K-Squared Ramblings

They have customers who don’t?

For a long time Amazon.com has provided a short list of “Customers who bought this book also bought…”

Well, I saw a new one today:

Presumably nudists don’t buy puppy-footed one-pieces for newborns, even for their clothes-wearing friends.

Movie Review: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

A few months ago I read an article about filmmaking which talked about why the ending of a film is so important: it’s not just that the audiences want to see it come out a certain way, but the ending is the last impression the audience is left with. A film can be fantastic all the way through and then fall on its face at the end, and that’s the impression people will be left with.

Now I loved The Fellowship of the Ring, both the theatrical release and the special edition. I enjoyed most of The Two Towers. But the ending fell flat on its face. Helm’s deep simply stopped, and the Frodo/Sam story did nothing more than present a vague threat from Gollum.

Imagine if The Empire Strikes Back had ended not with Luke getting his replacement hand and Lando and Chewbacca heading off to rescue Han, but had instead ended with the escape from Cloud City. That’s what this felt like.

Visually, the film is amazing. The effects, the scenery, the sets, costumes and battle sequences are stunning. The acting, like last time, is excellent. And yet between the jumbled editing and the lack of an ending, the film is far less satisfying than the previous one.

I’m left with two conclusions: either New Line Cinema stepped in to “protect the franchise” instead of trusting the people who got the first one right, or they had a harder time cutting it down to three hours and made poorer choices.

At this point I’m going to bring up some specifics. Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting compliment #24

Driving back from the Tori concert, fortified with Frappuccinos, we were trying to figure out the distribution of songs per album. Kelson commented that there were several from singles, and that she could probably release an album of just B-sides and have it sell well, which prompted us to start naming all the B-sides we could. At one point we were stuck, and then we came up with her version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” I started singing the chorus, Tori-style, and a few seconds after I stopped, Kelson said, “You know, it just proves how out of it I am……right after you started, I was about to try to turn up the volume.”

I definitely need to sing more.

Concert(ina)

Tori Amos concert last night - second in two weeks at the same theater. It was interesting to compare the differences in the two shows. Security, for instance: at the Counting Crows show, security consisted of shining a flashlight into people’s purses and bags as they walked in. At the Tori show, everyone also had to walk through metal detectors. (As Katie pointed out, Adam Duritz probably hasn’t had problems with stalkers.) Another change was that the Tori concert had video screens to zoom in. The most interesting difference was that last week’s not-quite-a-mosh-pit up front was filled with rows of seats.

It was a very good concert, even if the sound balance made it hard to understand the already difficult-to-hear lyrics (although this has been true of just about every concert I’ve ever attended, with the exception of Weird Al at the Greek Theater). She was set up in the center stage with a grand piano on one side and an organ on the other, close enough that she could just sit on one bench and turn around to switch quickly - something she did on several songs. On a few of them, she actually would play the organ and piano simultaneously, one hand on each! Behind her and to each side were her guitarist and drummer.

She had a good mix of songs from Read the rest of this entry »

Vaccini, Vaccina

So there’s finally a plan to start up smallpox vaccinations. The bad news is, it’s likely to become necessary. Worse news is, I may be at risk for some of the nasty side effects. As Katie pointed out, it worked so well the first time that no one made any effort to improve it. The good news is, they hope to have a safer vaccine by the time it’s made available to the public in 2004.

We’ll see.

In other news, while looking for a reference to the NPR story, I found this story about London’s Killer Fog of ‘52 and the history of smog going back to twelfth-century London. So smog not only predated the Industrial Revolution, it predated Shakespeare.

And finally, the other story I heard on the way in, about military-funded butterfly research. Apparently the Air Force is very interested in building insect-sized robotic flying cameras, and at that scale it makes sense to use insects as a model. They could be sent down into caves to locate enemy troops, or sent into buildings to check on hostage situations. (The paranoid in me is also saying they could spy on ordinary people, but it’s a lot cheaper to just search the place when they’re not home.) So if someone’s studying insect flight, the military is quite happy to fund it.

