Veronica Mars, Livejournal Meme
Dec. 14th, 2004 10:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatWatched Veronica Mars tonight - the show is definitely growing on me and has potential. Especially when it shifts between Veronica's investigations and her Dads. (I admit, I'm more interested in the adult characters inhabiting this universe, not least because the actors are better and more fascinating than
the younger ones. Have been a Kyle Secor fan since Homicide Life on The Streets (even though haven't seen him tackle as good a role since Bayliss yet, Jack Kane is at least interesting)and enjoy Enrico from Just Shoot Me as Veronica's dad. Plus the real life married team of Lisa Rinni/Harry Hamlin is fun.) The other plus to tonight's episode was the focus on Weevil/Logan again.
(I adore these two - it's like seeing the Spike character split in two.) Poker.
And, the arc, which I find more interesting then the somewhat predictable mysteries of the week. The best thing about tonight's Veronica Mars was its willingness to go to the dark place, to be harsh. I like Lost for the same reason. Very few network shows seem willing to go there anymore. These two do.
Does VM have a future? After visiting Kidbro this weekend, yep, I think so.
Kidbro likes four shows: Lost, Desperate Housewives, Americas Top Model, and Veronica Mars. Last year - his favorite show was the OC. The kid is a trendspotter.
Here's a meme, or rather a few questions I'd like to pose to whoever happens to read this. I'll call the livejournal response meme for lack of a better title. These questions may be unanswerable. Not sure. And they are for everyone who reads livejournal posts, not just those of us who happen to have a livejournal.
1. What draws your attention to a livejournal post? (Be it on your friends list, someone elses, or just scrolling through.)
2. What makes you respond to a livejournal post? Why do you respond to some posts and not others?
3. Do you respond to posts based on the number of comments listed? Is your attention more drawn to a post that has a lot of comments? Or do you, as a rule, not respond to a post with more than 20 comments? Do heavily read posts turn you on or off?
4. What causes you to read one person's livejournal over another's? Commonality of interest? You've met the person? You are close friends? Or
do you just love their writing?
5. Why do you read livejournal? If you read it, do you respond to posts on it?
Why or why not? (Note I said read - not keep one.)
6. What turns you off of a post? What would make you stop reading someone's journal?
7. Are you ever afraid to respond to certain journals - not because of the post or the original writer, but because of the comments and you fear the
friends of that writer?
8. How much validity do you give posts on livejournal? (ie. Do you trust
what you've read?)
9. If there was one thing you could change about posting on livejournal or reading what would it be? (Note this is for everyone, not just those who have a livejournal - what would you change about the journals you've read? (This is not a question about what would you change about the service itself.)
10. What are your pet peeves about reading livejournal? What are the things you love most about reading it?
Per usual with my memes - feel free to pick the questions you feel like answering and post in your own journals or respond here. Assuming you want to answer any.
My answers:
1. What draws your attention to a livejournal post? (Be it on your friends list, someone elses, or just scrolling through.)
Usually it has to hit me on an emotional level or strike one of my interests.
I tend to skip posts that discuss what people are doing with this or that friend, especially if the friend is a fellow livejournal user - unless it includes a movie review or book review.
2. What makes you respond to a livejournal post? Why do you respond to some posts and not others?
I respond to posts that I think I have something worthwhile to contribute.
I don't respond to posts that anger me as a rule (at least not any more, learned that lesson the hard way on the discussion boards). I also respond to
posts that hit an emotional chord.
3. Do you respond to posts based on the number of comments listed? Is your attention more drawn to a post that has a lot of comments? Or do you, as a rule, not respond to a post with more than 20 comments? Do heavily read posts turn you on or off?
Yes. Definitely. If a post has over 20 comments? It's unlikely I'll post a response unless I find one of the comments interesting, it's mostly a conversation between the livejournal owner and a friend and has zip to do with the post - and I can contribute, or I *really* have something I want to say.
I learned the hard way this summer that responding to journals with over 130 comments, causes one to be lost in the shuffle. It's like sending fanmail to Joss Whedon, what's the point? (There's something in my makeup that cringes at the idea of worshipping anything or being a "fan", so whenever I fall into the pattern? I slap myself upside the head and it is over.)
That said, I admit I'll often stop and read an entry that has a ton of comments out of curiousity. OR at least I used to. Now it seems to freeze my computer whenever I attempt to click on these posts - so I tend to skip over them. I'm more likely to read and respond to a post with no responses or just ten then one that has 50-100.
