Double double toil and trouble

No Macbeth.

Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Well, one can hope. Newts and frogs? Too cold here.

The fairy tale is the thing this TV season. Mirror mirror on the wall, which tale isn’t the fairest of them all.  Once upon a time seems soooo Grimm.

I’ll raise you one poisoned apple. And guess my name. Well, it isn’t that as that would be far too easy, and pricking your finger on the spindle, well, that’s so medieval. These days, glass slippers are easy to come by, especially if you can afford the strassed/Swavorski’d Louboutins. The prince, well, he ain’t what he used to be.  Last century’s charm is little more than self-absorption. The classic children’s story was quite scary back in the day, before Disney rewrote them.

Fringe has already headed to its fall break. I just got interested. Last week’s episode about dementia was one of the best in the show’s history. It didn’t focus on the show’s major characters. A story actually unfolded. A poignant tale about that which should or shouldn’t be. It made me consider some possibilities. And gave me a bit of a sense of wonder. When the show works, it really does. And then this week’s ‘finale’. Underwhelming. The 20 episode network ‘season’ doesn’t work in chunks. Six or seven episodes and then a two month or so break and then another six or seven episodes that will be the ‘winter’ season, another break, and the final three or four  in May, for the May sweeps and the possibility of renewal. I can understand watching a TV series on iTunes or waiting for the DVD to come out. My time is precious to me. I also have a fairly short attention span. No, I really can’t remember things that I watched two or three months ago. Do I care enough to remember that the show will come back in January or February? Well, if the PVR settings remember. And if the PVR decides to not experience ‘technical’ difficulties or to not be in service whenever. Which is frustrating. No, I do not want to call my cable company to ‘reset’ my machine. I don’t really like to go to the power bar, unplug the device and then have it re-set itself over several hours. The PVR was expensive when I bought it and I expect my Tivo imitation to at least function 99% of the time. Not find it on channel 1 or find that whatever I ‘recorded’ is not there. And won’t be shown again. And won’t be found online as it’s only available in the US. I liked the idea of the January season. The show starts then and runs til May, with few pre-emptions. Not the start-stop of the ‘fall’ season. Yeah, maybe if Ican find the show again. Maybe I will, or won’t. Maybe something else will take its place and interest me.

The good fun that is Todd and the Book of Pure Evil has returned in Canada for its second season. One of my TV guilty pleasures. Season 2 is off to a fine, rollicking start. An inexpensive Canadian production that doesn’t seem ‘nice’ as many Canadian series appear to world markets. Chris Leavins continues to knock it out of the park as the misguided and evil sweater-vested guidance counsellor villain, Atticus. The show is quite demented, but there is something about it. My high school experiences weren’t quite so, uh, entertaining. I get so few belly laughs and this show continues to make me smile weekly. I tend to like slapstick comedy. Or that which is considered ‘highbrow’. A simple girl, really. A little Oscar Wilde, a little Three Stooges. Ah well, I’m probably one of the few people at TWOP who talk about the show. A hidden gem.

Not so sparkly is ABC’s Once Upon a Time. A modern fairy tale that embraces the Disneyfied fairytale, but without heart or rhythm, at least so far. The pilot was well-produced but the show itself is struggling to work.  The Princess Bride worked  but this, not so far. Any ‘moments’ have been few and far-between. I really want to like the idea of the show, but it’s not pulling me in.  Happily ever after doesn’t really cut it in modern times. I’m struggling to see the modern metaphors and the modern ‘folk tale’. Little transformation, little ‘fantastic’.The oral tale has become little more than a glorified App for one’s iPod or iPad. One wipe of the finger and you’re off to a new place. The archetypes are bland. The wicked queen has been reduced to the modern minor politician. Show me a wonder. Folklore sanitised. Where are our stories anymore? Have we slayed our monsters or are we unwilling to look at the new monster? Is that monster ourselves? Our technology? Domo arigato Mr. Roboto? Does our cynical and world-weary magical mirror blind us?I exist in a place. Or do I? Well, I’d alter the ‘fairy’ tale for my own purpose. Rewrite history a bit. The winner takes it all. Til you are rewritten. Victorians? A certain sensibility. The Grimms sanitised some tales. Disney continues to feed little girls’ fantasies of the amazing prince. He’s a bit rusty now. Do you believe in magic?

I’d like to. I’m jaded. Cynical.

Ring around the roses. They all fall down. Welcome the Plague.

And Freud and Jung.

A prologue to history.

The monster that continues to walk the earth.

