Spontaneous Musings

I've been hibernating this weekend - nesting and watching television. It's either snowing or sleeting at the moment, per my phone sleeting. Did make brownies - probably shouldn't have made brownies (gluten-free obviously), and Skinny Popcorn. Which caused my blood sugar to sky rocket. Lovely. It does appear to have stablized and is coming down. So there's that.

Didn't sleep well at all last night. Due mainly to stomach/digestive issue, and muscle cramping. I'm thinking of taking a hot shower before bed tonight, in the hopes that it will calm down the muscles.

It got cold in my bedroom last night - around 65. So I took out the window fan and put another cover on the window A/C and put window coverings on both. Now, it's about 70 in there, and 74 degrees in the living room, so not as cold as last night - no wind. It's always the wind. This week is going to be brutal though - with record low temperatures and bad wind chills. I prefer the snow, personally, to the bitter cold.

Been side-eyeing the news via social media all weekend. Minnesota for folks who don't live in North America and Canada - is about the same distance from New York City as Spain is from London. ( Read more... )

The Nation lists corporations that you can boycott - to defund ICE (Some are easier than others?)

How US Citzens Can Protect the Immigrant Community from the Deportation Force

***

Buffy S7 and Angel S4 Rewatch.

I feel a little sorry for Angel? ( Read more... )

The Lilah/Wes romance has some of the same dialogue as the Spike/Buffy romance, which is interesting. ( Read more... )

Over on Buffy, it's becoming abundantly clear to me that Buffy fell for Spike at the end of S5, but didn't want to. And didn't want him to love her. Nor did she want to be loved in S6. Her difficulty was she couldn't completely trust him or for that matter, herself at that point. She was overwhelmed with guilt. ( Read more... )

The writers do make it confusing though.

Haven't done a lot today, outside of watching it snow - big heavy snowflakes falling lightly to the ground. Heavy wet snow. Not a lot of sticking. Well, that and knee exercises - lots of knee exercises, and watching of television, and scrolling through dream-width correspondence list.

Apparently sci-fi writer John Scalzi got an asteroid named after him (or a minor planet)? And the ultra conservative comic strip writer behind Dilbert died of cancer. (I can't say I ever liked the comic strip Dilbert all that much? It was okay in 1990s, but it slowly derailed into misogynistic and racist jokes by the early 00s.) Oh, and Cincinnati Chili may well be an acquired taste? (I've never had it - nor want it. I don't like Texas Chili. I only eat vegetarian chili? I don't tend to like meat in it - and grew up with beans.)

Binged Buffy and Angel episodes today. Of the two, I have to say Angel S3 Episodes 15-18 work better from a plot and character stand point than Buffy S6 episodes 15-18. I think David Greenwalt/Jeffrey Bell and Tim Minear were slightly better show-runners than Marti Noxon/David Fury and Joss Whedon.

Normal Again and Entropy are actually good episodes. They work on multiple levels. But, the problem with Normal Again and Entropy - is I'm relating more to Spike and Anya, than Buffy and her friends? It's an interesting flaw and a risky one.

Both episodes get across the changes in Spike. And how confused he is. It's also clear from both - that the writers need Spike to leave - or the rest of the season won't work.
( Normal Again and Entropy )

I decided to watch Seeing Red after Entropy. The two episodes go together. Or build up to each other. When they originally aired in 2002, folks who were downloading or watching the episodes via satellite television in colleges around the country - ended up watching "Seeing Red" before Entropy. People watching Broadcast Television or Cable saw Entropy, people watching via satellite feed saw Seeing Red. Can you imagine what happened online? Yup, the fandom exploded. I was watching on Broadcast Television or Cable - so saw the episodes in order. The people who didn't, kind of reacted badly and spoiled everyone else.

Seeing Red is an uneven episode. The writer has to do several difficult things in this episode:
( Read more... )

Difficult and tedious day - went to get lab work after work - which was supposed to take fifteen minutes, and in actuality took forty-five. NYU Langon has had a lot of turn-over and is heavily under-staffed. So they had to close the fourth floor lab and pull everyone to the second floor lab.
That would have been fine? But during that - someone pulled the emergency brakes on the R, and as a result, the R train was running on the Q and N line with severe delays. And there was a fire on the Brooklyn Bridge - so the 4/5, 1/2, and Q/N/J were experiencing delays.

