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Home again, home again jiggity jig or not..
1. Well, after much fuss and bother, and a heck of a lot of waiting in lines, I made it home. The day started out with stop and go traffic on the way to the airport. There were apparently not one but two accidents on I-95 to Savannah, so traffic was backed up for miles and miles. Luckily we left early enough, and got a tank full of gas - so I made it to the airport in the nick of time - to wait in yet another line for security. That got backed up due to not one but four people setting off the alarm. So, I took off my sweater, belt, shoes, and considered taking off my watch before walking through the thing. Thankfully, did not set it off. Lucked out on the flight home - due to the traffic pile-up earlier, four people missed the flight (my heart aches for them) and there was two vacant seats up front, which I snagged when the stewardess offered. Plenty of leg room with no seat in front of you.
And when you have long legs that's nothing to scoff at. But the luck was short lived - because the Taxi Line? Unbelievable. As was Laguardia Airport. A zoo. I got off the plane and entered a packed airport. The line? It stretched down the length of the terminal sidewalk. Over 100 people at least. I waited for an hour to get a cab in the cold. Once I got the cab? We ran into more stop and go traffic. This round due to two lanes being closed to fix a couple of potholes caused by the snow. So what is normally a 15 minute trip, took an hour and 20 minutes and cost 46 bucks. But hey, home.
There's a shit-load of snow here, by the way. The drifts are up to my waist (I'm six foot and most of that is leg, so that may give you an idea). Between the plows, the people shoveling out their cars, and the people shoveling sidewalks - the snow basically piles up with this narrow icy walkway for feet, and narrow slushy streets, two lanes are one, for cars. It's a mess. While I'm happy to be home...part of me misses snow-free, sunny, and mild South Carolina. Tomorrow NYC is supposed to have the temps South Carolina had all week - 46 degrees, with 50's on the weekend, while South Carolina goes up to the 70s. (It made it up to 69 when I was there - but only once, rest of the time it was chilly - well chilly for South Carolina, here - we'd call 40s and 50s a heat wave.)
Tomorrow off to work - bright and early at 7am, then a three-day weekend to re-aquainte myself with NYC and get needed supplies. Did go grocery shopping tonight, with a bit of difficulty - the snow created a regular obstacle course. Dead tired now.
2. Did see The Doctor Who Xmas Special finally...was quite the treat. Not memorable, but enjoyable. If that makes sense? I rather like Stephen Moffat's writing - generally speaking. Sure there are times that I'm not crazy about something he's done, but that's been true of every artist or writer that I've read, viewed, or what have you. Perfect isn't possible for humans, and that may well be a good thing. Sometimes you appreciate the good stuff more when you have something poor to compare it to. And well, mileage always varies - what I love, someone else is bound to hate and vice versa.
This episode was more focused on the guest star than the principles, with the Doctor acting a bit like that traveling guy who helps poor souls figure themselves out - first made popular with the Fugitive, but I'm guessing the trope existed long before that. Being a serial gal and not that crazy with short tales or anthologies, this sort of thing doesn't tend to thrill me all that much. That said? The actor playing the guest role was so good - that it did not matter. He's the same actor who played Albus Dumbledor in the last five or six Harry Potter films. And prior to that portrayed the esteemed detective Maigret, who my father adores. The tale itself was basically yet another reworking of the old Christmas Carol Tale - which much like it's not too distant cousin It's a Wonderful Life has been done to death by now. However, I will give Moffat credit for giving it a new twist - here the romantic elements are heightened and for those who remember what happened to Professor River Song
when the Doctor first met her, as well as Donna Nobel...it has a certain ironic echo. Moffat also once again plays with time travel - showing how it can change things. The Doctor goes on and on about not fiddling with the time line, yet he does all the time, and seems to glory in his power to do so.
The power to alter time, to rewrite someone's life by doing so...is fairly awesome, and has been commented on by Moffat prior to this - most notably in the season finale, where the Doctor's fiddling with Amy Pound's timeline - created cracks in the universe. Here - he does it again, with positive results...yet, it is worth remembering what Sardnac states - "you rewrote my life, you created memories that weren't there...you changed who I am and was meant to be." The question of course is - was that the only course? Or the easiest? It's a question that is answered and not, at the same time.
Which is why Moffat's writing interests me - he leaves these things open-ended, not giving into the easy trap of preaching or telling the answer. Let's hope fame and fortune don't lead Moffat down the same paths as his predecessors up on to that ever treacherous soap box.
