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shadowkatFlirted with seeing the CHESS revival. But then I listened to the music again - and well, my music tastes have changed over the past forty some years? I loved the original cast recording and even saw the musical live in London with Anthony Head subbing for his brother Murray Head on London's West End, as The American. But I don't like the music now - it's overly melodramatic and doesn't really make sense? It's not ABBA or Tim Rice's best score, and I think Rice worked better with Lloyd Webber in retrospect. Also the story is a mess - and I didn't like any of the characters all that much - most of my sympathy was with Freddie and Anatoly's wife.
I think I'm over the power ballads in musicals? Listened to them one too many times? There's a revival concert of Les Miz at Radio City - and I may shoot myself in the head if I listen to that score one more time. I saw it with the original cast in London in 1987. And then again the touring show in Kansas City in the early 1990s. Plus the movie. It's interesting how tastes change over time? I used to hate celery for example? Now I love it.
I used to love ABBA power ballads, now I can't make it through them.
***
Didn't do much today - outside of binge watch The Diplomat on Netflix, watched Buffy S4 Episode 10 - HUSH (which still holds up and is a brilliant episode), and this week's Grey's Anatomy. My knee was killing me this morning - so I lay about. I did manage a walk to Met Fresh to pick up some food essentials. (Basically more bean soups, fresh made sushi, vegetables, salad greens, eggs, gluten free deli bread, gluten free coffee cake muffins, some rice and quinoa to make grain bowls for the bean (lentil and kidney bean) soups.) (I live in NYC - so I'm within walking distance to six or seven grocery and fruit/vegetable stores. )
Talked to mother, who told me what my niece was up to. Now I want to brag about my niece. . Per Mother - niece is off on a weekend retreat, two hours away, that is being attended by women across the country, and is for women only - on how to effectively fight forest fires. She's also taking emergency medical preparedness training at her university this winter - this is the course work she needed for that Federal job in Sequioa National Park last year. And, she found a way to do her research on how to sustainably put out forest fires - without using contaminants that prevent regrowth. Instead of a Master's Thesis - her program allows her to do a Portfolio of various work that the student has accomplished over the course of their studies, such as published articles, papers, and internships. She's adding the research to it. She also applied for and obtained a fellowship grant in the amount of $2K to fund her research. And she has a TA in the Spring, along with the one she has currently. On top of all of this? She is now editor and chief of the Journal, and in charge of editing and determining what is published within it. My niece is learning to be a fire-fighter, a scientific researcher, and is an environmental journalist. She's also an accomplished outdoors-woman.
She wisely shifted from immigration and human rights advocacy to environmental sustainability, and climate advocacy, and fighting to save the forests. Trees are far easier to save than humans and in my opinion more worthwhile. I've been trying to save humans most of my life and flailing at it - humans are not really worth it. They argue with you. Judge you. Fight you. And have big egos. Trees? Just stand there, give oxygen, and provide shelter from sun and rain.
I couldn't be prouder. The child of my heart is working hard to save the trees. She also can't go home for Christmas or Thanksgiving break - because she has to water and care for various trees she's growing for her research project from seed. So her parents may have to visit her out in Montana.
Very glad she's my niece. I can be proud. Love her. And give her support. Without any responsibility whatsover, or any need to fly out to Montana in December.
***
The knee is not getting better. And I'm worried about it. It's fine - when I'm not using it. But it hurts when I walk, go down steps, or move it a certain way. And last night, it kept waking me up. It also looks off somehow. So I sent a message to the primary care - asking for help today. And I might, try City MD urgent care near my work place next week.
The last thing I need is knee surgery or a knee replacement. But I'll cross the bridge when I come to it.
