tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225041462024-03-14T02:50:27.494+00:00The greatest thing you'll ever learn...<i>A blog about sci-fi, film reviews, Hong Kong film, comics, telly, and loads and loads of Star Trek.</i>SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.comBlogger618125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-46288711734931744772021-04-02T13:06:00.000+01:002021-04-02T13:06:12.951+01:00So long and thanks for all the fishFor so many reason (the provider, the platform, the hassle with the owner not letting me log in without demanding all my personal information, etc.) I will not be using this page any more.
Everything will continue for me, just not here. You can find me at my Wordpress account instead.
I think I've shifted everything over there so while it is sad that this place is just going to sit here and SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-34970452985071388992021-01-09T18:09:00.000+00:002021-01-09T18:09:01.657+00:00DiscordFinally got on Discord and joined a server today. I know everyone else has been using them for years but I’ve only just found a reason to - or thought I did.
Back in the day we had newsgroups, then chat rooms, then all that went away as social media giants like Facebook took hold. What was the point of a private chat room when people could put their opinions and dis/likes on Facebook and everyoneSoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-59641386368370450042020-12-28T10:15:00.003+00:002020-12-28T10:15:59.229+00:002020
Presented without comment (except that one).
SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-53513592268278705822020-11-21T12:57:00.000+00:002020-11-21T12:57:29.108+00:00Supernatural - the legacyIt’s 21st November 2020 and the Supernatural finale happened two days ago. I’m still getting over it, but in order to do that I need to process what happened.
Warning! Danger, Will Robinson!
Here be SPOILERS for Supernatural - the series finale!
So much to unpack here - the episode itself, the reaction from the ‘fans’, the feeling of knowing it’s over after so long. Let’s start at the beginning.
SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-86787323059511164932020-11-20T20:17:00.002+00:002020-11-21T09:44:31.007+00:00Stranger (비밀의 숲) - seasons 1 and 2Lockdown 2.0 has us all confined to places we probably don’t want to be, at least for some of the time. Netflix has provided a plethora of stuff to watch, not least of all the stellar Kingdom (킹덤), the Korean imperial zombie horror / thriller that was a solid 9/10 for me. Great ideas, plot twists and proper full-on zombies, the whole two seasons were a blast that I couldn’t stop watching.
On the SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-29618952135844733632020-11-18T15:48:00.003+00:002020-11-18T15:48:53.865+00:00With Friends Like TheseDone some writing. I blame this on Covid nights and having Green Hornet (2011) on repeat due to its feel-good factor, cheap vodka and equally cheap pork scratchings.
Ladies, gentlemen, boths and neithers, I give you:
Title: With Friends Like These
Rated T for injury details, naughty words, fights and semi-nudity (not my fault).
Summary:
Dealing with the aftermath of the movie, new drug dealersSoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-67738950117916720012020-11-01T19:08:00.000+00:002020-11-01T19:08:29.725+00:00New stuff now pleaseAnyone here old enough to remember the original Miama Vice TV show? I saw it on reruns, I think, when I was in my teens. The final scene of the proper big end-of-everything finale stuck with me and I’ve never known why. But every now and then I think of it and it makes me wonder.
It was the scene where Tubbs asks Crockett where he’s going to go next. And Crockett says: “Somewhere further south. SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-4427347812284448622020-10-23T20:41:00.002+01:002020-10-23T20:41:46.681+01:00ST: DIS 3x02: I-Yensch, You-YenschWarning! Danger, Will Robinson!
Here be SPOILERS for Star Trek Discovery series 3 episode 2!
Last week we had what I felt was a TNG mixed with ST: Beyond episode. It was brilliant, and since I’ve watched it again I still like everything that went down. Now we get to the follow-up - last week was all Michael and what she was up to; this week is the crew of the Discovery’s turn.