4. What causes you to read one person's livejournal over another's? Commonality of interest? You've met the person? You are close friends? Or
do you just love their writing?
All of the above. It's really just a mood thing. Although I find myself swinging more and more towards the informational journals - or ones about things such as books, politics, tv shows, movies, travels, history, and less and less from the ones that discuss what someone did that particular day.
It's a time thing, I think. Also don't read fanfic any more, with the possible exception of the S6 Virtual Season on ATPO.
5. Why do you read livejournal? If you read it, do you respond to posts on it?
Why or why not? (Note I said read - not keep one.)
I miss letters. I *really* do. I admit it - I'm a correspondence junkie. Before the internet I was writing long rambling letters to friends and family whether they wanted me to or not. I also read the letters they sent in response, largely out of quilt I suspect (my family and friends are not letter writers, they are phone people. Ugh.) There's something about reading a letter or a post online, in the privacy of your own home, own thoughts, without anyone seeing your reaction that cannot quite be duplicated by a phone or in person. I like being able to contemplate someone else's words and thoughts without being watched as I do so. Being given time to form my own response
or take on them. Or not saying anything at all and just letting those words be absorbed, sans response. It's why I can't quite break this online habit.
No matter how busy I get. I crave that.
6. What turns you off of a post? What would make you stop reading someone's journal?
Rejection. OR I get offended in some way. Granted - it's really hard to take things said in someone else's journal personally. After all it's their journal so more or less all about them and their take on the universe - you ain't part of it. But, occassionally - words bite. Whether or not we mean them to. Like those pacmen from the computer game chewing their way through the maze. (I say this, hoping that my own haven't bitten anyone recently - no way of knowing that really unless people tell you, and livejournal seems to attract people like myself - that abhor conflict, so much easier to not read you know?) At any rate - I tend to avoid *biting* prose.
7. Are you ever afraid to respond to certain journals - not because of the post or the original writer, but because of the comments and you fear the
friends of that writer?
Uhm yes.
8. How much validity do you give posts on livejournal? (ie. Do you trust
what you've read?)
Depends on how well I know the poster. I admit I'm guillible. But I also take everything I read with a grain of salt. The people I've friended? I trust. More or less. (grins)
9. If there was one thing you could change about posting on livejournal or reading what would it be? (Note this is for everyone, not just those who have a livejournal - what would you change about the journals you've read? (This is not a question about what would you change about the service itself.)
The damn graphics - people use too many of them and it freezes my computer which can't download all of it. Every quiz meme has those frigging graphics.
Also icons that move - again freezes the computer. Hmmm- maybe what I would change, if I could afford it, is my computer and dial-up connection.
10. What are your pet peeves about reading livejournal? What are the things you love most about reading it?
I got to go to bed. So leaving this one blank.
the younger ones. Have been a Kyle Secor fan since Homicide Life on The Streets (even though haven't seen him tackle as good a role since Bayliss yet, Jack Kane is at least interesting)and enjoy Enrico from Just Shoot Me as Veronica's dad. Plus the real life married team of Lisa Rinni/Harry Hamlin is fun.) The other plus to tonight's episode was the focus on Weevil/Logan again.
(I adore these two - it's like seeing the Spike character split in two.) Poker.
And, the arc, which I find more interesting then the somewhat predictable mysteries of the week. The best thing about tonight's Veronica Mars was its willingness to go to the dark place, to be harsh. I like Lost for the same reason. Very few network shows seem willing to go there anymore. These two do.
Does VM have a future? After visiting Kidbro this weekend, yep, I think so.
Kidbro likes four shows: Lost, Desperate Housewives, Americas Top Model, and Veronica Mars. Last year - his favorite show was the OC. The kid is a trendspotter.
Here's a meme, or rather a few questions I'd like to pose to whoever happens to read this. I'll call the livejournal response meme for lack of a better title. These questions may be unanswerable. Not sure. And they are for everyone who reads livejournal posts, not just those of us who happen to have a livejournal.
1. What draws your attention to a livejournal post? (Be it on your friends list, someone elses, or just scrolling through.)