3.Also saw the flicks Black Swan and True Grit the past two days. Seen more movies over the Xmas holiday than I've seen all year. Will most likely write reviews on both in the up-coming days. For now, will just state that I enjoyed both quite a bit. Black Swan blew me away, a riviting psychological horror flick that reminded me a little of Roman Polanski's Repulsion and Moira Shearer's the Red Shoes. And I cried towards the end of True Grit...Hattie Stienfield is a very good actress. (I have no memory of the original, not sure I ever saw it and I never read the book. While my mother had and was able to tell me more or less all the places the two varied.)
4.On lj - there's a rather good post on venting here: http://rahirah.livejournal.com/477994.html.
The post is about venting on the Buffy comics, but I wanted to comment about this from a more general perspective. Some people are venters, some aren't. This I know all too well. I come from a family in which half of us vent, and the other half considers venting the equivalent of whinging. If you don't like it? You don't. Makes life interesting. (Guess which I am?) Truth to tell, I try not to vent too much online...particularly about cultural pursuits. Personal crap? I don't think people care - bored maybe, but don't care. Let's face it if the post is about something we can't identify with, doesn't resonate for us, has zip to do with us, and doesn't tell us anything we don't know or isn't new...we tend to find it boring and scroll on. This is true about conversations too. It's human nature. And I'm speaking generally of course. That said? I do vent when a cultural pursuit really bugs me. And it has to REALLY bug me for me to post negatively about it. There's a lot of tv shows, books, etc - that I don't enjoy, can't stand, and do not watch - that I do not talk about. And I'm a strong believer in freedom of expression. Even if, no, especially if it offends me. (Except in my own livejournal where I will delete it - because I'm equally a strong believer in not having it imposed on me, or having the choice to ignore or remove it from my own sight.)
When I was in Hilton Head, I found myself reading through an old college scrap-book. One of the entries was several campus newspaper letters to the editor including one I had written. All rusty with age. The letters concerned a rather controversial performance piece put on by a class on feminism at lunch. The piece contained pornography, hate tapes, and violence towards women - depicting the pain women have suffered, and the ugliness of it. It was ugly and difficult to watch.
Several people protested the women's right to put on the piece. They felt it was inappropriate and disrupted their lunch during a stressful period in the semester. Other's felt that it elicited discussion and brought numerous issues to the forefront. A parent of one of the students wrote an interesting letter about the difference between origin and choice. There are things that we cannot choice - or are origin - such as our gender, our bodies, our race, and our parentage. While there are others that are choice - who we marry, what we like, what we see, how we react. For example - my origin is female, but I am a feminist by choice. I wrote in my letter - about choice. The performance was not imposed on us. I left. People did not have to eat lunch there, they could go elsewhere. They were not a captive audience. They also had the choice to vent about it, deride it, or criticize it.
They do not however have the right to censor it. Any more than anyone else has the right to censor them.
In regards to concrits, vents, rants, etc on art? Again I feel this is about choice. Nothing aggravates me more than someone telling me what I can or can't do in my own lj. That said? I've felt the pain of reading a horrible review of something I loved. Nothing is worse than to read a book or see a film, write a rave review about it, then read twenty negative reviews on your flist about the same thing. I feel a bit like a fool for loving it. And want to hide. Or delete the post. And likewise nothing is worse than despising something from a writer you loved, something you had high hopes for, anticipated, and wanted to love and are so horribly disappointed - only to see several posts on your flist raving about it and saying how amazing it is. You feel a bit like a fool. Wondering what you missed. But you read their posts and think, okay, no, I just can't see that.
So back away timidly and say not a word.
Having experienced both more times than I can count and in more situations than I'd like to...all I can tell you, is mileage varies - sometimes by a really huge margin, what you have to decide is the degree to which it matters. There's a lot to be said for agreeing to respectfully disagree. I know people who love the Star Wars Prequels - personally? I don't get it. The first - was boring, the second somewhat intriguing, the third - silly. And I was incredibly disappointed by all three, and yes, they killed my interest in Star Wars completely. I don't even find rewatching the originals all that entertaining any longer and have zip interest in any of it. Same thing seems to be happening with the Buffy comics, for me, the Buffy comics are a reprise of the Star Wars Prequels. The comics are killing my interest in the Whedonverse and Whedon and well the series. Which I've come to the conclusion should end with Not Fade Away and Chosen, and isn't worth discussing beyond that point - for me. Yet, much like the Star Wars prequels, there are people who adore the comics. I don't understand it. But I can accept it. Perhaps they didn't have the expectations I did? Or saw it the same way? Or a vast array of reasons. Will state that unlike the prequels, the comics have not destroyed my love for the original tv series quite yet. Granted we have one issue left - but somehow I doubt one issue will change my mind.
And much like the Star Wars prequels, I will rant and rave about the Buffy comics - for the same reasons. Because something I really really liked and had looked forward to, ended in bitter disappointment. And I have to figure out why it did, what it was that didn't work, what was flawed, what bugged me, and I do that by writing about it.
