Spontaneous Musings

Resting my knee tonight, so didn't do the exercises - did ice it, also did exercises at work. Also took a longer walk than I should have? I wanted to see if Trinity Church, Printemps, and NYSE had been dressed up at all for Xmas. It had, but minimalist in style. The over-blown festive decorations are apparently saved for Dyker Heights, my apartment complex lobby, and Midtown Shopping District. The Financial District is well...not exactly spendthrift when it comes to Christmas decor - and errs on the tasteful and minimalist side of the fence?

( The Financial District, Trinity Church and NYSE at Christmas Time )

After the walk - which included an ill advised journey to Insomiac Cookies, which was alas closed - my right knee/leg was killing me. It was my own fault - if I'd ended it five to ten minutes sooner, I'd have been fine. Plus it was cold outside. ( Would have been nice if Insomina Cookies had warned me that they were closed this week.) And I didn't even get any chocolate chip cookies. I wanted my cookies. Instead I bought a chocolate bar - which resulted in high blood sugar, the cookies were the better bet.

On the plus side (knee wise, at least) - I managed to schedule an MRI for January 4 at the Brooklyn location, and on a Sunday morning, no less. Go me. So not quite as far as the Manhattan one, and less steps. Also a followup appointment with the orthopedist at 2:30pm on January 9 (Friday). I'll probably have to take the day off. Unfortunately. Either that or take two hours of comp time. I only have 10 hours of comp time remaining. Currently have a PT appointment scheduled at 4:30pm after it, which I might cancel or try to reschedule. So got it a lot faster than expected.

2. Gave up on the Larry Silverstein book - the narrator was speaking in a monotone, and I was having troubles following it. Jumped over to Tim Curry's autobiography entitled "Vagabound" - which Curry was reading himself, only one small problem? He'd just suffered a stroke. After about an hour and a half, I gave up. I can't do 10 hours of that - it was painful listening to him. So, I jumped over to Angelica Huston's autobiography/memoir, The Story of Me - which is a two party, and read by Huston, to high acclaim. She has a lovely voice, and it's beautifully written. Also very interesting - since she talks about her parents, the acclaimed actor, film director and writer, John Huston, his wife a prima ballerina, his father, an acclaimed actor, and their friends. It talks a lot about old Hollywood - during the 1950s. I just finished a chapter, where she talks about how her father, along with Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, etc - formed an organization supporting the First Amendment - to speak out against the McCarthy Hearings and the infamous Hollywood Blacklist. This also resulted in Huston leaving the US, and filming outside of it, and living outside of it for the remainder of his life. Huston married Angelica Huston's mother when he was 40 years of age, and her mother was 18 years of age, and a prima ballerina at the premier ballet company in the US which later became the NY Ballet.

Angelica Huston doesn't tell so much as show? She relates the facts, and lets the reader figure it out. Reminds me of Paul Newman's memoir in that respect. It's well written.

3. Progressing along in my rewatch of Buffy S5. Some takeaways, after seeing I was Made to Love You and Crush.
( still pondering the contradictions in Crush and in IWMTLY )

Had another PT appointment on Monday, which...went okay, I guess? ( Read more... )

Work party and work in general made me want to walk out the door and retire today. But alas, I can't. I'm not positive, but I have a feeling Breaking Bad felt much the same way.
( Read more... )
Today was my father's birthday - which FB decided to alert me to. Annoying considering my father was never on FB and disliked it. My father, had he lived, would have turned 90. He died in 2022 at the age of 86 just short of his 87th birthday.

So feeling a bit down and out today. Not helped by the bitter cold snap plaguing New York and the East Coast at the moment. It was 18 F degrees this morning, I think that is -6 C. Tomorrow it is supposed to get up to 45 and possibly rain, practically balmy.
****

Buffy S5 Rewatch

Episode S5.4 Out of My Mind

Definitely enjoying Angel more this go-around, probably because I've watched this season one too many times? That said, the dialogue in this episode for the most part is rather good. And there are some good bits here and there.

The episode is mainly about Riley and Spike.
( Read more... )

Off to bed and other things.

1. Managed to get the flu shot that I'd been procrastinating - I don't like the pharmacy, but I'm no longer working in Jamaica, so can't get it there. And not sure about getting it at City MD in the city.

