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humanoid-lovers · 7 years

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Just wish the print wasn't so tiny This applies to both Vol 1 and Vol 2 of The Rabbi's Cat. I rented to animated movie version and my wife and I both fell in love with it. Sfar's artwork is both original and also a bit on the wacky side, which really appeals to me. Anyway, I Googled the guy after watching the movie and found that he had several books. So, being a collector of graphic novels (especially off-beat ones) I promptly ordered both volumes from Amazon. The characters are just so vivid and illustrations are sensational. I especially love the way he draws the cat (me also being a cat-person). It's so slinky it's almost half snake, and boy is it clever. My only problem with these books is that there's so much dialogue that the print is almost microscopic in places and I actually need to use a magnifying glass to read some of it, which is the only reason I gave it four stars instead of five. I should also add that the story and settings are so vivid and touching. It really gave me a sense of a culture and place that have pretty much vanished forever. If you have any interest in the Algerian Jewish community pre WW II, rent the movie first, and if you want more stories about these characters get the books. Just be prepared for a little eye strain. Go to Amazon

More hilarity! I absolutely love the rabbi's cat and his snarky comments on life. In this book life goes on. He goes on a adventure with his master's cousin, Malka,and meets a snake who offers his bite as a gift and release from the miseries of life. Then he travels with his master, another cousin who is an Arab, a Russian painter who escaped the pogroms of Russia by hiding himself in a crate of holy books shipped to Algeria, and a crazy, rich Russian who desn't belive in anything but drink and sex. They are off on an expedition to find the Falasha who live in a hidden city in Ethiopia called Jerusalem. The cat must learn to keep his mouth shut in sticky situaions or he could get everyone killed as sorcerers. Peoples in the African deserts can be superstitious and dangerous. True love intervenes, there is a singing donkey and gigantic black jews with absolutely no sense of humor. Another wonderful book about tthe rabbi's cat. Go to Amazon

Enjoyed it. I am not much of a graphic novel reader, but after seeing the movie based on this book and the one that follows (The Rabbi's Cat 2), I had to get both books. Go to Amazon

What Does the Torah Say About Animals that Talk? As a Jewish American, I've always been fascinated by the experiences our people in the Diaspora. The lives of American, British, French, and Algerian Jews are all different. We can be found in the unlikeliest of places; Cuba, Mexico City, Rio, Mumbai, Dublin (I'm not joking, there are Jews in Ireland). Go to Amazon

Laugh out loud! I never laughed as much when reading a book as I did when reading The Rabbi's Cat. It is absolutely hilarious. The cat eats a parrot, acquires speech and he has an awful lot to say. He learned to read along with the rabbi's daughter so he has learned much over the years. He argues about religion, science, philosophy, love and anything he can think of. He is a smart cat and a smart-aleck cat. And he wants to be bar-mitzvahed so he can be a good Jewish cat. That fact alone causes nothing but trouble for the rabbi. I absolute love this book and its sequel and will give copies to my son-in-law who will love them as much as I do. Highly recommended. Go to Amazon

Three Stars Five Stars there are many more layers to this wonderful story that they didn't have time for Was Just okay Almost holy and funny,too love the book I liked reading these interesting stories they all read it and love it! Great Book but Not Rated "G" very funny!

#Alexis Siegel: Books

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 7 years

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I honestly believe that the real reason people rave about this storyline is because the villain literally blows his brains out at the end. Look, of all of Spidey's classic villains, Kraven was the lamest. I never liked Kraven, and I never cared for his "half-brother" Puma who could at least turn himself into an animal. I mean, how many villains do we need who can track the hero down by smelling him? Not to mention the good guys, including Wolverine, who learned Spidey's i.d. in the Spider-Man vs. Wolverine one shot by, that's right, smelling him. "The Most Dangerous Game" is probably one of the most frequently recurring themes in comics, on TV, in the movies, and it gets old. So, Kraven knocks Spidey out, buries him, dresses like him to ruin his reputation, then blows his own brains out. Whoopee. And Spidey never gets to really even the score, but rather we have to settle for a battle with Vermin the Rat-Man, whose presence also interfered with my enjoyment of "The Child Within" storyline by diluting the primary conflict between Peter Parker and Harry Osborn. This story also unfortunately started a trend of "Spidey is a mental case" storylines which continued with "The Mad Dog Ward" literally right after "Kraven's Last Hunt," and then there was "The Child Within," then "Lifetheft," "Pursuit," and "Beware the Rage of a Desperate Man" in quick succession, followed by the two agonizing years of the Clone Saga, and even after that we had a four part Chameleon story in which he tried to make Spidey doubt his identity. Suddenly becomes very easy to understand why sales plummeted and why the fans haven't come back since.

http://www.spideykicksbutt.com/Top10s/top10Spideystories.html

Lets talk about why this is asinine.

