Eight Things Before Bed......
Nov. 30th, 2010 10:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat[Should warn you, am a bit in a snarky mood tonight - combination of bad weather, seasonal depression, slight cough, and work stress. Feel free to skip all of the below, I'll try to cut-tag as much as possible to assist you in that endeavor. Also, occurred to me today, that I'm probably the most free to be myself on this blog - or am the least compartmentalized. Considering I do it under a name other than my own, which I assume you figured out...unless of course you think there's actually someone with the first and last name shadowkat wandering about out there, and there very well may be, for all I know. If so, my sympathies. And their parents deserve to be slapped upside the head for being idiots in the naming department. I really wonder what people are thinking when they name their kids. While "Mighty" is a great name for a dog, it can be a pain for a kid. Reminds me of that song by Johnny Cash called "A Boy Named Sue".]
1. Hunger Games and Buffy reboot links: Found this link on at least two separate posts on my flist today:
http://io9.com/5700871/we-need-more-vampire-slayers--just-not-more-buffy
The writer basically states everything I feel about the whole reboot Buffy thing and female heroines on tv. ie. Too many Rose Tyler's (sidekicks) and not nearly enough Buffy's or Wonder Women. In short, guys and gals - I want action hero who is female and the lead and not spending all her time waiting to be rescued by the hot guy. I want the female Harry Potter. May have to write it myself. Although apparently Hunger Games features a female character like that - according to the above link and this opinion piece: http://shelf-life.ew.com/2010/09/21/why-the-hunger-games-isnt-the-new-twilight/ (Note - you might want to avoid the comments, or not...they are actually inanely amusing to the extent that they make me wonder about people.) And the current tv series "Nikita" certainly has that sort of character. But I want a female character who is a hero and has not been physically tortured and turned into an assassin first - it's a thing. So far? Buffy's the only one I can think of that fits 85% of my criteria (if she was a bit taller, not hot, or blond, and not a cheerleader...). Again, may have to write this one myself. No one but me may read it, but that's okay. I tend to write for myself most of the time anyway. (Well except for the massive amounts of writing I do at work and what I write for church...)
2. Watched Glee tonight. Is it just my imagination or were there less musical numbers in the last few episodes? Glee works best when it has a lot of musical numbers and not all that much dramatic moments. Also, Rachel grates on my nerves. She's grated on my nerves from the beginning. Can they make her any more whiny and bossy? Apparently so. I agree with Quinn, every time she opens her mouth, I want to punch her. Except when she is with Kurt. When Rachel is with Kurt, I actually sort of like her - and well they tend to sing well together, so that also helps. Kurt brings out the best in Rachel. Finn and Rachel do not work for me. But Rachel and Kurt sound great together. (No, I don't want them together romantically - Kurt is gay, but a friendship...would work for me. Rachel needs a friend, she doesn't have any at the moment.) The only parts of this episode I enjoyed were the musical numbers - and there were only three (sung by the main cast - I'm not counting the two horrible numbers by the Hipsters and the Warberlers that bored me) - and except for the "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" Duet, they came at the end of the episode. Loved the Don't Cry for Me Argentina Duet, but then I'm a fan of Don't Cry for Me Argentina generally speaking. (Musical geek - big time.) Lea Michele has an amazing voice. As does Kurt. Their rendition of it was both touching and oddly satirical. Rachel - in her self-absorption and self-pity, and Kurt with his genuine desire to fit in and stand out at the same time. They are like mirrors of each other...both love Finn, both are disappointed by Finn, both want to be the Diva, both are obnoxious when they want to be the Diva...yet, Kurt is played far more sympathetically than Rachel is, which urks me a bit. Will give Glee credit for having the most diverse body-types for female characters, and most diverse roles for female actresses currently on television. American Television is insanely image oriented in regards to women roles, hiring mostly beautiful (or what our current society considers beautiful) and cookie-cutter actresses to play roles, while male roles tend to be fairly diversified. (Lost comes to mind and considering CBS is airing The Victoria Secret's Fashion Show tonight while The Good Wife is on hiatus, this really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Objectifying the female body for men to wank to ...has been a television mainstay since oh...the early days of TV. How else do you explain the Miss Universe pagent and The Victoria Fashion Show?). But Glee actually steps outside that box and hires a diverse group, and goes against the stereotype. I give it a lot of credit for that, and well, the great musical numbers (even if this week's episode was a tad week in that department - sorry, but the original "I Had the Time of My Life" in Dirty Dancing was a heck of a lot better. ) Also the satirical moments? Lacked subletly. The Hipster group was a bit obvious. As were the Warberlers. But Nip/Tuck had the same problem, subtlety isn't something that Ryan Murphy does well or most American TV writers for that matter.
3. In other news, I appear to have developed a bit of asthmatic chest cough. I'm hoping it will go away. It feels allergy related. But last year allergy related developed into bronchitis. So don't want to repeat. Will take a bit of the codeine cough syrup tonight to put a halt to it.
