quit while you're ahead

while i was clearing out my rss feeds on google reader this weekend, i came across a post from...well...sometime in the past two weeks? it had been awhile since i cleared everything! anyway, a post from sf signal asking about which series you would like to see end if you could. the original post is talking about books, but i'm not a real diehard fan of any currently going series, so i broadened it a bit.

i did take the liberty of adducing a few book series that i am just tired of seeing about the place -- i don't even have to mention the sparkly vampire thing, do i? good. i didn't think so.

but there're also laurell k. hamilton's anita blake books. i read the first one, guilty pleasures, back in the day when it first came out and loved it. i loved the series right through the third book, gave up because it was too gory for me at the time, came back years later, caught up, got through the gore -- and stubbed my toe on all the damned sex. jeeze -- i'm all for a little light romping about, but god. the books stopped being urban fantasy awhile ago and started being soft-core porn.

george r. r. martin's books i vaguely resent because a) i've never been able to get into them; b) i hear there's a tv mini-series version coming with lots and lots and lots of actors i love in it and i wish they were all doing something i could get more enthusiastic about; and c) my ex thought they were just awesome. so that's just a constellation of things i don't necessarily appreciate.

i rather wish dennis mckiernan would stop writing mithgar books. i'm not quite sure why i feel this -- i still enjoy reading them -- but they don't feel like he's paying as much attention as he used to. despite the fact that, in the most recent one, he brought back my favorite character -- aravan -- and favorite location -- aravan's ship, the eroean -- i'm still not sold on the more recent novels. the earlier ones? i'll recommend those heartily to anyone in need of an epic fantasy fix. i remember reading journey of the fox rider and the dragonstone with my mouth hanging open i was so into it.

and there are a couple of series -- trilogies, really -- that i rather wish had ended at stand-alones. caroline stevermer and patricia wrede's cecilia and kate novels might have been better if they'd stopped at the enchanted chocolate pot; and i'm really afraid that steve cash's meq series isn't going to be much improved by a third or even a fourth entry in the series. but i could be wrong.

as far as other media go -- there are series i got so frustrated with that i gave up, notably buffy the vampire slayer. by the middle of season 6, i really disliked buffy so much that the rest of the scooby crew no longer made it worthwhile to watch the show. i stopped with "gone," just before "doublemeat palace" which had, sadly, been spoilered for me by the blurb on the back of the dvd set! with the prospect of "doublemeat" looming before me, it hardly seemed worthwhile to put up with buffy's bad attitude in the distant hope that spike would come to his senses and suck her dry and not in a fun way. i'm not sure i wish that whedon had stopped before season 6 -- i've been told by those hardier than i who have gone on and finished the series that it really is worth it and i do intend to finish it...one of these days.

i think we could probably all live without another fast & furious movie -- much as i love three out of the existing four! (the one in tokyo is just --- bizarre. it's almost not even fun it's so weird -- i mean, what's with the chick who looks more like michael jackson the more you watch the movie? just watch the initial car "race," enjoy the kid rock song -- then find something else to do would be my advice. if you want a lucas black movie, watch friday night lights -- that has garrett hedlund, too!)

much as i love the underworld franchise as a series which keeps kate beckinsale in latex, vampires toothy, and lots of guns about the place, there are days when i wish they had stopped at a stand-alone. and do i even need to mention the existence of the two sequels to the matrix? the original brilliant stand-alone movie -- ruined by its sequels.

i never finished farscape -- after season 3's two-parter,  "self inflicted wounds," i just couldn't go on.

it wasn't that i didn't love the show; i did. and it wasn't that i wasn't into the plot or the characters any more; i was.

it was more that after going through most of a pack of tissues on that two-parter -- and all the dreadful occurrences of the prior episodes in that season: what was it? kick d'argo month? -- i was a tad bit drained as far as the crew of moya went. like buffy, i fully intend to go back and finish the series someday; how could i ever totally abandon a series with a villain as truly spine-chilling as dear darling old scorpy? (and what makes it even better is that wayne pygram was grand moff tarkin in revenge of the sith -- yeah, yeah, yeah, i know we only saw him for about 25 seconds and he had one line but who cares?!)

