Stuff
It's been awhile since I've posted anything of substance (relatively, anyway; I know the vast majority of my posts lack substance, period). I get like that sometimes, when I just like to read LJ but don't really make my own entry. Or I'll consider making an entry about something, then decide I don't have the time right then and forget about it. So I'm going to cover a lot of points, many of which are terribly outdated.
1. So. There's a change to the update screen. Apparently this had much of LJ VERY DISTRESSED. I'm not seeing the problem, myself. It looks different, but see, I can type words in the little box just like in the old design. So I don't know what the fuss is. Or are most other people doing super special fancy things that have been messed up by this change? Because I'm just typing.
2. I am not going to tell you the title of the seventh Harry Potter book because everyone who cares already knows and there's no point telling people who don't care.
3. I have finished Slaughter-House Five, finally. Actually, I finished it a good month ago, but that was one of the things I kept neglecting to mention. Or maybe I did mention it? Can't remember. Anyway, I'm reading The Scar by China Mieville now and it's very slow going.
4. There is some TV.
January 22nd? At least it's not February (I'm looking at you, Lost). I'm definitely into this show now. Very sad to see Eden apparently die, but I was so relieved it wasn't Matt Parkman. Because I think he's my favorite, and it would be just like a show to kill off my favorite character. Also, Isaac is starting to grow on me. He's far more interesting (and more attractive) when he's not strung out and angsting about his drug habit. Can we move past the drug storyline now that he knows he can paint the future without it? Please? Because that just made me yawn. Hiro is still adorable, and Claire has really surprised me by making me care about her and being played by a competent actress (you can never tell with these teenage types). Still really can't give a damn what happens to Niki, though.
I've acquired some episodes of this show. Parts of it are kind of awful, and parts of it are kind of good. Mostly it's just weird and uneven. I think there has been a definite upward trend in quality, though, so maybe by its second season it'll be actually good. I wish there was more Captain Jack, though, because I don't really care a whole lot about the other characters. I'm there to see Jack, and for someone I thought was supposed to be the main character, he doesn't seem to be around much, does he? But I'm holding out hope for a really cool finale.
Second half of the third season has started airing in Canada. Actually, they've had five episodes so far.
"The Return Part II" was a good conclusion to the midseason cliffhanger, although I thought that whole plotline was weird. It's like, oh, look, here's a whole ship full of real live Ancients! Oh, no, now they're all dead again. And that was it. Okay, then! But Jack (General Jack, that is) and Wolsey were awesome together and the underwater scenes were very cool. Just kind of odd that such a huge plot point with the Ancients ended up being nothing but a throwaway comment in the second part. And they never said what happened to Carson's turtles!
"Echoes" was creepy with the ghost people. I watched it late at night and it freaked me out a little. The whales were cool. I was hoping there would be more Teyla in this one because it seemed that's where it was heading, with her being the first to see the visions and all, but then she was just sidelined again. Damn convenient that massive solar flare didn't last long enough to really put our heroes in danger, isn't it?
"Irresponsible" was crap. Total crap. Unlike some rather outspoken parts of fandom, I didn't have a problem with "Irresistible" earlier in the season (and it was the whole outcry around that that finally drove me out of fandom, even as a lurker. I haven't read an episode review in months and I am much happier for it), but this follow-up episode was awful. The storyline did not know what it wanted to be. Richard Kind was not funny, and the characters who are in the actual titles weren't in it nearly enough. And then, just as I was chalking the whole thing up to a harmless if ultimately forgettable episode, they completely ruined it with killing off Kolya. They killed off the most interesting recurring villain in a comedic episode that barely featured the regulars. There is not enough WTF in the world to express the utter pointlessness of that scene. I mean, am I missing something? Was there some kind of message or commentary there that flew right over my head? Or was that really about the dumbest ending ever in Stargate? I think this episode overtakes "Conversion" as the worst episode of the series, and that is really saying something. I don't think I'll watch this one again, and even "Conversion" I sat through twice in the misguided belief that I only disliked it so much the first time because I was in a bad mood or something.
