TV reactions and random rantage
Chuck
OK, after everyone on my AIM BL fapping over this episode, I watched it... and enjoyed it. idk, maybe I've watched so much TV that I'm too jaded to get super excited over an episode but when all the stuff you want to happen happens... I kind of don't like it. I am probably the only Chuck/Sarah fan who actually doesn't want them too hook up yet, because the second a couple on the show hooks up, there's nowhere else to take it but some kind of contrived angst-o-rama and DNW that. Which is the same reason I don't want House and Cuddy to actually hook up, because I'd feel I'd stop enjoying them if that happened. But I'm hearing rumors that Chuck could possibly get axed so I can't blame Josh for pulling out all the stops in this case. And I'm interested in seeing how he deals with all the changes that will inevitably happening after this ep.
Bones
Ooooh boy, am I going to be in the minority with this but... I hated this episode. I mean, I really hated it. NEGL, I did LOL at some bits, and it was quite funny, but... I felt like it didn't belong on a show like Bones. It would've been a great crack!fic, but that's where stuff like this should remain--FF.net. This is not to say I expect Bones to always be a srs bsns drama--what I always appreciated about it is that it delved more into the characters than most crime shows I've watched, and there was a nice balance between humor and drama. This time, though, it was all too OTT for my taste and it made everyone involved look like an idiot. I also missed the first five minutes or so so I don't know why the whole Jeffersonian gang was at the funeral, although I'm pretty sure this knowledge would have little effect on the deluge of h8rade I just poured on this ep. Such a disappointment after the death metal ep, which is one of my faves.
I really feel like busting out my S1 DVDs and marathoning.
I will say one good thing about the ep: I no longer worry too much about my fanfic being too lame/OOC. The show's doing a good enough job of that itself.
TL;DR
I'm throwing this rant here because there's really nowhere else to put it, and was reminded of it by the recent influx of Shawn Johnson posts on ontd proper and her increased exposure from DWTS and general media whoring. I don't talk much about my gymnastics-related nerdery here since I get most of it out on _olympics or gym boards and figure most people here aren't interested, but I didn't feel like starting ShawnJohn stans vs. Sane People Round Infinity on those places, and I had to get it out somewhere.
Now, my thoughts on yaoi ShawnJohn--she seems like a nice kid, even if her constant smiling is a bit creepy, but I cannot stand her gymnastics. I am convinced that 90% of her fans either don't know shit about gymnastics or if they do, they overlook her obvious issues which I will name for those of you who are curious: questionable technique, hideous lines, utter lack of artistry or originality, and complete lack of mastery over basics like say, hitting a full split on leaps. Her fans choose to ignore this, and have yet to make a decent comeback besides "Look at all the awards she's won!" "If you want graceful watch ballet!" "If you want artistry watch your moldy old VHS tapes!" (My response: gladly.) "Ur just jelluz omggg!!!" (I am not exaggerating; stans have actually said this). The first point is the only one I will bother entertaining, and I will attempt to do so as briefly as possible: gymnastics in general is shitty right now. I haven't the energy to explain the new code and why it sucks, but suffice to say the excessive emphasis on difficulty value not only enables but often favors shitty-form gymnasts who can chuck the big skills. Any deductions one would incur from bad form and such aren't significant enough to make skill-chucking not worth it. Furthmore, judges aren't hitting gymnasts nearly as hard on artistry (or lack thereof) as they did in years past. So you could argue that Shawn haters are taking our frustration with the current climate of the sport out on her, which is a valid argument, and probably at least partially true. Her gymnastics is just an ugly, ugly manifestation (literally) of everything that is wrong with women's artistic gymnastics today.
