I have been following – very cautiously – James Gunn’s plans for the new DC Studio Universe, and especially the new Superman movie. I have been so incredibly disappointed and disenchanted with Zac Snyder’s terrible take on the Man Of Steel, and have been very sad that my favourite superhero character has been stained in such a manner in the minds of a generation.

In the last year, I have felt reassured and excited – Superman will be getting his trunks back! -, and I have been worried – what have they done to the S-emblem!? -, but I want to trust James Gunn, who has done good work with the Guardians of the Galaxy – installing them with a lot of heart and humour. I am hesitant about some of his costume choices and redesigns/reimaginations – Starhawk played by Sylvester Stallone? Ego is Kurt Russell? – but it seems that he gets the character, and what he has publicly said about Superman and what he stands for has really struck a chord with me.

So, this week, the highly anticipated Superman trailer finally arrived. And here it is:

My reaction: Happiness. Happiness and pure joy. 🥹🥹🥹😭

To get this out of the way first – I will have trouble getting used to the redesigned costume and emblem. But I am willing and open to accept it, as long as everything else about the character is right.

And it is. The casting of David Corenswet as Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult and Lex Luthor is perfect. And what the trailer shows us is a Superman who is heroic, altruistic, brave and – good. Who shows us that each and everyone of us can be a Superman, too.

Everyone on the Internet is going crazy about Krypto – and it is mind-blowing that we finally get Superman’s dog on the big screen -, but the moment in the trailer which brought me to tears was, when Superman jumps in front of a little girl and protects her from an explosion of steel pipes.

Because this is who Superman is, and this is what he does.

And of course, the John Williams Superman Main Title theme – in a new modern arrangement, but unmistakable. I am getting shudders just listening to it. My absolute favourite piece of film music, and it’s back, too.

I am so happy that I had to revive my struggling blog, just to shout it out.

Can’t wait till July 2025!

Long story short, I got hacked again. Badly.

So bad, that I ended up completely locked out of my website. So bad, that I have spent more than a year figuring out whether to try again, or going to a different hosting provider, researching other providers, trying to figure out how to download a copy of my website, struggling with various backup plug-ins, struggling with FTP programs, just struggling. And ending up giving up, leaving it for a few months, trying again from scratch, and just getting very frustrated.

Today, I contacted MacHighway support again, and they got me logged back in. Chances are, that I will get locked out again very soon, as that is what keeps happening, and whatever malware has been installed on my website, just gets reactivated automatically after an unspecified time, and I am locked out, and AnonymousFox is back as the main user.

But, let me just give this update, just to let all my non-existent devoted readers know, that I am still here.

Source: (40) Celebrating Steve | October 5 | Apple – YouTube

It has been 10 years since Steve Jobs passed away. The internet was full of tributes, reminiscences and reflections, and on Apple’s own website there was a moving film that beautiful captured the essence of the man.

I bought my first Apple computer the same year Steve returned to the company that he founded, and I was there for the ride. My most memorable moments were his wonderful keynotes, and the anticipation and excitement that I felt when he introduced the next new Apple device. It is difficult to convey the sense of community and wonder during the time he was at Apple.

It was a big shock when he passed – it should have been expected for anyone who had eyes to see, but like many other Apple faithfuls, we were in denial until the last day -, and like others have said, much better than me, he was taken way too early.

But I think this tweet I read sums up his legacy perfectly:

The best way to pay tribute to Steve isn’t to buy or use an Apple product.

It’s to make something great. Something that contributes to society. No matter what it is, just make something special. Something that makes you feel good.

— Parker Ortolani (@ParkerOrtolani) October 6, 2021

Last week, when I tried to access my website, I got an “Internal Server Error”. The same, when I tried to login or access my cpanel. The whole website was not accessible.

I contacted my hosting provider MacHighway (who are probably already exasperated with my constant support requests!), who fixed the issue, and my website was back online.

Curiously, when I tried to log-in, it did not recognise my username and password. I reset my password, and when I logged in – I found that my admin account had been replaced with a new user called “AnonymousFox_hfs”.

Weird.

When I asked my provider about it, they confirmed that my website had been compromised. After jumping through some hoops, I managed to remove “AnonymousFox_hfs” as admin, and setting myself back up as the site admin. I also reactivated all my security plug-ins, which I had – probably stupidly – deactivated in order to enable my blogging software to work.

Checking the site, I could not find anything out of order, so whoever hacked this website did not seem to get the chance to install anything nefarious (hopefully). All my posts are thankfully still there, too.

Anyway – that could have gone much worse.

I just watched Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in the cinema, and I have thoughts™!

First of all – the movie is amazing! The first half is amazingly funny and exciting, the characters are charming and endearing, and the fight scenes are breath taking! I think there will be many comparisons with Black Panther, which gave the black community a movie that celebrated their culture and heritage, and I think this one does the same for the Asian American community. 

But – I know what you all are thinking ((all two of you, including both spambots)): Does it redeem the Mandarin?

Well. Yes, and kinda no, but – I’ll allow it.

More – with some spoilers – after the fold.

more →

 

Source: Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings | Official Teaser

I should comment on this, after my very public disapproval of the portrayal of the “Mandarin” in Ironman 3.

This looks amazing! I am really pleased, that they are finally giving the Mandarin the spotlight he deserves – after setting him up as an arch villain so long ago in the very first Ironman movie, that kicked off this entire franchise in the first place. They have reimagined the rings as arm bands, but I am withholding judgment until I have seen the movie. It certainly suggests the appearance of a certain purple-pants wearing dragon as the original wielder of the rings.

I read the original Shang-Chi stories in The Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu comics that came out in the 70s, but which seem to be mostly forgotten. There were very much influenced by the Kung-Fu craze of their times, but the stories were often sad and thoughtful and many stuck with me. It does not look like we will get any of that in the movie, which is probably understandable.

Still – can’t wait!

 

 

(This was written with the Press This bookmarklet, which seems so far the most convenient way to link-blog as it allows to get a featured image for the post automatically – but only works in Safari. I need to see if I can adapt this for the Marsedit web extension.)

Emmys 2021 interview: WandaVision writer on her viral “What is grief?” dialogue

One of the most powerful and deep lines in television – this is a fascinating look into the creative process behind the memorable scene.

(And incidentally, this is an attempt to use the Marsedit Safari extension  for link-posting…)