but, really, the topper of "series that i can't stand to finish right at the minute" (which is kind of what the end of this post has turned into) has to be torchwood.

i watched "day one" of the "children of earth" mini-season and stuck right there.

i know what happens. i know it's horrible. i know awful things happen to at least one of my favorite characters. and i'm in full wuss-out fangirl mode -- somewhere in the back of my mind i am convinced that if i just hold out on watching "children of earth" for long enough, the bbc will come to its senses and renew the show for a fourth, proper season.

it won't happen. and someday, i will gather together sufficient tissues and chocolate and i will finish "children of earth" -- but not this week.

"don't ever link those two things again..." (4 of 4) - finally!

a quick review from...well, the last time this was on a saturday: in the spirit of "don't complain about something if you're not prepared to do it better," i noticed over the past couple of weeks two lists -- one from wired and one from a blog i know not of called ink-stained amazon which i have to say is beautiful to look at it -- that both purport to be 'essential lists' of 'geek culture' quotes.

ahem.

okay, so the wired list starts off with monty python and the holy grail and the amazon list includes the sarah jane adventures -- but i'm still not wildly impressed with either one.

i figured i could do better.

then i thought about it and realised that, on my own, i didn't have the time to do better so i roped in my ever-patient girlfriend to help me do better. :)

first off, a couple of notes:

1. this is for fun. if you're not amused, go read something else. i won't be offended, promise. that being said, suggestions and additions (politely phrased!) are welcome in the comments. but keep in mind this is installation 1 of 4! not everything will fit in here.

2. these are probably mostly going to be dredged out of my memory, anna's memory, imdb, or official show/movie sites. inaccuracy is, therefore, almost inevitable. not to mention repetition of shows or characters. if this annoys you-- well, make your own list. :)

3. i'm not aiming for some kind of "worst to best" or "best to worst" list. they're here because the two people making the list think they're fun or because one of us was able to strong-arm the other into including them. brief context is provided where anna or i thought it was necessary.

5. i am aiming for 4 posts of 25 quotes each over the next 4 weeks. tune in each friday/saturday for your new installment! and here's the link to the first post, and the second, and the third.

okay, and that being said...

1. The Doctor: "Allons-y!" Pretty much any episode of the new series with David Tennant (we'll miss you, Mr. Tennant, sir.)

2. Gareth Blackstock: "I am Gareth Blackstock; I am seriously unpleasant!" Chef!, can't remember which episode. Something in Season 1, I feel.


3. The Player [to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern]: "Until next time." Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.


4.  Leela [to someone attempting, foolishly, to grab her]: "Touch me again and I'll fillet you." Doctor Who, "The Sunmakers."


5. Lola: "Burgundy. Dear God, tell me I've not inspired something burgundy." Kinky Boots.


6. Cat: "I'm lookin' nice. My shadow's lookin' nice. We're a great team!" Red Dwarf, again, something in the first season.


7. Spongebob: "I came over to see if you wanted to go jellyfishing, but I can see you're busy having an episode." Spongebob Squarepants, something in the first season...er. I can't admit to remembering the name of this episode but nothing from Chef! or Red Dwarf -- I just can't!

8. Han Solo: "Hey -- it's me." Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.


9. Jared Grace: "I was reading in a footlocker!" The Spiderwick Chronicles.


10. Sarah Connor: "Do I look like the mother of the future? I can't even balance my checkbook!" Terminator.


11. Danny Archuleta: "It has not been a nice day!" Predator 2.


12. Ianto Jones: "Because I know everything. Also, it's written on the bottom of the screen there." Torchwood and I am ashamed to say, but I have no idea which episode it's from. ... Second season? Maybe? Oh, help.


13. Son of Mine: "He never raised his voice. That was the worst thing - the fury of the Time Lord - and then we discovered why. Why this Doctor, who had fought with gods and demons, why he had run away from us and hidden. He was being kind." Doctor Who, "Family of Blood."