I think that's true of all my rants and vents. I do it for me. To figure out what is what. But you already knew that, I suspect. ;-)
And when you have long legs that's nothing to scoff at. But the luck was short lived - because the Taxi Line? Unbelievable. As was Laguardia Airport. A zoo. I got off the plane and entered a packed airport. The line? It stretched down the length of the terminal sidewalk. Over 100 people at least. I waited for an hour to get a cab in the cold. Once I got the cab? We ran into more stop and go traffic. This round due to two lanes being closed to fix a couple of potholes caused by the snow. So what is normally a 15 minute trip, took an hour and 20 minutes and cost 46 bucks. But hey, home.
There's a shit-load of snow here, by the way. The drifts are up to my waist (I'm six foot and most of that is leg, so that may give you an idea). Between the plows, the people shoveling out their cars, and the people shoveling sidewalks - the snow basically piles up with this narrow icy walkway for feet, and narrow slushy streets, two lanes are one, for cars. It's a mess. While I'm happy to be home...part of me misses snow-free, sunny, and mild South Carolina. Tomorrow NYC is supposed to have the temps South Carolina had all week - 46 degrees, with 50's on the weekend, while South Carolina goes up to the 70s. (It made it up to 69 when I was there - but only once, rest of the time it was chilly - well chilly for South Carolina, here - we'd call 40s and 50s a heat wave.)
Tomorrow off to work - bright and early at 7am, then a three-day weekend to re-aquainte myself with NYC and get needed supplies. Did go grocery shopping tonight, with a bit of difficulty - the snow created a regular obstacle course. Dead tired now.
2. Did see The Doctor Who Xmas Special finally...was quite the treat. Not memorable, but enjoyable. If that makes sense? I rather like Stephen Moffat's writing - generally speaking. Sure there are times that I'm not crazy about something he's done, but that's been true of every artist or writer that I've read, viewed, or what have you. Perfect isn't possible for humans, and that may well be a good thing. Sometimes you appreciate the good stuff more when you have something poor to compare it to. And well, mileage always varies - what I love, someone else is bound to hate and vice versa.
This episode was more focused on the guest star than the principles, with the Doctor acting a bit like that traveling guy who helps poor souls figure themselves out - first made popular with the Fugitive, but I'm guessing the trope existed long before that. Being a serial gal and not that crazy with short tales or anthologies, this sort of thing doesn't tend to thrill me all that much. That said? The actor playing the guest role was so good - that it did not matter. He's the same actor who played Albus Dumbledor in the last five or six Harry Potter films. And prior to that portrayed the esteemed detective Maigret, who my father adores. The tale itself was basically yet another reworking of the old Christmas Carol Tale - which much like it's not too distant cousin It's a Wonderful Life has been done to death by now. However, I will give Moffat credit for giving it a new twist - here the romantic elements are heightened and for those who remember what happened to Professor River Song
when the Doctor first met her, as well as Donna Nobel...it has a certain ironic echo. Moffat also once again plays with time travel - showing how it can change things. The Doctor goes on and on about not fiddling with the time line, yet he does all the time, and seems to glory in his power to do so.
The power to alter time, to rewrite someone's life by doing so...is fairly awesome, and has been commented on by Moffat prior to this - most notably in the season finale, where the Doctor's fiddling with Amy Pound's timeline - created cracks in the universe. Here - he does it again, with positive results...yet, it is worth remembering what Sardnac states - "you rewrote my life, you created memories that weren't there...you changed who I am and was meant to be." The question of course is - was that the only course? Or the easiest? It's a question that is answered and not, at the same time.
Which is why Moffat's writing interests me - he leaves these things open-ended, not giving into the easy trap of preaching or telling the answer. Let's hope fame and fortune don't lead Moffat down the same paths as his predecessors up on to that ever treacherous soap box.
3.Also saw the flicks Black Swan and True Grit the past two days. Seen more movies over the Xmas holiday than I've seen all year. Will most likely write reviews on both in the up-coming days. For now, will just state that I enjoyed both quite a bit. Black Swan blew me away, a riviting psychological horror flick that reminded me a little of Roman Polanski's Repulsion and Moira Shearer's the Red Shoes. And I cried towards the end of True Grit...Hattie Stienfield is a very good actress. (I have no memory of the original, not sure I ever saw it and I never read the book. While my mother had and was able to tell me more or less all the places the two varied.)
4.On lj - there's a rather good post on venting here: http://rahirah.livejournal.com/477994.html.