Grimm is the other ‘fairy tale’ type series this season. Loosely based on the Grimm fairy tales. Works collected from peasant. The Grimms were interested in folklore and the oral tradition of tales. German folklore, especially. Which ultimately and eventually were geared toward children. The show itself is reminiscent of the X Files with a fairy tale bent – most episodes start off with a few lines from a Grimm tale. A bit underwhelming. Standard procedural but with the ‘twist’ of a Grimm’s fairy tale. Unlikely that one city – Portland, Oregon, can be the hotbed for this type of story. The X Files worked in that the show moved to different locales each week. Fairy tale monsters in one town? I don’t think so. Eventually the press would get a hold of this type of situation. The lead isn’t particulary compelling. I’d like to care, but I don’t know. The Brothers Grimm were devout Christians. The show itself, well, it may be an interesting idea, but the execution is lacking. Perhaps it is the ‘spirit’ of the Grimms. People like me want to believe in fairy tales but are jaded. And far too Hollywoodised. And seen too many Disney movies. Bippity bobbity boo. Blue green red. The rose drops it petals. Be our guest. Some day my prince will come. Beauty and the Beast. The shoe fits. Or does it. Nothing like a happy ending.  The clock strikes midnight. The coach turns in to a pumpkin. The glass slipper sits on the step. The ugly stepsisters try to cram their feet in to it. The shoe shatters.

What’s my name? Is it Rumplestiltskin?

The straw will not turn to gold.

How to Disappear Completely

My little empire. Risen and set.

I’ve been offline for a bit. The usual summer re-charge. Sun. Mosquito bites. A bit of nothingness. Back to meditation. Chakra and energy work.  My little X file is still that. It’s interesting. Takes up a lot of time. Suffering from energetic imbalance. Eased a bit by some margaritas. Some good wine. Some retail therapy. Including some sparkly Choos. Wondering what to add to my iTunes library. Not much current stuff is grabbing my interest, so maybe I’ll find some 70s and 80s goodies.

Summer TV viewing was mainly ‘Breaking Bad’, ‘True Blood’, ‘Haven’, and the final season of ‘Entourage’. I do miss ‘Mad Men’, but look forward to a hopefully more coherent season in 2012. ‘True Blood’ bounced back a bit creatively from last summer’s lacklustre season. It seems to suffer from a TV version of the Star Trek film franchise even-number syndrome, with the even-numbered season being better than the odd-numbered one. 

I’ve watched most seasons of ‘Entourage’. I’ve lost a lot of interest over the seasons but have invested too much time in it to not see how it all ends. Last season was short and uninspiring. The new season is a bit rocky but the wind-down is noticeable. Disappointing finale.

‘Breaking Bad’ continues to be one of the most intelligent shows on television. Difficult to get in to, in terms of its subject matter. It’ll be interesting to see how dark the show can go in terms of Walter White’s transformation from milquetoast high school teacher to drug kingpin. Will it indeed go down the path that is expected/predictable or will there be a 180-turn that’ll flip the show around? Guess it’ll wait til the final season next year. Another stellar season this year. Vince Gilligan continues to show his master storytelling ability.

‘Haven’ airs a few days late here in Canada, but well within the week of its original US airdate.  I do enjoy that it does not indulge itself with standard TV and storytelling tropes. A little different. I still tend to compare many ‘The X Files’ inspired programs to the original X Files, right down to familiar ‘cases’. It is a storytelling challenge to have a small town have so many ‘troubles’ that necessitates paranormal investigations. A disbelief, mainly. Perhaps it’s the east-coast fishing-town that makes sense. Home of nor’easters. Things that continue to go bump in the night.  The season finale could also have worked as a series finale. I hope that the show is renewed for another season.

So what I have I been watching this fall? ‘Pan Am’ caught my interest for a couple of episodes. A Schlamme production – well, I almost expected shades of Aaron Sorkin.  One of my favourite writers. A breezy 60s series, with fluff and intrigue. Hello Cold War, with a stewardess’ point of view. And good 60s music – pre the British Invasion.  I miss the days when airplanes had legroom. Not quite ‘Mad Men’. Nice wardrobe. I’d love the inflight bag. Perhaps Prada will reimagine the shape for an upcoming collection. I don’t know if the ‘girl’ power works. A new locale each week, some spy thing. I see turbulence and premature cancellation.

I’ve also checked out ‘Terra Nova’. Well, it sat on the PVR for a couple of weeks. I priced the premiere at $15-20 million.  Definitely more than the $10 million ‘Lost’ premiere. A dystopian future not too far out of view of Terminator 2. Show focuses on the Shannons, the Modern Stone Age family. The initial mise en scene was interesting, but the characters decidedly not. More of a modern day ‘western’ but without the sensibility of John Ford. Going back in time to ‘fix’ history. Well, it’s happened and no matter what’s done, an extinction will happen. Can’t change history or the timeline. Even if it’s with semi Ikea furnishings.  It’s become a comedy of sorts for me. More of a ‘who will be eaten this week’ type of show. Disappointing in terms of the show’s creative team’s pedigree. But maybe not. ‘Star Trek’ meets ’24’ in a bad western, replete with future ‘cowboys’ and ‘Indians’.  Yeah, part of the creative team for this was the Star Trek TV franchise’s undoing. No one is particularly compelling or interesting. The teen scene? Not interested. Jurassic Park meets The Flintstones meets The Searchers. None of the characters had me at ‘hello’. I don’t get it – at least not at this time. I expect more than a Swiss Family Robinson series. Slow and not moving. Glacial pace. The fossil fuels are still moving. If it’s a Western, do it properly. I’m waiting for the ‘ride the dinosaur’ episode.

I’ve also checked out the US version of ‘Prime Suspect’.  Another dissapointment. Yet another uninteresting procedural. Far too Americanised. Pointless.

