TV Review: Andor (2022)

Andor (2022) created by Tony Gilroy based on Star Wars by George Lucas 

In this prequel to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) is a down-and-out guy on an obscure planet that is more or less comfortable under the heel of the Galactic Empire. He does some black-market deals and winds up killing some Imperials who stumble onto his trail, bringing the wrath of the Empire down on the planet. At the same time, he is recruited by Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgard), a shadowy figure who wants to fight back against the Imperial Government. Andor reluctantly joins Luthen's latest plot--a plan to steal millions from the government when raiding a payroll stockpile. Nothing quite goes according to plan, forcing Andor to make some tough decisions and decide where his future really lies.

While the plot focused on Andor is central and fascinating, there's a lot of other stories going on around it. The Empire's secret intelligence agency reacts to various rebellious activities with interesting political intrigue among the agency higher ups. One of them, Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), seems to be following the right leads but others on the agency are wary of her working outside of protocols to get things done. Another very intriguing plot line involves Imperial officer Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) who tried to catch Andor for the initial killings; he loses his job but the story keeps following his downfall. He loses his job, moves back home with his overbearing mother, and gets a bureaucratic job, all the while hoping to prove he was right. On the capital world of Coruscant, Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) works with the Imperial Senate and with Luthen, hoping to get the rebels advanced enough to become the Rebellion.

The overall plotting and characters are very interesting and not the same old space opera of the Skywalker storyline. This show feels fresh and mature, with new ideas and exploring new corners of the Star Wars. Cassian Andor's origin story is well-told and I am looking forward to more. Or at least, rewatching Rogue One.

Recommended, highly for Star Wars fans.

Book Review: One-Punch Man Vol. 11 by One et al.

One-Punch Man Volume 11 story by One and art by Yusuke Murata

The story breaks into several plotlines: Saitama fighting in the martial arts tournament, Metal Bat fighting Centichoro (a gigantic, intelligent centipede), and monsters attacking various cities. Saitama's storyline is mostly played for jokes while Metal Bat has to fight above his hero rank and face off against hero-hunter Garo while exhausted from the centipede battle. A random assortment of monsters and villains show up in other cities and wreak havoc, causing the Hero Association to panic. 

I was extremely disappointed in this issue because of one of the villains, Monster Princess Super S. She is "dressed" in S&M straps and wields a whip that forces other to become her love slaves. This is the stuff that gives manga a bad reputation and is completely unacceptable. I don't want my kids seeing this; I don't want to see it either. Treating women like sex objects, even in a joking way, is unacceptable (even if the woman herself choses to be treated or treat others that way).

Not recommended at all.

Movie Review: Cold Sweat (1970)

Cold Sweat (1970) directed by Terence Young

Ex-soldier Joe Martin (Charles Bronson) makes is living chartering his boat on the French Mediterranean. His past catches up with him when a guy named Vermont shows up at his home and wants him to help with a smuggling operation. Joe was in a German jail with Vermont and a bunch of other guys--they broke out together but Joe left them behind when they killed a local cop. The other guys show up, led by the Captain (James Mason). To get Joe's cooperation, they kidnap Joe's wife and daughter (Liv Ullmann and Yannick Delulle). A cat-and-mouse thriller ensues as Joe tries to get himself out of the predicament and the bad guys try to get him to do what they want.

The movie moves a bit slow, even with a director who is a veteran from early James Bond films. The plot is very simple without any big surprises. The locations are picturesque with a fantastic car chase on the mountain roads. Bronson is okay though he does not have as much action as I was expecting. Mason makes a good villain but the rest of the cast is so-so. The very end is a bit unsatisfying.

Mildly recommended--this is for Charles Bronson fans only.

Alpha Geocaching Winter 2023

Another set of alphabet caches showed up on the map so I went to find Alphabet O (Old) - Redux in Gorman Park. The entrance to the park is an easement between two houses on a cul-de-sac, not the most obvious trail head. At least they are not hiding power converters, right?

Hidden by a shrubbery

On the trail in the park

The find was not hard with the trail so well marked.

We had an unseasonably warm day in February, so I went back to the park to pick up more of this Redux set. Alphabet N (New) - Redux is near the O cache but across a small stream. I made the find very quickly and had an enjoyable crossing.

View from the cache

If I was a shadowwalker, I could cross the shadow bridge

Not much further down the hilly trail system is Alphabet P (Placed) - Redux. Once I had the right angle on the cache, it was very easy to spot. The "P" could easily stand for something else for this cache!

That same stream again

Getting to Alphabet Q (Quick) - Redux is not as quick as the name says. The hike to it from P took a little while and went through some very "barely there" trails on the hillside/cliff looking down to the river. The hiding spot seemed obvious but it was far enough off the trail to be safe from muggles.

View of thorns from the cache

I made some calculations for the R cache but it was more accessible from a different park entrance, so I left that for another day. On the way back to the car I saw a strange rock and branch formation.

What caused this?

The next day I went to the other entrance and had a pleasant hike to Alphabet R (Root) - Redux. The weather was perfect and the hide was easy to find.

View from the cache

I started working on the Redux series E-F-G-H-I. This series is trickier because all of the caches are mystery caches. One or more of them is not at the coordinates listed on geocaching.com. Finders need numbers from the other caches to calculate the location of the false caches. I went for H and I since they were close to each other. Alphabet H (Hanging) - Redux was an easy find off the walking path system in Columbia, Maryland.

The stream nearby

The I-cache I could not find, so I suspected it was the actual mystery cache. I had a little more time to run around, so I drove over to where the E-cache was but could not make the find there either! I sent an email to the cache owner. He verified some information, so I started searching again.

