The Fine Line of Zooey D

 

I used to really like Zooey Deschanel. I think she’s a good actress, smart and funny. I followed her website Hello Giggles! and enjoyed her performances in films. I got annoyed when people didn’t like her as Summer in (500) Days of Summer, when they said she was a bitch or messed Tom around. To me they missed the point. We never got to see Summer through her own eyes, she was a fragment of a character, only seen through Tom’s. When he loved her we did, and when he disliked her, so did we. It’s not her story, it’s Tom’s. She’s quite up front with him about her feelings. She doesn’t believe in love, doesn’t want a relationship. I was a little invested.

So I thought I’d really enjoy her new TV series, New Girl. I’d read fairly decent reviews, though of course they added the caveat that how much you enjoy the show will depend on how much you like Zooey D.  After watching the first two episodes, I totally get that. It’s great that there’s a sitcom with a female lead, and that it’s doing well, but does she have to be that girl? The one who can’t really function? The one who needs men to protect her and can’t really stand up for herself? The one that prefers to act like a little girl, rather than a grown up? I admit, I’m not always the most together person, but I don’t walk around making big eyes at everyone, pouting and singing. I know that in last night’s episode, Jess eventually got mad at her ex and got her stuff back, but god, have some backbone. And I used to live with girls who sang and it drove me mad. (They were opera singers so doing scales at 7 am on a Saturday had a point, but it didn’t make it any less annoying.)

I preferred her earlier roles in Almost Famous and The Good Girl, when she was more edgy had less ‘kook’. Those characters had bite, used sarcasm and were fairly deadpan. They didn’t waft around twirling their skirts and sobbing to themselves on the sofa while watching Dirty Dancing. Yes, a lot of ladies do that when heartbroken, or some equivalent, but that’s the best you can do? You can’t come up with another way to show her as a well rounded character? The fact that she’s a teacher is actually quite terrifying. How on Earth does she control the kids, surely they walk all over her? A lot of this could be overlooked some if the show were even remotely funny, but I didn’t crack a smile during the last episode until the very end, and that was due to Schmidt. I’m just a little over the so cute you could die aspect of it. If her character could be a little more together, a little less zany, and more a complete and true person, I could maybe keep going with it. But at the moment I just want to grab her and shake her.

 

Where You Lead, I Will Follow. Except Here

Months ago the folks over at Pajiba wrote a post about TV love triangles and who we like best…hang on, I can probably find it…here! The comments section mostly degenerated into a ‘who do you like better’ in regards to love interests for the Gilmore Girls. I felt the need to write out my own views in depth in a place that was mine, and not in a comment section filled with ‘Dean is a tool’ and ‘Jess all the way!’ This led to me watching the first season of GG again, and then it carried on so I could cover the whole spectrum of Rory’s love interests, and I watched the entire run. And this, right here, is the definitive account of who was the better boy. In my oh so humble opinion.

Please just love me Rory

Dean
Season one Dean is basically perfect. If you were 16 and a ridiculous tall, sweet, good looking guy started talking to you, skulking in your shrubbery to give you HAND MADE jewellery and noticed what you read and got your obscure references, holy hell you’d love him too. Right? It can’t be just me. They talk about books and bands they like. He kissed her in the market and stood up for her ‘honour’ (it’d be nice if she did that for herself, but if I were 16, I’d love it too). Actually that’s maybe the problem. I relate immensely to Rory in season one. Her quietness and love of reading and not really being noticed by boys. Except I didn’t have a Dean, and so I live vicariously through a fictional character.

Sadly season one Dean disappears as soon as Jess arrives. He forgets how to read, to like music, to have a life of his own, or really do anything other than fret over Rory and mope about her feelings for him. Who wouldn’t feel suffocated? And later still poor Dean is relegated to a hick who will never make it out of Stars Hollow. Didn’t his family come from Chicago? Why does he have to be stuck? Way harsh Amy Sherman-Palladino, way harsh.

(Sidebar: Why did Rory and Dean never have sex? I mean when they’re first together. They’re together for two years and it never really even gets mentioned (except for that misunderstanding about the dance). And then she’s with Jess for about two months and thinking about it. Why? Cos he’s a ‘bad boy’? And Dean was a ‘good boy’? I really shouldn’t analyse this so much. I love the show but I’m starting to wonder about its messages.)

