Nerd Church - More Tolerance, Please?

There are two things that really struck me this week, and reminded me that people can be stupidly intolerant.

The first is the UKIP broadcast that was shown this week - which I'm not going to link to, because I'm not going to help those b*****ds get more views. Suffice to say, it was trash.

For those in other countries, let me explain: UKIP stands for United Kingdom Independence Party; their dogma is that Britain should leave the European Union (EU.)

 

What they really are, is a racist, sexist, homophobic, generally bigoted, bunch of lunatics.

They are led by a man who looks like a toad but somehow is trusted by a lot of people because he drinks in pubs a lot.

They also believe that the BBC shouldn't be making drama or entertainment programming - like Sherlock or Doctor Who. They basically believe the BBC should be a propaganda network.

They have a much larger amount of support than I would hope.

Back to the broadcast - if you cut past the pseudo-documentary-style, and the blonde Northern woman (who presumably was there to make us feel all trusting and salt-of-the-earth-y,) the 'message' was that Britain shouldn't be in the EU because... Muslims.

I'm not kidding. The whole broadcast was based around the fact that Turkey want to join the EU, and Turkey has more Muslims than Christians, as well as borders with Muslim countries.

This type of trash makes me feel physically sick.

The other thing this week that made me think: 'dude, can't we just get along and treat people right?' was the story about the Northern Ireland bakery.

To fill you all in: there's this bakery in Northern Ireland that didn't want to make a pro-gay-marriage cake for a customer.

Now - it's OK to have your own beliefs, and to not support gay marriage (though I think you're being silly if you don't support gay marriage - but that's 'cause I have my own beliefs too.) What is not OK, is not serving people cake with whatever message they want to put on it.

They were found to be discriminatory against the customer who wanted the cake: but now they've appealed and it's got all wibbly and debate-y again.

And I'm there like: Just make the damned cake!!!! No-one is asking you to marry the guy! It's a freaking cake!

Also, are we talking chocolate cake here? Or just sponge? I want to know!


Nerd Church is a weekly non-denominational post (non-nerds welcome!) discussing issues and ethics and all that cr*p. Feel free to continue the debate, or start your own, but please link back here.


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Popcorn Review! - Seventh Son (2014)

The Film/ TV Adap: Seventh Son.

The Bookish Inspiration: The Wardstone Chronicles/The Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delaney (published in the US as The Last Apprentice series.)

Main Cast: Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Ben Barnes, Alicia Vikander.

Director: Sergei/Sergey Bodrov.

BBFC Rating: 12A.

Amazon: UK - USA.



Opening credits:


I'd never read any of the books by Joseph Delaney, so didn't really know what to expect when watching this film - except that it looked kind of high fantasy-ish and was based on kids' books which are aimed at sort of 11 or 12-ish and up.


Premise:

'Spook' Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges) recruits a seventh son, Thomas Ward (Ben Barnes,) to become his new apprentice in the fight against bad magic and the diabolical plots of the evil sorceress Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore.)

Is this the life Thomas wants to lead? And can they stop Mother Malkin?


Best bits:

Julianne Moore is decidedly both batty and beautiful in this film - and clearly enjoyed playing the part. B**ch be crazy.

I love all the robes and the magic and the Ye Olde Worlde feel to this film - it makes it seem more believable, and more involving.

Ben Barnes and Alicia Vikander clearly have a level of on-screen chemistry which made their will-they-won't-they relationship feel more engaging. I really liked this aspect, because unlike most romance, this didn't feel forced, and managed to contribute to the plot by creating questions of loyalty and morality.

Oh, and there's a bit part for Kit Harington, which is always good.

Not so great bits:

Parts of this felt... under-developed? I don't know - I guess that there was so much plot to cram in that the subtler nuances sometimes got left in the dust.

I felt like maybe this was trying to be too many things at once, instead of grabbing one or two of the main themes and playing them out.

There's a bunch of violence, implied sexy times, and some gore/horror which may not be suitable for everyone.


Popcorn Worthy?

This was a sort of background-noise, veg-out film, rather than something which blew my world. It was still watchable, still enjoyable - just missing a little bit of the wow factor.



Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA - IMDb



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Friday Fics Fix! - On a Scale of 1 to Sherlock...

Have you ever heard the phrase, 'On a scale of 1 to Sherlock, how crazy is your fandom?'

I have to admit, I use it a lot. Partly because it's true, partly because as a Sherlockian myself I love to draw attention to the insanity of this particular fandom - it makes my other fandoms appear normal (well, normal-er.)

Now, why am I harking on about this? Because I've been reading more Sherlock crack - and it's waaaaay more random than last week.

(Fangirl note for those who need the reminder: crack is fanfiction so very random that there is a high suspicion that the author was under the influence of narcotics (e.g. crack) when writing.)

So, I have three portions of fairly short random crack-fiction goodness for you:

Tumblr by XxMildredxX is a ficlet (short fanfiction) of what would happen if Sherlock found Tumblr.

Surprisingly, there is no porn - just Sherlock in an advanced-stage of Tumblr addiction. Which is fab - because it's so very, very, true.

A Cat Called Sherlock by wendymarlowe is about Inspector Lestrade adopting a kitten, which he names Sherlock, leading John to get the wrong end of the stick.

