ECHO (2024)

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Favorite Marvel series since WANDAVISION: fantastic performances all around, especially from Alaqua Cox and D'Onofrio whose father/daughter dynamic proved particularly affecting. Wears its TV-MA proudly, especially in the first few episodes (the DD fight was solid), but waters things down (Skateland being its last great action moment) by the end of its brisk five-episode run. Ending elicited a solid cheer, but given its earlier penchant for gritty, weighty action, I'd hoped for something to rival the DD/Fisk throwdown at the end of Netflix's first (and still best series of Marvel TV) season of DAREDEVIL: there was room for it – emotionally (even more so than DD, TBH) and run-time wise (36 minutes for the final episode seemed a bit too brisk), certainly. Wouldn't have diluted the power of the denouement. That being said, hope we get more: Alaqua Cox's Maya is, by far, my favorite addition to the Marvel pantheon in the D+ era.

echo still: maya kicks ass

three quick notes on SECRET INVASION 03 + 04

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  • While I loved the first 1/3, I can't, at this juncture, figure how they intend to wrap up this story in a satisfying fashion with two episodes to go. Perhaps the plan is to kill everyone on the show one by one and then, when everyone's dead, the show ends?

  • Thusly, the final episode will be Gravik killing all of the Graviks until there's none left except for himself...

  • But, in the post-credits sequence, Nick Fury emerges from the pile of Graviks, points his gun at final Gravik and says, "Now go the fuck to sleep." Smash cut to black.

NL by weekend / WEREWOLF BY NIGHT

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Which is far less sexy-sounding than Vampire Weekend (whatever happened to them anyhow? loved their stuff) but is nonetheless essential: managed to scrounge out more words than I expected and, via writing about them, brought my two-fold plans for taking a creative gamble on myself (ComicsThing and Another Thing) into sharper focus. On track to arrive in subscribers’ inboxes tomorrow morning.

WEREWOLF BY NIGHT is the best thing Marvel has done in a long time (though SHE-HULK is brilliant, as was WANDAVISION) and I want more of it. Always great to see a composer direct (though I can't think of any off the top of my head – I'm not including myself in it; I'd rather include those possessed of talent in both): they bring such a unique sense of timing to things.

sun/20220911

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Issue 0086 of MacroParentheticals – this time in the guise of a 2900-word behemoth (sorry, everyone) that I spent twenty years living, three days thinking about, and two days turning into whatever it was that met the deadline and reached the readers, has been delivered to 50 inboxes. As such, my brain is in a typical NewsletterSunday state of emptiness which is where I want it to be anyhow so, just a few items of housecleaning to end week 37 and begin week 38 (the newsletter being the end, today's posting here being the beginning).

Finished THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER and, as seems to be the way for me with (nearly) every Marvel project since WINTER SOLDIER (still the best – though I do love the ANT-MAN movies), I came away tepid and moderately moved. Had some elements that worked: everyone was great in it – especially Bale, Portman, and Thompson; Hemsworth, at this point, could do the part in his sleep… which is pretty much where the film left me. But I did like the screaming goats.

Note: continuing my assembly of favorite pieces from recent MCU efforts into one project: MST3K Wongersynn with Thor's two screaming goats and Captain Carter and Yelena being Captain Carter and Yelena.

OK that's all I've got. Back to fiction tomorrow morning.

punching sand to improve my capacity to outrun myself

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The heavy bag is assembled in my former office after finding that the bag / stand was not too wide but rather too tall (after assembly, of course) for the current office in the paintshop; much hilarity ensued. Learning the basics of boxing and incorporating it as my fourth daily solo exercise alongside yoga, HIIT, 5k run, and, I suppose, drumming into my daily exertions has long been a goal. Similar to the previous three / four, I've no interest in competition against anyone but myself, my exertions being simply another means of outrunning the shithead in my brain.

Intriguing to recognize the similarities between a boxing practice and my efforts to re-learn – and improve – upon my previous drummer-iteration: both are hand-led disciplines of metronomic timing, coordinated limb independence, relaxation, rhythm, and movement – foundational jab/cross/hook/whatever are to the bag what foundational paradiddles/flams/flam accents/rolls/open/closed/etc/etc are to the drums. Also explains why I'm getting the hang of boxing quicker than I expected: still, have to learn to slow it down and break each movement down as I would each rudiment on the drumset; either way, a fascinating experiment in fortuitous timing, right/left/right right/left – related: 10-foot-long headphone cable arriving today so I can play the TD-1K without getting my sticks and myself tangled up.

Newsletter writing flurry: a piece that I had intended to be a humorous and somewhat snarky look back has metamorphosed into something else, something different. Such is the way: every time I tell myself I'm going to write something quick and short and entertaining I transform/terraform it into some soul-searching meandering. Either way, it arrives tomorrow morning in subscribers' inboxes.

Treetrimmer invasion update: a growing number of trees in The AC look either like pieces of broccoli or middle finger amputees waving proud in the air but, on the bright side, my grandfather's lawnmower is no longer stuck in the mud – though treetrimmers had fuckall to do with that: self + Amish passerby riding lawnmower lift FTW.

Madisynn and Wong need their own MST3K-inspired MCU show. Wongersynn.