Hey Mary

Tristan
He’s basically the first version of Jess, there to cause friction between Rory and Dean and perhaps be an alternative, but of course Chad Whatsisface left to go play basketball and the show needed a new, troubled, brooding soul to appeal to Rory. Tristan had touches of almost-sweetness, but he was mostly annoying. But of course it was because he liked Rory.

No lie, it took five attempts for my computer to accept a photo of Jess

Jess
Oh god I cannot be objective about this. My hatred for Jess lingers from the first time I watched the show and he broke up Rory and Dean. He is such a whiny, ungrateful douche. I get that he’s supposed to be tormented or whatever, and that all girls allegedly want a a bloke that’s a bit broken so that they can ‘fix’ him and be the only one to understand him (because that’s healthy) but GAH! I want to smack him in his face and tell him that really, in the grand scheme of things, his life isn’t all that hard. So you had to move to a small town and your parents are pretty crap. Boo frickin hoo. Get over it and appreciate the fact that people care about you and want to see you do well.

In contrast to Dean, Jess doesn’t call, he gets into trouble and then he leaves town without even saying goodbye. So they can talk about books, that’s not the only thing to build a relationship on. Hey Rory, my boyfriend hardly ever reads the same books I do, we manage to find other things to talk about it.

I actually do like later seasons Jess, when he comes back and tells Rory to get over herself and get back to Yale. He’s sorted his life out and seems generally ok.

Just what is going on with this shirt?

Logan
I have to say, I kinda liked him on my first viewing. He was smart and funny, and linked to the whole ‘cool/fun’ side of money. But on later viewings I realised I didn’t particularly like Rory when she was with him. She’s all silly and girly – that scene where she gives him her notes in the hopes of getting a date makes me cringe – and that whole weeping on the bathroom floor because he doesn’t like her, it’s really quite pathetic. And then there’s that awful thing where she’s watching Duck Soup with Marty and Logan shows up and they go out for food which Marty can’t afford. He’s humiliated and has to borrow money off Rory and she just doesn’t give a shit really. It’s obvious Marty would rather poke out his eyes than hang out with those people, and she’s just giddy Logan came by and deigned to show her attention. Rory, you are a shitty friend and Marty would have been way better for you. Except for later on when he goes all weird with his other girlfriend.

And I know she has to grow up and change, but she starts using this really annoying voice (and whoever does the wardrobe for season six should be shot. Rory’s outfits are fine enough, but they don’t fit her body shape at all) and just generally bugs me. I don’t like feeling like that about her.

So season one Dean wins, but then he goes off the rails, and Rory never really has another decent match. I like to think she ended up with someone better than all of these guys. Maybe one day we’ll get that Gilmore Girls special and see, eh?

What’s 17 in TV years?

I am moving on Sunday. My room looks like a bomb has gone off, though I like to think I know where everything is I imagine over the next week or so of living out of a suitcase at Max’s I will discover differently. But this isn’t a post about moving, it’s a goodbye. Part of moving in with Max involves promising that my tv, my ancient, much loved, tiny tv, is not coming with us. Because this is my current entertainment set up:

Hi Rory!

That tv is 17 years old. I got it for Christmas when I was 13. It’s so old that the only way to connect to a vcr (yes I still use video) is by the aerial, and the only way to play a dvd is through the video. It’s a very complicated mess of wires and scart leads back there, but it works. This tv has moved with me many times. The first shortly after that Christmas when we left my dad and it was our only tv sitting in the kitchen among our furniture of deck chairs and the little camping fridge. Possibly the very last dad-like thing the father did was to help tune in the channels on that there tv.

It didn’t come to university with me since I couldn’t really afford the licence, but it came to London, obviously, and moved from Highbury to Hatfield to Finsbury Park to Stoke Newington. Each time I set it back up I’d expect it to have died on the journey, but each time it didn’t let me down. It loses sound every now and then, and picture, but a jiggle of the scart leads usually sorts that out. And there’s the flickering…but really, considering its age, it’s not doing too badly. But it’s time to go.

Tomorrow I’ll be getting rid of it. Poor little blighter. I’m moving on to bigger and better things:

Max’s 40 inch mega tv.

