(no subject)

Oh dear, Grey's Anatomy....why anyone in their right mind would to Grey/Sloan to get treated is beyond me. That hospital is cursed. To date they've had shooters, a bomb, fire, disease outbreak, and an explosion. I may have missed a few.

They also wrote out my favorite resident character, Edwards, and one of the few who can act.

This hasn't been the best year for the series. Not as good as the previous two years. Although, Rhimes has managed to shift the focus of the series to the POC characters over the white heterosexual ones. It's also more ensemble than it used to be. Meredith is no longer the central focus. It's more Bailey in some respects.

Another meme

1.How did you name your pets?

Eh, I am not good at naming things. My brother did it for the later pets. And we had no real plan. It was just -- oh whatever came to mind. Sort of similar to coming up with passwords.

Don't own any pets at the moment...

2.Poirot or Miss Marpel?

Depends. Poirot was a little more darker, and exotic. Marple more homespun and somewhat down-to-earth. I think I liked Poirot better -- more variety. Marple's cases got a bit like Murder She Wrote after a bit. (Repetitive and rather dull, although I did like Sleeping Murder). And Poirot...was a bit more clever in how she wrote him and killed him off. (It is telling that Christie killed off Poirot and never did kill off Marple.)

I don't read many mysteries now...because unless they are hybrid genres (ie sci-fi, romance, fantasy, etc...they can be rather repetitious and dull. Let's face it there are only so many ways you can kill someone and then investigate it, hence a tendency towards serial killer plot-lines -- more drama, more urgency, and more danger.)

3.Do you have a FB account too?

Yes. It's how I stay in contact with old college chums, my extended family, and to some degree people on past fan boards that I met in person. Interestingly enough, there's people on FB who used to be on LJ and DW and have given up on DW and LJ ages ago and stick only FB, or Twitter. While there are people on DW and LJ who gave up on FB and Twitter.

4.Books - hardcover or paperback

Ebooks, largely. You can increase the size of the print, it lights up in the dark, doesn't take up any space, no moldy or dusty smell, tends to last longer, easy to cart around, and easier to hold and read while in transit.

Paperbacks -- take up less space, easier to lug around, cheaper.

Although should be mentioned I saw a book on Amazon, where the e-book was more than the hardback, and that's just odd.

5.Mobile(cell phone): Windows/Android or Apple?

Apple, currently. Android for my last three phones. I don't recommend Android. The Apple has lasted longer...is easier to use in some respects, although there are ticks with both. Apps work better with Apple - I've discovered. As do calls. But Apple did away with their "ignore/take" bit and copied Android's slide to take phone call bit, which just ...no.

Also the photo capability is much better.

Android is for techies, Apple is for the rest of us.

Doctor Who - "Oxygen"

Hmm...so I finally saw this episode and liked more than I thought I would.

There's some good character development. A rather interesting take on racism...and how two people, who normally struggle with racism or being treated as different, both make verbal faux pas when addressing a blue space alien. I rather liked that and thought it funny and thought-provoking.

And some interesting themes. See below. Cut for spoilers.

1. ( The Evil Corporation Sci-Fi Trope, cut for plot spoilers )

At least this theme didn't overwhelm the episode. But it did seem to be a repeat of The Smile episode, making me wonder if they are trying to make a point about agency...ie. the control people have over others, and themselves? Actually that was the interesting theme that I saw.

Which brings me to what I think is actually one of the overarching themes of this season. And a far more interesting one than the above. Because frankly, I'm bored of the evil corporation theme. It's been a tad overdone.

( Agency or Control )

Lucifer

1. I'm not sure if anyone is watching Lucifer outside of shapinglight?

Anyhow...I'm finding I'm enjoying it for the most part, except for the procedural bits or mystery of the week, which the writers don't appear to care that much about anyhow.

This past week's Lucifer was really good. Even brought back that 1990s song, What if God was One of Us by Joan Osborn.

( eh spoilers )

2. Once Upon a Time Season Final -- this could have very easily been the series finale. And in some respects it was. And it ends happily. They make a big point of talking about new beginnings.

Over and over and over again. As if the writers want to slam home to the viewer that guess what, we are rebooting the show. Next year we'll have a whole new show, it's the same one, but a new beginning, new hero, new villains, etc.

I wish had faith in the writers to be innovative in this regard. But I read the break down and it's just a gender flip on the Henry/Emma bit. Now it's a little girl who finds her father, who has no memory of her, and asks him to help her, because his family needs him. The father is Henry Mills. So, instead of Emma being found by Henry, asking her to have belief. It's a little girl bringing the Once Upon a Time book to Henry and asking him to have faith...and the story she holds, is the story of his life in Storybrook.

My mother said the ending reminded her of Back to the Future 2 -- where they come back and say..."your family needs you". (This synced into a conversation about how the middle Back to the Future sucked, but parts 1 and 3 were pretty good. The only two things interesting about 2, was they predicted that the Cubs would win the World Series, and that someone like Trump would become President.)

The episode itself felt repetitive. I'd seen it before. Started fast-forwarding. The show, I think, has been stretched too thin. Not sure what they are going to do with Hook, Rumplestilskin and Regina...felt those characters had been sort of stretched thin as well, also redeemed as much as possible. What else is there to say? I mean how many times...can we revisit the same issues?

The problem sometimes with television series is they don't seem to when to call it quits.

3. In other news, finished The Smoke Thief -- and liked it a lot. Surprised me.
Granted the ending was...a bit on the syrupy side, but they all are. Anyhow, decided to read the next one in the series..."The Dream Thief".