Firefly Disk #2, part 1

Disk #2 in the Firefly complete series boxed set consists of four episodes:

Shingdig – Sort of an Inara/Mal ‘shipper (relationship) episode. We see her at work and feel the tension between her and Captain Tightpants. Kaylee gets to explore some girly tendencies, but under all that frou-frou, she’s still obsessed with engines.

Mal’s inexperience with a sword was the only thing that perplexed me. I know that they are primarily focused on guns and gun culture (i.e. the wild west), but a major component of the society is Chinese culture. To me, Asian culture still focuses on the sword or weaponless (open hand) combat. In Japanese manga and anime the future is still fought with swords. Perhaps Mal’s inexperience is attributable to his level in society (a very low level); only upper level people learn to use a sword.

Safe – Definitely a Simon/River episode. Flashbacks to their childhood coupled with their kidnapping and accusations of witchcraft create a tender image of their relationship. We also get a more definite answer to what River’s abilities are: reading minds is just the tip of the iceberg.

This episode also lays the foundation for the mystery of Shepard Book. His ident-card gets him into and out of the Alliance hospital without another word.

One more thing about this episode – the cows that were being loaded onto the ship at the end of Shindig are being unloaded at the beginning of this episode. Kaylee comforts the wounded Shepard “Just like he did for me.” … This persistence of memory that infuses every episode makes the whole series unfold like a single (very long) movie. Things don’t just happen in this show and then are left in a void (unlike many other science fiction shows). Growth, change and discovery are the hallmarks of this series and even though it is only 14 episodes, it can still be enjoyed over and over again like a classic motion picture.

<*<*<*<>*>*>* >
www.netflix.com provides me with all the DVD’s I can handle.
As for books, my thanks go out to www.amazon.com, Borders (a chai latte, please!) and all the used book sales I can get to.
For anything I can’t find in any of these places, I go to my local library. (Interlibrary Loans are SHINY!)

LIBRARIANS: the GPS locators in a wilderness of information.

Samurai Anime Go!

My anime for this month is Samurai Deeper Kyo. So far, after two disks (10 episodes) it isn’t too bad. It reminds me a little of Rurouni Kenshin, especially the stuff about “a man with a cross-shaped scar on his back (or face).” This comparison is bad, however, since Kenshin is one of the best manga ever; all others pale before it.

SDK begins promising with the idea of two samurai who are fighting get struck by a mysterious meteor. Their souls are trapped in the same body (the extra body is hidden away somewhere.) At first I thought the two fighters would be switching back and forth, but after one or two times of that, it has stopped. “Demon-eyes” Kyo is the one in charge now and we get a chance to discover that he isn’t so bad after all. It’s the other one (whose body Kyo is occupying) that seems a bit of a baddy. Whew! This is difficult to explain!

Anyway, I like the demon-monster thingies and the characters are fun too. Also, the outtakes are hilarious! I’ll keep watching.

<*<*<*<>*>*>* >
www.netflix.com provides me with all the DVD’s I can handle.
As for books, my thanks go out to www.amazon.com, Borders (a chai latte, please!) and all the used book sales I can get to.
For anything I can’t find in any of these places, I go to my local library. (Interlibrary Loans are SHINY!)

LIBRARIANS: the GPS locators in a wilderness of information.

Dune done

I finished Dune by Frank Herbert and it was very good. The first third of the book introduces us to the world of Dune and various members of the House Atreides. By the mid-point of the book however, it is just a litany of death. Characters that were likable, but not entirely fleshed out are killed off. The final third of the book takes off in a very exciting way. Hints about the Fremen’s world are finally explained clearly. This is coupled with a rising tide of prophesy (drug-induced and otherwise) and just plain action.

However, after the final battle, the book doesn’t quite end for me… it just stops. After years of holding a grudge, Thufir Hawat’s apology and suicide was quick and strange. Also, we finally get to meet Princess Irulan whose book excerpts have introduced each chapter, but we never get to REALLY meet her. She is married to Paul then dismissed by his mother and his concubine. I feel sorry for her and wished to know more about her.

I guess I’m going to have to read the rest of the books now. But if the second one is worse (which is often the case with popular series) then I won’t waste my time.

Speaking of which, I have finally given up on Monarch of the Glen. I had the second disk of season 2 sitting on my desk for over a week and just couldn’t whip up the energy to watch it. So I sent it back to Netflix… UNWATCHED!! That was the first time I ever did that. I continue to watch the later seasons on PBS but even that is irksome. The marriage of Lexie and Archie has finally taken place after her bizarre meltdown when Katrina came back to town. After tracking the runaway down across the glen, Archie marries her! If this is what their wedding day is like, this marriage won’t last very long.

