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shadowkat1. Should go to church and meet new Minister, but have a dull headache and am tired. Work was...productive. Amongst other things, managed to wrangle four engineering consultants into presentations for next Tuesday. Now I need to find time to read their proposals...and I have none between now and then. I don't take work home as a general rule. I'm not paid too and I learned long ago not to give all my time to my profession, particularly one that can't be bothered to buy me a new chair.
Don't kill yourself for your jobs, folks. It doesn't care. [Is that too much info? I'm never sure how much to reveal in these unflocked posts.]
2. I've no time to a proper meta on Mad Men - so if you are interested there's a rather good one over here by superplin, and it references Buffy and Angel - so bonus (assuming of course you are still into Buffy and Angel). She's doing meta again, and plin is amongst my favorite meta writers. Meta is an art...or at least I think it is.
Was always more into meta than fanfic for some reason. I think it's because it is rare for me to seek out fanfic. I've only sought it out for a couple of tv shows, mainly genre, usually ones that have a character, characters, or scenarios that capture my attention, and are incredibly loosely written, with a lot of the action either happening off-stage, off-screen, off-page - and vaguely referred to. Densely written works - I don't need fanfiction for. Loosely written ones with a lot of gaps in the action and a lot of things happening off-stage, I sort of do, assuming I get obsessed.
Whedon? God, the man leaves half the story off the screen. Focusing on weird and often obvious things. He's not alone, Ron Moore does this too, as does Stephen Moffat, George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg, RT Davies, and the vast majority of genre/cult writers. Which may explain why they can't get respect from the mainstream or the critical elite. Too focused on obtaining the mcMuffin or fighting the big bad. So they skip over stuff like...oh, A finds out B is alive and not dead, or C/D have to figure out how to deal with the fact that R is actually their daughter and not just one of A's wacky alien friends, or ...how did S get home after being beaten to a pulp? Do B ever apologize to S? Little stuff like that is dealt with in depth by shows such as Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Sopranoes, The Good Wife, Breaking Bad, Being Human, etc...densely written shows deal with this stuff. Loose tv series don't. So I hunt for fanfic to fill in the gaps. I also write it to fill in the gaps.
I'm not saying that Mad Men is necessarily better written than Buffy - I don't believe it is fair to compare the two. The writers have different purposes and interests. The production value is different. Also completely different target audiences. But Weiner is a tighter writer than Whedon, tighter in plot, and more thorough. Felt the same way about Game of Thrones...it's tighter. So no need for fanfic, at least for me. Your mileage may vary of course.
For the record, had the same issue with The Hunger Games - I sought fanfic out for it, because so much was left off the page. It's almost too focused on one pov. You leave wanting more, while in direct contrast The Fault in Our Stars, The Night Circus...didn't make me want fanfic at all. Harry Potter? I do, it's also too focused and too loose,
too much detail here, and not enough over there...if you know what I mean? Maybe not.
It's hard to explain and my head hurts. I should just eat and watch my tv shows.
3. Name Ten TV Series That You Watched from the ages of 5-14 that you remember vividly.
[The difficulty of this meme has a great deal to do with how old you are. And well, how willingly you are to admit to it.]
1. Kimba - the White Lion - about 6 or however old you are when you are in nursery school.
Loved that series. It was a cartoon, on at 2pm in the afternoon. Plot? Insanely similar to the Lion King - to the extent that the creator of Kimba would have been well within his rights to sue for copyright infringement.
2. The Monkeeys - I was between the ages of 7-9. And I loved this show. Was in love with Davy Jones, who I got to meet in person years later and acquired his autograph.
It was a cool show that was basically nothing but music videos.
3. Star Trek and Space 1999 - two early TV series that scared me. But my first introduction to science fiction. Star Trek was better. My parents were fans of both and watched them. I remember leaving the room at different points during Space 1999.
4. Battle Star Galatica - version 1, I was 11 or 12, and I loved it. Was in love with Richard Hatch who played Apollo. I made up stories in my head about it. And wrote fanfic.
5. Gunsmoke - my parents were Western fanatics - they watched Gunsmoke every night and in reruns. It aired until the mid-late 70s. The longest running tv series. Part of my love of Westerns stems from my parents, who equally loved them. They adored all genres.
