Get an Andy!
Sunday, April 30th, 2006They’re great…
Archive for April, 2006
Get Firefox!
Saturday, April 29th, 2006I’ve just discovered that my blog looks dreadful in Internet Explorer. Get Firefox and it’ll look gorgeous (ok, normal) but in the meantime Andy (his family’s computer support) is trying to fix it.
last.fm top(ish) fan for…
Saturday, April 29th, 2006An interview with Samara Lubelski . Buy.
More about Barbara Manning.
Let’s make scarves! Honestly, Paula Frazer is a genius and not just with the weaving.
How is it you always know this stuff? You always know what’s going on. I never know what’s going on.
Wednesday, April 26th, 2006Angel (David Greenwalt)
I want to say this is the first great episode but I’m not sure that’s true. There are too many things that annoy me about it. Like Willow’s mooning over Buffy’s love life. It’s pathetic and tiresome and her excuse for not tackling Xander is amusing but poor (“No, no, no, no. No speaking up. That way leads to madness and sweaty palms”). Cordelia needs to be given something meaty to do and soon. Yes, she’s funny but there’s no substance. What bugs me most is Buffy’s hesitation over killing Angel when she finds him in her home with his game face on with her unconscious mother. He looks like he is the process of murdering Joyce and all Buffy does is throw him out of a window and say “you’re not welcome here”. Xander is right (he is occasionally): “Let’s take a breath and look at this calmly and objectively. Angel’s a vampire. You’re a Slayer. I think it’s obvious what you have to do.” Yes, very obvious…
Angel’s dark past was darker than I remembered (or did I just not really care about him initially?) and does explain the broodiness. I certainly had blanked Darla’s guns in the climax (I just couldn’t remember seeing it before though I have). She was a good villain; it’s a pity she’s been dusted…
I was really scared for Joyce despite knowing that, of course, she was going to be all right. Buffy on the phone to 911 – “1630 Revello Drive” – prompted a chilling flash forward.
130 over 80!
Sunday, April 23rd, 2006The Pack (Matt Kiene and Joe Reinkemeyer)
Willow being athletic was a pleasant surprise, I’m sure she never appears in a gym again. Nicholas Brendon was so good at being a bad boy that they really should have got him to do it more often: when he’s mean to “pasty face” Willow, the effect is quite disturbing. We learn a lot about Willow in this episode, she, for one thing, is not afraid to tackle Xander about his behaviour but at the same time she is insecure enough to think his behaviour is something to do with her weakness. She is too clever to fall for his charm when he is locked up though stupid enough to fall for the zookeeper’s line. On a much more trivial front, she didn’t suit her hair pulled back and she should definitely get it cut, I quite like the colour though. Eion Bailey was notable as one of the pack, the generic “high school” boys often past me by in BtVS but he was eye-catching then as he is now: he is ought to be a star by now. A couple of other things, Giles was far too easily beaten by the Braveheart reject; I think he should train harder with Buffy to get into Ripper shape. Poor Principal Flutie! And the poor wee piglet.
“It was like the Heimlich, with stripes!”
“You remember, you fail math, you flunk out of school, you end up being the guy at the pizza place that sweeps the floor and says, ‘Hey, kids, where’s the cool parties this weekend?’ We’ve been through this” (definite foreshadowing!)
“It’s devastating. He’s turned into a sixteen-year-old boy. Course, you’ll have to kill him” “Giles, I’m serious” “So am I. Except for the part about killing him. Testosterone is a great equalizer. It turns all men into morons. He will, however, get over it” “I cannot believe that you, of all people, are trying to Scully me. There is something supernatural at work here. Get your books! Look stuff up!”
“Why couldn’t Xander be possessed by a puppy or, or some ducks?” (years later in season four, Willow is still very upset by Xander’s hyena possession)
“No, but it’s safe to say that in his animal state his idea of wooing doesn’t involve a Yanni CD and a bottle of Chianti”
He can brood for forty minutes straight (and he’s not called Angel)
Sunday, April 23rd, 2006Never Kill a Boy on a First Date (Rob Des Hotel and Dean Batali)
This is an interesting episode in that Buffy actively rejects a boy who is turned on by danger despite his sensitive side but, once again, the plot and its execution is rather dull. But we do get the exciting possibilities offered by the Annoying One, er. There was a nice moment when Xander compares his childish watch 
with Owen’s gold one 
and lots of witty character interactions between Buffy, Xander & Willow, Buffy, Owen & Cordelia and Buffy & Giles.
Dialogue gold in abundance though:
“We haven’t been properly introduced. I’m Buffy, and you’re history!”
