Dear Dollhouse,
I'm afraid the time has come. To be honest, I knew it was coming for quite a while. The fact that your last episode sat on my TiVo for a week, unwatched and barely remembered, was a pretty clear sign. But I figured I'd give you one last chance. Alas, fifteen minutes in, and I find myself having to face the truth: you are boring and unpleasant, and your very rare moments of coolness simply aren't enough to satisfy me. And the fact that the only thing that seems to please me about you any more is the occasional opportunity to watch the main characters suffer, not because their sufferings are interesting, but because I hate them and wish them ill... Well, it's just not healthy for either of us, really.
So, goodbye, Dollhouse. I wish you the best of luck, I really do. Who knows, maybe you'll change, and one day we can get together again and make it work. But I'm not holding my breath.
Don't try to come around any more. I've told the TiVo to stop letting you in. Trust me. It's better this way. If only because it improves the quality of my Friday nights.
Sincerely,
Me
Friday, October 30, 2009
Time Files When You're... Doing Whatever The Heck I've Been Doing.
I have no idea how it got to be Friday already. Not that I'm complaining. Especially since this week Friday actually is my Friday.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
My Geeky Life
Since my sister's poking me to see if I'm alive again, I suppose it's time for an update. Although I think she's getting more and more impatient these days. Sheesh. ;)
Anyway, so what have I been doing lately? Not a whole heck of a lot, but let's see...
1. Saturday I went to a Halloween party. The costume theme was superheroes. The party's host, a major costuming geek, is a big fan of Captain America and was doubtless going to have a Captain America costume, so some friends of mine cooked up a secret plan: get a big group of people together and all go dressed as Captain America. Or different versions thereof, anyway, both original designs and ones from the comics. Me, I just got a costume t-shirt and went as "Slacker America" (which may or may not have been amusing to anybody but me), since a) I came into this plan kind of late, and b) I have absolutely no skills or ambition when it comes to costuming. Some of the other folks did an amazing job, though. I was particularly impressed with Revolutionary War Captain America, even if everybody did seem to think he was a pirate version. (Probably because of the hat.) Anyway, it got the expected giant laugh, and we won the "best group" prize. And now I have a Captain America t-shirt that I will never, ever wear again, mostly because I know pretty much diddly-squat about Captain America.
2. I hardly ever go out to the movies anymore, preferring to stay in and Netflix instead. It's cheaper, easier, and you don't have to deal with obnoxious jerks who won't turn off their cell phones. But I did get out to see District 9 when it was here in town. It's not very subtle, and it's full of story implausibilities, but despite that -- or maybe because of it, I don't even know -- it's a decidedly good movie.
3. I've finally had to turn on my heater and get out my warm comforter, because it's suddenly gotten really cold here. Well, cold for here, anyway. It's not like I live in Minnesota, but New Mexcio can get a lot chiller than most people who've never lived here assume. I may actually have to wear my coat to work today. Which is OK. I like my coat. It's an army surplus coat, so I can pretend I'm Captain Jack. Who is better than Captain America.
4. Speaking of Captain Jack, I now have reservations for the Gallifrey One Doctor Who convention in February, which I'm going to be attending with aforementioned sister and one of her friends. I'm a little bummed that Peter Davison ended up canceling, after they moved the date for him and everything, but I'm looking forward to it, anyway.
5. What else? Well, as I think I mentioned before, I've started playing in a Star Wars RPG. I'm playing Jedi Daniel Jackson. Pretty much literally. Hey, Star Wars, Stargate... Same thing, right? Actually, it's pretty funny that I'm playing someone who's supposed to have a good knowledge of history, because my own familiarity with the SW universe is almost nil. Sure, I watched the movies. They were fun. I even read Timothy Zahn's trilogy, which I think were the first Star Wars books published. I remember nothing about them, though, except that they were better than I expected. I certainly can't tell you the name of the third alien from the left in the Cantina scene, or whatever, which a surprisingly large number of the people I know can do with ease. Hey, what can I say? I was always a Star Trek gal. Oh, well. Some day, somebody's going to want to game in a universe I actually know well. *eyes copy of Farscape RPG book thoughtfully*
And, yeah, that's about it. Unless you really want to hear all about how I sit around watching DVDs and reading and stuff. My life, it is so thrilling!
