My internal clock is all fucked up
Jan. 29th, 2006 04:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
itsallovernowI got up at 6:00 a.m. to volunteer for KCRW. I was virtuous and I want praise, for those of you who know me know that I consider 6:00 a.m. to still very much be nightime.
But yeah public radio, and lovely people who supply food for volunteers, and the station for providing special pricing for volunteers who want to subscribe and giving away kickass premiums. And the woman with the Bisenji who called me from the dog park and was shouting "Down, get down" at me while pledging. I couldn't stop giggling due to the whole sleep deprivation thing, 'cause it's not like I went to bed at 10 p.m. or anything reasonable like that.
TV was watched on Friday night.
And dude, my main impression of SG-1 was serious lust over how damned pretty Ben Browder was in his street clothes all lounging on that hospital bed with his sick friend!! Shut up, yeah, it's shallow. Yeah, maybe I'd had a couple of margaritas and it was hard to pay attention to the Jaffa politics. But I enjoyed the ep even if I literally have nothing constructive to say about it aside from, "Yeah, Mitchell left his dying boyfriend to go save his shiny oiled up new Jaffa boyfriend!" I actually liked the dynamics of all of this, even if I was a teeny bit bored with some of the execution. The Jaffa coucil is just so beige and earnest and I kept wondering why Headmaster Charles was running around with a brand on his forehead. I didn't know Conneticut was in Jaffa land. But then, there's was adorably angsty Mitchell and the lounging, and the... wait I already mentioned the lounging twice didn't I. I forget how just... mmm, physically appealing Ben Browder can be, all loose limbed and long legged... and I'll stop now. Remember the sleep deprivation!! Please.
And as for BSG, well, mostly I'll say that the tequila did not at all help me figure out what the hell was going on. (Not plotwise, I followed that). I kept asking myself if we'd ever heard hide or hair of a knocked up girlfriend, or a burdgeoning relationship between Lee and Dualla? Was I supposed to know these things? Was I supposed to care?
For me, the ep suffered from two basic things - it required me to care about Lee and his angst (which I have trouble doing for a variety of reasons) and it took a situation I was very interested in (the way civilians are living and how they relate to the military) and sort of ruined it. We didn't see actual civilian life, or at least it didn't feel like any insight into civilian life that provided insight into the civilians. The black market makes total sense. It was an inevitability, and Lee paying the prostitute with paper money just made me laugh. It's a symptom of what the show does poorly - world building - as opposed to the many other things the show does well. I had absolutely no issues with Lee seeking comfort from the prostitute, in fact I liked that potential idea. But as![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
leadensky said, where the hell is Kara in all of this (not in the sexual sense. I very much understand why they're not having sex), but in the emotional sense. Particularly after the past couple of eps where they've so needed to rely on each other. It's an odd absence, and again didn't serve the story.
Other people have talked in far greater depth about the flaws of this episode, and I have nothing significant to add. I think that completely retconning Lee's past without giving us any prior hint to these issues was a structural mistake. You can't throw something like this in without layering hints, otherwise it smacks of manipulation of the bad kind (we're scifi viewers, we like manipulation, but even better we like to see how we were effectively manipulated). It's not really comparable to The Way We Weren't, but that's an example of brilliant retconning that still fits into the universe as we know it, allows us to slightly change our vision of one of our protaganists, but builds on information we are already carrying around with us.
I very much like Baltar's crankiness and am grateful they're finding something for him to do again, and I like Zarek and his insight and his manipulation and goading of Lee. I really hate that they made him such a bad guy at the begininng of the season instead of someone far more ambiguous than evil because I think it's more interesting to have a voice opposing Roslin and Adama that's a reasonable voice.
I don't think the fact that this episode was such a mixed bag of shoddy storytelling and WTF choices is indicative of anything. All shows have rough episodes. Many shows have spectacular failures. Shrug.
I do, however, find myself a little wary of Moore's running commentary on the shows (and this is entirely without having listened to them). We're dealing with a show in progress, and hearing the "What this is supposed to mean", instead of taking that from the medium itself is a little... bothersome for me. It takes away from the magic of the story (and yes, I can say this utterly without irony having devoured all of the commentaries for Futurama and Farscape), but those are from seasons that are complete, from story arcs that are finished, and it makes a difference on a personal level to see that universe complete before breaking the fourth wall of perception. If the author has to explain the story as it goes, we're either dealing with post-modern performance art, or sloppy storytelling (and depsite this ep, that's not usually one of the show's flaws). The commentaries become part of the story, a seperate narration with equal weight and there's something about that idea that makes me mildly nervous for the story itself. Again, totally IMO because I haven't listened to the commentaries and don't plan on doing so until the season is complete, if at all.
