Grow Up!

So, you know, I think Star Wars is boring and stupid and people who get obsessed with it are wasting their time, but I don’t go around trolling Star Wars fan sites and articles about George Lucas just so I can tell people how stupid I think they are. I don’t do it for football, either, or Friends, or How I Met Your Mother, or James Patterson’s books, or anything else I dislike. I just accept that I have different taste than people who like those things, and move on.

Why can’t the same courtesy be extended to Twilight fans? Why, on every article about Twilight that shows up this week (and there’ve been quite a few, since Breaking Dawn comes out next weekend), do people feel the need to rant and rave about how stupid Twilight fans are, how we should be forcibly sterilized so we can’t pass our stupidity on to children, how we should all go die in a fire…seriously, why is this okay?

I don’t care if you don’t like Twilight. It’s not for everyone, and I’m not saying no one should ever be allowed to criticize it. I’m just saying don’t get your panties in a twist just because something you aren’t a fan of is popular. Good grief!

Jumbled Entertainment Nonsense

Friday night I was up until 1 in the morning watching the last 6 episodes of Vampire Diaries season 2. I don’t know that I would recommend that sort of thing – I had the strangest dreams I think I’ve ever had, even including the one where I pelted Robert Pattinson with apples while screaming at him, “You’re not Edward!” – but by that point I couldn’t help myself. I got so caught up in the story that going to bed before it was over just wasn’t an option.

I’m a terrible person, but I’m kind of glad that Stefan is off being Evil!Stefan so Elena and Damon can have some time together. Stefan annoys me. I can’t decide if it’s just Paul Wesley, or if it’s Stefan himself, but he’s always so…smug.

And now we transition gracefully into Bollywood with a song from Singham which should win an award for best use of twinkle lights:

I have finally figured out what creeps me out so much about Salman Khan: his body is completely hairless. Yesterday when I was watching Bodyguard he raised his arms in one dance move and I realized he had shaved (or more probably waxed) his armpits, and suddenly it all made sense. Men with no body hair…it’s just kind of gross. Not that I find back hair or overly abundant chest hair attractive, but there should be some hair.

Creepy Salman aside, Bodyguard is actually a fun movie. As you might expect it’s about a bodyguard. Lovely Singh is a very moral, by-the-book sort of guy who puts duty above everything. He’s asked to watch over Divya but, since her father doesn’t want her to know her life is in danger, she just finds Lovely irritating. He gets her out of bed at 4 in the morning to exercise and learn self-defense, and embarrasses her at school. So she and her friend Maya start prank-calling Lovely, pretending to be a girl named Chayya who is in love with him.

Then Divya is attacked at a nightclub and realizes why her father hired a bodyguard for her, and falls in love with Lovely. But he is completely enamored of the fictional Chayya, and thinks of Divya as only the person he’s supposed to protect.

Kareena Kapoor is the best thing about the movie, playing a toned-down version of her old “Poo” character from movies like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and then letting her grow up. She has some of the most gorgeous costumes I’ve seen in a long time, too – so many beautiful salwar kameez sets!

This changes things.

I’ve never thought of myself as a science fiction fan. In fact, if you asked me I would say I hate science fiction. When I started watching Doctor Who I reassured myself that it didn’t mean anything – I was a Doctor Who fan, not a sci-fi fan. Then I watched and loved Firefly – but again, I was just a Firefly fan. I wasn’t turning into some crazy Trekkie.

But I keep adding sci-fi shows to my repertoire, and enjoying them more than a sci-fi hater really should. Roswell. Battlestar Galactica (I gave it another chance on Sunday and found out I really like it). Last night I even watched the new Star Trek movie and LIKED IT, and requested the first couple seasons of the show from the library.

I don’t think I can call myself a sci-fi hater anymore.

10. What author do you own the most books by and why?

Elizabeth Peters, just because she’s written more than other authors I like.

11. Do you own multiple copies of any book? What are they? Why do you have multiple copies?

I have three copies of Nine Coaches Waiting. It’s my favorite book, and since there’ve been quite a few editions I can never decide which cover I like best, so I just keep buying them.

12. Book borrowing -– do you use the library? Do you prefer to try before you buy? What about lending your books to friends? Are you a good borrower, do you remember to return books?

One of the perks of working at a library is having access to books before the customers, so yes, I do use it. A lot. Right now there are 21 items on my request list, and 7 checked out.

There are a few authors whose books I buy without reading first – Stephenie Meyer, Colleen Houck, C.A. Belmond, Hester Browne – and every once in a while I’ll buy something that the library doesn’t have. But for the most part I want to make sure I’m going to like a book enough to read it multiple times before I buy it.

I’ll lend books to friends if it’s not something I’m obsessed with keeping clean and beautiful.

I am a good borrower, I guess. I never have overdue books.