2. What makes you respond to a livejournal post? Why do you respond to some posts and not others?
3. Do you respond to posts based on the number of comments listed? Is your attention more drawn to a post that has a lot of comments? Or do you, as a rule, not respond to a post with more than 20 comments? Do heavily read posts turn you on or off?
4. What causes you to read one person's livejournal over another's? Commonality of interest? You've met the person? You are close friends? Or
do you just love their writing?
5. Why do you read livejournal? If you read it, do you respond to posts on it?
Why or why not? (Note I said read - not keep one.)
6. What turns you off of a post? What would make you stop reading someone's journal?
7. Are you ever afraid to respond to certain journals - not because of the post or the original writer, but because of the comments and you fear the
friends of that writer?
8. How much validity do you give posts on livejournal? (ie. Do you trust
what you've read?)
9. If there was one thing you could change about posting on livejournal or reading what would it be? (Note this is for everyone, not just those who have a livejournal - what would you change about the journals you've read? (This is not a question about what would you change about the service itself.)
10. What are your pet peeves about reading livejournal? What are the things you love most about reading it?
Per usual with my memes - feel free to pick the questions you feel like answering and post in your own journals or respond here. Assuming you want to answer any.
My answers:
1. What draws your attention to a livejournal post? (Be it on your friends list, someone elses, or just scrolling through.)
Usually it has to hit me on an emotional level or strike one of my interests.
I tend to skip posts that discuss what people are doing with this or that friend, especially if the friend is a fellow livejournal user - unless it includes a movie review or book review.
2. What makes you respond to a livejournal post? Why do you respond to some posts and not others?
I respond to posts that I think I have something worthwhile to contribute.
I don't respond to posts that anger me as a rule (at least not any more, learned that lesson the hard way on the discussion boards). I also respond to
posts that hit an emotional chord.
3. Do you respond to posts based on the number of comments listed? Is your attention more drawn to a post that has a lot of comments? Or do you, as a rule, not respond to a post with more than 20 comments? Do heavily read posts turn you on or off?
Yes. Definitely. If a post has over 20 comments? It's unlikely I'll post a response unless I find one of the comments interesting, it's mostly a conversation between the livejournal owner and a friend and has zip to do with the post - and I can contribute, or I *really* have something I want to say.
I learned the hard way this summer that responding to journals with over 130 comments, causes one to be lost in the shuffle. It's like sending fanmail to Joss Whedon, what's the point? (There's something in my makeup that cringes at the idea of worshipping anything or being a "fan", so whenever I fall into the pattern? I slap myself upside the head and it is over.)
That said, I admit I'll often stop and read an entry that has a ton of comments out of curiousity. OR at least I used to. Now it seems to freeze my computer whenever I attempt to click on these posts - so I tend to skip over them. I'm more likely to read and respond to a post with no responses or just ten then one that has 50-100.
4. What causes you to read one person's livejournal over another's? Commonality of interest? You've met the person? You are close friends? Or
do you just love their writing?
All of the above. It's really just a mood thing. Although I find myself swinging more and more towards the informational journals - or ones about things such as books, politics, tv shows, movies, travels, history, and less and less from the ones that discuss what someone did that particular day.
It's a time thing, I think. Also don't read fanfic any more, with the possible exception of the S6 Virtual Season on ATPO.
5. Why do you read livejournal? If you read it, do you respond to posts on it?
Why or why not? (Note I said read - not keep one.)
I miss letters. I *really* do. I admit it - I'm a correspondence junkie. Before the internet I was writing long rambling letters to friends and family whether they wanted me to or not. I also read the letters they sent in response, largely out of quilt I suspect (my family and friends are not letter writers, they are phone people. Ugh.) There's something about reading a letter or a post online, in the privacy of your own home, own thoughts, without anyone seeing your reaction that cannot quite be duplicated by a phone or in person. I like being able to contemplate someone else's words and thoughts without being watched as I do so. Being given time to form my own response
or take on them. Or not saying anything at all and just letting those words be absorbed, sans response. It's why I can't quite break this online habit.
No matter how busy I get. I crave that.
6. What turns you off of a post? What would make you stop reading someone's journal?
Rejection. OR I get offended in some way. Granted - it's really hard to take things said in someone else's journal personally. After all it's their journal so more or less all about them and their take on the universe - you ain't part of it. But, occassionally - words bite. Whether or not we mean them to. Like those pacmen from the computer game chewing their way through the maze. (I say this, hoping that my own haven't bitten anyone recently - no way of knowing that really unless people tell you, and livejournal seems to attract people like myself - that abhor conflict, so much easier to not read you know?) At any rate - I tend to avoid *biting* prose.