Anyway, so what have I been doing lately? Not a whole heck of a lot, but let's see...
1. Saturday I went to a Halloween party. The costume theme was superheroes. The party's host, a major costuming geek, is a big fan of Captain America and was doubtless going to have a Captain America costume, so some friends of mine cooked up a secret plan: get a big group of people together and all go dressed as Captain America. Or different versions thereof, anyway, both original designs and ones from the comics. Me, I just got a costume t-shirt and went as "Slacker America" (which may or may not have been amusing to anybody but me), since a) I came into this plan kind of late, and b) I have absolutely no skills or ambition when it comes to costuming. Some of the other folks did an amazing job, though. I was particularly impressed with Revolutionary War Captain America, even if everybody did seem to think he was a pirate version. (Probably because of the hat.) Anyway, it got the expected giant laugh, and we won the "best group" prize. And now I have a Captain America t-shirt that I will never, ever wear again, mostly because I know pretty much diddly-squat about Captain America.
2. I hardly ever go out to the movies anymore, preferring to stay in and Netflix instead. It's cheaper, easier, and you don't have to deal with obnoxious jerks who won't turn off their cell phones. But I did get out to see District 9 when it was here in town. It's not very subtle, and it's full of story implausibilities, but despite that -- or maybe because of it, I don't even know -- it's a decidedly good movie.
3. I've finally had to turn on my heater and get out my warm comforter, because it's suddenly gotten really cold here. Well, cold for here, anyway. It's not like I live in Minnesota, but New Mexcio can get a lot chiller than most people who've never lived here assume. I may actually have to wear my coat to work today. Which is OK. I like my coat. It's an army surplus coat, so I can pretend I'm Captain Jack. Who is better than Captain America.
4. Speaking of Captain Jack, I now have reservations for the Gallifrey One Doctor Who convention in February, which I'm going to be attending with aforementioned sister and one of her friends. I'm a little bummed that Peter Davison ended up canceling, after they moved the date for him and everything, but I'm looking forward to it, anyway.
5. What else? Well, as I think I mentioned before, I've started playing in a Star Wars RPG. I'm playing Jedi Daniel Jackson. Pretty much literally. Hey, Star Wars, Stargate... Same thing, right? Actually, it's pretty funny that I'm playing someone who's supposed to have a good knowledge of history, because my own familiarity with the SW universe is almost nil. Sure, I watched the movies. They were fun. I even read Timothy Zahn's trilogy, which I think were the first Star Wars books published. I remember nothing about them, though, except that they were better than I expected. I certainly can't tell you the name of the third alien from the left in the Cantina scene, or whatever, which a surprisingly large number of the people I know can do with ease. Hey, what can I say? I was always a Star Trek gal. Oh, well. Some day, somebody's going to want to game in a universe I actually know well. *eyes copy of Farscape RPG book thoughtfully*
And, yeah, that's about it. Unless you really want to hear all about how I sit around watching DVDs and reading and stuff. My life, it is so thrilling!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Things That Make Me Go "Huh?"
I just got season 2 of Burn Notice from Netfix. At the beginning of the first disk, there's an advertisement informing me that season 2 of Burn Notice is coming on DVD. Uh... thanks?
And I just noticed that one of the warnings printed on my new coffee maker's carafe is "Do not hold over people." I don't even want to know what prompted that warning, but I now have this bizarre, hard-to-control desire to wave it around over the top of my head.
And I just noticed that one of the warnings printed on my new coffee maker's carafe is "Do not hold over people." I don't even want to know what prompted that warning, but I now have this bizarre, hard-to-control desire to wave it around over the top of my head.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Linkages
30 Dumb Inventions: Some of these are very dumb.
5 Websites During The Zombie Apocalypse: Amusing glimpse at what the web will look like once the brain-eating starts.
5 Myths That People Don't Realize Are Admitted Hoaxes: Hey, just because the person pulling the hoax actually, you know, admits it, is that any reason to stop believing?
Deleted Flashback Scene House ep 6x06: Scene from the end of this week's episode of House with a few seconds of deleted footage. It kind of made me go "aww."