14. Sarah Jane Smith: "There are two types of people in the world. There's people who panic -- and then there's us. Got it?" The Sarah Jane Adventures, "Invasion of the Bane."

15. Eddie Izzard: "I have penis nonchalance, really." Live at Wembley.


16. Sam Winchester: "You're...afraid of flying?" Dean Winchester: "Why do you think I drive everywhere!" Supernatural, "Phantom Traveler."


17. Willy Wonka: "Everything in this room is edible. Even I'm edible. But that, children, is called cannibalism and is frowned upon in most societies." Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.


18. Dr. Frank N. Furter: "But isn't it nice!" The Rocky Horror Picture Show.


19. Willow Rosenberg: "The library. Y'know -- where the books live?" Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Welcome to the Hellmouth."


20. Reverend H.W. Smith: "This is God's purpose, but not knowing the purpose is my portion of suffering." Doc Cochran: "If this is His will, He is a son of a bitch." Deadwood. Sometime around the end of the first season.


21. Carmen Ghia: "May I take your hats? And your swastikas?" The Producers.


22. Protagonist: "My name? Well, if you knew that, you'd be as smart as---" Layer Cake.


23. Nina Conti: "That's a sweet voice on a monkey but with breasts it's bloody sinister."


24. Arthur Burns: "You shot me, Charlie. What're you gonna do now?" The Proposition.



25. Norman: "What about me?!" The Dresser.


And I know I strayed a bit from my original self-issued mandate with 22, 24, and 25. 


But...sue me, really. :)


They're all amazing movies. If you haven't seen them -- why the hell are you still sitting here reading this? You have watching to do!

"don't ever link those two things again..." (3 of 4)

a quick review from last week saturday: in the spirit of "don't complain about something if you're not prepared to do it better," i noticed over the past couple of weeks two lists -- one from wired and one from a blog i know not of called ink-stained amazon which i have to say is beautiful to look at it -- that both purport to be 'essential lists' of 'geek culture' quotes.

ahem.

okay, so the wired list starts off with monty python and the holy grail and the amazon list includes the sarah jane adventures -- but i'm still not wildly impressed with either one.

i figured i could do better.

then i thought about it and realised that, on my own, i didn't have the time to do better so i roped in my ever-patient girlfriend to help me do better. :)

first off, a couple of notes:

1. this is for fun. if you're not amused, go read something else. i won't be offended, promise. that being said, suggestions and additions (politely phrased!) are welcome in the comments. but keep in mind this is installation 1 of 4! not everything will fit in here.

2. these are probably mostly going to be dredged out of my memory, anna's memory, imdb, or official show/movie sites. inaccuracy is, therefore, almost inevitable. not to mention repetition of shows or characters. if this annoys you-- well, make your own list. :)

3. i'm not aiming for some kind of "worst to best" or "best to worst" list. they're here because the two people making the list think they're fun or because one of us was able to strong-arm the other into including them. brief context is provided where anna or i thought it was necessary.

5. i am aiming for 4 posts of 25 quotes each over the next 4 weeks. tune in each friday/saturday for your new installment! and here's the link to the first post and to the second...

okay, and that being said...

1. Madame Klara Goteborg: "I may have been a distraction to men -- never a burden!" Journey to the Center of the Earth.

2. The Doctor: "What's wrong with this jumper?!" Doctor Who, several episodes from Christopher Eccleston's sole (bastard) season.

3. Eddie Izzard: "I grew up in Europe...where the history comes from." Dress to Kill.

4. Pennywise: "Everything floats down here." It.

5. Ianto Jones: "Lots of things you can do with a stopwatch." Torchwood, "They Keep Killing Suzie."

6. Peasant: "Help! Help! I'm being oppressed!" Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

7. Nanami Kiryuu: "Oneeeee-samaaaaaaaaaaa...." Shoujo Kakumei Utena, more episodes than I like to remember.

8. Jake of New York: "Go, then. There are other worlds than these." The Gunslinger.

9. Bernard Woolley: "It used to be said that there were two types of chairs for two types of ministers. One sort folded up instantly; the other went round and round in circles." Yes, Minister, "Election Night."

