Month: August 2018

Monthly Mixtape – August 2018

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6 songs for the 8th month.

Mitski :: “Nobody”

BC Unidos :: “1,2,3, in French”

The Beths :: “Future Me Hates Me”

Jealous of the Birds :: “Plastic Skeletons”

Ali Barter :: “Girlie Bits”

Chancha Via Circuito :: “Algeria”

Previous Mixtapes::

Comics Review: Prisoners of Time by Scott Tipton and David Tipton

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Author: Scott Tipton and David Tipton
Title: Prisoners of Time
Publication Info: London : Titan Comics, January 2016.
Artist: Simon Fraser
Colourist: Gary Caldwell
Letterer:  Tom B. Long
Summary/Review:

The 50th anniversary comic tells one story for each Doctor, One through Eleventh, with the inevitable team-up in the last issue.  The stories are generally good, albeit short and easily resolved leading up to the conclusion of each story where a mysterious figure kidnaps the Doctor’s companions.  It’s eventually revealed to be Adam of The Long Game from the Ninth Doctor’s season, which is a bit underwhelming. Still, I like how the artistic style is a bit different for each Doctor, and how they pay tribute to the history of Doctor Who comics through the appearance of Frobisher, who appeared first in comics, and the essays at the end of each issue.  It’s nothing spectacular but it checks off each box of what an anniversary, crossover comic should do.

Rating: ***

Book Reviews: The Last Jedi by Jason Fry

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Author: Jason Fry
Title: The Last Jedi
Publication Info: New York : Del Rey, [2018]
Adapted from: The Last Jedi
Summary/Review:

I’ve always enjoyed reading the novelizations of Star Wars movies.  Even the prequel trilogy is vastly better in book form.  I was especially excited to read this one because Jason Fry is someone I sort of know online because he’s also a Mets’ blogger.

Fry adapts Rian Johnson’s script (including scenes cut from the final film) and adds his own creativity to interpret the most complex and complicated of Star Wars stories. The great thing about a novelization is that the reader can get inside the character’s minds to explore the thoughts, feelings, and memories not expressed on the screen.  Fry is particularly good at detailing the thoughts of non-organic minds, whether it be Poe’s high maintenance X-Wing demanding repairs from BB-8 or C-3P0 reluctantly refraining from informing the Resitance that a group of crystal foxes should really be called “a skulk of vulpices.”

The humor in the book is great and balances well with the action scenes and moments of deep emotion. It would take a stronger person than I to not shed a tear when Leia and Chewbacca embrace as they remember the one’s they’ve lost: Han, Luke, and even Ben Solo .  This book will be a delight to diehard Star Wars fans and those who more casually just enjoy the movies.  And for the vocal group of people who actively disliked The Last Jedi, I think it’s even more important that they read this book as Fry makes the central themes of the movie all the more clear and ties them in to the unifying message of Star Wars dating back to 1977.

Favorite Passages:

“Let him think she’d given up — he’d soon discover otherwise.  Jakku had trained her to do two things better than anyone else could.

The first was to salvage broken things.

The second was to wait.” -.p. 70

“Poe was struck, and not for the first time, by how small Leia was – a petite, delicate-looking woman, seemingly at risk of being swallowed up by the bedding and the gurney around her.  It was an impression that many people had on meeting her — and that vanished the moment she engaged with them.  Her determination, her ferocity, her sheer force of will belied her size and made visitors remember her as far bigger than she was.” – p. 155

Rating: ****

Other Star Wars Books I’ve Read:

  • Star Wars by “George Lucas” – actually Alan Dean Foster (1976)
  • The Empire Strikes Back by Donald F. Glut (1980)
  • Return of the Jedi by James Kahn (1983)
  • Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn (1991)
  • Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn (1992)
  • The Last Command by Timothy Zahn (1993)
  • Specter of the Past by Timothy Zahn (1997)
  • Vision of the Future by Timothy Zahn (1998)
  • The Phantom Menace by Terry Brooks (1999)
  • Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Woodring Stover (2005)
  • Star Wars: Before the Awakening by Greg Rucka (2015)
  • The Princess, The Scoundrel, and The Farm Boy by Alexandra Bracken (2015)

VOTE on September 4th! Massachusetts Primary Elections

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If you live in Massachusetts, you have a Primary Election one week from today on September 4, 2018.  Yes, that’s the day after Labor Day!  As general elections in Massachusetts are often uncontested or with minimal opposition to the incumbent, the primary election is YOUR opportunity to have YOUR voice heard.  This year there is an opportunity to vote for several progressive candidates to shake up the complacent Democratic Party establishment.  Despite a clear majority in the Commonwealth’s legislature, Democrats have been hesitant to challenge Republican governor Charlie Baker, and failed to pass popular legislation such as the Safe Communities Act to protect immigrants’ rights or reform the FBRC school funding formula.

