Categories
Debaser Uncategorized

Cutting Edge

The joys of losing posts.

Last night I wrote a long post about my recent frustrations with the digital edition of Edge magazine, as of the latest issue. I was even positioning it as a sort of return of The Magaziner (the site I used to run about magazine culture). But I somehow lost the post before I was able to post it, and I don’t feel like writing it again.

Oh well.

I think it may have been a sign that if I am to bring back The Magaziner, I should do it properly, with its own site, structure, etc. I’d been feeling the itch of late to bring it back, but had let the domain expire earlier this year, and when I checked recently, found that it was grabbed by someone who just wants to sell for a grand.

How grand.

Who needs domains anyway, in this day and age. It’s vanity more than anything else. And besides, I still have JeanSnow.net.

Knock on wood.

*JeanSnow.net is no longer available*

(That’s what I imagine happening any second now.)

So that’s that, The Magaziner will remain in hibernation for the time being, until I have a really good idea on what to do with it. And hey, PauseTalk isn’t dead.

Dead Collector: Bring out yer dead!
[A large man appears with a (seemingly) dead man over his shoulder]
Large Man: Here’s one.
Dead Collector: Nine pence.
“Dead” Man: I’m not dead.
Dead Collector: What?
Large Man: Nothing. [hands the collector his money] There’s your nine pence.
“Dead” Man: I’m not dead!
Dead Collector: ‘Ere, he says he’s not dead.
Large Man: Yes he is.
“Dead” Man: I’m not.
Dead Collector: He isn’t.
Large Man: Well, he will be soon, he’s very ill.
“Dead” Man: I’m getting better.
Large Man: No you’re not, you’ll be stone dead in a moment.

Hopefully I don’t need to explain where that comes from.

So yes, no big post about the incredibly horrible new digital edition of Edge (it’s basically a PDF now with a few links, and doesn’t remember your spot if you exit the app and come back), no return of The Magaziner (although if you like magazines, take note that the current issue of all Conde Nast titles on iPad are free right now, until November 30, and that includes Wired and The New Yorker), and I’ve probably rambled on enough.

Since we had our first big snow in Montreal yesterday, I’ll leave you with this image by one of my favorite illustrators, Yuko Shimizu (and you can go read this interview with her).

Categories
Debaser Uncategorized

Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection

This is one of the best things I’ve seen from Disney in forever. Such a fantastic collection of shorts, and it just made me realize how much I wish we got more things like this – not movies, not TV shows, but just shorts that allow for interesting bursts of creativity. Also, it makes me long for the days of 2D animation. Of all the shorts included here, the two weakest are the Tangled and Frozen ones, and the CG-animated shorts that do work the best are the ones that are made to look like traditional animation (like the absolutely fantastic “Paperman,” pictured above). It’s also a reminder that behind the giant conglomerate that is now Disney, there’s still an amazing tradition of animation that hasn’t completely disappeared. Can’t recommend this enough.

Categories
Debaser Uncategorized

Le secret de Khâny

As a kid, the Yoko Tsuno series of comics was one of my favorites – foreshadowing my future life in Japan perhaps – and I’ve continued to read them throughout my life. It’s been a few years since I’ve read one though, and over the weekend I read the latest book to come out, Le secret de Khâny (no. 27). It wasn’t a bad read, but I found myself feeling lost a bit trying to keep track of the larger cast of characters that have been introduced over the last few books. It also refers a lot to stuff that happened in the earlier books, which in a way is quite nice, but at the same time it made it hard to completely understand why stuff was happening. It was nice revisiting the series though, and I’m feeling the urge to read through more of the recent books.

Categories
Debaser Uncategorized

Into the Badlands

I’m finding that I almost don’t watch any shows in realtime anymore (week-to-week), and instead just prefer to watch them when they become available as a full season on Netflix. One recent exception is Ash vs Evil Dead, and then I was curious to check out the new AMC series, Into the Badlands. The pilot episode didn’t blow me away or anything, but there’s still a lot I liked, enough to make me want to watch more. Daniel Wu is fantastic as the lead, and I especially loved every fight scene he had – they all really feel like pure HK cinema. The world they inhabit – some sort of post-apocalyptic world led by 6 barons – is also quite interesting, and so far I’m digging how it feels a bit like a western. 

Categories
Debaser Uncategorized

Anthony Jeselnik: Thoughts and Prayers

Watching this Netflix stand-up special was my first taste of his comedy – I am aware of him as a comedian, but I’m not quite sure from where, possibly from the WTF podcast. I’ll say that I didn’t find this to be laugh-out-loud funny like I did John Mulaney’s special, but after a bit of a slow start, I did find myself grinning/smiling the whole way through. The dude is unbelievably non-PC, and it’s fun to see him just never let up. I also quite like the way he sets up things, always pointing towards one direction, followed by a huge swerve. Well worth watching, especially if you like dark humor.

Categories
Debaser Uncategorized

Jessica Jones

I’m now on episode 6 of this series, and I’m still not quite sure if I really like it or not. I mean, the fact that I’m still watching it must mean that I’m finding some sort of enjoyment or satisfaction out of the show, but I can’t help but feel unsatisfied throughout. The highlights for me are when we have David Tennant on the screen, as he’s deliciously creepy/scary, but that doesn’t really happen much. I’m also bored by pretty much any scene with just Jessica and Luke – what an uninteresting relationship. And just in general, I’m finding it too slow paced – feels like there was more happening in Daredevil. I haven’t given up yet, but I do hope things pick up during the second half of the season.

Categories
Debaser Uncategorized

Return of the Jedi

When the scene near the beginning in Jabba’s Palace with that extended musical performance happens, it just makes me want to cry. It’s so incredibly bad. And the lack of the Ewok song at the end is still so incredibly unsatisfying. God I hate the “special edition” changes.

Categories
Debaser Uncategorized

The Empire Strikes Back

The best thing about Empire is that of the original trilogy, it’s the one film that is the least affected by the horrible CG additions done to the “special editions.” Sure, there’s still stuff there, but at least it’s not as eye rolling as was you see in Episodes 4 and 6. And as much as I like Yoda, I still find the stuff on Dagobah to be a bit of a drag.

Categories
Debaser Uncategorized

The Pickle Index

I’ve definitely been doing a lot of reading of late – which may explain why I haven’t played as much Fallout 4 as you’d expect – and one of those reads has been The Pickle Index. It’s a project that can be taken in through 3 formats (deluxe book, paperback, or app) and although they all pretty much tell the same story, the way they present that story is quite different. I’m reading it through the app, on iPad, and on top of loving the presentation – it’s done in the form of an interface that people in the story would be using – I also really like that the story opens up over a period of 10 days, meaning you read a “chapter” (the basics, with bonus material available as well), and then have to wait one day for the next batch of story to become available. It’s a cool way to be reading something, and I quite enjoy the forced pacing.

Categories
Debaser Uncategorized

The Legacy of Luther Strode

I guess there’s been a few Luther Strode mini-series already, and this is apparently the final one, and the first one I’m reading. I’m still not quite sure what this story is all about, but I don’t care, because the reason I jumped in was because a friend of mine mentioned that Tradd Moore was doing art (he wasn’t on the other series), an artist I am absolutely in love with – I read last year’s Ghost Rider series just because of him, and then stopped when he was off the book. His art is just so amazingly dynamic, and what I’ve seen so far in the 3 issues of Legacy beats anything he’s done before. It’s crazy-ass stuff, and you’ll find yourself staring at every page, to better appreciate all the detail. Get on board from the start, and then wait for the final 3 issues to come out.