We pick up where SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-35198293271768828812020-10-17T15:28:00.003+01:002020-10-17T15:29:49.261+01:00Interaction-starved?At time of writing, Boris Johnson has placed the area I live in a Tier 3 lockdown. This means… well, whatever they say it means, which changes from minute to minute. The upshot is I work from home and visit the office to pick up paperwork maybe once a month. The rest of the time our department works with an MS Teams video call going - we mute ourselves when we don’t need anyone, and only turn theSoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-88458563579007138362020-10-16T20:24:00.001+01:002020-10-16T20:25:31.496+01:00ST: DIS 3x01: The more things change, the more they stay the sameWarning! Danger, Will Robinson!
Here be SPOILERS for Star Trek Discovery series 3 episode 1!
I sat down the other night and rewatched the two-parter of Star Trek Discovery that ended season two, just so I would remember where we were all up to.
And do you know what? It made me miss ST: DIS all over again. The way they played the long game - again - to bring us everything we needed for the actual SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-6267826381063902582020-10-09T14:05:00.000+01:002020-10-09T14:05:22.031+01:00HK dramedies for the winAs we’re still in a semi-lockdown where I am, I’ve left the flat once in three weeks, and I think it was… twice in the six weeks before that. Oh hang on - I had to go into the office to pick up paperwork (paper? What is this, 2010?) once as well.
Only having to commute twelve feet to work every day has made such a huge change to my day. I can get up half an hour later. I have time to make a SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-23292805541580814862020-09-20T22:07:00.000+01:002020-09-20T22:07:27.824+01:00Better to be bored than troubled?I’m halfway through a Hong Kong drama just now - On-Lie Game (as always, a play on words. This one is about online scams). If you can get past the Public Service Announcements about how to avoid being scammed, it’s pretty much a run-of-the-mill tangle of casework and the main characters’ personal lives. It’s nothing new - the same kind of melodrama and slow-burn while the leads muddle through a SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-16003143562309865102020-08-30T19:31:00.000+01:002020-08-30T19:31:11.424+01:00Sisko was right about baseballBen Sisko - Commander and then Captain in Starfleet during the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine years, in an effort to explain liner time to an alien race, compared it to a baseball game. His reasoning was that you never know what can happen next in life - humans are resigned to being stuck on a timeline that only ever moves forward, where the future is inaccessible.
Why is this relevant? During this SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-24696020604187440132020-07-22T18:26:00.000+01:002020-07-22T18:42:23.402+01:00Playlist alertI’m in the middle of a Greent Hornet fanfic just now (based on the movie, not the series so much). Why the movie, you ask? Well I’ve done a whole thing about the difference between the show and the film, and I have to say I’m still a big fan of both, for different reasons.
Back in the day, I had a dedicated writing desk (actually a repurposed Mahjong table) and a comfy chair (called Michael) and SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-16863233941634993332020-06-09T21:32:00.000+01:002020-06-11T21:34:47.356+01:00Moving On, 2020Yep, I’ve moved again. Yesterday, in fact. From an end-of-terrace house to a second-floor flat.
It’s ace. It’s a long, wide studio flat with two massive skylights and three large windows which means you get sun all day from varying angles - and sun means WARM. Honestly, the carpet is trying to radiate its own heat from the sun patches that move across the floor. It’s fantastic. I know it’s June SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-57584220274962640002020-05-11T22:35:00.000+01:002020-05-11T22:35:14.582+01:00LockdownNot, unfortunately, the stellar (sorry) Guy Pierce 2012 film Lockout, which is just a fantastic old-fashioned 1980s survival in a prison (a space prison) flick with guns, violence, snarky one-liners and brilliantly acted stereotypes all round. No, sadly not that Lockout.
Instead it’s now been seven weeks since I’ve worked from my actual work desk, and three weeks since I’ve left the house. And bySoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-68957383848445907992020-05-09T12:06:00.001+01:002020-05-09T12:06:44.963+01:00CHEER UP AND DANCE
I know I’m shouting but I don’t care - Aaron Kwok has just done a charity concert from the end of Harbour City in Hong Kong and I got to see it live.
One hour long and all proceeds going direct to the Aaron Kwok Charity Fund, the goal was to raise more than Sam Hui’s concert held a few weeks ago. At time of writing, 90 mins after the concert ended, the number are still rolling in.
