last man, last man, and first woman of tv news
so last night i get a box from amazon (when it rains it pours; still haven't finished the books from powells that i got last week).
Y: the last man! if you're not familiar with these books, check them out. they are fantastic. the illustrations, the story, the characters! anyway, i ordered number five and was going to read it on my upcoming break but i may just crack the thing tomorrow and read it then instead: usually takes me only an hour (they are comic books, people) but this one is rather long compared with the other volumes.
the last few days, i have been reading mary shelley's the last man, upon which the brian vaughan graphic novels (smart person's comic book!) are based. shelley's book is also quite an interesting read. here is what the two stories (vaughan's and shelley's) have in common:
it's the future and all the men on the planet have been suddenly wiped out by a mysterious illness.
mary shelley's book is set in 2070s but a sophisticated and fortuitous "see-er" of the future she was not. there is almost no indication, in fact, that the action takes place in the future. there are these political wars but they are almost laughable (greece and turkey FINALLY in 2073 reach a "truce" on their long-standing disputes). england is split between royalists, nationalists and parliamentarians. the class system, the relations between genders, etc., all conspire to lock this book solidly in mid 19th century england.
vaughan's book takes place in some vague, undetermined future, but he calls it "now". when yorick realizes every male on earth has died, except for him and his pet monkey ambersand, he has to get across the country with a secret agent and genetic scientist in order to find out WHY. along the way his band meets lesbian radicals, escaped convicts, biker gangs, all female, of course...
in addition to this, i got something else. ok ok ok it's dumb. mary tyler
moore season 4. heh heh. it is as old as i am (starting in 1970 whereas i started in 1971) but it's one of the few shows that can still make me laugh.
i admit it; i LOVE sitcoms! will & grace (we are slowly working our way through season 5 now and though i've seen them all before, masa has not and part of the fun is explaining some of the humor to him), king of queens, everybody loves raymond. there are a lot of DUMB ones out there, but some great ones as well. ah, the sitcom: the ultimate american invention!
we were going to head to ayutthaya for the weekend, but i checked last night and all the hotels are full, so we'll do it later, perhaps. kind of a bummer!
so instead: tonight heading out with some colleagues, then spending all weekend working (online), reading and watching.
woo hoo!
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