orangerful: (one girl // orangerful)
This Thanksgiving, you can really have your friends and family for dinner with this cookbook. #hannibal #fannibal #bookface


btw this is the new Feeding Hannibal cookbook! The library purchased it (I swear, I don't think I requested it!)! It is GORGEOUS! Glossy pages, full color photos from the show AND of the food. I want it for my collection even though I am pretty sure I am not a high enough level cook to attempt half of the things in the book. But it is SO SHINY!

I've been trying to get back to normal, though it is hard to do with all the headlines swirling around. But, gotta move forward, right? Can't sit and cry about how it is all unfair (it is) and we have to overthrow the Electoral College (we can't, they have submitted changes to Congress 700 times and it has never been approved). So, instead, I'm just gonna hunker down and prepare to be there for those in need and fight for things I believe in.

I've also been playing A LOT of Stardew Valley because that is a perfect little world where I go out and farm and live with my wife Leah and milk the goats and sometimes fight and/or grow slimes of my own. Farms Sims are oddly calming.

Pumpkin donut time! (I am a sucker for a BOGO Free deal at the grocery store when it concerns baked goods of any king so we now how donuts and bagels).

And I'm just realizing I forgot my cream cheese at work. DAMMIT!
orangerful: (doctor who too normal // orangerful)
I finished watching Hannibal Season 3 with commentary. Now I just have to hope that we get a season 4 someday. I mean, Community got their #sixseasons, is four too much to ask??

In the commentary, Bryan Fuller talks about how Siouxsie Sioux wrote Love Crime specifically for the finale. So I had music on the brain when I went to bed...

...little did I know this would lead me to dreaming about HANNIBAL: THE MUSICAL! Starring me as Will Graham. And...

...wait for it...

I sang Anything For You to Hannibal at the end.

Yes, thank you. I am insane.

In other, non-Fannibal news, we started watching Stranger Things on Netflix. We're only two episodes in but I am enjoying it. It's like someone put all your favorite 80's movies into a blender. And I'm kinda fine with that - I think I prefer it to the reboot. There are SO MANY homages. So far I've seen 'Jaws', 'E.T.' (SO MANY E.T.), 'Poltergeist' -- plus the classic trope of the "broken home", the mother trying to get by without the father.

We also discovered Better Off Ted and we've almost binge watched the whole thing. We actually started watching Stranger Things to slow us down because we realized we have less than 10 episodes left of Ted. Another brilliant show totally advertised WRONG. So sad I missed it the first time around.

I finished my audiobook so I got to listen to music on my way to work today. My iPod was behaving very well, shuffling lots of good sing-along songs for me. Here's a sample for you - happy listening!

Guster - Satellite

MIKA - Emily

Travis - Writing to Reach You

Whitlams - Fondness Makes the Heart Grow Absent
orangerful: (hannibal // rhoda_rants)
Couldn't resist opening my present from Andy today (he texted me when he opened mine) and it was pretty much the perfect combo gift:

Best gift combo ever?  #hannibal @nbchannibal thank you @awolverton !!!


I laughed so much. A meat thermometer and a tv show about a cannibal.

I needed/wanted both of these things, but getting them in the same gift just added a whole new level.
orangerful: (:O  // orangerful)


I. CAN'T. EVEN.

will try to form coherent sentences tomorrow...maybe.

just to make it that much worse, I promised my friend I would wait to watch the series finale with him but now he is busy next weekend so I have to wait TWO WEEKS AAAAAAAAH!
orangerful: (hannibal // rhoda_rants)
Hannibal Season 3 is a prime example of how much better a television or movie series based on books can be if all of the source material is out in advance. Watching this season, as the writers fold in the 31-year old story of Red Dragon and knead it into their current narrative, into our current world...mmm mmm mmm, I know it is still baking but it smells delicious!

Going to ramble a bit about the show vs the book so spoilers here and there.


