characters, with minimal explanation.

Kristin Bauer van Straten as Pam.

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swordznsorcery @ 2020-07-23T22:08:00

2020-07-23T21:09:38Z

When I grow up, I think I want to be Randy Rainbow.

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Picture Meme, Day Nine

2020-07-16T20:05:06Z

Ten pictures of favourite fictional characters, with minimal explanation.

Paterson Joseph as the Marquis de Carabas.

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Picture Meme, Day Eight

2020-07-11T21:14:32Z

Ten pictures of favourite fictional characters, with minimal explanation.

Robert Fuller as Jess Harper.

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Sing-along time

2020-07-07T01:36:27Z

Just because.

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Picture Meme, Day Seven

2020-07-05T00:51:00Z

Ten pictures of favourite fictional characters, with minimal explanation.

Letitia Wright as Shuri.

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Picture Meme, Day Six

2020-06-28T20:41:07Z

Ten pictures of favourite fictional characters, with minimal explanation.

Lyndie Greenwood as Jenny Mills.

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Picture Meme, Day Five

2020-06-25T21:25:50Z

Ten pictures of favourite fictional characters, with minimal explanation.

Henry Darrow as Manolito.

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Picture Meme, Day Four

2020-06-24T01:54:48Z

Ten pictures of favourite fictional characters, with minimal explanation.

Maze! (Lesley-Ann Brandt)

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Picture Meme, Day Three

2020-06-22T23:47:16Z

Ten pictures of favourite fictional characters, with minimal explanation.

Don Galloway as Ed Brown.

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Picture Meme, Day Two

2020-06-19T19:58:55Z

Ten pictures of favourite fictional characters, with minimal explanation.

Number Two.

Anthony Mackie as the Falcon (MCU).

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Picture Meme, Day One

2020-06-17T21:03:35Z

Another meme, again nicked from dimity_blue. Ten pictures of favourite fictional characters, with minimal explanation.

Number one. Always, number one.

Michael Landon as Joe Cartwright.

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Book cover meme: Day 10

2020-05-28T20:33:10Z

Day Ten, and we're back to fiction. This is The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss, a great fun adventure that I would recommend wholeheartedly, except I'm pretty sure that you've all read it. It's the first of three, and I think it's by far the best of the trilogy, though the whole set is entertaining. I've long thought it would make a great BBC serial, and now that Mark Gattis is too old to cast himself as the lead, the time is surely ripe for an adaptation! Come on, Beeb. As soon as your actors are allowed to be in the same room as each other, anyway...

( ... )

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Book cover meme: Day 9

2020-05-24T20:29:58Z

A favourite for Day Nine. This is The Dinosaur Hunters by Deborah Cadbury, the story of the early days of palaeontology, and the characters (and they were characters!) who first realised what dinosaurs really were (and marine reptiles, as Mary Anning is covered to some degree). It's a great tale, and it's really well written, which ought to make it appeal to fans of general history, as well as of palaeontology. I challenge anybody not to grow fond of Gideon Mantell, the doctor with a sideline in dinosaur bones, or William Buckland, the church minister struggling to reconcile his beloved religion with the evidence of his own eyes. There's even a hissable villain in Richard Owen, passionate enemy of evolution, who spearheaded the opening of the Natural History Museum, but tried to destroy Gideon Mantell, and tried to twist the truth to match his decidedly non-scientific beliefs. Good stuff.

( ... )

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Book cover meme: Day 8

2020-05-23T18:36:04Z

Day Eight is a great book - although, it has to be said, another not-especially-great cover. (It does have a picture of a trilobite, though, which is always appreciated.) This is Richard Fortey's Life: An Unauthorised Biography, about the history of life on Earth. Fortey is a professor at the National History Musuem, so he knows his stuff. He's also a really good writer, and his books are always worth a go. This is my favourite of his, and probably the least niche. Very enjoyable.

( ... )

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