Also, due to shifts in the jet stream combated another migraine, still lingering but not as bad as it was earlier - and it appears to be dissipating finally. My own fault for forgetting to take an antihistamine. A hot shower helped. I'd taken a walk to pick up batteries and get brandy (actually I was getting rum but all they had was brandy, which actually works better anyhow) for the egg nog that I'd bought. I can also use it for hot toddies, hot apple cider, and baking/cooking. I don't really drink any longer - so it's used more for well egg nog and toddies, and baking.

Put up my Xmas lights in my living room window - which is a miniature evergreen tree (plastic but looks real with snow on it) and yellow lights, and a burlap stand. I call it my Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. It's adorable and make me happy. That and the snowflake fairy lights, and the little Saturn light globe. I'll probably leave them there until well into February. I leave the Saturn Light Globe there year round, just only turn it on during the winter months. Removed the little pumpkin from the window.
My holiday decorations tend to be on the simple side, and mostly in my windows and window sills.

2. Was thinking about Angel today, and it occurred to me that in "Are You There Now or Have You Ever Been" that he doesn't tell his friends what actually happened in the hotel or what he was doing there or that he'd left that poor woman in the hotel to suffer since 1952. I'm not sure what he did with her body or if she was a ghost? But his friends didn't seem to know she was still there or that the bank money was there? Which begs the question how did Angel get all the money he appears to have stashed away? He's clearly not poor, and tends live rather well. Similar to Dracula in a way. The older vampires in Whedon's series live quite well. Or know how to?

Probably over-thinking it too. Mustn't overthink television series, and Disney superhero films. Doesn't keep me and others from doing it...

3. Former Sr. Minister (the Unitarian Minister who left the church to become a rabbi), is writing a blog on substack for subscribers - which she advertises on FB. I wouldn't mention it - except, she surprised me today with this blurb on FB.

"My son and I went to part of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade yesterday. I love the marching bands, but the whole thing is increasingly lackluster. And I was struck, as I am every year, by the idolatry. Here's a 100-word reflection on it:

When the Pillsbury Doughboy balloon floated by in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the announcer informed the crowd that this was the parade’s most iconic balloon. Our response, I guess, was muted, because he reprimanded us: “When I say it’s the most iconic, you make the most noise!”

Theologian Neil Gillman taught: when people realize that something is a symbol (or need to be told to cheer for it), the symbol is broken. It no longer carries the magic.Maybe the symbols of consumerism are breaking. We’re finally figuring out that they’re giant idols. Impotent. Full of nothing but air."

I did a double take. [ETA: Sigh, for some reason my mind read Gaiman not Gillman. I have told you all that I'm dyslexic right? [I've certainly written multiple posts on it.] Thank god, I restrained myself from responding to her on FB. I think the reason my mind decided it was Gaiman, is it saw Neil and the similar sounding name, the quote, and the Sr. Minister's name and made that connection. ]


4. Tom Stoppard died. I've read and seen a lot of Tom Stoppard plays.
Known for: Rozencrantz and Guildestern are Dead, The Real Thing, Shakespeare in Love..
( Read more... )

5. Finished Slow Horses S5 - it's only six episodes and fairly tightly written - so it didn't take all that long to binge, unfortunately. By the time I got into it? It was alas, over. Very funny British satire about spooks.

November Memage

29. What types of fruit do you always have in the house to eat?

Granny Smith Green Apples, Raspberries and Blackberries.

The Community UU Church of NY's sermon today (which I watched on my television set via Youtube - youtube kindly thrust it at me, as recommended, and I didn't have to look for it and I finally figured out how to watch my community's UU church services via youtube on my television set) - stated that we're all tired because there's so much happening constantly around us, and it's overwhelming.

I thought, okay, that's probably why I've been feeling exhausted lately, sleep deprived, and kind of ill? Too much happening all at once, none of which I have control over.

I've even stopped the good news posts, mainly because I can't seem to get myself to weed through the hundreds of comments and links on the social activist's facebook page or in the Nice News or Waging Non-Violence emails, any longer? I find it all to be overwhelming, even if it is good news? I just want to close off the news media and forget it all exists for a bit.

And, it's getting darker earlier now. Dark at 4:30 pm, and 5:19 feels like 8. Shorter and shorter days. I'm not a fan of darkness, I have a tendency towards seasonal depression and require light. It's why I can't live that far North and have veered away from the North Pacific. NYC is about as far North as I can reasonably get, I think.

