andrew_jorgensen

Today was a better day than yesterday for various and sundry reasons. ( Read more... )

***

I finished the Angelica Huston Memoir - "Watch Me" - which isn't that memorable, outside of a bittersweet ending, wherein she makes the point that of everything she's done, it's her connections with family, friends, and others that meant the most. ( Read more... )

Currently listening to Twelve Months by Jim Butcher - narrated by James Marsters. Not Marsters best voice work but still rather good.
And still reading The Botanist's Assistant by Peggy Townsend- which is basically a mystery with an autistic sleuth, whose six foot tall, and middle-aged. It's okay - I got it as a Xmas present. But it's slow moving.
[Note to self- stop picking up books rec'd by Smart Bitches. This one was - looked great and I asked for it for Xmas.]

***

Buffy S7 Rewatch - Get it Done, Ep. 15

Doug Petrie, God Bless Him, is not a good script writer. His dialogue, ugh. Cringe. Yes, I know he was credited for writing both Beneath Me and Fool for Love, but I also know both those episodes were heavily edited and rewritten by the show-runners and executive producers (Marti Noxon and Joss Whedon). Whedon and Noxon wrote all of the Spike and Buffy scenes in Fool for Love, taking turns. While Petrie wrote the Riley scenes. (He states this in the commentary for the episode, that's how I know. Petrie told us.) Whedon also rewrote and refilmed, and directed himself the second half of Beneath Me. Petrie's script was so awful, Whedon rewrote it, and directed it, and brought everyone back to film it over the weekend. And you can tell the difference. The dialogue in the first half of Beneath Me is cringe inducing in places.

Petrie wrote As You Were and Get it Done, and they have the same problems. He doesn't know how to write for Spike, Willow, Anya, or Dawn. Buffy is okay for the most part. Also he sucks at plotting, there are plot holes in this episode that you can drive a truck through. You can tell they didn't plan it out.

The other difficulty with Get it Done is...the writers want to be color blind? ( Read more... )

I get what they are trying to do and the power metaphors are interesting on a certain level. And Buffy's refusal of the power at whatever cost - is interesting as well, and direct demonstration of how she is different from the First's take on her or Caleb. But, the execution is clumsy at best, and it doesn't totally make sense? ( Read more... )

**

This is more about S7 as a whole, not just this episode - when Buffy moved over to UPN, UPN let the show-runners and producers know that they had to fulfill a diversity quota. ( Read more... )

Get It Done - unfortunately didn't have a strong enough writer to handle the world building, the cultural stuff, and the large cast. That said, there's a few isolated moments in there that work however. Spike's fight with the demon does. I spent some time trying to figure out why soulful Spike would have issues fighting demons or taking a demon life? ( Read more... )

I also wondered why he needed to get the coat to be able to do it? And realized finally that it's clarified in Sleeper or the song, Pavlov's Bell - "trading coats and ringing Pavlov's Bell is how I nearly fell" - that's what Spike has been doing all along. ( Read more... )

Overall - an interesting but deeply flawed episode. S7 like all the seasons has some clunky episodes in the middle. This is one of them.

Make of that what you will...just my own mutterings for my own amusement.

Off to bed.

The weekend has flown by, yet again. Mother is more worried about the hematoma that I acquired beneath my upper arm than I am. It's a long red bruise. I have ice on it. Read up on hematomas - and apparently they are only an issue if you feel dizzy, faint, run a fever, have tingling in the digits, have one near the brain or abdomen. Arms, shoulders and legs, not so much. And it takes 1-4 weeks for them to heal. If somewhat lumpy, sore, and colorful - normal.

It's fine. I have ice on it at the moment - finally figured out how to do it. Also been told via mother's cousin - that heat helps.

I've been using a CALM APP to calm my nerves and help with the negative emotions. It helps. Best app that I've found to date, and cheaper than Headspace.