There's some fairly entertaining innuendo etc., but again, no porn (I know, it's a record.)

Also, what is it about the Sherlock fandom and cats? Dudes and chicks, I believe we have some cat issues. (I have to admit though, I love kitties!!!!)

Sassy Gay Sherlock by 221Brooke is what happens when you give Sherlock the role of YouTube's Sassy Gay Friend.

It's exactly as awesome and disturbing as you would suspect. I laughed a worryingly large amount - but that might be because I'm a huge fan of 'Sassy Gay Friend.'

Much innuendo/ implied sexy-times, and loads of swearing here: so be warned!

I realise that I've spent the last few weeks in Sherlock territory - I've got Avengers fiction planned for next week (I'm not going to lie - there's a strong chance of FrostIron.)

If anyone has any recs for pretty much any fandom (I don't read fics with real people in them - I have to draw the line somewhere,) then let me know! ;)


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Comics Wrap Up - Red or Dead

Film Trailers

So many Deadpool teasers this week! (There's a tonne of swearing and adult humour in these - so NSFW - and kids, cover your innocent eyes! (I don't want your parents yelling at me.))

I adore the Australia Day message (the one with the cork hat in the thumbnail.) It's just amazing.

Not long now before the release! Can't wait to see this one - looks like it'll put the let-down of the character in Origins to bed. (Note: Deadpool himself, at this point, would use the last two sentences to make an innuendo - I leave it up to you to find one, in the hopes that your mind isn't as dirty as mine.)

Graphic Novels

This week I read the upcoming Red Sonja/Conan: The Blood of a God (UK - US) - a team up (funnily enough) of Red Sonja with Conan (as in, the Barbarian,) which I'll be reviewing within the next week or two.

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Mini-Review! (Classics Edition!) - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Title: Jane Eyre

Author: Charlotte Bronte

Genre: Classics, Romance

Amazon: UK - USA

Verdict:

Awesome, awesome, awesome book! I just finished re-reading this, and I forgot how much I love this book!

Some people may find the prose and style old-fashioned (but given that this book was published in the 1840s, that's hardly surprising,) but the effort you put in really does pay off.

Honestly, I adore this book - if you love creepy, atmospheric, novels with complex characters, societal conventions to use and rebel against, and secrets upon secrets, then this book is for you too!

Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA – Goodreads

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Review (Poetry Edition!) - Today Means Amen by Sierra DeMulder

Title: Today Means Amen

Author: Sierra DeMulder

Genre: Poetry

Release Date: 2 Feb 2016

Amazon: UK - USA

A few starting notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book via NetGalley. NetGalley provides review copies from publishers in exchange for fair and honest reviews.

This was a random read. The cover kind of intrigued me, and I've been in kind of a poetry mood lately, so I just went for it.

The poet, Sierra DeMulder, is apparently a slam poet of some notoriety, who has a bunch of videos on YouTube.

Premise:

A collection of poems by Sierra DeMulder.

Best bits:

A lot of the poems in this collection were truly beautiful and genuine, and I really did enjoy this book as a whole.

I'd have to say that my favourites were two poems from the last section of the book - 'Today Means Amen' and 'Release It,' because these were the ones that I most related to, and that I imagine most people would relate to in some way.

These two poems, like several of the others, were about being kind to yourself, keeping going even when life seems its darkest, love, and life.

A lot of the poems in this collection can, to me, be classified as 'good' poetry - you don't have to get it, it gets you: it has some life-like, almost breathing, quality to it.

Check out this video performance of 'Today Means Amen' and judge for yourself...

Not so great bits:

I did find that some of the imagery just wasn't to my taste - but that's a personal thing. Some of it was just a little too intimate (in pretty much every sense,) and made me feel slightly intrusive.

To each his own though; that intrusiveness just shows how very personal and open a lot of this poetry is - something which is always admirable, even if not always comfortable.

Verdict:

Overall I really enjoyed this collection - there were some poems I didn't enjoy so much, and some that I didn't relate to as well as others, but then, that's only natural really.

I imagine this would be great for dipping in-and-out of, and would be fairly accessible to people who aren't usually into poetry. 

Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA – Goodreads – Author's Site

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The Month in Review(s) - January 2016

From now on I'm going to provide a brief 'Month in Review(s)' post.

This is literally a re-cap of all the reviews that I've written this month, collated in one post.

So now you can take a shufty at the books (and the odd film) that I've reviewed in the month, and catch up on any you may have missed.

Enjoy! :)

Kids

Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson - Historical Fiction

Young Adult

Dark Hope by Monica McGurk -  Angels, Paranormal.
The Invisibles by Francis Gideon - Romance (M/M), LGBTQ+.



Adult

Dead Ice by Laurell K Hamilton - Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Zombies, Vampires, Crime, LGBTQIAP+
Poetry From the Lady of the Pier by Effrosyni Moschoudi - Poetry, Short Stories, Chick Lit

Graphic Novels

STARVE Vol 1 - dystopian

Non-fiction

Death, Disability, and the Superhero: The Silver Age and Beyond by Jose Alaniz

Popcorn Reviews (Film)

Batman (1989)
Constantine (2005)


I'll do a Charity Reading Challenge 2016 update when I've actually read something towards it. (Note to self: remember to read stuff for that challenge.)