(no subject)

Re-Watched A Human Reaction and Terra Firma tonight, also watched Friday Night Lights - I'm about four-five episodes behind. Wonderful show, FNL. It's well written, well performed, and well produced. Close to flawless this season so far. And it oddly makes me happy, with its warm themes. Methinks, I've grown tired of bleak?

Read in EW that they are doing a motion version of the Buffy comics, premiering July 19th? Okay.
Wish the comics were deserving of that, or better. Might check it out - out of curiousity, but doubtful. Have come to the conclusion that tv shows and movies do not translate well into comic books. Odd, considering I tend to like film adaptations of comics or graphic novels. Hmmm.
I think the difference is - that when you take film and translate it to a flat format, you are doing the equivalent of chopping it in half. The adaption loses something in the translation.
OR, maybe I just don't like the collaborative team on the Buffy comics? This actually would make more sense - I'm admittedly not a fan of Jeff Loeb, Brad Meltzer, Georges Jeanty, and Scott Allie. (actually that is a polite understatement). If you think of entertainment collaborations as being similar to creating soups or sauces or stews, and how some spices work together and other spices when you put them together then swallow them, you sort of want to vomit or get cramps, it makes sense. This was certainly true of the Star Wars series and Star Trek. Star Wars prequels convinced me that it wasn't George Lucas that made the first three films entertaining but the whole collaborative team - including the actors. The prequels had a completely different team. Lucas the only hold-over. In other words, you can't predict that you'll love whatever Joss Whedon or James Marsters or Anthony Stewart Head or Ben Browder or Claudia Black or David Kemper create - because each time they create something they are working with different people. (You are bound to be disappointed.) Any more than you are always going to like Chili - depends on the recipe and whose making it.

Farscape has reminded me that I'm a sucker for a well-balanced, well-told love story. There are too few of them - and no, Twilight isn't a love story to me. I'm picky, I know. The John Crichton/Aeryn Sun story is a well-told love story with layers.

A Dark Matter by Peter Straub is weirdly written. The number errors in basic gramatical structure that I've picked up on are astonishing. For example: The writer keeps changing tense and pov in the middle of paragraphs and he does it inconsistently (as in every 50 pages or so). At first I thought it was just a typo, but its happened several times and there's no logic to it. Each time it happens I'm thrust out of the story, because I have to change the word in my head for it to make sense. Example - the majority of the story he tells in the first person singular, "I" this, and "we" that", then all of a sudden, without warning in the middle of a paragraph about fifty pages in, he switches to third person -"they" or "he" - just for one word. Then goes right back to the first person singular. Has done it about four-five times now. Instead of writing "we" - he writes "they" referring to the narrator and whomever he is with, then next paragraph and for the next several pages or more it's all first person singular. So - without warning, we, the reader, are flung out of the narrator or protagonist's perspective and in some omnipresent one, then flung back again. I did a double take each time it occurred. Re-read the paragraph and thought, uhm okay, what happened - did the editor go take a nap? Except it happens a lot. I'm not sure what he thinks he is accomplishing by doing it. Being clever? Not working. Okay, will take a step back and state - that it is possible to break grammatical rules, structural and otherwise while writing and get away with it - but it is hard to do well and most writers don't have the skill to pull it off. You have to prove you can follow the rules, before you break them and when you do break them - you have to show there's a reason for it. I'm not seeing a logical reason for the breakage here. It adds nothing to the story.






Tired from work. Going to be. Soon.

(no subject)

Got a bit accomplished today, including a hair cut. This is major deal - since I tend to get a hair cut once a year. The last time was in September 2009. It's really short, shaggy bob. Hard to describe, but looks good on me and I like it. Been procrastinating for about forever. I hate getting haircuts - because I rarely like them and it involves me sitting and staring at myself in a huge unflattering mirror for an hour. Gotten in the habit of just closing my eyes and letting them cut. This one turned out well - I think. Plus the cost has skyrocketed. I remember when a haircut was 10-20 dollars, 40 tops. Now? $70 plus tip. No wonder I put it off.

The problem with most, actually all tv shows, that have a romantic interest develop amongst lead characters - is the unwritten rule that it is boring to put the leads together and kills the sexual tension, so we must keep them apart or show them almost having sex. This results in all sorts of annoying ways of keeping the two leads apart. (Several of which I already mentioned in a prior post and won't bore you with repeating). While the Aeryn Sun/Crichton romance actually keeps the characters apart in a way that is innovative and organic to their characters during the majority of the first four seasons - ie, they come from literally two different worlds, and don't completely understand each other (star-crossed to the max), during the 4th season - they reach a point in which it does NOT make sense, feels incredibly contrived and you want to kick the writers in the butt for doing it. ( spoilers - because I can't explain it without them )

Sigh. Running out of Sat. There seems to be a cardinal rule in life - Saturdays are the shortest days of the week and Monday's are the longest.

(no subject)

Not the best with the Facebook thing - I never know what to say on it. Never been a chatter.
Went into the ATPO chat room once way back in 2002, to see what it was like, and got overwhelmed.
(Probably didn't help that not one but three people engaged me in private chats at the same time I was trying to keep up with the main chat. Got a headache. Came to the conclusion - not for me. And never went back.) It must be genetic - my brother, my father, and mother don't like Facebook either and hate quick chats on the phone.

Saw a vid that proved two things to me, once again: 1) Wait long enough and someone out there will post a vid, essay, fictional work or comment that articulates perfectly how you feel about something (the power of the internet, dude!), 2) not a fan of vids, they still feel like someone is doing a clip show to music in my opinion. Picking the clips that promote their point of view and ignoring the others, without commenting on them. Bit like watching a commercial or movie trailer. I like movie trailers - but at least they are honest.

That said, this vid did do a good job of explaining in rather graphic detail, with pictures and music no less - my current feelings regarding Whedon and the Buffy comics, without me having to say a word. So yes, while vids bug me on a certain level, at the same time they can often be more effective than an essay or fictional piece of writing - in that they speak to emotion and say what we can't quite articulate. Using scenes or pictures from the item that bugged or moved us as examples. Since the point of the vid was to convey or communicate a specific perspective, I have to say it was quite effective. I conveyed quite well what is in my head or a perspective that I suddenly saw quite clearly after reading Buffy issue 34 and have not been able to dislodge or argue against. And as a result, feel sort of ...not sure what the word I'm looking for here is exactly? Disillusioned? No. Betrayed? Not really. Disappointment? Yes. And
a little sad. I enjoyed being a Whedon fan, can't say I am one any longer. In fact, quite the opposite. And the vid linked to below on youtube - sort of explains why.

Here's the vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnQIpUzoMxM

We all have our triggers. I guess.