Have been enjoying ‘Dexter’ and ‘Boardwalk Empire’. ‘Empire’ is a bit slow but it does pay off. Love the 20s music.

Should be back on a more ‘regular’ basis now. PVR working, of course.

My guilty pleasure, ‘Todd and Book of Pure Evil’ returns Sunday.

See you next week.

Don’t Be Evil

Has technology made us equal?

A game of ‘let’s pretend’?

It’s been almost 20 years since I’ve first logged on to the Internet.  Back then, the Information Superhighway. These days, a seemingly clogged cyberjunkyard. Where’s Wall-E? This is year 16 or 17 for me, maybe. A relatively early adopter. Give me a new toy and I’ll play with it. I jump at being able to dive in, shovel-first, to the latest and greatest sandboxes. Building sandcastles that ultimately wash away with the tide. Rebuilt the next time I visit the beach. Monuments built only to turn me in to a gutless wonder. Any real intent?

I’ve experienced many growing pains. I’ve seen things come and go. Good ideas at the time. Lang’s ‘Metropolis’ became little more than long-ago technicolour talk.

Images stand clearer than my footprints, washed by water.

Cleansed. Destroyed. Purified.  Chaplin’s ‘Modern Times’.  ‘The Scream’. I’ve been charmed, excited, seduced and  fooled by ‘importance’ only to have it become obsolete months later.

I’ve bathed myself in baths of bytes.

Still, the painter’s products (such as they are) stand in majestic silence. Plato’s Phaedrus. Images now words.

Distorted portaits. The new Dorian Gray.

Aye, there be dragons here.

The devil you know, y’know?

Beowulf and Grendel. Perhaps Jekyll and Hyde.

Monsters. External/Internal.

Breach.

Stitching.

Is the medium still the message? 

Are we still distracted by the Internet? Is there a new message?

How do we experience the world in the 21st century? Have we defined what is the new century? Is there a new consciousness? Or are we still asleep from touching the poisoned spindle? Who is the new Prince to bestow his kiss and awaken us from our long slumber? What will be that new world?

To quote McLuhan in Understanding Media, “it is the medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action” (p. 9) Gutenberg’s printing press introduced literacy and the idea of  linear thought. The Internet is not really linear (design-wise, yes, in terms of pages but socially not really) and is bubbly-wubbly. Clouds. Optics. Is it an illusion? Hot media? Cool media?

Light has no content; the message is nonexistent. It is either on or off, and that which reflects the light is a separate medium altogether. Which has content. Internet pages. Are they silent, like Plato’s paintings? Page not found. Error message.

The new intelligence. Not really artificial. Binary. 1 and 0. New thought patterns. Not random. Information as message. Information as medium. Information as knowledge. What is knowledge? Is it the new message? Not from us, not from humans. A primitive brain. Mechanisation, lineal connections. Moving to creative configurations, the new algorithmic structure. The simultaneous becomes electric. The new current. Light will have content.

The medium doesn’t really exist. It’s just an on-off switch. That’s learned to spell.

Time Ain’t Nothing

Dr. Who finished its midseason with ‘A Good Man Goes to War’. Following the new TV business model of a split season. Which doesn’t work. Limited run series don’t need 7 weeks and then a four month break and then the rest of the season. Given that it is Dr. Who, the audience will find the show. Most other series? Not really, not unless it’s one of the favourites on the PVR. How I sometimes find things I like to watch. Yes, it is summer and the audience has moved on to other things til fall. However, some summer series, like True Blood, do work.

Timey-wimey, bubbly. It ain’t nothing.

A midseason cliffhanger with everything but the Death Star. And Han Solo. Yeah, the Star Wars saga references were pretty obvious. I really missed the ‘you were the chosen one’ line. I had seen part of The Phantom Menace the other week. I don’t know where I am on the number of times I’ve actually seen Star Wars: A New Hope (Episode IV). I am at least two to three lines ahead of the movie most times. The kitchen sink episode. Beware the Cybermen. No Daleks this season. Too bad.

So, we learned who River Song is. Not particularly surprising. Not the Doctor’s ‘wife’ as speculated. The episode was well-telegraphed for that ‘revelation’. Heavy-handed storytelling, really. I became tired of being clonked on the head by the ‘revelation’. Not a surprise, much.

The half-season so far? It’s had its moments. And its not so good moments. Uneven storytelling.

I still don’t know if Moffat has control of his show. Character development has either been lacking or non-existent. I still don’t know about Amy/Amelia Pond. As the Doctor’s Companion/the voice of the audience, I still have no idea who she is, exactly. No investment in what happens to her. I haven’t figured out if I care yet. Uncompelling. Unspecial.  I was lucky to see most of the modern series in a marathon viewing session last summer. Davies had an arc for his ‘companions’. Rose, Martha, and Donna all had growth. All had a purpose. The audience/viewer may not have agreed but it was there. Amy Pond? The jury is still out. I don’t see an arc. I don’t know the character. I don’t know why Amy and Rory are married. On a superficial level, yes, it’s a modern story. A married couple on the Tardis. I haven’t seen much of a dynamic between Amy and Rory. Rory I enjoy. His character has had sublime moments of humanity in the series. Even as plastic, he was fantastic.

