DE: You might have heard of it.

[bjornwilde]

 So what are you listening to, watching, reading, whatever? Is it new or are you partaking? 

Comments

[1nv1nc1ble]

Mostly cleaning out the DVR. Slowly. Working my way through the episodes of "Almost Human," "Copper," "The Walking Dead," "Luther," and "Sleepy Hollow" (thanks for that last one, Milliways; it's cracktastic) that I haven't seen yet. Just watched the first episode of "Helix," and it mostly didn't offend my scientific sensibilities. (You do not go looking for monkeys without protective gear, Ms. CDC veterinarian, especially if you're investigating an outbreak in a lab. And you most definitely do not smile to show your teeth; they see that as a threat display. You're lucky you didn't get your face bitten off.) I'll watch the next one and see if it continues to hold my interest.

Also working my way through my holiday stack of new books. The Cornelius Quartet has bogged down; I don't think I'm British enough, or old enough, to get Moorcock's commentary on the 70s. Just finished Jane Carver of Waar, an entertaining homage/parody of the John Carter series. Next up will probably be one of the side stories of the Malazan Books of the Fallen, Crack'd Pot Trail.

[bjornwilde]

I love "Almost Human". Which reminds me I need to watch the latest episode.

[sdelmonte]

Watching:
Elementary - A very satisfying show that relies on good performances and character development to carry it over the occasionally pedestrian mysteries. Lucy Liu and Jonny Lee Miller are amazing, and the show has a wonderful NYC feel to it.
Arrow - Somewhere along the line, it went from "fun but silly" to "hey, this is good." The cast has only gotten better, and the stories are less repetitive than the first season's hunts for "you have failed this city" one-percenters.
Sleepy Hollow - Only about halfway through the season. It's much better than I imagined it could be, but the mythology is threatening to eat the show. Also, it gets a lot of points for a cast where white men are definitely the minority.
White Collar - As always, the chemistry of the cast and the fun everyone seems to have with the capers and the back and forth outweighs the flaws in the big plot. Wondering, though, if after five seasons things are running out of steam.
Dexter - The whole series is on Netflix now, and given my aversion to R-rated entertainment, I am still surprised how much I like this. Am near the end of season five, and even though the consensus is that the show peaked in season four, I am liking this arc better than the Trinity story. Who knew Julia Stiles could act that well? This season's cast also includes Jonny Lee Miller and Peter Weller, so Michael C. Hall has good company for his stellar talents.
Batman Beyond - Never saw this from start to finish till now. Midway through season two, and I am reminded why I stopped watching religiously. Too many stories about Terry's classmates, and too much Max, and not enough Bruce and Terry. But Terry remains a great addition to the Batman mythos.

Reading:
Just read The City and City by Meiville. Interesting and well crafted, but a bit slow and dense, and we never really learn what exactly the story behind the story is, which disappointed me.
Could not finish London Falling, Paul Cornell's first original novel. It just never got moving, and the main cast felt like types rather than characters.

[bjornwilde]

"The City and the City" was a very interesting read but I agree the pay off for slugging through it to not even find out why there were two cities left you wanting.

[camwyn]

Well, I watched the 2012 John Carter movie with Flynn this weekend, thanks to the wonders of Amazon online video and an open chat window. I really did enjoy the movie and wish Disney had done a better job promoting it, and... no offense to the Avatar fandom but I think they did a better job of making the dude from a reprehensible military organization who goes to the Planet of People Who Don't Wear Much, turns out to have SUPER AWESOMENESS nobody else has, and winds up with the exotic princess much more interesting as a person in John Carter. And that's with source material where the original guy was basically 'So, this happened. And this. And it was weird but I am a MAN OF ACTION and I made this other stuff happen'.

Also I have been playing Antichamber, which is a puzzler game that apparently causes a lot of people to go 'AUGH IT IS MESSING WITH MY HEAD'. I admit, it's a little weird, but it hasn't especially given me the mind screws. It's a fascinating game with no characters except you and no plot and no adversaries- just you and the environment. I rather liked the ambient soundtrack and bought it separately from Bandcamp; the composer deserves the cash.

Also also I finished the first chunk of DLC for Edward Kenway's canon. Freedom Cry lets you play a separate plot line years after the end of Edward's canon; you're playing as Adewale, a character who figures strongly in the main game but hasn't come up in Edward's OOMs yet. It's not bad, but a little glitchy in places (it's kind of upsetting to have to reload partway through a mission only to find out that the six guys you went to a lot of trouble to immobilize have all gotten up and started wandering around again every single time).

