Saturday, August 14, 2010

Rule Breakers

After reading NML's blog Baggage Reclaim for a couple years now there's one thing she says over and over again.  We are not the exception to the rule.  Exceptions happen in fairy tales and romantic comedies.  Human behaviour is incredibly predictable and routine and it will rarely be the case that the "it could happen" actually happens.  We expect to be the exception.

So many conversations about our partners - girls talking about boys in particular - revolve around the hopes and dreams we place on them.  The things we want them to be, rather than the people they are.  We dream up the rom-com scenarios and imagine our guys moving away from normal and into an exception. 

Apparently the rules don't apply to us.  Every single one of us.  So if the rules don't apply to us, who the hell are they applied to?  Rules don't exist unless there are people to follow them.  Yet you can put a group of girls into a conversation and there will be multiple exceptions.  It cannot possibly happen! 

The idea that we will be the expectation is there to prevent us from realizing what is actually happening.  A form of denial if you'd like.  "It's going to happen/change I just know it!" Sounds a lot like avoiding the inevitable to me.  We need to stop expecting to be the exception and start following the rules.

Two'fer info Saturday

A quick note that since I will be starting work this Monday the frequency of these posts will be going down.  Hopefully my experience at work and public transit will provide me with plenty of ammo.  However, I do know that I will be pretty beat when I get home so unless I can type it all out quickly I may be missing days during the week.  This last one has been uhhh - training for all of you... that's right, training.

Yay for working and a paycheque but boo for alarms and wasting days on the interwebs.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Ratings: Nerd Series

Since this summer has been one of immersion into nerd series it's time I share my feelings and rankings on said series.  I will also mention some that I have been watching for a while, some still going and others unfortunately done.  One thing I've noticed though is that the nerd series are quite violent.  A lot of death, pretty much every episode.  But then again so are the CSI, Law & Order, Bones...

1) Doctor Who
 - to anyone who knows me or reads this blog you will know by now that I have a slight obsession with this show.  Tom was so right, I do love this show and apparently anything that Russell T. Davies has a hand in.  I do love Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and I've heard many fans of David Tennant agree that he's doing a bang up job.  That being said, I blubbered like a baby when it was time for the Tenth Doctor to regenerate.  And it's strange, it's not as if I have to watch every episode to understand since each episode can somewhat stand on its own.  I just couldn't stop watching and looking forward to the Christmas special and season six.

2) Fringe
 - I started watching this show from the start and loved it.  Once the filming moved to Vancouver I was completely hooked.  The female lead Olivia Dunham does bother me a bit with her voice but it's only because she's Australian trying to do an American accent.  I'm a bit concerned that the plot lines will get a bit convoluted.  I was happy to hear Joshua Jackson talk about how he prefers Sci-Fi shows rather than mindless teenage dramas (not the exact words but the meaning which was full of win with the whole "Dawson's Creek") and that he's local.  Plus it's all sciency and stuff.

3) Chuck
 - so so so happy that the "Save Chuck" campaign worked.  Such a great show and you can't help but fall in love with Chuck.  So bumbling and nerdy and sweet.  The underdog that you root for yet he's gots that intersect thingy which makes him 'special'.  Some of the fight scenes are super cheesy but when you factor in the girl's shower and Nicole Richie, well it just works on so many levels.  The latest season finale was pretty emotional and I'm wondering what will happen with the Buy-Low gone.

4) Torchwood
 - I may move this once I get through season two and three but for now it belongs in the #4 spot.  It's a Doctor Who spin-off starring the dashing Captain Jack Harkness.  It's been advertised as a dirtier, sxier Doctor Who and it definitely lives up to it.  Some F-bombs are dropped, homosexual make-out sessions/relationships and more gore.  While it doesn't have the fantasy of traveling with the Doctor, the characters are pretty awesome and the tie-ins to the Whoniverse make it worthwhile.  I had the biggest grin last night when I watched an episode where Cpt. Jack heard the TARDIS and then disappeared.

5) Eureka & Warehouse 13
 - The two of these are going together because I have some serious issues with minor issues... if that makes sense.  I don't like the fact that Warehouse 13 is centered around the US Secret Service.  Anything but that.. please?  Eureka 13 because I cannot stand one of the female leads, Dr. Alison Blake just bothers me.  The stories are pretty awesome and I love the crossover with Claudia & Fargo.  Again Eureka is filmed here so that's fun to look for.  I actually remember wanting to watch Eureka when it first aired but lost track of it somehow.  I'm looking forward to seeing where these two shows go.

6) Firefly & Serenity
 - oh Nathan Fillion how do I love thee.  I recall Chelsea being really into this show and have heard nothing but good things and again Nathan Fillion *sigh*.  Ok so a western in space is somewhat of a far out there idea but it didn't help that the network aired the episodes out of order.  I mean come on, the one hour pilot is the last episode you air?  How does that even make any sense.  It's great that they were able to put together a movie afterward but all the "Browncoats" are fighting a losing battle getting it on the air again.

7) Pushing Daisies
 - I really miss this show, it had so much potential.  Yes, sometimes the cheesiness was a bit much but it was a truly great show.  And just like Arrested Development, the masses didn't get it.  A shame that the general public doesn't understand what a great concept is and Pushing Daisies got axed.  The whimsy was so much fun and you can never go wrong with a musical number.

8) Lost
 - this show pissed me off for a long time.  I didn't watch the first or second season catching up on a two hour special instead.  I then followed religiously until the end.  After a while I started to despise the show, yet I kept watching.  I guess I was committed to seeing it through.  An accomplishment of sorts you could say.  The ending was so-so but I wasn't expecting much with all the plot lines they had to deal with.  I did cry at the ending, when people were being reunited... but I'll blame detoxing from the 24 hour relay and it being too early in the AM.

Honorable Mentions:
 - Defying Gravity
 - Seaquest DSV (I LOVED that show)
 - Star Trek TNG
 - and I'm sure many others, with short lives.

DISLIKE
 - Sanctuary: I heard so many good things about this show that I thought it would be worth it.  Suffered through two seasons and still couldn't stomach it.
 - Vampire Diaries: I just want to say that I have zero interest in angsty vampires... especially on the WB network.  Saw a bit of it only once and had no intention of trying again.  True Blood is all the vampire drama I can take. 
 - V: this started on the Honorable Mentions list and then I thought about it... I don't actually like the show that much.  I would follow it when nothing else was airing but yeah its kinda lame.

So there.  If anyone is interested in the shows listed above I may have some episodes available to share.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Congratulations & Tragedy

I've been working on a nerd series rating post the last couple of days but this is more important.

1) I got the job!  Wooohoo!  So incredibly happy.  Almost the exact same timing as last year which is weird.

2) A friend died in a car accident Friday.  We weren't friends for a long long time and I never expected to speak to me again until good old Facebook connected us.  We spoke and it was really easy, surprisingly so.  He owned up to being a dick and we moved on.  Spoke a bit online and I did get to hang out with him a few months ago.  He may have been trying to pick me up that night but I didn't bite. 

I'm really glad that I got over my anger towards him.  He was my "first" (shhh don't tell.  Whoops!) so it's not as if he was easy to forget.  I'm happy we could be friends.

Today has been bittersweet.