Raithe

As mentioned, I was invited to the London premiere event showing the first two episodes of The Acolyte a few backs. Now with the third episode having dropped and taken that in, I think given the nature of the show, it's going to really require the full thing to be watched to get the best idea on its script. Trouble being, is they're doing a murder-mystery detective plot, which can be slow burn to start with, and then they look to be throwing in flashback episodes and sequences. So yes, they got Carrie-Anne Moss to do the big name, then kill her off in one five minute fight sequence at the start of the first episode, but she's going to be turning up in assorted flashback stuff through the season to showcase why certain things are happening and putting characters into focus. Which I think is part of the problem. Doing an episodic release structure where most character backgrounds and reasons for behaviour aren't going to be explained or understandable until you've gotten half a dozen threads a month down the line... is not going to help with fan reception. A lot of the sensible critique of the show (some stilted dialogue, some cheapish looking costume design, and set choice questions, and flat filming) seem to be getting lost in the haze of complaints of woke casting (It's a very varied casting - which does make sense for a galactic spanning collection) and some fan horror over how not-great the Jedi are coming across as. Not quite picking up on that the High Repuplic time frame is pretty much when the Jedi are at the height of their dogmatic, bureaucratic, this is the right path absolutism with no time for questioning the path. The reveal that Amandla Stenberg was actually was a thing they'd managed to keep hidden from all trailers and such, so that was a nice touch. While you have to recognise the capability that Lee Jung-jae playing Master Sol apparently went from Korean acting royalty to learning English for the role some months before shooting began. So yes, I think to contemplate the actual story, I'm going to end up struggling my way through it just so i can have fully reasoned discussions about it afterwards. But it's not exactly got me excited or engaged.

BBC - Mount Everest: Eleven tonnes of garbage taken off Himalyan peaks

It's one of those that I pretty much re-read once a year. I hadn't seen that there was a new adaption coming.

Wrapping up the work day, and I caught the trail end of a BBC reporter in Las Vegas, an interview with a Trump supporter who was asked how the result of the trial is going to affect his voting. he said it won't and that the whole thing highlights what's wrong with America "the witch-hunting, the finger-pointing, the demonising of people on the other side. Not coming together as whole communities to discuss matters and develop proper solutions" and that was why he would keep on voting for Trump. .. I'm trying to decide if the man is meaning to be satirical or not. That level of cognitive dissonance is breaking my brain. On the upside, one of my friends scored tickets to a showing of The Crow (the original, not the remake) at a cinema near here, so I'll be off to that later tonight for the nostalgia gothic-ness. Debating on pulling out the full length black leather trenchcoat... But it is kicking off summer weather here so probably not.

To be fair, working crew and I took about 2 pictures across the entire time. I was wrapped up fixing costumes and herding cosplayers for events, and running on about 3 hours sleep each night. But to give you the general vibe...

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/microsofts-new-recall-feature-will-record-everything-you-do-on-your-pc/ "We used to call that spyware..."

First big thing I've done to get out of the house for non-work or non-funeral related matters in the past couple of months. Took the step from just stewarding to being full crew at MCM ComicCon at London over the weekend. 4 Fairly packed days doing all the behind the scenes stuff at Cosplay Central there. So dealing with the Cosplay Hospital, and then everyday the mass public, the Kids Cosplay Showcase, the Adults Cosplay Showcase, the Cosplay Variety Show, and the Cosplay Masquerades. Slept terribly so was in a fairly constant state of exhaustion. Caught up with a bunch of people I only see a few times a year. Got more hugs in few days then I have in the past 6 months. Then stuck around London an extra day since Lucasfilm and Disney sent all the SW costuming groups a batch of invites to attend the Premiere of The Acolyte at Liecester Square. It was interesting, but not quite sure the entertainment value was worth sticking in London an extra day and spending 2+ hours stood on the Red Carpet. But to be fair, that might have been affected by the previous 4 days of Con on my feet. Now doing the wfh for a few days as the post-con crash hits and I deal with some of the con-crud kicking in.

For the random "science" element...

Caught Ghosted on Apple TV. It's, hmm, an odd one. On a lot of levels it works, its a servicable popcorn blend of awkward comedy and action with Chris Evans slightly needy joe normal who has a spectacular one day date with Ana de Armas enigmatic "book curator", decides to travel to London for a surprise romantic moment only to get kidnapped and the reveal she's actually a spy. Throw in a bout of confused identities where all the bad guys think he's actually her infamous spy rep and it spirals along. A little silly, a little entertaining. Full of surprise little cameos and faces you know, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, John Cho, Ryan Reynolds, among others. But oddly let down by a lack of chemistry between Chris and Ana. They work it, but you don't seem to have that magic sparkle.