By Roy Mathur, on 2021-12-23, at 15:34:06--16:10:33 GMT, for Captain Roy's Rocket Radio Show, Listen
I'm back after a sickness and a can't-be-bothered break (see next item).
No doubt you are sick of hearing how sick I am from an on-going problem with antacid medication withdrawal. I take the drugs to treat GERD. Antacid addiction is a common condition that barely anyone talks about, but it's a thing. Look up "PPI withdrawal".
Better news is that I've managed to reduce my dose from two pills a day, to one pill a day, to one pill every other day. If I take less than that, there are severe consequences, like ending up in casualty, which happened a few years ago.
The point is I'm as okay as I'm going to be. More importantly, my motion sickness (a symptom of the acid reflux) has subsided, which means I can again feel captainly and piratey without wanting to violently throw up. Not so much "argh!" as "arghhh!" Although, I am still considering how annoying of this "Captain" persona is, but I'm rowing/rolling with it for now. Sorry.
In other news, I had a self-haircut. I'm not quite the Jerry Cornelius rock star I want to be, but I am less revolting.
It's not good.
I'm averaging, very roughly, 1000 downloads per episode; modestly extrapolating the c. 500 "views" from archive.org I get for each episode are at least duplicated across the plethora of platforms this podcast is syndicated.
On the surface, this seems fine, but I've been doing this for almost a decade! Still not convinced? Methinks the nerd complaineth too much? Well, I have not received a new review in six years. I have not had a single supporter tip me a single pound or dollar since I started podding. I very rarely get any comments. I have tried engaging the audience by hosting chats, forums, etc., with zero results. I even tried interacting with other podcasters, until I am blue in the face.
Every episode I think of giving up, but then, what else would I do? Besides I enjoy doing it, but that does not mean I don't crave credit and recognition. I'm not a bloody emotionless robot. I'm an emotional robot.
There's no solution to this farce that I can think of, so... I'm just going to leave that thought, heavy with pessimism, dangling uncomfortably in the silence.
But it is Christmas Eve Eve, when even I can't be a total git, so, even if the majority of humanity is getting right on my wick right now, merry Christmas Eve Eve to one and all.
At least Christmas is organised and ready to go at Castle Royenstein. Presents for all, except me, but that's my own fault as I couldn't decide in time.
Except for the grumpy last minute shoppers, who can kiss my drivers seat as they see my car vanishing into the wintry distance with the last piece of Stilton in England, again, I hope you are all well out there.
20 Popular South Asian DC and Marvel Superheroes is an article by Hiyah Zaidi.
The heroes include Arani Desai AKA Celsius, the first DC South Asian character, created in 1977, and both Dr Niles Caulder's wife and the first leader of Doom Patrol. She's an immortal martial artist with a control over extremes of temperature.
I watched The Expanse E06S02 on Saturday.
I miss Klaes Ashford (David Strathairn), so I'm glad to see the show has a pirate space captain again in the shape of Liang Walker (Stuart Hughes), currently making a deal with Drummer.
Welcome to the Captain's Table, Captain Walker. Arghhh!
This is a live action realisation of cult 90s sci-fi anime TV show about space bounty hunters.
John Cho is in absolutely astonishing shape for his age and sublimely cool as the main protagonist, ex-gangster, Spike Spiegel.
Cowboy Bebop is jazzy, cool, neon dream, with great FX, a great cast, but the dialogue seems oddly paced, with peculiar long pauses, and I'm just not that interested in the story.
Although I have watched an episode or two of the original, my nearest frame of reference to something similar of a similar vein is the Han Soloish, Space Adventure Cobra, which was also slated for a live action reboot, helmed by Alexandre Aja, but was mired in development hell. Given how Cowboy Bebop has fared, that was probably for the best. Anime is not live action. It's not a one-to-one translation. Although anime has influenced many other media (e.g. Chronicle's Andrews is basically Akira's Tetsuo), I can't think of any anime that has made it successfully to live action. Let me know if I'm wrong.
Though I mentioned martial arts and dragons, etc., I feel I missed out on come cultural commentary I should have included in the review in pod 416.
As an Asian of the Indo-Mauritian variety, there were a few important vignettes in Shang-Chi that struck a chord. (My family migrated from India to Mauritius in the 1800s, and I don't like the term, "Indo-Mauritian", but I'm using it here as lazy shorthand).
Though many aspects of Asian culture are not uniquely Asian, they are notions that we greatly adhere to; sometimes painfully so, sometimes under tremendous pressure. There was the multi-generational family unit, the emphasis on duty, status (oh, my god, this one's the biggy), ambition, and making something of your life. I found those portrayals of Asian life accurate.
Finally, I really appreciated the fact that people took off their goddamn shoes before entering the home.
