100 Miles! and media

[fannishliss]

Today I made the 100 mile mark!!  Reaching the first 100 took me longer than I hoped but the challenge has kept me feeling motivated.  Also, carrying my camera and taking pictures of things I like helps.    I also bought a zumba membership, yay.  And I did my little yoga routine twice already this week, which really does improve my feeling of wellness. :)

Recent media have included:
[85-6] Supernatural 7.21&22, [87] Sherlock 2.2, [88] The Avengers movie, [89] Clocking Off (with C. Eccleston!) and Classic Who: [90] Spearhead from Space and [91] The Seeds of Doom.   Details under cut!

[85] SPN 7.21 "Reading is Fundamental" and [86] SPN 7.22 "There Will Be Blood"   S7 has been really uneven for me.  To be fair, it's because I work a lot on Fridays and so I've missed the beginnings of some eps and seen others at random times.  But also, I just have a hard time with the hopelessness of having all their friends and allies torn away.  I could take it for one season (I thought s6 rocked) but for two it's kind of bringing me down.  I've even gotten to the point where going out in the blaze of glory is starting to look like a good option, and I always wanted a reward for them.  sigh! But it's still a fantastic show, so I am hopeful for s8.  At least Jodie Mills is still alive at the this point -- I think she's literally the only ally left whole?  Seriously, if they did bring Cas back in for next year, I would not be at all bummed.  Meg and Crowley provide some continuity, and I like that.  Lucifer? I guess we'll find out in the finale.

[87] Sherlock 2.2 The Hounds of Baskerville. This was really fun I thought.  I try to disregard the gaping problems in these Sherlock eps and just enjoy the enjoyable parts, because John and Sherlock are too awesome to ignore.  I still don't love this show (at all!) but I love John Watson, and I think Cumberbatch does a great job with the iconic character of Sherlock -- plus the supporting characters are fantastic.  Gatiss as Mycroft really rocks.  I loved in this particular ep the whole bit where Sherlock claims he doesn't have friends and John just loses it, and Sherlock apologizes. That was brilliant.  Plus I loved Sherlock in the Mind Palace -- they are doing a little more with Sherlock's nature as not just a genius, but a savant, which I really love.  That thing in 2.1 where he broke the code for Irene was just so cool.  I think the real joy of Sherlock is the fandom and the great fic that people are just producing in droves.  I've read some just astonishingly brilliant stuff over at 221B_recs.  It really kills me the risks that writers are taking, the work they are pouring into their work, and all of this is flying under the radar, until something like 50 Shades of Gray surfaces. Great work is rising to the surface, and I wish there was a better way to recognize it than 1000 kudos on AO3.  :P

[88] The Avengers movie.  My husband, son, and I bolted out of the house yesterday to take advantage of $6 tickets.  I have been a lifelong comics enthusiast, but I never really grooved on the classic Avengers team.  My Avengers were folks like Dr. Strange, Son of Satan (Damon Hellstrom), The Scarlet Witch and the Vision.  I've always loved the creepy side of things.  I don't think I've ever read a Captain America comic in my life, and since they did not cast Jensen (more's the pity!) I did not go see the movie.  I also never cared for the Hulk or Thor, so I didn't see the Hulk movies, but I did go see the Thor movie for some reason and I really, really liked it.  That guy who plays Loki rocks my world.  I adore him.   Black Widow and Hawkeye I've barely heard of.  I did go see the first Iron Man movie as well - but not the second one.  So, the whole bit with the Tesseract was obscure... but I kind of went with it.  Let me also just say?  I FREAKING LOVE FLYING FORTRESSES.  I don't care how stupid it looks or how non-functional it clearly is, it is a FLYING FORTRESS and THERE IS NO COOLER THING. (Except maybe a Tardis, which if you think about it is totally a flying fortress that travels through time.  AWESOME!!!)  Ever see that Miyazaki movie, Castle in the Sky?  YUP I HAVE.  :D  So.... parts that worked for me:  Thor and Loki love-hating on each other throughout, I eat that up with a spoon, Loki is so crazy and Thor is really growing on me;  Black Widow fighting those Russians while still tied to the chair; Black Widow's thing with Hawkeye, I fully loved how Whedon handled it; Hawkeye flips my flippers (in my mind he is played by Martin Freeman ok);  Mark Ruffalo as Banner simply rocked; and the bit where Stark poked Banner and then watched to see if he'd hulk out.    Things which almost worked for me:  the alien threat (they reminded me too much of those guys from The Christmas Invasion, I just wanted to read them the Shadow Proclamation and introduce them to my Fighting Hand);  I kind of liked the giant flying sharks?  idk; the whole Tony/Pepper thing which I really liked in theory but which in practice belonged in some other movie?  Things which did not work for me: Steve Rogers; the way in which they put the battle in New York City yet somehow carefully skirted all the tall buildings; firing at aliens with handguns; also engaging cyborgs or whatever they are in hand-to-hand.   Sorry, but the guy who plays Captain America just doesn't do it for me.  He seems so bland.  I want more spark.   Anyways, we went for Shawarma this evening in honor of the movie's secret tag.  It was fun. 

[89] Clocking Off  -- perhaps the happiest role Chris has ever had.  I loved it.  Very unrealistic, but fun!

[90] Spearhead from Space -- this is the ep where Three has just regenerated from Two, he finds out his Tardis doesn't fly anymore, and he meets his new companion Liz Shaw.  Liz was pretty awesome, as was the Brigadier.  The villain in this ep is the Nestene Consciousness and it has some really great henchmen working for it.  Great story!

[91] The Seeds of Doom.  Four and Sarah Jane from 1975.  A really great story for their friendship.  They work together like troopers and the Doctor actually introduces Sarah Jane as his Best Friend!  which made me very happy.  The villain in this story is the Collector from Pokemon 2000 (I think they actually based the anime character on this guy's face and mannerisms.)