And I have been reading the Mast Brothers Cookbook. They're Brooklyn chocolate makers and the recipes are interspersed with stories of their business and the process of creating chocolate, from 'here's the guy in Central America we're buying our beans from and this is how he grows it' up through the point where they're wrapping the chocolate bars and putting them out for sale. Kind of fascinating, and I'm seriously interested in several of the savory recipes (mole' sauce, cocoa spice rub for steak, cacao nib cream sauce for pasta) as well as the various sweets and desserts.

[adiva_calandia]

I haven't seen John Carter, but I did read the first Mars book when it was coming out -- it coincided nicely with the release of A Wizard of Mars, which references Barsoom a lot -- and I agree with you. It's a structural thing, I think. I mean, John Carter has a reason to be more of a badass than the Martians: he's Superman! Literally! He comes from a different planet and is granted extraordinary powers of jumping because his physiology is designed for a different environment. That makes way more sense than Sam Worthington just . . . happening to be better at Na'vi-ing than the Na'vi.

Does the movie end with an offhand mention that Dejah Thoris is laying John Carter's eggs the way the book did? That still wigs me the fuck out.

[damncompass]

Watching: Really, the TV's only truly there for noise, Investigation Discovery, and Top Gear. minkhollow and I are terrible with appointment TV. Last six episodes of Warehouse are coming, though. Bring on the gin. *siiiiiiigh*

Also, a couple Let's Plays on Youtube. (I know you're in Japan, guy, but PLEASE UPDATE YOUR STUFF.)

Reading: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. AND CATH IS MOVING INTO MY HEAD OH GOD NO. *sigh* The last thing we need in Milliways is a fanfic writer.

I'm also doing a re-read of Time Machine for something I'm doing with Helena.

ETA: I'm also working on my play-through of Skyrim. I'm literally stuck in a dungeon because this damn necromancer keeps killing me. Freaking lack of ranged character.

[alexiscartwheel]

I love Cath! And over-identify with her just a bit.

[nocarename]

Worm fandom, as I mentioned yesterday, is dragging me down. Occasionally literally. It is not a happy sort of story. (Ngh. Highschool realistically portrayed from the bottom of the social ladder, plus supervillains, super assholes and very, very few superheroes. Send pictures of kittens.)

Also reading The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight, which is a nice bit of MilSF if you don't mind it being set in a system that's so deep in corporate double speak that they have apparently lost most of the vocabulary needed to take responsibility for mistakes.

Even in private. So yeah.

And I backed the Girl Genius Kickstarter, so now I have all twelve volumes to read through in hard copy. Which is nice!

[kd7sov]

Things I am newly watching, thanks to the magic of sudden Netflix accounts and apps, are Warehouse 13, Eureka, and OUAT. Beyond that, nothing really comes to mind.

[damncompass]

*cackles* YAY WAREHOUSE. *bounces*

[never_shall_yield]

My university reading list. Which is a mix of the sublime and the utterly infuriating. T.S Eliot, Hilary Mantel and Margaret Atwood (for example) on the one hand; a pompous little gobshite called David Shields on the other. Heigh ho. Swings and roundabouts.

For fun, I'm reading - or will be, when I get back from Uni on Tuesday - a couple of Les Mis textbooks, the new Bridget Jones, Terry Pratchett's latest and starting the whole Game of Thrones series' (books) which I bought myself at Christmas.

And am going to watch Hannibal. Also eyeing the new BBC drama based on the Musketeers, which starts on Sunday. And, no doubt, watching the finale of Mad Dogs and S3 of Sherlock over and over and over. (Not that I've watched the final Mad Dogs yet because, uni, but I have no doubt it'll be fabulous.)

And there are loads of other things, but my eyeballs are melting out of my head from all the reading, so I will stop there.

[gavin62truck]

Been so tired lately that I usually fall asleep within the first 10 minutes of every show I try to watch, or get so drowsy that I can't follow the action or dialogue, which leads me to save the show for later, which leads me to putting them off until forever. Can you believe I slept right through Coulson's Very Special Agents of SHIELD episode? Right through it. Haven't had the time to catch up on it, so I had to miss last night's episode as well. Anyway, yeah, that's on my watch list.

Also missed Sleepy Hollow because of sleepiness, but that's another one.

Managed to stay up for Sherlock! I...have...mixed feelings about how S3 turned out. Mainly MOFFAAAAAAT *FISTSHAKE* but there were some great emotional moments and hilarious bits of fanservice.