Putting aside all the billions of other reasons why sales dropped in the 1990s, not only do people rave more about Peter’s ‘resurrection’ than about Kraven’s suicide, but they enjoy the story for the psychology and the substance and what it says about human nature. The idea it’s raved because of a suicide is shallow and superficial.

I don’t disagree Kraven got old as a serious threat, but as a worthless punshign bag he was fine...until this story made him a legit character.

The idea of blaming this one story for stories about Peter’s mental instability is also fucking stupid.

First of all that was brought up in ASM #24 during the DITKO run, and then multiple times since then like during the 1970s Clone Saga and ASM #150. Post-KLH stories varied in their success rate but the idea that diving into the psychology of a guy who deals with stress and trauma like this on a regular basis is just inherently bad is imbecilic. As is blaming KLH for it. Putting aside how Life Theft wasn’t about that at all (nor was Pursuit, he was just angry in that arc) and Mad Dog Ward coming immediately after KLH couldn’t have possibly been following any ‘trend’, blaming KLH for those types of stories is like blaming the Death of Gwen Stacy for every major character death ever.

But the worst part of this assessment though is the idiotic ‘he never gets to even the score’ statement.

It just so thoroughly misses the point.

Spider-Man doesn’t HAVE to beat up Kraven.

Kraven destroys himself. The point is Spider-Man beats Kraven by not being like him.

Kraven has lived a long life full of wealth and the potential for companionship and happiness.

But he was consumed by his fears, obsessions and generally his demons and so wasted his life pointlessly hunting and taking lives. And eventually he literally threw away his life after beliving he’d proven himself superior to Spider-Man whom he sees as this larger than life spider entity who is as much a grim hunter as he is.

Except that isn’t who Spider-Man is. Spider-Man is just...a guy. And a nice one at that.

In hunting, killing and hurting people Kraven believed himself to be beating Spider-Man at his own game and that he’d triumphed over this grandiose spider entity. But all he proved was that he fundamentally didn’t understand who and what Spider-Man was. He didn’t understand Spider-Man is just a decent man trying to help people.

The ultimate proof to Kraven than he is Spider-Man’s superior comes from his triumph over Vermin. Because Spider-Man couldn’t defeat him by himself it means Kraven who could MUST be better. Purely for his own selfish desires Kraven hunted down and beat Vermin by brutalizing and abusing him and continues doing that even after he��s won.

Spider-Man however gave up the chance for selfish vengeance upon Kraven by choosing to track down Vermin. He had to confront his own PTSD to do it too putting him at a handicap. He only briefly tried brutalizing Vermin but relented and felt disgusted and apologetic for his actions. Then he used his brains to not only end Vermin’s threat but also give him a chance at redemption. Because Spider-Man unlike Kraven is a compassionate decent man which is why he is in fact superior. Kraven couldn’t understand that.

In the end Kraven threw his life away whilst Peter not only got to live on but gets to live on in happiness and fulfilment because he has love and emotional fulfilment in his life from things and people that matter like Mary Jane. All Kraven had was some trophies and ultimately meaningless jungle honour.

So Spider-Man didn’t need to get payback on Kraven. He won every single day from then on that he didn’t give up on his life and was ultimately happy.

This is even corroborated in the sequel story Soul of the Hunter where Kraven suffers in limbo following his suicide and actually needs Spider-Man to release him by making peace with him.

Which Spider-Man does because Spider-Man is again, a compassionate, decent, heroic guy.

The truly superior Spider-Man.

#Spider-Man #Peter Parker #Kraven's Last Hunt #Kraven the Hunter #sergei kravinoff #J.M. DeMatteis #Vermin #MJ Watson #mjwatsonedit #mary jane watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker

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ramblyravingnnjashark · 5 years

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Nier Automata - Genius and Madness

the works of Yoko Taro are something that have eluded me for most of my life, and that I have given very little attention to. Probably for good reasons because from the outside, the gameplay of his games range from Mediocre to Average at best and I consider myself a very "gameplay First" person. Some of my Freinds would rave about Drakengard and how weird it is but that didnt quite convince me to look into them much further. However, one Fateful Day a little game called "Nier Automata" was announced, a sequel to Yoko Taros Xbox 360/PS3 game Nier with a little line of Text that would change things in an instant

"Developed by PlatinumGames"

now friends of mine will know that, PlatinumGames is one of my alltime favourite Game Devs for their Crazy High skill Character Action Beat em up titles, containing Larger than Life characters and great and tight Gameplay that owes their roots in the Arcade games of old, which is something I have a appreciation for.