“Oh, that’s great! I kill them, you fence their stuff”
“I have something like that. Well, it’s an actual blanket. Uh, and I don’t really carry it around anymore. So! Emily Dickens, huh? She’s great!” “Dickinson” “She’s good also”
“I’ll just jump in my time machine, go back to the twelfth century and ask the vampires to postpone their ancient prophecy for a few days while you take in dinner and a show” “Okay, at this point you’re abusing sarcasm”
“Everyone forgets, Willow, that knowledge is the ultimate weapon”
“Hello, salty goodness!”
“Did you see that? He tried to bite me! What a sissy!”
“No, I had very definite plans about my future. I was going to be a fighter pilot. Or possibly a grocer”
What kind of a girlie name is Angel anyway?
Saturday, April 22nd, 2006Teacher’s Pet (David Greenwalt)
Episode 4 has a very poor, cliched plot and it’s a bit worrying that, so early on, a plot can be this dull and implausible (I mean implausible in the non-demon way obviously, things like Gregory’s glasses remaining in his classroom and Blayne still being alive when Xander turns up) with a (it turns out) non sequitur ending. How is it going to last?
But as usual, some cracking dialogue:
“God, every day here is the same” “Bright, sunny, beautiful, how ever can we escape this torment?”
“She never said anything about him being buff!”
“it’s the most beautiful chest…dress I’ve ever seen”
“Virgins? Well, Xander’s not a, uh…I mean, he’s probably…” “…gonna die!”
OK, not that great but next!
Who are the world’s sexiest vegetarians?
Saturday, April 22nd, 2006GoVeg.com (a Peta site) is running a poll for the world’s sexiest celebrity vegetarians.
I’m thinking of getting fat
Thursday, April 20th, 2006The Witch (Dana Reston)
Edited to add:
Not a great story but full of funny lines and top notch delivery. The cheerleading scenes are the most intriguing as an insight into the literal sidelining of women (I’m with Amy on this one). Buffy under a spell was a cheerful sight: so chipper and thoroughly enjoying singing Macho Man.
“You don’t like the color?”
“You were pretending that seeing scantily clad girls in revealing postures was a spiritual experience” “Who said I was pretending?”
“that much quality time with my mom would probably lead to some quality matricide”
“I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away”
“So, mommy dearest is really…Mommie Dearest?”
“That’s why you’re so cool! You’re like a guy! You’re my guy friend that knows about girl stuff!” “Oh, great. I’m a guy.”
“You are totally, and completely one of the girls!”
“I know that I’ll miss the intellectual thrill of spelling out words with my arms” “oo, these grapes are sour!”
It’s almost (but not) like watching it for the first time
Thursday, April 20th, 2006We are rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, obstentiously because we are going to start watching Angel when we get to the end of season three but really because at least one of is a fervent fan. Actually, no, I’m not: I keep thinking I am then I realise that I have never written fan fiction, never created fan art, I don’t have BtVS wallpaper and screensavers and I have never written a poem for my favourite character. So, I think I’m okay: then I remember I’m 41 and if I was 21 I would be doing all those things (except the poetry, I have never written poetry).
I digress. I have decided to make some notes about each episode as we go through them. I am not pretending to be comprehensive or clever or insightful (there are much better sites out there like BuffyGuide and MikeJer for that sort of thing) but I’m writing about what caught my eye (and ear, this is the Whedon World after all).
Welcome to the Hellmouth/The Harvest (Joss Whedon)
Brian Thompson as Luke and Mark Metcalf as The Master as the villains are excellent; both are a little camp particularly The Master who reminds me of Richard (insert Rocky Horror or Crystal Maze or Ever After as appropriate) O’Brien. Buffy’s moves are cool; leaping over the school fence, doing a roundoff the balcony, cartwheeling onto the stage, etc. When her stunt double lands very heavily on the side of a sarcophagus I winced, I think even experts must hurt when that happens. She uses a pool cue and a cymbal to great effect. Willow wears dungarees which is foreshadowing if you ask me. I love Willow’s sneaky revenge on mean Cordelia and her dimwitted friend Harmony: “deliver”. Giles is quite fey the first time we see him, the delight on his face when he places ‘Vampyr’ in front of Buffy is priceless.
Notable dialogue: “Hi! I’m an enormous slut!” “Hello! Would you like a copy of ‘The Watchtower’?”
“Well, when I’m with a boy I like, it’s hard for me to say anything cool, or, or witty, or at all.”
“God! What is your childhood trauma?”
“Do I horn in on your private discussions? No. Why? Because you’re boring.”
Page 48 on 
Georgia, USA on 