***
Television
1. Buffy S4 - this season is delightful. Ten episodes in - and loved all of them. The cast is much more interesting and varied than in previous seasons, and less...stock? Spike is an interesting and out of the box addition - in that he's kind of the character roles of Angel and Cordelia combined? Yet, his own character. And Marsters lends him a vulnerability and pathos, that takes the bite off of his snark, in a way that Charisma never quite accomplished in Buffy? Then of course we have the additions of Anya, who is similar to Cordy/Harmony but not, she's snarky but also in a quirky sort of way. (I agree with Emma Caulfield - she had wicked chemistry with Spike which never really went anywhere and was a missed opportunity. The two actors played the old Cordelia lines/part in a more vulnerable, quirker way than Charisma did - in part because they were playing demons, instead of just the popular cliche rich teen cheerleader. With the exception of Riley (who doesn't make it past S5) the new additions are more developed, well-rounded and less cliche than OZ and Cordelia. We also have Tara, who is an interesting contrast to Willow - Tara is what Willow used to be.
Also HUSH is just...such an interesting episode, scary, crazy, and innovative. All at the same time. It's when the critics realized this series was an underrated and overlooked critical gem. And would actually last longer than others that aired at the same time.
I've been listening to podcasts again. Landau's is the better bet - Charisma's isn't as good, and she saves most of it for her Patreon subscriber page, while Landau provides quite a bit on youtube. Landau's is called Revamped with Juliet Landau, and she does it with Dev Weeks (her husband), and her friend Rebecca Griggs (who interviews folks at cons and has a background in film production). They do a lot of research and provide interesting back story tid-bits on the episodes and Hollywood history - such as haunted Hollywood hotels, etc.
I'm not sure the "Revival, Continuation, Reboot" of Buffy will get picked up for a full order. The difficulty they will have - is living up to the quality of the original. It's far easier to reboot a series that isn't that good, then a brilliant one. And if you are rebooting a brilliant series or continuing it - it works better if you can get the original folks involved, or have a world that can easily be expanded upon? See Star Trek the Next Generation or the Star Wars franchise or even Doctor Who.
The original is very good. It's perfectly cast. The writing is spot-on.
And the stunts, makeup, production, etc is spot-on. It's hard to recreate magic in bottle. Add to that? Buffy playing Giles isn't that interesting a concept? It's basically the same story, but with Buffy in the Giles role.
And none of the original cast joining?
That's hard to pull off well. And I don't have much confidence in the team putting it together to do it.
Oh well, we'll see, I suppose.
2. Diplomat Finished S3 and ...Run, Kate, Run. Get as far away from Hal as you can get. Honestly by the end of this season, I wanted her to dump him and run off with Aidan Turner's Callum.
And that surprised me. I agree with my mother - I didn't like this season as well as the previous ones. And found some of the characters unlikable and borderline amoral.
3. Angel S1 episode 10 - Sonumbalist - this is among Jeremy Renner's first roles. (Buffy and Angel gave a lot of premiere actors/writers first roles...Shane West, Jeremy Renner, Amy Adams, Pedro Pascale, Danny Strong). Renner plays the villain of the week - a protegee of Angelus' who kills people in a manner that Angelus taught him. It shines a light on who and what Angel used to be, and why he can't easily be redeemed nor should be. He created a lot of monsters. Drusilla, Spike, and Renner's character among them. Angel the Series points it out - that people are kind of doomed when they join up with Angel, he drags them down with him - he is the polar opposite of Buffy. Buffy brings people into the light, Angel drags them into the dark. And the writers do a brilliant job of showing it, not telling it. You see it in this episode first. And the ending of Angel the Series is the polar opposite of Buffy - Buffy is smiling, after escaping from a crater, and looking out on a sunny horizon without a cloud in the sky. While Angel and his friends are moving into a dark thunderous alley with monsters in the sky, and its raining. Angel is a tragedy or noir to its bones. And Buffy is an uplifting, hopeful coming of age story, about a young woman who slays her demons and emerges victorious - which may be why it's more popular and lasted longer?
I think I'm over the power ballads in musicals? Listened to them one too many times? There's a revival concert of Les Miz at Radio City - and I may shoot myself in the head if I listen to that score one more time. I saw it with the original cast in London in 1987. And then again the touring show in Kansas City in the early 1990s. Plus the movie. It's interesting how tastes change over time? I used to hate celery for example? Now I love it.
