Whatever You Just Watched/Heard/Read - Non-Sports Edition

[cabr1729]

While I was laid off I did a complete rewatch of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, including the movies, and since then I’ve been watch a lot of Match Game from the ‘70s. I didn’t read much at first but I finally finished Cibola Burn (Expanse book) and am having trouble getting started on the next book.

I did read all of Martha Wells’ Murderbot novellas and the novel. The novel is the best space opera I’ve read in years, highly recommend the entire series. I just finished a Star Wars book, Razor’s Edge, also written by Wells and it was very good.

I was hoping to get caught up on Doctor Who while I was laid off but BritBox had started charging for series 9 and up so that was a bust.

[cabr1729]

Re-discovering Babylon 5 and SG1 on Comet. Wow the effects and earnestness of B5 doesn't really hold up well, but in a good way...? Not sure that makes sense. But I love that damn show. SG1 was always just fun. The one show in sci fi that made hitting the reset button it's main area of expertise.

But SG1 has always had the best funny episodes, and when they can mix in a bit of seriousness it’s even better.

[cabr1729]

I started reading Benjamin Jacka’s Alex Verus series. It’s superficially similar to Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, but Verus has caught my interest way more than Harry ever did. There are the usual Dark and Light mages but there are lots of shades of gray in that spectrum. Alex himself is an independent who was apprenticed to a Dark mage but ran away and somehow survived on his own. He’s a diviner who can read the paths of the future, which probably helped him survive, but he makes a living with a magic shop. He buys magic items from various people and the series starts off with a cursed girl selling him an object she thinks is magic.

I really like this series, two thumbs up!

[cabr1729]

I finally readTreasure Island. When I was a kid it was very much a boy’s book, and I don’t recall seeing the movie all the way through, though I may have just forgotten it. It turned out to be a very good book! Maybe a little more bloody than parents like these days but normal for my childhood. I’m looking forward to Stevenson’s other books.

[cabr1729]

I know a lot of people don’t care for The Big Bang Theory but it’s one of the few sitcoms that have done significant character development over the seasons. I’ve been trying to empty my TiVo in anticipation of canceling it, so I binge-watched the last season and a half. Man, by the end I was a snotty mess. They tied up so many story lines in such satisfying ways. They even got Stuart a believable and adorable girlfriend. I’m not going to say if you hated it you should go back and watch all 12 seasons, different strokes for different folks, but if you were meh at the beginning and dropped it, I recommend trying the 2nd season, there are some really good episodes in there. I ❤️ “The Barbarian Sublimation”, really superb Penny story.

[Lioness]

I just read A Shepherd's Life by James Rebank. He farms in the fells in the UK and it is a really interesting look a what it takes to be a farmer up there.