We get Amy pregnant twice in two seasons. Slightly misogynistic, perhaps? Yes, babies are part of life and women do ‘want it all’. The baby seems little more than a plot device/filling an expositional hole. Is there a purpose? Not really.  The mysterious River Song. The question the past couple of seasons. Who is she, really. Maybe slightly too soon for such a reveal. Time as bubble.  A Timelord War? Weaponising timelords? It’s really sounding like the Star Wars ‘Force’. The old French Medieval lierature  inspiration for it. Not the retconned version 2 ‘midichlorians’. Ugh.

A mixed season so far. The highlight was ‘The Doctor’s Wife’. Nice touches throughout. A lovely episode. A strong opener with ‘The Impossible Astronaut’. It’s unlikely that we are done with The Silence. I half expect another ret-con by season’s end.

I’d like to know more about Amy Pond, please. Very poor character development, Mr. Moffat. Yes, you do have moments of brilliance in your writing. Some comes across as poetry, really. ‘A Good Man Goes to War’ was good. The poetry in it, anyway. Some utterly derivative, where I was wondering which Star Wars line would be used. An episode with everything but Darth Vader.  There is homage and there is…. a mess. I don’t know if showrunning is  the forte of the current showrunner. Individual episodes, yes. Perhaps the last half of the season will answer my questions and concerns. Right now, the season is not cohesive. Like last season. The highs and lows. Prisoner Zero. The Impossible Astronaut. The companion has been underwritten and overwhelmed by the supporting characters. No purpose. Some good lines from the Doctor.  Little growth though. Just the status quo. Melody Pond/River Song. The river in the forest. Still looking for the trees.

Intermezzo

My royalty does not exist. Extinct for the eye to see.

All of my voids filled with sin. My demons, within; my little empire, well, it doesn’t make a sound.

Memory has become pain.

No truce with my fury.  Newspaper cuttings.

Eating all the kings and queens. The sex and the diamonds.

Deny my history.

I love you all the same. Lost in the undergrowth.

Small black flowers that grow in the sky. Bruised. Wilted.

Bleeding.

Mirrors of my own happiness. Shattered.

No exit signs. Freeze me until I am numb.

My dilemma? Not my choice.

A new autumn light.

Summer solstice. What’s my poison?

Subtext. Content. Not the sort of thing I want to write.

Is it unfashionable to believe in principles?

Strip it Down

It’s been a busy couple of weeks.

Two sci-fi series ended their run in Mid-May: Stargate: Universe and Smallville.

Another series I liked – Human Target – was cancelled. I will miss you. I loved you in Season 1 and didn’t quite like Season 2 – yes, it had its moments, but it ultimately was the ugly love-child of Season 1 and Chuck. Jackie Earle Haley, I will miss you lighting up my TV screen as the amazing, unique Guerrero.

Stargate: Universe limped to its last episode on Tuesday, May 10 2011, in Canada. The ninth and last Chevron, encoded for the last time. Now packed away, gathering dust.  Until the eventual reboot, or another Stargate spin-off.

What started off as a mediocre movie with a fantastic concept in ‘Stargate’ (the film), turned in to a fun sci-fi techno-romp, spun off into an interesting concept (on paper) with Stargate Atlantis, managed a 17 year run on TV. The show did have the potential to be a really good sci-fi series. Potential is one thing, the end result; another.  Bad execution, bad characterisation, bad everything. Too dark, too obscure, too much of anything. SGU never found its soul.  Too much of a copy of Battlestar Galactica. Imperfect. Homage is good, but the show never really found itself.

I’ve read many recent exit interviews with the show’s creators and stars and have been struck by  the ‘I think we’ve been watching different shows’ stories. The intended story of ‘the wrong people in the wong place’ did not translate. There appeared to be a complete disconnect with the actors’ interpretation of their characters and what was ultimately shown on-screen.

There was little to care for or admire in any of SGU’s characters. Throughout the show’s two-season run, characterisation was all over the map. X may mark the spot, but the X appeared to move each episode.  And change font.  Semi-schizophrenic. Sure, we got some glimpses of the show’s potential in Season 2.5. Too little, too late. Still incoherent. Attempts at year-long story arcs, and mini-arcs, failed miserably. Arcs started, but  were abandoned mid-arc. Stitching up Frankenstein produced a better result. Confusing and conflicting characterisation that seemed only to serve the ‘story’ of the week.

No, maybe I’m not sophisticated enough to ‘get it’. Maybe I simply did not have the time to invest in the show.

I did like that Eli, SGU’s everyman, looked longingly and happily in to space at the end. A grand adventure. The voice of the audience.

Too little, too late. We didn’t find out who, if anyone, was on the shuttle that zipped away from the ship ‘Destiny’ (third episode of Season 1).

I did read on Gateworld that the show’s creators and producers had plans for a third season.  Joe Mallozzi blogged that there were ‘vague notions’ of where the show was going. Okay. The first two seasons were a disaster. No where to go but up.  Vague or not.  How do you get to the end of a season and not have any idea where your show is going?  You decide when the ship’s gas tank runs out? Or the GPS fails and runs out of maps?

