This year just spiralled totally out of control. I thought I was going to be all caught up by May at the latest. Instead work just piled up and up and I’ve been working very hard, but never reaching a point where I felt a sense of completion. Stress, anxiety and guilt mounted until I finally had to take a week off, and this is it.
My first holiday actions have been to watch some TV and DVDs. Already there have been some highlights.
First up, the end of episode 14 of the 13th season of the Simpsons: Tales from the Public Domain. Homer’s reading Classic stories to the kids and we see the story enacted by cast members. In this case, it was Hamlet, with Bart taking the lead role. This was absolutely hilarious, and possibly the best rendition of Hamlet I’ve ever been party to. Thanks to Wikipedia, that boundless open source of encyclopedic knowledge. I hadn’t known they did episode guides to TV programmes, though I should have guessed.
Which leads me on to Wikiquote, where I ended up looking for a specific quote from a Farscape episode. I don’t think I found the particular quote I was looking for, but then I didn’t even know until now that Wikiquote existed.
Which leads me on to Farscape (spoilers ahead). New Zealand TV has managed to show us Seasons 1 to 3 several times, but earlier this year I bought Season 4 (and The Peacekeeper Wars) on DVD. I haven’t had time or inclination to watch until now, but in the last three or four days I’ve watched some 14 episodes or so.
I’m finding myself ambivalent about Farscape. It’s undoubtedly extremely creative, but I found the whole storyline with Scorpius in Season 3 in particular increasingly tedious. It’s been disappointing to find this continuing into Season 4, though after the first 4 or 5 episodes I’m warming up to it again, especially now that roles have shifted and some of the episodes have been more humorous. I also find the whole thing a bit dark and the constant emphasis on bodily fluids and general grossness is not my thing.
Moreover I’m not a special fan of John Crichton and all the episodes depicting his virtual or real madness have been very tiring. We have half a dozen well-realised and interesting other characters on board the ship Moya; it would have enhanced the programme for me to take the emphasis off the lone guy from Earth (or, as Rigel calls it, Erp) and to share it round a little more. Claudia Black as Aeryn Sun is a particular favourite.
Anyway, I have 8 episodes to go and several more days holiday yet. It’s just a pleasure to be able to sit back, relax and just watch some sci-fi.
KnowIT by RSS
Add your Comment