Episode 1103: Postcolonialism Is Out To Get Me, Isn't It?

How's this for cool? The second printing of Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern Issue 4 was done by Tien Wah Press in Singapore. Don't think I'll manage to finish the issue before I have to fly though, I'm afraid. Pablo Mukherjee sent back my dissertation proposal with comments and a recommended bibliography that will help to furnish the theoretical framework my current proposal lacks, so yeah, postcolonial studies is still catching up with me anyway, even though I decided against the corresponding module for my MA with Neil Lazarus. As it turns out, Neil's most recent book, The Postcolonial Unconscious, published only in August, is likely to prove critical to the formulation of my thesis. Have a stack of reading to get through now, and I'm actually considering cutting back on some of the less interesting TV shows I'm following, in the vein of how I axed Harry's Law from my list previously, although I've since reconsidered on Nick Marshall's prompting, only to be told that the show has devolved into something he dislikes, i.e. 'Generic Legal Drama: Featuring a Sarcastic Lady'. Ironically, doesn't that sound exactly like my type of show?

Episode 1102: My Poor NatWest Account

Annual allowance still hasn't been credited, so it's fortunate that the first instalment for Warwick Accommodation isn't due till end of October. I'm wondering if it hasn't arrived because the AGD only makes transfers on a specific day in the month, and because I signed my agreement in mid-September, I 'missed' the date for this month, and so I'm stuck waiting until it rolls around in October. Have sent an e-mail to check, in case it's a clerical error and I've been overlooked, though I highly doubt such a major mistake can actually happen! Anyway, it looks like Thursday is also a TV bonanza for me. There's Fresh Meat and The Fades from the UK, and American shows Free Agents (remake of something British, and therefore more likely than not to be disastrous), Happy Endings (the only Friends knockoff from 2010/11 to survive another year), Revenge (think Gossip Girl if it were set only in the Hamptons and were only about getting revenge rather than being ridiculous), and Suburgatory (another promising contender from this year's crop of admittedly gimmicky shows). Maybe Nick Marshall is right. I should just start a new blog about TV. The Internet obviously needs another person mouthing off online about what's on TV...

Episode 1101: Oh Gossip Girl, How You've Fallen!

Yes, we're back on the subject of TV tonight. Let me be clear about something right off the bat: I was and still am a Gossip Girl fan. When it started out, the show was soapy, the people beautiful, and the comebacks snarky, all wrapped up as high school drama. Quite unlike anything that had been on TV, apart from The OC, I guess. Arguably, it also started the wave of book-to-TV adaptations that still shows no sign of ending, although the lacklustre ratings for The Lying Game and The Secret Circle suggest that even if an author's previously adapted book series becomes a smash TV hit and cultural phenomenon (Pretty Little Liars and The Vampire Diaries respectively), trying to replicate the magic isn't always as easy as finding another sets of books to riff on. Having watched the Season 5 premiere of Gossip Girl though, and as much as it pains me to write this, I have to concede that of the two shows, 90210 is now undoubtedly superior to its East Coast cousin. It just feels breezier and more carefree, whereas I'm now inclined to agree with those who have long criticised the cast of Gossip Girl for just going through the motions. While its ratings mean it could limp through a Season 6, I'm not sure what the point would be. It's always a bad sign when your newest main cast member features only in the last five minutes of your season premiere. The writers really need to step up their game.

Also a disappointment, Fox's Terra Nova. While not exactly a flop for the network, compared to the ABC/CBS/NBC trifecta, this show is definitely not punching its weight, considering it's one of the more expensive shows to produce this season (damn those cheesy SFX and CGI dinosaurs!). The two-hour pilot had 9 million viewers, and I'm predicting the show will shed anywhere between 2-3 million next week. The problem isn't that Terra Nova isn't enjoyable. The problem is that it recycles too many stock motifs and tricks, right down to its stirringly epic soundtrack. That and it's plagued by a predominantly average-looking cast, except possibly lead actor Jason O'Mara, who gets a shirtless scene, so you know the network wants you to think he's hot. (What did I say about stock tricks of the trade?) The premise - colonists being sent back 85 million years to an alternate timeline from a 22nd century Earth on the verge of ecological collapse - is only marginally original, and strongly reminds me of UK show Outcasts. (Yeah, no one watched that either, even though I personally liked it.) Basically, Terra Nova looks like it's going to be Jurassic Park: The Series, a chance for Spielberg to rehash one of his most successful efforts. Mark this one down as my first cancellation prediction for the 2011/12 season. Let's hope it lasts longer than Lone Star, which was a mighty fine show that would likely have fared better somewhere like USA or FX.