Anyhow, the church services on Youtube motivated me to donate to the Food Bank of NYC today. So far, I've donated to Food Bank, ACLU, and National Parks Conservation Service this year.

***

Tomorrow is the doctor's appointment. ( Read more... )

***

Made Chili last night with Chili beans, Classico Marinara Sauce, Jasmine brown rice, red onions, dark chocolate, and chili seasoning. It was smooth and excellent. Served with shredded cheddar cheese, Mary's Gone Crackers, and chopped red onions. Also cheese and crackers on the side. I might do celery and carrots with it tonight.

I don't understand my body? I couldn't handle the idea of putting ground beef in it. The thought turned my stomach, so rice was used instead. I used to love ground beef. Now, I can't stomach it. Instead, I love celery sticks, which I used to hate. Now I eat celery constantly?

Also, I used to hate beans, and avoid them like the plague - because gas pains, now my stomach wants beans but not meat. Somethings happened. Doctors are happy. Cardiologist and Endcrinologist - want me on a plant based mediterrean style diet without red meat at all, and beans instead.
Meat is bad for high blood pressure and diabetes.

After hemming and hawing, over whether to buy a cornish game hen, a duck or a rainbow trout for Thanksgiving or order something premade via Fresh Direct, I finally caved and bought a Rock Cornish Game. ( Read more... )

I did learn that my church, the UUA of Brooklyn, not the Community Church of NYC, has about fifty people signed up for its annual Thanksgiving Gathering, and I thought, nope. ( Read more... )

****

I don't know about anyone else? But the period between November 20 and March 20 is tough on me, emotionally and mentally? Between the shortening of the days, the cold, the stripping of the flowers and trees of leaves, and the holidays...I struggle with depression. ( Read more... )

I make little plans to get through it. ( Read more... )

Sometimes life is in the enjoyment and love of small things, small pleasures, small hobbies, completion of small tasks, and small moments.

***

Question a Day Memage:

[Shout out to kazzy_cee who found/came up with all of the questions - I really appreciate it. I can not come up with them well at all. I've tried. It's not as easy as it looks. I appreciate and am grateful for those that do. Thank you.]

21. Do you have lots of layers of bedding on your bed?

Yes. ( Read more... )

22. It’s Jamie Lee Curtis’s birthday! What did you last see her in on TV/film?

The Bear - she's amazing in The Bear. Plays the abusive alcoholic mother of the chef. It's a raw vulnerable no holds barred realistic portrayal of a recovering alcoholic. It's a joy to behold. I've a crush on the actress, who just gets better with age. (The Bear is a hypo-realism series about the running of a Chicago Restaurant, and the lives of all of those involved in running it.)

23. It’s National Cashew Day – do you like cashews? Have you used them in a recipe?

Not really, they are really hard to digest and lead to stomach cramping. Again, not a fan. I tend to use almonds instead.

Woke up, thought all was fine and dandy, made it to work - and dizziness hit. ( TMI health update or ack Vertigo ack )

***

Television and books

1. Watched more of Newman/Woodward doc last night - it does go into their political activities (both were liberal political activists), and into their films - and family dynamics. I'm loving the documentary - because it's not just about Newman/Woodward, but about filmmaking, and how to put a documentary together. The process geek in me - is in heaven.

Takeaway quote: When Camus read the story of Sisphysus, he said, Ah, this is a happy man, he knows his job and is satisfied in it.

Which never really occurred to me, or Ethan Hawk for that matter.

2. "The Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins" - is a historical rom-com/mystery hybrid, which I think is the Victorian period?
Checks - yes, 1865 (I honestly can't remember when the Victorian Period started, and well, Vertigo issues - so if you know, feel free to fact check.)

The teaser is below. But right now, it appears to be female friendship? We have a newspaper columnist/publisher hooking up with a cookbook author to co-author a column about murders - currently the Commandment Murders. And they decide to investigate murders through their column. Apparently the Inspector investigating the murders in none too pleased (seriously, why would he be?). Much chaos ensues.

( Amazon blurb )

So far it's easier to read than Spinning Silver or Remarkably Bright Creatures - mainly because it is in third person and the point of view is rather clear. And there's, voila, dialogue.

