(no subject)

[shadowkat]

Doing the quote look-up thing again for list-serve and I rather adored this one by Martha Graham (who is a modern dance choreography):

Nobody cares if you can't dance well.
-Martha Graham

Sigh, if only it were true. But I guess it is in a way. At work they told me that Kirstie Alley whose partner couldn't lift her is still in Dancing With the Stars.

Half-watching Glee, which is spending more time on narrative and less on production numbers. Glee? I watch you for the production numbers. You know that right?? The character arcs seem sort of over-the-top from my perspective, with the exception of maybe Kurt. And even Kurt's arc hasn't lately made a lot of sense. Although this one is admittedly better than the last two episodes, but Holly hasn't sung yet, so that may be why.

Okay, what in the heck is Tina singing?

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

Actually Kirstie shows natural talent. She came out of the gate doing pretty well. And lifts are prohibited in most dances. Her partner wasn't well positioned on a bending move and they both fell.

Glee's narrative has become largely incoherent this season, but I'm pretty sure they're selling so much music that no one cares.

[honorh.livejournal.com]

Erm, you might want to actually check out DwtS before saying that. First, they don't actually allow lifts in the competition. Second, Kirstie and Maks, her partner, are doing rather well by any standard. She can really dance. They did have a fall; during one routine, his leg gave out and they spilled on the floor. He said he got a sudden muscle cramp. After the spill, though, they danced the rest of the routine beautifully.

Now, if you're looking for support for Graham's quote, look at former Playmate Kendra Wilkinson. She may look the part, but she's just terrible, yet they haven't managed to shake her yet.

[angearia.livejournal.com]

First, they don't actually allow lifts in the competition.

That's not true. They may not allow lifts for certain dances (can't remember if that's an actual rule), but I've watched too many lifts to count in DwtS. This one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeIczhyWvQA) with Nicole and Derek in the Season 10 finale was memorable for how they fumbled the lift.

Lifts are definitely a part of the DwtS competition.

[honorh.livejournal.com]

Really? The way Carrie Ann goes on if a girl's feet leave the floor, I figured it was a rule. Maybe it's just for certain dances.

[angearia.livejournal.com]

I think it's for certain dances where it's against the rules to do lifts. Though I can't for the life of me think of which ones...

They once did a swing dance off competition where the contestants were being tossed in the air all over the floor. Here it is! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VNAazty49k)

Maybe they don't allow lifts in the beginning of the competition. This was week 6 and the host mentions it was the first week the couples were allowed to do lifts.

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

well I think your dancing partner cares if you don't dance well....
But it is true (and I'm not sure if this is what she meant) that once you leave High School behind, and enter adulthood, you find that most people don't care WHAT you do (they are all way too worried that you'll notice what they are doing).

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I didn't write that sentence very well. It should have read, a co-worker told me that Kristie Alley was almost dropped by her partner when he went to what appeared to be a lift, but maybe was just a dip, and yes, she was still on Dancing with the Stars, but he didn't know why.

Conversation went like this:

Female Coworker: Kristie Alley did Weight Watchers and she lost, then she gained it all back.
Male Coworker: but she didn't stay on Weight Watchers...now
she's on Dancing With the Stars
Female Coworker: And she's great
Male Coworker: incredibly heavy and almost got dropped by her partner
Female Coworker: I love her, even if she's not the best dancer, but she's doing pretty well I thought - he just couldn't lift her.
ME: Wait, Kirstie Alley is on this season of DwTs? And now she's off.
Male Coworker: no, I think she's still on it doesn't deserve to be..
Female: no, she does, I love her, she's fun, that Wendy Will- (??) character though so deserved to be booted.
Male: agree there.
Me: So, what happened to Kirstie? (thinking, hmmm, I might tune in ...just to see how well she does)
Male: Oh he went to lift her but she was too heavy -
Female: It wasn't a lift
Male: Okay, dipped her, but she was too heavy and he wobbled and they fell down.
Me: And she didn't get booted off??
Coworkers: Nope. She's still on it.

(Basic watercooler chat.)

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Sigh. Typos. Ugh.

"a co-worker told me that Kristie Alley was almost dropped by her partner when he went to "do" what appeared to be a lift, but maybe was just a dip, and yes, she was still on Dancing with the Stars, but he didn't know why."

Taking the conversation here

[sophist.livejournal.com]

so as not to clog up Maggie's thread...

