(no subject)

1. You ever wish that you could read the spoilers for your own life - as if you were a character in a book and if you could just leap a few chapters ahead and see if...Or hop in a magical blue police phone box and whiz ahead five years, see what's up, then whiz back again?

Probably a good idea that we can't do that right? Because...spoilers.
But somedays, like today, I sort of wish I could..make life less worrisome.

2. Peeked out of mild curiousity at Scott Allie's latest and somewhat inept attempt to comedically induce folks to read the S9 Buffy comics. Dude, I wanted to say, if S8 turned them off...it's highly unlikely they are going to stick around for s9. Actually, after I read his 10 reasons...I think he knows that and has given up on those of us who got turned off by s8 (which is admittedly a gross understatement) or are no longer interested (also an understatement) and is simply talking to the fans remaining (and yes, shocking, I know, S8 actually had fervent fans - there's at least 9 who will most likely stumble across this entry.) So I read the 10 reasons and I thought, hmmm - more like 10 reasons NOT to read the comics, well except for maybe reason #2 - Whedon writes S9. (Depending of course on how you feel about Whedon and how reliable you think Allie is. I'll spare you my feelings on both.).

3. Bret Easton Ellis is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his controversial 1980s satire of privileged metrosexual Wall Street/American white guys entitled American Psycho. Which, while humorous in places - there's a nifty chapter on consumerism and capitalism gone insane with all the branding, it also has to be the most sadistic and misogynist novel that I've ever read. If you are at all curious do yourselves a favor - skip the book and rent Lizzie Borden's Mary Harron's movie of the same name, starring Christian Bale.(ETA: I keep confusing Mary Harron with Lizzie Borden who directed Love Crimes, not sure why.) It's funnier and cuts out all the nasty bits.[ETA: Basically he's just a deranged ax murderer and not a graphic serial rapist and female genitilia mutilator like he is in the book - some men are just afraid of the female vagina or maybe they just want one?] A perfect example of where the movie adaptation is 100% better than it's source material. The fact that Easton Ellis saw the book as autobiographical in some respects and identified heavily with the lead character - makes me wonder about his attitude towards women. I'm guessing being the son (or is it step-son?) or Gloria Steinman did not have a positive effect? (ETA: Per the comments, I confused Ellis with Christian Bale who merely portrayed the lead role in the film - Steinman is Bale's stepmother. Ellis is a misogynistic pig all on his own. Apologies for the confusion.) (There's a sadistic/misogynistic scene in that book that I truly wish I did not remember and motivated me to get rid of it. This scene basically defines the words squick, sadism and misogyny. I think I gave it to a former friend who wasn't bugged by stuff like that. But I considered burning it.)

4. Am considering getting Feast of Crows and Dance of Dragons for Kindle - easier to read or rather easier to lug around. Although not sure why I insist on torturing myself. You have to be a bit of a masochinist to read these books folks, either that or a sadist. Martin does things to his characters that would give Stanley Kubrick a run for his money (forget Stephen King - King is actually sort of nice in comparison, so for that matter is Joss Whedon.) Talk about your violent karmic universes. Will state, that the tv series version of Game of Thrones is actually less violent than the books, and easier to watch, not to mention a lot more enjoyable and a lot less painful - so I have hope for future seasons. Then again, of the books? Game of Thrones was the cheeriest and lightest and least violent and gory.

Okay back to work. It's sort of slow today. Can't you tell?

The Wire - Episode 5 - Pager, and other bits

Before I discuss the Wire, a bit on Game of Thrones - which I actually think is as good as The Wire, in its first 9 episodes. Albeit quite different, and definitely not everyone's cup of tea - it is in some respects riskier, more violent, more in your face, and far more offensive. The Wire is downright comforting in comparison. Also The Wire has less irritating characters than Game of Thrones - no Joffrey's that you want to strangle. Thank heavens.
What they have in common is only 11-13 episodes. Have come to the conclusion that there's something to be said for having only 13 episodes or less a season. Really does make a difference. That and limiting your writing staff to two - four people. The Wire only has two writers - Ed Burns and David Simon, who take turns writing each episode, but both write the story. Which I think lends to the compact and tight novel structure of the series. Multiple writers can make a story feel a bit all over the place - collaborations seldom work well. And in that respect, I think Wire is a step ahead of Game of Thrones in that department, Game has about four to five writers, which may well be one too many. The dialogue's more consistent when you have two writing voices instead of five to twenty.

The Wire, while wonderful, is slow in places. The first, second, and fifth episodes are a bit weak at the beginning. But will state the fifth episode picks up speed. Game of Thrones? Has similar issues. But those aren't that big a deal. They are building characters and story - that, as any good writer or reader of lengthy serials or novel fiction knows - is part of the package. If you can't handle the slow build? Short stories may be your cup of tea. I'm not a fan of most short stories personally, mostly because I think its harder to pull in the reader fast, capture the characters fast, and provide a good plot, and good story fast - most writers tend to fall into one of two traps in short fiction - too much plot no character, or all character no plot. If you want to read two fanfic writers who have mastered the form of short fiction in my humble opinion? beer_good_foamy and rahirah , tv show writer? Rod Sterling of Twilight Zone. Books? Stephen King (See The Body), Eudora Welty - Petrified Man, Ray Bradbury - The Martian Chronicles, and The Veldt.

In EW - there's a lengthy article regarding last week's character death ( spoilers for that character death in episode 9 )

Sorry that was admittedly more than a bit.

Just finished watching Episode 5 - entitled The Pager.

( The Wire - a sort of personal meta and review of the episode )