Television

* The Pitt S2 is up on HBO, and it's still good. It's one shift, hour by hour for July 4th, Doctor Robie's last shift before he goes on sabbatical, and the first shift for two doctor's who were away on sabbatical. The series is a hyper-realistic medical procedure that takes place entirely in the ER of an American inner city hospital in Pittsburgh, otherwise known as The Pitt. It's by far the most realistic medical drama that I've seen. The only other one that comes close is the UK series This is Gonna Hurt - starring Ben Whinslaw, and I found difficult to watch. The Pitt isn't quite as raw, nor as bloody as This is Gonna Hurt (which is about an London NHS obstetrics unit). If you want to watch the latter series - it's on Netflix, and was done by AMC and I think ITV. Netflix by the way - has the worst interface on streaming. It's close to impossible to rewind or fast forward, stop or pause on Netflix. I really hate Netflix's interface - it's always crashing my wifi on my television set. If it didn't have great programming, I'd ditch it.

I'm stretching this one out. It stars Noah Wyle, and the daughters of Brad Douriff (horror king), and Bryan Cranston, in supporting roles. Basically ER for grownups.

* Bridgerton S4 Part I - this is Benedict Bridgerton's book, and it has issues. The set up is pretty much the Cinderella trope - a popular and (ahem) overdone (IMO) trope. I am admittedly biased against it. I didn't like the original Cinderella. And the only version that kind of works for me is the one with Drew Barrymore or Sondheim's Into the Woods. (My favorite fairy tale trope is the original Snow Queen - I like it when the woman saves the guy, not the other way around). This is also a highly controversial book among romance readers - ( Read more... )

But Bridgerton is a bit of a satire, as are Julie Quinn's novels - they are making fun of the snobby British Class System.

I've got more to say, but alas time has jumped away from me and I must mosey on to bed.

Tomorrow will be a long and cold day - with work and PT afterwards.

Started watching Bridgerton S4 - and was reminded of why I dislike the Cinderella Trope. Cinderella is way too nice. She should have looked into poisoning her evil stepmother. Deathly Nightshade. Hemlock. Arsenic. Mold. Maybe valium or opium? ( Read more... )

Took a shower to relax the muscles last night, and my tub mat got crooked and loose and when I tried to fix it - the mat slipped under my feet, and I tumbled out of the shower/tub and sprawled somewhat painfully onto the bathroom floor. ( Read more... )

I didn't get in nearly as much knee exercises or other activities, as I'd planned. I also fell asleep watching the James Bond flick Spectra - which isn't nearly as good as the prior films. The actress playing his love interest has almost no chemistry with him, and doesn't "spark". [I think I'm as tired of the James Bond trope as Daniel Craig appears to be - he was kind of walking through the film.]

Watched Angel S4 - Soulless - which is an interesting episode to watch while watching Buffy S7. ( Read more... )

An unfortunate side effect of the Buffy/Angel rewatch - is every time I watch these series - I get obsessed with the character of Spike and crave more of him. And more of the actor's performance. I don't know why. There was just something about his performance as Spike that sparked a response in me?

**

I've decided to subscribe to the Calm App - to deal with insomina, feelings of anger, anxiety, and depression - which are kind of wrapped up together in one nice neat bundle. Calm is actually helping. The problem I had with Headspace - was it was geared more towards millenials with small children or Yuppies. And kept triggering me. Also, it had embraced AI and was going the text psychology route with AI. While Calm was using sound technology to help with rebalancing the nervous system, and calming it.

Calm's also cheaper than Headspace.

***

End of January Memage

30. In 1873, Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne was published in France. Have you read the book or seen any of the films?

I think I read it once? Can't remember. I've seen multiple film and television versions. The best is the most recent version with David Tennet that was done a few years back. The worst was probably the one with David Niven. I don't really remember the David Niven one that well, but it does NOT date well - Shirly McLaine plays an Asian woman in it (yes, Shirly McLaine). The Pierce Bronsan version is okay - I vaguely remember that one.

31. Do you like hot chocolate with or without marshmallows?

I used to? But now? Not so much. It makes the hot chocolate too sweet. I guess if you can get a home-made marshmallow - which I've done. Those home made gourmet ones - are a treat. But it also doesn't work well. The marshallows don't quite melt the way they should and get kind of slimy and again too sweet.