And by the way, apropos of my last post -- and not entirely off-topic, since, look, I'm including a link! -- Cartoon Network has made good on the west coast feed screwup with the Venture Bros. season premiere. They're re-airing it Mon-Fri nights this week at 12:30 Pacific, and they made the episode available online almost immediately. So, while it may be true that nobody retires from Phantom Limb's shit list, Cartoon Network has successfully retired from mine.
5 Websites During The Zombie Apocalypse: Amusing glimpse at what the web will look like once the brain-eating starts.
5 Myths That People Don't Realize Are Admitted Hoaxes: Hey, just because the person pulling the hoax actually, you know, admits it, is that any reason to stop believing?
Deleted Flashback Scene House ep 6x06: Scene from the end of this week's episode of House with a few seconds of deleted footage. It kind of made me go "aww."
And by the way, apropos of my last post -- and not entirely off-topic, since, look, I'm including a link! -- Cartoon Network has made good on the west coast feed screwup with the Venture Bros. season premiere. They're re-airing it Mon-Fri nights this week at 12:30 Pacific, and they made the episode available online almost immediately. So, while it may be true that nobody retires from Phantom Limb's shit list, Cartoon Network has successfully retired from mine.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Nothing Ventured
You know what's really fun? When you wait more than a year for the season premiere of a show you're really into, and then when it finally airs, the network screws up the fucking broadcast. Thank the gods of technology for YouTube, that's all I have to say.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
*happy sigh*
I got sleep last night! Hours and hours and hours of glorious sleep! Ah, life is beautiful!
It's lovely today, with a nice, cool breeze ruffling my curtains. I don't have to go to work. Indeed, I have nothing pressing to do at all. I thus feel very relaxed, and am fully intending to keep right on being relaxed. Thus, today will be for reading, watching DVDs and/or whatever's still pending on the TiVo, and doing a bit of light housework of the kind with a high satisfaction-at-getting-it-done/annoyance-at-doing-it ratio.
Now that I'm back on a normal-person sleep schedule, I've been vaguely thinking about going up to Albuquerque tomorrow to run some errands, but I'm almost certain I'll end up procrastinating on that. Man, this book-buying quota thing is impacting all areas of my life... A couple of years ago, I would have motivated myself to go by promising myself a trip to Barnes & Noble or Page One while I was up there, but, nope. There was a Friends of the Library sale this weekend, and of course I hit my book-acquisition limit hard. So, yeah, maybe I will just stay home and read, and tell myself that I'm accomplishing something important by chipping away at the To-Read Pile so I can buy more books later.
It's lovely today, with a nice, cool breeze ruffling my curtains. I don't have to go to work. Indeed, I have nothing pressing to do at all. I thus feel very relaxed, and am fully intending to keep right on being relaxed. Thus, today will be for reading, watching DVDs and/or whatever's still pending on the TiVo, and doing a bit of light housework of the kind with a high satisfaction-at-getting-it-done/annoyance-at-doing-it ratio.
Now that I'm back on a normal-person sleep schedule, I've been vaguely thinking about going up to Albuquerque tomorrow to run some errands, but I'm almost certain I'll end up procrastinating on that. Man, this book-buying quota thing is impacting all areas of my life... A couple of years ago, I would have motivated myself to go by promising myself a trip to Barnes & Noble or Page One while I was up there, but, nope. There was a Friends of the Library sale this weekend, and of course I hit my book-acquisition limit hard. So, yeah, maybe I will just stay home and read, and tell myself that I'm accomplishing something important by chipping away at the To-Read Pile so I can buy more books later.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Please Send Caffeine
Was awake for 23 hours yesterday. Slept for 4 1/2. Will not be able to sleep again for another 20.
Days like this, I'm glad my job doesn't involve performing surgery.
Days like this, I'm glad my job doesn't involve performing surgery.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
And Some More Random Links
Yay for lazy blogging!
Top 10 Funniest Google Suggest Results: Fun with google's autocomplete function. People certainly search for some odd things.
10 Science Fiction Concepts Ruined by Human Nature: This is from some kind of testosterone-soaked "stuff for guys" site, and it's frankly kind of vulgar. And some of it's a bit WTF-y. But they're absolutely right about the flying cars.
New Doctor Who Logo: The BBC has just announced a new logo for Doctor Who, and here it is! I'm a bit "meh" about it, myself, but maybe it'll grow on me. They've also provided a look back at past logos here. Ah, nostalgia!