But yeah public radio, and lovely people who supply food for volunteers, and the station for providing special pricing for volunteers who want to subscribe and giving away kickass premiums. And the woman with the Bisenji who called me from the dog park and was shouting "Down, get down" at me while pledging. I couldn't stop giggling due to the whole sleep deprivation thing, 'cause it's not like I went to bed at 10 p.m. or anything reasonable like that.
TV was watched on Friday night.
And dude, my main impression of SG-1 was serious lust over how damned pretty Ben Browder was in his street clothes all lounging on that hospital bed with his sick friend!! Shut up, yeah, it's shallow. Yeah, maybe I'd had a couple of margaritas and it was hard to pay attention to the Jaffa politics. But I enjoyed the ep even if I literally have nothing constructive to say about it aside from, "Yeah, Mitchell left his dying boyfriend to go save his shiny oiled up new Jaffa boyfriend!" I actually liked the dynamics of all of this, even if I was a teeny bit bored with some of the execution. The Jaffa coucil is just so beige and earnest and I kept wondering why Headmaster Charles was running around with a brand on his forehead. I didn't know Conneticut was in Jaffa land. But then, there's was adorably angsty Mitchell and the lounging, and the... wait I already mentioned the lounging twice didn't I. I forget how just... mmm, physically appealing Ben Browder can be, all loose limbed and long legged... and I'll stop now. Remember the sleep deprivation!! Please.
And as for BSG, well, mostly I'll say that the tequila did not at all help me figure out what the hell was going on. (Not plotwise, I followed that). I kept asking myself if we'd ever heard hide or hair of a knocked up girlfriend, or a burdgeoning relationship between Lee and Dualla? Was I supposed to know these things? Was I supposed to care?
For me, the ep suffered from two basic things - it required me to care about Lee and his angst (which I have trouble doing for a variety of reasons) and it took a situation I was very interested in (the way civilians are living and how they relate to the military) and sort of ruined it. We didn't see actual civilian life, or at least it didn't feel like any insight into civilian life that provided insight into the civilians. The black market makes total sense. It was an inevitability, and Lee paying the prostitute with paper money just made me laugh. It's a symptom of what the show does poorly - world building - as opposed to the many other things the show does well. I had absolutely no issues with Lee seeking comfort from the prostitute, in fact I liked that potential idea. But as
leadensky said, where the hell is Kara in all of this (not in the sexual sense. I very much understand why they're not having sex), but in the emotional sense. Particularly after the past couple of eps where they've so needed to rely on each other. It's an odd absence, and again didn't serve the story.Other people have talked in far greater depth about the flaws of this episode, and I have nothing significant to add. I think that completely retconning Lee's past without giving us any prior hint to these issues was a structural mistake. You can't throw something like this in without layering hints, otherwise it smacks of manipulation of the bad kind (we're scifi viewers, we like manipulation, but even better we like to see how we were effectively manipulated). It's not really comparable to The Way We Weren't, but that's an example of brilliant retconning that still fits into the universe as we know it, allows us to slightly change our vision of one of our protaganists, but builds on information we are already carrying around with us.
I very much like Baltar's crankiness and am grateful they're finding something for him to do again, and I like Zarek and his insight and his manipulation and goading of Lee. I really hate that they made him such a bad guy at the begininng of the season instead of someone far more ambiguous than evil because I think it's more interesting to have a voice opposing Roslin and Adama that's a reasonable voice.
I don't think the fact that this episode was such a mixed bag of shoddy storytelling and WTF choices is indicative of anything. All shows have rough episodes. Many shows have spectacular failures. Shrug.
I do, however, find myself a little wary of Moore's running commentary on the shows (and this is entirely without having listened to them). We're dealing with a show in progress, and hearing the "What this is supposed to mean", instead of taking that from the medium itself is a little... bothersome for me. It takes away from the magic of the story (and yes, I can say this utterly without irony having devoured all of the commentaries for Futurama and Farscape), but those are from seasons that are complete, from story arcs that are finished, and it makes a difference on a personal level to see that universe complete before breaking the fourth wall of perception. If the author has to explain the story as it goes, we're either dealing with post-modern performance art, or sloppy storytelling (and depsite this ep, that's not usually one of the show's flaws). The commentaries become part of the story, a seperate narration with equal weight and there's something about that idea that makes me mildly nervous for the story itself. Again, totally IMO because I haven't listened to the commentaries and don't plan on doing so until the season is complete, if at all.
