10 years of Buffy, random updates, school, TV, etc
Today is the ten-year anniversay of the premiere of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Amazing, eh? I came into it late (start of season 7), but it's still remarkable to think that it's been ten years since it started. And in 2 and half years it'll be 10 years since Angel started... wow.
I vaguely feel like I should do a post about Orlando, but I'm too lazy... it was fun, anyway. 3 days in warmth (well, two days anyway - first two days it was 28 degrees and fantastic, third day it was 12 degrees and icky) and it was fun blitzing through the 4 parks again. Hadn't been to Animal Kingdom before, so enjoyed that. And bought a stuffed giraffe at the Rainforest Cafe there. ;) We were just there a few years ago, though, so for the other parks we just went through quickly and did the new stuff and anything we wanted to do again.
So now that that's over, I'm getting stressed as heck over final papers. Ugh. First one (on queer representations on TV, mainly concentrating on Queer as Folk with some Will & Grace thrown in) is due in a bit over two weeks, then 2 due the following week (one on representation of prisons in the media, based on analysis of 3 media texts from different mediums (needless to say, using Oz for one), and the other is actually a set of questions which we have to answer in relation to a certain fandom/fan activity... might use Lost fandom, but can't decide). Then English one (post-colonial racial and gender identities in two of the works we read) due the week after. Then just exams (2 real ones, 2 take-homes), and I'm DONE. Yay!
And speaking of, I've booked my flight home since exam schedule is up: I'm coming back April 17th. Woo hoo! Really looking forward to seeing everyone again and hanging out, though not looking forward to finding a job. But it'll be nice to be home...
I've got another presentation on slash next week (this time because it was actually one of the topics we had to choose from, so I obviously volunteered for it). It'll be... interesting. We had our first proper week on fandom this week, and I was the main person participating for a lot of the seminar. After awhile, the presenters would just look straight at me whenever they asked a question. XD Cause really, no one else had any idea about fandom never mind upwards of 10 years of experience. They probably think I'm completely insane, but oh well. I was perfectly candid about what fandom is and what it means to us in it, and if they think it's weird then that's their loss. Though really, after a class, several articles, and a seminar on the topic, you'd think people would stop referring to things like dressing up and conventions as "extreme examples of fandom". Dude, where I'm from that is not extreme. I've been to conventions, hell I've dressed up, and the people there are perfectly normal (in their own way, at least XD) and generally awesome. The drama and intolerance online seems to dissipate a bit offline and people are generally pretty great from what I've seen (especially Browncoats... they rock). Anyway, I think that trying to explain fandom, even academically, is a lost cause a lot of the time. ^^ Even when it's equated to more socially acceptable venues of fannishness (painting your face and cheering at hockey games, for example), people still seem to think that, say, Star Trek fans are just inherently weirder (and more 'extreme') than sports or music fans.
Oh yeah, and I watched eps 2.02 and 2.03 of SPN, though rest will prob have to wait until at least essays are done. Generally enjoyed both, loved Dean's mini-breakdown at the end of ep2. Still trying to figure out if ep2 was shot at Playland (and if it was, that's a hell of an editing job), but suspect that it wasn't - I recognized a couple of rides, but the overall configuration based on wide shots is nothing like Playland. Yeah, I spend a lot of time thinking about this stuff in Vancouver-shot shows. XD It was nice to see Amber Benson in ep3, and amused that she was in an episode about vampires and actually played one. Haha. Also, that hunter's storyline was lifted straight from Gunn's in AtS... (sister was turned by vamps and he had to kill her, then went on vampire-killing crusade as result). Seriously. -_-
Anyway, all my TV except for Lost and TBD are on hiatus right now, though some of it's coming back next week. All things considered, I don't really have time for it, anyway... Am really enjoying TBD so far, anyway. Looking forward to next ep.
Also, I went out dancing for the first time this year the other night (discounting Don's Ball). Heh. It was fun for awhile, then I got kinda bored and had a headache from the music. XD Danced with some guy who had his hands all freaking over me, and tried to put shoebox_of_lies's dancing advice ("rub your ass against his crotch") into practice. XD Anyway though, I don't think it's really for me... fun occasionally, but I don't enjoy dancing or super-loud music all that much. Plus I don't drink, which makes it less fun. ^^ Still enjoyed myself overall, though.