If you are a registered member of the Democratic, Libertarian, or Republican parties, you may vote on your party’s ballot on the primary election day.  If you’re an independent – or, “Unenrolled” in official parlance – you may select the ballot of any ONE party to vote on.

Use this tool to find your ballot and where to vote: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVoteMA/bal/MyElectionInfo.aspx

You can also find a list of candidates for state primaries in Boston here: https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/2018_-_09-04-18_-_state_primary_candidates_all_parties.pdf

I am an independent and will be voting on the Democratic Party ballot. Here is who I will be voting for:

(NOTE: I’ve not included endorsements for Governor’s Council, Clerk of Supreme Judicial Court, Clerk of Superior Court (Civil Business), and Clerk of Superior Court (Criminal Business) because I have not been able to find enough information about the candidates)

Candidates who are not in my district, but have my support, include:

  • REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS (EIGHTH DISTRICT): Brianna Wu
  • REPRESENTATIVE IN GENERAL COURT (NINTH SUFFOLK DISTRICT): Jon Santiago
  • REPRESENTATIVE IN GENERAL COURT (FIFTEENTH SUFFOLK DISTRICT): Nika Elugardo

Comics Review: Doctor Who: The Lost Dimension 

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Author: George Mann, Carl Scott, and Nick Abadzis
Title: Doctor Who: The Lost Dimension Vol.1
Publication Info: London : Titan Comics, 2018.
Illustrator: Rachael Stott
Colourist: Rod Fernandes
Letterer: Richard Starkings, Jimmy Betancourt
Summary/Review:

Another multi-Doctor story.  Unlike The Four Doctors, this one does a good job of having each Doctor’s story have a stand-alone aspect while adding to the overall story arc.  It also gives a good amount of time and agency to the supporting characters, the many companions and the Doctor’s Daughter, Jenny.  It also cleverly spins some history of  Galliferey and TARDISes without being overly fan-wankery.

Rating: ****

Author: Gordon Rennie
Title: Doctor Who: The Lost Dimension Vol.2
Illustrator: Ivan Rodriguez
Colourist: Thiago Ribeiro
Publication Info: London : Titan Comics, 2018.
Summary/Review:

The second part is not as strong as the predecessor.  Once the Doctors get together the writing lazily relies on Doctors bickering with themselves and being brilliant together.  The conclusion is also highly derivative of The Day of the Doctor.  Still a fun romp though

Rating: ***

Archives*Records 2018: My Notes

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Here is an outline with links of the sessions I attended at COSA, NAGARA, SAA joint meeting Archives*Records 2018 in Washington, DC.  This is mostly for my reference but available for others if they find it useful.

August 14th

Archive-It Partner Meeting (blog, presentations)

 

August 16th

August 17th

August 18th

Podcasts of the Week Ending August 25th

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BackStory :: In the Shadow of the Mushroom Cloud

Stories of the United States and nuclear weapons, including the hotel with the secret bunker for Congress, nuclear bomb testing and the birth of the Las Vegas tourist industry, and women in the Manhattan Project.

To The Best of Our Knowledge :: Being Sincere in the Cynical World

Different stories of maintaining sincerity among the world’s cynicism.

HUB History :: Amelia  Earhart in Boston

Before Amelia Earhart become a famed, groundbreaking aviator, she was a social worker in a Boston settlement house.

Radiolab :: Post No Evil

The evolving document that guides what is allowed and what is forbidden on Facebook.

Start Making Sense :: Democrats: Centrism is Not the Answer!

Book Review: My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand

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Author: Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
Title: My Lady Jane
Narrator: Katherine Kellgren
Publication Info: HarperAudio (2016)
Summary/Review:

This work of historical fiction flat-out revels in the fact that it is completely made up.  This version of the story of Lady Jane Grey, a.k.a. the Nine Day Queen, has the boy King Edward being manipulated and slowly poisoned by his adviser Lord Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. Edward designates his favorite cousin Jane to be his heir and has her married to Dudley’s son Guildford.

