The Week(s) in Entertainment

once again, late - because of connectivity problems... thinking I need a new router or something

Live: South Pacific (or "Asian Pacific" as the waitress at the Alewife called it) at the Hippodrome. A wonderful performance, well staged and acted, a lot of fun. Recommended.

DVD: More of Psych's season 5 (yay it starts this week!) and finished up Pie in the Sky, which had a good ending - it's a very solid and entertaining series. Also, Tycoon: A New Russian (called simply Oligarch (Олигарх) in Russian), a pretty tricky but entertaining cinema á clef about Boris Berezovsky. Good dialog, nice cinematography, a faint Kane-ish aura for about half of it, though with a cop rather than a reporter, but then it turns thriller. And the subtitles are good if you don't speak Russian.

TV: Doctor Who. Stephen Moffat does good shows, but I have to say the ending of this season was a bit of a cheat. And I am tired of River Song, who's more Mary Sue than Rose ever was... I'm going to miss Rory, but the doctor has learned to let go before they die, and that's nice for everyone. The Middle and Modern Family are both good but they're still searching for that gap show... Suburgatory isn't it. The stereotypes are too broad and unfunny, the main character isn't at all my cup of tea, and I hate shows that have first-person narration but show us things that person can't know. House... House... oy. If I wanted to watch a prison show, I would. And Fox screwed up this week and ran Terra Nova way late (ball game, I guess) so I didn't see it - my DVR went ahead and recorded the time slot, not the show. The Mentalist, on the other hand, was delightful. I loved Jane's "reading" in the CBI office, and also thought Lisbon's comment about his conscience fighting his past self was spot on. Also, the HBO Scorcese biopic of George Harrison (of course!), a bit shapeless but still, that music!

Read: Six novels by Dana Cameron (the Emma Fielding mysteries), which are intriguing even if I'm not always fond of the main character (or her friends) - she's consistent and the settings and plots are good. Also a whole slew of novellas by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, who's a recent discovery and simply marvelous, in her characterizations and - in her sf - her world building. The Stealth Tech stories are as good as the Retrieval Artist books, though the universe is very different, and her straight mysteries are fascinating. Jason Rosenhouse's The Monty Hall Problem, a bit math-heavy for me but still interesting. Started Terry Pratchett's latest, Snuff, which is (of course, except not of course and all things considered it's a grace) brilliant so far - and it's Vimes!