Episode 1100: Alphas, Or Heroes/X-Men Done Right

There have been quite a few new summer shows that impressed me by being as good as, if not better than, fall/winter programming. Like Falling Skies, Franklin & Bash, Suits and Torchwood: Miracle Day. Having watched the finale of Alphas this afternoon, however, I can safely say that this show had the best one, in terms of tying up the story arc(s) of its season, while demonstrating potential to expand its in-show universe. (Okay, so it's a bit odd to put it in those terms for dramedies like Franklin & Bash and Suits.) I agree with those TV critics who've praised the way in which Alphas balances its drama and its political undertones, and credit for that surely goes to co-creator Zak Penn, who's done writing work on X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand. Considering that Alphas airs on SyFy and only has a fraction of the production budget of a franchise like X-Men, it's a pretty mean feat, the dramatic flair with which the season ends. It should also silence detractors who saw the show as a pale imitation of Heroes. Should also mention that Ryan Cartwright has delivered an amazing performance as the autistic Gary.

Episode 1099: Packing Begins!

Started packing this evening, so all the clothes I want to bring back have been picked out. Only need to make up my mind about the books and I'll be all set. Probably could do with bringing less clothes, as usual. Ah well, I'm rationalising it on the grounds that I'll be there for the full year this time, rather than just nine months, so obviously I need more clothes with me, right? Randomly, I never realised that Heronbank and Lakeside were organised under one Warden as the Heronbank and Lakeside Student Village. I guess like Westwood, being outside the main traffic corridors of Central Campus does give these residences more of a community feel. I wonder what floor my room will be on, and how far away will the launderette be? I've already sent an e-mail to Access Storage Coventry to say I'm moving out by next Monday, so I don't have to rush to get all my boxes out on the same day that I land in the UK. Probably makes more sense to pay a taxi driver a flat fee and have him drive me to the building from campus, wait for (and help?) me to unload my boxes, and then drive me back to Heronbank. I guess £30+ should be reasonable enough.

Episode 1098: Still Plugging Away...

'When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story.' Barney Stinson, you are a wise man, and my friends who watch How I Met Your Mother (like Lizzie, Nick Marshall and Sophie) are really bad friends for not having forced me to watch this show sooner. I'm making my way through Season 2 now, as you might have guessed from the opening quote. Could probably finish it before I have to fly back. Trying to fit in another season alongside all the other TV shows I'm following is almost impossible though, especially if I'm trying to keep up with my reading as well. Am almost done with David Calcutt's The Map Of Marvels, and that's me set for one module for the first three weeks. Speed reading could allow me to finish another week's worth of children's books, but I'm thinking I should finish off the issue of Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern I'm currently reading. (I left off at this non-fiction piece about the Unabomber, which I found pretty engrossing on my last MRT journey.) Also deciding which books I'm going to bring over to the UK this time, and I'm being disciplined about it. Anything I can find in the Warwick Library is out, so that's several Bloodaxe poetry anthologies axed from the list. Some unnecessary stuff is still on it though, like the three Philippe Grimbert novels, which I want to bring to read because it'll help me keep up with my French, except I already know I'm more likely than not to put off actually reading them, possibly for an entire year. Another 'luxury' item under consideration: 12 issues of Wholphin.