I just read Red Dragon a few months ago and I thought it had stood up pretty well, but, of course, Will and Hannibal's relationship is nothing like the show. When Harris wrote the novel, he had no idea what Hannibal would become. Bryan Fuller ans his team managed to craft a prequel to the story over the past two years, lifting elements from other books in the series and they have made the characters and story richer for it. The connection between Hannibal and Will is even stronger, even creepier.

With the addition of Alana Bloom and her relationship with these two men, the story gets an extra layer. Watching her "wag her finger" at Hannibal in last night's episode made me worried about where her path would ultimately lead. She knows Hannibal will kill her. I feel like she is resigned to that fate, but she will do everything in her power to keep him locked up for as long as she can. I'm concerned she won't survive this season, that maybe instead of sending the Red Dragon after Will, Hannibal will send him after Alana and her new family. Though I suppose that wouldn't really count as him killing her, which was his promise. He is very particular about language and meaning, that Hannibal.

The scene between Will and Hannibal was so fantastic. The language was magnificent, as Hannibal proclaimed that he had created a family for Will already and how betrayed he felt, not because Will took the stand against him in court (though his comment about the cologne shows it did bother him a little), but that Will has moved on and created a strong bond with another person, a person who makes him better, not worse. Hannibal doesn't like it.

And, of course, Jack and Hannibal. Trying to play each other. Was Hannibal really surprised that Jack read his note? He must have known that would happen and as soon as Will revealed that he had read it, Hannibal knew Jack had too, that he had manipulated Will and also Hannibal. Or had Hannibal manipulated Jack? I think they are believe they are playing each other and are aware that the other is playing them.

I love how Hannibal's cell shifts between reality and the mind palace he has created for himself. That one moment Will is beyond the glass and the next they are in Hannibal's office. And the flashbacks to Hannibal's secret life with Abigail...his comment to Will about the "ready made family" with Molly, how her already having a son meant that he didn't have to worry about passing on the traits he didn't like about himself...and then telling Will that he gave him a daughter once. But for Hannibal, Abigail was the daughter with the traits he wanted, someone willing to hunt with him and for him. Something a biological child could not guarantee him either.

Then we have Richard Armitage lurking around as The Tooth Fairy The Great Red Dragon, with only moments of actual dialogue but mostly it's about flexing and twitching and screaming into the sky. Yet he is still amazing and captivating. The way he curls his back and his hands, the agony of transforming. It took me a moment to realize that so much of the book we are IN Dolarhyde's mind, HE hears the voices but in reality no one else would, so those moments of him freaking out, growling, smacking himself, there is a voice he hears that we do not. We are the sane ones watching him, NOT hearing the voice of the monsters in his head. It makes it even more terrifying because as an audience we can't even pretend to understand.

JIMMY! BRIAN! FREDDIE! The old gang is coming back together and they are just as amusing as they were before. Especially Jimmy's line about being overly fond of cats (which later made me think of Beverly and how we all cried for her even though Hannibal had slaughtered so many before her...anyway, we are all overly fond of cats/Katz).



In conclusion: THIS SHOW!

quote

Aug. 2nd, 2015 11:31 am
orangerful: (hannibal // rhoda_rants)
"We don’t get wiser as we get older [...] But we do learn to avoid, or raise a certain amount of hell. Depending on which we prefer."
-- Hannibal Lecter
orangerful: (hannibal // rhoda_rants)


OMG I should have done screenshots of Will's faces, they were priceless. Especially when Hannibal is sitting there, toying with Mason and the Chef, asking about how they are going to cook him, and Will just has this "oh for fuck sakes, I am so done here" look on his face that had me cracking up.

Speaking of cracking up, that was a brutal break-up scene. I mean, after your BFF tries to cut out your brain, how do you even pretend things are okay? Will should have just said "It's not you, it's me. I want to see other people...and hope you won't cook them for me later."

oh but you TOLD Hannibal what you didn't want...so now he's going to do it just to mess with you.

THIS SHOW!!!!!!!!! And next up, the Red Dragon???? GAH!



Did a new episode air on Saturday????? Or are they bumping it to THIS Saturday? Why are they bumping it to Saturday? Do they hate us? How rude. (and we all know what happens to the rude...)