Anyone who is honestly satisfied with the direction of women's artistic gymnastics needs to take a really long look at why they even like this sport. It is called artistic gymnastics for a reason. It's a blend of beauty and athleticism. Sure, there have always been "athletic" and "artistic" type gymnasts, but until recently neither had a particular advantage over the other. For all its flaws, the 10 did one thing right--it kept those two leanings more or less evenly matched. Furthermore, I can think off the top of my head of several 80s/90s gymnasts with as much tumbling prowess as Shawn, but without being so godawful ugly in their execution. Daniela Silivas was throwing double doubles (the same thing Shawn does) but her gymnastics was freakin' gorgeous. Seriously, check her and her '80s power 'fro out on youtube. Kim Zmeskal was throwing some ridiculous tumbling passes in '91/'92, and while she isn't the most graceful dancer, at least she can hit a freakin' full split on her jumps. And finally, two words: 80s Soviets. Shawn has no excuse.
I might be a batshit insane Nastia fan, but at least I know my shit, and I can defend her without breaking Internet laws or making a complete ass of myself (although this rant might prove otherwise). In fact, I usually don't feel the need to defend her--you know what they say about opinions--unless someone says something either extremely untrue or extremely moronic, and since the latter is often the case with ShawnJohn stans, I guess I do say something more often than I'd like.
So, in closing, ShawnJohn sucks. Case closed. End of discussion. You can like her because she's a sweet person and a cute girl, but gymnastically, she still sucks. Oh, and to those of you who think DWTS is proof she can dance: if you honestly think that show is a reliable measure of dancing ability, then you probably also think the Hills is completely unscripted and your votes count on American Idol (yes, I still watch that shit... I like awful crap, OK? Unless it's gymnastics-related).
ETA: HFC, I forgot to rant about something that I originally intended to rant about: stans fapping over the fact that Shawn won that Sullivan Award. A couple people on ontd think of it as a popularity contest; others think it should've gone to Phelps and we all know why it didn't. My take? Consolation prize. The sweet, smiley All-American was supposed to win Olympic gold, not the bitchy, unpersonable Russian. Oh, and I don't necessarily think Nastia should win the Sullivan award, either. I'm in agreement that it probably should've gone to the relay swimmers.
So for those of you who want to know what beauty and athleticism looks like? I leave you with this:
Cat out.
OK, after everyone on my AIM BL fapping over this episode, I watched it... and enjoyed it. idk, maybe I've watched so much TV that I'm too jaded to get super excited over an episode but when all the stuff you want to happen happens... I kind of don't like it. I am probably the only Chuck/Sarah fan who actually doesn't want them too hook up yet, because the second a couple on the show hooks up, there's nowhere else to take it but some kind of contrived angst-o-rama and DNW that. Which is the same reason I don't want House and Cuddy to actually hook up, because I'd feel I'd stop enjoying them if that happened. But I'm hearing rumors that Chuck could possibly get axed so I can't blame Josh for pulling out all the stops in this case. And I'm interested in seeing how he deals with all the changes that will inevitably happening after this ep.
Bones
Ooooh boy, am I going to be in the minority with this but... I hated this episode. I mean, I really hated it. NEGL, I did LOL at some bits, and it was quite funny, but... I felt like it didn't belong on a show like Bones. It would've been a great crack!fic, but that's where stuff like this should remain--FF.net. This is not to say I expect Bones to always be a srs bsns drama--what I always appreciated about it is that it delved more into the characters than most crime shows I've watched, and there was a nice balance between humor and drama. This time, though, it was all too OTT for my taste and it made everyone involved look like an idiot. I also missed the first five minutes or so so I don't know why the whole Jeffersonian gang was at the funeral, although I'm pretty sure this knowledge would have little effect on the deluge of h8rade I just poured on this ep. Such a disappointment after the death metal ep, which is one of my faves.
I really feel like busting out my S1 DVDs and marathoning.
I will say one good thing about the ep: I no longer worry too much about my fanfic being too lame/OOC. The show's doing a good enough job of that itself.
TL;DR
I'm throwing this rant here because there's really nowhere else to put it, and was reminded of it by the recent influx of Shawn Johnson posts on ontd proper and her increased exposure from DWTS and general media whoring. I don't talk much about my gymnastics-related nerdery here since I get most of it out on _olympics or gym boards and figure most people here aren't interested, but I didn't feel like starting ShawnJohn stans vs. Sane People Round Infinity on those places, and I had to get it out somewhere.