3. Buffy S4 Rewatch - Superstar - sigh, there's a trope in sci-fantasy, where a Marty Stu or Mary Sue secondary character gets center stage. It's targeted towards a certain portion of the audience, which is NOT me. But, it is admittedly very popular - as evidenced by how often its done. I've never enjoyed it - I feel like it takes me away from the action, characters and story, to spend time with the author's stand-in or the author's idea of an audience stand-in (which isn't me). To give Espenson, who wrote the episode, credit - she kind of parodies/satirizes the trope? And makes fun of it. (Not my sense of humor - but I give her marks for detail, even if it's a touch too on the nose.) And she does manage to further each characters arc and relationship along the way.
( cut for length and spoilers for the few out there who never saw this and still want to )

4. Buffy Sequel - Chloe Zhao - the director, and executive producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale - has officially stated it is a sequel, and she fully plans on bringing back the original characters.

Go HERE

And.. HERE

"Zhao is offering some additional insights on the project and the importance of bringing in original series and new viewers, while sharing how much the original series meant to her during an interview with Variety's Awards Circuit podcast to discuss her film, Hamnet.

"It is not a reboot. It's a sequel. You can never replace these characters. I would never allow that," Zhao made clear regarding the sequel series. "And Sarah's [Michelle Gellar] back. I love my cast, the new cast. We will bring back OG characters for sure. And it is a show that bridges two generations — it's not just about the kids. I think the fandom is so important to us. We want the fandom to see themselves mirrored in the original fandom. And of course, we want new fans to join, and it's very much about both generations."

In previous interviews, Gellar has shared how Zhao's pitch for the new series and the impact that the original series had on her (and could still have on new generations) was a significant factor in her decision to return to the franchise. During the podcast, Zhao revealed how she reacted to the series finale, "Chosen" (S07E22), which aired on May 20, 2003.

"I watched religiously. I was at Mount Holyoke. We would all gather — I think it was every Thursday or Tuesday — and we would watch, because you only get one episode and you're waiting a week. It's such a ritual. I remember the last episode finishing, and we sat there; everyone was crying, and we were all holding hands. I remember looking at the screen, tears streaming down my eyes, and I said, 'Good luck to you, Buffy Summers, good luck to you.' Seeing Sarah in real life was probably one of the most stressful moments of my life."

There is something to be said for fans writing and directing the sequel? [Because often the fans of a show - watch it closer than the creator does, and notice things the creator doesn't.] But isn't it still just published fanfic, and the only reason it got this far is the fan in question has some clout and knows the right people? Also, at the end of the day - we're getting this group of fans take on the series or perspective, which may vary significantly from our own? Since we all see things so differently?

Then again, who am I to complain? I watch a daytime soap and read comic books - also watch Doctor Who off and on, not to mention Star Wars sequels and Star Trek - and that's, well, also fanfic in a way? With varying perspectives on the same thing? At the end of the day aren't all continuations by new writers a kind of fanfic? They are in a way playing with someone else's toys but in their sandbox?

Ponders. Is it fanfic or isn't it? And what exactly is fanfic? [See? This is what happens when Vertigo eats my brain? I ponder existential questions about Fanfic.]

Been battling a sick sinus headache from hell all weekend and got really sick last night with it. ( TMID )

***

Not wanting to watch anything that requires too much concentration or movement. I watched Grey's Anatomy's Season Finale, and have been watching per yourlibrarian's rec on tv talk, "Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, the Last Movie Stars" - a documentary on HBO MAX directed/edited by Ethan Hawk, and the Newman children, along with someone else. It surprised me. It's not just a documentary, but rather a series similar to what was done with Billy Joel. And Hawk, who was given the task during the pandemic, decides to approach it from the angel of well, a fellow actor, director, and artist - not a gossip columnist or journalist. Which from my perspective - makes it far more entertaining and interesting. And looks at how the personal lives of the actors interacted with, informed, enhanced, and at times got in the way of their work - and how the work often got in the way of their personal lives.

( Read more... )

Be prepared for more on this, since I liked it. Oh, Ken Burns documentary, The American Revolution is on PBS tonight. You know the guy who did The Civil War documentary, Jazz, and Baseball. I've discovered I like documentary's well enough depending on the subject and how they are done. I don't like watching people talk to me through a television or computer screen, but over video footage or film footage - works really well for me.