Exhaustion

Went to the Counting Crows concert last night. Good concert, even after their drummer disappeared partway through the show due to an unspecified medical emergency. They improvised acoustic versions of several songs, then brought on the drummer from Toad the Wet Sprocket (who opened for them) and the ex-drummer from Cake (who I guess just happened to be there) to finish the set. Still no news of what actually happened, or even whether it was Ben or a friend/relative of his.

Oh, and I’ll have to get Katie to post the fish quote.

Unfortunately it took a half hour just to get to the car afterward, so we didn’t get home until one in the morning.

I’m on my second large coffee…

There’s your problem!

A few weeks ago, the floodlight in our entryway went out. This was the first built-in fixture to burn out, so we checked with the apartment office to see whether we should replace it ourselves or ask maintenance do it. They said they’d take care of it.

A few days later, the light was still out, but we got a service report with one line written on it:

Upon reading “replaced blub,” the manager joked, “There’s your problem!”

Shortly afterward, the bulb was replaced.

Fallen Trees and Tumbleweeds

Despite what you might believe, tumbleweeds are actually quite common in suburban Southern California. They often grow by the side of the freeway, occasionally getting picked up by the wind and bouncing across cars.

Never is this more noticeable than during the Santa Ana winds, which seasonally sweep out from the desert to the coast, blowing over trees, knocking out power lines, and sending the smog out to sea. (Unfortunately, by the second or third day, all the dust from the desert has taken its place.) The two of us got some great shots from the most recent Santa Anas which hit during the week leading up to Thanksgiving.

A tumbleweed seeks relief at a fire hydrant.

Even a support stake couldn’t keep this tree up.

Hey! Get off the road! (Yes, tumbleweeds can get that big.)

Casa de Choo-Choo Bear

On our trip to Carmel last month we passed by Casa de Fruta, once a simple roadside fruit stand, now a huge complex of stores and restaurants, all with names like Casa de Coffee, Casa de Wine, even Casa de Motel. They even have a mini-railroad for kids, called, naturally, Casa de Choo-Choo.

Of course, we immediately thought of Choo-Choo Bear, the amorphous kitty from Something Positive

Subversion!!!

Listening to Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot at work just feels like it should be illegal. That and Weird Al and stuff from the Cardcaptor Sakura soundtrack CD. And, now that I think about it, posting this message.

Just thought I’d share.

Check your math

Installing a security fix for Internet Exploder, with a few other items, and I see this gauge:

Last I looked, 1.5 was considerably less than half of 9.6. Either their math is really lousy, or they’ve decided to keep the gauge moving even when nothing’s going on.

Life imitating art?

The Los Angeles Times printed this on the front page on Wednesday, showing downtown LA against a very red sunset, a result of two days of heavy Santa Ana winds.

Does this remind anyone else of the most recent Angel episode?

Creative Computer Names

I remember back in college we had interesting naming schemes for computers. The ICS labs had the Guilder and Florin Macintosh networks with servers Westley and Buttercup. There was also a Solaris network where each machine was named after a Roman emperor, with names like Aurelian, Caligula, Gothicus, Hadrian, Pacatian, Saloninus, Trajan, etc.

The lab I worked at over in the School of the Arts started naming their Windows NT servers after renaissance artists: Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello… well, that’s what we told them the origin was, anyway! The first SGI box (for 3D modeling) we got we named Trippy, and then when we got several in we started naming them Happy, Sleepy, etc.

Then we got in a whole mess of computers, expanding our NT network from 3 machines to 14. We were trying to come up with a theme to name them, and started in with names like Pepsi, Mountain Dew, etc. I had to leave after we set up the first 3 or 4 of them, and the next morning I received a mass e-mail stating, “The Artslab liquor cabinet is stocked.” The message went on to list the new computers’ names: Absolut, Alize, Bacardi, Baileys, Bombay_Sapphire, Captain_morgan, CuervoGold, Glennfiddich, Jagermeister, Jimbeam, Midori, Remmy_Martin, Seagrams, and Wildturkey. Soon after, we got a pair of Mac G3s and named them BlackLabel and BlueLabel.