6. Dark Shadows - we used to watch it at slumber parties at midnight, to scare ourselves.
It was spooky back then. We eventually gravitated to Night Gallery. But it wasn't as much fun as Dark Shadows. The Vamp Diaries of its day.
7. Batman and Robin - my best friend and I would watch this like crazy. She was in love with Adam West. My fav's were Robin and Batgirl - who I was shipping at the time. I remember driving all the way out to a used car dealership with her family, about three hours away - to see them in person, and Robin had an massive perm or afro. I was so disappointed, because it clearly wasn't him.
8. American Bandstand - we did a marathon one night at a slumber party, where the three of us danced until we were ready to drop to each song, copying the dance moves - I was maybe 8 or 9.
9. Happy Days - a spin off of Love American Style, and my baby-sitter's favorite tv show.
It had three spin-off's: Laverne and Shirly, Mork and Mindy, and Joanie Loves Chachi.
10. MASH - my parents favorite sitcom, we watched it every night. It was on about the entire length of my childhood. And in college I did a media essay on it. The first tv series I ever wrote meta on.
11. Scooby Doo, Where are You - my favorite Saturday Morning Cartoon as a youngster, because it scared me. I was remember 7.
Honorable mentions:
* Schoolhouse Rock - educational cartoon ditties on Saturday Mornings
* Bugs Bunny & Road Runner Show
* H& R Puff'n Stuff - sort of a live action British take on Where the Wild Things Are meets The Prisoner by way of the Muppet Show...but for kids, with Jack Wild and a lot of big puppets,
* ABC Afterschool Specials - these varied from amazing to mediocre. Go Ask Alice was amongst them, as was the special Free to be You and Me. I remember all fondly. They don't have them any longer - Nickleodoen and Disney Channel have clearly taken their place.
* The Muppet Show - aired from 1975-1980s or thereabouts. A children's variety show that adults could love. I recently got the first season on DVD.
* The Electric Company, Captain Kangeroo, Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, and Sesame Street...along with Reading Rainbow - although I think it was called something else at the time. Of the four, only Sesame Street is still on today.
* Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman - I didn't see them, my best bud would recap them for me on the way to school each morning, we had a 30 minute walk to the bus stop.
I couldn't watch them because they aired past my bed-time, she got to stay up later than I did. I eventually did watch them in reruns and was disappointed, because her recaps were more interesting.
* Little House on the Prairie - see Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman
* The Brady Bunch - my brother's favorite show. I was also addicted. I remember racing home to catch key episodes in reruns after school. We even watched all the reunion movies, attempts at spinoffs, and the insane variety show.
* Ryan's Hope - my mother was addicted to a lot of soap operas when I was a kid, but I remember that one the best during those years. Mostly because it came on before the Monkeey or Brady Bunch.
Don't kill yourself for your jobs, folks. It doesn't care. [Is that too much info? I'm never sure how much to reveal in these unflocked posts.]
2. I've no time to a proper meta on Mad Men - so if you are interested there's a rather good one over here by superplin, and it references Buffy and Angel - so bonus (assuming of course you are still into Buffy and Angel). She's doing meta again, and plin is amongst my favorite meta writers. Meta is an art...or at least I think it is.
Was always more into meta than fanfic for some reason. I think it's because it is rare for me to seek out fanfic. I've only sought it out for a couple of tv shows, mainly genre, usually ones that have a character, characters, or scenarios that capture my attention, and are incredibly loosely written, with a lot of the action either happening off-stage, off-screen, off-page - and vaguely referred to. Densely written works - I don't need fanfiction for. Loosely written ones with a lot of gaps in the action and a lot of things happening off-stage, I sort of do, assuming I get obsessed.
Whedon? God, the man leaves half the story off the screen. Focusing on weird and often obvious things. He's not alone, Ron Moore does this too, as does Stephen Moffat, George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg, RT Davies, and the vast majority of genre/cult writers. Which may explain why they can't get respect from the mainstream or the critical elite. Too focused on obtaining the mcMuffin or fighting the big bad. So they skip over stuff like...oh, A finds out B is alive and not dead, or C/D have to figure out how to deal with the fact that R is actually their daughter and not just one of A's wacky alien friends, or ...how did S get home after being beaten to a pulp? Do B ever apologize to S? Little stuff like that is dealt with in depth by shows such as Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Sopranoes, The Good Wife, Breaking Bad, Being Human, etc...densely written shows deal with this stuff. Loose tv series don't. So I hunt for fanfic to fill in the gaps. I also write it to fill in the gaps.