1. Woo-hoo! Democrats won across the board. (In NYC - they won everything but Staten Island Borough President, because you know...Staten Island? And Texas. But it is Staten Island and Texas...)

New York City hits 2 million votes for first time since 1969. Biggest turnout for a Mayoral election ever.

( Read more... )

Miki Sherrel won the Governor's Race in New Jersey - becoming the first female Democrat Governor of the State.

Oh, and NBC has an interactive map showing how each neighborhood in NYC voted for the Mayoral race. It's kind of fun, and shows that elections are complicated.

2. Work wore me out. That and lack of sleep - I couldn't get comfortable, and I kept waking up. Didn't fall asleep until Midnight, and woke up at 3 am and 5:26 am. Something beeped outside and woke me up at 3. Took a while to get back to sleep. Then something woke me at 5:26, and I never got back to sleep.

Very busy. Kind of inundated? They decided to get together and unload all their work on myself and Breaking Bad at the same time. Don't procrastinate folks? It just makes more work for everybody. But my good deed was installing two printers on my computer and Breaking Bad's. Just in time for the new folks to move in - in two weeks. Maybe they'll bring a printer that is in closer proximity. Albeit not too close proximity.

Commute wasn't easy either - but went smoother than expected. I miss hopping on the G taking it to 4/9th Streets, and running down the steps.
Now? Going down steps hurts, so I take the F, run up, then down steps, and wait on a tiny platform with a ton of folks for the R. Oh well, it's 35 minutes either way.

But overall? Happy to be back at work. I enjoy what I do for the most part - it's a lot of analysis, editing, problem solving, and figuring things out.

3. Cooler - in the 40s-low 60s. Typical Autumn weather in NY. A-typical is 60s-80s, typical is 40s,50s, and low 60s.

Time change is still messing with me though - by the time my body gets accustomed to it - they'll change it again, right around my birthday.
Whose bright idea was it to do the Time Warp?

4. Buffy/Angel re-watch.

I'm enjoying Angel more now than I did the first go-around. Buffy, I always enjoy. It occurred to me today that the writers fell in love with a specific plot twist - which they employed in S2. Which is the good guy turns bad or switches sides. They also did the bad guy switches sides to help the heroine - but they enjoy the good guy turns bad a lot more.
( Read more... )

[I'm mainly just writing about this at this point to please myself at this point. Hopefully it entertains others too. But alas, as in most things, there's really no way of knowing for sure. I'm thinking I probably wrote it to please myself back in the day as well. Although a bit better, and more targeted.]

1. Eye Doctor. I got up early, made it to the eye doctor's office at 7:55 am, with my appointment scheduled at 8:15 am, only to discover that the doctor was no longer working at NYU Langone. They'd left.
And NYU Langone was calling me to reschedule with yet another brand new opthamologist literally twenty minutes before my appointment.
( Read more... )
I could have slept another hour. Although they did do the vision test, and the dilation around 8:30, with the Doctor seeing me around 9:30. All in all it was two hours. I knew it would be - that's why I didn't try to schedule the knee doctor on the same day.

After a five minute vision test done at the speed of light.
( Read more... )

Doctors? Its basically hurry, wait, hurry, wait. It's why Breaking Bad refuses to see them, and my Aunt did. My mother has persuaded me to see them - because she's convinced her sister, my Aunt, died because she refused to.

I'm going to have to find an opthamologist/optometrist duo, because NYU can't keep an opthamologist to save its life, and the optometrist - I noticed that office was temporarily closed and people were being redirected to the horrible Tisch Center for Men's Health.

The Good News? My eyes are fine. I mean I still need bifocals, and contacts. But there's no other issues. This morning, while putting in one of the contacts I got a piece of hair caught between my eye and the contact - which was excruciatingly painful until I got the contact out, and the offending hair out - but apparently it didn't result in any damage to the eye.

One down, four to go. (X-rays tomorrow, knee doctor tomorrow, then two weeks from now, on Saturday - the Optometrist, then in December, the PT.)

I feel like I've spent a lot of money on copayments to doctor's this year.

I did however accomplish two things at least? Eye doctor and laundry, also set up optometrist appointment in two weeks.