It’s the kind of tv you can’t look at for too long without your eyes going funny, and I know that when I watch Gilmore Girls on it it will be like watching a play, because all the scenery looks fake and weird. And I bet it doesn’t last 17 years, but it’ll do.

The Vampire Diaries: Series Two

After falling in love (obsession) with Series One, I quickly went to Itunes to find Series Two and, since I was a little behind, got to watch many, many episodes back-to-back, which is now my favourite way of watching anything. Having to wait a week, or longer, between episodes is torture these days. And what an excellent series this turned out to be. It actually entertained me more than the first one, which I hadn’t thought possible and is a welcome change to a lot of shows that go down hill sharpish.

Warning: There shall be spoiler talk from here on in.

We’re back in Mystic Falls with the reappearance of the wicked Katherine and what she might mean for Elena’s relationship with both brothers. The overall arc of this series is her return, as well as the Sun and Moon curse and the arrival of the Originals. The curses concerns both vampires and werewolves, mortal enemies, and if either side breaks it the other will be doomed to live as they are forever – unable to come out in the sun or bound by the moon. Elena is pivotal to the removal of the curse. The Originals are the world’s oldest vampires, looking to break the curse also.

There are some shocks right from the start, as Katherine makes Caroline a vampire. I hadn’t expected that, which became a theme for the series. One of the best things about this show is its ability to surprise me. They’re not afraid to kill people off, and keep them dead, unlike so many other shows (*cough* Heroes *cough*) and it does keep me on edge, knowing most of the characters are fair game, either for death or other extremely unpleasant things coming their way. I’m beginning to lose interest in the vampire/werewolf connection, but I thought it was used well here to benefit the storyline and the characters, and develop both. It was a nice touch to get a more vulnerable side to Tyler and an explanation as to why he can be such a dick. His relationship with Caroline was very sweet, and bordered on heart-breaking as the series progressed. I’d really liked Caroline and Matt, but Tyler threw a spanner in the works with that. I liked them together.

It was also nice to get some more vampire lore – the Originals, the seemingly unkillable and evil Elijah and his brother, the mysterious Klaus. The flashbacks aren’t overused and are welcome as they give much more understanding of what’s going on in the present and how the past affects the characters. I liked that we got some sort of explanation for why Elena and Katherine are identical, and Katherine’s back story gave us greater insight into Stefan and Damon, and tied in nicely to the first series with Stefan as the bad guy and Lexie sorting him out. Darker Stefan is intriguing, though not exactly anything new – we’ve seen the brooding vampire with a soul lose his soul before, after all – but Paul Wesley plays it well.

Elena and Stefan finally have the conversation that has been missing since the beginning, namely what their relationship is and how far can it go, and she admits she doesn’t want to be a vampire. This makes a refreshing change from so much fiction where the teenage girl is desperate to become like her love. There was a very touching moment where Elena says she wants to grow up, maybe have children, grow old. It doesn’t really touch upon what that means for them but it doesn’t matter at that point, as she thinks she will become a vampire. Both actors were wonderful in this scene.

And as we neared the finale there were more shocks in store, with Jenna being made a vampire, Matt and Caroline’s mother knowing her secret, and the deaths of Jenna and John. The final showdown between Klaus and our heroes was excellent, putting everyone in danger, but I did feel a little let down by the finale itself. After all the deaths the in previous episode the fake out death of Jeremy had little emotional impact, even if it does set up bigger things for next season. And we saw Elijah despatched, again. That’s getting old. There were some nice moments with Damon and Elena and his bite induced flashbacks to Katherine. He and Elena shared a nice moment where he asked forgiveness and wished he could be better, and there was the little kiss that Elena thought meant goodbye. And then there’s Stefan, giving his all to save his brother and make up for his part in making Damon a vampire in the first place. He joins Klaus to get a cure for the werewolf bite and drinks a hell of a lot of blood at Klaus’ bidding, to get back to being evil Stefan (who used to slaughter whole towns apparently).

The aftermath of Jenna’s death felt badly done though. All the ‘let’s just get through today’ platitudes. They lost their main caregiver and two remaining family members in Jenna and John, can we take a bit more time to get over that, to deal with the impact it will have on their lives? Not just the grief but the mundane – who is going to look after them, what are they going to say about Jenna? This all may be dealt with next season and they may be setting Alaric up as the new guardian, but a nod to all this would have been nice.