<*<*<*<>*>*>* >
www.netflix.com provides me with all the DVD’s I can handle.
As for books, my thanks go out to www.amazon.com, Borders (a chai latte, please!) and all the used book sales I can get to.
For anything I can’t find in any of these places, I go to my local library. (Interlibrary Loans are SHINY!)

LIBRARIANS: the GPS locators in a wilderness of information.

Cadfael #2

“One Corpse Too Many” is a great and quick read because it has a complex and exciting plot. The introduction of Hugh Beringar and the true beginning of the series are the most important aspects. With this book Ellis Peters began laying the foundation of the rest of the books. We get to know the town of Shrewsbury and the circumstances of the war between Maude and Stephen.

In the video (for the first season), Hugh is play by Sean Pertwee. I think he’s just fantastic! But, then I love anyone who plays MacBeth. (NB – Find his MacBeth if you can, it’s a treat. The language is intact but the knights ride around on motorcycles and the witches look like there on their way to a Goth rave!)

Pertwee is a bit more brooding than the Beringar of the books, but his whip-sharp eyes reminds us that Hugh is a great deal more than the average knight-in-arms.

Overall, the movie did a very good job of condensing the complex book. The producers very smartly had certain scenes acted out instead of treated as post-action exposition. These scenes in the book were simply told to people after the fact. By seeing the action itself, we are able to get more a sense of what is going on, instead of just someone relaying information. I believe this was the first movie shot and it’s a great introduction to the series.

<*<*<*<>*>*>* >
www.netflix.com provides me with all the DVD’s I can handle.
As for books, my thanks go out to www.amazon.com, Borders (a chai latte, please!) and all the used book sales I can get to.
For anything I can’t find in any of these places, I go to my local library. (Interlibrary Loans are SHINY!)
LIBRARIANS: the GPS locators in a wilderness of information.

Roma viva!

This week I’m not watching too many disks or reading too many books because it’s Rome week on the History channel! Monday had an interesting 2 hours on engineering feats by the Ancient Romans. As I always say, after the fall of Rome, civilization fell into a black hole of ignorance. Even today I see people are scratching their heads over the achievements of Ancient Rome. The technology and will-power that drove them to greater and greater feats of engineering disappeared when they were defeated, and took nearly 1500 years for it to resurface.

But the most startling revelation of the show was that Peter Weller, the actor, is a Roman scholar. At first I thought it was some professor who just happened to have the same name as the “Robocop” actor, but then I Googled him and found out that professor and actor are one and the same! Well… good for him. It’s about time actors do something other than become Beverly Hills real estate agents or directors. Apparently he is working on his Master’s degree in Roman and Renaissance art and teaching at Syracuse University. Wow! Doesn’t even have his M.A. yet and he’s already an expert! (Just a slight twinge of sarcasm and a slightly larger twinge of jealousy.)

I wish I was an expert on something… maybe if I spent less time watching movies and reading books, then I could take a class or two… of course I would have to squeeze it in-between the other classes I’m taking for my very own Master’s degree…

<*<*<*<>*>*>* >
www.netflix.com provides me with all the DVD’s I can handle.
As for books, my thanks go out to www.amazon.com, Borders (a chai latte, please!) and all the used book sales I can get to.
For anything I can’t find in any of these places, I go to my local library. (Interlibrary Loans are SHINY!)

LIBRARIANS: the GPS locators in a wilderness of information.

Firefly – Disc 1

Besides the pilot episode which I talked about earlier, the first disc of the boxed set of Firefly also has the episodes “Train Job” and “Bushwacked.”

Both of these episodes continue the ideas brought forth in “Serenity.” The future is grim, but good people still can survive. After stealing some drugs from a train, Mal decides to give the loot back because without it, the town would suffer. Apparently, living on a terra-formed planet has its difficulties with new and unusual diseases. Flying from place to place seems like such a great idea.

Besides the plot, the characters get more time to shine. Simon, who is usually quiet and submissive, takes a stand with the rest of the crew and drugs the truculent Jayne when the mission goes wrong. Jayne and the bendy, pretty lights is one of the funniest sequences in the entire show.

In “Bushwacked” the audience gets to see for themselves the work of the “Reavers” (sp?), the feared “bogymen” of deep space. It’s still difficult to understand how they survive in deep space. They can’t all just be mindless animals, especially if they have the technological skills and the foresight to set up booby traps. I am sure that in the movie we will hear more about Reavers.

Also in this episode is a very funny sequence where the crew is interrogated by Alliance men. This scene says so much about the crew and their relationships to each other, especially the way Zoë refuses to talk about her marriage and Wash can’t shut up!

<*<*<*<>*>*>* >
www.netflix.com provides me with all the DVD’s I can handle.
As for books, my thanks go out to www.amazon.com, Borders (a chai latte, please!) and all the used book sales I can get to.
For anything I can’t find in any of these places, I go to my local library. (Interlibrary Loans are SHINY!)

LIBRARIANS: the GPS locators in a wilderness of information.