Nicolas Brown
Bio
Teacher of the English language, traveler. Movie, comedy, and TV hound. Wheelchair user and occasionally fun to be around.
Stories (6/0)
Derailment
Renata came to consciousness with ease, greeted only by a pleasant mechanical hum, interspersed by an occasional clicky-clack noise. For someone who had trouble falling asleep, it was always the repetitive and dull sound of machinery in motion that did the trick for her. Being seated on an airplane, lying in wait at her latest doctor's examination room. There was something about the quiet and coolness of the air in those spaces. The humming noises. And here too, she supposed, she hadn't had any difficulty slipping into her slumber. And once Renata was able to sleep, she slept.
By Nicolas Brown2 years ago in Fiction
'Black Mirror'
Do you love Black Mirror as much as I do? Okay, let’s get into it. Much has been made of BM’s foreboding, not-so-far away future where our current technology obsessed society has taken multiple swerves over to the dark side, leaving us viewers afraid to look at our phones. But you know it’s also, like, neat. What works best in BM, like any other show, is not just what it is about, but (I can’t stress this enough in my reviews) how it is about it. Sure, it’s cool as shit to see implants that record all of our memories, killer robot bees, or being able to physically block someone from your life, but it’s also damn cool when each of those stories is accompanied by some sort of unexpected twist and involves well drawn, relatable characters. BM does just that, and often just when you think you’ve worked out the commentary and the conceit, it slaps you upside the face with an ironical type shift in story. So yes, not only does the show work as a ‘reflection’ (ha ha) of where we may be heading as a civilization, but each episode, a few misfires aside, are finely written stories with delightful developments and nuanced people to inhabit the universe. So, by season (or series, if you will), here are my favourite episodes reviewed, from least to best in their respective series’ runs.
By Nicolas Brown6 years ago in Geeks
Best TV of 2017
'Bojack Horseman' (season 4) Who would have thought this concept wouldn’t get stale? That we couldn’t possibly delve deeper into the fuckupedness that is our titular anti-protaganist’s psyche? Well, it turns out that mental illness and narcissistic neurosis is complex, multi-faceted, rooted in broken familial and social histories, and watchable. It also happens to be fertile ground for absurdist comedy. Now in it’s fourth season, we’ve come to expect Bojack’s new lows (this time helping find out who his daughter's mother is, while battling demons with his own), Todd’s zany antics, Mr. Peanutbutter’s zanier antics (and Diane’s willingness to indulge them) and Princess Caroline’s latest career turn, dating nightmare, and life crisis. We’ve also come to expect -usually mid-season - there will be a 30 minute episode that will somehow manage to be epic in scope, saturated with social commentary, and rife with so many references and throw away one liners that it will demand immediate re-watch. This season’s version of that comes in the form of a sunken home during a celebrity-filled political fundraiser, where the candidate’s support for fracking comes back to deliver on full irony. Satire is not on short supply in these politically troubled times, but Bojack rips into issues like gun control, feminism, media, and political fickle-ism like a surgeon who might actually be a sturgeon. This season even manages to get darker, with flashbacks into Bojack’s family history that that may or may not destroy you as it has you in the good kind of tears as well. Best.
By Nicolas Brown6 years ago in Geeks
- Top Story - June 2017
So You've Met Someone in a WheelchairTop Story - June 2017
Hi. I suppose, being a paraplegic and in a wheelchair and all, that it’s about time that I invested some blog space and thought space into what that whole thing is like. I mean, it’s only been two years since I was shot, but oh boy have there been some learning curves and fun stories in that time. From grabbing onto the back of a motorcycle and subsequently spilling myself into the street, or having a friend jump into my lap and dump me over onto a packed dance floor (it’s like, I can’t double wheelchair myself, can I? Might as well have some fun with it!), or putting a hot plate on my lap for a few seconds and not feeling it and burning my thighs raw, there have been stories. Most of them do involve me falling.
By Nicolas Brown7 years ago in Longevity
Slavery, Class Warfare, and Hegemony
If you watched Game of Thrones’ episode, “Book of the Stranger” and have some notion of history and politics, you may have noticed a few crazy and familiar things being played out in the lands of Westeros and Essos. Things that author GRRM and showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss have certainly and purposefully introduced to reflect the history of our own real life non-magical dragon having society. It’s well documented that GRRM was inspired by historical events when he set out to create the conflicts of Westeros, namely England’s 15th century War of the Roses, and that the inspiration of The Wall was found on his trip to Northern England to visit Hadrian’s Wall. Other elements of the ASOIF universe are obvious: Westeros is feudalistic Europe, with the North subbing as the rough, grey highlands of Northern England and / or Scotland / Ireland, the South as a proper and civilized land of bounty (King’s Landing is most reminiscent of a shit stinking medieval London), and then Dorne serving as a the stereotypical Latin hot tempered and lusty Spain (or even Mexico if you like). It’s also no coincidence that the ongoing Dornish feud with the Crown in the books and show resembles Queen Elizabeth I’s constant warring and peacing with Spain early in her reign.
By Nicolas Brown7 years ago in Geeks