All in all though it was an excellent season let down a little bit by the finale. I still can’t wait for the next series.

The Vampire Diaries: Series One

When I first heard they were doing a show based on The Vampire Diaries books I rolled my eyes a fair bit. Because of course they were. Let’s have yet another vampire based show we can throw at the masses, just what we need! All hail the bandwagon. But my teenage self was curious, since I knew of LJ Smith from my Point Horror/Christopher Pike days and had enjoyed her books (though hadn’t read these particular ones), and figured maybe one day I might give it a go. It might not be half bad. I was sure it’d be no Christopher Pike’s The Last Vampire (and when does that get its own show, hmm?) of course.

Elena Gilbert lives in the small town of Mystic Falls (you know weird shit is gonna happen in a place like that) and is about to return to school after a summer coming to terms with the loss of her parents in a tragic accident she barely survived. Her younger brother Jeremy is dealing with it by turning to drugs and ‘bad’ girls, but Elena is determined to stay positive. It doesn’t hurt when she meets the handsome Stefan Salvatore and he shows an interest. Complications arise when Stefan’s brother Damon appears and starts causing trouble for the lovebirds. You see, the Salvatore brothers are vampires, some 150 years old and the sons of one of the founding fathers of Mystic Falls. The founding fathers who banded together to rid their town of the blight of vampires and in doing so, sentencing 20+ vampires to an eternity trapped in a tomb where they slowly decay, including Damon’s beloved Katherine. Who was also Stefan’s Katherine, who turned them both and played them against each other. Katherine who also happened to be Elena’s ancestor and by some quirk of nature identical. So it’s your run of the mill centuries old love triangle with vampires and doubles.

The first few episodes are fairly standard as it sets the scene and introduces us to the characters. There are some excellent opening shots of people being viciously attacked, but for the most part it’s not breaking much new ground. A few episodes in, however, and it finds its stride, managing to make us care about the characters while keeping us intrigued by building a larger mystery surrounding the vampires in the tomb and the town’s founding families. Who knows what exactly, and what are they going to do with that information? What I especially liked was that it’s not a show that spoon feeds you information; surprising plot points aren’t telegraphed three episodes in advance, they are genuinely unexpected, and characters who may appear totally one note actually have a lot that they’re hiding. The past is not revealed to us in one big info-dump, the show takes its time to explore exactly how the brothers became vampires, and the consequences of that. It’s nice to watch a show for once and not see where it’s going a mile off, you can just sit back and enjoy watching it unfold.

I also came to genuinely like the characters, especially the main three. Well, Elena can be a little grating with her perfectness, but she at least is not a typical damsel in distress: she stands up for herself and holds her own against powerful vampires. She also gets to play Katherine and has a ball vamping it up in flashbacks. Stefan was somewhat boring in the beginning, and Paul Wesley has a tough part to play. He’s the straight man to Damon’s delicious wickedness, and he’s another non-human blood drinking, brooding vampire. That’s a lot to carry without becoming a total dullard. It wasn’t looking good for him in the early episodes, but later on they kick his character up a gear with some good twists, and it made me much more of a fan.

But of course he can’t really hold a candle to Damon, played by Ian Somerhalder. He’s just having the best time playing this guy, you can see. And why wouldn’t he? He gets all the best lines, great action, and gets to be an evil vampire, something we don’t see very often these days. Not that that’s all he is, and the writers do give him more to do than just spit one liners and glare, thankfully. There’s an edge, but more to him, a slight shot of vulnerability every now and then that makes it impossible for you to hate him completely. And Somerhalder is just perfect in this role, something that surprised me.

It’s definitely not a perfect show; there’s a certain amount of convenience and relying on old tropes like identical characters, witches, flashbacks, and the ability to walk in the sun due to ‘magic jewellery’, but I give them a pass for that last one. Filming all night can’t be much fun. But these are just a few niggles in what is a very entertaining, and fun, show. It manages to balance the darkness and humour well and it left off with a decent cliffhanger which has left me wanting more. Can’t wait for series two.

