We watched the Olympic opening ceremonies Friday night. We both knew that Rio couldn't put on quite the show some of the recent venues have, but we're disappointed in what they did present. Their preaching about the environmental issues seems disingenuine when thinking about the worries of water quality in all the venues. Nobody may ever top the Bejing opening ceremonies, but I expected more. Maybe something involving Carnival and some dancers. Parts of it were cool, but it kind of fell flat with us.
We had date night last night. A simple dinner and a few dark beers at the Backstage Bistro. This is adjacent to the theater where we watched Suicide Squad last night. This movie is a ton of fun. It has a few unnecessary characters, but those in the forefront carried the show. Will Smith has the chops to shoulder the acting work, and he did.
I've grown tired of all the Harley Quinn costumes, pinups, and various other artwork. I got over it in a hurry last night. Harley is a great character, and her love for the Joker comes across as dangerous and genuine. Margot Robbie did a great job with her character. This has to be tough, because so many people have expectations for Harley. More so even than Batman and Superman.
Smith and Robbie worked together a year or two ago in Focus. It was a good movie too, but it wasn't a super hero movie.
Harley Quinn, yeah – I want one.
I managed a few words again today. I tried my hand at a specific micro-fiction that I've been thinking about, and don't like the result. Maybe by typing something out, it will occur to me how to fix it. I also added about 1500 words to a short story I'm writing. I have no idea how long this one will be, and it might approach novella length before I finish. I've said before, they need to be as long as they need to be. I'm not going to change that theory now.
I also worked up a couple of critiques for my meeting next week. These are good writers, so I find myself treating them more and more like a beta reading project. If I don't get back to work on The Yak Guy Project, the guys are going to be all caught up in a few months.
I find myself better suited to write micro-fiction and short stories when there are distractions. With the Olympics and other Summer activities going on, it may be October before I get back to Yak Guy.
I wound up cutting down my Seckle pear tree today. It got a dose of fire blight that I just can't get rid of. I've pruned and pruned, and it just keeps spreading. I left a couple of feet of stump and sacrificed the entire crop. If I got ahead of the spread, it may still make a nice bushy backyard fruit producer. If not, I'll completely remove it and won't replace it. I spent two years getting my hands on this variety, which is my favorite. If it's going to be a needy baby, I have better things to do.
Back to the paycheck job tomorrow. I hope all of you had a great weekend. Did you write anything? Did you see the movie? What did you think of opening ceremonies?
Brazil is one to talk about the environment considering their treatment of the Amazon rainforest.
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That’s kind of what we thought too.
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I missed the ceremony and only saw the parading competitors. Many people have said the same as you: they expected something spectacular, but we’re left feeling disappointed. Such a shame. Pity about your pear tree. Cutting of any tree makes me feel sad. I have done no writing. I am on holiday in Co Kerry and don’t even have a post written for tomorrow. I feel bad about that, even though I’m on a bit of a blogging break. I rarely miss my monday post, and it’s bugging me.
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It’s summer, I’ve let a regular day or two pass myself. The tree is disappointing, but I don’t want to baby something forever either. Roses that act that way get pruned with the shovel.
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I don’t want to see the movie, I don’t much care about the Olympics, and the only things I wrote were bloggery — but I promise, I’ve had an exceptional weekend! 🙂
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Well okay then. Hope you got some time away from all the peopling.
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Thanks, yeah, I saw the same three people all weekend AND I LIKED IT 😀
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I haven’t been paying attention to the Olympics. Totally agree that Rio going on about environmentalism when those that have to enter the water will probably come out diseased. Curious as to which characters you thought weren’t necessary in Suicide Squad. I have heard that they edited out a lot, so I wonder if they get more screen time in an uncut release. Had a lot of fun watching that movie. Oddly enough, Captain Boomerang and El Diablo were two of my favorites.
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I just don’t think they had enough time to make them all satisfying. I didn’t see the value of Captain Boomerang at all. Will Smith had his daughter thing going on and it brought a lot of humanity. I don’t know that Joker was even needed. He could have done more of a cameo like Batman did. Kind of curious why the bubble headed monsters only fell when the Suicide Squad shot them, and not when the trained mercs did.