13. Do you reread a lot? Why (not)? Name a book you have reread many times.

Yes. I don’t know whether a book is really a favorite until I’ve read it at least twice – things I overlooked before stand out more when I’m not just racing to the end to find out what happens.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I’ve read it at least 15 times.

Also.

There is this typewriter.

It’s $300 even on sale, but it’s PINK, and the guy selling it has named it Emily. (No, I don’t know why he’s naming his typewriters.)

Clearly we are meant to be together. Alas, my stinginess might keep us apart.

Day 7, etc.

Theoretically, if one was to start watching Star Trek, where would one start? I’m not saying it’s going to happen, I’m just curious. In case.

I tried to watch the first episode of Farscape last night – I have a couple friends who rave about it – but it was too cheesy and fakey for me. Then I tried Battlestar Galactica (things were actually checked in at the library for a change) and…I don’t know. I can see how it would be good, and why people would like it, but – and this is based solely on the first 20 minutes or so of one episode – I don’t think it’s really my thing.

If you like either of those shows and feel like trying to convince me otherwise, feel free!

07. What fictional character are you (secretly) in love with?

Ha! There are about 80 guys I could list here, because I seem to make a habit of falling in love with fictional characters.

There are worse things I could do with my time. I could be robbing banks or something.

So here’s my latest fictional crush: Kishan, from Colleen Houck’s Tiger series. He’s an Indian prince from the 1600s who spent over 300 years cursed to live as a tiger with only 24 minutes a day as a man, until Kelsey Hayes and his brother Dhiren (“Ren”) break part of the curse and win 6 hours of the day back for them. He’s rakish but gentlemanly, and blames himself for the curse because if he hadn’t fallen in love with his brother’s fiance and gone to her father about breaking the engagement, he and Ren would never have fallen into the would-be father-in-law’s clutches and been turned into tigers. He’s not as sweet and thoughtful and romantic as Ren – he’s more likely to grab a girl and kiss her, where Ren would ask permission first – but I adore him. If only he was real…

Okay, if he was real I’d still have to deal with him being technically 7 years younger than me, and he’d be all hung up on Kelsey and probably wouldn’t look twice at me, but that’s why fictional crushes are great: you don’t have to worry about that sort of thing!

“What if you didn’t have to be dead?” “Well, that would be preferable.”

I always say that Doctor Who is my favorite show, but I think I might need to change that to Pushing Daisies. I’ve been rewatching the first season and I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

I love the Doctor and Rose, too, but in a more passive way. I love to watch their adventures but I don’t really want to live in a world where creepy aliens could try to kill me or destroy my planet at any moment. :-/ (Though I would love a pet Dalek. As long as it was tamed somehow.) I do, on the other hand, want very much to be part of the Pushing Daisies world. I want to tag along with Ned and Chuck and Emerson while they solve mysteries. I want to eat at The Pie Hole. I want to steal Chuck’s entire wardrobe. I want to live in Lily and Vivian’s house, or at least Olive’s awesome floral-print apartment! I love the whimsical, colorful, retro-but-modern world they all live in, the quirky names and quirkier characters. It’s surprisingly cozy and cheerful for a show with at least one dead body in every episode, and I love that juxtaposition.

The only thing I hate about Pushing Daisies is that it was canceled. What sort of heartless, mean-spirited jerk would cancel a show that was so fun and witty and well-written? There were so many questions still to be answered, and a five-minute “this is what happened next” montage at the end doesn’t cut it.

“It’s me you love, not him!”

Everyone knows the Vicar of Dibley ended up marrying Mr. Thornton…but it wasn’t her first wedding.

At least I can imagine the guy looks like Prabhas…

I said this on Facebook yesterday and then I remembered that most of my Downton Abbey watching friends aren’t on Facebook. So.

Am I the only person who is completely underwhelmed by Downton Abbey?

Everywhere I go online I find people raving about it, but I watched three episodes and didn’t see what all the fuss is about, beyond the gorgeous costumes and sets.

Oh well. It’s not the first time I’ve disliked something everyone else thought was wonderful.

This book, for example.

I wouldn’t say that everyone loves it – there are quite a few negative reviews on Goodreads – but I have found all sorts of reviews saying how amazing it is, so I went ahead and bought a copy a few weeks ago.

It is…well, I can’t really say it’s bad, because the story itself is enjoyable. But the writing…

I felt the little love plant inside me stretch, swell, and unfurl its leaves, like he was pouring Love Potion #9 over the thing. I gave up at that point and decided what the heck. I could always use a rototiller on it. And I rationalized that when he breaks my heart, at least I will have been thoroughly kissed.