I ended up giving up on the R, up the steps, across the street, and to the 4/5 elevator.
( Read more... )

***

Was listening to a podcast by Juliet Landau which featured the actors who played Lilah, Lindsey, Holtz, and the writer David Greenwalt chatting at a con. During it - I discovered a few interesting tid-bits. Christian Kane prior to snagging the role of Lindsey on Angel, was up for the role of Riley Finn on Buffy (it went to his friend Marc Blucas), and both Kane and Romanov (Lilah) were supposed to just be in three episodes.

Buffy/Angel Rewatch

I've made it up to and part way through "Hells Bells" Buffy Episode 16, and up to Loyalty Angel Episode 15 - which I'm kind of saving? (I like the episode, Loyalty, not Hells Bells. I don't like Hells Bells.)

There's a handful of episodes in Buffy S6, between roughly Dead Things and Normal Again, that I could have done without? Or I wish had been written better? Doublemeat Palace is actually underrated, and hilarious at times, it's not a bad satirical piece on fast food restaurants and American advertising and consumerism, specifically the Burger Wars which were a thing in the later half of the 20th Century and beginning of the 21st.
(I can see why that was the episode that made the network rethink leaving the writers completely on their own. They got notes on how they were handling fast food.) It also is focused, and really centers on two perspectives, Buffy and Willow. The better episodes focus on Buffy and Willow in S6, actually.

As You Were - aka the return of GI Joe (& GI Jane) to split up Spike and Buffy, also fight monsters, and end Buffy's job at the Doublemeat Palace (or does that end after Normal Again? Not sure.) She takes off in the middle of a shift to help Riley - which would normally get her fired, but she also has leverage - so maybe she can't get fired? Shame, I agree with the network - the fastfood jokes are getting kind of old, and there's a lot of folks who have to do that for a living. They are littered throughout this episode. Everyone mentions that Buffy smells bad because of her job.
Only one who doesn't is Spike.
( Read more... )

Rest for another day. Off to bed.

Haven't done much the last few days, outside of knee exercises and binge watch television shows.

Finished Stranger Things S5 - which provided an apt and satisfying finale to the series. I don't really see it continuing after it. The finale did a good job of completing all the character arcs. And allowed for some nice character moments - specifically Will Byers coming out that he's gay (so is the actor apparently). That was actually moving.

It's definitely not for everyone? But nothing is? I enjoyed it - it was off beat, and nostalgic. I liked it a lot better than Alien: Earth - which I gave up on rather quickly. What it excels at - that a lot of others don't - is the blend of inter-generational arcs. We've the adults, the teens, and kids - and the series follows all of them without focusing too much on just one, or undermining any. This is rare in the genre, often one or the other is short-sighted, and neither was here. Is it flawed in places? Yes. I mean it does rely heavily on the classic "evil mad scientist government conspiracy trope", which admittedly was popular in the 1980s. The US Military and the US Government being portrayed as sociopathic bad guys throughout, probably was a bit over the top, but other than that? I enjoyed it. It does drag at times and gets a little too into nerdy 1980s references, but that's also part of the fun.

To say much more would spoil everybody, and we can't have that. While I enjoyed the series? I don't foresee myself rewatching it, analyzing it, writing meta on it, joining the fandom, or reading fanfic. It was fun, but there's not a lot there to analyze. The general theme - if there is one - is that differences should be celebrated, and people who are different, even have conflicts, can come together and become the best of friends given the right circumstances and motivation.

Have gotten more or less to the game changer episodes in Angel S3 ("Lullaby") and Buffy S6 ("Tabula Rasa"). After those two episodes the dynamic of both series changes dramatically, as does the character relationships and plot lines. So it's a good place to pause. I liked "Lullaby" more than I remembered - and it does a rather good job of completing Darla's arc, and defining how Darla and Angelus view love and why they don't think vampires can love. ( Read more... )
I honestly think the writers on both Angel and Buffy were playing with what it meant to be a demon, and what is really good or evil, and the idea of love. Also the concept of redemption. Could they redeem someone like Angel - who they'd written as the absolute worst vampire that ever lived? And what about Spike who is more ambiguous evil - who can love, if unwisely, and unwell? Can you redeem him without a soul - without screwing up Angel's arc or Darla's or upending the verse? Part of the reason these series still resonates, and is still studied in various sphere of academia long after it ended is that the writers actually wrestled with these questions and didn't just go the standard formulaic route or rigid rules of the verse route that you see in most television series and science fiction and fantasy. Sometimes questioning the rules of your own verse - pays off. It did here.