I have been waiting to see Edgar Rice's latest movie, a nostalgic, time-travelling, psychedelic horror film, for a while. That description guaranteed that I was looking forward to it.
In the present day, Eloise "Ellie" Turner, a girl with a serious passion for 60s retro, is a fashion student fresher in the big bad seedy Smoke from the relative sticks of Redruth in Cornwall. (Hello Redruth, from Mum and Dad, whose late friend Rene was from Redruth).
The sordid history of London's West End, where her college is situated, begins to impinge on her present when she moves into an old bedsit. Each night when she sleeps, she dreams of her glamorous mystical twin trying to make it big as a starlet in the sickening casting couch culture of the sixties (sadly, something that hasn't changed much until the recently #MeToo movement) and the grisly ghosts of the past start to manifest.
As the historical horror unfolds, we follow Ellie in the present; her stressful arc from shy and mousey girl from obscurity, to arty, gothy, and a little unhinged, talented fashion student, and finally to, we hope, promising graduate.
Though filmed in other locations too, this movie is set in the West End. I know the area well, having been a frequent visitor since childhood, gone to uni in the vicinity, and from spending most of my pre-pandemic leisure time there. Because of this, the film has a personal relevance to me as I have trod those same streets as Ellie, though for far longer.
There are lots of Edgar Wrightisms. There's the way London; smoky and old, and grimy and new, still seem somehow bright, cartoony, and colourful. There are the zombie hoard-like ghosts. There's the occasional touch of humour, e.g. when John, who's from South London, tells Ellie he understands what it's like living so far from home.
The soundtrack is fantastic. I love that Barry Ryan's Eloise, the original version, not the later goth rock cover by The Damned (both of which I love), is so key to the film. I love seeing Cilla Black, hearing Petula Clark, and Sandie Shaw, though the erotic Puppet on a String parody at the Rialto thoroughly creeped me out. In the modern day portion of the movie, there's also Siouxsie and the Banshees' fantastic ear-dictive Happy House, a typical contemporary student Halloween party choice. (Except not at any uni I've ever attended. I can only remember the unimaginative DJ playing the Rocky horror Picture Show's Time Warp when I was at Dorset Institution of Higher Education. By the way, some Rugby playing wag I don't know wrote of amazing times, i.e. being permanently drunk, when he studied/drank at the same time as me. My recollections were that it was generally crap. Ram that right up your yearbook, alumni society).
The cast is great. New Zealand actress, Thomasin McKenzie, who only occasionally triggered my accent fascism, is Eloise. Michael Ajao is as her friend John; a sweet, nerdy character, who frankly (I speak from personal experience), would never ever get the girl. Terence Stamp plays a dirty old bastard and Matt Smith plays a dirty young bastard. Diana Rigg is Ms Collins, a sad landlady. Anya Taylor-Joy (the lead, Beth Harmon, in The Queen's Gambit) is perfectly cast as the starlet. Those are but a few of the great performances.
It made me nostalgic for I time slightly before my time, but a time my mum and dad are familiar with.
I retweeted news of horror novelist Anne Rice's death, but forgot to include it in the last geekly weekly. Anne Rice really changed the face of vampire fiction when she wrote the short story and later novel, Interview with the Vampire. I, in fact, first came across her work from the 1968 short story, reprinted in an anthology.
Both my mother and I are fans of Rice, and gothic horror/romance in general, and have read several of her works. From both of us, RIP Anne Rice, October 4, 1941--December 11 2021.
Another omission from the last geekly weekly is news of the death of The Monkees's Mike Nesmith
A best of The Monkees cassette tape was one of my first music purchases. I played that tape over and over again, and enjoyed the corny TV show as a child.
Although starting as a manufactured pop band, they learned to play their instruments, write songs, and went on to have careers, especially Nesmith, in the music and entertainment industry.
RIP Mike Nesmith, December 30 1942--December 10 2021.
Unbelievably, everything in this headline is one-hundred percent accurate.
Reported widely, Dr Philip Nitschke AKA Dr Death (I am absolutely not making this up) has developed the futuristic Sarco pod. Self-operated by the user, the tiny sci-fi space pod-like contraption it delivers nitrogen to reduce oxygen, causing the occupant to lose consciousness and die. This will be released as an open source plan so that anyone can build one.
While I understand that unbearable physical suffering is part of the human condition, I'm not sure I like how easy this invention makes it to clock off permanently. Dr Death, your invention gives me the willies.
If you are feeling suicidal, call the Samaritans on 116 123, 24/7, in the UK.
I know many people of all cultures already to do this, but if you are a stubborn hold-out, even if you are not Asian, take off your shoes. Your floors will thank you.