I may or may not have ordered a Hannibal Funko Pop figure today...preparing myself for the end of the season and most likely the end of the series (though I bet if Bryan Fuller set up a kickstarter, that would be funded pretty damn fast)
orangerful: (pigeon w books // orangerful)


I don't think I've read this much in awhile! Probably means I've gone to bed at a decent hour more this month...probably because most of my shows are on break...

The SculptorThe Sculptor by Scott McCloud

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I really don't know what to say about this beautiful book. It was not at all what I was expecting. It is a story about life, death, rebirth, love, family, legacy, art, promises we make to ourselves, friendship...so many things, all of them handled so well by Scott McCloud.

Go into this book as blindly as you can, don't read any reviews or plot summaries. Just read it.

I think this would look nice on my shelf right next to Blankets...

So You've Been Publicly ShamedSo You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book gets an extra star for making me really step back and think about social media and the Internet and participating in any kind of online "debate". It made me realize that there IS no conversation online, just people yelling at each other or, as in the case of this book, yelling about one person.

If you have any kind of social media account, especially Twitter, you should read this book, if only to help you think a bit more about public shaming. There was a reason it was outlawed in the late 1800s.

I really wanted Ronson to go further into the psychology and also into the difference between here and now. He stops short of what I wanted, I could read another 300 pages on the WHY we do this to each other. But I think he knows that book would be better suited for a more scholarly writer.

If you're reading this review, than you should read this book, because if you use the Internet, you should read this book. You may not agree with everything he says, but it is necessary for you to hear it and think about it, especially before you join in on a public shaming event on twitter.

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 2: Generation WhyMs. Marvel, Vol. 2: Generation Why by G. Willow Wilson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Started off a little slow but once I saw where it was going and the message being sent, it all came together. Another great installment of the series, with Kamala growing as a person and hero on each page. Well done!

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: The Underground Abductor (An Abolitionist Tale about Harriet Tubman)Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: The Underground Abductor by Nathan Hale

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This series just keeps getting better! I am embarrassed by how little I knew about this American hero. I mean, we are told about Harriet Tubman in school, but it always felt like a footnote. Hale's book introduces us to the real "Minty" and her adventures.


Dragonbreath (Dragonbreath, #1)Dragonbreath by Ursula Vernon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Great start to a series and perfect for early chapter book readers in 2nd/3rd grade. Lots of humor and GREAT vocabulary. This would be a really good pick for a kid/adult book club read too.

Louise Brooks: DetectiveLouise Brooks: Detective by Rick Geary

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Rick Geary tries his hand at historical FICTION and does a wonderful job! As usual, his story left me wanting to know more about the real Louise Brooks. But the mystery was a lot of fun too!

Not Every PrincessNot Every Princess by Jeffrey Bone

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A beautiful and sweet book with a subtle message that you can be whatever you want to be, that being a boy or a girl shouldn't limit your imagination and your dreams. It was a cute little poem and by including the word "princess" in the title this book is sure to get into the hands of many little girls.

I like that the message isn't in your face because for most kids (at least we hope) the idea of NOT being able to be something because of their gender should be ridiculous. To quote Sarah Silverman, "Stop telling girls they can be anything they want when they grow up. [...] Not because they can't but because it never would have occurred to them that they couldn't." Our adult hang-ups are usually what really hold back kids from believing in their abilities.

I appreciate the inclusion of a note for parents at the end with talking points on how to make their kids think outside the box or at least feel comfortable wishing to be something that maybe our society doesn't usually say they can be.

I only wish the book was a little bigger so I could do it with my storytime crowd.

The Bunker DiaryThe Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I don't even know what to say...this book grabbed me from the first page and did not let go. I would fall asleep with it in my hands and wake up and try to make myself read more, to find out what was happening.

This would be so good for a book discussion, to ask what would you do?

I forgot how powerful Kevin Brooks books are...