Think about it? People are still debating various aspects of these series years later, I'm not sure this is true of all television series. And I certainly feel no inclination to do it with Stranger Things, Slow Horses, Andor, or various others that I've watched and enjoyed over the years. YMMV of course. I'm willing to admit - we all perceive and enjoy things differently - and that makes life cool and at times challenging.

Took today off, also am taking Friday off. Work is slower than molasses at the moment. I don't know why they were being fussbudgets about not letting me take the last two weeks of December off. It's not like I can do anything during those weeks.

It's still cold here, in the low thirties, feels like the twenties. Felt it when I went grocery shopping and to the pharmacy, mainly to get more antacid, and something for dinner tonight. I was going to make a quiche, I might still do that - traditional to make one on New Year's Eve. My mother always did when I was a kid - we'd have quiche and champagne at midnight.
Mine isn't as rich as hers was, I use half and half or almond/coconut milk creamer, three eggs, spinach, and cheddar/gureyer cheese. She used heavy cream, four eggs, spinach, bacon, and swiss and cheddar cheese.

Anyhow, on way back from grocery shopping, I was stumbling along and one block away from my apartment complex: It was cold. The sun was setting. My groceries were weighing heavy on my arms, and my knee was aching. I got to the cross walk just as the light changed, and I thought, frak it, I'll risk it - kill me if you want to, you stupid cars. I don't care. (I live in residential area, with a lot of cross-walks). Halfway across, I hear a loud honk, and look up, a young woman, with bright yellow blond hair, big sunglasses, and a round face with red lipstick has rolled down her window - from the top of a big black shiny SUV. She can't be more than twenty-five. She curses me out, calls me a bitch, and just tells me off for deigning to stumble across the cross-walk, just as the light turned, and halting her lazy privileged spoiled prissy ass from getting to where she was going. I felt the spoiled princess' rage all the way home. [ I've had Bengali drivers stop, let me go, often wave me along, long after the light has turned, and kindly smile at me. So it's not all NYC drivers.]

I guess I'm lucky the spoiled brat didn't run me over?

My knee was killing me when I got home. It doesn't handle a lot of weight or standing on it for too long. I may have to start doing grocery orders and limiting the amount of stuff I carry. I was annoyed enough at the spoiled brat that I drew her, the car, and myself - for a later watercolor.
I can still see her round face and died blond hair in my head. Like a cartoon.

***

I watched more of Angel S3 and Buffy S6 (which I like better than Angel S3). Buffy is still the better series on all cylinders. And the more relatable.

Watched Once More With Feeling for the first time in ten years. I'd forgotten a few things about it. ( Read more... )

Continuing with my comfort re-watch of Buffy and Angel, and for some reason or other, I don't feel compelled to watch anything else. Outside of a movie here and there. Nothing else is appealing to me at the moment, including Stranger Things, which recently dropped the first part of its' fifth and final season. I think I'm waiting for the second part to drop? Also trying to remember what happened previously.

Mother: Should I watch Stranger Things?
Me: No, I'd not recommend it - think Steven King and Steven Spielberg, circa 1980s.
Mother: What's it about?
Me: It's about a bunch of folks in a small New England town who stumble upon a porthole to a hell dimension, which brings in various demonic monsters - one captures a small boy. It's sci-horror. Very similar to the stuff Steven King and Steven Spielberg did in the 1980s.
Mother: Ugh. Really? Say no more, I'll pass.
Me: Told you.

I don't recommend television shows, books, or films to folks that I know won't like them. For example? If someone likes hyper-realistic dramas, with top-notch diverse casts, and hates fantasy and horror, I'm not going to recommend Buffy the Vampire Slayer to them, the Wire yes, Buffy no.

Why torture myself and them unnecessarily? I'm not that masochistic. Much easier to say - no you won't like it - it's a fantasy, with this that, and the other thing, and leave it at that. People need to be more tolerant of others tastes, and realize we most likely do not share the same tastes and leave it at that? Also, I'm a moody television and film and book watcher/reader. I go with whatever is calling me to it at the moment. If it's not, my brain will refuse to pay attention to it.

Finished Angel S2 finally - and it's a mixed bag. Buffy S5 is actually better - and more fluid and tighter. Of course it didn't have the problems Angel did. Angel S2, had some of the same issues Buffy S4 had - in that half of the supporting cast suddenly and without warning became unavailable in the second half of the season. Julie Benze (Darla) and Christian Kane (Lindsey) were both unavailable at the end of S2, and they had to write another story instead. Also, they ended up writing out Kate - because her involvement was contrived, also the actress got a role on Law and Order, and was unavailable. They intended to bring her back in Angel S3 as part of the Holtz story arc (she was supposed to be in the Justine role), but the actress wasn't available.