Regretsy: A collection of appalling, and I do mean appalling, handicrafts offered for sale on the web. Seriously, some of this stuff will scar you for life. I'm only linking to it because I want companionship in my trauma. Warning: NSFW. May cause brain leakage, eyeball bleeding, and loss of faith in humanity.
Top 10 Funniest Google Suggest Results: Fun with google's autocomplete function. People certainly search for some odd things.
10 Science Fiction Concepts Ruined by Human Nature: This is from some kind of testosterone-soaked "stuff for guys" site, and it's frankly kind of vulgar. And some of it's a bit WTF-y. But they're absolutely right about the flying cars.
New Doctor Who Logo: The BBC has just announced a new logo for Doctor Who, and here it is! I'm a bit "meh" about it, myself, but maybe it'll grow on me. They've also provided a look back at past logos here. Ah, nostalgia!
Regretsy: A collection of appalling, and I do mean appalling, handicrafts offered for sale on the web. Seriously, some of this stuff will scar you for life. I'm only linking to it because I want companionship in my trauma. Warning: NSFW. May cause brain leakage, eyeball bleeding, and loss of faith in humanity.
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
To Reassure My Sister That I'm Still Alive, A Meme
Yes, that's right, this one again.
Current clothes: Dark gray sweat pants. Blue t-shirt I got at Pikes Peak. ("Pikes Peak 14,110'. It's Better On Top.") White socks. Black slippers
Current mood: Pretty darned good. For the first time in days, I was not awake before 6:00 this morning, which does wonders for my state of mind all by itself.
Current music: They Might Be Giants' Flood.
Current annoyance: Allergies. Again. Actually, they mostly haven't been too awful this year, except for the fact that I seem to be getting sinus pain a lot more often than I used to, which is worrying. And just starting today, my lungs are getting irritated. Hooray.
Current thing: After working far too many hours for far too many days and having far too little energy, I've finally got some time off, and am getting stuff done. Laundry, grocery shopping, that sort of thing. Not exactly fun stuff, but I like the feeling of finally accomplishing something.
Current desktop picture: Still the same bookshelves from last month. How can I get tired of looking at bookshelves?
Current book: The Witches of Wenshar by Barbara Hambly. Decent fantasy from the 80s.
Current song in head: For days and days, it was "Downeaster Alexa" by Billy Joel. Now it appears to be "Awaiting on You All" by George Harrison. And while I'm sort of glad to finally have Billy out of my head, I'd really rather have Brain Radio exhorting me to pity fishermen than to embrace religion. I have got to get a tuner for this thing.
Current DVD in player: Disc 5 of season 4 of Supernatural. Honestly, this season is kind of a mess. I'm not entirely sure the overall story arc makes any sense at all, they're going a bit over the top on the Emo Angst, and it seems like every time the writers get stuck they take a big hit off a crack pipe and come up with something insanely goofy. And yet, I'm still enjoying it. I do kind of like some of the story elements, at least in principle; some of the goofy crack-pipe-induced stuff is very funny; and there's one surprisingly good recurring guest character. Plus, any time I start to get bored I can entertain myself quite nicely just looking at Dean, who is very, very, very, very pretty. (What? I can't be shallow?) Whatever the reason, this show seems to sit right on the sweet spot -- if that's the word for it -- where I'm interested enough in it to happily keep watching as it's released on DVD, but not invested enough to care all that much if it does something stupid.
Current refreshment: Water.
Current worry: Eh, minor random crap, mostly.
Current thought: Let's see how late I can manage to stay up tonight.... Maybe tomorrow I can sleep until 9:00! (Sigh. The only thing worse than finding yourself turning into a morning person is turning into a morning person and then having to switch over onto night shifts.)
Current clothes: Dark gray sweat pants. Blue t-shirt I got at Pikes Peak. ("Pikes Peak 14,110'. It's Better On Top.") White socks. Black slippers
Current mood: Pretty darned good. For the first time in days, I was not awake before 6:00 this morning, which does wonders for my state of mind all by itself.
Current music: They Might Be Giants' Flood.
Current annoyance: Allergies. Again. Actually, they mostly haven't been too awful this year, except for the fact that I seem to be getting sinus pain a lot more often than I used to, which is worrying. And just starting today, my lungs are getting irritated. Hooray.