10. Dave Lister: "Look out, Earth! The slime's comin' home!" Red Dwarf, "The End."

11. Sarah: "You have no power over me." Labyrinth.

12. The Ood: "Your song is coming to an end." Doctor Who, "The Planet of the Ood."

13. Sally: "I feel there's something in the wind / That feels like tragedy's at hand..." The Nightmare Before Christmas.

14. Tom Servo: "If you get near a song, play it!" Mystery Science Theatre 3000, "Mr. B Natural."

15. Jeff Slater: "We're entering a weird area, here." Tootsie.

16. Bernadette: "I've said it before and I'll say it again -- no more fuckin' Abba!" Priscilla: Queen of the Desert.

17. Leia Organa: "Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" Star Wars: A New Hope.

18. Don Logan: "You've got lovely eyes, Deedee. They real?" Sexy Beast.

19. Mau: "Does not happen!" Nation.

20. Granny Weatherwax: "I can't be havin' with this." More or less any of the Witches books in the Discworld series: Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, etc.

21. Kyle Broflowski: "I learned something today..." Any episode of South Park between the 1st and 8th seasons...'cause that's as far as I've seen!

22. Ray: "One gay beer for my gay friend and one normal beer for me 'cause I'm normal." In Bruges.

23. The It Man: "It's...." Monty Python's Flying Circus.

24. Captain Jack Harkness: "Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks, 'That could be more sonic?'" Doctor Who, "The Empty Child."

25. Sullah and Indiana Jones: "What are you going to do?" "I don't know -- I'm makin' this up as I go." Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

"don't ever link those two things again..." (2 of 4)

a quick review from last week saturday: in the spirit of "don't complain about something if you're not prepared to do it better," i noticed over the past couple of weeks two lists -- one from wired and one from a blog i know not of called ink-stained amazon which i have to say is beautiful to look at it -- that both purport to be 'essential lists' of 'geek culture' quotes.

ahem.

okay, so the wired list starts off with monty python and the holy grail and the amazon list includes the sarah jane adventures -- but i'm still not wildly impressed with either one.

i figured i could do better.

then i thought about it and realised that, on my own, i didn't have the time to do better so i roped in my ever-patient girlfriend to help me do better. :)

first off, a couple of notes:

1. this is for fun. if you're not amused, go read something else. i won't be offended, promise. that being said, suggestions and additions (politely phrased!) are welcome in the comments. but keep in mind this is installation 1 of 4! not everything will fit in here.

2. these are probably mostly going to be dredged out of my memory, anna's memory, imdb, or official show/movie sites. inaccuracy is, therefore, almost inevitable. not to mention repetition of shows or characters. if this annoys you-- well, make your own list. :)

3. i'm not aiming for some kind of "worst to best" or "best to worst" list. they're here because the two people making the list think they're fun or because one of us was able to strong-arm the other into including them. brief context is provided where anna or i thought it was necessary.

5. i am aiming for 4 posts of 25 quotes each over the next 4 weeks. tune in each friday/saturday for your new installment! and here's the link to the first post way back there last week saturday. or sunday. or something.

okay, and that being said...

1. Evelyn Carnahan: "I -- am a librarian!" The Mummy.

2. Stormtrooper: "Look, sir -- droids!" Star Wars: A New Hope. [and a freebie 'cause i always think of it now when i have to find the sw movies by number -- Eddie Izzard [re the Lucasian number scheme]: "He's fucking with us numerically, you realise that, right? 'Kids, count to 10!' '4 5 6, 1 2 3, -- uh --'" Circle.]

3. Luke Smith: "I think I may have made a social blunder. I showed them how to destroy the world." The Sarah Jane Adventures, "Revenge of the Slitheen."