4. Haven't seen much posting on "wikileaks" (okay any posting outside of one person in Germany) - which has however been filling the newspapers. Momster found it amusing - because most of it is just gossip, stupid gossip at that. Also depicts how really bad our internet security currently is. Doesn't take much for someone to hack into our nation's top secret files.
5.Am thisclose to caving and getting HBO in the Spring, just so I can watch Game of Thrones. Which is silly because it will be on DVD eventually, like everything else.
6. TV? I've come to the conclusion that the best tv shows of the new season are in order:
* Terriers - a funny, noirish, character buddy drama, that reminds me of a Carl Hiassen or Elmore Leonard novel, mostly Carl Hianssen by way of Southern California. The characters are grungy and low-brow. Think the Cohen Brothers...Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski.
. Nikita - two women band together to take down a powerful covert rougue government agency run by a white guy who likes to control people.
. Raising Hope - working class family struggles to raise twenty-something son's new baby after the mother gets the death penalty for being a serial killer. A lot funnier than one might suspect.
. The Event - a really nice twist on the whole aliens amongst us theme - it's part 24, part Lost, and part 4400. Also takes the tactic that the aliens aren't invading us, so much as they are already here and trying to make this their new home. (There are bad guys on both sides.)Does take a while to get ramped up - so requires a little bit of patience. But it's quite good now. And has a great cast.
. No Ordinary Family - a family drama mixed with super-hero drama, which is struggling to find the right tone and balance. It's uneven and at times terribly cliche. But I'm hanging in there for now. Almost skipped this week, but there's a story-thread with Stephen Collins and his weirdly sympathetic killer henchmen that has me intrigued.
[*Have not watched The Walking Dead yet. Nor did I watch Luther or HBO's Boardwalk Empire. So can't comment on those. If I haven't mentioned your favorite new show - I either a)haven't seen it or b) find it unwatchable or boring. Take your pick. I try not to discuss things I dislike in my journal. Note - emphasis on "try", that doesn't mean I don't. I do. I just tend to regret it afterwards - for a whole slew of reasons. Discussing things I hate or dislike, I've discovered - the hard way, is real good way to piss people off who disagree with me and happen to love whatever it is I've decided to denounce. Doesn't matter what it is. Negative opinions often get me into trouble.]
7.Work has me strung out at the moment, yeah, I know, what's new? I've been whining about work all year. I should be grateful I got a job. Don't you hate it when folks whine about their job, particularly when you don't have one? I know I did. I don't hate my job. It's just stressing me and everyone else out at the moment...although, should look on the bright side, I'm not alone.
8. Haiti Forum article may actually get published in Church newsletter or something church related.
Interesting. I appear to be getting my journalistic social action essays/articles published. Tried with the Buffy stuff - but people weren't interested, so I gave up. And the novel - well, I'm working on getting that out, even bought two mags that have lengthy articles on how to write query letters and synopsises. Which I'm struggling with. It's not as easy as you might think to summarize a 390 page novel in ten pages and make it interesting. Particularly when it is your novel and you're sort of sick of it.
1. Hunger Games and Buffy reboot links: Found this link on at least two separate posts on my flist today:
http://io9.com/5700871/we-need-more-vampire-slayers--just-not-more-buffy
The writer basically states everything I feel about the whole reboot Buffy thing and female heroines on tv. ie. Too many Rose Tyler's (sidekicks) and not nearly enough Buffy's or Wonder Women. In short, guys and gals - I want action hero who is female and the lead and not spending all her time waiting to be rescued by the hot guy. I want the female Harry Potter. May have to write it myself. Although apparently Hunger Games features a female character like that - according to the above link and this opinion piece: http://shelf-life.ew.com/2010/09/21/why-the-hunger-games-isnt-the-new-twilight/ (Note - you might want to avoid the comments, or not...they are actually inanely amusing to the extent that they make me wonder about people.) And the current tv series "Nikita" certainly has that sort of character. But I want a female character who is a hero and has not been physically tortured and turned into an assassin first - it's a thing. So far? Buffy's the only one I can think of that fits 85% of my criteria (if she was a bit taller, not hot, or blond, and not a cheerleader...). Again, may have to write this one myself. No one but me may read it, but that's okay. I tend to write for myself most of the time anyway. (Well except for the massive amounts of writing I do at work and what I write for church...)