The names stayed at least as long as I did, and may be there still. It was funny, though, to get reactions from people - students who had actually used the machines, or faculty and staff opening up Network Neighborhood - as they realized they were all alcoholic drinks!

Geographical Knowledge (Vacuum)

I heard an NPR report that 83% of Americans 18-24 cannot find Afghanistan on a map. Following it up on their website, I found a link to the National Geographic survey they used.

Of course, what the report neglected to mention is that nobody had a good rate at finding Afghanistan. The only country where a majority of respondents could identify it was Germany, and they only made 55%. In fact, many people think Sweden’s pretty obscure (although Swedes scored 97%). Across the board, more people could locate Argentina than Sweden or Afghanistan.

It’s all in what you’re looking for. National Geographic was looking to see how well American youth stacked up against those in other countries, and most of us aren’t doing that well. But the fact is, they aren’t doing much better. (NG’s summary page notes that Mexico, Canada, and Great Britain scored almost as poorly.) What the results really show is that people everywhere have an astounding lack of geographical knowledge.

(Still wondering about the 3% of Swedes who couldn’t find Sweden.)

Harry Potter titles I’d like to see

I guess it’s just the “HP and the A of B” pattern, combined with the new movie coming out, but I’d like to see titles like:

• Harry Potter and the Temple of Doom
• Harry Potter and the Last Crusade
• Harry Potter and the Chocolate Frog Factory
• Harry Potter and the Holy Grail
• Harry Potter Versus the Volcano

But let’s stay away from titles like:

• Harry Potter and the Scent of a Woman
• Harry and Silent Ron Strike Back
• Harry Potter and the Attack of the Clones

Legislative waste.

I hear our President has signed legislation supporting the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance (search for bill S.2690 in THOMAS). It passed the Senate unanimously and the House with only 5 objections. It’s intended to be a response to this summer’s ruling by the 9th District Court of Appeals that the law that placed those words in the Pledge is unconstitutional on the grounds that it violates the separation of church and state.

Now regardless of whether you believe those words should be in there or not, you have to consider: If the original law is unconstitutional, isn’t this one too?

I’m sorry, but this decision isn’t up to the legislature or the executive office. It’s up to the judicial branch to determine whether the original law can stand under the Constitution. If Congress doesn’t like the decision, they don’t have the authority to overturn it. They can take it up with the Supreme Court or amend the Constitution. If the Supreme Court agrees with the appellate court, then this law is equally invalid. If it disagrees, or if the Constitution is amended, then this law says nothing new.

Can you believe they spent almost five months crafting and debating a law that has no effect one way or the other?

The Photos Are In!

Just got the photos back for the Hot & Fresh Strips Meal and Vote Pink Floyd! (The posts have been updated.)

Not sure what this was for…

…but if the date is to be believed, I haven’t bought it yet.

When Desks Attack

My desk is going to file a work comp claim of its own one of these days. I’m forcing it to hold more than anybody else’s desk, except maybe this one woman on the other side of the office. That’s a continuous trauma for excess loadbearing, and a psyche claim for unequal treatment by a superior. But it’s not going to win…..it attacked me first. Just stuck out its drawer and took a chunk out of my shin. And I’d like to meet the attorney who can get a desk to rebut my testimony that I never hit it…….

BSA: No Atheists Allowed

What does someone’s religious belief have to do with “teaching boys moral and ethical values through an outdoor program that challenges them and teaches them respect for nature, one another, and themselves?”