Murder on Wheels

I have had such a lovely weekend. Friday night was Max’s Murder Mystery, which had sort of a Halloween theme, it being October. So I put on a black frock (the one I wore to my university grad ball and have kept for some inexplicable reason ever since, but hey, came in handy) and a hooded black cape, as this was the best I could do for an 1850s vampire slayer. Max was a French Count, and so spoke in a ridiculous French accent all night. I didn’t guess the killer, but I had fun trying to work it out.

On Saturday we went to see the London Roller Girls at Earl’s Court. Roller Derby is so much fun! (And brutal.) We watched as the Suffra Jets took on the Steam Rollers, and Ultra Violent Femmes went against The Harbour Grudges. We randomly picked the Suffra Jets to support in the first one, and they lost by…well, a lot. But, we later learned that the Steam Rollers had never beaten them, so it seemed nice that they got a win. I had a total girl crush on Poison Arrow, one of the Jammers, even though the ones on the other team seemed much better. Fox Sake was particularly good, appearing at the front as if out of nowhere. Max took a liking to one of the Ultra Violent Femmes, Kamikaze Kitten, and she was very good (that’s not why he liked her). I recommend going for a fun night out. And, I’d really quite like to have a go, even though I am pretty disastrous just on my feet and haven’t been on skates since I was about 10. I might have a try.

We got home and went to McDonalds cos we were starving. Before two months ago I hadn’t been to a McD’s for about four years, and now I’ve been twice. But sometimes it just hits the spot. They’re doing these awesome potato wedges at the moment with dip, and even though the lady serving was a right miserable cow who seemed annoyed to have to give me the dip, I was goddamn well having it. It says, right behind your head, potato wedges AND dip, I am paying for it or that is false advertising. I got it though, so all was good. And then we watched Resident Evil 4, which is shit. And not shit in a ‘so bad it is good’ way. Just shit. Bad writing (like, how long have those people been trapped in that prison exactly? The virus happened 4 years ago according to your flashback, have they been surviving there that long? I don’t think so, so WHY ARE THEY THERE HMMM?), stupid dialogue, a character solely there to jiggle her boobs and then get eaten, and shoddy special effects. No I don’t know why we watched the whole thing, since we both hated it.

Yesterday morning I got up and watched an episode of Supernatural while Max slept in, and then we went shopping for trainers. Neither of us was successful. I swear I have been in every shop going but cannot find trainers I like to save my life. There’s always a teeny ladies section with only Converse (which I like but not really appropriate for the weather coming up) or trainers that are made to look like sandals or other shoes. If I wanted those I’d buy them, wouldn’t I? I’d just get some men’s, but they’re too fat and, well, masculine. I will try again when I’m in the States.

And last night I caught up on Grey’s Anatomy and Glee. I am giving up on Glee. This season has been rubbish. In fact, since it came back from hiatus last season it’s been pretty crappy, very hit or miss, but I’ve kept going with it and I’m not sure why. It’s even worse now, since they seem to be hell bent on taking Rachel, who was never very likable anyway but somewhat endearing, and turning her into a full on psychotic bitch, as well as having no real sense of continuity at all. Since I’ve found myself fastforwarding through several of the songs and pootling about on the internet while it’s on, it seems wise just not to bother any more. A shame, but there you go.

Fringe: Season One

I know I’m a little behind with this, since I think season two just finished, but I’m getting too impatient in my old age to wait for a new episode every week. I’d rather wait for a full season to be on DVD so I can watch it as and when I want (usually in a big chunk where I don’t see sunlight for days, but hey). I did try watching this when it premiered, but couldn’t even get through the pilot, I was bored. I am glad I gave it another shot though, as I have really enjoyed it this time around.

The title comes from its focus on ‘Fringe Science’ where science departs from usual methods into more shaky territory involving mutations, psychic connections and rare diseases. FBI agent Olivia Dunham is pulled into this world when her partner, John Scott,  is injured while investigating an incident on a plane. Not only her partner but also her lover, Olivia will stop at nothing to cure him. She goes in search of Walter Bishop, a brilliant scientist who is now unfortunately in a mental institution. She must convince his estranged son Peter to help her get Walter released so he can go back to his lab and past work, and hopefully help John recover.