I'm not saying that Mad Men is necessarily better written than Buffy - I don't believe it is fair to compare the two. The writers have different purposes and interests. The production value is different. Also completely different target audiences. But Weiner is a tighter writer than Whedon, tighter in plot, and more thorough. Felt the same way about Game of Thrones...it's tighter. So no need for fanfic, at least for me. Your mileage may vary of course.
For the record, had the same issue with The Hunger Games - I sought fanfic out for it, because so much was left off the page. It's almost too focused on one pov. You leave wanting more, while in direct contrast The Fault in Our Stars, The Night Circus...didn't make me want fanfic at all. Harry Potter? I do, it's also too focused and too loose,
too much detail here, and not enough over there...if you know what I mean? Maybe not.
It's hard to explain and my head hurts. I should just eat and watch my tv shows.
3. Name Ten TV Series That You Watched from the ages of 5-14 that you remember vividly.
[The difficulty of this meme has a great deal to do with how old you are. And well, how willingly you are to admit to it.]
1. Kimba - the White Lion - about 6 or however old you are when you are in nursery school.
Loved that series. It was a cartoon, on at 2pm in the afternoon. Plot? Insanely similar to the Lion King - to the extent that the creator of Kimba would have been well within his rights to sue for copyright infringement.
2. The Monkeeys - I was between the ages of 7-9. And I loved this show. Was in love with Davy Jones, who I got to meet in person years later and acquired his autograph.
It was a cool show that was basically nothing but music videos.
3. Star Trek and Space 1999 - two early TV series that scared me. But my first introduction to science fiction. Star Trek was better. My parents were fans of both and watched them. I remember leaving the room at different points during Space 1999.
4. Battle Star Galatica - version 1, I was 11 or 12, and I loved it. Was in love with Richard Hatch who played Apollo. I made up stories in my head about it. And wrote fanfic.
5. Gunsmoke - my parents were Western fanatics - they watched Gunsmoke every night and in reruns. It aired until the mid-late 70s. The longest running tv series. Part of my love of Westerns stems from my parents, who equally loved them. They adored all genres.
6. Dark Shadows - we used to watch it at slumber parties at midnight, to scare ourselves.
It was spooky back then. We eventually gravitated to Night Gallery. But it wasn't as much fun as Dark Shadows. The Vamp Diaries of its day.
7. Batman and Robin - my best friend and I would watch this like crazy. She was in love with Adam West. My fav's were Robin and Batgirl - who I was shipping at the time. I remember driving all the way out to a used car dealership with her family, about three hours away - to see them in person, and Robin had an massive perm or afro. I was so disappointed, because it clearly wasn't him.
8. American Bandstand - we did a marathon one night at a slumber party, where the three of us danced until we were ready to drop to each song, copying the dance moves - I was maybe 8 or 9.
9. Happy Days - a spin off of Love American Style, and my baby-sitter's favorite tv show.
It had three spin-off's: Laverne and Shirly, Mork and Mindy, and Joanie Loves Chachi.
10. MASH - my parents favorite sitcom, we watched it every night. It was on about the entire length of my childhood. And in college I did a media essay on it. The first tv series I ever wrote meta on.
11. Scooby Doo, Where are You - my favorite Saturday Morning Cartoon as a youngster, because it scared me. I was remember 7.
Honorable mentions:
* Schoolhouse Rock - educational cartoon ditties on Saturday Mornings
* Bugs Bunny & Road Runner Show
* H& R Puff'n Stuff - sort of a live action British take on Where the Wild Things Are meets The Prisoner by way of the Muppet Show...but for kids, with Jack Wild and a lot of big puppets,
* ABC Afterschool Specials - these varied from amazing to mediocre. Go Ask Alice was amongst them, as was the special Free to be You and Me. I remember all fondly. They don't have them any longer - Nickleodoen and Disney Channel have clearly taken their place.
* The Muppet Show - aired from 1975-1980s or thereabouts. A children's variety show that adults could love. I recently got the first season on DVD.
* The Electric Company, Captain Kangeroo, Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, and Sesame Street...along with Reading Rainbow - although I think it was called something else at the time. Of the four, only Sesame Street is still on today.
* Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman - I didn't see them, my best bud would recap them for me on the way to school each morning, we had a 30 minute walk to the bus stop.
I couldn't watch them because they aired past my bed-time, she got to stay up later than I did. I eventually did watch them in reruns and was disappointed, because her recaps were more interesting.
* Little House on the Prairie - see Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman
* The Brady Bunch - my brother's favorite show. I was also addicted. I remember racing home to catch key episodes in reruns after school. We even watched all the reunion movies, attempts at spinoffs, and the insane variety show.
* Ryan's Hope - my mother was addicted to a lot of soap operas when I was a kid, but I remember that one the best during those years. Mostly because it came on before the Monkeey or Brady Bunch.
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no subject
Date: 2012-04-20 12:01 am (UTC)My husband has a few old TV guides and those are a blast to go through.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-20 12:33 am (UTC)Also remember the original Hawaii 5-O but only vaguely.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-20 12:45 am (UTC)I loved Paul Michael Glaser.
Lost in Space was very cute. Very "50's" made in the 60's, a father knows best sort of thing. Now I cringe when I see them, but at the time, I thought it was very forward thinking. I remember a few of them being frightening, but not too seriously.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-20 02:21 am (UTC)Waltons sort of lost steam after John Boy (Richard Thomas) left the cast. I think John Ritter was also in it for a while as a priest. I haven't seen it in years. My favorite episode at the time or the only one I remember is the little girl going through puberty who causes a poltergiest disturbance. It was so oddly done, and at that age I was intrigued by ghosts and telekninesis.
Actually I think it may have been Paul Micheal Glaser the older sister had the crush on. Can't remember. She would have been about your age, 6 years older than me. And five years older than her sister, who was just one year ahead of me in school.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-20 02:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-20 11:09 pm (UTC)I do remember loving the cast, the people who played the parents were amazing.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-20 01:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-20 02:28 am (UTC)This is true of books too, I've discovered. Some mystery series - such as
Janet Evanouvich, Jim Butcher, Patricia Cornwall, Robert B Parker, etc...tend to lead to fanfic, because you focus more on the mystery than on the private, interior lives of the characters.
Doctor Who and Star-Gate really lend themselves to fanfic, because they are anthology adventure serials...focusing on the adventure or problem or monster of the week.
I don't know if I can say they are poorly written...because I think that's just the style. You only have enough time to do the mystery. Some people think the tighter dramas or more thorough are soap operaish, because they are given too much information. I know a lot of people who don't care or want to know about Doctor Who's sex life, they just want to see him have adventures in the Tardis.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-20 03:59 am (UTC)Space 1999 scared the bejeesus out of me. (which didn't stop me from watching it... but it stillscared the bejeebus out of me. :)
4. Battle Star Galatica - version 1, I was 11 or 12, and I loved it. Was in love with Richard Hatch who played Apollo. I made up stories in my head about it. And wrote fanfic.
I was more a Starbuck girl. :)
And MASH was quality TV. It still holds up after all these years.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-20 11:07 pm (UTC)Me too. I had this weird relationship with it. I vividly remember leaving my house at 8 when it came on and going outside to tell myself a story and chat with my best friend at the time who aided in the storytelling. Explaining that I was hiding from Space 1999. Because my brother and parents watched it. He got scared. But decided to brave it out. Eventually I would try to do so too, or he'd recap what happened.
The three episodes I remember vividly to this day?
* The spider monster in the engine room that kept eating people (I had an issue with spiders)
* The episode with the plant people who looked like their friends from earth but really were tricking them - this episode reminds me a great deal of the Angel S4 episode Shiny Happy People, except it sacred me more. I remember hitting on it by accident in reruns on Saturday and my brother insisting on watching it, when I left the room. Only to come back - because I wanted to know what happened. We both spent the night in our parents bed. In hindsight?
Hilarious.
* The episode where their friend finds the fountain of youth but he gets on a plane with his beloved and ages more than a hundred years and is a desiccated corspe. I can still see him and Barbara Bain screaming next to him.
That was the show with Juliette Landaus' parents - Martin Landau and Barbara Bain playing the leads. My parents loved it - they watched it fanatically.
They were sci-fi fans. Loved innovative shows. This, probably explains my taste.