Everything, according to the Boy Scouts of America, who have just kicked out an Eagle Scout with 37 merit badges for being an atheist. [edit: originally linked to a Yahoo News story]

Let me point out that it takes a lot of time, work and dedication to become an Eagle Scout, the highest rank in scouting. It takes several years to work through the ranks, you have to earn a number of merit badges, each representing that you have learned or demonstrated some skill (anything from wilderness survival to accounting), most hold some leadership position, and you have to finish up by organizing and running a community service project, then go through a review board. It’s tough to become an Eagle Scout, and you really have to prove yourself to get there.

So not only did this scout prove himself through years of dedication to the program, extra effort to earn more merit badges than are required, a major service project and an interview with a review board, but he refused to lie when threatened with expulsion. He sounds to me like the kind of person they should be thrilled to have on board.

So I say to Darrell Lambert: they can kick you out of scouting, they may be able to kick you out of NESA, they may even be able to take back your badge (though I’d like to see them try to justify that), but they can’t take away the fact that you were - are an Eagle Scout. You proved that beyond a doubt when you refused to compromise your principles and say you’d changed your mind.

To the BSA: you make me sick. I am still proud to be an Eagle Scout myself, but today I am ashamed to have been a part of your organization.

Better, but still slightly wrong…

As a followup, the local KFC has replaced their Hot and Fresh Breast (Meal) poster with a Hot and Fresh Strips Meal.

This time, we got pictures:

On the Borders of Reality

The two of us and our friend Daniel were wandering through Borders last night, looking at the Harry Potter display. Oddly, it was right next to the sections on Astrology, Speculative (I guess New Age is too passé), two whole shelves on Magical Studies, Christianity, Metaphysics, and finally Self-Help. (How’s that for an interesting combination?)

Among them we found some frightening titles, like Dreams for Dummies (they don’t already have them?), or The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Being Psychic, which made the claim that everyone is psychic, as opposed to the book we found down the shelf, which proclaimed merely that All Women are Psychic (couldn’t find that one on Amazon). Wiccan Feng Shui seemed like an interesting idea.

Daniel found the real kicker: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Enhancing Self-Esteem. Just think about it.

Interesting write-in candidates

On the same corner where a few weeks ago someone had placed “Atomic X For Governor” signs, Katie and I saw a new parody. There’s a candidate in a local election named Brett Floyd, and someone had gotten neon pink cardboard and written up a “Vote Pink Floyd” sign.

For once we actually had a camera in the car, but couldn’t get it out fast enough.

Update November 7!

We got a photo on Saturday, and finally got the pictures back! It was too blurry to read, so it’s overly processed, but here it is:

Conan the (Musical) Librarian

I’ve been meaning to pick up a copy of the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack for a while, but kept not finding it. A few weeks ago, we were listening to a copy of Holst’s The Planets we had just picked up. I’d heard the whole suite before, but had only heard “Mars” recently, so one section of “Jupiter” just leaped out at me. I was absolutely certain I had heard something very like it, but not exactly the same, in a movie, probably sword-and-sorcery. I tried several net searches, but had no luck - it’s not as if you can plug a few notes into Google and search for pieces containing a melody.

A while later it occurred to me that it might have been from Conan, so I tried to find it online, only to learn it was out of print. This looks like a job for eBay! It took a couple of auctions to get it (I really hate snipers), but I did, and the CD showed up in the mail a few days ago.

And sure enough, the piece I couldn’t help but think of while listening to “Jupiter” was there: track 12, “The Kitchen/The Orgy.” Interestingly the liner notes go into how Basil Poledouris constructed the piece, but don’t make a single mention of Holst, despite other tracks acknowledging influences such as Orff’s Carmina Burana, or the Gregorian chant “Dies Irae.” But the similarity is undeniable - even more similar than “Charging Fort Wagner” from James Horner’s Glory soundtrack or Joel McNeely’s battle music from the Verdun 1916 episode of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is to Orff’s “O Fortuna” (neither of which credits that influence either).