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I think I have some answers. Joker was needed for Harley’s growth and background, but they cut a lot of his stuff for some reason. His presence keeps her loyalty to the team in question. I did see some of the monsters falling to the military guys, but I got the feeling they were shooting more at the body. The camera was usually on a Squad member, so I never noticed what the others were doing. As far as Captain Boomerang, I think he was more of a wild card than the others. Probably a little comic relief too. I look at it as every time needs a Hawkeye.
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There is a danger on spending too many minutes (chapters) on background. I think everyone’s judgment would be different here.
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True, but personally I thought they slipped it in enough. I saw this as an origin movie, so I went in expecting a heavy dose of background. The two big ones got some extra while the others got their intros. Was thinking more about Captain Boomerang and I think I figured out what drew me to him. He was the only one, at least to me, that gave off the vibe of being dangerously untrustworthy. He seemed a lot less refined than the others too. Even Killer Croc seemed cleaner and he lives in a sewer.
Question: Did you ever get the feeling that Amanda Waller was the most evil character in the movie?
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Most evil by far. I thought Harley was a pretty good wild card, while mistrust might not apply, batshit crazy covers a lot of ground.
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True. She was definitely the most unpredictable.
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Around here, we missed the Olympics opening because of the time zone difference. From what you are saying, and from brief images in the news the following day, it seems we must have no regrets.
I have been busy figuring out the best way to include the Tree of Death in my second Dracula volume.
Have a productive writing week!
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I think it’s wonderful that something in the Idea Mill inspired you. Thanks for telling me about it.
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I missed the opening ceremonies, didn’t see the movie, and only got a blog post written yesterday 😦 On the plus side, I did a lot of (fun) running around over the weekend, and hubby and I watched a few of the events out on our covered patio. So basically, I goofed off!
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I always think I should get more accomplished, but I need a life too. Olympics and movies fall into the life category. I can’t remember the last time I had a 5000 word day, or the one time I had a 10,000 word day. It’s a bit here and there lately.
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I watched the opening ceremonies. Having read about the disturbing pollution of the waters, so polluted that they couldn’t get it all cleaned up in time for the Olympics and Olympians are endangered, I found the environmental theme irritating. my two cents.
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Only wrote on the blog. No Olympics, but hope to catch the equestrian next weekend.
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I like that too. There was a tiny bit of gymkana on Saturday, but not nearly as interesting as other equestrian events.
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🙂
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Harley Quinn is a really interesting character! She wasn’t from the comics at all, and instead started as a hench-woman character in the Batman animated series, back in the ’90s. Both viewers and creators really responded to her. A lot of credit for that goes to the voice actress, Arleen Sorkin, who created her adorable Brooklyn accent.
What really broke ground was the tortured love between Harley and Joker. It was the first time I can recall any show for teens and kids that touched on the topic of abusive and dysfunctional relationships. The subject has been explored in depth during some of the episodes and movies, and that’s to the good. She’s also had interesting friendships with Poison Ivy and Catwoman that shed light on their other various psychological problems.
The past few years, due to her popularity, Harley’s had her own titles where the humor and random violence are more emphasized. This is the Harley I’m not so fond of. She’s never been about “how crazy can I get,” to me. She’s always been a cautionary figure.
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Very well said. I used to watch the animated series with my children and knew that’s where she started. I noticed she’s evolved into something more, but hadn’t put the thought into it.
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My son and I saw Suicide Squad also – agree with you about the extra characters. Had its ups and downs, but overall a fun movie.
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I’m glad to see I wasn’t the only one who was disappointed with the ceremonies this time. It’s also bugging me that it looks like someone — a LOT of someones — peed in the pool! I’m sorry about your tree. But great news about your short story progress. Might there be a Volume 2 in the works yet?
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Hey you, missed you around here. Volume two will drop on August 31st. I may do a pre-sale for ten days or so. I just have to make it all happen according to my master plan.
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