Yeah, I know it's been a while since I posted here. I think it's because nothing the slightest bit interesting has been happening, but let's see, shall we?
Current clothes: This is one of those days where I'm blogging in a bath towel, fresh out of the shower. I really need to go and get dressed soon, though.
Current mood: Man, I don't even know what the word is for my mood lately. But I'm at this point where it feels like there are a zillion different things wanting me to pay attention to them, and even though many of them are perfectly nice things, it's kind of getting to me. I'm also seriously tired of working, and I'm starting to entertain fantasies again of spending a week in a cabin in the forest or a hut on a deserted tropical beach somewhere, with a giant stack of books and the quiet sounds of nature, and absolutely nothing else. That sounds like bliss... except then I can't help thinking how bad my internet withdrawal would be by the end of the week. Modern life is ruining even my fantasies now, it seems.
Current music: Nothing much... Well, the last thing played on my iPod was The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil," because, I dunno, listening to it might have gotten it out of my head, or something. Which it actually might have done, but it's back now. Thanks, meme!
Current annoyance: Yeah, see "current mood," I think.
Current thing: Don't even ask me how many books I've bought so far this year. Seriously, don't ask. I'm afraid to count them.
Current desktop picture: I just now switched it over to my traditional December wallpaper, which features a picture of the TARDIS with snow on the roof and a wreath on the door. Maybe this will help put me into a holiday spirit, because said holidays really seem to be sneaking up on me this year.
Current book: Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. Which is just lovely. It's warm and perceptive and dryly funny and romantic even for a deeply non-romantic soul like me, and very, very British. I may be reading it more slowly than I need to because I don't want it to end, which is unheard of for me.
Current song in head: "Sympathy for the Devil." See above.
Current DVD in player: I just finished disc 3 of season one of Once Upon a Time. Somebody I was discussing this show with said he couldn't decide whether it was "a very good bad show or a bad good show," and I have to agree. It's like it's trying to be both good and bad at once, and the result is more than a little weird. I've gotten surprisingly into it by this point though, based, I think, mainly on the fact that Robert Carlyle is amazing in it. I do not know why he isn't starring in every episode. Also, I'm still making my way through season 3 of The Twilight Zone. Most recent episode: "To Serve Man," which makes no logical sense whatsoever on any level, and yet still somehow manages to be a classic piece of television.
Current refreshment: Nothing since I finished my morning coffee. I ought to start thinking about lunch at some point, especially since I have a doctor's appointment to go to at 1:00.
Current worry: That entropy is trying to eat my house again.
Current thought: I have to confess it here: I love my giant new TV. I had no idea it would make me this happy when I got it; I just knew the old one was starting to annoy me. And it's embarrassing to admit, isn't it? It seems like the height of crass materialism to admit that having a large television brings joy to your life. But, oh, such pretty, pretty pictures it makes for me!
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I've watched the first five episodes of Once Upon a Time and had pretty much the same reaction. At first, I was thinking, "Oh wow, this is much better than I was expecting. Maybe all the good things they say about it are true." And then that really didn't pan out. There are a lot of things I like about it, particularly Carlyle -- even when he's way over the top as Rumpelstiltskin, he's great fun and an interesting character. And there are continual hints of back story and complications, and heaven knows I like a lot of the people who are writing and starring in it. But it's basically fairy tale fan fiction, and I'm not exactly eager to keep watching.
ReplyDeleteI may have hit my limit of "not great shows that are still a lot of fun" with The Vampire Diaries. (Say what you will about that show, the plot barrels along.)
Fairy tale fan fiction is fine by me -- a potentially appealing concept, even. Fairy tales are an incredibly rich source material to play around with. But this show's particular take on them often seems to stop short of its creative potential. I often find myself wishing it would get a little less tame, or would at least make up its mind a little better whether it wants to be wholesomely earnest or a nod-and-wink subversion of the familiar stories. And the real-world parts of the show are just too clunky and soap-opera-ish in a lot of ways, to the point where I almost wish they'd dispensed with that idea altogether.
DeleteAnd yet, a lot of it, particularly the backstory stuff, works far better than it seems like it ought to, and the further it goes on -- at least as far as I've watched -- the more clever it gets about playing around with the familiar fairy tale elements in fun and interesting ways.
I will say, though, that it took me more than five episodes to find stuff that I really liked about it. Possibly because it takes until episode eight before they give Carlyle his own episode, and every time they do, I get all happy and excited. But I'm sort of weirdly hooked on it now, almost despite myself. That seems to be happening to me rather a lot these days, with shows that I can't honestly call good, but which manage to capture my attention, anyway.