A Three Chocolate Bar Day

[shadowkat]

1) Been having a difficult and somewhat depressing week.

Work and personal issues that I can't quite go into. Anyhow...anyone have any good jokes?

I went to the newstand guy in our lobby and bought three candy bars. Decided it was a three candy bar day. Butterfinger, 3 Musketeers, and Hershey with Almonds - not the greatest, but gluten-free and did the job.

2) After much thought on the topic, probably more than it deserves, I've decided that Mark Watches/Reads is a great way for people new to a tv or book fandom to get their feet wet without getting spoiled. Sure, the man doesn't have an analytical bone in his body and his reviews are hardly "academic" but seriously, does it matter? He's writing about himself, his life, and how he views the show or book, how he is relating to it, and allowing others to respond and say some of the same things. And making some money off of it in the process. Not really all that different than
someone blogging about cooking or buttons or cats and doing the same thing. Although a lot more interesting to me, I personally find cooking and button and craft blogs (which my sisinlaw has been known to do) deathly boring. Nor is it all that different than an academic blog or academic journal or teaching a course on Buffy for that matter. I guess you could say more value is provided via the academic journal or course - but is it really? Buffy was mostly about emotions. And all of this is subjective in any event. At any rate - confession? Yes, I read Mark Watches Buffy, and probably will continue - mainly out of an odd sense of curiousity...will he or his commentators react to the show in the same manner I did or differently? I find how people react to media and books interesting - obviously, or I wouldn't be here discussing these things.

3) Reading Master and The Margritta, but very slowly...it's not a really a page-turner, it's sort of philosophical satire. Has an interesting take on Jesus and Pontias Pilot - sort of reminds me of The Story of Jeusus according to his best friend Biff. (I can't remember the title - but it was by Christopher Moore). Except this is a whole a lot darker, and a lot more complicated. Bulgrave is a better writer than Moore - but he also has a lot more to say...and didn't have as easy a life.
Probably unfair to compare the two. It just reminded me of it, is all.

4) Five Positive Things?

*A bus didn't hit me on the way to or from work, although they certainly tried
* It was sunny and not too cold, so lovely walk around the park - plus a big lovely park to walk around in that is within easy walking distance to the office (which is not as easy to find in a big dirty city as one would think)
* Chocolate and the ability to afford it
* My ipod music playlist and the ability to distract myself by telling stories with the playlist. (Yes, I create stories to music. And have been known to create playlists for stories.)
* A new Justified episode recorded and waiting for my watching pleasure.

Comments

[boot-the-grime.livejournal.com]

2) I have to say his review of Passion describes my feelings almost to a T. But Passion is in lots of ways an episode that's all about the emotion and the way it hits the viewer.

One thing that's really tiresome is when you see commentators going "oh, but Mark doesn't understand that Angel and Angelus are two different people!" because he's saying things like, will Buffy ever be able to forgive Angel, will we ever be able to forgive him. Funny how his straightforward reactions (and the reactions of quite a few other first time viewers) seem to hit the mark much better when unaffected with fandom wanks. Though I have to say that those "Angel isn't guilty, the curse is stupid!" posts were most numerous in the comments to Innocence; they subsided by the time of Passion, or maybe were lost among all the "OMG my poor Jenny, I hate Angel" comments by first time viewers.

3) I presume the Bulgakov misspelling was a typo. ;)
Oddly enough, I found it one of the easiest books to read; the first part of the novel is really hilarious, despite the dark real world inspiration.

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

I'm away from home... currently w/my cousin in Texas, so I'm not posting much.... but I'm reading (and enjoying) your posts at lj, AND I'm reading (and enjoying) Mark reads BtVS.

I first discovered Mark when he was reading Hunger Games and I loved reading his reactions to that book (and his totally misguided predictions of what each of the books would be about). Then I followed him when watching Firefly, which I thought actually showed that he picked up on subtleties about that show really quickly....

Anyway I enjoy just reading his reactions to each Buffy episode... I remember my reactions when I first saw the show, and I'm enjoying him even when we disagree (that is, even when we liked or disliked different things).

I can't wait to see how he reactions to Spuffy! Will he be Bangle only?
LOL
And I expect OMWF to blow his mind!

[sophist.livejournal.com]

I think BtVS became a serial somewhere around NKABOTFD. I was pretty taken aback by that sentence in his review today.

His review of Passion, though, was pretty good. I think that's probably for the reason boot gives: it's an episode that's pretty much all about emotion.

[spikesjojo.livejournal.com]

Sad thing is, I still like mark watches, too. So I will be reading. It's funny - it's fun. But I probably will lurk for a while.

Season two is seriously serialized! Spike in a wheelchair, Angel a demon, and our lovely mad Dru smelling the jasmine. You rally need to watch every episode to catch on to the story, and definitely to appreciate the nuances.

A positive thing for me * you made me smile!

[gingerwall.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with your opinion of Mark watches. Not super enlightening, but a lot of fun to relive seeing Buffy for the first time, and he's super delightful when he gets excited about stuff. Plus I think it's hard to be super analytical your first time through, without the big picture in mind. I can't wait to read his reaction to Dawn's entrance, Glory, Spike's redemption arc, The Body, OMWF ... the whole thing just makes me so excited, like I was my first time through.

And if you're ever looking for a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of why the Twilight Saga sucks, he's your go-to guy. If you can keep from getting FURIOUS!!! they are entertaining in an absurd I-can't-believe-this-got-published-and-people-don't-vomit-all-over-the-page-while-reading-it kind of way.