Spontaneous Musings

1. Watched this week's The Good Wife - which apparently shocked some folks on lj - when one of the lead characters admitted to being an atheist. (Actually she admitted to this about three seasons ago, but apparently I'm the only one who noticed? Here she merely does it in front of reporters.) They think this is a rarity on American TV. Folks, you watch too many procedurals, fantasy and sci-fi shows. Most "mainstream network" tv shows either don't address religion at all, or if they do - there's always a great and nice character who is atheist. It's really not that rare. The religious shows of the 1980s-1990s are a thing of the past. I wonder sometimes how we see each other, and other countries - we are so tribal a species, that our perception of people who live outside our neighborhood, country, vicinity seems to be somewhat warped. What I've noticed interacting with people around the world online, through letters in the 1980s, and my own nomadic travels is people really aren't that different around the world. We share more in common than we wish to admit. The US really isn't as religious and into God as you think - yeah, the National News Media leads you to believe it is - but they sort of embellish the truth to get ratings and sell papers. Journalistic integrity, my foot. Church attendance has been down for quite some time in traditional churches and religions. And it's always varied. The number of out-spoken atheists I know in the US is about equal to the number of religious theists. Actually, I struggle, because I'm an odd theist - I believe in a God, but not in the God the atheists don't believe in and the theist's believe in. I've given up trying to explain it. You ever get it or you don't. Personally, I agree with Alicia Florick, it really doesn't matter. (Well unless of course you are using your religion as an excuse to hurt others, that is. Then yes, we have a problem. But that's really not the religion's fault so much as the interpreters or practioner's)

At any rate, it was amongst the better episodes.

( The Good Wife - spoilers )

2. Brain is still playing with Kim Harrison's latest Hollows novel Ever After, wish there were more Harrison fans on flist, or any for that matter. I have Dresden and Martin fans, but no Harrison fans dang it. This is one of those stories I want to read fanfic for. She's teasing me.

* Harrison does a fascinating and innovative bit on what it means to be a slave or enslaved, and how we demonize or belittle those that we disempower or enslave and abuse. She shows the complexity of the relationship, how it comes about, and more importantly what it does to both sides and the tragic ending. In some respects Harrison's Rachel Morgan tale feels allegorical or like a complex metaphor of various ways humans have enslaved each other over time.

I wish her writing technique was a bit better - because this would be an excellent book if it was.

The only other writers that I've seen tackle the topic of slavery and its long-term after-effect half as well are Toni Morrison in Beloved and Octavia Butler in Kindred.

It doesn't go away. This is an evil that will taint every generation after you for hundreds of years.

* She also tackles racism in an interesting manner - discussing how we demonize the other by their traits or what we believe their traits to be, and place value judgements upon those traits. And even the effects of ingrained or internalized racism - and what that does to an individual, how it tears at them.

As a biologist she knows that there are different traits between people, but is also wise enough to know that they do not mean one person or individual is better or superior to another. We are different and equal. And this theme is expressed deftly and subtly through her books, as well as gradually.

* In addition she paints a universe that is not black and white or morally clear-cut. People do horrible things, and wonderful things for various reasons, you can't neatly define them.

Would write a lengthy meta, but seriously what is the point? I'd only be talking to myself. ;-)

Currently watching the Ken Burns documentary The Dust Bowl which occurred at the same time as the Great Depression. My grandparents lived through it. And my favorite Steinbeck novel, The Grapes of Wrath...which was later made into a film starring John Carrington (the Daddy of Keith and David Carrington), and Henry Fonda. The worst man-made ecological disaster in US history - or what happens when you push too hard against nature. Destroyed the top soil and it blew away.

Hee - wheat production may well have caused the Dust Bowl. I knew wheat was evil!!! Cattle and bison were better for the land than wheat. Well, it wasn't wheat itself, it was how they farmed and plowed it. They over-did it. Plowed day and night. With plows that tore up the soil and ground. And they over planted. It's the classic case of over-kill. Human beings have a tendency to well go to extremes? We binge on things. Or go overboard. Moderation...is not something we do well for some bizarre reason. And we take our resources and what we have granted, expecting it to last forever...never end. But there's no such thing as forever. Forever may be a word, but as a reality it does not exist.

Will state no one does historical documentaries like Ken Burns...his are actually entertaining and informative, as opposed to one or the other. I'm a pick-but when it comes to documentaries. Most bore me or make me roll my eyes. I admit this.

Prior to that watched The Good Wife - which was not that good this week. When it's good, it's really good, when it's bad, well it's still better than half the other tv shows on tv.