Anyway - SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-20688847372287720692020-05-06T09:31:00.002+01:002020-05-06T09:31:38.314+01:00The 39th Hong Kong Film Awards (2020) - the winnersWell the Hong Kong Film Awards has come and gone this morning (8am in the UK, 3pm in HK) - a staggering 12 minutes of screentime, compared to the grand affairs of 2 hours plus, in previous years.
Even with the current pandemic keeping everything online (and streaming their awards ceremonies on Facebook), I still expected something longer and grander than a seemingly quick reading of the envelopesSoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-63343281222930296082020-04-05T14:32:00.000+01:002020-04-05T14:32:08.426+01:00Brothers and Bandages and Bad Guys, Oh MyWith this whole COVID-19 thing going on, I’ve had time to review aaaaaall those Works In Progress in my writing folder, and decide that I really should finish one or two. I’ve at least finished one - and this one’s for Lethal Weapon (the TV show THAT ENDED AFTER 2 SEASONS).
Ladies, gentlemen, boths and neithers, I give you:
Title: Brothers and Bandages and Bad Guys, Oh My
Rated T for injury SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-16141049316988103142020-03-29T11:57:00.000+01:002020-03-29T12:32:41.012+01:00Nostalgia vs NOTstalgia part II: Oil Changes and CappuccinosA little while ago I mentioned that I had started watching the 1966 TV series The Green Hornet, after a chain of events I’ve already explained. At the end of said post, I promised I would back up part 1 (the homework) with part 2 - the actual commentary.
What happened to that? Well not a lot - due to a very lot of other stuff happening (holidays abroad, coronavirus, etc.) it kind of got put on SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-23166211646817628092020-02-13T19:27:00.000+00:002020-02-13T19:27:16.695+00:00The 39th Hong Kong Film Awards (2020)If like me you love a good HK movie, then you may be aware that the film award season is upon us. America’s Golden Globes and their Oscars have been and gone, marked only by the facts that Ricky Gervais wins all the awards just for his mass celebrity roast, and Parasite took home the best film, despite being FOREIGN (how that happened in Trump’s America is anyone’s guess, but then, as it’s about SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-15591210605056285412019-12-22T18:23:00.001+00:002020-07-22T21:29:18.513+01:00Nostalgia vs NOTstalgia part I: the HomeworkRecently I was talking about Jay Chou 周杰倫 with a colleague at work - basically saying he’s the best classical-music-Chinese-traditional-new-wave-rapper she’s never heard of. Unsurprising really, as he records in Mandarin for the Taiwan market (however, he’s also kind of a big deal around southeast Asia and parts of the US).
On the back of this it made me miss the 2011 big-screen remake of The SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-10623397348954160442019-12-01T12:44:00.000+00:002019-12-01T12:44:43.113+00:00Meet-upsI moved to Manchester a little over a year ago. All my friends are in the South or in other countries. This can make you feel somewhat frustrated; you want to go do that thing you like but the people who would have gone with you are not here. Logical choice, then: go on your own or find other people to go with.
I’ve been going on my own for a year. It’s comfortable, and nice, and agreeable to be SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-63398034376631275662019-11-19T22:04:00.000+00:002019-11-19T22:04:19.240+00:00The Superhero DeskPayrollers, as anyone outside the industry will most definitely not tell you, are superheroes. We deliver on time, every time, by solving other people’s problems, making things happen despite everyone else’s mission to sabotage delivery by deadlines, and making the hard choices to save the world.
We’re invisible. We can toil away with a metric tree-tonne of timesheets, grapple with statutory pay SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22504146.post-87576239065476412262019-09-28T20:57:00.001+01:002019-09-28T20:57:28.607+01:00Klaatu barada niktoJust something I noticed while rewatching Convergence, a much under-rated paranormal / crime / thriller / slice of life drama from 2015.
Here we have the stellar Clayne Crawford in the lead role of Detective Ben Walls, wearing a t-shirt the actor brought to set and thought he'd slip into the movie:
The movie is a solid 8/10 on my scale, and this is the second time I've watched it. You'll SoupDragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09987365439325916466noreply@blogger.com0