Random Rent

Got someone’s virus-generated email today (though that’s far from unusual). The mail server strips out known viruses and obvious subterfuge, but this one still had a huge HTML file attached… containing, oddly enough, the complete lyrics to Rent. (Incidentally, some idiot decided to make the entire official website appear in a popup. If you have popups disabled, all you see is a message telling you to install Flash, even if you already have it.)

Reindeer on the Radar

Drivng to work this morning, we passed a Halloween display (the same people also do huge Christmas and Easter displays) that had recently added some Halloween-themed yellow caution tape. (Something like “Caution: Enter if you dare!”) Now I’ve only been out of bed for about a half hour at this point, and I was up way too late last night, and my mind starts making strange connections, and comes up with the following exchange between a child and parent:

(little kid voice): “If Iraq is in a no-fly zone, how does Santa get there?”

(parent): “Most people in Iraq don’t believe in Christmas, honey.”

Okay, so far this is just logical - as far as I know, Islam doesn’t notice Christmas any more than Christianity notices Ramadan. At this point Katie says it’s a better answer than “No-fly zones don’t apply to reindeer,” and I’m reminded of the anti-aircraft guns targeting Jack’s sleigh in The Nightmare Before Christmas. Then my mind takes it a step further:

“But what about the ones that do?”

“Santa has to Fed-Ex them their presents.”

Hey, it made sense at the time.

Yeah, it’s sorta like that.

Kelly: “I’m about to blow up my desk right now.”

Me: “Yeah, but do you want to be sitting at it at the time?”

Work sucks, but the quotes are good.

Birds of Prey at 3 episodes

When I heard they were turning Birds of Prey into a TV series, I wasn’t sure what to think, having never picked up the comic book (although I do follow various comics news sites). Having seen 3 episodes, I’m still not sure. The premiere episode was pretty good, for a pilot. In fact, most of the things I disliked about it were, as another review termed it, “pilot-itis” - excessive exposition, cast not quite settled in, etc.
Read the rest of this entry »

“The House Always Wins,” except when Angel does.

Yay me. Looks like the writing-stuff-down-so-I-can-prove-I-said-it purpose of this board is coming into play sooner and more effectively than I’d thought. Not that I like the way the writers brought it about, but I’m beginning to think that to write on one of Joss’s shows, you have to take an Emotional (Manipulation) Intelligence Test. Saying any more in this vein would constitute spoilage, so I’ll just insert my little tag…. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s just like homework, only cooler.

I seem to be having a great deal of trouble with my Buffy. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that my life from 8:15 to 5ish every day is nothing but a collection of deadlines, making them the last thing I want to face when I’ve just vegged out for an hour having my emotions…..manipulated. Perhaps it’s just that I feel obligated to come up with some deep insight rather than just saying “It was cool” (something that gets me finger-tied when reviewing fic as well). Whatever the reason, it’s getting quite annoying to me, and I hope those of you waiting for stuff aren’t too annoyed with me. What I think should work is combining this week and next week for each series, since neither one was particularly brain-grabby for me this week. Except that making the Home Improvement big brother evil was freaky, we think he’s going to become a demon now, and I want to see Gwen (the Gambit in Rogue’s clothing) again.

Feel free to ramble at me. I’ll be grateful.

LOTR DVD Comparison

Just saw this page that compares the different DVDs of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I’ve been looking forward to the Special Edition mainly for the new cut of the film which adds back a number of scenes and details from the book which I had wanted to see.

And no, I don’t see this as some cheesy marketing ploy to get me to buy it twice. Each package has a separate version of the movie, and none of the extras are duplicated between the two sets. I heard someone describe it as a 6-DVD set split across two packages, and that sounds about right.

Curse you, bash.org!

…in jest, anyway. A month or two ago I stumbled across the QDB, a massive database of amusing (and sometimes not-so-amusing) user-submitted quotes, primarily from IRC chats. Last night I went back, curious to see if anything new had cracked the top 50. Well, the top ones were mostly the same, but I kept pulling up random lists, and was up until about 1:15.

Time to sleep. No, time to work. Damn.

“Same Time, Same Place,” just a little twisted.