From this beginning Fringe becomes fairly formulaic, in that there is a central mystery to be solved each week, usually concerning ‘The Pattern’, events that are all tied together and which Olivia starts to believe Massive Dynamic, a global technology group, are responsible for. Her relationship with John Scott features prominently in the earlier episodes, but the show eventually moves on from that. Each episode generally opens with a teaser of something weird happening to some unsuspecting person, and then the team are brought in and discover other, similar events that may be related to ‘The Pattern’. Somewhere in there Walter will act crazy and then say he can only continue his work if he has a piece of equipment he created 20 years ago, only he doesn’t remember where it is as he’s hidden it, but after breaking through some walls or listening to music it’s found and is, remarkably, still perfectly functional. Either that or we discover it was Walter’s original work that caused all this mess to begin with, and he has ‘The Guilt’.

What saves it from being predictable and repetitive nonsense is the cast, and the characters they play. Anna Torv is perfectly serviceable as Dunham, being ridiculously attractive but also able to make you feel sympathy for her. But the real treat is Peter and Walter’s relationship, and how they play off each other. Joshua Jackson is excellent (well of course he is, we all know how I feel about him) as the son tasked with keeping his father sane, equal parts bitter about his father’s mental state and sarcastic about his ability to help. But he’s also often the only one who can reach Walter and calm him, and you can see the possibilities of their relationship as the series goes on. And then there’s Walter, played by John Noble. He’s just amazing in this, one moment making you laugh with an inappropriate comment, the next breaking your heart as he falls to pieces or can’t catch his train of thought.

The main story arc of the series was intriguing enough to keep me interested, without being too convoluted. I’ll definitely watch the second season when it’s out on DVD. Hopefully it’ll be just as good.

Life: Season 2

I really enjoyed the first season of Life and have been miffed for a while that LoveFilm didn’t have it available to rent. So I ended up buying it instead. I suppose at least I didn’t have to wait for each disc to be sent to me. But alas, I didn’t enjoy this season nearly as much as the last. Since much of the conspiracy was tied up at the end of last season, there’s not much left to set it apart from other police procedurals. I was expecting there to be more to Crews’ past, more that would keep me guessing, but what there is just left me bored, though I hate to admit it.

The majority of this season features stand alone episodes, mysteries of the week that don’t have larger implications. It’s just your standard dead person, often in odd situations, a few red herrings and then figuring it out. It’s still entertaining, or at least it is when it’s on its game, but I was expecting more. And because of that my attention started to wander, meaning I probably lost a lot of what was good about it as I wasn’t involved enough to follow it. There is still an arc containing the larger conspiracy that set up Crews, but it’s kind of hit and miss as to how effective it is.

The good points are the cast, who are all brilliant and play off each other well. Damian Lewis as Crews still hits all the right notes for me, and I love his relationship with partner Dani Reese and her cynical nature. Donal Logue is brought in as the new captain, although I have no memory of what happened to the old one, and he provides some more comic relief, and a welcome relationship with Reese. I always loved that they didn’t try to pair up Crews and Reese, as so many other shows do – starting with a prickly relationship that turns to attraction and eventually love. Here it’s more about them as colleagues, and a developing friendship, with both having relationships outside of each other. Although going by the final episode it seems that, had it been picked up for another season, this too would have gone the tried and tested path and thrown them together. Shame.

Another problem was that, around half way into the season Dani goes to join a FBI task force, leaving Crews to be partnered with a new detective. And while Gabrielle Union is very lovely, she’s not Reese and doesn’t have the same kind of chemistry with Crews. I later learned that Sarah Shahi who plays Dani Reese was pregnant, so it’s understandable she had less screen time, it just didn’t help when I was already losing interest in the show. I also missed the documentary part which was so effectively used in the last season. It still pops up every now and then but with less emphasis. Seeing Crews’ loved ones and former colleagues talk about him and their reactions to him being let out of prison, and how it had affected them and their relationships was part of the emotional core of the show. I’m not sure why they continued with it if it was going to be done so half-heartedly.

So I’m a little sad that it’s over, but not as much as I would have been had there only been the one season. I’m not sure which is worse really, or more disappointing, but I can understand why it wasn’t picked up. I guess the saddest thing is that there’s no more Damian Lewis on my tv, at least until he turns up in something else. I can only hope that character will be as much fun and interesting to watch as Charlie Crews.