I prefer whipped cream. And peppermint. Also I prefer unsweetened hot chocolate with almond milk, and zero sugar whipped cream. It's insanely difficult to get unsweetened hot chocolate though - because people put sugar in everything.

***

Weather - very cold. But not as bad as yesterday, believe it or not. We didn't have the wind chills. So the apartment was actually 70-73 degrees as opposed to 65-69 degrees. And outside, it made it up to 22 F/ -18 C.
Low was 10 degrees F.

My subject heading sucks - I blame it on the brain fog.

1. Buffy S7 Re-Watch - this season is a whole lot better than I remembered it?

( vengeance is a bad bad thing )
When I first watched S7, my enjoyment was tainted by reading the responses of those watching it along with me on various posting boards. Many of which I knew fleetingly or saw once or twice in person, if at all. Looking back, I find myself pondering why I cared what they thought? Or why they cared what I thought? I suppose we wanted to connect somehow, as impossible as that may seem, and to an extent we did. Also, it is interesting to see variant views. So perhaps tainted is not the right word? So much as colored my enjoyment or enhanced and undermined?

It also helps that I know what happens next - some of the nervous anxiety and anticipation is gone.

There's some interesting takeaways.

( Spike )

( Giles and Wood )

( how different Spike is with a soul )

There's a few interesting questions posed by the episode, some answered, some not.

* Why does Anya tell Spike that Giles is the First, when she knows he isn't? (Does she want to play a joke on Spike and Giles?)

* Why doesn't the First use Spike to kill the Girls - what is the First holding Spike back for? ( Read more... )

Interesting episode, better written than I originally gave it credit for. Even the Xander bits are kind of fun. Poor Xander - he keeps going for the demons. He and Buffy seem to have that in common. Actually I think everyone Xander has dated was or became a demon at some point, with the exception of Willow? Cordelia does in Angel S3. Buffy similarly has gone for mainly men who have well issues? Riley was on super-serum, when she fell for him. Spike - vampire. Angel - vampire. Only Willow doesn't appear to do that, and well Giles.

My favorite exchange (it's a hilarious episode in places, the lines in these series are wonderful):

Xander and Buffy at the same time: I have a date!
Xander: Wait, I have a date - way to upstage me, Buff.
Buffy: Sorry. Would it help if I said, it's not really a date - it's with the Principal? My boss? Who is either evil or promoting me? It could be a promotion? Or -
Xander: Isn't he at least 10 years older.
Willow: Yet a 100 years younger than the last two.
Buffy: And fingers crossed, less with the wicked energy. We're hoping I don't have a type. And he's not evil, even if his office is directly above the hellmouth.

Buffy's dating choices would put anyone's to shame.

2. My knee is doing better. I've been doing the exercises - there's about ten of them? And I have an app now - that I can go into, see how to do it, how many sets, reps, and holds, and once I finish, click complete, and it takes me to the next one. So I do them in order. There's one that the PT wants me to do five times a day (but it's lying flat on the bed pushing a towl into the bed or floor) and that's impossible to do five times a day. (I commute into the city daily to work at a desk in front of a computer in a cubicle.) But the exercises are making the knee feel better. So I'll make sure I do them as often as possible this weekend. I've done them diligently yesterday and today. It helped getting the app. My difficulty is I can barely see the wording on the PDF print outs, and can't keep track.

3. Discovered a few nifty IBS aides.

* Kiwi and Magnesium Citrate really help with constipation. So does Miralax.

* Baking Soda and lemon juice helps with digestion, heart burn, and gastric reflux.

* Peppermint tea settles stomachs.

4. Discovered there might have been a General Strike today via social media - my sister-in-law posted about it on Instagram. I saw it after I got home from work today.

(It's easy for her to go on strike - she owns her own fashion business, doesn't have to travel anywhere, nor does my brother, neither work for anyone, and they are flying to Hawaii for free on Sunday due to credit card points).

At least I think it was today? It's hard to know for certain. Maybe it's tomorrow? Although why would anyone go on strike on Saturday? I don't think it happened - because, ahem, not everyone got the memo? None of my co-workers knew about it. And people were traveling on the trains. Granted not quite as many - but it was also 10 degrees - so....

