Current Media 2-10-16

Current reading material:
Physical book - Books of Blood Vol 1 -3

Marvel Comics Series:
As if I wasn't already slowing down on this, I found a few concurrently running series that I hadn't added to my reading list before.
Origin (Nov 2001)
Agent X (Sep 2002)
Weapon X (Nov 2002)
X-men Unlimited #40 (Feb 2003)
X-treme X-men #20 (Mar 2003
X-treme X-men Mechanix #6 (Mar 2003)
Soldier X #6 (Feb 2003)
X-Statix #6 (Feb 2003)
Uncanny X-men #417 (Mar 2003)
Exiles #20 (Feb 2003)

Current TV Shows I'm watching:
The Muppets
The Grinder 
@Midnight
Lupin III Series 3
Phineas & Ferb
The X-files (current mini-series, may start a re-watch when it's done)
Legends of Tomorrow
Lucifer
Agent Carter

Podcasts I'm listening to fairly regularly:
Nerdist
Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast
Jay & Miles X-plain the X-men
Serial
Judge John Hodgman
Cracked
StarTalk Radio
This American Life

Video Games I'm playing:
Disney Tsum Tsum 
Marvel's Avengers Academy
Suikoden

Stuff I finished since last time:

Mary Poppins - This was the audiobook of the first novel.  I had found it for cheap on Audible and having always been curious about the differences since I heard P. L. Travers didn't like the film I picked it up.  Her version of Mary Poppins seems to have no redeeming qualities beyond the fact that she's capable of doing magic.  She's rude, she's haughty, she's quick tempered, and she's vain.  When the children are all depressed that she's leaving, I have a hard time seeing why.  Yes, she exposes them to magical adventures, but she's a horrible guide and an even worse nanny.  That said, if you've only ever seen the film and are curious, there are quite a few other tales here that you may find amusing.  Many of them involve animals, or other creatures that Disney probably felt were too hard to represent in a live action world around that time.  Note that I'm not saying that Travers is a bad author, and there's some fun whimsy happening here, I just don't like her character, and think Disney did  the right thing in toning down her bad qualities and giving her some genuine warmth.  I won't be continuing with the series.

American Horror Story - I technically still have season 5 to see, but since that won't be on Netflix until probably September or so, I'm filing this away for now.  This show is really a mixed bag.  Most seasons start out seeming genuinely creepy, but then devolving into nothing more than a drama with a splash of blood over it.  The characters are always caricatures, never really acting how human beings would act.  I found that intolerable in both Glee and Scream Queens (both also created by Ryan Murphy) but I guess the cast and settings here provide me with enough to stick around.  There's almost always one character who is so over the top I can't stand them, and I feel like Jessica Lange's character always ends up hogging up way too much story time, particularly about how sexy and amazing she is.  But Evan Peters, Kathy Bates, Denis O'Hare and Angela Bassett are generally fantastic, and the cast of supporting actors they got for Freakshow were very good and really made me attached to them.  As a huge Gaga fan am I very much looking forward to season 5, though I also know it will probably be ridiculous.