Regarding Battle Star Galatica...everyone thought I was nuts for loving Apollo over Starbuck. I did change though. And started liking Starbuck better. I can't remember when. I was the same way about Buffy, started out an Angel/Bangel shipper, became a Spike/Spuffy shipper. Same deal with Battle star - started out Apollo, became Starbuck, although I think I like Kara Thrace even better.
And yes, MASH was quality TV - best sitcom I've ever seen. It discussed war in a way that few people have managed to pull off. And the entire series works. I loved that show. It's the only series outside of Buffy that I've memorized or written extensively on. LOL!
A few of mine
Date: 2012-04-20 01:55 pm (UTC)2. Gunsmoke. I remember the radio show before it went on TV. In fact, my family went out for a drive the afternoon on the day Gunsmoke premiered (a Saturday evening) and we heard a radio episode on the car radio. Gunsmoke was on at 9:00 and if it hadn't been on Saturdays, I wouldn't have gotten to see that for years.
3. Friday Night Fights (officially, the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports) My dad liked boxing. It was rare that I got to staty up to watch it. My dad didn't care since it was Friday, but my mother would rather I'd been in bed. It was about the only time my father would ever drink. He'd have one can of beer, and if I was clever I might con him into letting me have a sip.
4. Red Skelton
5. Disneyland (the first of several official titles). Like Gunsmoke there was a lot of talk about the show before it ever aired on TV. Yes there was quite a bit of promotion on the early shows for a theme park that was soon to open in Southern California. Now, what did they call *that* place???
Honestly about all I did when I was a kid was read in front of the TV, so I remember a lot of the shows from the 1950s well.
Re: A few of mine
Date: 2012-04-20 10:55 pm (UTC)It's so odd...today's kids watch everything on computer and ipads, they are so spoiled. I want to smack them. Back then? I remember getting excited when we finally got a color tv, or a VHS recorder, or a 8 track player...or a record player.
Now, my niece watches I Love Lucy and Dick Van Dyke on her parents' ipad.
I didn't know Gunsmoke started on radio...interesting. I saw some of the black and white episodes on one of the cable channels, very noir, very dark and gritty, and well-written. Better actually than Whedon's Firefly which makes me think of Gunsmoke in space.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-21 01:12 am (UTC)I remember these because I loved them, but actually I didn't get to pick them (between the ages of 5-14 pretty much meant that I had to watch what my Father and/or my older siblings wanted to watch!):
1. Kula Fran and Ollie (puppets, awesome puppets)
2. Mighty Mouse (cartoon)
3. Superman (live action)
4. Lone Ranger (also live action)
5. Maverick (with the awesome James Garner)
6. Dobie Gillis (created by a wonderful writer, Max Shulman, who went to the Univ of Minnesota)
7. 77 Sunset Strip (I would still like to buy that on DVD!)
8. Rawhide (starring Clint Eastwood, who liked like he was 12)
9. Wanted Dead or Alive (starting very young Steve McQueen)
10. Dr. Kildare (starring Richard Chamberlain)
no subject
Date: 2012-04-21 01:39 am (UTC)Majority of my flist is actually 40-75. Minority is under the age of 40.
(Most of my ATPO board friends are 6 to twenty years older than me, like my work colleagues.)
And, OMG, I lovvved Mighty Mouse - that was one of my favorite cartoons. I actually liked it better than Superman. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Mighty Mouse!
Also remember Maveric and the Lone Ranger. (Did I mention I have a tv addict as a mother? And all of this stuff was available as reruns in the afternoon in the 1970s.)
no subject
Date: 2012-04-21 02:19 am (UTC)That means that Mighty Mouse is on his way!"
Yeah, I just absolutely loved that... it is funny that it isn't ever shown anywhere any more.
:(
Of course when I was sick and home from school I always camped out in front of the TV wrapped in a comforter and did nothing but watch old B&W Hollywood musicals...
no subject
Date: 2012-04-21 02:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-21 03:37 pm (UTC)Rocky and Bullwinkle was first run when I was 9 to 14 years old, and I loved it!
It wasn't the best animation (or even the second best! LOL) but the stories and dialogue were smart and satirical and spoke to me from day one!
(I need icons.... I'll go work on that now!)
no subject
Date: 2012-04-21 01:51 am (UTC)go here -
http://cakmpls.livejournal.com/776499.html?view=6928947&style=mine#t6928947
I think they got you beat.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-21 03:32 pm (UTC)