I would like to be the air that inhabits you for a moment only. I would like to be that unnoticed and that necessary.
-from Variations on the Word Sleep by Margaret Atwood
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Monthly Archives: April 2009
Multilayered
Penny: “Sometimes people are layered like that; there’s something totally different underneath than what’s on the surface.”
Billy/Dr. Horrible: “and sometimes there’s a third, even deeper level and that one is the same as the top surface one. Like with pie…”
Cute Matchup
I haven’t talked about badminton for quite some time now because I’ve been relatively lazy to play since the start of this year. These past few weeks, though, I was able to join several queuing sessions (where you’ll show up at the court and have your name listed so you can play with random partners and random opponents). I’m starting to get addicted to the game again, and I do hope it will go on for some time. What better way to stay fit sans Slimquick Cleanse.
As if I haven’t said it enough, the thing I appreciate most about badminton is that I regularly see, and play with, people of all ages (10 up to 60 up). Last Wednesday, I was so amused, and a bit embarassed, with this particular matchup that sort of revealed how out of shape I am. I was partnered with a lady who is about 50 years old; on the other side of the net is a girl who is barely 15, partnered with another lady who is pushing 65. By the end of the game, I noticed that I was the one who is soaked in sweat and is having ragged breaths. All three looked mighty fine and ready to play the next set. More embarassing because I am an intermediate player, at the prime of life, who’s been playing for years. But I was very happy to see the older ones having the kind of stamina they have. My partner told me that she started training for badminton when her doctor recommended physical activity to counter body aches and hypertension. I say she did very well.
Slayer Comma The: Look It Up
Note: This is another crossover post, with a few changes to accommodate two previously separate ones.
My introduction to Buffy the Vampire Slayer came about when I was searching for a new TV series to watch. Ok, that didn’t sound right because the show ended in 2003, so it wouldn’t fall to the category of “new.” Anyway, I realized I’ve been watching too much X-Files so I decided to shift my attention some place else. Now, I’ve never really considered myself to be a SciFi/fantasy nut; ironically, my favorite movies (Contact, Meet Joe Black) and TV shows (X-Files, Taken, and now BtVS) all go beyond the realistic. I wouldn’t overanalyze the “whys” mainly because I don’t think I can point it out exactly. But the unique thing is, although I enjoy the visual effects and story progression of this kind of presentation, I tend to focus more on the human aspects – the emotions, relationships, struggles, and parallels to real life. I guess maybe, for me, the “fantastic” provides a whole new layer of intensity in sending the message across compared with in-your-face representations like in reality TV or soap operas.
In retrospect, after having seen all seven seasons through DVDs and after having spent a lot of time in fan forums, nitpicking episode by episode, I realized that the main thing that this show had done for me is that it sort of expanded my world and inspired me to pursue the art of creative expression, in whatever way or form it comes my way. It introduced me to names of brilliant people who did, and continue to, show how a little concept can go a long way and also how talent is important but hard work cannot be taken out of the equation.
It wasn’t a perfect show. Beyond that, it is rife with heartbreak, pain, and those things that make you want to look away because they aren’t pretty. I’m not even talking about the vampires, demons, or those rubber-faced ghouls, but about the life of this sad little hero and her sad little friends (who are, ironically, effectively funny). Here’s a girl who didn’t choose to take responsibility; it was shoved into her throat when she wasn’t ready but she eventually learned to embrace her destiny. She’s not a superhero. She’s not without flaws – she makes mistakes, she hurts her friends, she hurts herself, she makes wrong decisions, and at times she’s even incredibly selfish. But she saved the world … a lot.
… a magical dramedy, a ripping thriller and the smartest work of girls-kick-ass feminism ever crafted by a pudgy guy who’s into comic books. Sarah Michelle Gellar nimbly handled the show’s undead allegories for coming-of-age conflicts (her stunt double nimbly handled the rest). And the show unspooled a rich mythology, realistic family and relationship stories and the best Sondheimian musical episode ever written for hour long television. The demons and ghouls were comically rubber-faced, but Buffy’s spirit was achingly real. – The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME.
What made the show famous are the snappy dialogues, tons of witticisms, double entendres, and metaphoric storytelling. What made it lasting is that it can drive a stake through your heart if you’ll let it. It even has powerful witches, loyal human friends, a supercool evil-turned-lovelorn vampire, and a hilarious bunny-phobic ex-demon trying to be a regular girl who all helped make The Slayer’s world all the more beguiling. You won’t find more compelling characters in women’s shoes than here.