I used to love ABBA power ballads, now I can't make it through them.
***
Didn't do much today - outside of binge watch The Diplomat on Netflix, watched Buffy S4 Episode 10 - HUSH (which still holds up and is a brilliant episode), and this week's Grey's Anatomy. My knee was killing me this morning - so I lay about. I did manage a walk to Met Fresh to pick up some food essentials. (Basically more bean soups, fresh made sushi, vegetables, salad greens, eggs, gluten free deli bread, gluten free coffee cake muffins, some rice and quinoa to make grain bowls for the bean (lentil and kidney bean) soups.) (I live in NYC - so I'm within walking distance to six or seven grocery and fruit/vegetable stores. )
Talked to mother, who told me what my niece was up to. Now I want to brag about my niece. . Per Mother - niece is off on a weekend retreat, two hours away, that is being attended by women across the country, and is for women only - on how to effectively fight forest fires. She's also taking emergency medical preparedness training at her university this winter - this is the course work she needed for that Federal job in Sequioa National Park last year. And, she found a way to do her research on how to sustainably put out forest fires - without using contaminants that prevent regrowth. Instead of a Master's Thesis - her program allows her to do a Portfolio of various work that the student has accomplished over the course of their studies, such as published articles, papers, and internships. She's adding the research to it. She also applied for and obtained a fellowship grant in the amount of $2K to fund her research. And she has a TA in the Spring, along with the one she has currently. On top of all of this? She is now editor and chief of the Journal, and in charge of editing and determining what is published within it. My niece is learning to be a fire-fighter, a scientific researcher, and is an environmental journalist. She's also an accomplished outdoors-woman.
She wisely shifted from immigration and human rights advocacy to environmental sustainability, and climate advocacy, and fighting to save the forests. Trees are far easier to save than humans and in my opinion more worthwhile. I've been trying to save humans most of my life and flailing at it - humans are not really worth it. They argue with you. Judge you. Fight you. And have big egos. Trees? Just stand there, give oxygen, and provide shelter from sun and rain.
I couldn't be prouder. The child of my heart is working hard to save the trees. She also can't go home for Christmas or Thanksgiving break - because she has to water and care for various trees she's growing for her research project from seed. So her parents may have to visit her out in Montana.
Very glad she's my niece. I can be proud. Love her. And give her support. Without any responsibility whatsover, or any need to fly out to Montana in December.
***
The knee is not getting better. And I'm worried about it. It's fine - when I'm not using it. But it hurts when I walk, go down steps, or move it a certain way. And last night, it kept waking me up. It also looks off somehow. So I sent a message to the primary care - asking for help today. And I might, try City MD urgent care near my work place next week.
The last thing I need is knee surgery or a knee replacement. But I'll cross the bridge when I come to it.
***
Television
1. Buffy S4 - this season is delightful. Ten episodes in - and loved all of them. The cast is much more interesting and varied than in previous seasons, and less...stock? Spike is an interesting and out of the box addition - in that he's kind of the character roles of Angel and Cordelia combined? Yet, his own character. And Marsters lends him a vulnerability and pathos, that takes the bite off of his snark, in a way that Charisma never quite accomplished in Buffy? Then of course we have the additions of Anya, who is similar to Cordy/Harmony but not, she's snarky but also in a quirky sort of way. (I agree with Emma Caulfield - she had wicked chemistry with Spike which never really went anywhere and was a missed opportunity. The two actors played the old Cordelia lines/part in a more vulnerable, quirker way than Charisma did - in part because they were playing demons, instead of just the popular cliche rich teen cheerleader. With the exception of Riley (who doesn't make it past S5) the new additions are more developed, well-rounded and less cliche than OZ and Cordelia. We also have Tara, who is an interesting contrast to Willow - Tara is what Willow used to be.
Also HUSH is just...such an interesting episode, scary, crazy, and innovative. All at the same time. It's when the critics realized this series was an underrated and overlooked critical gem. And would actually last longer than others that aired at the same time.