I've had to set aside my classic Doctor Who bingeing, but I'm currently in Pertwee's last season. And awaiting Peter Capaldi. That's going to be a lot of waiting.

[never_shall_yield]

I spend the entire first two eps of Sherlok, and at least part of the third going, '....fanservice. Fanserivce. Annndd......omfg HAHAHA FANSERVICE.'

In particular Ep 1: I think they mined every possible corner of fandom and gave it all back to us. It was hilarious (and I'm not really in Sherlock fandom), but I can see why non-fandom viewers might get annoyed/enraged/confused about what was happening.

[bjornwilde]

Reading: Ex-Purgatory by Peter Clines and Johannes Cabal: the Fear Institute by Jonathan L. Howard (I'm also in the middle of rereading Johannes Cabal the Necromancer at work),

To read: Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years, Code Name Varity, and Into The Woods: Tales From the Hollows and Beyond by Kim Harrison

Just read: Babayaga by Toby Barlow (kind of Henry&June with espionage and Russian witches).

Listening to: I just discovered this cover of I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight by Bastille and I am in love. Aside from that, the RWBY and the Catching Fire soundtracks.

Watching: Almost Human (So much love for this series), Grimm (still keeps dragging me in), Sleepy Hollow (behind though), and Agents of SHIELD (curse you ABC for hobbling online viewing).

[damncompass]

What's ABC doing to online viewing?

[death_gone_mad]

Dagh... Nothing interesting, my winter break has been swallowed by a 40 day WAAAAAAAAAAGH! on Runescape.

At least the final phase is here now. There is no way that my side is going to win now, so I think it is time to have fun by causing unnecessary pain and suffering. But then again I am not very good at that sort of thing or convincing other people to do it for me.

Eh, I'll just keep building shoddy towers for the god of WAAAAAAAGH!

[bcgphoenix]

Breaking Bad.

I've fallen behind on every single one of my current shows, because all I've been watching for the past two weeks is Breaking Bad. I just finished S3 earlier in the week and am on track to watch the whole series by month's end.

EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE AND GUS FRING IS THE GREATEST

ALSO IF YOU HATE SKYLER COME THE FUCK AT ME BRO

[themightyspazz]

*OMINOUS GUITAR TWANGING*

[mmexlibris]

As Cam said, we watched Dejah's canon, John Carter (the horribly marketed and terribly panned, which boggles me, because it's a damned good movie). My second rewatch this week, as I watched with Autor-mun as well. I get something new out of it every time I see it. This time was a revelation about why Dejah's eyes are so unnaturally blue. And no, it's not because she's got a side job as a Guild Navigator or a Fremen.

All caught up on S3 of Sherlock, which I know has not been as satisfying to some, but with only three episodes per series, I'm content with what we got. And with S4 & S5 confirmed, I'm also quite content to wait for more sleuthing. My headvoice got loads new personal details, and I'm really glad I haven't been horribly jossed. All in all, yay new Sherlock!

Really enjoyed the first four seasons of The Good Wife. I love the strong female characters making decisions on all based on their own motivations. Ridley Scott does tightly plotted legal/political/family drama. Plus, bonus Alan Cummings and Archie Panjabi.

Catching up on Dexter, all on Netflix now. I agree with Alex, S5 has been even better than S4. Bethan turned me on to The Bletchley Circle (also, Netflix). Soooo good. Also, I think it was Ashie that recommended Miss Fisher's Mysteries. I may be heavily resisting a Phryne headvoice. I have one mad detective in here already, I don't need two. I have the second season of Ripper Street downloaded. Haven't had a chance to watch that. All caught up on Justified. Oh Raylan. And Leverage, which ended right when it should have, but I'm still sorry to see it go. I'm still completely hooked on White Collar. And my guilty pleasure is Lost Girl, which I love for the world building if nothing else.

Ongoing: Agents of SHIELD, which is just terribly disappointing so far, but I can't stop watching it because GAH. TOO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS. Though the last couple of episodes have shown more promise. Just -- gaping plot holes left and right. I'm really just hoping for some closure at this point. Almost Human, which is brilliant written and entirely self-aware of the legacy it's built on. There are blatant Blade Runner callouts in almost every episode. Sleepy Hollow, delightfully all over the place. I have no idea what to expect next. Equal parts monster of the week and ongoing attempt to thwart the apocalypse keeps me coming back for more.