So, with a combination like this I finally decided to take on this series, by means of watching Youtube essays about it because goddamn, the gameplay in these games can get rather mind numbing sadly but honestly? Yoko Taro mighta earned himself now a nice cushy place as one of my favourite Directors, right next to Hideki Kamiya and Hideo Kojima themselves.

But there is one thing I realised from watching these Essays and actually playing one of them it is one thing to watch a guy sum this series up for you, its a whole different thing to watch the Insanity for yourself

because the works of Yoko Taro arent stories about Heroic Knights slaying Demons and Evil Dragons, or Loving Fathers/older Brothers trying to survive the Fall of Humanity with their Daughters/Little Sisters

they are stories about Love, Hate, War, the meaninglessness of the Universe and the Hope growing from it, what it means to be Human, and what it means to lose all reason and go complete and genuinely Mad

(there will be spoilers, so be warned if you wish to expirience these games yourself!)

so originally, this was gonna be a brief recap of Drakengard and Nier, but then I realised I couldnt do these games justice so I just link this and this recap of these games that should give you a good idea what these games are about but to keep it brief

Drakengard is essentially to RPGs what Evangelion was to Mecha Anime, and thats a fairly approviate comparsion when you just look at, this

its also notable for how it handles its different endings, usually referred to as Ending A, Ending B etc, Ending E of the first Drakengard game was a Joke ending that nontheless became the basis for the setting of Nier, a ruined Planet Earth set hundreds of years after the Fall of Humanity about a Father (in the Western Releases) or a Older Brother (Japanese release) having to fend for himself and his Daughter/Younger Sister in a world under constant threat of creatures known as Heartless Shades

both these games are interesting, because their gameplay is nothing special, in the case of Drakengard its outright terrible,they got mediocre reviews and poor sales and yet these games have a dedicated Cult following and tons of Novels, Audio Dramas, Manga and even Stage Plays that expand the Universes of these games and its lore

and thats for a simple reason: these games may have mediocre gameplay but, their Stories, their Characters, their Art Direction is actually of fairly high quality featuring intriguing Characters and worldbuilding that makes you invested in them regardless I mean, theres a entire exchange in Nier thats entireley between two Magical Talking Books for cryin out loud, and its one of the best parts of the game!

however, these games have thus far had a life as just that, Cult Classics, that didnt manage to garner a mainstream audience due to its aforementioned quirks, the Gameplay just could never stand up to the well written stories of these games

this is where PlatinumGames comes into play

now, the gameplay of Automata I honestly felt like was more on par with what Revengeance offered: there is stuff you can do with it but all in all its below the likes of Bayonetta and Devil May Cry 3 but thats not to say its poor, of course not, it doesnt encourage you to try anything other than just Mash about, but thats Fine, theres also Chips that your characters can even equip Chips that enhance their abilities and giv e them new ones such as a Bayonetta style Parry and Witch time or give them Heals upon Killing the enemy and while the actual enviroments can be a bit of a chore to go through (until you get Fast Travel), it still felt good to Parkour your way through them, nice snappy and smooth which gives me hopes they take a cue or two from this game for Bayonetta 3 in that regard at least

another thing I loved is the Soundtrack itself. Now I dont consider myself a musical person, however I can tell when a Song is used perfectly, and in Automata? Every Song is used to actual perfection. Music to me can be the deciding factor wether a Area or Scene in a Game or Movie is Garbage, Forgettable or Legendary, and for Automata, every song makes each area fall niceley into the latter fortunatly. One Standout track for me is Birth of a Wish (Become as Gods) a retake of an earlier song that adds in additional Chorus, and the Theme for Pascals village which is a cute Melody involving Children singing.

now onto the game itself, Route A puts you in the sexy and Lucious Thigh High boots of YoRHa Unit 2B, whereas Route B puts you in the cute Boy shorts of her Partner and mostly Good Boy YoRHa Unit 9S both tasked with ridding the world of Machine Lifeforms and making Earth inhabitable for the Humans stuck on the Moon again Both Routes play out roughly the same, 2B plays like a Standard Character Action Heroine with Lights and Heavies and such, whereas 9S is mainly focused around his ability to hack enemies and engage into brief SHMUP segments.

of the two I felt like 2B was a little more fun to play all in all, the Hacking was fine but also felt a teeny bit like a pace breaker but not too much, at least until late in Route B the game throws curvebals and unique hacking segments into the mix

a thing Yoko Taro games have been very good at showing, is showing the process of a Person losing their mental stability and throwing it all away to become a one track minded Mad Man and I find that interesting.