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no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 12:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 01:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 12:44 am (UTC)I don't have much of a problem with the creators providing a running commentary on the show. What I really fear, though, is Ron Moore's use of podcasts as a way to explain things that weren't explained in the text of the show. He's only done it a couple of times in the past, and the explanations have been about fairly minor points, but I'm very nervous about him using them as a crutch. What I see in the show is the text. If you can't show it, and you have to explain it later in supplemental material, then you have failed at the storytelling. This episode? Did not put my mind at ease.
Good for you for volunteering for the pledge! Though 6am is indeed painful.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 01:04 am (UTC)And hee - yeah praise!!
Exactly
Date: 2006-01-30 04:03 am (UTC)Yes. Also? yes.
In writer crit, the thing I am infamous for is yelling at people who say, "well, if you read where it says XYZ..." - I say, quit rereading it at me, you can't make me understand your intent with those words - go find other words!
We also say you're not going to be sitting beside every reader of your work - if it's not clear from the text, your commentary won't make it so.
I love the idea of exploring the choices the writer/director made *afterwards*. But that discussion should not be used to change the story they told me with canon.
- hg
Re: Exactly
Date: 2006-01-30 06:26 am (UTC)Exactly. While I find critique and response endlessly fascinating (I was an English major, I have to have a huge tolerance for wank and running off at the mouth), the text has to stand on it's own.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 12:49 am (UTC)damned pretty Ben Browder was in his street clothes all lounging on that hospital bed with his sick friend!!
umm. total agreement.
*g*
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Date: 2006-01-30 01:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 01:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 03:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 04:07 am (UTC)although, i love the second photo where his friend is watching him sleep. it's such a sweet moment.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 06:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 06:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 07:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 07:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 06:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 06:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 06:41 am (UTC)but hey! i scored an icon out of it.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 12:52 am (UTC)*shudder*
You are noble. Wow.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 01:01 am (UTC)The cat wouldn't even get up with me.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 01:22 am (UTC)it will be intriguing to see how zarek will develop. and how his relationships with everyone else will shift. :)
ps. 6am, yikes. go you!
no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 03:09 am (UTC):::praise:::!
Feel free to coment on the loose limbed, long legged prettiness of Ben Browder, all you like, became, man just the words make me want to lick the screen. Right, just got to go and look at Mesa's pics agin.
Can't really comment on the BSG, just hope I'm not going to hate season 2 when I've seen more ttan 2 or 3 eps....
no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 06:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 03:15 am (UTC)And beyond the paper money, I wanna know where Lee GOT it. He was just carrying a bunch of cash with him that day in case he found some awesome t-shirts at the Galactica gift shop?
The only way I am handwaving Starbuck's absence is the thought that maybe he's still got her as CAG on the Pegasus, and she was Too Busy after Fisk bit the big one. (What I really want is a fic where Starbuck spends 48 hours as the defacto commander of Pegasus, maybe because Fisk hasn't gotten around to appointing an XO yet.)
no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 03:23 am (UTC)um, yeah. I noticed. That did it for me too *g*
okay thea. I'll stop pic spamming your LJ now....
no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 04:46 am (UTC)(And how pleased am I to see Ben working--well--with Reed Diamond, who lives so far with the genre ghetto? Very pleased indeed.)
(Mikey!)
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Date: 2006-01-30 04:59 am (UTC)okay. Just for you...ATP!
*g*
no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 05:10 am (UTC)So cute! Sam with the admitting she told her dad AND Pete! (Although she didn't leave a very valuable and sensitive piece of alien technology unguarded in the room of someone without security clearances...)
no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 06:21 am (UTC)Mostly, I loved that Mitchell's friend clearly knew what was going on because even without Mitchell's huge (yet adorable) security breach, no one appears to be all that great at keeping the secret a real secret:)
And hee, aren't they cute?!!
I don't know what it was about BB or Mitchell in this episode that made me so absolutely fluttery (although Mesa is helping to illustrate some distinct possibilities:)
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Date: 2006-01-30 08:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 06:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 05:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 06:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 06:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-30 06:31 am (UTC)He was just carrying a bunch of cash with him that day in case he found some awesome t-shirts at the Galactica gift shop? Dude, my love for you is now very, very impure.
And I would love to read that fic, and I'm not even reading BSG fic right now!!