( eh spoilers )

While The Good Wife continues to rock, Once Upon a Time is starting to annoy me.
The Good Wife is an example of how you can do pacing well in a procedural, and write great dialogue, as well as meld the A plot line and B plot in a manner that they two reference each other and do not put the viewer to sleep. It's actually the only procedural that doesn't put me into a coma or depress me. This should go without saying by now, but your mileage most likely varies.

I also saw the last two episodes of Justified today, which were hilarious and tightly written with crackling dialogue. Also I'm in love with Timothy Olyphant's Raylan Gibbons. Other than that? I have nothing to say about it.

Back to Once - which tonight did "Grumpy's" back story in an episode entitled "Dreamy", guest-starring Amy Acker as a fairy (Nova) in the Fairy tale world, and a Nun (Astrid) in the real world called Storybrook. It's not a good episode. Really not. I was frustrated through most of it.
And my attention kept wandering.

I've come to the conclusion that the episodes that focus on Regina/Snow/PC and people directly associated with them are weaker than the episodes that focus on Emma/Rumplestilskin and Henry and the people associated with them.
( spoilers )

Like I stated above? The Good Wife was better. ( spoilers )

Off to bed and hopefully sleep.

Was rather impressed with the Good Wife last night, you had to pay attention, it interwove all the political tales quite adeptly.

( spoilers )

Oh..violence meter? 0
There is no violence in this episode. None.

Watching the new version of Upstairs, Downstairs on PBS, not so bad. I find the old lady sort of intriguing. Reminds me a bit of Godsford Park. But not nearly as good as Downton Abbey. And yes, I apparently have a weakness for parlour dramas or costume dramas, not to be confused with historical dramas...historicals have famous people in them and seem to have little to do with actual history so much as what we sort of wish it was. Not a fan of historicals. Prefer actual history. Possibly a side-effect of having a father who was a historian, albeit a frustrated one.

After checking out the cost of subscribing to HBO and HBO on Demand, they don't have an HBO on Demand or HBO only option, damn them, I chose to pass and wait for all of this to come out on DVD.


Difficult day. Did not enjoy church, felt oddly disconnected. The attempt to connect to other people often feels thwart with the obstacles of my own and their baggage. If we could just dispense with the baggage or throw it to a valet or bellboy to carry somewhere else...life would be so much simpler, I think.

Otherwise, lovely outside - if a bit windy.

Yesterday - watched both The Good Wife and Justified . Enjoyed both, but The Good Wife was more fun and had better details. Justified felt a bit off in places...not quite sure it hangs together as well. ( vague spoilers )

The Good Wife had a rather clever political joke inside it - that I realized, after reading my livejournal correspondence list (flist), really did not translate across the pond. The actor, lobbyist, former Senator, and Republican Presidential Candidate - Fred Thompson (who played the District Attorney in Law & Order for about 15 years), basically played himself on The Good Wife.
I howled with laughter when I figured it out.

This is one of the few shows that having a legal background and a knowledge of local midwestern politics makes the show actually more interesting and not cringe-worthy. I can't watch 85% of the criminal procedurals and legal procedurals on tv because I know too much about the process not to roll my eyes heavenward at the idiocy. Here, I grin at the accuracy. And the critique. This show is so detailed. You have to rewind to catch certain bits.

Also it's detailed analysis of how power works in the US, and how women struggle for it - is dead on. The acting is pitch-perfect. America Ferrara demonstrates her versatility - she's unrecognizable from Ugly Betty. And Julianne Marguiles' understated performance continues to resonate long after she's left the screen. So, she didn't get an Emmy, she got a Peabody.

And I hate the fact that I have to wait three weeks before the next episode.

Whenever I post something on my journal online, does not matter what it is or the style I choose, I worry about how people will choose to respond to it. I can imagine all the possibilities, and certainly speculate about each and every one, but I never know how exactly they will respond. And the responses invariably are the opposite of what I expect and more often than not surprise me. Proving that human beings are not predictable and defy categorization or definition. And to be honest? I can't even predict what my own taste or interest will be on any given occasion. It is constantly in flux, inconsistent, and often defies pattern-analysis or pigeon-holing. The best I can come up with is that I am intrigued by certain aspects in characters or human behavior. Why people do what they do, and in particular the decisions people make that defy expectation, that go against what one might predict.

Thought about the tv shows that I currently adore and don't want to miss in comparison to those that I half-watch or am more ambivalent about. Or even those that I tried and quickly gave up on. What is it that keeps me enthralled? What is the common deminoator. Why do I want to pick Lone Star as opposed to The Event next week? OR why do I adore House but find Castle dull?