As a result, we got the Pylea arc - which is....not great. I kind of played a video game through it, and watched as background noise? I'd stop every once and awhile - out of curiosity - because I wanted to know something. (Such as Joss Whedon plays Numfar, who is told to keep dancing, in the background at Lorne's family reunion. And how Cordy becomes Princess, and how they figure out the way home (Fred figures it out with Wes's help).)

Takeaways?
( Read more... )

As an aside? You really can't trust Google's AI summaries, can you? I googled why Christian Kane and Elizabeth Roem left Angel or were unavailable - and the summary told me that Roem came back in the episode Same Time, Same Place in the 4th Season. (Uhm no. Also that's an episode in Buffy S7). Also when I was googling the Nosh Oven and how to fix something in it - it told me to preheat (you aren't supposed to, it heats up fast), and gave me the wrong cooking time.

It also says, Lindsey comes and goes in the later seasons. He only came back in S5, and on a limited basis.

The folks singing in the lobby - aka the apartment Christmas Party, can't sing. So, I put on my headphones and decided to listen to EMDR Bilateral Simulation to block it out, and to calm my nervous system, which is kind of keyed up.

The apartment building Christmas Party - was not what I'd expected? Instead of a party for the complex celebrating the building's 100th birthday, it was more a gathering of a select group of people and their kids to visit with Santa, get gifts, sing songs with audio equipment, and have a pizza party with cupcakes, brownies, cookies and snacks.
( Read more... )

So, having been weirdly triggered food wise, I came back up and had left-over chili (I make a mean vegetarian gluten-free chili, if I say so myself), gluten free NY Cheesecake (small) with berries, and some pumpkin latte ice cream with nuts. Oatmilk eggnog with a touch of brandy to drink.

Then watched the rest of Otto Preminger's classic adaptation of Leon Uris' epic "Exodus" on Amazon Prime, starring Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint, Sal Mineo, John Derek, Sir Ralph Richardson, and Lee J. Cob. I'd been watching it off and on most of the day.

(The book was actually better - I read it in high school, but the film has some excellent and understated performances in it, even if it shows it's age - it was done in 1960.) Not to be confused with the Moses Story, this is the story of the battle to create Israel in 1948, after WWII during the British occupation. ( Read more... )

I watched it - because I remembered it being one my favorite Paul Newman films. Also I've been listening to the Newman memoir on audible. Newman keeps stating in his book that he wasn't a great actor, he was just good enough, and it didn't set his world on fire or anything. He hadn't found his calling. And he is convinced he probably had a learning disability - because he struggled with reading his entire life, and struggled to memorize lines - as if he didn't quite do it properly or something, but he didn't quite know why or how. (Sounds like dyslexia to me? I struggled with memorizing lines too for similar reasons.) I read well now - but I had to work at it, and still do, I have all sorts of tricks that I apply, most of which I'm no longer aware of doing, and couldn't explain to anyone.

It's astonishing that he actually thinks this - because his acting seems effortless. He's effortlessly charming, charismatic, and pulls in the audience - even in a film like Exodus. He also didn't think of himself as attractive to women or anyone. He reminds me of my brother - who didn't see it either. Often the most attractive people are the ones who are the most oblivious to it.

***

I'm enjoying S2 Angel much more than expected. [Even though, David Boreanze is not as thin and hot as he was in Buffy S1-3.] Most likely assisted by the fact that I couldn't remember most of it - having not watched it since it aired or shortly thereafter? I thought I remembered it better than I had? But I totally forgot about Angel's Darla dreams, or how Darla was seducing Angel in his sleep. I also forgot about the scenes with Cordelia and Gunn bonding. They have some nifty platonic scenes between Cordelia/Gunn, and Cordelia/Wes - indicating that Cordelia most likely gets along better with men than women? Cordelia is growing on me, and I don't remember liking Cordy this much when I watched the series back in the day? (I think the difficulty was I came in and out of it, and like all the characters, she has her ups and downs.)

