Monday, Monday...: seanan

Monday, Monday...

...can't trust that day.

Getting out of bed this morning was complicated by the fact that I was so thoroughly covered by cats that I had to practically do sit-ups to recover the use of one arm. This is the true danger of having large cats. When they want to, they win.

Still, the weekend was good, despite back issues which kept me abed a bit longer than I wanted them to on Sunday (as in, "they kept me abed on Sunday"). The new episode of Doctor Who, "The Girl Who Waited," was stellar. The season premiere of iCarly was excellent. I managed to package two-thirds of the pending poster orders for shipping. I made Chris watch War of the Worlds: Live, which was the big concert of selections from the War of the Worlds musical (complete with giant floating Richard Burton head). And Contagion...

...seriously, this movie was designed to be porn for Seanans. It could not have made me happier if it had come with the first theatrical trailer for the upcoming prequel to The Thing.

OH WAIT. IT DID.

Now, I want to note, firmly, that this is not a movie for people who are looking for plot, detailed characterization, clear enemies, happy endings, or absolutely absolute endings. It's a story about a virus. Viruses don't have secondary motivations. They don't have desires. They just have biological imperatives, and when they start exercising those imperatives, it's the job of people like the CDC, EIS, and WHO to step in and try to make them stop. Characters don't get detailed back stories or motivations, because there isn't time.

And yes, lots and lots and lots of people die. That's what happens when this sort of thing occurs. It's a good movie. It's smart, it's solid, and while the science is extremely rushed (and several layers of medical care are missing), it's rushed in the way that says "we needed a two-hour narrative, not a twenty-hour miniseries," rather than being rushed in the way that says "honey badger didn't give a fuck."

If you're not a germaphobe, I recommend this movie hugely. If you are, I recommend you stay home and watch iCarly. Or War of the Worlds: Live.

Ulla!

starmalachite

September 12 2011, 20:38:56 UTC 5 years ago Edited: September 12 2011, 20:40:17 UTC

New comment

OT, except as of probable interest to any published author, the worst case scenario typo from hell. Which, come to think of it, references a common disease vector.

Edited for HTML fail.

Almost Worst Case Scenario Typos From Hell

billstewart

September 13 2011, 07:20:42 UTC 5 years ago

Many years ago, one of my coworkers in another department asked me to send him an org chart for my department. Microsoft Mail, as it was called in those days, decided to gratuitously spell-check my mail without asking me for confirmation before sending it out. It "fixed" the spelling of the names of everybody in my department, and "fixed" the title inside the document.

This was only an almost-worst-case scenario, because Mail did have an "undo sent messages" feature that sometimes worked, and because I got a confirmation message that my email about "Orgy chart" had been successfully delivered.

---
But yes, back to the main topic, the reviews of Contagion have all sounded like "Oooh, Seanan will have fun geeking over this one!"

Re: Almost Worst Case Scenario Typos From Hell

seanan_mcguire

September 13 2011, 14:27:54 UTC 5 years ago

...I want an Orgy Chart...

agrumer

September 13 2011, 21:21:23 UTC 5 years ago

Well, I suppose the Langdon Chart comes close. Can't find an actual image of the chart itself, though.

September 14 2011, 14:46:00 UTC 5 years ago

Neat!

ladymondegreen

September 15 2011, 20:29:21 UTC 5 years ago

There used to be a custom at cons of making a chart when you entered a hall party by putting yourself on the chart and drawing lines (and you could be as explicit or subtle as you wanted) to the people you knew who were there or had already been there. This allowed people to navigate potentially awkward social relationships, such as 'my ex-boyfriend's lover who used to be a woman and is now my fiance's boss is in the hot tub with me.'

Or would, if you'd paid that much attention to the chart.