Here's a list of the shows that I adore, with a quick explanation of what keeps me enthralled. Well, I will certainly attempt to be quick. Please note the style of this post is more serious in tone and less conversational. This is deliberate. It means, I'm being serious and not snarky. I change my writing style to fit mood and intent. It's my way of letting the reader know how to respond or rather how I will most likely read their response.

If you choose to do this yourself? Basically list the tv shows or books or films or whatever you adore and explain why. Is it a character that keeps you enthralled, or a theme, or a plot?

1.( House )
2. ( Vampire Diaries )

3. ( Smallville )
4. ( Supernatural )
5. ( Grey's Anatomy )
6. ( Gossip Girl )

7.( Mad Men )

I meant for this to be brief, but I apparently had more to say regarding the shows and this topic than I thought. But, it's late and seven tv shows is enough. I know, I know, I watch far too many. Please, I beg of you dear reader, do not attempt to pigeon hole me by these shows, because I have not listed all the ones I watch. And most of these, I rarely discuss. And it would be wrong to state that these are the only ones I love or that I love them all the time or are always compelled by them.

There is for instance The Good Wife ( Read more... )

Or for that matter tv shows like Glee - ( Read more... )

And finally The Big Bang Theory - which is the only sitcom I'm DVRing at the moment, with possible exception of Community - which I'm on the fence about. Big Bang sucked me in. Sheldon who is annoying, yet endearing. Leonard who is the Oscar to Sheldon's Felix in Big Bang's reworking of the Odd Couple. With Penny playing straight woman to them. At first it felt sexist, and perhaps it still is, but when you realize the pov, it isn't. I watch for Sheldon, who reminds me at times of my own cousin, an odd cat, brilliant yet dumb, contradictions. And I guess it is here we see the pattern - I love the contradictions. Characters who are contradictory things. Greg House who is nasty, yet also kind. Damon who is cruel, but comforting. Razor sharp, yet vulnerable. Two things that don't appear possible. Good and evil, light and dark, male and female, lies and truth, life and death...all exist hand in hand, yin and yang, both inside us at the same time. No one truly is just one or the other. We have male and female aspects in our personalities. Some swing more one way than the other, some are clearly both. The contradiction fascinates me. How we handle having both? How do we choose which is which or what is what? Characters that are contradictory are human, characters that aren't - well are idealized versions or simplestic allegories of what we want human to be.

It would be simpler, I think sometimes, if I could be pigeonholed. If I could swear that I'm good, that I would not hurt anyone. But I don't know what I'll do. I try not to, I choose not to. But there are days that I am wickedly stupid and cruel, and others that I am kind and wise. Characters who traverse this landscape, who struggle with the inherent contradictions inside and often flail wildly, as they hover over the abyss intrigue me. I root for their survival for them to succeed, but I never know if they will - any more than I know for certain any of us will.

Stories for me - are ways to deal with pain, with fear, to understand myself, to understand others, and to laugh, to love, to cry, and figure out the problems...that haunt dreams and nightmares. I do not expect others to share my tastes or the stories and characters I've fallen for. I am, in truth, more often than not, somewhat surprised and bewildered when they do. I was shocked to find so many people around the world of various ages, creeds, races, sexes, etc - who adored Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And that so many loved it in the way I did...shocked me even more.
I did not expect it. I was equally shocked to learn people loved Kimba as kids, as I did.

It is actually more shocking to me to find those who share my views, than those who don't. I expect the rejection, I expect the argument. I dread it. Hence the worry about posting. The fear.

You want to connect, but you don't expect it. And you think how silly, or rather I do (you here is meant generally not specifically), it is just a tv show, just a story, not worth the worry or the time to write about it. The term the idiot box is ground into my head by peers, parents, teachers, bosses..And at work, it is a rare thing to find someone who watches the same show I do. But we rarely speak of it. There are no water-cooler chats - which others brag over. So, in most cases, not all, the watching of the tale or the reading of it is a solitary invent. The sharing of it - a gift, whether that sharing be in joy, or mockery, or ranting...the meeting of minds over one of the three or all together - brings a laugh or a smile. While the discordant disagreement a rise in blood-pressure and painful self-examination...struggling to understand the other view, while at the same token, struggling to explain my own without erupting with frustration in my failed attempt to do so. I think when the latter happens, that I've failed miserably as both writer and reader. And wonder to myself why bother at all. While at the same time - I rail at myself for caring so much, and am deeply embarrassed. As well..as well as thinking, disagreement is good, it challenges.

The problem with life, sometimes I think, is there are no clear-cut or comforting answers. Only endless questions.

[I'm writing this on my new MacBook PRo, which I'm still getting used to.]