Even though it doesn't fit in this thread either.

Anyway, I'm great. Kids are out of college and have actual jobs. I still like to post on Buffy, so I do that sometimes, including on Maggie's threads. I see you weren't all that thrilled with the comics (or at least #40). I read some of them, but AFAIC, I treat the show as separate and distinct.

Re: Taking the conversation here

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Got a new job - negotiating construction and environmental services contracts at a major railroad (ie. contract administrator) and
doing pretty well.

Eh..the comics. Well, they sort of jumped the proverbial shark for me in issue 34 and kept right on going. I posted back in January a link to all of my meta on them. You can sort of see where I got fed up and why. Stopped discussing them all together - mostly for the sake of people like maggie who like them and a tendency to rant. ;-)

Here's the link to all my Buffy meta from 2010, and on the comics from 2007-2010: http://shadowkat67.livejournal.com/597919.html

I'm guessing you've already seen my take on issue 40.

I more or less see the show and comics as separate entities as well. Completely different mediums and collaborations. The comics are a useful commentary on how Whedon sees the characters in the tv series continuing from the series after it was over at this point in his life, but outside of that - comparisons between the two tend to do both a huge disservice in my opinion. Not that I think the comics work on their own merits. They are mess plot and character arc wise, with some incredibly disturbing and unsettling themes emerging. But...there are some good bits hidden in them, here and there. Did sort of kill my interest in the series and
Whedon though...;-)

I'm guessing you liked them? Or at least more than I did? There's about 8-10 people on my flist who did. Of course none of them liked Angel all that much, which...I guess may make a difference.

Re: Taking the conversation here

[sophist.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a good new job. I remember at some point you were having real problems with your old job, so I'm glad to hear you're in a better place.

I read the comics, most of them anyway, but not issue #40 because my Barnes & Noble never got it. I can't say I really followed them, I just read them. Didn't care much for what I read, and frankly had a hard time following them. I thought some of the plot was just goofy (Mecha Dawn???). Rants would be justified for many of them. I refuse to consider them canon.

I'm not an Angel fan, but I don't dislike him. I'm pretty Buffy-centric, so Angel and Spike are important to me only insofar as they matter to Buffy (not in a romantic sense, in a story sense). As you may remember, I gave up watching AtS at the end of S3. I guess that makes it easy for me to read Maggie's posts -- I don't get upset. She has a very interesting perspective, even if I don't always agree. I just found her journal a few weeks ago and have only commented a few times there. I've done quite a few posts at The A.V. Club, where one of the critics (Noel Murray) has been watching both shows for the first time and reviewing them. He just finished S6.

I always liked your Buffy essays so I appreciate the link. I plan to go read it now. :)

Re: Taking the conversation here

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Was more or less on the same page as you in regards to Angel.
Didn't love him, didn't dislike him (well not until I read the comics at any rate).

Maggie does some excellent posts on the show and the comics.
Others you might want to look at in regards to Buffy are stormwreath, local_max, angeria, and beergoodfoamy (for humor - his favorite characters were Willow, Spike, and Faith). Also aycheb. All wrote reviews, meta, etc on the series that might interest you. Stormwreath is a lot like Maggie in his in depth analysis. And very into the mythology.

Re: Taking the conversation here

[sophist.livejournal.com]

I recognize all those names from Maggie's threads. Stormwreath has transcribed some of the commentaries from the disks, but I haven't read his/her posts. I'll do that and check out the others as well.

I read your essay on BATB and liked it. Too bad I didn't see it when you posted it -- I'd have defended your take.

Re: Taking the conversation here

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Beauty and the Beasts? Thanks. Yes, I got into a rather heated battle with one of the people on my flist over that one. (actually when don't I? LOL!)

Stormwreath - is a he. British. And a historian. He's written long analysis and recaps of all the comics. He likes them better than I do. Also has delved a lot into the slayer mythology.

Re: Taking the conversation here

[sophist.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was that discussion in particular that I had in mind.

After you mentioned him, I went back to Stormwreath and read some more of his meta (as I've been doing with yours). Keeps me out of trouble.

[honorh.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure it was a matter of her weight. Yes, he was supporting her weight in the move they did, but they'd obviously done it a dozen times in rehearsal. He just got his leg in the wrong position, and down they went. You don't get booted for a single error, though; you're judged on the quality of your dance as a whole. While the spill lost them a point with each of the judges, the overall quality of their dance was very high.