I'm a Dork

I've contracted the latest crud that's been going around, and since life goes on in spite of profuse snot, I've had to dose myself up on Day-Quil.

However, I've never had Day-Quil make me feel like Delirium of the Endless.

Whee.

This wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't spent about fifteen minutes insisting that baby donkeys should be called "burritos".

Should I go ahead and write in my current stoopid state? Aw, hell, why not?

(PS: Yeah, we have a German Shepherd mix puppy, and I really shouldn't take advice from him either.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it today!

 And good luck to those of you who are girding your loins in preparation for shopping tomorrow!

Mirror, Mirror Trailer

I wasn't sure what to think when I saw the opening sequence of the trailer -- catchy music. Not fond of the dress Snow White was wearing.

Then Julia Roberts came onto the scene.

Oh, my, yes.

And -- the puppy love thing? Oh, hell yeah.

I am *so* there.

Pornography is Not on My Resume

So, when I first started exploring the world of self-publishing stories electronically, I came across a couple of mentions of how lucrative erotica was. Okay, makes sense. After all, isn't it porn that's moving a lot of our technology forward? Okay, I thought. I can write a dirty story. I'm filthy-minded anyway and I think sex is lots and lots of fun. So I sat down to write a naughty little tale.

And after that first day of writing, I went back to my regularly scheduled torture of fairy tale characters.

That story start has been languising on my hard drive for weeks.

Seriously.

I looked at it once since I wrote it, thought, Yeah, I need to finish that, and went back to writing Fairy Tale Afters.

In a way I'm kinda of disappointed. I sort of wanted to have the word "Pornographer" on my resume. But I'm only disappointed because I like the humor value of calling myself a Pornographer. Think about it -- you're at a dinner party or some other soiree, and someone makes polite interested conversation with you. You might ask them, "So, Mr. Smith, what do you do?" And Mr. Smith might tell you that he's a banker or a doctor or a freelance synchronized swimmer. "And you?" he'll ask, out of reciprocal politeness, or perhaps real interest.

"Oh, I'm a pornographer," you'd reply.

He might be too polite to spit-take because you (of course) timed yourself for when he was taking a sip of his drink because -- come on, who doesn't do that?

"I beg your pardon -- I think I misheard you. Did you say . . . Pornographer?"

And you'd give him a smile -- whether a vulpine grin or a demure one, your choice, and add, "Why yes, your hearing's perfect Mr. Smith; I did say pornographer. It's one of the few industries with stable economic growth, and a great deal of flexibility as well, so I can spend more time with my children."

And of course, Mr. Smith will look you over carefully, trying to figure out where you fit into porn. The naughty boy.

Sadly, such a conversation will never be one I will have, because my dirty little story will most likely remain unfinished. But I think I'm quite all right with that.

Of course, I could lie about being a pornographer, but one should never lie on one's resume.

Fairy Tales on TV, Part II

So, now that I've seen both Grimm and Once Upon a Time . . . well, where shall I start?

I guess I'll start with Grimm, since that was the one I was really waiting for, and subsequently was the one I watched first.

I wanted to like it, wanted to be excited by it. It was the one I waited months for. I can't predict how its run is going to go, not until I watch a few more episodes I think -- there is such potential there, but at the same time, it feels like Just Another Urban Fantasy to me. I liked Aunt Marie, the predecessor Grimm to the main character. Bald, dying, visiting her last living relative to inform him of his legacy. I liked how she went down fighting, and that she was bald, that despite her prognosis, she was still going to do what was necessary.

As for our boy, the new Grimm, I'm not sure how I feel about him. On a certain level, I wondered if he accepted everything too quickly; perhaps a little more time should have been spent with him worrying if he was going daft, seeing things? There wasn't a sense of relief when his aunt appeared with the answers, just an acceptance. Oh, okay, that explains everything. Or maybe I'm just an angsty, dramatic person in general and expect that sort of angsting.

Liked the reformed Blutbad, or however it's spelled. He's a lively fella.

