Monday 6 January 2020

Great start, zozo?

Got woefully ill around the new year, been bed-ridden for a couple of days, even had to re-book my flight down the continent. Things are a lot better today, though I should care that I don't make anything dumb. Two friends with wives came my insignificant hometown for a visit, and I missed them both because I was ill. Drat.

Loving the Kobo Libra, and because I'm odd I took a white one even though everybody else told me to pick black. I thought the white would attract less smudges and white specks of dust. Still I was worried about how much a white bezel would affect my concentration while reading (I'm a pretty bad reader tbh, very little practice...), and it turns out I don't think about it one bit when engrossed. Phew, just need to find good books. Ploughed through the first Sherlock Holmes book, I found it for tree in the Kobo store. Reminded me of how superior the Jeremy Brett version was to all others, and how much better books are overall, the emotional payoff is a lot more meaningful. Then I started with the Hobbit, and truth be told it's a little disappointing. Not sure what I expected, but here's hoping the ring series is really better. Btw I finally know what's hiding in JRR. And on top of that I have some ~20 classical books (all in the public domain!) considered among the best ever, that'll be tough and inspiring. After that I'll consider getting a library card.

Nothing new except for that. Oh right, I forgot, happy 2020! Let's see what Wikipedia has to say about the number 2020... Perfect vision, thanks for reminding me of my rubbish eyes... Hmm, seems to be an exceptionally unremarkable number mathematically, so we'll just have to make it a cool year by other means!

EDIT a little later: A certain person's 250th birthday! Completely forgot... Also, Hobbit isn't really bad, it's better fantasy than any game in the genre (Dark Souls comes close, but it's so dark :p ), and I knew it's supposed to be suitable for children, but constant flashbacks to the films are really annoying. Shouldn't fault the book for that. Let's see, over half-way through!

EDIT even later: Coco started well, Pixar is pretty good with that. Then they have their usual slightly sugary first act which is always annoying, and the plot was not too hard to disentangle (although I never do that, it was just too clear this time). Then the film became really great for the second half. Best Pixar film in a long while. Could be due to some sentimental values from the great Grim Fandango... Still, personally I feel that the surreal emotional world in the best Japanese animated films is in a higher league, I'm still trying to figure out what it is. It's somehow akin to books, whereas Western media slams the emotion buttons at the right times. In any case, it's nice to feel.