Also, really enjoying James Spader as the ultimate in cultured evil bad guy you really like far more than you should, in The Blacklist. This show is so deliciously good, I have trouble articulating just what I enjoy about it. (Aside from the fact that it's the first show this year that I can watch with Wolf that he doesn't gripe about either the firearms handling or the firearms themselves. The showrunners did their research, all current, all appropriate to the nationalities being represented.)

And we're off to see The Princess Bride on the big screen tonight. Can't wait! I don't know how many times I've seen it, and I always enjoy it. Going with a huge group of friends makes it even more fun.

[nocarename]

And we're off to see The Princess Bride on the big screen tonight. Can't wait! I don't know how many times I've seen it, and I always enjoy it. Going with a huge group of friends makes it even more fun.
It is tremendously fun. There was a big out door showing this past summer here that took up the square in front of city hall and it was great.

There's something special about an entire crowd yelling, "Hello! My name is Inigo Montoya!" at the screen along with the character.

[adiva_calandia]

I have spent a LOT of time mainlining Leverage and slightly less time mainlining Law and Order: SVU of late because of Netflix. Leverage, guys. LEVERAGE. What a goddamn perfect show.

I'm also reading Madeleine L'Engle's Walking On Water in dribs and drabs. Reading my favorite authors writing about writing is always interesting, although frequently disillusioning. L'Engle's stuff reminds me a lot of the collection of Diana Wynne Jones' essays and speeches on writing: there are a lot of sections that I find truly inspirational and that give me the kick in the ass I need to work on my own stuff, and then there are a lot of sections where I discover that the author I've looked up to for all these years has some political or theological or ideological point of view that I find baffling or frustrating.

I also picked up 5 out of 6 of Grant Morrison's The Return of Bruce Wayne at a sale right before the new year. This is the most ridiculous goddamn AU fanfiction I've ever read. Some of the plotting is pretty nonsensical (I do not understand what happens in the Wild West installment, at all), but the Caveman!Batman and witch hunt!Batman installment (now with added Lovecraftian horrors) are GOLDEN.

[alexiscartwheel]

Leverage on Netflix has meant I can finally watch the final season. I think I only have one or two episodes left... which I think just means I'll have to circle around and watch the pilot again :)

[ceitfianna]

Watching: As my parents don't have cable, I've pulled them into Eureka which is on Netflix Streaming. They're liking it and I'm watching the first season which I never saw before. Also Warehouse 13 though my mom likes it more than my dad does. I need to go see the Hobbit, I hope its still in the theaters and I want to try and watch the new Teen Wolf. I'm so behind on a lot of shows.

Reading: Most of my Christmas presents for gift cards for places to get books from so I've been doing a lot of reading. On Monday, I read Fangirl which I loved and found fascinating and well done. I'm finally started Night Watch, it was on sale as an ebook and I just want to pat Anton on the head. Last night I finished a book called The Riddles of the Labyrinth about how Linear B was deciphered. The author very clearly was making sure a woman involved got her place in the story but I think that ended up making it not as good of a book. It was fascinating to read about how it was deciphered but I felt like the author's view was far too narrow and that by trying to make up for this woman getting short shrift, she consolidated the entire history too much. I also have Red Glove, the second book in a Holly Black trilogy that I've been meaning to read.

Oh and I won't be around until late tonight since I'm helping my parents with a party.

[bjornwilde]

Poor Anton is very put on upon. = ]

I'll have to add "The Riddles of the Labyrinth" to my to read list.

[aberration]

Reading: The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene. I started it a while ago but then put it down to read other things. But I started it again and now am really into it. Physics was never exactly my strong suit - I actually do like learning about the kinds of things Greene discusses, but my brain has never done that well with the purely theoretical, and he helps with that by offering a lot of analogies I can visualize and keeping the equations to the end notes. It's not the easiest read even as a popular audience-geared science book, but in some ways that's better for me, as I'm kind of using it as a form of escapism. I have to put some effort into it, but it's all... photons going through slits or space expanding or etc., which is very calming compared to the things I read about that are trenched in structural oppression or other more upsetting issues.

Before this, I read The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett as part of my noir kick. Besides its being-written-in-1930 issues, I had a lot of fun reading it, probably because I have a soft spot for hardboiled PIs. I just wish there were more lady ones! As I often do.

Watching: I've still been making my way through DVDs I Get From the Library, which has meant foistering my noir phase on to my new roommates. Recently it's been Key Largo, Stray Dog (again, whatever), The Stranger, Shadow of a Doubt, and The Maltese Falcon. And Casablanca because WHY NOT. (And on my own: Jiang Hu and Le Samourai). I still have To Have and Have Not and Drunken Angel out and am still waiting on a few holds (some day I will have Stranger on the Third Floor dammit).