P.S. If you’ve always been curious about this show but can’t get past the ridiculous title (like I was for years), I suggest you start with the last half of season 2 because that’s where it really took off. You can always go back to the introductions later.
How the Ghosts Stole Christmas
Original air date: December 13, 1998
One of my most favorite episodes of The X-Files (season 6, episode 8).
Sounds more like a Halloween story:
It kinda is, but it happened on a Christmas eve
So what’s it about?:
Mulder wants to stake out a reputed haunted house, on the evening before Christmas, just because he’s Mulder. What, you don’t know he’s crazy?
Why did Scully tag along? Isn’t she supposed to be the rational one?:
Well, she doesn’t want to admit it, but she is totally in love with Mulder and will do whatever he says, no matter how silly. Really. I bet she’s even thrilled that he stole her car keys.
What’s the deal with the ghosts?:
Legend has it, a couple of star-crossed lovers during a war-torn era made a pact to never be separated by illness or by the consequences of war, by killing themselves. Their ghosts haunt the house every Christmas eve.
But wouldn’t haunting on Halloween make more sense?:
Well, as the lady ghost, Lyda, said, “who is filled with hopelessness and futility on Halloween?” She agreed to a murder-suicide; you have to think she’ll make one twisted ghost.
Are those the ghosts in the picture above? Why are they old?:
Well, they died young. Why they aged, I don’t have a freakin’ idea.
Does Scully believe in ghosts?:
She doesn’t, or so she says. But she got scared anyway. Not that she can’t explain why she felt that way:
Scully: These are tricks that the mind plays. They are ingrained cliches from a thousand different horror films. When we hear a sound, we get a chill. We see a shadow and we allow ourselves to imagine something that an otherwise rational person would discount out of hand.
The whole idea of a benevolent entity fits perfectly with what I’m saying. I mean, that a spirit would materialise or return for no other purpose than to show itself is silly and ridiculous. I mean, what it really shows is how silly and ridiculous we have become in believing such things. I mean, that… that we can ignore all natural laws about the corporeal body that we witness these spirits clad in their own shabby outfits with the same old haircuts and hairstyles never ageing, never… never in search of more comfortable surroundings — it actually ends up saying more about the living than it does about the dead.
I mean, Mulder, it doesn’t take an advanced degree in psychology to understand the… the unconscious yearnings that these imaginings satisfy. You know, the longing for immortality the hope that there is something beyond this mortal coil that we might never be long without our loved ones. I mean, these are powerful, powerful desires. I mean, they’re the very essence of what make us human. The very essence of Christmas, actually.
Ok, I get what she means. Sounds totally in character. What about Mulder? Was he scared?:
Well, it’s not just old light fixtures that turn on and off; they did see dead, decomposing replicas of himself and Scully beneath the floor, so yeah he must have been. Plus, the ghost of Maurice started to psychoanalyze him and was spot-on.
Maurice: Narcissistic, overzealous, self-righteous egomaniac.
Mulder: That’s a category?
Maurice: You kindly think of yourself as single-minded but you’re prone to obsessive compulsiveness, workaholism, antisocialism… Fertile fields for the descent into total wacko breakdown.
Mulder: I don’t think that pegs me exactly.
Maurice: Oh, really? Waving a gun around my house? Huh? Raving like a lunatic about some imaginary brick wall? You’ve probably convinced yourself you’ve seen aliens. You know why you think you see the things you do?
Mulder: Because I have seen them?
Maurice: Cause you’re a lonely man. A lonely man, chasing paramasturbatory illusions that you believe will give your life meaning and significance and which your pathetic social maladjustment makes impossible for you to find elsewhere. You probably consider yourself passionate, serious, misunderstood. Am I right?
Mulder: ‘Paramasturbatory’?
Maurice: Most people would rather stick their fingers in a wall socket than spend a minute with you
Heh. But, wait, dead replicas? What’s that about?:
Well, the ghosts’ agenda is to push a couple who will live or wander into that house to commit a murder-suicide, just like they did. They showed things (more tricks of the mind) to the FBI couple, err partners, so they will be forced to kill each other.
Kill each other? That’s not possible. They’re Scully and Mulder; Mulder and Scully:
Well, you have to watch this episode if you haven’t already. If anything, and more so if you’re lacking in holiday cheers, it will probably make you feel great about how you celebrated your holidays. Sit back, relax, and let schadenfreude kick in.