Current thing: After working far too many hours for far too many days and having far too little energy, I've finally got some time off, and am getting stuff done. Laundry, grocery shopping, that sort of thing. Not exactly fun stuff, but I like the feeling of finally accomplishing something.
Current desktop picture: Still the same bookshelves from last month. How can I get tired of looking at bookshelves?
Current book: The Witches of Wenshar by Barbara Hambly. Decent fantasy from the 80s.
Current song in head: For days and days, it was "Downeaster Alexa" by Billy Joel. Now it appears to be "Awaiting on You All" by George Harrison. And while I'm sort of glad to finally have Billy out of my head, I'd really rather have Brain Radio exhorting me to pity fishermen than to embrace religion. I have got to get a tuner for this thing.
Current DVD in player: Disc 5 of season 4 of Supernatural. Honestly, this season is kind of a mess. I'm not entirely sure the overall story arc makes any sense at all, they're going a bit over the top on the Emo Angst, and it seems like every time the writers get stuck they take a big hit off a crack pipe and come up with something insanely goofy. And yet, I'm still enjoying it. I do kind of like some of the story elements, at least in principle; some of the goofy crack-pipe-induced stuff is very funny; and there's one surprisingly good recurring guest character. Plus, any time I start to get bored I can entertain myself quite nicely just looking at Dean, who is very, very, very, very pretty. (What? I can't be shallow?) Whatever the reason, this show seems to sit right on the sweet spot -- if that's the word for it -- where I'm interested enough in it to happily keep watching as it's released on DVD, but not invested enough to care all that much if it does something stupid.
Current refreshment: Water.
Current worry: Eh, minor random crap, mostly.
Current thought: Let's see how late I can manage to stay up tonight.... Maybe tomorrow I can sleep until 9:00! (Sigh. The only thing worse than finding yourself turning into a morning person is turning into a morning person and then having to switch over onto night shifts.)
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Since I'm Awake At This Disgustingly Early Hour, Have Some Random Links.
Neave Strobe: Stare at the center of the trippy moving image for 20 seconds, then look away. The first time I tried it, nothing happened. On a second attempt, the results were... interesting. Also, I felt slightly queasy for the next couple of hours, which may or may not be related. (Note: not for those with visually-triggered epilepsy, or, probably, motion sickness.)
Doctor Who Dalek created out of 480,000 matchsticks: The usual (and slightly dismissive) thing to say in situations like this is that someone has too much time on their hands. Personally, I think it's exactly the right amount of time. (Note: as far as I can tell, this guy is no relation to Brian Croucher from Blake's 7, but it's certainly an interesting coincidence of names.)
The Science Knowledge Quiz: Yes, I got them all right. The results, I think, are slightly more interesting than the questions.
Doctor Who Exit Interview: David Tennant + Russell T. Davies, with Richard Metzger: Tennant and Davies talk about the end of their time on Who. Fun interview. These guys are always entertaining to watch. And I find myself really looking forward to see how their grand finale goes. (Yes, admittedly, Davies doesn't have the best track record with finales. But when it comes to Who, I am eternally, happily optimistic. And they're definitely making it sound cool!)
Vampire Diaries: The Diaries of Other Vampires Revealed: I think I like Spike's best.
Doctor Who Dalek created out of 480,000 matchsticks: The usual (and slightly dismissive) thing to say in situations like this is that someone has too much time on their hands. Personally, I think it's exactly the right amount of time. (Note: as far as I can tell, this guy is no relation to Brian Croucher from Blake's 7, but it's certainly an interesting coincidence of names.)
The Science Knowledge Quiz: Yes, I got them all right. The results, I think, are slightly more interesting than the questions.
Doctor Who Exit Interview: David Tennant + Russell T. Davies, with Richard Metzger: Tennant and Davies talk about the end of their time on Who. Fun interview. These guys are always entertaining to watch. And I find myself really looking forward to see how their grand finale goes. (Yes, admittedly, Davies doesn't have the best track record with finales. But when it comes to Who, I am eternally, happily optimistic. And they're definitely making it sound cool!)
Vampire Diaries: The Diaries of Other Vampires Revealed: I think I like Spike's best.
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