(no subject)
Oct. 19th, 2008 02:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatIt's a sunny day here in New York, not so warm perhaps, but not freezing either. May take a walk soon.
Currently attempting to plug in revisions that my editor made to my novel into my computer - so I can read them over and decide if they work or not. Morning was spent watching tv, making gluten-free blueberry pancakes, and a brief trip to a very crowded farmer's market - where I picked up Artisanal Cheddar Cheese, Fresh Skim and Chocolat Milk, and a lot of apples from area orchards.
Irritable today, having not slept well the night before. Edgy and a tad restless.
Watched four tv shows had on the old DVR - Heroes (which appears to be getting progressively worse, didn't think that was possible), Supernatural (which had yet another one of their experimental Ben Edlund episodes, Edlund always writes the experimental episodes and they also have his brother in a guest-starring role - except I actually think this one worked within the framework of the story and emphasized this seasons themes as well as furthered the character's emotional plot-arc), ER (an oddly fitting and emotionally satisfying end to Abby Lockhart's arc - Abby was the Carter replacement in some ways. Initially meant as Carol Hathaway's replacement, she soon took on Carter's role of the struggling medical intern.),and Eli Stone (which threw me because I thought Adam Arkin played his brother last year? Maybe I'm confusing this with another show? It's more than possible. I wanted more musical numbers. And less spiritual melodrama - which always feels a bit heavy-handed and sentimental on tv shows. Would have preferred the Sigourney Weaver character being a bit more, what's the word, metaphorical and less obvious. This was why I gave up on Eli last year - the sentimentality. I like it in moderation - see ER, but if you go over the top, I get a sugar rush.)
Of the four I watched, off-hand, I'd have to say Supernatural was the most creative and interesting. The episode was in black and white. Which I thought was just another stupid gimmick at first, until I realized what they were doing. The two brothers go to a town that has a vampire. Dean is excited - he tells Sam, come on, it's a black and white case. No color, no shades of gray, like the old days. Old fashioned evil monster that has to be put down. And on the surface that's what we get - the old black and white horror movie monsters, complete with the Bela Lugosi Dracula, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy. Even the old Lon Chaney Phantom of the Opera is playing at the local movie house. But as the story progresses, we learn that the monsters are really a somewhat confused and insane shape-shifter, who had been emotionally and physically abused as a child. He was told that he was a monster. Dean befriends Jamie, the damsel, a woman who looks a great deal like the actress who played his mother in another episode. They kiss but it's all rather innocent and Dean, brags to Sam that when he came back from hell he discovered he's a virgin again, his body is new. Neither brother kills the shape-shifter, Jamie does - to save Dean. Shooting him in the back. (A classic noir movie cliche by the way - the alleged damsel unexpectedly saves the hero by shooting the villian in the back. We're as surprised as the villian that he's been shot and think, who, and then the reveal. It's been done so many times now that whenever it does happen I already know it's the person we'd least expect. Edlund in this episode seems to exploit the classic B-Horror flick cliche's. )
Feeling a bit guilty for not going to PA to campaign for Obama. But on the other hand, I'm not sure I'd be much help - I tend to get a tad emotional and angry. I think I'd just piss people off. (Have enough troubles reigning myself in on my own journal.) On the plus side, the only Bush administration pick that I had any respect for during his eight year reign, has endorsed Barack Obama. I adore Colin Powell. And I adore what he said. He's absolutely right. McCain's campaign took a wrong turn over the last two weeks, one that was disturbingly and frightenly racist and against everything our country stands for, and there's just no excuse for it.
Currently attempting to plug in revisions that my editor made to my novel into my computer - so I can read them over and decide if they work or not. Morning was spent watching tv, making gluten-free blueberry pancakes, and a brief trip to a very crowded farmer's market - where I picked up Artisanal Cheddar Cheese, Fresh Skim and Chocolat Milk, and a lot of apples from area orchards.
Irritable today, having not slept well the night before. Edgy and a tad restless.