You know you can't exactly have a General Strike if you don't tell everyone about it. If people don't know the specifics - such as date, time, and what they are expected to do - they aren't going to be able to comply and go on strike. It's not personal - they just don't know.
( Read more... )

Brrr...umph. It's cold. And getting colder. Today it was 8 degrees. Tomorrow it is supposed to be 10 below zero. NYC wasn't designed for anything below 20 degrees. It's a pedestrian city - we all walk places, wait outside for buses, and in some cases - on outside platforms for trains. But you can't wait outside for 20-30 minutes in temperatures below 20 degrees - you can get frost bite. Most you can safely do is 15 minutes tops. (People blow my mind - a lot of people are walking around in sneakers without socks.)

It was okay for a little bit (the cold temperatures - not the people wandering about sockless), but I'm tired of it now and want it to warm up already. (You know that it has been cold, when 18 degrees with no wind feels okay.) Also tired of navigating around snow, ice and slush. My area was a mixed bag when it came to shoveling. Some folks did it well, some tried and gave up, while others barely bothered at all. (Note Super's at apartment complex's are experts at shoveling. Everyone else sucks at it.)

Told Breaking Bad that my brother is off to Hawaii for the entire month of February, he leaves Sunday.

Breaking Bad: ask him - if he can take me with him? If there's enough space in one of his suitcases? I can curl up in it.
ME: Yeah, I'd like to go too. But alas, can't. (also Bro won't take me. He hates traveling with me. Can't think why...actually I don't like traveling with him either. So even if crazy workplace let me go - I couldn't. We'd kill each other in the space of four hours, maybe three - and that's a long flight.)
Breaking Bad: Hope he makes it out okay, god bless him.
Me: yeah me too...(well I do...for the most part...)

I also hope this weekend's winter storm skips over NY and Long Island and heads out to sea. We do not need more snow.

They are already wandering about with snow melting machines. (Basically hot tubs on the backs of trucks, which they use to melt the snow.) I'm blaming my incessant brain fog on the cold weather. I'm forgetting things and having troubles focusing. Also I keep dozing off at work. It's either the cold, anxiety (gee, wonder why?) or senility is settling in at the ripe old age of 58.

Oh, a bit of good news? The Senate rejected the Bill (that will fund ICE among other things) 55-45. It required 60 to pass. 8 Republicans voted with the Democrats specifically against the ICE measure. So if anyone called to stop it? Kudos. People keep calling for a General Strike - but I'm not sure they understand what that means? I mean if you shut down public transportation, hospitals, fire departments, doctors, nurses, EMT, sanitation, taxis, etc - what happens if someone needs an operation, a heart transplant, injures themselves, or has a heart attack? Also you have a lot of paycheck to paycheck folks? If they go on strike - there goes this month's rent. I endorse protests that do not injure innocent people unnecessarily or animals for that matter.

Although, I am vaguely amused by the statement: No one thought the Revolution would start in Minneapolis except for Prince. (Which is actually true - he even called his band "The Revolution" and kept writing songs about how the world ends.)

27. Up-Helly-Aa is a vibrant fire festival celebrated in the UK Shetland Islands tonight. Thousands gather to witness the breathtaking sight of a longship ablaze, illuminating the night sky. Do you have any similar local winter or summer celebrations?

The US is weird? We have so many blended cultures - that it depends on which state and community you live in? But yes, there are Winter Festivals.
I think NY's is the Chinese New Year - we have a huge celebration for it in Chinatown and various areas in NY.

28. Have you ever played a kazoo?

In case you don't know - This is a Kazoo

And not that I recall?

29. It's Tom Sellek's birthday - have you ever seen him in anything you've enjoyed?

Ponders. I guess a handful of Magnum PI episodes? He's not a favorite of mine. I'm kind of ambivalent. Also I was more into "Fame" which was opposite it at the time. Yeah, Sellek never did anything for me. He was kind of boring? A little bit like James Garner and Harrison Ford (or what would happen if they got together and had a kid), but both are much better and more charismatic actors than Sellek. Also Magnum PI couldn't hold a candle to the Rockford Files.