The Silence of the Lambs  (Hannibal Lecter, #2)The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Reading this book, I kept marveling at how faithful the film adaptation had been! I don't think I've ever read a book and known it so well because of the movie. It was like they actually just took the pages right out of the novel and copied them into a script, even the descriptions were spot on. Really the only part missing was the Crawford family's drama but that doesn't play an important role with the main plot.

Unlike 'Red Dragon', I knew the story of 'Silence of the Lambs' pretty well because I had seen the movie several times. It's a classic! But that still didn't stop my heartbeat from speeding up during the last few chapters.

Also, Clarice Starling is such a great character. I was really impressed with how well written she was. She was a strong woman in a field dominated by men. But Harris didn't hit you over the head with the sexism issue, he just quietly slid it in there, with little phrases of how the men reacted to Clarice's presence.

I'm thinking this may qualify as a modern classic. Or if anything, the movie and the book should be held up as a how-to of from page to screen.



View all my reviews
orangerful: (abby cadabby // orangerful)
Another weekly post I'm trying to bring back! Here's what I've watched recently. Spoilers will be under cuts, you have been warned.

Every since Hulu added the Adult Swim shows to their line-up we have been binge watching Sealab 2021 with dinner. The guys who created that show went on to do Archer so we kind of had to. Plus, Tim had seen it way back when it first aired and so I needed to see it too. It's so wrong and so right.

We also watched a couple episodes of Robot Chicken which still cracks me up. OH and Hulu is getting Seinfeld which I had not seen in years and this week they have been putting up one episode a day in preparation for the big launch so we randomly watched that with dinner. Still funny.

We're almost done with Season 3.5 of Eureka. I really am enjoying this series, I'm so sad I missed it when it was on. Great characters, fun stories. This show was a bit ahead of its time, I bet a network now would pick it up to promote all the STEM aspects LOL. It's been a nice way to fill the void of Psych - I feel like the two shows are all about relationships and quirky characters with a little mystery of the week. Eureka is just more science-y.

Watched Hannibal on Sunday:
Um, yeah, this isn't my first rodeo Bryan Fuller, I saw the whole Abigail isn't real thing as soon as she walked in the room. I didn't mind though, while it is a frequently abused trope, I think it worked. I think Will knew the whole time that she wasn't really there. But without the stag, he needed something else in his subconscious to represent the part of him that still cares about Hannibal.

The scene with the "human heart" and it unfolding...eeeeeeeew! I did cover my eyes for much of that. A lot of that actually. I think I had my eyes covered more this episode than the premiere.

I feel like these first two episodes were slow but necessary. And now we have the story of Hannibal terrorizing Italy for awhile. Flashbacks? Or just a reason I need to read the other books in the series? I'm happy that Will made the detective leave.


Caught up on Game of Thrones as well
I haven't read the books so I didn't know about Jon Snow (though some asshole on Facebook posted the spoiler in the comments, but it was so over the top I assumed it was a lie). Anyway, didn't see that coming! We are rapidly running out of characters that were even IN the first season.

Cersei, you may have been a queen that rule with an iron fist while on an iron throne, but your crazy cannot compare to a crazy that is based out of religion. That entire sequences was disturbing to watch, and I know that was the point. But her wrath will be great.

So...is the Mountain a White Walker or a whole new kind of zombie?

I felt the finale was actually sort of...meh. Stuff happened, but I didn't feel like anyone really knew what the hell they were going to do next season! WRITE MARTIN WRITE!


I finally got a copy of Whiplash from the library so hopefully we will watch that this weekend since we don't have GoT. We also plan on watching JAWS on Saturday night because Carol and Sylvia have never seen it. Sylvia I can forgive, she's 13, but Carol...tsk tsk. Cannot wait to watch that movie, love it so much!

**Phew** got this post done before midnight so it's on the correct date LOL. TOODLES!
orangerful: (izzard cake or death // raelala)
Finally watched the latest episode of Hannibal. Quick reactions under the cut.

spoilers for 3.01 )
orangerful: (hannibal // rhoda_rants)


So, for me it will be June 5 because Hulu. Still, YAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!

