Reading (E-Reader): "Cosmos" (Sagan), "Hulk" (David), "Candle" (Dawkins); "Lifelog" and Book Switching

I've been a proponent of e-reading for many years, but have not really tried to flip books very often.  An advantage of E-reading is that many books are stored at once, all keeping track of your place in the book.

When the kids were younger, I used to read to them (e.g. "Lion, Witch and Wardrobe") and as they were falling to sleep, switch to whatever book I was reading at the time.

On and off, I've jumped between a couple of books, primarily as some I wanted to read, but wasn't immediately captured by it.
I "accidentally" started reading "Hulk" by Peter David, which is the source material for the 1st Hulk movie (with Eric Bana).  The movie wasn't very good, so I had little hope for the book, but being a comic nerd, I started anyway.  The book actually is pretty good, and provides the necessary details that didn't come across in the movie.  The "book" story differs from the "comic book" origin for Hulk, but is an OK update (search for healing using biotech and gamma radiation), which goes awry.

The "other" aspect of the movie is an abusive relationship between very young Bruce and his father, who was a military researcher who eventually murdered Bruce's mother.  The book does a better job than the movie (Nick Nolte played Bruce's dad) of covering this topic.

Alternating with the Hulk is "Candle in the Dark" by Richard Dawkins.  I didn't manage to get through Dawkins' biography, though I may continue at some point, but have liked the first few chapters of his book.  This book returns to discussing science, with biographical tidbits of where he was and the circumstances of learning (e.g. in Panama on an island in the canal zone), which, for me anyway, is a much nicer way to connect biography with the subject of interest.

The third book in the mix is "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan, which I'm sure I read in the past, but ran across it again and thought I'd give it another read.
Basically, I read a chapter or two of one book, topped off by a chapter of another.  I'm seeing if I can keep the story fragments in check as I read something else, and use each book as a reward for another.  I love to read, but have trouble finding time to stick it in the schedule - hopefully this mutual reinforcement circle will keep me going for a while (and Christmas break is a'comin).

A second reason for playing around is that I have a Samsung tablet, which I really bought to support smart watches, but find the 7" screen and Moon Reader software work for this to be an acceptable e-reader (note, actual e-paper e-readers still rule supreme for reading text - books like Cosmos,which are illustrated are likely better on an LCD screen).  A further add-in is the software "LifeLog" from Sony, which tracks lots of information silently - if I carry my tablet around it will track steps, distance, driving time, reading time, music played, movies/media watched, social media searched, and put it into a timeline.  It even logs pictures taken, so you will have an independent date-stamp (and the other context) with your pictures.  The "value" of this may be arguable, but I kind of like the idea that I can scroll back to last year (assuming I keep the software and it logs for the duration) and see what I was reading, watching etc.  Assuming I keep this active, it might be nice to answer questions like - "what was that song we were listening to in the car" or "what the heck was I doing last weekend).

I've only been using the software for a few days, but was surprised that it tracked my commutes - I can now "know" when I got to work, when I had lunch, when I went home, when I ferried around the kids for events - I was surprised that I spent nearly an hour in the car just on short duration trips - puts gas mileage into an appropriate context as well.

Finished (Netflix series) - "Master of None" - Aziz Ansari

I ran through the entire "Master of None" series created by and staring Aziz Ansari, whom I first found on "Parks and Recreation".

I did like the show, the character of Dev (Ansari) is a modern, single guy in New York,and the shows, while staying as a comedy, do deal with real issues (such as midnight search for "morning after" contraception, racial bias in casting, kids not appreciating parents/grandparents...).

The case is good -  Noël Wells, who really looked familiar but I couldn't place, had a nice role as Ansari's on and off girlfriend.  Looking her up in Google, I found she was a cast member on SNL, though I'll have to look through some clips to identify her.  Eric Wareheim is also good as Dev's buddy - he reminds me of Sarah Silverman's buddy on "the Sarah Silverman Program" - enough so I had to check (not the same guy who played Brian on Sarah's show - Brian Posehn).  Casting his real-life dad as his father, and I believe his real mother as well is a nice touch.

The binge-watching caused me to get a little off-put by Dev's personality - the use of "unnecessary" adjectives - e.g. - "let's eat some delicious food" - with binge watching I find it a little annoying - probably not so much with a less intense watching schedule.

Worth picking up - hopefully there is a second season.

Finished (E-Reader) - "Avenue of Mysteries" - John Irving

I've been a fan of John Irving for a very long time - "Garp", "Hotel New Hampshire", "Cider House Rules" and even older, odder books "158 Lb. Marriage" and "Setting Free the Bears".

I certainly waited for his latest book "Avenue of Mysteries".  The book is based around a pair of kids growing up in a garbage dump in Mexico, the main character is a boy of about 14, and his younger sister.  The sister has some psychic ability to read minds, and some ability to see the future, but only speaks to her brother - nobody else can understand her.

The dump kids have few options - they can live in the dump or get taken in by the orphanage run by the church.
The main character is a reader - he rescues and reads books from the dump, and can read and speak multiple languages.