2. Still rewatching Buffy and Angel, and noticing things I didn't notice before? Not being obsessed with the stories or worried about where they are going - makes certain bits clearer? Also knowing what will happen - makes other things clearer? It helps when you aren't overly emotionally invested in what happens to the characters - or worse writing or reading fanfic about them. Makes the story as whole and the big picture much clearer?
( Read more... )

3. I am not used to it getting dark by 4:50pm. It's throwing me off my game? I keep thinking it's 7pm when it's actually just 5:45pm. Yes, I know it being dark at 7:30 am in the morning was an issue. But I honestly wish we would just stick with one time adjustment, and not keep doing this flipping back and forth.

Clearly I'm in the minority, or it would have changed by now. But I wish.

****

November Memage:

1. In the UK, the 5th of November is Guy Fawkes night, which is celebrated with fireworks. The firework displays and parties usually start this weekend and may continue for several days of November. When was the last time you attended a firework display?

Hm. I think sometime in 2010? It was the 4th of July display in NYC.

I have watched them out my window at home - but not sure that counts.

2. Do you have anything you love so much on TV that you record all the episodes?

I don't need to any longer with streaming. Also the DVR doesn't always work?

But, when I had a VHS recorder - yes. I recorded all the episodes of Buffy, and Angel. Also Farscape. Those are three shows I loved enough to record all the episodes and own the DVDs (for a bit).

3. What’s the weather like today?

Partly Cloudy, Cool, potential for rain (but mostly sunny). In the upper fifties, high was 60 degrees.

Off to get lunch soon, and then a massage at 3:15.

On the Buffy/Angel rewatch - I actually think what the writers did in the episodes Bachelor Party through Something Blue is rather clever? They managed to move Willow, Doyle, Buffy and Angel on from their first loves in an entertaining and convincing manner. Also from the metaphor - no longer are we doing the Beauty and the Beast metaphor, or the taming the wild beast in the man - or being abandoned by Daddy. We've moved on to the sick mother, or the dark mother imagery and providing women with greater agency in a relationship.

Tough to do, well. But they did it. I'm convinced by the end of Something Blue that both Willow and Buffy have to move on to someone else. And I've stopped shipping them with OZ (Willow) or Angel (Buffy) and have decided they are better off without them. Also done with the trope. Both OZ and Angel leave for more or less the same reason - they can't control the beast inside when they are around Willow and Buffy, so they have to leave. And they tend to weaken Willow and Buffy, and take away their agency. On the surface the relationships seemed great and really romantic, but in reality they were toxic to everyone involved. And, well didn't help either character grow or evolve. The writers had no choice but to somehow get this across - since Angel had moved onto his own series, and you can't have Angel and Buffy on separate shows and in a relationship. And well the actor playing OZ wanted to be written out. Doyle - was given a wife - to make him more appealing to Cordelia, and to parallel the character with Willow's situation. It doesn't quite work - but it does give him a back story, which was needed.

Sciatica is slightly better - but I've also not aggravated it too much this morning. At least the calves no longer hurt, and digestion is working better.

Started watching Rain Maker on Peacock, which stars in supporting roles, the actress who played the Evil Queen (in Once Upon a Time) as the bad ass lawyer that Rudy (the protagonist) ends up working for - "Bruiser", and John Slattery (Mad Men) as the head of the firm, that Rudy was fired from, and is fighting against. Slattery is inspired, since he doesn't come across as either a bully or evil, but likable - and that works actually.
And LP (who played the Evil Queen) is also cast against type, as the good guy rouge with the heart of gold lawyer. It's actually better than expected and based on John Grisham's novel of the same name. Grisham is an executive producer.

1. After much contemplation - I finally bit the bullet and booked a "Thai" massage for Friday.

My plans - such as they were - have kind of fallen through as a result of a combination of things - weather, sleep/exhaustion and mobility issues. Does anyone know how to heal tightened sore calve muscles? I've tried everything - yoga, stretching exercises, leg exercises, drinking lots of water, cutting back on antihistamines. Hopefully one will work. Also massage - to stretch out and re-align, because not sure how much of the pain is due to alignment. [I'm leaving calling the doctor again as a last resort - I already asked them for help, and they told me: 1) dehydration (drink more water, and limit the anithistamines) and 2) do exercises, and 3) lose weight.)

But that's okay, I'm doing other stuff - and at least I'm away from work and my body is hopefully healing - getting more sleep, and more exercise?