The post is about venting on the Buffy comics, but I wanted to comment about this from a more general perspective. Some people are venters, some aren't. This I know all too well. I come from a family in which half of us vent, and the other half considers venting the equivalent of whinging. If you don't like it? You don't. Makes life interesting. (Guess which I am?) Truth to tell, I try not to vent too much online...particularly about cultural pursuits. Personal crap? I don't think people care - bored maybe, but don't care. Let's face it if the post is about something we can't identify with, doesn't resonate for us, has zip to do with us, and doesn't tell us anything we don't know or isn't new...we tend to find it boring and scroll on. This is true about conversations too. It's human nature. And I'm speaking generally of course. That said? I do vent when a cultural pursuit really bugs me. And it has to REALLY bug me for me to post negatively about it. There's a lot of tv shows, books, etc - that I don't enjoy, can't stand, and do not watch - that I do not talk about. And I'm a strong believer in freedom of expression. Even if, no, especially if it offends me. (Except in my own livejournal where I will delete it - because I'm equally a strong believer in not having it imposed on me, or having the choice to ignore or remove it from my own sight.)
When I was in Hilton Head, I found myself reading through an old college scrap-book. One of the entries was several campus newspaper letters to the editor including one I had written. All rusty with age. The letters concerned a rather controversial performance piece put on by a class on feminism at lunch. The piece contained pornography, hate tapes, and violence towards women - depicting the pain women have suffered, and the ugliness of it. It was ugly and difficult to watch.
Several people protested the women's right to put on the piece. They felt it was inappropriate and disrupted their lunch during a stressful period in the semester. Other's felt that it elicited discussion and brought numerous issues to the forefront. A parent of one of the students wrote an interesting letter about the difference between origin and choice. There are things that we cannot choice - or are origin - such as our gender, our bodies, our race, and our parentage. While there are others that are choice - who we marry, what we like, what we see, how we react. For example - my origin is female, but I am a feminist by choice. I wrote in my letter - about choice. The performance was not imposed on us. I left. People did not have to eat lunch there, they could go elsewhere. They were not a captive audience. They also had the choice to vent about it, deride it, or criticize it.
They do not however have the right to censor it. Any more than anyone else has the right to censor them.
In regards to concrits, vents, rants, etc on art? Again I feel this is about choice. Nothing aggravates me more than someone telling me what I can or can't do in my own lj. That said? I've felt the pain of reading a horrible review of something I loved. Nothing is worse than to read a book or see a film, write a rave review about it, then read twenty negative reviews on your flist about the same thing. I feel a bit like a fool for loving it. And want to hide. Or delete the post. And likewise nothing is worse than despising something from a writer you loved, something you had high hopes for, anticipated, and wanted to love and are so horribly disappointed - only to see several posts on your flist raving about it and saying how amazing it is. You feel a bit like a fool. Wondering what you missed. But you read their posts and think, okay, no, I just can't see that.
So back away timidly and say not a word.
Having experienced both more times than I can count and in more situations than I'd like to...all I can tell you, is mileage varies - sometimes by a really huge margin, what you have to decide is the degree to which it matters. There's a lot to be said for agreeing to respectfully disagree. I know people who love the Star Wars Prequels - personally? I don't get it. The first - was boring, the second somewhat intriguing, the third - silly. And I was incredibly disappointed by all three, and yes, they killed my interest in Star Wars completely. I don't even find rewatching the originals all that entertaining any longer and have zip interest in any of it. Same thing seems to be happening with the Buffy comics, for me, the Buffy comics are a reprise of the Star Wars Prequels. The comics are killing my interest in the Whedonverse and Whedon and well the series. Which I've come to the conclusion should end with Not Fade Away and Chosen, and isn't worth discussing beyond that point - for me. Yet, much like the Star Wars prequels, there are people who adore the comics. I don't understand it. But I can accept it. Perhaps they didn't have the expectations I did? Or saw it the same way? Or a vast array of reasons. Will state that unlike the prequels, the comics have not destroyed my love for the original tv series quite yet. Granted we have one issue left - but somehow I doubt one issue will change my mind.
And much like the Star Wars prequels, I will rant and rave about the Buffy comics - for the same reasons. Because something I really really liked and had looked forward to, ended in bitter disappointment. And I have to figure out why it did, what it was that didn't work, what was flawed, what bugged me, and I do that by writing about it.
I think that's true of all my rants and vents. I do it for me. To figure out what is what. But you already knew that, I suspect. ;-)
no subject
our snow washed away in a heavy rain today, we are supposed to have a deep hard freeze tonight which should turn the world into sheet ice tomorrow....
I leave tomorrow to begin my long drive to warmer climates, but I'll try to not get impatient since I know that the roads can get treacherous.
no subject
Do be careful, since said warmer climates were experiencing an insane winter storm last week and over new year's. Parts of Arizona and Nevada were cold with snow, and it was spreading across Colorado and finally ending in Minnesota. I'd wait a few days for it to blow over. (Or watch the weather channel.)