I've been listening to podcasts again. Landau's is the better bet - Charisma's isn't as good, and she saves most of it for her Patreon subscriber page, while Landau provides quite a bit on youtube. Landau's is called Revamped with Juliet Landau, and she does it with Dev Weeks (her husband), and her friend Rebecca Griggs (who interviews folks at cons and has a background in film production). They do a lot of research and provide interesting back story tid-bits on the episodes and Hollywood history - such as haunted Hollywood hotels, etc.
I'm not sure the "Revival, Continuation, Reboot" of Buffy will get picked up for a full order. The difficulty they will have - is living up to the quality of the original. It's far easier to reboot a series that isn't that good, then a brilliant one. And if you are rebooting a brilliant series or continuing it - it works better if you can get the original folks involved, or have a world that can easily be expanded upon? See Star Trek the Next Generation or the Star Wars franchise or even Doctor Who.
The original is very good. It's perfectly cast. The writing is spot-on.
And the stunts, makeup, production, etc is spot-on. It's hard to recreate magic in bottle. Add to that? Buffy playing Giles isn't that interesting a concept? It's basically the same story, but with Buffy in the Giles role.
And none of the original cast joining?
That's hard to pull off well. And I don't have much confidence in the team putting it together to do it.
Oh well, we'll see, I suppose.
2. Diplomat Finished S3 and ...Run, Kate, Run. Get as far away from Hal as you can get. Honestly by the end of this season, I wanted her to dump him and run off with Aidan Turner's Callum.
And that surprised me. I agree with my mother - I didn't like this season as well as the previous ones. And found some of the characters unlikable and borderline amoral.
3. Angel S1 episode 10 - Sonumbalist - this is among Jeremy Renner's first roles. (Buffy and Angel gave a lot of premiere actors/writers first roles...Shane West, Jeremy Renner, Amy Adams, Pedro Pascale, Danny Strong). Renner plays the villain of the week - a protegee of Angelus' who kills people in a manner that Angelus taught him. It shines a light on who and what Angel used to be, and why he can't easily be redeemed nor should be. He created a lot of monsters. Drusilla, Spike, and Renner's character among them. Angel the Series points it out - that people are kind of doomed when they join up with Angel, he drags them down with him - he is the polar opposite of Buffy. Buffy brings people into the light, Angel drags them into the dark. And the writers do a brilliant job of showing it, not telling it. You see it in this episode first. And the ending of Angel the Series is the polar opposite of Buffy - Buffy is smiling, after escaping from a crater, and looking out on a sunny horizon without a cloud in the sky. While Angel and his friends are moving into a dark thunderous alley with monsters in the sky, and its raining. Angel is a tragedy or noir to its bones. And Buffy is an uplifting, hopeful coming of age story, about a young woman who slays her demons and emerges victorious - which may be why it's more popular and lasted longer?
no subject
Date: 2025-10-26 04:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-10-26 12:54 pm (UTC)They had competing musicals in London at the time. Phantom of the Opera (Webber, which Webber did by himself) and CHESS (Rice and ABBA). I actually liked CHESS better, along with the score, Phantom was...sigh, let's just say I preferred Lloyd Webber when he was working with someone else.
It did do well in Previews though - sold out the previews. But that's more due to the ABBA power ballads, and apparently people love the cast much better than I do.
no subject
Date: 2025-10-26 12:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-10-26 12:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-10-26 05:32 pm (UTC)One of my favourite moments in "Hush" is the guy selling message boards ...
no subject
Date: 2025-10-26 07:23 pm (UTC)Agreed on the message boards. Which are $10. LOL!
no subject
Date: 2025-10-26 07:30 pm (UTC)Worrying about the knee though. It seems so easy to mess it up and so risky of having something permanent.
no subject
Date: 2025-10-26 09:29 pm (UTC)I just pray the knee problem can be easily resolved by physical therapy and pain management. And surgery is not required.
no subject
Date: 2025-10-27 02:03 pm (UTC)