So far, similar to reality, but sillier.  In this alternate history, some people are Effians, that is having the ability to change into an animal.  Swiftly, Jane inherits the throne when Edward is declared dead, and then she and Guildford are forced to flee when Mary in turn claims the throne.  Jane, Guildford, and Edward (spoiler: he’s not dead) all have adventures, discover new powers, and meet interesting people along the way to a happier ending than reality.  The book is riotously funny both in the dialogue and the authors asides.  The audio book is excellently performed by Katherine Kellgren.

Recommended books: The Princess Bride by William Goldman, The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain and The Sword in the Stone by T. H. White
Rating: ****

Comics Review: Doctor Who: Four Doctors by Paul Cornell

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Author:  Paul Cornell
Title: Doctor Who: Four Doctors
Artists: Neil Edwards
Colorist: Ivan Nunes
Letterer: Richard Starkings, Jimmy Betancourt
Publication Info: London : Titan Comics, 2016.
Summary/Review:

Paul Cornell is a legendary writer of Doctor Who books and television scripts for the new series, so I had high hopes for this comics’ outing.  It brings together the Tenth Doctor with his companion Gabby Gonzalez, the Eleventh Doctor and Alice Obiefune, and the Twelfth Doctor with Clara Oswald (whom the Eleventh Doctor does not yet know).  I’ve never seen Gabby or Alice before, and although they seem interesting, they don’t get to do much beyond generic companion stuff.  Clara is running the show as she initiates the story by trying to tell Gabby and Alice that a photo of the three Doctors on Marinus must not be allowed to become a reality.  Which of course it does.  And with all of space and time on the line, the three Doctors have to figure out how to stop the Voord and an alternate version of themselves.  It’s a complicated timey-wimey story with some good fantastical bits, but it seems a bit rushed and undercooked to me.

Rating: ***

Photopost: Nationals Park

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Last week, I posted photos from my business trip to Washington, D.C. with the intention of posting more.  But as the remainder of my trip was largely in conference rooms, the bulk of my remaining photographs are from Nationals Park, so I’m going to focus this post there.

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I took in the Washington Nationals’ game against the Miami Marlins on Friday, August 16th.  This was my first visit to Nationals Park, having seen the Nats play in their previous home at RFK Stadium in 2005, and the Montreal Expos at Stade Olympique in 1999.  This is the 12th current Major League ballpark I’ve been to, in addition to 6 former ballparks (see my updated rankings at the end of this post).

The ballpark is well-located within the city.  I was able to ride to the game on a bikeshare bike and dock near the entrance, and the Navy Yard Metro station was a short walk away after the game.  There’s not much to do in the immediate area of Nationals Park but with at least a dozen cranes in the sky, I expect that will be different in the near future.  The design of the ballpark is pleasant if generic Retro-Classic with good sightlines of the field from every part of the ballpark I visited.  There are also nice views of the Anacostia River from the ramps, and glimpses of the U.S. Capitol dome from the upper deck.  Oddly, the stone wall design behind home plate that is so prominent when watching a game on tv is not repeated anywhere else in the stadium.

The atmosphere was good with the Nationals’ fans engaged in the game, and almost all of them wearing the Hawaiian shirts given out at the gate.  I particularly enjoyed the “N-A-T-S, Nats! Nats! Nats!” cheer after each Nationals’ run scored.  Talented organist Matthew Van Hoose played a number of Aretha Franklin tunes since the legendary soul singer had died a day earlier.  The famous Presidents Race was fun, but brief.  Most puzzling is that the Nationals have a bullpen cart (a gimmick from the 70s that should’ve stayed dead), but none of the Nationals’ relievers actually used it.  So the cart would just circle the field as the relievers walked to the mound.  Oh, and the Nats’ fans really, really hate their relief pitchers, like Boston-level nastiness.

It was a fun night, and I’ll be happy to go back to Nationals Park.

Current ballpark rankings.

  1. Wrigley Field
  2. Fenway Park
  3. AT&T Park
  4. Oriole Park at Camden Yards
  5. Petco Park
  6. Citi Field
  7. Nationals Park
  8. Miller Field
  9. Dodger Stadium
  10. Citizens Bank Park
  11. Guaranteed Rate Field
  12. Yankee Stadium III

Former ballpark rankings

  1. Tigers Stadium
  2. Shea Stadium
  3. Yankees Stadium II
  4. RFK Stadium
  5. Stade Olympique
  6. Veterans Stadium