I vaguely feel like I should do a post about Orlando, but I'm too lazy... it was fun, anyway. 3 days in warmth (well, two days anyway - first two days it was 28 degrees and fantastic, third day it was 12 degrees and icky) and it was fun blitzing through the 4 parks again. Hadn't been to Animal Kingdom before, so enjoyed that. And bought a stuffed giraffe at the Rainforest Cafe there. ;) We were just there a few years ago, though, so for the other parks we just went through quickly and did the new stuff and anything we wanted to do again.
So now that that's over, I'm getting stressed as heck over final papers. Ugh. First one (on queer representations on TV, mainly concentrating on Queer as Folk with some Will & Grace thrown in) is due in a bit over two weeks, then 2 due the following week (one on representation of prisons in the media, based on analysis of 3 media texts from different mediums (needless to say, using Oz for one), and the other is actually a set of questions which we have to answer in relation to a certain fandom/fan activity... might use Lost fandom, but can't decide). Then English one (post-colonial racial and gender identities in two of the works we read) due the week after. Then just exams (2 real ones, 2 take-homes), and I'm DONE. Yay!
And speaking of, I've booked my flight home since exam schedule is up: I'm coming back April 17th. Woo hoo! Really looking forward to seeing everyone again and hanging out, though not looking forward to finding a job. But it'll be nice to be home...
I've got another presentation on slash next week (this time because it was actually one of the topics we had to choose from, so I obviously volunteered for it). It'll be... interesting. We had our first proper week on fandom this week, and I was the main person participating for a lot of the seminar. After awhile, the presenters would just look straight at me whenever they asked a question. XD Cause really, no one else had any idea about fandom never mind upwards of 10 years of experience. They probably think I'm completely insane, but oh well. I was perfectly candid about what fandom is and what it means to us in it, and if they think it's weird then that's their loss. Though really, after a class, several articles, and a seminar on the topic, you'd think people would stop referring to things like dressing up and conventions as "extreme examples of fandom". Dude, where I'm from that is not extreme. I've been to conventions, hell I've dressed up, and the people there are perfectly normal (in their own way, at least XD) and generally awesome. The drama and intolerance online seems to dissipate a bit offline and people are generally pretty great from what I've seen (especially Browncoats... they rock). Anyway, I think that trying to explain fandom, even academically, is a lost cause a lot of the time. ^^ Even when it's equated to more socially acceptable venues of fannishness (painting your face and cheering at hockey games, for example), people still seem to think that, say, Star Trek fans are just inherently weirder (and more 'extreme') than sports or music fans.
Oh yeah, and I watched eps 2.02 and 2.03 of SPN, though rest will prob have to wait until at least essays are done. Generally enjoyed both, loved Dean's mini-breakdown at the end of ep2. Still trying to figure out if ep2 was shot at Playland (and if it was, that's a hell of an editing job), but suspect that it wasn't - I recognized a couple of rides, but the overall configuration based on wide shots is nothing like Playland. Yeah, I spend a lot of time thinking about this stuff in Vancouver-shot shows. XD It was nice to see Amber Benson in ep3, and amused that she was in an episode about vampires and actually played one. Haha. Also, that hunter's storyline was lifted straight from Gunn's in AtS... (sister was turned by vamps and he had to kill her, then went on vampire-killing crusade as result). Seriously. -_-
Anyway, all my TV except for Lost and TBD are on hiatus right now, though some of it's coming back next week. All things considered, I don't really have time for it, anyway... Am really enjoying TBD so far, anyway. Looking forward to next ep.
Also, I went out dancing for the first time this year the other night (discounting Don's Ball). Heh. It was fun for awhile, then I got kinda bored and had a headache from the music. XD Danced with some guy who had his hands all freaking over me, and tried to put shoebox_of_lies's dancing advice ("rub your ass against his crotch") into practice. XD Anyway though, I don't think it's really for me... fun occasionally, but I don't enjoy dancing or super-loud music all that much. Plus I don't drink, which makes it less fun. ^^ Still enjoyed myself overall, though.