The story is in two timelines - the young boy and sister, which is in the past, and the older boy, now an older man, who is an accomplished author.

What is fun for an Irving fan is that the author refers to his earlier books and references a book on abortion (which causes him arguments with his church-based friends),  a book about a man with a urinary tract infection, a "circus" book based in India (there may be more).  As a long time reader of Irving, these books are "Cider House Rules" which is based on a boy growing up in a "wayward girls" clinic where they perform abortions in years past, and "the 158lb. Marriage" where the main character, a male (among other things) has a tendency to get urinary tract infections and has to choose between having surgery to "straighten" his tract, or make sure to drink lots of water to keep the area cleansed, particularly after sex.  The "circus" book is "Son of the Circus" which is based in India.

So the book has some autobiographical references to some of Irvings own writings, which is kinda' fun.

Overall, the book was good, but I can't say it grabbed me like some of his other works.  Worth reading, yes, but maybe OK queued up behind some additional pressing reading material.

Watching (watched) "Jessica Jones" - TV Series - Netflix Season 1

On Friday, Nov 20th, Netflix uploaded 13 episodes of the first season of "Jessica Jones". As I'm fighting a cold, I managed to watch all 13 over the weekend, and liked them.

Jessica Jones is a Marvel Comics character, introduced as part of Marvel's MAX line of comics, geared at older readers (they swore a lot, and had "adult" themes).    The original comic was published in 2001 and ran for 28 issues (Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos,

Marvel did an interesting think with Ms. Jones - they retrofitted  Jones into the past continuity of Marvel - the back-story is that Ms. Jones was a young hero named "Jewel" who was part of the Avengers.  In the present, she is a depressed, heavy drinker, running a private investigation service called "Alias Investigations", hence the series title "Alias".  As the MAX line was independent of the mainstream universe of the regular comics, the retrofitted history was fine, and did not ignite fanboy rage.

The storyline in both the TV series and the comic book involve rape, particularly the whole idea of consent (e.g. the Purple Man insists it was not rape as she was "willing", she contends it was as her will was not her own), and is thus not a series for younger Marvel fans.  The episodes basically involve a tracking down of the Purple Man, and in this TV world, like our own, it would be difficult to prove in court the idea that your will was not your own - the TV series does involve a defence lawyer and the difficulty in a) believing that the issue of control exists and b) figuring out how to prove this in court.  This theme was not addressed in the comics, and adds and additional dimension of realism to the whole drama.



The series introduces another character from Marvel - Luke Cage (called Power Man in his earlier comics), who is a very strong man with impenetrable skin (Cage was wrongfully convicted of a crime, and agreed to an experiment in jail which resulted in his powers).  Cage in the yellow is how he was presented in the 1970s, the right hand is how he's presented more recently, and quite close to the TV series depiction.
 
As with Daredevil (another Netflix Marvel TV series) and Jessica Jones, Luke Cage lives in the Hell's Kitchen area of New York and is a very down to earth hero.  In the comics, he had a "Hero for Hire" business to provide super-powered services to clients.  Netflix is expected to roll out a Luke Cage series, and eventually team Luke, Jessica and Daredevil into a Defenders series as well.

As with the Netflix Daredevil (and all the other current TV Series - Gotham, Supergirl, Agents of SHIELD, Arrow etc.) the casting decisions have been excellent.  Krysten Ritter is prettier than I pictured Jessica Jones, who is kinda' frumpy in the Alias comic book, but does the character well.  Luke Cage (Mike Colter) is exactly how I'd imagine Luke Cage.  One scene has him being accosted by a group of rugby players, and his expressions are right out of the comics - he fights them off, but not with any real effort, more annoyed than threatened.  Carrie Ann Moss plays a high-powered defence lawyer and does that aspect well, though the character is pretty damaged with respect to how she handles her personal life - maybe a little too quick with that storyline (they might have kept her character as a law and order one for much longer than they did).

Jessica Jones as she appears in the "present time" Alias comic.

Body count on this show is high, some graphical, though nothing quite hits like the "head crushed in door" from Daredevil or the more recent arm chopping off in Gotham.  Lotsa' throwing folks around, execution by handgun, forced suicides and murders courtesy of the Purple Man.

All in all , not a bad way to deal with a cold.

Jessica Jones as she's portrayed by Krysten Ritter (R) and as the flashback character "Jewel" in Alias, the comic

Reading: "Sick in the Head" (Paper Book) - Judd Apatow

Picked up (hardcover no less) Judd Apatow's book "Sick in the Head", which is a series of interviews Apatow has had with comedians.

As I am a fan of stand-up comedy, the interviews are a nice background into a bunch of my heroes.   Apatow's range of interviews covers many of my favourites - Steve Martin, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and even older greats like Mel Brooks and STeve Allen, along with newer ones such as Sarah Silverman and Amy Schumer.

I'm reading in the order he presents, so I've read Adam Sandler, Albert Brooks (who I only know perhiperally from movie roles), Chris Rock and Amy Schumer.