I’m working on the plans for a pilot of what will probably be my real ‘series’. It’s still in the initial ‘it’s an interesting idea, let’s see if it can be viable’ stage. I’m excited about it. There is a five-year plan. An ‘infrastructure’ of sorts. Challenging. A huge creative stretch, wondering can it be done?

I didn’t get the impression that there was a five-year plan for SGU. It just seemed made up as it went along. This is cool now, so we’ll inject this. The music montages work in other shows, so that’ll work here. Not even ‘cool’ music. The dark sets will be cool and edgy. No. They were annoying. The show is really interesting. Maybe to those who are writing it. The writers forgot  the rule that as writers, they are the audience. Perhaps they were in over their heads with trying to write ‘serialised’ drama.

The show failed at trying to do anything interesting, complex, or bold. We were given a character that was a flawed hero. Not Joseph Campbell. Having Col. Young be a good commander on paper while underneath flawed, complex, and not-so-shiny, may have worked. SGU also had little to no conflict. Most of the characters seemed to only react to things. None seemed proactive. Just one throwaway thing after the next. Plots, characters. I never really got to know many of the show’s characters. Whatever they were seemed to serve the week’s thin plotline. Random facts. Perhaps it’s just Web 2.0. You are what you are this week in 140 characters or less. And if you’re lucky, you can be repackaged and retweeted. ‘My next tweet’. The new montage. The new mash-up. It’s only word reorganisation.

I won’t even talk much of SGU’s treatment of female characters. Most seemed based on the needs of the show’s moments. Which weren’t many. Vanilla, boring. Manufactured garbage.

I did like Robert Carlyle as the enigmatic Rush, but even he couldn’t save the sinking ship Destiny.

Smallville ended its ten-year run. It had its ups and downs (I had stopped watching for a while but tuned in briefly to Season 9 and was impressed that the show had ‘grown up’), but the last year or so stayed true to the Superman mytharc. As a series, it did have a good ending, replete with  Clark Kent becoming Superman and John Williams’  Superman theme closing the show. Clark Kent has grown-up.

Dr. Who is moving to its mid-season break. It’s been an interesting season. Amy Pond continues as the Doctor’s most uninteresting companion-to-date. Most of my attention has been on Rory. I did like the Neil Gaiman-penned ‘The Doctor’s Wife’. This week’s first of a two-parter does raise an interesting question of ‘cloning’. But doesn’t delve deeply enough in to the complex moral, social, societal, and ethical aspects.  What does it mean, exactly, to have the thoughts, memories, and life experiences of someone, but not be that someone? Is your experience just as real, as valid? Or are you just stealing memories and time? Is your experience fake? Do you know it is unreal? Reflections have never looked so bad. So unreal.  Both music choices – Muse’s ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ and Dusty Springfield’s ‘You don’t have to say you love me’ worked quite nicely – the first talking about deception, the other, unrequited love. The season appears to be following the theme of ‘identity’. Who are you, really? All characters are questioning who they are – the Doctor, Amy Pond, Rory, and River Song. The impossible astronaut may not be quite what or who he or she seems.

One small step, one giant leap.

Je Souhaite

Before the exploration of space, of the moon and the planets, man hailed that the heavens were the home and province of powerful gods who controlled not just the vast firmament, but the earthly fate of man himself and that the pantheon of powerful, warring deities, was the cause and reason for the human condition, for the past and the future, and for which great monuments would be created on earth as in heaven. But in time man replaced these gods with new gods and new religions that provided no more certain or greater answers than those worshipped by his Greek or Roman or Egyptian ancestors. And while we’ve chosen now our monolithic and benevolent gods and found our certainties in science, believers all, we wait for a sign, a revelation. Our eyes turn skyward ready to accept the truly incredible to find our destiny written in the stars. But how do we best look to see?

– The X Files, Patient ‘X’ (5×13)

Lately, I’ve been in a Fox Mulder state of mind.

Yes, I’ve narrowed my own little personal X File down to two possibilities.  One option I was leaning toward; the other, not so much. I wasn’t familiar with the second option until around late February and denied (and still deny) its possibilty. However, it is the one that,  for me, makes the most sense and ‘fits’. I’ve kept detailed notes of my experiences, my ‘symptoms’. Right down to the strange and freakish energy wave I experienced upon first setting eyes upon my ‘subject’.  The dots started to connect.

My little ‘case’ has been on the backburner for a while.  Not wanting to really deal with it, I suppose. Puzzled by it. Hoping it would just simply go away. But, it’s become a bad penny.

Hoping that whatever I’m currently experiencing wouldn’t turn in to the sequel to what I termed ‘Round 1’. Several years ago. Something that did not deserve a sequel.  Something I took great pleasure in shredding.  A very dark time in my life. The very dark soul masked in light.

Uncannily, both ‘subjects’ are eerily similar, right down to identical initials, identical birthplace, identical birth month, identical background. There is no physical resemblance. Opposites. Coincidence and symmetry so contrived. The past is just that, but history has a funny way of repeating itself. Never again. 