The next search was for the other letters. I found Alphabet F (Fallen) - Redux not too far off the path.

Among all those branches and things

Further into the same woods is Alphabet G (Ground) - Redux. The hike in was a bit challenging with the underbrush and a long downward slope. The cache was in good shape and I had a more strenuous trip back since the slope was upward.

Less cover for a cache, more distant from muggle eyes

I was able to calculate the coordinates of one of the other caches but did not get to it before winter ended.

Back on the original series, I found Alphabet_G (Ground) behind some fallen logs. Really big fallen logs! There was a nice beach back there where the kids threw stones into the river.

Treacherous terrain!

Alphabet-F (Five) was up the hill on the other side, a much more challenging bushwhack.

Someone should clean up this mess!

The kids were done with caching for that day, so we headed back to the car. I was amazed at this tree that looks like it was pulled in half from the bottom.

How is that staying there?

Another day I returned to the trail to look for more of the original caches. Alphabet-E (Evergreen) is no longer hidden in an evergreen tree but still was easy to find.

A typical forrest view

On the way to Alphabet-H (Hole), I saw a massive obstruction on the trail. It was easy to traverse. I am sure the kids would have loved getting around such an obstacle.

You shall not pass!

The cache is located in a rocky part of the forrest, not a feature usually associated with the woods.

Atypical forrest view

With that find, I had all I needed to calculate the location of the I-cache, which also did not happen before the vernal equinox. I will be sure to wrap up these two sets early in the spring! The S-T-U-V Redux set was just posted and I still have W-X-Y-Z to start.

Alpha series completed this winter:

N-O-P-Q-R Redux

 E-F-G-H-I, but not I

 E-F-G-H-I Redux, but not E or I

Previously completed:

A-B-C-D (and the Redux)--see this post

J-K-L-M (and the Redux)--see this post

N-O-P-Q-R--see this post

S-T-U-V--see this post

Book Review: Northumberland Folk Tales by Rosalind Kerven

Northumberland Folk Tales by Rosalind Kerven

This delightful and short collection has tales from Northumbria, the region of England north of the Umber River and south of Scotland. The tales have many familiar elements--dragons, knights, witches, royalty (both human and fairy), ghosts, and so on. A couple of the stories had so many familiar motifs that they read like I had read them before. The collection is engaging and well-written. The author adapted the stories from other sources of regional folklore and does a great job with them. 

When I went to put it on my shelf, I saw I did read a collection from Rosalind Kerven before!

Recommended.

Book Review: Shuna's Journey by Hayao Miyazaki

Shuna's Journey by Hayao Miyazaki

Before co-founding Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki worked as an animator at other studios and wrote manga. One project that didn't find a home in animation or manga is Shuna's Journey. Miyazaki wrote and illustrated this story based on a Tibetan myth of how barley was introduced to the country. Shuna is a prince of a nation that's constantly hungry. Their grain does not grow well enough to feed everyone. Shuna goes in search of a golden grain that is supposed to grow abundantly. The elders do not want him to leave but he goes anyway. On his travels, he has many odd adventures. He comes to a city where the main commerce is slave trade. He tries to free two girls but is rebuffed by the slave trader. Later, outside of the city, Shuna catches up with the slave wagon that's carted off the girls. He frees them and they travel west with him to the land of the gods, where the mythical grain is supposed to be in abundance. They arrive at the shore with the island of the gods in the distance. Their pack animal cannot continue and the girls are weary of traveling. They split up--the girls ride north and promise to wait for Shuna while he finds a way to the island.

So many elements recommend this book. The story is enchanting with its mythic past setting and Shuna's noble purpose--to help his people by making a great discovery after a long journey. Miyazaki's whimsy and creativity are on full display. The art is beautiful watercolors, often with full page images. Miyazaki does a good job conveying the story and the emotions without relying on dialogue or commentary. I liked the story a lot.

Recommended.

TV Review: Kleo (2022)

Kleo (2022) created by Hanno Hackford, Bob Konrad, and Richard Kropf

Kleo (Jella Haase) is an East German Stasi assassin who goes on a kill in 1987 at a West German nightclub. The hit goes fine except when she returns, she is accused of betraying her country. She was just pregnant and planning on cutting back on her deadly lifestyle. Jail is too much of a cut-back, especially when none of her friends, comrades, or family do anything to stop the sentence. Her grandfather is a high-level Stasi officer and her boyfriend is her handler. Both fail to do anything to protect her from imprisonment. In jail, she loses the baby. A few years pass and the Berlin Wall falls. She is summarily released. She goes back to her grandfather and tries to find out what happened. Kleo starts a murder-filled revenge spree in the newly united Germany.

While the show has a lot of action and drama, it seems primarily to be a comedy. The serious and heart-breaking premise shifts into an absurdist near-farce. A West German police officer, while off-duty, was at the nightclub and is sure the death was not an accident but a killing. He is obsessed with the case even though he works in Fraud, not Homicide. His boss is barely tolerant of him and his partner pokes fun at him a lot. He's more like an annoyance than a nemesis to Kleo, though eventually they wind up working together. Kleo gets a weird roommate who thinks he's from another planet and can only return to his space princess if he creates a groovy nightclub. Kleo's boyfriend is now married with a very pregnant wife who is a bit jealous and mistrustful. Kleo shows up at their apartment and pretends to be a maintenance worker but really is interested in getting information from her ex. A lot of comedy and action follows, including trips to other countries where Stasi leaders have fled. The conspiracy gets broader and less plausible as the series concludes but the show is so bizarrely entertaining that it's hard to look away.

Recommended, though it is not for kids. Also, it is a German production, so there's lots of subtitles to read.

As this is published (March 2023), the show is only available streaming on Netflix.