7. Are you ever afraid to respond to certain journals - not because of the post or the original writer, but because of the comments and you fear the
friends of that writer?
Uhm yes.
8. How much validity do you give posts on livejournal? (ie. Do you trust
what you've read?)
Depends on how well I know the poster. I admit I'm guillible. But I also take everything I read with a grain of salt. The people I've friended? I trust. More or less. (grins)
9. If there was one thing you could change about posting on livejournal or reading what would it be? (Note this is for everyone, not just those who have a livejournal - what would you change about the journals you've read? (This is not a question about what would you change about the service itself.)
The damn graphics - people use too many of them and it freezes my computer which can't download all of it. Every quiz meme has those frigging graphics.
Also icons that move - again freezes the computer. Hmmm- maybe what I would change, if I could afford it, is my computer and dial-up connection.
10. What are your pet peeves about reading livejournal? What are the things you love most about reading it?
I got to go to bed. So leaving this one blank.
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I think kid bro is right on this one.
Date: 2004-12-15 07:36 am (UTC)It's not quite there yet. Ex-BF Duncan's characterization is all over the place, Xander-ish supporting character Wallace is underdeveoped, and the mystery of the week format is clunky at times, almost as clunky as the monster of the week in Buffy S1. But the central mystery (the death of Lilly Kane) is absorbing, the adult characters are well-developed, and we have a theme running in VM that could sustain the show for years: Veronica's quest for the truth will always bring her pain.
And yes, I could watch Logan, Weevil and Veronica talk all night and right through the day.
I wish Fox would move "House" to a less crowded time slot, because I'm a big fan of Hugh Laurie, and I feel bad about missing it.
BTW, did you hear the news about Ben Browder? From TVGuide.com:
OPEN STARGATE: We've got good news for fans of Sci Fi's Stargate SG-1 and great news for fans of Farscape: TV Guide Online has learned exclusively that when SG-1 begins its ninth season, Farscape hunk Ben Browder will join the long-running series as a regular. In the meantime, the show is continuing its efforts to hammer out a deal to keep erstwhile MacGyver Richard Dean Anderson (who has been with SG-1 since its 1997 debut) on board, at least in a limited capacity. Whatever happens when all the moondust settles, SG-1 returns to finish out its eighth season on Jan. 21, when it will take over the 8 pm/ET time slot to accommodate the addition of Battlestar Galactica to the net's lineup at 10.
Re: I think kid bro is right on this one.
Date: 2004-12-15 05:01 pm (UTC)Agree on the central mystery and adult characters, but the quest for the truth that will always bring you pain theme will get old after awhile. One of the best things about BTVS was Whedon kept changing his theme. Yes it was in some respects the general idea of someone growing up - but he did variations: "loss of innocence", "over-coming authority", "taking or finding your own initiative", "dealing with family and making your own family",
"taking responsibility for your actions..." etc.
What VM has going for it is the "noir" style and sense of tragedy.
But it is a plus and minus, because audiences like to be comforted.
The show is more drama, than dramedy. It needs a bit more humor and I'm not sure the writers have found it.
It has potential, but it's not appointment television. I can miss it and tune into House occassionally, without too much worry. Also I don't feel an overwhelming urge to re-watch episodes.
I wish Fox would move "House" to a less crowded time slot, because I'm a big fan of Hugh Laurie, and I feel bad about missing it.
Agree. I keep flipping between the two. House in some respects is more gripping and watchable, it contains humorous moments. I've laughed more during House, ironically enough, than during VM. Also Hugh Laurie's lead is captivating, whenever he is on the screen.
So, on the fence still which one I'll watch more. I see myself re-watching House actually more than VM, because of the nice little one-liners and unobvious plot twists. VM hasn't surprised me yet.
I see the plot twists and usually figure out the mystery before she does. Not good. But it is in it's first season and it is willing to go to that harsh place, so we'll see.
Kidbro loves it, because he's a fan of Enrico (the guy from Just Shoot Me) and thinks the actor is a fantastic physical comedian.
That said, he finds Kristen Bell grating.
Hadn't heard the news about Bowder. I'm really *not* a fan of SG-1, so am more or less ambivalent about the news.