"The Tao of Rodney" was awesome. Oh, Rodney, I do love you so very, very much. That's really all I have to say about that.
"The Game" was also well-done. It had a good set-up, at least. Ancient Sims? Ancient Empire Earth? I want to take this one home to show to my gamer brother, because he'll get a kick out of it. The resolution was a bit too pat and felt like your standard moral lesson of the week, but the character stuff was gold. This season is bringing back my Sheppard love, which I mostly lost during season two. I think this may be because there's not been as much interaction between him and Weir, because Sheppard and Weir have negative chemistry together and it's almost physically painful to watch the actors alone in the same room.
I had never seen a single minute of this series until recently, when I started working my way through the first three seasons. Is there a fourth? I could go and look that up for myself right now, but I'm not going to bother. So I loved season one. Season two was full of WTF and not always of the good kind, but I still forged ahead into season three. Which is BORING. But boring in that frustrating way where I almost can't stand to keep watching, but I went through the trouble of getting these episodes and I do want to know what happens next. And I couldn't care less about these characters any more but it's a little like not being able to look away from a train wreck. I found a good solution though: I just shrink the player into a tiny box and stick it into the corner of my screen, and then play games or surf the Internet while it's going. That way I can listen to it and even bother to look at it once in awhile without being driven out of my mind with boredom. It's amazing how little I've missed by not actually watching it. I only have three more episodes to get through now.
5. I haven't done much of anything in lab this week. Just some PCR reactions. I've been reading a lot of journal articles. I've been leaving early, too, like right at 5:00. Today in lab I also got chocolate. :)
6. I finally got the estimate for my car. It is not totaled, yay! However, the insurance company of the undergrad moron that hit me will be paying out a lot of money indeed, and I can only hope this causes a massive increase in said moron's premium, because I am vindictive and bitter like that and I have been without a car for a fucking month now and it sucks. Things really aren't within walking distance of my apartment and the bus schedules are crap during semester breaks.
7. My parents are coming to pick me up on Saturday and I don't plan on coming back to Bloomington until January 2nd at the earliest. I want a damn long break and I'm taking it.
1. So. There's a change to the update screen. Apparently this had much of LJ VERY DISTRESSED. I'm not seeing the problem, myself. It looks different, but see, I can type words in the little box just like in the old design. So I don't know what the fuss is. Or are most other people doing super special fancy things that have been messed up by this change? Because I'm just typing.
2. I am not going to tell you the title of the seventh Harry Potter book because everyone who cares already knows and there's no point telling people who don't care.
3. I have finished Slaughter-House Five, finally. Actually, I finished it a good month ago, but that was one of the things I kept neglecting to mention. Or maybe I did mention it? Can't remember. Anyway, I'm reading The Scar by China Mieville now and it's very slow going.
4. There is some TV.
January 22nd? At least it's not February (I'm looking at you, Lost). I'm definitely into this show now. Very sad to see Eden apparently die, but I was so relieved it wasn't Matt Parkman. Because I think he's my favorite, and it would be just like a show to kill off my favorite character. Also, Isaac is starting to grow on me. He's far more interesting (and more attractive) when he's not strung out and angsting about his drug habit. Can we move past the drug storyline now that he knows he can paint the future without it? Please? Because that just made me yawn. Hiro is still adorable, and Claire has really surprised me by making me care about her and being played by a competent actress (you can never tell with these teenage types). Still really can't give a damn what happens to Niki, though.
I've acquired some episodes of this show. Parts of it are kind of awful, and parts of it are kind of good. Mostly it's just weird and uneven. I think there has been a definite upward trend in quality, though, so maybe by its second season it'll be actually good. I wish there was more Captain Jack, though, because I don't really care a whole lot about the other characters. I'm there to see Jack, and for someone I thought was supposed to be the main character, he doesn't seem to be around much, does he? But I'm holding out hope for a really cool finale.
Second half of the third season has started airing in Canada. Actually, they've had five episodes so far.