Drakengard had a good example when the Character Inuart completley loses it and becomes obsessed with bringing back his Dead Love interest, causing here to turn into the monster posted above. Automata meanwhile, shows this also but with Machines, being that shouldnt even go mad in the first place but become Insane with concepts like Revenge, Fear or other. Now I am not a Psychology Major or anything but I cant help but feel "this is Intriguing", not sure if thats a bad thing or anything but thats how it is.

now, Route C is where officialy the PlatinumGame ends and the Yoko Taro game begins, in that things become utterly, utterly Bleak. Not to say it was happy funtime before, many of the sidequests end on a very sour or outright terrible note, but here? Shits gon Bad!

YoRHa falls, everyone on the Protagonists homebase dies or becomes infected with a Virus that makes them go insane, 2B dies and 9S is severeley wounded and has his mental state utterly ruined by seeing 2B, his Love interest, die. from this Point onward, you play as Either A2, a former YoRHa gone Rogue and 9S as he tries to kill every last Machine Lifeform, and as hes utterly loses his mind. Focusing entireley on his one Goal so that maybe, he can find Death and be with 2B in the Afterlife.

this is where the game really became interesting to me. Gradually 9S goes from this sweet pure boy to a Violent Mess that only wants to Kill and Kill and Kill, Over and Over, its a Interesting Development for such a Character I feel. A2 meanwhile, while still a Great Character and a Blast to play, I felt like was severeley underutilized, getting very little playtime compared to 2B and 9S, with most of her greatest character Development limited to a Japan only Stage play that got a short text recap on a terminal. and it just goes from there and it keeps going, plot twists happen, reveals happen, callbacks to the first Nier and Drakengard 1 happen, its just this huge Mountain of themes and stuff to uncover and analyse. references to old Philosophers and the Concept of Nihilism itself ebing explored, little details that popped up in the early game and now have much greater meaning, its....actually incredible?

I dont think I ever played a game that had so much going on, the last time I think I did was, Metal Gear Solid 3, maybe?! I think....this might actually be one of the best written games I ever played?

and there is still so much content I could go through, the Stage Plays, the Novels, theres probably a buncha Audio Dramas for it too already its like, Jesus christ. and then theres Ending E, which while rather difficult (and probably causes at least 4 people to fucking hate my Guts) was probably one of the best ending sequences I seen in recent years, I'm not gonna go into detail what it is because, it needs to be seen to be belived, but I find it genuiley incredible.

I dont think theres a single game in the Drakengard and Nier series I would actually consider my "Favourite Game", maybe Nier Automata but thats up for consideration still, but I think I can safeley say that both games story as a whole is easily up there with Metal Gear as one of my favourite Game stories out there, and friends and followers of mine would know by now how much I love that Franchise and its wacky insane story, Drakengard and Nier are special little series that you dont see enough of these days, but maybe thats for the better

I'm not gonna say "Nier Automata rekindled my love for video games" or anything, but I am glad I got to expirience these two series.

#Recent Ramblings #Ramblings #Ninja Original

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haleyfury · 4 years

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Summer is one of my favorite times of the year to dive into a new pile of books because it’s beach and poolside reading season! My anticipated summer 2020 releases list is definitely different than what I had imagined it would be at the start of 2020. Many spring books got pushed back to summer, so you might see a few repeats from my Spring 2020 anticipated releases post. Some new books that were originally scheduled to release this summer also were moved to the fall- get ready an extra long fall releases post then! The following books are scheduled to release from June through August 2020.

The Dare (Briar U #4) by Elle Kennedy | Release Date: June 16

Elle Kennedy made my April when she announced that there would be a fourth book in the Briar U series, The Dare! I cannot recommend the Off-Campus and spin-off series, Briar U, enough! This hockey romance follows crowd-favorite hockey player, Conor. I have all of the Briar U books in paperback, so I hope The Dare becomes available in that format too.