That’s the one that made me laugh hardest, but there are so many examples I could have used of the awkward dialogue, the forcing of information into someone’s thoughts or conversation, the way she changes tenses in the middle of a paragraph. I wonder if it was initially written in first-person present-tense, and she missed some parts when she changed to past-tense? But an editor should have caught that. An editor should have caught a lot. The book reads like a first draft.

And, well…I’m hardly an expert on Indian names, but I don’t think someone named Dhiren would have a nickname like “Ren”, would he? It’d be Dhiru or something like that, right? Ren sounds Japanese.

“Don’t go to America.”

I’m sure everyone who cares has seen this already, but just in case, I thought it was too funny not to share:

Last Wednesday I had a dentist appointment, and Monday and Tuesday just flew by. This Wednesday I have the day off, and I feel like Monday’s never going to end. And it’s only 8 a.m.

My brother has gotten me addicted to Top Gear – the British version, which is superior to the American version in every way, as most things are, let me just make clear – and now we go around quoting it at every opportunity. So if we meet in person and I suddenly turn to you and say, in a terrible British accent, “Hammond is a secret American,” or, “So you’re saying this car would be better…if it was worse?” well…you can blame Steve.

This post brought to you by You Tube

Having finished season 5 of Doctor Who, I have to eat a few of my words from my last post. I loved the last 3 episodes, and not just because it was nice, for a change, not to be sniffling and hunting for kleenexes during the season finale. I loved Davies, but he was a little too obsessed with the tear-jerker endings. And Rory was awesome. And Amy. And even River Song stopped annoying me and I could finally see how she could be tolerable. So there you go. I still think the lizard people were boring, and the angels this season were disappointing, but we can’t have everything.

And now for a bunch of YouTube videos, since I have nothing else to say.

“Lonely’s Lunch” by You Say Party – I’m not sure what the video has to do with the song, but I love it.

“Apology” by Safetysuit – I saw this used for a Doctor Who video, which wasn’t very good, but I liked the song.

I don’t know that I would have thought to combine Florence and the Machine with North and South, but somehow it works.

“Mahi” from Raaz 2, a movie I have no interest in except for this song.

One more: “Humko Deewana Kar Gaye”, from the movie of the same name. Ridiculous movie, great soundtrack.

Don’t Blink.

So I’ve been getting caught up on Doctor Who now that season 5 is on dvd, and I’m not really loving it.

I don’t think it’s anyone’s fault but my own – yes I miss David Tennant, but Matt Smith does fine, and Amy is a perfectly likeable companion. I was never a fan of Steven Moffat’s writing but he hasn’t ruined the show for me or anything. I just don’t feel as emotionally invested in the characters anymore. It’s the way I felt during season 3 – when are we going to get back to the real Doctor Who?

Don’t get me wrong; Russell T Davies had plenty of episodes that made me think he was off his rocker, but whatever his faults he did create the Doctor I loved, and Rose, and Donna, so though I might roll my eyes and cringe a bit at some episodes, I usually forgave him in the end.

Steven Moffat, on the other hand…who’s he given us? Captain Sleazeball (to be fair, I don’t know that he was Moffat’s invention. It’s possible Davies created him and Moffat just wrote the episodes that introduced him.), the supremely annoying River Song who is somehow supposed to be the Doctor’s one true love, and the Weeping Angels, who everyone brings up when they find out you don’t like Moffat. “But what about Blink? It was such a great episode!”

Well, yeah, it was definitely one of the bright spots of season 3, but in the grand scheme of Doctor Who episodes I wouldn’t include it among my favorites. And then when Moffat brings the Angels back for season 5, he changed them so that they might as well not be the Weeping Angels anymore.

The great thing about the Weeping Angels in Blink was that they were, for the most part, a benign menace. If they touch you you’re sent to some other point in time. So yes, technically they “kill” you in the present, but only because you’re sent back and have to live out your life in a different time. It’s creepy but they’re not the type of monsters that cause bodily harm. In the new season, though, it’s like all those rules have been thrown out the window. Now you can’t look an angel in the eye because it will get inside your mind. Now if an angel touches you it snaps your neck and then borrows your voice to communicate. And apparently the “trap them into looking at each other because then they’ll never be able to move” solution doesn’t work anymore, because these angels had no problem sneaking up on people in a circular formation. There’s not even one mention of the earlier time-transport problem. And, you know, I could have bought it if they’d even thrown in a five-second explanation like “On earth this is what they do to you, but on this planet their effect is different,” or in any way explained away the change. But they don’t.

This is probably the first time since season 3 that I’ve been bored enough during an episode of Doctor Who that I almost turned it off and decided not to continue. I can’t remember the episode names, but the two-parter with the lizard people was a whole lot of nothing. All this build-up in the first half: what’s down there? Where are the people it took? What’s stealing bodies out of graves? And then the second half is completely anti-climactic. It’s the first time I could understand why some people think of Doctor Who as a kid’s show.

