I like French, comics, books, podcasts, (board and roleplaying) games, biking, and trains. I try to stay organized and in good (physical and mental) shape.
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📚 bookblog: ❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤 for Spider-Man Life Story, by Chip Zdarsky
I stayed up too late reading this, but it was fun. It’s a bit dumb in parts, but I love the effort to weld together all the major Spider-Man stories into a single lifetime of an aging Peter Parker. I love this kind of comic, the kind that reimagines established canon in interesting ways. Fun read.
🔗 linkblog: Aller Versoix - rts.ch - Portail Audio'
J’aime bien Gare à vous, mais j’aime en particulier les épisodes qui parlent des endroits que je reconnais. Ayant habité à Chambésy pendant plusieurs mois, j’ai passé un peu de temps à Versoix, et c’est sympa d’en apprendre l’histoire.
📚 bookblog: ❤️❤️🖤🖤🖤 for Warlords of Appalachia, by Phillip Kennedy Johnson
I don’t know what this book is supposed to be. It feels like too much worldbuilding and too little plot; I would like to see more of the Kentucky I know, but it also feels vaguely exploitative of Eastern Kentucky; it feels like an excuse for violent storytelling and wants to be something deeper without quite getting there. I wasn’t a fan.
📚 bookblog: ❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤 for The Long War, by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
This series continues to have a really interesting premise, and I’m giving it some grace for how much it runs with that premise and treats it seriously. It took me a long time to get through this volume, though, because it’s getting a bit weird and the authors tend to fetishize the American frontier uncritically. I may come back to the series in the future, but not any time soon.
🔗 linkblog: Victor Wembanyama Star Wars: NBA Rookie Star's Wild Ranking'
I’ve gotten this same vibe from my students: Prequels are okay, and it’s the sequel trilogy that must not be acknowledged. I don’t fully understand this thinking, but to each their own.
📺 tvblog: ❤️❤️❤️🖤🖤 for Ahsoka (Season 1)
The show started off strong, and there are lots of individual details that I liked (including a compelling dark Jedi who made lightsaber duels interesting again). However, by the end, it felt like a mishmash of fanservice, addressing plot threads from a show I haven’t seen, but then setting them up for a future movie instead of actually resolving them. So many decisions seemed to happen for the sake of plot or convenience, and it was kind of a slog to finish the dang thing.
🔗 linkblog: Stockholm fait campagne contre la confusion entre la Suisse et la Suède - rts.ch - Suisse'
Trop marrant. Je me souviens du moment après mon séjour en Suisse où une Américaine m’a demandé si j’y avais appris le suédois. Quelques mois plus tôt, aprés m’avoir vu bavarder avec un Sénégalais, une autre Américaine a répondu avec « tiens, je savais pas que tu parlais l’africain ! ». Oh là là, les Américains.
pre-conference updates to my online presence
This week, I’m attending two different research conferences (well, I only barely attended the first one, to be honest). The leadup to these conferences has involved some changes to my web presence, just in case people actually check my website when I put it on my slides. Overall, I’m happy with the changes that I’ve made, so I thought I’d take advantage of my free Delta in-flight wi-fi to blog about some of the changes I’ve made and why.
underrated radio and Public Service Broadcasting
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to listen to more internet radio, getting back into the great NPR quiz show Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me and generally thinking about how underrated radio is as a medium. This morning, a chance comment from a familiy member had me checking the website for Public Service Broadcasting, a strange and wonderful “found audio” band that I count among my favorites. Thanks to checking that website, I learned that PSB has a new album out based on their appearance last month at the BBC Proms celebrating BBC Radio’s 100th anniversary.
🔗 linkblog: Littérature québécoise, anatomie d’un succès programmé - rts.ch - Livres'
J’ai un grand amour pour la littérature franco-canadienne depuis avoir suivi un cours à ce sujet à l’université.
🔗 linkblog: Anarchist Chess - Existential Comics'
What I like about this comic is the way it shows that we build values we don’t agree with into games because games are more fun with conflict.
🔗 linkblog: Indigenous TTRPG Coyote & Crow is free for today only - Polygon'
I’ve posted a lot about TTRPGs and values recently, and I’ve heard good things about this game, so this is welcome news.
🔗 linkblog: Un extra-terrestre dans le château du train qui sent des pieds! (Gruyères, FR) - rts.ch - Portail Audio'
Ça fait quelques semaines que j’ai du mal à finir les épisodes de Gare à vous, mais celle-co m’a beaucoup plu. J’ai de bons souvenirs de deux petites visites à Gruyères; par contre, je ne connaissais pas bien Giger, et j’ai beaucoup aimé corriger cette faute.
📚 bookblog: ❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤 pour Josephine Baker, par Catel & Bocquet
Comme d’habitude, je suis impressionné par le nombre de bd francophones disponible en traduction chez ma bibliothèque municipale, mais j’aurais préféré lire cet album en français. En tout cas, je connaissais le nom Josephine Baker, mais je ne connaissais pas vraiment le personnage. J’aurai appris beaucoup plus en lisant une vraie biographie, mais une bd, c’est quand-même sympa !
🔗 linkblog: Des milliers de curieux se sont rendus à Echallens pour célébrer les 150 ans du LEB - rts.ch - Vaud'
Pendant mon séjour à Renens, je trouvais chanceux les moments où je voyais passer une rame LEB, et je regrette ne jamais avoir voyagé avec la compagnie.
📚 bookblog: ❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤 for The Long Earth, by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
This was a Jason Snell recommendation on a recent episode of The Incomparable that I nearly skipped; I’m glad I didn’t, though, because this was a fascinating book. The premise—that humanity suddenly learns about and how to access parallel worlds to either “side” of Earth—is a fascinating one. In fact, this is the kind of great science fiction that starts with a wild concept and plays with it as long as it can.
📚 bookblog: ❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤 pour Civilizations, par Laurent Binet
J’aime bien l’uchronie, et cet exemple offre beaucoup d’idées intéressantes, mais j’avoue que je ne vois pas en quoi il mérite un grand prix du roman de l’Académie française. Si je connaissais mieux l’histoire européenne, peut-être que je serais plus impressionné. En tout cas, c’était assez intéressant même si je n’ai pas tout suivi.
📚 bookblog: ❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤 for Archie 1941, by Brian Augustyn and Mark Waid
I am only passingly familiar with Archie, but the concept behind the miniseries was compelling, and I love a reimagining of familiar characters to make a point. Even more compelling was the treatment of World War II in a way that emphasized how awful war is instead of cheerleading the U.S. entry into the conflict. Really enjoyed this.