Things to blather about...Jet-blue, Carbon Dioxide poisoning, True Blood, HBO

[shadowkat]

Read my lj flist and got some ideas to post on, also checked out Facebook.

Facebook - sigh. My cousin is facebook fighting with her husband. This is mostly banter. And they are doing it in two separate rooms in the same house - proof that the internet has managed to a)eliminate all semblance of privacy, and b) isolate people in weird ways. This is not that bad. At least they aren't discussing their sex life - which my other cousins bantered about on Facebook for three days - which basically took over mine and everyone else in our family's Facebook page. Can we say Too Much Information? Yes, we can. Also, as my Aunt stated, I now know what the color purple tastes like (ewww!).

Okayyy... A fireman just knocked on my door to ask if my carbon dioxide indicator was going off. It's not. And if I have one? I do. Apparently the guy downstairs, in the second apartment's carbon dioxide indicator was going off and the firemen were clearing his apartment. After the first guy checked, the second one showed up and asked if someone had already checked. I told him yes, and asked if he wanted to? Also, is it an unwritten rule that NYC Firemen are incredibly good looking? I have yet to meet one who isn't. Well unless they are on Rescue Me.
And damn - this may mean I don't get hot water tomorrow or tonight for showers - because they think it could be a leak in the hot water heater or a leak in the stove and it appears to be isolated to the second floor and first floor apartments. At least it's hot, not cold outside.

The Jet-Blue Flight Attendant is facing charges in NYC and will most likely face imprisonment for his actions. I sort of feel sorry for him. People are difficult to deal with. This weekend a customer was imitating and making fun of the Chinese Laundress - just because the poor woman yelled at her. The woman yells at every one, she has a tough and thankless job. I wanted to slap the customer upside the head, but after a week of fighting with folks wanted to avoid all conflict. (ie. Just wasn't worth the fuss and bother.)

True Blood posts are amusing me. Flist is currently obsessed with True Blood and Moffat's Sherlock Holmes. I swear Sherlock Holmes has got to be the most overdone detective trope ever.
Also is just me - or are there one too many cop/detective shows on tv? There's literally two or three on every channel. They've beat the vampire shows and reality shows in the market saturation department. At any rate - what interests me about True Blood - is Ball is apparently following the books a lot closer than I thought he would. Debbie Pelt and Alicide and the Werepanthers all appear in the third book (I think it is the third book - Club Dead, I read them out of order and then shuffled them off on an unsuspecting friend because I got fed up with them finally. Sookie got on my nerves. She makes Harmony look bright by comparison. Basically imagine an entire series about Harmony Kendell with psychic powers and a brother who is just like her. ) I could do without revisiting the Debbie Pelt/Alicide storyline. Didn't like reading it (actually I didn't read it - I scanned it or jumped over it), can't imagine I'll like watching it. (I only read enough of it - to figure out the Eric/King Russell and Sookie/Bill storyline. Can't say I care about the Sookie storyline. Sookie as a character bores me. But I sort of find Eric interesting. Bill - feels a bit too cliche, I've watched too many patronizing, guilty vampires, they are getting old.). The plus side of Ball's take on the books - is Tara is more interesting, Lafayette actually has a storyline, Jason is not an asshole - he's just a bimbo (in the books he's an asshole), and Sam has a storyline that does not revolve around Sookie. Ball actually makes Sam, Jason and Tara protagonists along with Sookie. We spend equal time in their pov's. That said? I have no idea how Ball is handling the Alicide storyline - I haven't seen the episodes - I don't get HBO. (Although am seriously debating getting it for the George RR Martin mini-series. I don't like True Blood well enough to fork over the bucks. I'm more than willing to wait for it to appear on DVD - much cheaper. And no, watching it on my computer is not an option. Holmes on the other hand - would really like to see, but will just have to wait and see if it makes it to BBC America. Oh regarding Being Human? They cast Mark Pellingrigo from Lost and Supernatural in it. I've no idea who he is playing. I'm guessing the werewolf? Odd choice either way.)

Comments

[ponygirl2000.livejournal.com]

Sherlock is supposed to be on PBS in the fall.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Oh, good. That actually makes sense - PBS has shown just about every take on the actual Sherlock Holmes known. They'd snatch up those rights. It also means more people will see it. Just hope it's not conflicting with other programs -that happens a lot with PBS.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Hmm... He could work as Herrick. I could see that too.

[liliaeth]

Pellegrino's character is suposed to be called Bishop and is the vampire char's vampire menter. So he's pretty much playing Herrick.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

That actually works better than what I thought, which so did not work. Pellegrino comes across as too slick and too manipulative to play any of the leads of that show.