I don’t know what my point is in all this. I guess I just needed to rant a bit, since I don’t have anyone to talk to in real life about it and I’ve been driving myself crazy.

Crazy Kitty is Crazy

This morning I reached out to pet my cat and she went into an absolute frenzy of licking at the spot where I’d touched. She was so frantic that she didn’t even notice when she rolled off the dresser onto the floor, just kept licking. Then she stopped, shook herself, glowered at me, and stalked off into the closet.

Cats are weird.

I decided last night to jump right in to Season 7 of MI-5, or Spooks as it’s known in England. I chose season 7 because of a certain Mr. Armitage joining the cast.

The part of me that always wants to do things in order was horrified at my skipping 6 seasons, but once I started watching I was glad I had – I can’t imagine liking the show without Richard Armitage to keep me interested. It’s not bad, it’s just not something I’d be interested in without someone handsome to look at, and I’ve never fallen for Rupert Penry-Jones the way everyone else has. So…yeah. And I find it funny how many Serious and Patriotic speeches everyone makes before deciding what action to take. Surely these people knew when they were hired that the job would involve danger and risk? Do they really need a motivational speech about Queen and Country every time they are required to do their job? It’s a bit silly.

The weather continues to drive me crazy. Last week it was very nearly cold a few days in a row, so I had a weekend all planned to take advantage – apple cider donuts at the Farmer’s Market and everything! Then it got hot again. So I’m still waiting for a chance to wear my cute new sweater from Target. Soon, I hope.

Day 3: Your Favorite Television Program

“Television program” instead of TV show? My, aren’t we snooty today!

This is late because I stayed home today, and now I’m using my parents’ computer while I do laundry. I think I’ve caught my sister’s cold. How annoying.

My Favorite Television Program is probably, though I could cheerfully strangle Russell T. Davies after certain episodes, Doctor Who. There are some I find more emotionally satisfying, or more entertaining, or less cheesy, but I can’t think of any characters I’ve been as emotionally attached to as The Doctor and Rose.

Lots of planets have a north!

I’ve started watching Doctor Who again from the beginning — well, from the beginning of the new series, with Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor. Partly because I was disgruntled with the way season 4 ended — both Journey’s End and The End of Time, which was really just an extension of Journey’s End if you want to get technical — and partly because I was feeling nostalgic for the good old days when it was the Doctor and Rose and there wasn’t all this angst about everything. And to remind myself that Russell T. Davies used to know how to write a good episode. And because the first three seasons all happened, by some serendipitous circumstance, to be checked in at the library at the same time.

It really makes me laugh now to remember how I used to resist watching Doctor Who. Not that I had a lot of people telling me to watch it, but every once in a while I’d come across a mention of it in a book or another TV show, or I’d see one of the series tie-in books come in at the library, and I’d scoff at Billie Piper’s hair and think, “What a silly looking show.” But then I started reading Heidi’s blog and she was a big fan, and it gradually wore me down. I can’t remember now what finally got me — it was either her comment that “Rose’s hair is frequently the most terrifying part of the show” or quoting the Doctor’s line, “I could save the world but lose you,” but I finally gave in (I think knowing that the Doctor eventually turned into David Tennant helped a bit as well) and watched and was hooked from the first episode.

I didn’t think I’d like Christopher Eccleston at first. In fact for a while I thought about skipping season one and heading straight for season two, but the part of me that insists on doing everything in order wouldn’t let me. And he completely won me over (the northern accent helped), so much so that when his last episode came, I wasn’t ready for him to go. I wanted more, darn it! I love his mix of childlike glee and dark moodiness. And his leather jacket.

Rose is and always was my favorite companion. I see a lot of bloggers who hate her, who call her selfish and rant about her feelings for the Doctor being given too much importance. Most of them are huge Martha fans, and don’t seem to think there was anything wrong with Martha’s crush on the Doctor taking up part of most of her episodes…but I digress. Rose is delightful, and no one can tell me otherwise. That “us against the universe”, carefree flitting through time and space relationship she and the Doctor develop is one of my favorite parts of the show, and one of the reasons I keep trying to rewrite her ending for myself. She deserves better than being tossed back into that stupid parallel world with a copy of the Doctor as a consolation prize. But I digress. Again.

You know who I really love and think is highly underrated? Mickey. He shows up at first as Rose’s “ordinary bloke” boyfriend, but over the course of the series he develops from comic relief/sometime plot device into a really great character. Dear people scoffing at him saying he’s “not good enough” for your precious Martha — have you even noticed him since the first episode? Mickey is hardly the gormless loser you want to think.

Um. This is getting really long, and I just meant to write a little blurb about rewatching. So…Doctor Who. I love it, and you should, too. Yeah. I’m shutting up now. Here’s my favorite Doctor/Rose fanvideo to demonstrate why it’s awesome.