Finally Friday

The last couple of weeks at work have not been fun, and have basically undone any good I did by going on holiday. But let’s not dwell on that. Let’s look at the good stuff!

The Good

• It’s Friday! Always excellent.

• My lovely, wonderful, adorable boyfriend (try not to gag) gave me his ipod touch when he got his iphone, so I am happily disappearing into a world of apps and daft games and oooh yay I have the shuffle feature again! Woohoo! I still may get an iphone but this will put me on for a bit.

• Books! Books! I am swimming in books! I got lots for my birthday and also vouchers, so I can buy even more books. Let me try and remember some of them:

What Should I Do With My Life? by Po Bronson. Now there’s a question.
Animal Dreams and Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
Bird By Bird: Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
Pasadena by David Ebershoff
The Great Movies and The Great Movies II by Roger Ebert

And I will be buying The Lacuna (because no one can have enough Kingsolver, apparently) and the new Sookie Stackhouse book, Dead in the Family, with my vouchers. Although it bugs me that the cover for this shows the cast from the TV show and is known as a ‘True Blood novel’. I don’t watch the show, I don’t want the people on my books! I am hoping there’s another version available. I know it doesn’t really matter, but it’s like when you get film editions of books instead of the original covers. I don’t like it. Am very giddy about all these books though. But I want to read all of them right now!

• Just to continue on with the book theme, I also received a book from the online book swap I am a member of, and this was Bitten by Kelley Armstrong. I figured I’d try out a new series. And the sender also kindly included a Penguin chocolate biscuit. I very much approve.

The Bad

The World Cup starts today, and although I know this is thrilling for some (Max for one), I just don’t really care about football, and I am already annoyed that it is all over the TV and mentioned on every advert and…yawn. I will try to get into the spirit. Try. But please can England do at least semi decently so Max doesn’t have a meltdown?

The Ugly

The final series of Big Brother started on Wednesday. I wasn’t going to watch it, but then I did. The housemates are mostly annoying and people I would not want to live with in a million years. So far they’re all being polite. It won’t last. I have particular dislike for one girl, a Beyonce lookalike, who says she doesn’t like people judging her for her looks, and then says she checks herself in the mirror about 100 times a day to see if she’s still hot. Also, she says she doesn’t have many close friends as girls are often jealous and bitch about her. I have issues with women who say they can’t get along with other women because of jealousy and ‘bitchiness’. Either you’re hanging out with the wrong sorts of women, or the problem here is you.

And this is why I shouldn’t watch it.

Lost for the Last Time

Two years ago (wow, really?) I wrote this post about how I felt about Lost. I don’t really say what I was expecting for the finale, since that was a way off, it’s just how I was feeling about that series as it aired, and how it compared to the earlier ones. I haven’t watched all the seasons again since they aired, so I’m not sure how they hold up now, but the first is still my favourite, for the reasons I give there. And it’s one of the reasons I was worried about the finale. The last season had seemed to focus more and more on that end-game, the answers, telling us the why. And yeah, that’s fine, but it wasn’t why I was watching. I was there mostly for the characters, I was interested in their end-game, how they would finish up. I worried that the finale wouldn’t give me what I wanted, which was more than a sense of closure. I wanted to feel.

Happily, I got exactly what I wanted. As the credits rolled I sat with tears streaming down my face, sobbing away, but happy about it. The ending had touched me. It took me back to how I felt watching the season one finale, when all those strangers are sitting on a plane with no idea what awaits them, or what they will come to mean to each other. It broke my heart. I haven’t really felt like that since. There’s been snippets of it, mostly with Charlie probably, but not as a whole like that. I wanted those moments, those reunions, the recognition.

Was it prefect? No. The ‘sideways world’ revelation is cheesy, sure. And I can understand why some people will hate it, feel duped in some way, because it doesn’t give all the answers. There’s still a lot left unresolved, and if you’ve been watching for the mysteries then I can see being extremely disappointed with it. I know that feeling, when you’ve invested time in a series you love and it doesn’t end the way you’d hoped (BSG, I’m looking at you). And if I think about it too much there’s probably things that’ll drive me mad. I don’t know if, on watching it all again, it won’t hold up as well on second viewing. But right now I don’t care. I got the ending I wanted.