The answer I have found to my query is esoteric. Not particularly or easily quantifiable. An amazingly extraordinary gift that also makes me feel like I’m currently the butt of a bizarre cosmic joke. Nothing that I’ve chosen or sought. Into each person’s life a little weirdness/mystery must fall.  It’s all about perspective, of course. Mine is currently clouded. Divine Intervention. Something much larger at work.  Seeing how the pieces are starting to fit together. I’m very lucky.

Option A does have a ‘fix’ of sorts. Kundalini has uncoiled from a long slumber, the lotus flower has pushed its way out of the mud. Perhaps I do need to meditate more. Perhaps the chakras need a little upkeep.  Option B has no ‘fix’ for me, other than to stay on the wacky rollercoaster I seem to be riding and see where all this ultimately goes.  The truth remains…. still out there.  Dio Ti Ama. Amor Fati.

I continue to chase starlight.

The Dark Side of the Moon

And I think it’s going to be a long, long time.

Farewell, Rocket Man.

The shuttle Endeavor’s mission has been delayed.

‘Dr. Who’s’ Series 6 premiered last week. A two-parter and I’ve reserved my thoughts til this week.

First, ‘Stargate Universe’ is happily limping along to its series finale in a couple of weeks. No new Stargate episodes in the fall. After well over 15 years, the Gate will close.  The encoded last Chevron, no more. Thank you to all the lovely people at Television Without Pity that I’ve been chatting with the past couple of years.  It’s been a pleasure to spar and imagine and create with you all. I hope to run in to many of you on chats about other series. The last two episodes could have ended the series on a graceful, tasteful note. The first part written by Robert C. Cooper, co-creator of the series. Perhaps if this episode had aired during Season One, the show may have redeemed itself and actually have gone somewhere. But it’s a reflection of more of the same. The lack of execution of the series. There is a good idea in ‘Stargate Universe’. It just didn’t seem to figure itself out. Good storytelling is show, and not tell.  The soft voice from the firelight. Not the bellowing from the mountain or Stargate-high.  The audience is smart. The audience moved on.  Sci fi fans are like that. Good memories and all. What happened in both parts of the alternate reality timeline episodes was more of ‘tell me that these are X’ instead of the voice of the firelight ‘show me’. Show me that X character is ‘X’. Not beat it over me. Alternate realities are useful  and can result in nifty storytelling but are not a crutch to get past a show’s insecurity. Two more episodes about the ‘wrong’ people. Yeah, wrong show.

Perhaps it’s just SyFy’s rebranding. Less sci-fi and more…. I really don’t know. I’m not American  and I don’t have access to SyFy’s programming but I do see that SyFy is becoming less about sci-fi and more about cheap  ratings-driven programming. The new sci-fi seems to be coming from BBC America.

‘Sanctuary’ has returned from its multi-month hiatus. It’s also been the victim of programming shifts. The current TV business model is suffering. No, many audiences will not find a program that hasn’t been on for a few months. The show does have its core audience and does well for a low-budget sci-fi modern steampunk show. The season arc of ‘Hollow Earth’ has been off and on for me. The brilliance of ‘Breach’ (I believe that I’ve watched that episode at least six times) and the introduction of the marvellous Jekyll and Hyde character of Adam Worth (played remarkably by Ian Tracey – watching his eyes as he moves between good and evil is amazingly good)  has been tempered by the quick and ultimately unsatisfying resolution of the storyline (so far). A fascinating premise, with a rushed execution (so far). Slightly reminiscent of ‘Babylon 5’s’ Great War, that ultimately fizzled. The pieces of the arc are in place, but are missing a few beats. However, the season is not yet over, and the storyline remains incomplete.

‘Dr. Who’ premiered last week with ‘The Impossible Astronaut’ and this week concluded the  sixth’s season’s two-parter with ‘The Day of the Moon’. Well, perhaps Steven Moffat has finally come up with the motivation for Amy Pond. I did like Moffat’s first season as showrunner, (even though a few mid-season episodes were ‘turkeys’) but had some issues with the character of Amelia Pond –  and wondering what exactly is/was her motivation as the Doctor’s ‘companion’. For much of the first season, she seemed to be little more than a plot device.  Along with boyfriend ‘Rory’. The Prisoner Zero arc was lacking.

The new season is off to a roaring start with ‘Space 1969’. Highly reminiscent of ‘Blink’ (one of the modern series’ stellar episodes), the X Files, and the hope and promise of the US Space Program. One small step for man, one giant step for mankind.  Apollo 11. Neil Armstrong. I was little when the moon landing occurred. Bittersweet, actually, in terms of timing with the end of the current US Space Program.

Well shot. Poignant in terms of the meta-comment on aging and Alzheimers.  A far-too-common affliction today. Sympathy for the character of River Song (portrayed as the show’s Jar Jar Binks – an unfair comparison so far). Time as destroyer. Not healer. The Time Lord not remembering the future as past. Yes, there be spoilers. Who exactly is River Song?