Also, Gillian <3
orangerful: (izzard cake or death // raelala)
No joke. I was reading Red Dragon in bed and turned off the light and had to sit there singing the theme song to "My Little Pony" until I fell asleep to try to clear my mind.

I am really enjoying (?) the book though. It's definitely intense. I am already wondering how they will handle the way the Toothfairy/Red Dragon picks his victims.
In the book, he finds them because he develops home movie footage. I don't think that is going to fly in 2015 when everyone has videos on their phone. So what can Francis do for a living that puts him into contact with images of families? Hmmmmmm

Also sad that they will clearly have to mess up Richard Armitage's beautiful face! Actually, no wait it is probably for the better as I don't want to see him all sexy and EVIL. Not just evil but ICKY EVIL. Ugh.



As I've said in the comments, when I'm watching Hannibal it's easy to close my eyes to avoid the gross scenes. Not really possible in a book. I can try to skim the page but...well once you read the words, even just a quick glance at them, they are there.

The story and writing is so good though. Reminds me of playing the Silent Hill video games, where I was horrified the whole time but I had to know how it was all going to end!!!! (I guess I could just go on YouTube now and watch a playthrough...but where is the fun in that? Kids these days...)
orangerful: (pigeon w books // orangerful)


I'm almost done with the Fluttershy book (sometimes speed reading through a children's book makes you feel like a reading god) but I'm a bit terrified about Red Dragon...am I brave enough to read it?? Will I be able to enjoy it after watching 'Hannibal'?

Meep.

Okay, time to start shutting down the library.
orangerful: (hannibal // rhoda_rants)


Everyone have a good laugh at my expense. I know I did. HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW???

Actually, I find that most shows I am skeptical about are the shows I end up loving. Maybe because I have such low expectations and then they blow them so far out of the water.

Buffy - when it started airing I thought it was just some dumb teen show, now I worship it.
Adventure Time - weird stoner show...okay it is that AND something so amazing.
Gilmore Girls - thought it was just a dumb girl show but it is one of the smartest things ever.
Community - guy from The Soup's show? why would I watch it, now one of the funniest shows ever.
Parks & Rec - awful office rip off (in my defense, the first season wasn't that great) now I know it is one of the best comedies ever made.
Hannibal - thought it would be a Dexter rip off. I didn't know about Fuller then!
orangerful: (hannibal // rhoda_rants)


So I spent far too much time today watching the extras on the Hannibal Season 2 DVDs. In my defense, they will be due back to the library soonish.

I am just SO impressed with the extras on this set. Tons of commentary, and it's good stuff! Bryan Fuller is very good at keeping the conversation going and giving lots of insight into the show. The best so far was Episode 7 Yakimono which featured Fuller, one of the other executive producers, and Raul Esparza, the actor who plays Dr. Chilton. Great discussion of the show, the writing, how it is all put together and the fact that the cast enjoys watching it live.

Even more surprising was the HOUR AND A HALF long special on making Episode 5 of this season, which was a big SPOILER episode. If you have seen the show, you know the one. It was AMAZING to see how much work goes into a single episode. I think this is why I'm so obsessed with this show. They really put more work into it than your average series and you can tell. Fuller's brain loves to dabble in metaphor, he is attached to this world, he loves his characters. And it looks like everyone on the crew is invested. They also covered the "controversy" that arose after the episode aired, which I wasn't aware of since I didn't watch it in real time, so it was a bit of fandom history documented, for better or for worse.

So, yeah, very productive weekend as you can tell. I watched Hannibal and also played a LOT of DragonAge. HOW HAVE I NOT BEAT THIS GAME YET!?! It's because I insist on finding ALL THE THINGS. And wow there are so many things.

...on IMDB looking up actor names and it reminded me that Hannibal Season 3 doesn't premiere until June. Ugh. I really want this show to make it to the end. I want to see Fuller get all the way to the arc he has in his mind. So few shows are plotted out that far, I want to see one make it to the end!

...I sorta kinda want to watch the show again before the June premiere. But there are so many other shows I want to watch too!!! #geekgirlproblems

March 2023

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