It occurred to me partway through the final segment of this week’s Buffy that perhaps, for a watchers’ council planning to have dinner during the first segment of the episode, linguini hadn’t been the best menu choice.

Eeeyugh.

Read the rest of this entry »

Cautious Optimism

Noticed a couple of articles that are cause for at least some optimism. Representatives Rick Boucher and John Doolittle have introduced a bill to remove restrictions on fair use from the DMCA, and the US Copyright Office is seeking public comments on the same issue.

It’s just ridiculous for e-books to have restrictions that make it illegal to read them out loud or lend them to friends, or for music to be set up so that you can’t even move it to another room of the house. And if it’s illegal to write or use a program that lets you transfer your music from your old computer to your new one, what are you supposed to do?

American Depression

I read this morning that Congress has voted to let President Bush attack Iraq. I’d love to be proven wrong, but I suspect that even if we win, and win quickly, it will likely accomplish only two things: cement other countries’ view of us as a bully (the satirists at The Onion have a great article on that subject), and ensure that new middle-east-based terrorists will be gunning for us for a really long time.

Maybe I’m cynical, but I just haven’t seen much to be optimistic about lately.

You might want to re-think that slogan

Saw the nearby KFC has a poster advertising a “Hot & Fresh Breast Meal.”

The last time I saw something using the words “hot,” “fresh,” and “breast” in such close proximity, it had a spam score of about 20.

“Deep Down” we’re all a little freaked.

Don’t you just love having your head messed with? And isn’t Joss great at it? Of course, if you’re a return viewer, you know this by now and it’s probably part of the reason you tune in. The season premiere, though, didn’t have a lot of time or latitude to do much but mess with our heads, since it had so many loose ends to tie up. Not a whole lot of hints about the rest of the season, so far as I could see, but still good. What we’ve got here is a bunch of people who are doing things, but generally either being very cagey about their motives or not giving a clue as to whether they have any. In a writing class, this would be unforgivable. On TV, it’s suspense. Read the rest of this entry »

The Turn Signal Is Your Friend

Given that most of us think we are above-average drivers, you’d think people wouldn’t expect other drivers to be telepathic.

Turn signals prevent other drivers from hitting you! (Or at least reduce the chances of it.)

I am amazed time and time again as I see people driving shiny new Mercedes, Lexuses (Lexi?), and BMWs dodging in and out of traffic without signalling, trusting those below-average other drivers to have above-average reflexes and precognitive abilities.

Bringer of Doom!

Mwa ha ha! Guilty as charged.

Beware the summer cold, my dear,
The nose that blows, the throat that hacks!
Beware the Sudafed, and fear
The Kleenex pocket packs!

….And now for some lemon tea. *snif*

What Lies “Beneath You”

In case you’re wondering, yes, I am planning to make this a weekly column of sorts. And it’s been brought to my attention that maybe I should mark it as containing spoilers, seeing as how some people in some other places might not have seen the episode in question yet, or might have missed it. I understand this. Spoiler warnings will now be conveniently placed before the text of my rambling. Voilá.

I’m beginning to see a pattern here with the chased young things beginning episodes. And I and many others think they’re supposed to be potential Slayers–”Lola” here was a pretty good fighter, the other was in extremely good shape, and Lola actually managed to communicate something, dreamstyle. My first guess as to what was sufficiently beneath and devouring to fit the description was, simply, the Hellmouth. Read the rest of this entry »

Doom!

It’s a strange feeling, when someone you live with gets sick, and you know, just know that in a week, two weeks at the most, you’re next. I’m not looking forward to coughing, sneezing, and living on Ny-Quil, although spending the day in bed sounds nice…

No Updates This Weekend - Might and Magic instead

I’d been planning to add a whole bunch of alternate realities to the Flash site, but I finally installed Might and Magic IX and started playing it instead.