Curious to see who they cast as the leads, probably 20 something unknowns, or we wouldn't be hearing about supporting casting choices first.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Once upon a time on "All My Children" they had a couple of characters that only ever existed to occasionally play shirtless basketball, stand in the background, and be pretty set-dressing. This is a fair description of Alcide thus far. He's pretty set-dressing. He really hasn't had much in the way of a plot, although I will say he's very, very pretty.

Debbie Pelt is truly revolting and I find it absolutely impossible to believe that Alcide (dull as he is) ever found anything remotely attractive about her. But they're very much sideline characters thus far so it's fairly easily overlooked. (That said, they give Debbie Pelt funny lines of dialog. "They killed my Cooter" did cause a snort of laughter).

King Russel and his consort Talbot have been fun to watch. The actors playing them were clearly having a ball. Same goes for James Frain as Franklin Mott. He's clearly having a great deal of fun playing a psycho.

I read that Sherlock will be on PBS in October as part of Masterpiece Theater's Mystery series.

And Mark Pellingrigo as George? I hope not. I can't see it. What makes George work is that he's nerdy, hyper-emotional, and funny. If he can't have the occasional hissy-fit meltdown, he'll lose part of his Georgeness. Pellingrigo also doesn't fit my idea of Mitchell (the vampire). I suppose they might change Mitchell enough to work, but he doesn't scream Mitchell to me either. Is MP going to be a regular? I could perhaps see Pelligrigo as Annie's fiance (before she died). He'd work in that role, but it isn't a series regular. Wonder who they'll cast as Nina. She went from love interest in Season 1 to regular at some point (I'm assuming she's a regular now. They had that "There's four of us now" moment last season, and I really rather adore Nina).

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, True Blood S3 sounds a lot like the books, while S1 and S2 really weren't that much like them. Interesting. Curious to know why Ball went that route? The Debbie Pelt/Alcide story was truly stupid, and the werepanther bit never quite worked. Doesn't appear to be working that well for people watching it either.

Have to state - Nina is one of the few reasons I'm still watching Being Human.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I haven't read Book III so I can only give my impressions gleaned from what I know of the books and what I've read on the TWOP book vs. tv show. Anyway, I don't have the impression that they're following the book very closely. They seem to be taking things from later books and sliding them into this season. I know that they've done some substantially different things here and there (is it spoiling if I say that the rape doesn't happen?)

Things I've seen book people mention:
* Bill is still being treated differently than in the books which is upsetting Sookie/Eric fans. (He hasn't been MIA at all but in every episode. The 'rape' [as I've heard it described but I haven't read the book] didn't happen, and Debbie didn't trap Sookie with Bill).
* The King of Mississippi is expanded from the book. Most people feel this is a good thing because the actor playing him makes the whole King/Talbot/Eric-revenge/Marrying Sophie-Anne plot fun. I'd actually say that plot has had the most prominence)
* Franklin Mott is expanded from the book. Again, generally a good thing because the actor playing him makes him both hilarious and terrifying.
* Hot Shot has been turned from simply a dumpy place to group of red neck meth cookers and Jason's relationship with Crystal seems to already be in Book IV territory.
* Jason wants to be a deputy (laugh and ruefully shake your head over that one). And I'm willing to bet that his Book IV disappearance will arrive by Season 3's finale if not earlier than that.
* Claudine and the Fae subplot are already happening. Eric already knows. Hadley is still alive (to date at least).
* Lafayette's plot is his own. He's now got a mother and a love interest that I'm willing to bet is either Fae or witch... but I'm leaning towards Fae, but I know no spoilers. Implications are also that Lafayette has 'power' (in that case I'm leaning toward witch and/or seer. Again, I'm just guessing). All of this is unrelated to the books.
* Jessica also has her own plot. So that's also outside the book.
* Sam has his own plot. Is that in the books?

All the stuff not included from the books or lifted from later books seems to have condensed the Alcide/Debbie thing to something relatively minor. At least that's my impression.

And I have to say that I really enjoyed Season 2 Being Human as it took Mitchell and George step by step to a very dark place. I liked Lucy and I love Nina... who rocks. And had better stick around permanently, regardless of whether she continues to associate with George.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

(is it spoiling if I say that the rape doesn't happen?)

Not really, because I didn't remember it - until you reminded me.

So Ball's basically doing in S3, the same thing he did in 1 and 2, and that's sprinkling bits and pieces from the books into the story where necessary, but doing his own twist on them? Hmmm, I might like S3 better than I thought. So far the TV series is a lot better than the books ever were.

Harris has some interesting and good ideas, but sucks at execution.
I kept wanting to hand her story off to someone who could write.
Apparently - I got my wish, more or less. Just wish Ball had given the Sookester a bit more depth than she had in the books, a bit more Buffy and a lot less Harmony Kendell/Cordelia. But oh well.