In television, I don't have cable anymore, so I've pared down a bit. And am late for everything. At the moment I'm caught up on my cartoons (unsurprisingly: Adventure Time and the HTTYD show), as well as Elementary, Parks and Rec, and Community. I'm behind on Downton Abbey (maybe partly because I'm spoiled and I don't know when I'll... want to...), Sleepy Hollow (but it's almost over for the season anyway), and Justified (because I'll always be a day late!). I'm looking forward to the returns of The Americans and Hannibal? And was sad to watch the finale of my ridiculous but beloved Nikita. And I need to get back into my kdramas (which are... Queen Seondeok and IRIS).

Listening: "You've Got Time" by Regina Spektor for Reasons. "Let It Go" for different ones. And am caught up on WTNV... except there's a new one today so I'm not! :O

[runningred]

While not strictly reading, a friend gave me 100 best scifi novels as audio books and I've been working my way through on my morning ride. Some of them I've read before but some are new to me. Just finished Asimov's I, Robot which was better than I remembered and am now into Gibson's Neuromancer which I'm struggling to put down. I feel asleep listening last night and now have to go back and work out where I was up to before I passed out.

[alexiscartwheel]

Watching: I'm usually crap at keeping up with new TV shows, but this season I've really been enjoying Sleepy Hollow and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. In catch-up land, my TV norm, I've been watching Elementary on DVD and really digging it, and I recently mainlined the whole first season of Orphan Black and holy crap is it awesome!

Also, the new season of Teen Wolf just started :)

Reading: A lot of TW fic. Also, The Passion of the Purple Plumeria, the most recent of Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series. They are kind of silly historical romances with spies.

Listening: This week, a lot of Haim. I first heard of them last year, but for some reason they really clicked when I heard "The Wire" on the radio last week. Also lots of Basia Bulat and Lisa Hannigan. Thanks to Top 40 radio in the car, "Timber" probably more than is healthy :P

[withherhands]

Clearing up the DVR and taking advantage of my mother being in Florida for a week a bit by checking out the Classic Doctor Who episodes featured in "The Doctor Revisited" episodes that I recorded a couple months ago. Currently watching "Spearhead from Space" with Jon Pertwee. :)

When that's finished, a friend is coming over to watch (rewatch in my case) the last episode of S3 of Sherlock, and I'm tempted to rewatch last night's Agents of SHIELD as well (because I want all the Coulson & Skye feels again)

[misslucyjane]

Podcasts! I am in love with the art form. Talky podcasts and jokey podcasts and story-telling podcasts. I like Greg Proops and Comedy Bang Bang and How Did This Get Made and of course the two that inspired Sadie and Cecil, The Thrilling Adventure Hour and Welcome to Night Vale.

I've been re-reading Anne of Green Gables. I have a bunch of public domain books on my iPad to dip into when I've got a few minutes--mostly comfort lit. Not enough brain lately for anything deeper, though I have Cloud Atlas waiting for when I do.

Watching--oh, my, TV can be so good. Archer, Justified, Dracula, Teen Wolf, Supernatural, Sherlock, Parks & Rec, Community, The Mindy Project,ew Girl, and Sleepy Hollow. OH! and Being Human US has started up again, and it's as cracktastic as ever.

[moonandstar]

Watching: Catching up on Sleepy Hollow. That show is a true guilty pleasure of mine. Also rewatched the Branagh version of Henry V and am set to watch both Hunger Games films, since I feel I might as well.

Reading: My Java textbook. It's all coming back to me a lot faster than I was expecting, which is a relief. I had worried it had been too long. In my spare time, some political theory, mostly anarchist in persuasion. After that I want to dig into some G.K. Chesterton.

[yakalskovich]

All the Sherlock!! Have seen it on Monday, will marathon it again on Sunday with the Nazgul. We are going to start at noon, with cucumber sandwiches...

And then there is this half-forgotten British six-part vampire series from the late nineties that I have recently discovered; it's called 'Ultraviolet' and is basically interesting due to its cast. Could be described as 'Commodore Norrington, Stacker Pentecost and (stage) Javert are vampire hunters'. I like it.-

[last_kallig]

Darths and Droids. A webcomic whose premise is that the Star Wars movies are an RPG campaign. This, surprisingly, makes the prequels make A LOT more sense.

[bjornwilde]

I *love* Darth And Droids! The same folks did a similar thing with the LotR movies and it was glorious.