July 30--Emigrant Lake
Emigrant Lake may be another hike destined to be retired. Too many mosquitoes! I didn't swim, either. With the late-starting warm weather, there is still snow around the lake. There are plenty of nicer hikes around to make up for not doing this one anymore. Four people joined me (nobody I ever met before), officially, though another two were waiting at the trailhead but started on their own. One of the official four also met us at the trailhead. At lunch I noticed she packed some interesting looking food. She made an apple crunch out of quinoa flour. She mentioned she can make a pie crust out of quinoa flour and tapioca. I might keep that in mind for the cooking class. She's also a writer. She started talking about being in a writng group that kind of ended up liking Buffy the Vampire Slayer better than The X-Files, which started a weird conversation about how the X-Files is better than Buffy. Normally I can't imagine going off on something like that. Personal choices in television programming is the same as personal choices in anything else. Why care about individual differences? But as long as the subject is raised, Buffy soars above X-Files. In the first place, X-Files is boring. I've never seen characters talk so slow as on X-Files. And they look half-asleep, like they've already been replaced by pod-people. It also presents preposterous conspiracies. It's exactly the kind of show that would be (and probably is) used to dismiss so-called conspiracy theorists. If the show ever presented a true conspiracy, such as al-Qaeda and the CIA are the same thing, it wouldn't have a snowball's chance in Death Valley of getting on the air. But presenting a bunch of goofy fantasies as if they exist in the real world was somehow regarded as cutting edge television. It put me to sleep when I tried to watch it. Buffy is a fantasy which deals with real world issues disguised within that realm of fantasy that the show encompasses. Weirdly, part of the hiking trail conversation included expressions of appreciation for Harry Potter. There is much more similarity between Harry Potter and Buffy than there is between Harry Potter and X-Files. Harry Potter likewise deals with real world issues disguised within a fantasy world. I'm afraid I can't imagine Harry Potter fans preferring X-Files over Buffy.