Have yet to see the appeal of Being Human, granted I've only watched the first two-three episodes of S2. So that could change.
It did with True Blood - was bored by the first two-three episodes, took off after the 4th. This might be true of Being Human as well? Or I'm in the wrong mood to watch it? I want more fun light banter and less guilt ridden brooding/whining - I can get that at work. ;-)

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Heh. I'm afraid the the lightest moment of Season 2 Being Human is the scene where George and Mitchell protest that they're men and so don't get all emotional over stuff, then promtly have a hysterical hissyfit because their favorite TV show has changed nights. Other than that, season 2 heads down a rather murky path with the audience seeing both George and Mitchell completely deluding themselves, convincing themselves that they're doing the 'right' thing while the audience is thinking that there's simply no way that this doesn't end badly. Annie's plot is also somewhat sad, though not nearly as deluded. It's the whole "path to hell is paved with good intentions" thing.

Still, I completely enjoyed Lucy's plot with Mitchel (Lucy is the doctor that Mitchel is hitting on early in the season). She turned into an interesting character for me. And I love Nina. Ivan actually became somewhat interesting for me (which surprised me given the very Spike/Dru-ness of his and Daisy's introduction). However, basically, what I remember liking was the bravery in unapologetically taking characters off the deep end.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

However, basically, what I remember liking was the bravery in unapologetically taking characters off the deep end.

You clearly haven't watched the tv shows on FX. ;-)
(Or House for that matter.) I admired it on Buffy and Farscape - because it was shown back in the late 90s and they didn't do it as much back then. Now, just about every show appears to do it. LOL!

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I have to say, I don't think even House, Buffy, or anyone save Scorpious on Farscape goes quite so far off the deep end as Mitchel does.

One of the guys on Nip/Tuck however... that's possible. But the guys on Nip/Tuck lost all rootability. I still root for Mitchel (though they're going to have to go a long way to make him worthy of any trust in the future).

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Eh? No spoilers! I haven't watched past episode 2 of Being Human. Right now the worste thing Mitchell's done is well put a gold-fish in a jar without holes in it. (Which isn't really that big a deal.)

(Just finished watching the episode about Annie almost being pushed through the gateway to hell. Which I laughed my head off at. The third episode is saved to DVR, the fourth airs on Sat. )

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

Is the werepanther thing really that early? I thought it only starts in book 5 or so but I only heard them as audiobooks during mindnumbing jobs, so they didn't really stick with me.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Yep, they were introduced in book 2 or 3. The whole Fellowship of the Sun and the psychic bellboy - didn't pop up until about the 5th or 6th books. Which is why S1 and S2 don't quite match the books. Also Jason never got involved with the Fellowship, he was with the werepanthers at that point.

Jason gets involved with Crystal and is turned into a werepanther by the second to third book. Sookie and Bill broke up during the third or fourth book.

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

I got confused and looked it up. Jason is never with the Fellowship of the sun in the books, but they still are there in book 2 and kill the old vampire (who is not Eric's Sire though).

Jason basically did nothing in book 2 and 3 and hooks up with crystal in the 4th (says wiki, I had thought it was even later so we meet in the middle :)).

I'm not really invested in the books, most of the time I like the series better.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Can't say I'm that invested in either, to be honest.
(It's saying something that I still find Vampire Diaries and Supernatural to be more entertaining.)

While Ball's tv series is a lot better than the books,
it does have some of the same pitfalls as the books.
Sookie and Bill - ugh.

But don't misunderstand me here - I don't care about the books, just curious to see how closely Ball follows them (personally, for the sake of fans of the series and the series itself? I hope he doesn't follow the books that closely. There's some really stupid bits in them like the whole fairy stuff). I stopped reading them sometime around the entrance of the Weretiger. Don't remember them that clearly...just bits and pieces. (The Debbie Pelt bit is hard to forget - because I gave up on the books during that storyline.)

Isn't the 4th book the one in which Eric loses his memory due to a spell cast by an angry witch and the fairies show up? And Sookie is revealed to be half-fairy? I thought it was either book 4 or 5? Can't remember.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

The plus side of Ball's take on the books - is Tara is more interesting, Lafayette actually has a storyline, Jason is not an asshole - he's just a bimbo (in the books he's an asshole), and Sam has a storyline that does not revolve around Sookie. Ball actually makes Sam, Jason and Tara protagonists along with Sookie. We spend equal time in their pov's.

Nods. Plus he's created original characters that are often more interesting that the book characters.

[liliaeth]

Mark Pellegrino was cast as their version of Herrick. Much as I love the guy, I think he's unsuited for the role, for one thing, he's way too attractive and charismatic to play Herrick.