The Marriage Game by Sara Desai | RD: June 9

The enemies-to-lovers storyline is one of my favorites in rom-coms, which makes me even more excited for Sara Desai’s The Marriage Game. Working above her father’s resutrauant, Layla is getting her new business up and running while also deciding to join the world of online dating (even though her father decides to set her up on a bunch of blind dates). CEO Sam unexpecedtly ends up sharing the office space with Layla, and the two spar off over their shared space and Layla’s blind date suitors.

The Sullivan Sisters by Kathryn Ormsbee |RD: June 23

After really enjoying Kathryn Ormsbee’s Tash Hearts Tolstoy back in 2017, I was instantly intrigued by her upcoming release, The Sullivan Sisters. Painful events have kept the Sullivan sisters from confiding in each other like they used to, but a letter about their dead uncle and an inheritance they knew nothing causes them to work together to solve a family mystery. I’m also up for a mystery or thriller to break up my contemporary reading game!

Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein | RD: June 23

I feel like we’re starting to see gymnastics more and more acorss genres. The one I’m most excited for? Hannah Orenstein’s Head Over Heels! After a disastrous performance that ended her hope to get into the Olympics and career, Avery is asked to help coach a young gymnast with Olympic aspirations. While sparks fly with her fellow coach, Ryan, Avery’s world is turned upside down yet again when a scandal breaks out in the sport.

Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan | RD: June 30

Having loved Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asian series, I’ve been wanting another book of his. That being said, I was scrolling through Goodreads to see if I had missed any books for this post and I can’t belive I didn’t know his upcoming book, Sex and Vanity, is coming out this summer! I added it to my Goodreads TBR before even reading the synopsis.

The Heir Affair (The Royal We #2) by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan| RD: July 7

The sequel to The Royal We, The Heir Affair might just be the most popular anticipated release on this list. I originally read The Royal We back in 2015 and really want to reread it before picking up the sequel. I need to get on the library holds list ASAP or just give in and buy my own copies because I know everyone is going to be reading and rightfully talking about The Heir Affair for the rest of 2020.

You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria | RD: July 7

I didn’t know about You Had Me at Hola until I read Dani’s Bookshelf’s Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2020 list, and it just sounds so good!!The book follows a telenova actor and a soap opera star who need to work on their on-screen chemistry for an upcoming bilingual rom-com, but seem to find plenty of romance and drama off-screen.

More Than Maybe by Erin Hahn |RD: July 21

More Than Maybe is 110% a book I recommend you pre-order IMMEDIATELY. I was fortunate enough to read an ARC back in April. More Than Maybe is hands-down one of my favorite books of 2020 and solidified Erin Hahn as one of my go-to authors. This book about two teens with a love for music- and crushes on each other- was everyone I love in my YA cotemporaries.

Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon |RD: July 21

I fortunately also have an ARC of Today Tonight Tomorrow and I just need to dive into already! I’ve seen so much love and hype for this one by so many of my blogging friends. Today Tonight Tomorrow follows graduating high school seniors and enemies, Rowan and Neil, who are forced to team up for their senior class game taking them all over Seattle.

10 Things I Hate About Pinky by Sandhya Menon |RD: July 30

I feel like I’ve talked about 10 Things I Hate about Pinky in at least ten other blog posts (deservedly because Sandhya Menon is such a YA staple), so I won’t get into too many details here. If you haven’t yet put it on hold at the library or pre-ordered, the book is going to also be available in a Dimpleverse bookset also including When Dimple Met Rishi and There’s Something About Sweetie in August!

Bookish and the Beast (Once Upon a Con #3) by Ashley Poston | RD: August 4

A Beauty and the Beast retelling, Bookish and the Beast is the third book in Ashley Poston’s Once Upon a Con series. This series is the perfect read for any one with a love for books and fandom- and coventions! Each book is set at a convention dedicated to the fictional series, Starfield. Bookish and the Beast is a hate-to-love romance following two teens working for a library after a rare book is destroyed. How much more bookish can you get than that??

What books are you looking forward to this summer? Any recommendations for me? Share in the comments!

SUMMER READING TO-DO: Summer 2020 Most Anticipated Releases Summer is one of my favorite times of the year to dive into a new pile of books because it’s beach and poolside reading season!

#2020 #Most Anticipated #Summer 2020 #Summer 2020 Most Anticipated Releases

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humanoid-lovers · 7 years

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Enjoyed it. I am not much of a graphic novel reader, but after seeing the movie based on this book and the one that follows (The Rabbi's Cat 2), I had to get both books. Go to Amazon

#Alexis Siegel: 9780375425073: Amazon.com: Books

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