I’ve played and enjoyed games 4-7, and I’d heard bad things about #8, so I went straight to #9. So far it’s interesting and immersive, although there are some things about it that are really frustrating.
Read the rest of this entry »

Book Review: The Waterborn and The Blackgod

J. Gregory Keyes has fast become one of those authors whose work I will pick up knowing nothing more than who wrote it. I enjoyed his work in the Babylon 5 and Star Wars universes, but after reading the four novels of The Age of Unreason and these two, I can say I’ll definitely be picking up The Briar King when it comes out in January.

Now, The Age of Unreason is probably Keyes’ most well-known work to date. (If the title doesn’t sound familiar, chances are you’ve heard of the first novel, Newton’s Cannon). It takes place in an alternate Eighteenth Century in which Isaac Newton discovered the key to alchemy, transforming the world with new technology… and setting off an arms race of sorts. What begins as an alternate history becomes an epic battle for the future of the world, and ultimately of humanity itself.

While I’d recommend someone curious about Keyes’ writing start with Newton’s Cannon, I’d like to call attention to his earliest published novels, The Waterborn and The Blackgod, collectively known as The Chosen of the Changeling.
Read the rest of this entry »

“Lessons” and speculations

Yay! New Buffy! And quite promising new Buffy, too. Despite the unpursued beginning sequence and the shopworn “something big is coming” talk, it looks to be more than just an intro for the Dawn/Kit/Carlos (wow, normal names!) trio or an attempt to return to the series’ Sunnydale High roots.

I like Spike with the William hair. William the Bloody Crazy, that is. Interestingly, that wasn’t an option in the survey I saw: unchanged, tortured, superhero, or William? Should get some good lines off him this season. Quoting off-their-rocker vamps is great for scaring your friends. I wonder what he’s been eating? Can’t be too many rats in a new school. Oh, and Harry Potter, anyone? First Giles is “go[ing] all Dumbledore,” then there’s crying in a bathroom that leads to a secret passage opening up, and you have a trio forming on grounds where another famous group once walked. I’m not against this by any means, but if it gets to Dawn going to an international Academic Decathlon with dragons and merpeople involved, I’ll be the first to say it’s gone too far.

It took me way too long to twig to the villain regression at the end. Took me till the Master said it, in fact. But in the beginning, there was Buffy. At least it didn’t turn into Tara–Kelson and I were both afraid of that. But the big questions: is Spike’s headmate, in fact, the seventh big bad? How did it get there? Why Spike? It could be like Buffy’s hitchhiker from the grave, or something different. One of our co-watchers put forth that maybe it’s just Spike’s demon in invisible-friend form, as his way of dealing with the war between his good and evil bits. I like that one a lot, but it doesn’t have much potential. I do find it interesting that Spike referred to “the three of us” as being the only ones who ever come down to his little cell. At the time I thought he meant Buffy and some unseen person (or headmate) as the other two, but now I wonder if he might not mean there’s something besides his headmate in the area–maybe the person responsible for the talisman? (Or the spirit responsible for making Spike put the talisman there.)

Prediction: Dawn will discover Spike. She’s on campus more regularly than the rest, she had a connection with him before, and it’d be interesting to see if the new loony version of Spike can see her as glowing green energy. It’d also be interesting to see if the Villain Morph-O-Matic knows anything about Key powers. (Caution: may be volatile when combined with Slayer blood.)

And they better get Willow back from England before her Paraguayan flowers crowd out the native wildlife.

New journal

For a while now I’ve been thinking of setting up something where I can just post random thoughts or opinion pieces without taking the time to write an HTML page and update bunches of links. Some sort of blogging software seemed ideal, so I looked at a few, noticed they all seemed to use MySQL, and left it for a while.

Well, I moved the site to a Linux server a few weeks ago, and so I started looking again. And since Katie’s site is currently under the same domain name, we both figured it would be cool to have something we could both post to.

I settled on b2 (shortly before the site ran out of bandwidth), mainly because it was simple, it used PHP, and it allowed me to set up more than one user.

Welcome to Ramblings!