"The Return Part II" was a good conclusion to the midseason cliffhanger, although I thought that whole plotline was weird. It's like, oh, look, here's a whole ship full of real live Ancients! Oh, no, now they're all dead again. And that was it. Okay, then! But Jack (General Jack, that is) and Wolsey were awesome together and the underwater scenes were very cool. Just kind of odd that such a huge plot point with the Ancients ended up being nothing but a throwaway comment in the second part. And they never said what happened to Carson's turtles!
"Echoes" was creepy with the ghost people. I watched it late at night and it freaked me out a little. The whales were cool. I was hoping there would be more Teyla in this one because it seemed that's where it was heading, with her being the first to see the visions and all, but then she was just sidelined again. Damn convenient that massive solar flare didn't last long enough to really put our heroes in danger, isn't it?
"Irresponsible" was crap. Total crap. Unlike some rather outspoken parts of fandom, I didn't have a problem with "Irresistible" earlier in the season (and it was the whole outcry around that that finally drove me out of fandom, even as a lurker. I haven't read an episode review in months and I am much happier for it), but this follow-up episode was awful. The storyline did not know what it wanted to be. Richard Kind was not funny, and the characters who are in the actual titles weren't in it nearly enough. And then, just as I was chalking the whole thing up to a harmless if ultimately forgettable episode, they completely ruined it with killing off Kolya. They killed off the most interesting recurring villain in a comedic episode that barely featured the regulars. There is not enough WTF in the world to express the utter pointlessness of that scene. I mean, am I missing something? Was there some kind of message or commentary there that flew right over my head? Or was that really about the dumbest ending ever in Stargate? I think this episode overtakes "Conversion" as the worst episode of the series, and that is really saying something. I don't think I'll watch this one again, and even "Conversion" I sat through twice in the misguided belief that I only disliked it so much the first time because I was in a bad mood or something.
"The Tao of Rodney" was awesome. Oh, Rodney, I do love you so very, very much. That's really all I have to say about that.
"The Game" was also well-done. It had a good set-up, at least. Ancient Sims? Ancient Empire Earth? I want to take this one home to show to my gamer brother, because he'll get a kick out of it. The resolution was a bit too pat and felt like your standard moral lesson of the week, but the character stuff was gold. This season is bringing back my Sheppard love, which I mostly lost during season two. I think this may be because there's not been as much interaction between him and Weir, because Sheppard and Weir have negative chemistry together and it's almost physically painful to watch the actors alone in the same room.
I had never seen a single minute of this series until recently, when I started working my way through the first three seasons. Is there a fourth? I could go and look that up for myself right now, but I'm not going to bother. So I loved season one. Season two was full of WTF and not always of the good kind, but I still forged ahead into season three. Which is BORING. But boring in that frustrating way where I almost can't stand to keep watching, but I went through the trouble of getting these episodes and I do want to know what happens next. And I couldn't care less about these characters any more but it's a little like not being able to look away from a train wreck. I found a good solution though: I just shrink the player into a tiny box and stick it into the corner of my screen, and then play games or surf the Internet while it's going. That way I can listen to it and even bother to look at it once in awhile without being driven out of my mind with boredom. It's amazing how little I've missed by not actually watching it. I only have three more episodes to get through now.
5. I haven't done much of anything in lab this week. Just some PCR reactions. I've been reading a lot of journal articles. I've been leaving early, too, like right at 5:00. Today in lab I also got chocolate. :)
6. I finally got the estimate for my car. It is not totaled, yay! However, the insurance company of the undergrad moron that hit me will be paying out a lot of money indeed, and I can only hope this causes a massive increase in said moron's premium, because I am vindictive and bitter like that and I have been without a car for a fucking month now and it sucks. Things really aren't within walking distance of my apartment and the bus schedules are crap during semester breaks.
7. My parents are coming to pick me up on Saturday and I don't plan on coming back to Bloomington until January 2nd at the earliest. I want a damn long break and I'm taking it.