I was happy that the Amy Pond pregnancy storyline was quickly dropped. No, the show hasn’t jumped the shark just yet.  Babies don’t save a show. However, the opening two-parter’s storyline did introduce the possibility of another Timelord. And gave resonance and meaning to Amy Pond as ‘companion’. More than meets the eye. The aliens? Interesting but reminiscent of the statue angels from ‘Blink’. Been around for thousands of years? I don’t  think so. It was lovely to see the original moon landing footage. Series 6, so far, so good. I’ll be there next week.

Something old, something new, something Tardis blue…

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Tonight’s the night.

Surface reflection all I desired babe/I am melancholy, flower cutting through stone/
I’m a crime everybody has at home/Papers hate me but they need my behaviour.*

The Mark Twitchell trial ended this week.  ‘Canadian Psycho’. A star in his own warped mind – talented filmmaker, womaniser, and uncatchable killer. All lies eventually lead to the truth.  One that’s learned to spell. Or in Twitchell’s case,  just another lie.

A wannabe serial killer. Who was meeting and having an intimate and interesting gig with his Dark Passenger. Profile of a Psychopath. Released as a piece of original writing profiling a psychopath and based on Twitchell’s own life. Fact meets fiction. The contents of which were not  shown to the jury at his trial as it was deemed too prejudicial. Holding a mirror to himself. Reflections unreal. A self-diagnosis. No innate value in human life. Taking out the trash was a good thing. Living his life like a charade. Staying true to his dark self while maintaining the facade that nothing was wrong.

Twitchell lied to his wife about everything – from unemployment to infidelity to his burgeoning film career. He lied to investors about his film plans when he hadn’t even finished a film. He lied on the Internet, posing as a pretty girl, to lure his victim to a garage for a date with a woman who didn’t exist. After he killed his victim and almost killed another, it took Mr. Twitchell over a year to come up with a lie to explain it on the witness stand. Boy cried wolf.

He blamed it on ‘Savant’  power. Inspiration. Taking mere hours to come up with ideas that other moviemakers would have taken months to develop. “But it’s not something that I can manually control or manipulate.” (Edmonton Journal, April 8, 2011, p. A3). An excerpt from his script is linked below. Not for everyone. Disturbing reading.  An insight in to the mind of a psychopath, reading like a mediocre Dexter spec script. http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Read+Document+from+Mark+Twitchell+laptop/4518062/story.html

Full details about Mark Twitchell and his trial can be found at www.edmontonjournal.com.

The Fame monster within. Planning an imaginary ‘kill’ as Dexter, believing that his victim, also a fan of the show, would be impressed at the detail. Back when he was first charged with the murder of his victim, Twitchell was linked to the fictional Dexter Morgan character. Executive Producer Melissa Rosenberg was horrified  that the show ‘inspired’ Twitchell.

There is a line between reality and fantasy. In ‘Psycho’, Norman Bates allowed his fantasies to enjoy him.

The Twitchell case is another in a series of tricky fine-line ‘inspiration’ events based on the power of popular culture. Several years ago, a  high profile case involved metal band Judas Priest’s song ‘Suicide Solution’. A very famous court case resulted that linked that the song contributed to a real-life suicide. The songwriters were found not guilty and rightfully so. Other entertainment examples exist along with the now-standard legal clause of ‘based on fictional characters and situations’.

No one really knows who the audience is. Neilsen numbers can be misleading.

The visit to the Dark Side.

Hollywood loves the ‘feel-good’ inspiration stories. The dark ones don’t get the same attention.  It’s fiction. The closing credit says so. Well they do. It’s great to hear a celebrity talk about someone positively inspired by them. Standard press. It’s a script. I’m an actor. I’m selling my project. Contractural obligations. I have security to keep me away from the ‘crazies’. The movie pays the bills.

Plato’s ‘Phaedrus’ talks of the silent painter’s product.

Art, in all its forms, is open to interpretation. One person’s ugly pot is another’s work of beauty. A showpiece.

A criminal mind.

I watch and enjoy ‘Dexter’. I enjoy the show’s conceit of the antihero as hero. Sympathetic to the darkness. Moving to light. Brilliant at times. I am fascinated by the human ‘shadow’. I’ve written a spec script for the show. I enjoyed the process, I enjoyed visiting a different ‘world’. The challenge of this world. It’s also an internal world. With its own rules. I leave my keyboard and I leave that world. If I’m doing a workout or long walk, well, I live my character for its duration. All fantasy, all subjective. No inclination to ‘act out’ my thoughts. They stay on the page.  I’ve been asked many times by people I know about my visits to the ‘darkness’ in my writing and my love of dark TV and movies. It’s primarily a case of ‘the Devil tells the best stories’.  I’m not particularly interested in writing love stories. I liked the ones from the 40s and not today’s ‘meet cute’ and keep people apart til Act III brings them together in a post-modern cookie-cutter cliche. They’re boring for me to write. You write what you know and what you observe. And what interests you. I like research. I study people, I watch people.  Yes, all the characters I write are aspects of me. Am I any of them? No. I also approach my writing as both a writer and actor. I also employ an element of the tonal, which reflects my music interest and background. Words as musical notes, words as musical progression. I like symmetry and symphony. Do I defend my writing and creativity? No. It opens a door for people and it’s up to my readers to decide where they wish this door to go. Based on their own lives, histories, world-views. Reality is an interesting mirror. Home to distortion, dysmorphia, the human fun-house. The maze.

