conuly | Entries tagged with tv

And it seems there are tons of episodes I missed before. This might not have been a bad thing, but I persevere. I need something to do when cooking dinner aside from sitting on the girls about their homework.

I'm up to the first episode where Sisko, Dax, and Bashir get sent back to dystopian America and stuck in a sanctuary district, also known as "forty minutes of Bashir getting a history lesson". And apparently this is a two parter! Ye gods.

This episode raises many, many questions with me, such as "did Bashir just sleep through this class back in high school?" and "if they're so concerned about interfering with history, shouldn't they be more discreet about reading the textbook aloud in front of others?" and "shouldn't they be slightly more concerned about the loss of their communicators? Dax had the good sense to call it a brooch" and "wasn't history totally different in Kirk's time? If it was, doesn't that imply that TOS really is in an alternate universe from the rest of them? And yet, despite that, the two timelines seem to have nearly merged by Kirk's time, because the second universe has the same Kirk doing at least some of the same things. It seems like the risks of messing with history have been overhyped if it's possible to bypass an enormous war and still end up in the same place" and, last but most definitely not least, "say, what IS the preachiest Trek episode ever? Because I'm only partway through this one, and even considering that I know little about TOS (which is great, because we've just established that that's a totally different continuity anyway), this one has GOT to be a contender for that title."

I'm going to keep watching. I hope to make Swedish meatballs for dinner, and I can use the distraction from the fact that I have no idea what I'm doing.

Current Mood: Headache

She also saw her very first few episodes of Psych recently. As a fan of both shows, I am watching her progress on Netflix with great amusement.

Help us settle something. Who is smarter, Adrian Monk or Shawn Spencer? I won't cloud the results by telling you that the correct answer is Shawn, because truly, we need your honest opinions.

And early this morning, until the cats came up to find out why I wasn't in bed yet. I tried putting them outside, but some kind soul let them in five minutes later and I didn't want to ask them not to at three in the morning.

While I cleaned (and it was urgent, believe me), I watched DS9 on Netflix. Truly, it is the best Trek, though I've always preferred Voyager's theme song. I'm up to the episode where Sisko and O'Brien get stuck on the forcibly low tech planet with the obsessed cult leader. I've never understood the premise of this. It seems like on Star Trek, humans and others colonize new planets every day. There seems to be an unending supply of habitable planets that conveniently are not already habited, and terraforming makes that supply even more unending. Plus, from the rate of colonization, even if we limit ourselves to no more than one small colony per planet (which seems more than enough space for even a larger colony!), you have to imagine that the population of humans on earth and established planets has got to still be up there in the billions. Otherwise, why would they colonize so aggressively?

So, to believe this episode, we have to believe that in order to found her low tech paradise she had to resort to trickery and sabotage? She couldn't honestly find enough low tech enthusiasts to go live in the past with her, she had to take people who, having no interest in living this way, perforce had no skills? And had to learn them all from scratch?

I don't believe it. I don't believe that in a whole galaxy of humans, billions or more, she couldn't found a colony the way she wanted without cheating. Hell, even if her main impetus was plain sociopathy and the desire to be the center of everything it probably still would've been easier to do it without lying.

Also, this is the episode that reminds me that Star Trek's economy makes no damn sense. It's the ubiquity of replicators that gets me, every time.

Current Mood: cheerful

And when I say "recently" I mean "several times over the past few days". I tend to fixate on things like that. As a child, it wasn't at all unusual for me to read the same book three or four or more times in a row, and then pick it up again a few weeks later to repeat the process (and that's why I have parts of A Little Princess memorized).

Anyway, this has gotten me thinking about Penny's last words. Thinking about them more than just "God, Joss Whedon really sucks", that is. Am I the only one who thinks that maybe Penny was intentionally trying to twist the knife there? I mean, she'd just watched her boyfriend humiliate her and insult all the people in the room (people she works with and cares about) and her friend-friend went nuts and shot up the place, incidentally injuring her in the process. I mean, I don't know, it just seems like if there's ever a chance to be a little bit vindictive, that's the time. A lifetime of suppressed bitchiness coming out right at the end, to somebody who whole-heartedly deserves it - I'd do it. Wouldn't you? You're supposed to lie and be nice to dying people, but dying people get to do what they want consequence-free, don't they?

I need to find a new hobby, I think.

And on the subject of hobbies, I think we've worked out that centaurs probably don't work and humans can't fly, but mermaids are still on the table, right? (Borrowers and Tinkerbell-type fairies are right out, of course. Too small. Maybe if they were chubby and furry like mice? But then they'd effectively BE mice, wouldn't they?)

Current Mood: cheerful

Even though it irks me that there is exactly one female character on this show, the lead's fiancee (and she barely shows up except as somebody he ought to dump for her safety). I mean, really, there's no excuse for that.

But I keep watching it for two reasons.

1. Due to the near total lack of women on the show, the slash pretty much writes itself.

I mean, seriously, watch this clip and tell me you didn't immediately think of a dozen ways to fit in that little bit of information into varying levels of smut.

2. I'm waiting with bated breath in hopes that they'll find a way to reference Grimm's Law on the show. It's pretty unlikely, I admit, but I'd be very annoyed if they did and I missed it. This may be the geekiest thing I've said all year.

Current Mood: weird

(Something's going around.)

So, since I have the week off, I vegged and watched TV. In a fit of misplaced nostalgia I decided to watch some Nick, and this is how I found out that George Takei apparently got roped into doing a show called Supah Ninjas. I'd say it's better than it sounds, but that's not really saying much. Over at TVTropes they say a lot more.

In other, slightly less surreal news (I'm still not sure how they got George Takei! Is he having money troubles?) there is apparently a dating site for Objectivists. No, don't laugh.

Also, my sister found $1,000 in her room. Not today, but still.

Current Mood: cheerful

And Psych.

Monk was good, as always, but not one of my favorite episodes.

Psych, now...

I like that show, I think. Mostly because it's a lot like watching a grown-up version of Bruno and Boots, but with creepy photographic memory and powers of observation. What's not to love?

Oh, and went, of course, to Drumming Circle, wherein I managed to convince Ms. Picky-Eater Deniz to try some raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries, on the grounds that she couldn't not like them if she'd never tried them.

Surprisingly, even though she tried the raspberries first and didn't like them (She had the misfortune to get two bad ones, and I felt really guilty over that), she went on to try and pretty-much-like some blueberries and strawberries.

Really, I think it's just a stage she'll grow out of, but she's very annoying to be around when you're trying to share some good food with everyone. And it bothers her mom, so if we can get her to eat a wider variety of food in a friendly, very-little-pressure manner, it's all for the best.

Current Mood: cheerful

And I think it's a step in the right direction for them.

Honestly, I'd even be willing to pay a small fee for shows I *really* liked, if I could watch them sans ads and still be supporting the people who made them. Being able to download when I want, even with ads - and know I'm not doing anything "evil and wrong" - that's good.