Now, my thoughts on yaoi ShawnJohn--she seems like a nice kid, even if her constant smiling is a bit creepy, but I cannot stand her gymnastics. I am convinced that 90% of her fans either don't know shit about gymnastics or if they do, they overlook her obvious issues which I will name for those of you who are curious: questionable technique, hideous lines, utter lack of artistry or originality, and complete lack of mastery over basics like say, hitting a full split on leaps. Her fans choose to ignore this, and have yet to make a decent comeback besides "Look at all the awards she's won!" "If you want graceful watch ballet!" "If you want artistry watch your moldy old VHS tapes!" (My response: gladly.) "Ur just jelluz omggg!!!" (I am not exaggerating; stans have actually said this). The first point is the only one I will bother entertaining, and I will attempt to do so as briefly as possible: gymnastics in general is shitty right now. I haven't the energy to explain the new code and why it sucks, but suffice to say the excessive emphasis on difficulty value not only enables but often favors shitty-form gymnasts who can chuck the big skills. Any deductions one would incur from bad form and such aren't significant enough to make skill-chucking not worth it. Furthmore, judges aren't hitting gymnasts nearly as hard on artistry (or lack thereof) as they did in years past. So you could argue that Shawn haters are taking our frustration with the current climate of the sport out on her, which is a valid argument, and probably at least partially true. Her gymnastics is just an ugly, ugly manifestation (literally) of everything that is wrong with women's artistic gymnastics today.
Anyone who is honestly satisfied with the direction of women's artistic gymnastics needs to take a really long look at why they even like this sport. It is called artistic gymnastics for a reason. It's a blend of beauty and athleticism. Sure, there have always been "athletic" and "artistic" type gymnasts, but until recently neither had a particular advantage over the other. For all its flaws, the 10 did one thing right--it kept those two leanings more or less evenly matched. Furthermore, I can think off the top of my head of several 80s/90s gymnasts with as much tumbling prowess as Shawn, but without being so godawful ugly in their execution. Daniela Silivas was throwing double doubles (the same thing Shawn does) but her gymnastics was freakin' gorgeous. Seriously, check her and her '80s power 'fro out on youtube. Kim Zmeskal was throwing some ridiculous tumbling passes in '91/'92, and while she isn't the most graceful dancer, at least she can hit a freakin' full split on her jumps. And finally, two words: 80s Soviets. Shawn has no excuse.
I might be a batshit insane Nastia fan, but at least I know my shit, and I can defend her without breaking Internet laws or making a complete ass of myself (although this rant might prove otherwise). In fact, I usually don't feel the need to defend her--you know what they say about opinions--unless someone says something either extremely untrue or extremely moronic, and since the latter is often the case with ShawnJohn stans, I guess I do say something more often than I'd like.
So, in closing, ShawnJohn sucks. Case closed. End of discussion. You can like her because she's a sweet person and a cute girl, but gymnastically, she still sucks. Oh, and to those of you who think DWTS is proof she can dance: if you honestly think that show is a reliable measure of dancing ability, then you probably also think the Hills is completely unscripted and your votes count on American Idol (yes, I still watch that shit... I like awful crap, OK? Unless it's gymnastics-related).
ETA: HFC, I forgot to rant about something that I originally intended to rant about: stans fapping over the fact that Shawn won that Sullivan Award. A couple people on ontd think of it as a popularity contest; others think it should've gone to Phelps and we all know why it didn't. My take? Consolation prize. The sweet, smiley All-American was supposed to win Olympic gold, not the bitchy, unpersonable Russian. Oh, and I don't necessarily think Nastia should win the Sullivan award, either. I'm in agreement that it probably should've gone to the relay swimmers.
So for those of you who want to know what beauty and athleticism looks like? I leave you with this:
Click to viewCat out.