Sunday, June 29, 2008

Amy Reads the Week (of June 29th, 2008)

What a lovely week it has been, Gentle Reader, with an even more promising week to come. Tomorrow, Sister-In-Law Reads comes to visit as Mr. Reads and I have a week or two off before I begin teaching second summer session, and Mr. Reads takes a much-needed break from teaching to get Writing Done. Then, all members of Chez Reads--Mr. Reads, Amy Reads, and Pup Reads--will head to Rural Area outside of Relatively Nearby Metropolis to enjoy a (very!) brief vacation at a, yes, Friends, dog-friendly bed and breakfast. We are all of us thrilled, but none more so than Pup Reads herself.

Pop culturally, We Reads have discovered a fantastic television show entitled Burn Notice. Normally, We Reads shy away from anything on the USA Network (has anything on said network reached the pinnacle of USA Up All Night? I think not!), but on seeing many stellar recommendations, we decided to get the first disc. And then we promptly got the last three and finished the entire first season in a week. It is smart, fresh, funny, sad, well-written, well-acted, and most importantly, engaging. As season 2 begins in a few weeks, I Highly Recommend that you watch season 1 in preparation!

In comics related news, I have finally (!) gotten caught up with Wonder Woman, much to my pleasure, and greatly enjoyed participating in Renee Montoya Week on the site Who Is The Question? Thanks to Eric for allowing This Humble Author to speak out on one of her favorite characters! And as news trickling out of Wizard-Chicago reveals, once again Amy Reads is heartbroken over not attending a convention. Gail Simone and Greg Rucka both speaking on a panel about Wonder Woman? It is This Humble Author's convention dream transposed to reality! One day, Gentle Reader, one day.

There is still Amy Reads's Great Read of Green Lantern and X-Men coming soon, but more importantly, there is a desire to get some Real Writing Done, Myself. Now that the dissertation has been Put Away (in a metaphorical sock drawer, for six months, as the old sage advice goes), I feel an almost-desperate need to Produce and Accomplish.

11 comments:

Mana G said...

Ooh, burn notice! I love Burn Notice! I'm glad to hear you do, as well. I must admit, Sam is my favorite character, but there's a lot to be said for Fiona, as well!

Eric said...

I too unexpectedly enjoyed Burn Notice!

Thanks for participating in Renee week. I'm sorry that I wasn't as participatory as I wanted to be -- as I've said a million other places in explaining my absence this week, my wife had a tonsillectomy, and has been doing very poorly with all medications they've given her so far for the pain (and the nausea resulting from the pain medications).

Thought you might be interested to see Greg Rucka's follow-up though:

http://ruckawriter.livejournal.com/46144.html

skullduggery said...

Of course you like Burn Notice.
The characters are all interesting and entertaining.
And most importantly, it has Bruce Campbell. Bruce Campbell makes everything better.

Amy Reads said...

Hi Mana,
Ooh, burn notice! I love Burn Notice! I'm glad to hear you do, as well. I must admit, Sam is my favorite character, but there's a lot to be said for Fiona, as well!

I love that she is The Heavy. Fiona is the muscle, and I think that adds a depth to the show one does not normally see.

Also, I adore Michael, which is odd. Most often I find myself more enamored of the secondary characters rather than the main character (Buffy was my least favorite on BtVS, for example, or at least until Dawn came along).

(And Sam's my favorite, too).
Ciao,
Amy

Amy Reads said...

Hi Eric,
I too unexpectedly enjoyed Burn Notice!

It is Very Smart, no? Might I now recommend a quiet murder mystery, Foyle's War?

Thanks for participating in Renee week. I'm sorry that I wasn't as participatory as I wanted to be -- as I've said a million other places in explaining my absence this week, my wife had a tonsillectomy, and has been doing very poorly with all medications they've given her so far for the pain (and the nausea resulting from the pain medications).

Oh no! I hope Mrs. Eric is doing well. Send her My Regards.
And no worries! I think it went swimmingly, but if you feel as if there is more to do, then that just means we have to plan *more* talks about Renee! :)

Thought you might be interested to see Greg Rucka's follow-up though:
http://ruckawriter.livejournal.com/46144.html


I confess I had seen it, and Mr. Reads was rather impressed I received a doctoral "shout-out" from Mr. Rucka. I do like that he, too, was interested in Renee's look. It is such a fascinating look, no?

Huzzah!
Ciao,
Amy

Amy Reads said...

Hi Skullduggery,
Of course you like Burn Notice.
The characters are all interesting and entertaining.


It is Very True. And it even makes Miami look like an interesting place to visit. Living in the South all of my life, I am rather anti-anything more Southern than my hometown of New Orleans (like all women with naturally curly hair, I really, truly despise humidity).

And most importantly, it has Bruce Campbell. Bruce Campbell makes everything better.

Indeed! I think more movies and television shows should have Mr. Campbell. My favorite Campbell is Bubba Ho-Tep. You?
Ciao,
Amy

skullduggery said...

Amy,

Indeed! I think more movies and television shows should have Mr. Campbell. My favorite Campbell is Bubba Ho-Tep. You?
My favorite will always remain The Evil Dead. I'm a big horror movie fan and that one just happens to be my favorite horror movie of all-time.
I enjoyed Bubba-Ho-Tep as well. It was a strange movie but definitely entertaining. It was good enough that I was even compelled to actually buy the DVD.

Evie said...

I too was pretty bummed to miss that panel, as they are my two favoritist comics writers, as well as the screening of Batman: Gotham Knight with Rucka. But living in a journalistical house, at least we got a press advance of the DVD. It didn't come with a Rucka though :(

Amy Reads said...

Hi Skullduggery,
My favorite will always remain The Evil Dead. I'm a big horror movie fan and that one just happens to be my favorite horror movie of all-time.
I enjoyed Bubba-Ho-Tep as well. It was a strange movie but definitely entertaining. It was good enough that I was even compelled to actually buy the DVD.


I actually am not that into the Evil Dead movies, although Mr. Reads *adores* them. So I think I am much more a later Bruce Campbell fan.
Ciao,
Amy

Amy Reads said...

Hi Evie,
I too was pretty bummed to miss that panel, as they are my two favoritist comics writers, as well as the screening of Batman: Gotham Knight with Rucka. But living in a journalistical house, at least we got a press advance of the DVD. It didn't come with a Rucka though :(

More things should come with lagniappe Rucka, no?
And I love the podcasts! I want to download them to my ipod so I can listen while walking. How does one do that?
Ciao,
Amy

Evie said...

I said this in my comments too, but the podcast is just an mp3, so get it to your iPod however you get a song to your iPod. If you usually do this all through iTunes for your music, the podcast is listed in the iTunes store, but it's still free--just search for "Awesomed By Comics," or use the link in my right sidebar. When you double-click the episode you want, it will go into your iTunes library, under "Podcasts" in the left sidebar. Also, if you hit the "subscribe" button in iTunes, it will automatically download every time we post a new episode. Does that help?