Episode 1097: Let's Not Pretend Anymore I'm Going To Stop Talking About TV Shows

The Season 2 premiere of Nikita was actually kind of boring. I like that Michael and Nikita are together and on the run, and Melinda Clarke is still being brilliant and scary as Amanda, but I somehow just expected more from an episode kickstarting a new season. The addition of Dillon Casey (probably more familiar to TV audiences as the random guy who got naked with John Barrowman not too long ago on Torchwood: Miracle Day) looks set to complicate things for Division, and maybe provide a new love interest for Alex, after Ashton Holmes's character got killed off far too quickly. I'll admit though, Birkhoff got more badass over the summer. Now that was a good moment in an otherwise lacklustre season premiere. Still need to watch the premiere of Fringe Season 4, but I have faith that it's going to be awesome. For a show that airs on Fox, notorious for canning intriguing shows (anyone remember that two-episode gem, Lone Star?), for Fringe to make it this far, and up its game with each successive season, is pretty incredible. It's still in the Friday night death slot though, so I guess a Season 5 looks unlikely. Sigh. Maybe 2012 will be the year Fox wises up and ditches the reality crap like American Idol in favour of renewing something like Fringe or Terra Nova (yeah, I'm predicting the latter's demise before it's even aired)?

Episode 1096: I Need To Shut Up About TV Already...

Lost alumni are popping up everywhere this TV season. First it was Terry O'Quinn on the new season of Hawaii Five-0, now it's Michael Emerson on Person Of Interest, which also stars Jim Caviezel. The show's central concept is pretty interesting, sort of Human Target channelled through Alias. I don't know if it's just me, but the series debuting this season all seem so much more promising than last year's. Community is back as well, and I'm excited to see what happens at Greendale this year! The musical opening scene was a nice touch. It didn't exactly make fun of Glee, but it did underscore how cartoonish High School Musical and Glee really are. Strip away the song and dance shtick, and they're just as fluffy as anything put out by The CW. By the way, The Secret Circle is definitely shaping up to be a good companion to The Vampire Diaries, albeit with a far less obviously attractive cast. (Let's face it, there is apparently not a single ugly young adult in Mystic Falls. Not even homely.) In all honesty though, I am actually looking forward to Ryan Murphy's latest creation, American Horror Story. Dylan McDermott's always been one of my favourite actors, ever since the days of The Practice.

Episode 1095: More Shows To Follow!

Review for Sabotage Reviews turned in an hour or so after midnight my time, and Scott has given the nod to my review of Conaway's book, so that one's going to The Cadaverine. Drunken Boat book has definitely been posted to me, but it hasn't arrived yet, so the editor is checking up on that. Will probably start reading The Mystic Masseur, which I'm revieiwing for Rum & Reviews Magazine, on the flight back to London if there aren't any interesting movies on my SQ flight. Would have to be really unlucky for that to happen though! Also just found out that Shen Ting's taking the same flight as me, so there'll be somebody to share a cab back to campus with. By the way, Nick Marshall, if you're reading this, you should start watching Fresh Meat and The Fades. They're both UK shows. Fresh Meat is C4's new university sitcom, in which the posh-but-pretending-to-slum-it kid describes Coventry as 'really normal'. (I swear I actually burst out laughing at that point.) It seems funny enough, although most of the characters are pretty hard to warm to. The Fades, on the other hand, is possibly trying to be Supernatural, and not doing too shabby a job either.

Episode 1094: To Damn With Faint Praise?

Have been stuck on the same paragraph (third of four) of my review of Jack R. Johnson's An Animal's Guide To Salvation for about an hour. Need to finish it by tonight because it's due, but with the time difference between Singapore and the UK of seven hours, I still have a bit of leeway. I believe it's actually the closest I've ever cut it for a review. Shouldn't have left it so late to begin with (I've come to realise that I always do), as it should only have taken me an afternoon to read the whole PDF, instead of dragging it out over a few nights like I have. Anyway, the problem I'm having at the moment is that there's nothing especially awful about the book, but it's somehow not been a particularly satisfying read either. It's adequate, would be the most succinct way of putting it. Except to put it that bluntly just feels mean-spirited, I guess? So I've been dancing around the issue, trying not to damn with faint praise whilst still being fair to the book. It's always challenging when the material for review falls into this grey area. Don't have another review due after this one till the end of October, although I'm expecting a book of poetry from Drunken Boat that may have been lost in the post, and there's the PDF Cameron Conaway sent me not too long ago that I need to place with one of the sites I review for.