days_unfolding

Getting slightly more done today. Did exercises - minimal. Made up the bed (well do that every day). Made breakfast and lunch. Cleaned the air fryer - it has a self-cleaning mechanism. Refilled the humidifier. And finished my water color - finally, knitted a lop-sided scarf, and edited a bit more of my work in progress, which may never see the light of day.

Also binged a bunch of Angel S3 and Buffy S6 episodes. I'm remembering why I gave up on Angel S3 now - oh dear god, it has some really bad episodes. Worse than S1, and that's saying something. Buffy S6 is the better of the two seasons, and I really love the beginning of this seasons - I'd forgotten how much. I find it highly relatable. It's also oddly realistic, the most realistic of all the seasons actually - in how it is shot and written.

That said, Angel S3 does have some good episodes in the mix - most of the good ones center on Angel, Cordelia or Wes. Carpe Diam - Angel S3 Episode 3 or 4, about Marcus, the old guy in the retirement home who is using a spell to jump into young male bodies, until he burns through them. It reminded me a little of Lonely Hearts, S1. ( Read more... )

They handle Buffy/Angel reunion oddly? ( Read more... )

Also they appear to be paralleling or comparing Cordy holding onto to her visions, to Angel holding onto being a vampire with a soul. Both are given at different points in the series - the opportunity to lose this gift. Both refuse, and see it as the only way they can be champions or chosen. It's not really a selfless act. Or the writers are questioning it.

The most frustrating thing in Buffy S6, actually is what makes it work the best - which is her friends inability or unwillingness to help her. I think she asked Angel for help - and he turned her down. ( Read more... )

Ah, it's 5:16pm and dark. So off to make dinner. I think.

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.

1. It's the first real snowfall of the season, and the world looks soft and clean with snow outside my window. As opposed to drab and in need of a thorough washing or at least a toss or two in the washer. Soft puffs of snow decorate each and every brank outside, and leaves now,, finally, fallen, no longer present a hindrance to the decoration.

Melting won't happen any time soon, with temperatures in the teens and low twenties (Fahrenheit). (When I type my posts in this journal, it's easy to forget that I'm corresponding with the world and not just my own locality or myself. Long gone are the days in which that was the case, and for the most part I'm happy about that.) Putting thoughts and words out there for whomever happens by - can be discomforting, when I stop long enough to ponder it.)

Done little this holiday season, except rest and ice my knee (or attempt to) and do knee exercises. I'm paying for ignoring the knee during the summer and fall months. Although in my defense, I thought it was just a sciatic nerve - and the best way of handling that is often to muddle through. Also did random chores (which didn't involve utilizing the knee - ie, no getting down on my knees or squatting), and watched television.

2. I've made it through Buffy S5 rewatch, which upon rewatch - I now understand why people are split over it. ( Read more... )

3. Last night, watched One Battle After Another - Paul Thomas Anderson's new film, starring Leo DiCaprio and Scean Penn, along with Teyana Taylor and Chase Infiniti. It's about a washed up revolutionary, who has to come to terms with his revolutionary past to save his daughter and himself from those pursuing them. Half satire, half suspenseful thrill ride, it's a mixed bag? I found it slow in spots, particularly to start, and difficult to get into, but once it got rolling, it became more suspenseful, and hilarious in places. There are some very funny sequences in it - mainly involving DiCaprio. It is definitely topical and highlights the abuses of power not to mention deep-rooted racism by Homeland Security and ICE. (Although uses different names for them.)

4. For the most part, I'm on a news diet - so only have a passing awareness of what is happening outside my window. I did however hear in passing that numerous folks have resigned their positions from the ultra-Conservative Think Tank, also known as the Heritage Foundation. What caused this latest fracture and exodus? Apparently the anti-semitism got to them finally - and they jumped ship to join Mike Pence.

5. Memage:
( catching up on memage )