2. Watched Glee tonight. Is it just my imagination or were there less musical numbers in the last few episodes? Glee works best when it has a lot of musical numbers and not all that much dramatic moments. Also, Rachel grates on my nerves. She's grated on my nerves from the beginning. Can they make her any more whiny and bossy? Apparently so. I agree with Quinn, every time she opens her mouth, I want to punch her. Except when she is with Kurt. When Rachel is with Kurt, I actually sort of like her - and well they tend to sing well together, so that also helps. Kurt brings out the best in Rachel. Finn and Rachel do not work for me. But Rachel and Kurt sound great together. (No, I don't want them together romantically - Kurt is gay, but a friendship...would work for me. Rachel needs a friend, she doesn't have any at the moment.) The only parts of this episode I enjoyed were the musical numbers - and there were only three (sung by the main cast - I'm not counting the two horrible numbers by the Hipsters and the Warberlers that bored me) - and except for the "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" Duet, they came at the end of the episode. Loved the Don't Cry for Me Argentina Duet, but then I'm a fan of Don't Cry for Me Argentina generally speaking. (Musical geek - big time.) Lea Michele has an amazing voice. As does Kurt. Their rendition of it was both touching and oddly satirical. Rachel - in her self-absorption and self-pity, and Kurt with his genuine desire to fit in and stand out at the same time. They are like mirrors of each other...both love Finn, both are disappointed by Finn, both want to be the Diva, both are obnoxious when they want to be the Diva...yet, Kurt is played far more sympathetically than Rachel is, which urks me a bit. Will give Glee credit for having the most diverse body-types for female characters, and most diverse roles for female actresses currently on television. American Television is insanely image oriented in regards to women roles, hiring mostly beautiful (or what our current society considers beautiful) and cookie-cutter actresses to play roles, while male roles tend to be fairly diversified. (Lost comes to mind and considering CBS is airing The Victoria Secret's Fashion Show tonight while The Good Wife is on hiatus, this really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Objectifying the female body for men to wank to ...has been a television mainstay since oh...the early days of TV. How else do you explain the Miss Universe pagent and The Victoria Fashion Show?). But Glee actually steps outside that box and hires a diverse group, and goes against the stereotype. I give it a lot of credit for that, and well, the great musical numbers (even if this week's episode was a tad week in that department - sorry, but the original "I Had the Time of My Life" in Dirty Dancing was a heck of a lot better. ) Also the satirical moments? Lacked subletly. The Hipster group was a bit obvious. As were the Warberlers. But Nip/Tuck had the same problem, subtlety isn't something that Ryan Murphy does well or most American TV writers for that matter.
3. In other news, I appear to have developed a bit of asthmatic chest cough. I'm hoping it will go away. It feels allergy related. But last year allergy related developed into bronchitis. So don't want to repeat. Will take a bit of the codeine cough syrup tonight to put a halt to it.
4. Haven't seen much posting on "wikileaks" (okay any posting outside of one person in Germany) - which has however been filling the newspapers. Momster found it amusing - because most of it is just gossip, stupid gossip at that. Also depicts how really bad our internet security currently is. Doesn't take much for someone to hack into our nation's top secret files.
5.Am thisclose to caving and getting HBO in the Spring, just so I can watch Game of Thrones. Which is silly because it will be on DVD eventually, like everything else.
6. TV? I've come to the conclusion that the best tv shows of the new season are in order:
* Terriers - a funny, noirish, character buddy drama, that reminds me of a Carl Hiassen or Elmore Leonard novel, mostly Carl Hianssen by way of Southern California. The characters are grungy and low-brow. Think the Cohen Brothers...Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski.
. Nikita - two women band together to take down a powerful covert rougue government agency run by a white guy who likes to control people.
. Raising Hope - working class family struggles to raise twenty-something son's new baby after the mother gets the death penalty for being a serial killer. A lot funnier than one might suspect.
. The Event - a really nice twist on the whole aliens amongst us theme - it's part 24, part Lost, and part 4400. Also takes the tactic that the aliens aren't invading us, so much as they are already here and trying to make this their new home. (There are bad guys on both sides.)Does take a while to get ramped up - so requires a little bit of patience. But it's quite good now. And has a great cast.
. No Ordinary Family - a family drama mixed with super-hero drama, which is struggling to find the right tone and balance. It's uneven and at times terribly cliche. But I'm hanging in there for now. Almost skipped this week, but there's a story-thread with Stephen Collins and his weirdly sympathetic killer henchmen that has me intrigued.
[*Have not watched The Walking Dead yet. Nor did I watch Luther or HBO's Boardwalk Empire. So can't comment on those. If I haven't mentioned your favorite new show - I either a)haven't seen it or b) find it unwatchable or boring. Take your pick. I try not to discuss things I dislike in my journal. Note - emphasis on "try", that doesn't mean I don't. I do. I just tend to regret it afterwards - for a whole slew of reasons. Discussing things I hate or dislike, I've discovered - the hard way, is real good way to piss people off who disagree with me and happen to love whatever it is I've decided to denounce. Doesn't matter what it is. Negative opinions often get me into trouble.]
7.Work has me strung out at the moment, yeah, I know, what's new? I've been whining about work all year. I should be grateful I got a job. Don't you hate it when folks whine about their job, particularly when you don't have one? I know I did. I don't hate my job. It's just stressing me and everyone else out at the moment...although, should look on the bright side, I'm not alone.
8. Haiti Forum article may actually get published in Church newsletter or something church related.
Interesting. I appear to be getting my journalistic social action essays/articles published. Tried with the Buffy stuff - but people weren't interested, so I gave up. And the novel - well, I'm working on getting that out, even bought two mags that have lengthy articles on how to write query letters and synopsises. Which I'm struggling with. It's not as easy as you might think to summarize a 390 page novel in ten pages and make it interesting. Particularly when it is your novel and you're sort of sick of it.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-01 04:12 am (UTC)