Watched four tv shows had on the old DVR - Heroes (which appears to be getting progressively worse, didn't think that was possible), Supernatural (which had yet another one of their experimental Ben Edlund episodes, Edlund always writes the experimental episodes and they also have his brother in a guest-starring role - except I actually think this one worked within the framework of the story and emphasized this seasons themes as well as furthered the character's emotional plot-arc), ER (an oddly fitting and emotionally satisfying end to Abby Lockhart's arc - Abby was the Carter replacement in some ways. Initially meant as Carol Hathaway's replacement, she soon took on Carter's role of the struggling medical intern.),and Eli Stone (which threw me because I thought Adam Arkin played his brother last year? Maybe I'm confusing this with another show? It's more than possible. I wanted more musical numbers. And less spiritual melodrama - which always feels a bit heavy-handed and sentimental on tv shows. Would have preferred the Sigourney Weaver character being a bit more, what's the word, metaphorical and less obvious. This was why I gave up on Eli last year - the sentimentality. I like it in moderation - see ER, but if you go over the top, I get a sugar rush.)
Of the four I watched, off-hand, I'd have to say Supernatural was the most creative and interesting. The episode was in black and white. Which I thought was just another stupid gimmick at first, until I realized what they were doing. The two brothers go to a town that has a vampire. Dean is excited - he tells Sam, come on, it's a black and white case. No color, no shades of gray, like the old days. Old fashioned evil monster that has to be put down. And on the surface that's what we get - the old black and white horror movie monsters, complete with the Bela Lugosi Dracula, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy. Even the old Lon Chaney Phantom of the Opera is playing at the local movie house. But as the story progresses, we learn that the monsters are really a somewhat confused and insane shape-shifter, who had been emotionally and physically abused as a child. He was told that he was a monster. Dean befriends Jamie, the damsel, a woman who looks a great deal like the actress who played his mother in another episode. They kiss but it's all rather innocent and Dean, brags to Sam that when he came back from hell he discovered he's a virgin again, his body is new. Neither brother kills the shape-shifter, Jamie does - to save Dean. Shooting him in the back. (A classic noir movie cliche by the way - the alleged damsel unexpectedly saves the hero by shooting the villian in the back. We're as surprised as the villian that he's been shot and think, who, and then the reveal. It's been done so many times now that whenever it does happen I already know it's the person we'd least expect. Edlund in this episode seems to exploit the classic B-Horror flick cliche's. )
Feeling a bit guilty for not going to PA to campaign for Obama. But on the other hand, I'm not sure I'd be much help - I tend to get a tad emotional and angry. I think I'd just piss people off. (Have enough troubles reigning myself in on my own journal.) On the plus side, the only Bush administration pick that I had any respect for during his eight year reign, has endorsed Barack Obama. I adore Colin Powell. And I adore what he said. He's absolutely right. McCain's campaign took a wrong turn over the last two weeks, one that was disturbingly and frightenly racist and against everything our country stands for, and there's just no excuse for it.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-10-19 08:25 pm (UTC)and, like you, I loved Colin Powell on Meet the Press, he spoke well and persuasively (if anyone was listening beside those of us in the choir).
I do think you have Eli Stone confused w/Life (story about a policeman who was wrongfully jailed and found Zen Buddhism in jail... and is practicing it now that he is back on the force): Adam Arkin is on Life as the policeman's ex-con roommate... and is a wonderful character! I am sorry to see that they are toning down the Zen too much, but I'm still loving the show.
And I agree, I've finding Heroes to be almost completely unwatchable (I fast forwarded through most of last weeks, and I'm thinking I'll just skip it completely from now on).
no subject
Date: 2008-10-20 12:50 am (UTC)Tracey Strauss's character makes no sense and undoes everything we went through with Nikki.
The only characters that have any resonance at all any more are: Claire, Sylar and HRG. But they aren't enough.
I'm close to giving up on it. It's almost as if they are afraid of exposition after last year's audience response, so instead they are throwing all these absurd twists at the audience without building up to any of them. I feel like I'm reading a really bad experimental version of the X-Men.
In some ways it does remind me of one that was done a while back by Alex Ross - entitled Marvels, which was actually pretty good much better than what they are attempting on screen.
no subject
Date: 2008-10-20 01:09 am (UTC)Actually this was what happened to me in Lost too, the characters I loved were made unloveable and also weren't getting enough screen time, so I just gave up. I actively disliked the lead characters (much like I dislike all the housewives on Desperate Housewives). I just have no motivation to spend an hour of my time watching characters I don't like and/or can't understand.