Finished watching First Impressions - which is the third episode of Angel S2. It establishes Lorne's club as another new set. We've moved from the Bar that Angel met Kate at in S1, to Lorne's Demon Bar. In this episode, Angel dreams of singing Send in the Clowns and Tears of the Clown, at Lorne's club - apparently he was going for a medley (which was thankfully off screen - since David Boreanze can't sing to save his life. And I'd rather he didn't butcher one of my favorite Sondheim songs.) Believe it or not, Tears of the Clown is actually a song by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles with a lyric like "there's sad things around but nothing sadder than the tears of a clown when there's no one around".

I'm thinking okay, where are we going with this? Is this a dream? It is - he's meeting Darla at Lorne's bar, and starts dating her, and having a relationship with her in his dreams.
( Read more... )

Interesting episode, all things considered. Only quibble is sigh, Gunn.
He's annoyingly stereotypical, and kind of cringe. I've seen it done better elsewhere. I honestly don't think the writers knew what to do with the character?

**

On a final note?

My contacts came today. I was told they'd shipped on Friday. And they arrived today. That was fast. Considering they were ordered November 8.
How much you want to bet that they forgot to order them, and didn't do it until I reminded them to, this week?


Ah. As predicted the party in the lobby finally ended - and prior to 10 pm. The plus side of families with small children throwing a party - is it is never a late one.

Off to bed.

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.

I don't know why I'm tired all the time. I actually did sleep eight hours last night, or so my watch informs me. But I also woke up periodically, and the leg did bother me, and IBS had its issues, but nothing major.

I had today off due to the doctor's appointment, but I was dragging.( Read more... )

Coming home, I accidentally ended up on the M train, without realizing it, and had to switch at Marcy Avenue (it's somewhere in Queens and I've never heard of it), which meant going down six flights of steps, across a street, and up six flights of steps, taking the M back across the bridge into Manhattan, down more steps, and taking the F back. ( Read more... )

I'll try to get a pie tomorrow at work. I'm near Whole Foods, and the farmers market, which has a gluten free bakery vendor on Tuesdays.

Dinner was hearts of palm spaghetti, asperagus, and broccoli with pesto, grated parmesan, and pepper. Blood sugar was high, so went with a vegetarian dinner that was low in carbs.

***

Television

I finished S3 of Dark Winds on Netflix. AMC is dumping seasons of shows that previously aired on AMC onto Netflix. They've also dumped Interview with a Vampire S1-2, Mayfair Witches, Breaking Bad, and This is Going to Hurt - to name a few.

Dark Winds was hard to follow in places, but overall entertaining. The problem it had - was four different mysteries, none of which were connected, two of which had happened some time ago, and in different locals. Also the mysticism, and a mystery solved during a dream sequence. (I am not a fan of dream sequences in television shows, films or books. I don't particularly like reading about my own dreams. It's also hard to do it well - I honestly think only David Lynch succeeded because he thinks that way.)

I liked the first two seasons better. Not sure if it is continuing or not?
It's based on the Tony Hillerman, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee mysteries which were written in the 1970s, and this takes place in the 1970s. (I read them in the 90s). What's unique about the series is it is filmed on Navajo reservations, and the cast is mostly Navajo, Native American, and it's written by Navajo and Native Americans. The executive producers are Robert Redford and George RR Martin, who both had a cameo, playing chess, during it.

Also started This is Going to Hurt - a fictionalized account of Adam Kay's non-fiction memoir on his experiences working as a Junior Doctor on an NHS maternity ward in London. I'd categorize it as hyper-realism, and it is a dramedy. Although I don't find it funny - it's a bit too dark for my sensibilities. There is however a somewhat funny bit about the doctor attempting to get a pregnant woman in and out of a lift that won't stop moving. I thought NYC's inner city hospitals were bad - they've nothing on London's NHS, as shown here.

It's gritty, grim, black humor. Ben Whinslaw is brilliant in it. I don't know if I'll make it through all the episodes? There are only seven in all.
It's written by Adam Kay, who wrote it as a 7 episode limited series, focused on himself and another doctor working in the maternity ward. Reminds me a little bit of The Pitt, but far more raw and a little bit more bloody, also we slant into the personal lives of the doctors. Adam Kay appears to be a gay doctor, who is still firmly in the closet at home and at work - causing issues with his significant other.

Made through two episodes so far.

Finally, rewatching Angel S2 and Buffy S5. Of the two, I've watched Buffy S5 quite a few times, but not since 2010.

( Buffy vs. Dracula and the Real Me )

Over on Angel, we establish that Angel doesn't sing (or dance). And likes Barry Manilow. Specifically Mandy. ( Read more... )


Okay done for tonight, I think. Off to work tomorrow.

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.]