Episode 871: Science Fiction Needs More TV Love

Wow, it's been a long day. Just got back from band practice in church, and I'm starving. I probably shouldn't eat though. Maybe just some crisps? Making an entire meal seems rather excessive at this time of the night. Didn't get any work done between my seminars in the afternoon, although I'd hoped to have done some reading. Read only a couple of pages! I did get a haircut, though it didn't turn out too well. The hairdresser took off too much length again. Maybe next time, I'll just bring in a picture and tell her to cut my hair in accordance to it! Ah well. It'll grow back soon enough, should look fine in a couple of days. Have just finished my French homework, so now I'm settling back to watch the second episode of Outcasts. I think it's actually shaping up to be quite good. Eric Mabius's character is sufficiently interesting to make up for the writers having killed off Jamie Bamber's in the first episode. A quick browse on the web will reveal that critics are largely savaging the series, but I think it's still heaps better than having to watch stuff like Jersey Shore or The Only Way Is Essex. Why does science fiction not get more love from TV? I think this is a very serious issue. I mean, it's like way cooler than reality programming, isn't it?

Episode 870: If You're Crap At A Language, Ever Think It's Actually Your Fault For Not Trying Harder?

Okay, Carol Rutter's lecture today didn't quite sell me on Othello either. To be fair, I'm more into Shakespeare's comedies than his tragedies. Except King Lear. Not quite sure how I'm going to get hold of a copy of the adaptation that I'm meant to be commenting on in the seminar after Reading Week though! Then I had French, where there were lots of freshers whining and bitching, when really what they needed to do was put in more effort. I mean, come on! I can't believe we're still going over the agreement of past participle endings, and people who presumably should know better by now just don't get it. They grumble about not learning anything in the seminars, but it's patently obvious that most of them have a tenuous grasp of the language that would be much improved by complaining less and putting in a bit more effort. Just so we're clear though, it's only the English freshers displaying such abysmal attitudes. It really does my head in, having to put up with people like that. Makes me wonder why they even wanted to do French at university since they appear to have so many issues with it! Skipped the AdHoc meeting (again) to go and help judge the poetry slam audition for Ugly Cousins Club. Then I went to the Javier Cercas reading in the Arts Centre because George Ttoouli was handing out free tickets. Would probably have gone anyway, but this just meant that I saved a few quid. What's not to like about that?

Episode 869: New British Shows

Went to see George Ttoouli to pick up my reference for MOE. Talked a bit to him about my Shakespeare creative project and came away oddly more certain of what the play is going to look like now. Tom Cornford's recommendation to read Pirandello's Six Characters In Search Of An Author was definitely a good one, although the version I've read is the adaptation by Rupert Goold and Ben Power. Might still read a translation of the original version, or at least see the 1972 film adaptation that I got out from the Library today. All this does mean, however, that quite a lot of the research I was gathering weeks ago is now only mildly relevant at best. Oh well! Not actually going to do any work today anyway. Have just finished watching the premieres of two UK shows, Bedlam and Outcasts. The former is kind of like Ghost Whisperer, but with more menacing spirits. Fairly interesting, but not exactly breaking the mould. Nice to see Ashley Madekwe back on TV though. The latter is a science fiction drama, so that in itself is pretty much reason enough for me to watch it. Apparently, it bears some resemblance to Battlestar Galactica (including starring an alumnus of that show), but since I haven't seen that (yet), I don't have to judge it for that. I can see some philosophical questions being raised in it, and it makes me wish that British series didn't have such short episode orders on the whole. I guess it means that you can't afford to pad out the plot, but sometimes, you just want more space to explore stuff in. I can totally see Outcasts working as a solid science fiction novel though, which I think is a good sign. Bold (and potentially, stupid) move though, killing off the most interesting character on the show in the first episode.

Episode 868: Productive Streak!

Keeping up this streak of productivity, I've finished reading Othello. Don't like it as much as some of the other Shakespearean tragedies, and Tony Howard's lecture this afternoon didn't really convince me to change my mind. Guess it's up to Carol Rutter on Wednesday. I've also finished the French comprehension for Wednesday, whilst admiring my own handwriting. I know, it's terribly vain, but anyone who's seen my handwriting has to concede that it's quite beautiful. (Not as flowingly amazing as Ka Tsai's perhaps, but more legible at least.) Now I just need to finish reading Pirandello's Six Characters In Search Of An Author and I'll have accomplished everything that I intended to today. Anything beyond that, like doing any sort of research for my creative project, would then be a bonus. Or I could just reward myself by watching more Better Off Ted. It's hilarious, and it's just too bad that it was cancelled. I suppose the American corporations felt uncomfortable placing advertisements in a show that basically satirises corporate culture?

Episode 867: Prepared For Seminar!

Haven't finished reading Othello, but I've read enough to prepare for the mini-presentation at this week's seminar. Will have to finish reading to know the full plot details, of course, and I've less than 40 pages to go anyway. I could stay up again to complete it, but having kept myself awake last night to finish the book review for The Cadaverine, I don't think I'm going to punish myself again. I'll put a link to the review once it goes up. It's of a biography of Titanic Thompson, written by Kevin Cook. I think I might've mentioned this before, but my editor was totally right about it being an easier read than the last book I reviewed. It's a bit embarrassing how long it's taken me to get through this biography though, given how breezily it reads. Oh well. May the next review take less time! Anyway, I've got this weird idea for my Shakespeare creative project that ties in with the idea of onstage darkness and deliberately barring interpretation, where someone in the play is going to keep switching the lights off. I just haven't figured out whom it's going to be yet, since that ought to have some larger significance. Obvious choice would be to go for the director, but that's a bit of a cop-out, isn't it? Ditto for choosing one of the actors. Maybe it should be someone observing the rehearsal? The company's dramaturg? Then I can totally bring in that book Tom Cornford recommended I read (and which I haven't).