Now -- the very end of the ep -- no spoiler space, here, the episode's been out for a week or so -- we get to see an attempt on his aunt by that pretty blond Hexenwitch our boy saw at the very beginning. She fails, but she flees and makes her report to -- wait a minute, isn't that the police captain? So, I did what I always do when I have a question about a TV show or a movie -- I go to imdb.com and look it up.

To my surprise, I discovered that the captain's name was Renard.

That's what's going to keep my interest in Grimm, I think -- for a little while longer at least.

Because I wanna know why he doesn't see a "true face" for the captain. The implication is interesting.

And as for Once Upon a Time --

wow.

The production values are amazing, especially for a tv show, in my not-so-educated opinion. And the cast -- there were a lot of familiar faces, not just Jennifer Morrison from House, but also Ginnifer Goodwin; Robert Carlyle who played Dr. Rush in SGU; Lee Arendale who's been in a lot of stuff . . . . There's something that's very mythic about OUAT. And in my previous post, I mentioned how, upon seeing the trailer, I wasn't sure about Jennifer Morrison as the lead? I'm an idiot. I take it back. She's awesome in this. In fact, I think that the casting for this show is pretty damn tight. And something else about the casting: I like how none of their actors are over-the-top gorgeous or too pretty for real life. There's something very real about them, and I think it helps ground that mythic quality of the show. You know how sometimes you'll watch a show, and, for example, all the girls seem to be of a type? You know, as if the casting director had a type? Not here. It's a fantabulous world, peopled with interesting people, and I can't wait to watch the next episode (when I have time . . . yeah).

I especially like the reversal of Snow White and Prince Charming.

So, I'll definitely continue to watch both these shows, though to the producers of Grimm -- you've got an awesome premise -- please, oh please deliver!

Fairy Tales on TV

I must admit -- for more than a decade television fell by the wayside for me; the broadcast schedules were not conducive to my schedule. Books were easier and portable entertainment, and rented (or bought!) DVDs convenient to my schedule. Regular TV watching didn't occur in my life until a couple of years ago, when I discovered places online where I could watch episodes of current or not-so-current shows. As a result of this spectacular flexibility, I almost never watch an episode of a show the first night it comes out, and sometimes not even the first week. This means I only just now caught a couple of this fall's new shows, Once Upon a Time and Grimm.

Of course I'd have to watch a couple of TV shows based on fairy tales. I've only been waiting for them since I saw the previews back, um, in the recent past. Probably summer. I dunno, I've slept since then.

My impressions of te previews -- well. Let's start with Grimm, since that was the one I was looking forward to.

First of all, I really liked the concept. Not a new concept, really, but all the same, it was one I knew I'd enjoy, and I couldn't wait to see how they handled it. Part of the anticipation for me was because David Greenwalt was one of the executive producers, and he worked on Angel. However, despite my excitement, I wasn't really enamored by the previews. You know how sometimes someone can put together a really awesome trailer and the actual show is pretty lame? Well, the trailer, despite pitching some interesting concepts and an intriguing (to me) character (the bald aunt, the previous Grimm), the trailer just didn't really blow my skirt up. I was especially disappointed when, during the trailer, we got to see the lead character rescue the missing girl. Um, yeah, okay, granted, the likelihood that he'd rescue her was high, but did you really have to show that in the trailer?

Still, my interest was piqued, and I waited patiently for Grimm to come out.

Then there was the trailer for Once Upon a Time -- an intriguing concept, of how the Wicked Queen stole everyone's happy endings and deposited them here, in our world, to live in abject misery, and their only hope is a woman with a mysterious past who's drawn into this strange town by a mysterious little boy. Wicked cool concept, but I wasn't sure it would work in a television show. A movie? certainly. A miniseries? Hell, yeah! A television show? You know, something that could be cancelled and leave us all hanging? Are you people nuts? And further, while I was intrigued by the inclusion of Robert Carlyle (I loved to hate him in Stargate: Universe), I wondered at the casting of Jennifer Morrison (Cameron from House) as the lead character. Don't get me wrong -- she's an awesome actress, and I loved her on House. From the trailer, I could see that it had high production values, but even so, I wasn't sure whether it would succeed.

So, I waited for OUAT as well.

Next: my impressions of the first episodes of both shows.