2. PSA: Ao3 finally posted something about how to protect yourself from scammers - probably because they'd gotten a barrage of complaints about them - if you've been posting fic, meta, any type of writing for more than a year, and have followers, on social media platforms - you've probably run across the scammers.

They pop up on live-journal and dream-width too, by the way. I've not really seen that many on WordPress or Facebook (mainly because my FB page is friends/family only and private). They are a nuisance.

3. Buffy S4 - continues to be good, and an improvement over previous seasons. The one flaw - is well - the Initiative Story-Arc, which basically just underlines how little the writers know about the military outside of watching cheesy 1960s science fiction serials. Oh well, at least they have Spike to poke fun at it - and he does.

Sunday's hippie Vampire Frat Boy: Don't drink that it's drugged.
Spike: Ugh. And you might be?
SHVFB: A rat like all the other lab rats. We're here to die. They starve us until we bite our own arm off, then feed us drugged blood ...
Spike: And they might be who exactly? The government, Nazis, a major cosmetics company?
Lab Rat: It was all fine until the slayer came in and broke up our group - we had a great thing going until she arrived.
Spike: the Slayer! I always wondered what would happen if she got some good funding behind her...

He clearly thinks more of the Slayer as a threat that well the government.

S4 Episode 7 - The Initiative - makes me wonder about the writers again.

Juliet Landau brings this up in her rewatch - so it's not just me, apparently. The writers seem to like to show the male characters in the worst light, and often emphasize their misogynistic and chauvinistic traits. ( Read more... )

It's a good episode for several stand out scenes: ( Read more... )

Pangs - I've less to say about, but I loved this episode. It has some of the best lines and banter in the entire series. Also the bantering debate between Willow, Giles, Xander, Spike, Buffy and Anya about the Native Americans and Thanksgiving is hilarious, and informative...and realistic. It reminds me of why I liked the later seasons - I really loved the addition of Anya and Spike - I liked those two characters (and actors) far better than Angel and Cordelia - they were less mopey? Whiny? And more witty. (It does depend on one's sense of humor? Angel's didn't work for me, Buffy's did.)

"And they say Romance is dead, or maybe we just wish it were?" - Buffy

"You made a Bear!" - Spike
"I didn't mean to." - Buffy
"Undo it! Undo it!" - Spike

"It's a sham, with yams. It's a yam sham!"
"You won't be able to jokingly rhyme your way out of this one!"

[Actually, it just occurred to me? Buffy and Spike hit it off - because they are both poets and sardonic quips. They like to make fun of things.]

Pangs is proof that Buffy succeeded because the writers could write dialogue. According to the Juliette Landau rewatch - when she interviewed Charles Martin Smith one of the Buffy directors - Whedon had a tendency to write pages of dialogue, no set direction, no camera direction, no action - just dialogue. And from what I've read - he was the go-to guy for good dialogue. And came from Roseanne - which had great comedic dialogue and one liners. Say what you will about Whedon - he was a good script writer. Might have been a horrific boss that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy - but he could churn out a good script, and tended to find other writers who could.

4. Finished another S1 episode of Poker Face- this is the Rian Johnson series that stars Natasha Lyon as a kind of Columbo style detective, in a stealth anthology series. The only on-going link in the series is Lyon's Charlie, who is a former card counter/gambling security checker on the run from the Mob (and any law enforcement associated with it). She takes odd jobs here and there, and cleverly solves mysteries along the way. The odd jobs range from sweeping up hair in a barber shop to assisting a special effects film director. She drives a ratty old 1970s era Cad, that looks like it was picked off the lot of Starsky and Hutch. And each episode features older rather famous actors (much as Columbo and Murder She Wrote did back in the day). The episode I just watched had Nick Nolte, Cherry Jones, and Luz Guzman.

Like all stealth anthology series - some episodes are better than others. It's not really binge material. I watch it sporadically. It does require some attention or focus though, and it has commercials - although they aren't intrusive.

If you like Rian Johnson (who is admittedly an acquired taste), Natasha Lyonn (also an acquired taste and the female version of Peter Falk), and Columbo/Alfred Hitchcock/Agatha Christie style mysteries - this is for you.

This episode was written and directed by Natasha Lyon. I'm impressed by Nolte who is still acting at 84, and doing a great job of it. (Nolte is another one of my actor crushes.)