Episode 866: Spring Awakening

Went to see the MTW production of Spring Awakening with Laura in the afternoon. I thought it felt a bit disconnected for the first couple of minutes, but by the time we got to the interval, it was solid. I must say, that sex scene was pretty graphic, although that's not quite the adjective I should be reaching for, since there was hardly any baring of skin. I mean, I've seen full onstage nudity before when I saw Quills way back in my JC days, and this was practically PG in comparison. I suppose, however, that's what made it such a disturbing moment. Now for a few comments on the singing. The lead couple was impressive, especially the guy's ability to switch to falsetto. (Having sung pretty much all the parts in an SATB choir at some point during my four years as a choirboy, I have immense respect for any guy who has the control and technique to use it.) The chorus blended well, although occasionally when they had solo lines, it was hard to make out what was being sung. Could've been miking issues, but I'm definitely sure some of the supporting cast could have enunciated more, and this includes the speaking bits as well. One thing that did bother me a little was the disjunction between the German setting and the relentlessly contemporary nature of the song lyrics. That may have been why the performance didn't feel to me like it was meshing initially.

Episode 865: It's Far Too Windy Here

Was supposed to pick up a reference today, but that didn't work out in the end. Scheduling conflicts! I had to be on campus anyway, to take part in an experiment in the Psychology department. Coincidentally, it was administered by someone who goes to Westwood too. Made £8.40 this time, which I was quite pleased about when I saw I'd earned the most so far out of the people who'd completed the experiment. Slightly annoyed with myself for not having gone with the right strategy to maximise my earnings though, despite having clocked immediately what the experiment was actually trying to determine and how. It's not like it would've been a lot more, to be honest. Just a few pence more or so. Went to Waterstone's when I got back to Leamington to see if they had the Orbit reprint edition of Mike Carey's Vicious Circle with the new cover, but they didn't. Figured there was no point asking them to order it though. It's slightly odd that Amazon UK is advertising it with the new cover, but apparently stocks the old one. (The reverse being the case for the first book in the series, The Devil You Know.) Now that I know that the series has been reissued with new covers, it would just be really annoying to not have all of them. A bit like how I secretly want to buy the reissued Tolkien books that come in black covers, despite owning all of them already.

Episode 864: CNY Party!

So oddly enough, I've gone to a party ostensibly commemorating Chinese New Year at Lizzie's place, where I was, incidentally, the only Chinese person. Talk about irony. It was fun(ny) though, e.g. I don't think I've seen Annie quite so tipsy before! (At least not recently.) Night ended with the typical stop at Vialli's, which will probably make me feel a bit ill in the morning. Anyway, I'm quite glad I made the effort last night to finish reading Ape's-Face before this morning's EN236 seminar. It's a strange book, that one. Can't believe Sophie actually managed to get one off the Internet for about £5. Then my EN331 seminar was cancelled because Michael Hulse was ill, but I only found out when I went upstairs with my now-standard large gingerbread latte just after 3 pm. Dilemma ensued because that meant I could either stay on campus and help at that French seminar for the full two hours for a change (haven't been since Week 1 of this term) or go home and do stuff that needed to be done, like typing up the feedback for the CU's Mission Week events and reading that book I need to review. Cost-benefit analysis suggested that the latter course of action made more sense, in light of the fact that I don't actually do a lot when I do go down apart from making the equivalent of small talk in French.

Episode 863: Stupid Ulcer

I've got a stupid ulcer on my upper lip that's making it painful to eat, as well as enunciate in French, oddly enough. Now to go completely off-tangent, I'd just like to say that V is really quite a frustrating show. At this point, with six episodes to go before the season (and possibly series) finale, I don't see how the writers could provide a satisfying conclusion to everything they've built up so far. I like the direction they've gone with the whole soul issue, but at the same time, it feels like an attempt to give greater depth to a plot that has essentially devolved into a protracted prolonging of the inevitable confrontation between humanity (and its Fifth Column allies) and the Visitors, especially now that we know the Visitors came to Earth to breed with humans. The mother-daughter conflict is possibly the best thing on the show right now, and I hope it gets used in the show's denouement somehow. On a side note, how irritating is Tyler as a character? Anyway, currently ploughing through Marion Fox's Ape's-Face, which is a really weird book. In a good way. The conversation between two chairs is surreal, but definitely the best thing I've read in it so far. Just under 100 pages to go!

Episode 862: Cosmic Jokes

The universe is mocking me today. The seminar was only on The Changeling, so thankfully, Wikipedia's article on it has rather comprehensive scene summaries, so I knew all about who wanted to sleep/slept with whom and all the other juicy plot developments. Good seminar though, apart from the bit at the end where I got stuck doing stuff on Othello for next week because I was sitting to my seminar tutor's left. Of all the characters to get, I had to get the titular. Now I actually have to read the whole play way beforehand. Just as well I decided not to go out tonight for Amrit and Grace's party, I guess? Time to catch up on reading. The last cosmic joke played on me was when I got back to Leamington. Thought I had enough time to get stuff from Tesco, including the tortellini for tomorrow's cell dinner, and so I did. Came out to see the 68 at the bus stop, so I went over, only to have the driver pull away despite my waving. The bus was practically empty, so it's not like stopping for a few seconds would've killed him. Had to wait half an hour. I suppose things could have been worse. It could have been colder than 7°C for starters. It could have been the last bus of the evening. Still, that driver should have stopped, right?