And no, I won’t end up as a TV movie of the week or as an episode of a blah TV procedural.

The old adage of ‘be careful what you wish for’ comes to mind.

*Patrick Bateman, 1993 (Bradfield/Moore/Moore/Edwards) – available on YouTube. Explicit content warning.

Forever Delayed

Welcome to the Pleasure Dome. Xanadu.

Coleridge.

I’m not talking bad 70s or early 80s. I don’t mind some of the Halston 70s-inspired fashion revival, and disco never dies. Much like bad polyester. The 80s are over and Frankie has long returned from Hollywood. But I digress.

Stayin’ alive.

I have about five small bags of clothing and shoes (so far) to either consign, sell, or donate to charity. Out with the old and time to make room for the new. I’m fond of my new 20s-inspired top, complete with silver chainmail fringe. And my new jeans. They’ll go great with my silver glitter peeptoes or my rare Louboutin fuschia greasepaint pumps. I’m bored of black.

Been in a Snow Queen state of mind.

All about the mirror and its pieces. Reflections somehow unreal. Shards slash across my mind. Not Andersen’s world. One of my favourite fairy tales. Ice as metaphor.

Yeah, winter is over. Officially. Normally winter comes to an end here in May. Given the slow snow melt, maybe early June.  The local Mount Snowpocalypse is finally melting. There’s a contest to guess when it’ll finally disappear. Next year’s mountain will be named after the winner. It’s currently 197 feet high. I’m thinking around August 28th.

Spring means the living is itchy. The sand/dirt and snow mold is already getting to me.

A slow melt may mean more mosquitoes in summer. Eaten alive.

I’ve been playing with my new tech sandbox. It’s still in its pilot stages and not fully functional. The go-live date is Fall 2011. I picked up the basics in about two minutes of ‘play’. Necessity and all that. Have already found some bugs. It’s great being given the keys to the car and having no idea how to drive it. I can only ‘kill’ so much.  Busy time of year for me, which includes working on a project for the McLuhan Centenary.

It’s TVland’s spring break. The annual hiatus til mid-April, when the current season’s crop of shows return for their last few episodes. And the spring/summer season will start – ‘Dr. Who’ will return, ‘Breaking Bad’, etc.  ‘Mad Men’ may not return til 2012.

‘V’ ended its second and probably final season a couple of weeks ago. An all-right finale that seemed to hit some high notes, including the series’ best line to date – ‘now this is how you kill your mother’, along with a welcome character killing. A bit sadistic, yes; but pleasing. Fitting, really. The show seemed to finally find itself, after floundering around like a semi dried up lizard for the first season and a bit. Or I just lowered my expectations. 

 The low-rated ‘Fringe’ was picked up for a fourth season, as announced last weekend. It seems to finally be finding itself. Perhaps Fox doesn’t have a lot of series ready for next fall. The new fall season announcements in May could be interesting. It’ll be interesting to see if ‘Human Target’ will be renewed.  ‘Stargate Universe’ is burning off its last ten episodes. Ratings have hit a new low. The show seemed to pick up a bit in these last episodes so far. Not as literally dark as the first season, as someone finally found the ship’s light switch. Too little, too late. One good episode out of the now four that I’ve seen. Poor pacing, poor execution. There really is a good show in SGU – somewhere. It shouldn’t take two seasons to find it.

Started watching a new Canadian drama – ‘Endgame’. A procedural with a twist. Instead of the standard private investigator, the protagonist is an agoraphobic Russian chess grandmaster. Fiancee killed under mysterious circumstances, Mr. Chess Man never leaves his hotel. Solves the crimes using his chessboard and the episode’s characters as its pieces.  The pilot was weak in many spots, but the show improved in the second episode. The writing is a bit shaky, and at times, cringe-worthy. ‘Endgame’ does have some potential. Crimes, like the game of chess, can be played in many variations. The city of Vancouver is shot beautifully. The series (so far) does lack a bit of the chess ‘mystique’ and the game’s huge ego and high political stakes. Plus the intelligence and wit. It does have an interesting concept but I’m not sure it’s hitting the right moves. It’s at stalemate for me for now.

Did see that a homegrown show I did love, ‘Todd and the Book of Pure Evil’ got a rave review from AICN (Ain’t it Cool News). Hopefully one of the US cable channels will pick it up. There are snippets available on YouTube.

Finished listening to the last of my Manic Street Preachers singles B-sides from their last album. One of the few bands out there today who are old-fashioned and release ‘singles’. One album and 15 b-sides later. Some are actually very good and could have been A-sides. Did enjoy receiving a signed postcard. A nice little keepsake, a nice thank you to the fans.

Also caught up on the last two Asia albums – ‘Phoenix’ and ‘Omega’. I’ve always loved the band and its first two albums (self-titled and ‘Alpha’) remain musical loves. No, I’m not a prog snob. Also have been listening to Porcupine Tree.

Time to engage with my shadow.