4. The Doctor: "Because I'm very clever." , "Midnight."

5. Dutch [to the Predator]: "You are one ugly mother-fu---" Predator.

6. Ellen Ripley: "This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off." ALIEN.

7. Red Queen: "You're all going to die down here." Resident Evil.

8. Mercedes [to Captain Vidal about his infant son]: "No. He won't even know your name." Pan's Labyrinth.

9. Captain Jack Sparrow [to Kraken]: "'Ello, beastie." Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

10. Eddie Izzard [re: the British Empire]: "We ruled the world through the cunning use of flags." Dress to Kill.

11. John McClane: "Yippee-kay-yay, motherfucker." DieHard.

12. Malcolm Reynolds: "Were there monkeys, Kaylee? Space monkeys?" Firefly, sorry, forgot which episode. second or third, i feel...?

13. Chancellor Palpatine: "The Sith had many powers, some considered to be unnatural." Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

14. Neo: "Whoa." The Matrix.

15. The Doctor [immediately prior to regenerating]: "The end has come -- but the moment has been prepared for." Doctor Who, "Logopolis."

16. Jozef Kastan: "You seriously drink this stuff? What is it -- like, non-fat, vegan, soy blood?" Moonlight, no idea which episode.

17. River Tam: "I can kill you with my brain." Firefly, no idea which episode. whoops.

18. James Bond [when asked how he would like his drink prepared]: "Do I look like I give a damn?" Casino Royale.

19. Alice [to the White Queen computer about the Red Queen]: "I knew your sister. She was a homicidal bitch." Resident Evil: Extinction.

20. Capa: "When a stellar bomb is triggered, very little will happen at first -- and then a spark will pop into existence and it will hang for an instant, hovering in space, and then it will split into two, and those will split again, and again, and again... detonation beyond all imagining - the big bang on a small scale. - a new star born out of a dying one... I think it will be beautiful. No, I'm not scared." Sunshine.

21. Captain John Hart: "Did I mention I'm armed?" Torchwood, "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang."

22. The Doctor [on Rose pointing out that he sounds North of England]: "Lots of planets have a north!" Doctor Who, "Rose."

23. Riddick: "Anybody not ready for this?" Pitch Black.

24. Rygel: "I am Rygel the XVIth, dominar of over six billion people -- I don't have to talk to you!" Farscape, no idea which episode. something in the first season, i feel.

25. Buffy Summers: "You forgot about dawn. It's in about six hours, idiot." Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Welcome to the Hellmouth."

"don't ever link those two things again..." (1 of 4)

okay, so in the spirit of "don't complain about something if you're not prepared to do it better," i noticed over the past couple of weeks two lists -- one from wired and one from a blog i know not of called ink-stained amazon which i have to say is beautiful to look at it -- that both purport to be 'essential lists' of 'geek culture' quotes.

ahem.

okay, so the wired list starts off with monty python and the holy grail and the amazon list includes the sarah jane adventures -- but i'm still not wildly impressed with either one.

i figured i could do better.

then i thought about it and realised that, on my own, i didn't have the time to do better so i roped in my ever-patient girlfriend to help me do better. :)

first off, a couple of notes:

1. this is for fun. if you're not amused, go read something else. i won't be offended, promise. that being said, suggestions and additions (politely phrased!) are welcome in the comments. but keep in mind this is installation 1 of 4! not everything will fit in here.

2. these are probably mostly going to be dredged out of my memory, anna's memory, imdb, or official show/movie sites. inaccuracy is, therefore, almost inevitable. not to mention repetition of shows or characters. if this annoys you-- well, make your own list. :)

3. i'm not aiming for some kind of "worst to best" or "best to worst" list. they're here because the two people making the list think they're fun or because one of us was able to strong-arm the other into including them. brief context is provided where anna or i thought it was necessary. i also tried to find links for character images that were from the episode/scene/moment where the quoted line was spoken. this isn't always possible but i'm fairly pleased with myself for getting as close as i did! fair warning: links may contain spoilers, particularly links to doctor who or torchwood episodes.

5. i am aiming for 4 posts of 25 quotes each over the next 4 weeks. tune in each friday/saturday for your new installment!

okay, and that being said...

1. Tim Latimer [talking about the Doctor]: "He's like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun. He's ancient and forever. He burns at the centre of time and can see the turn of the universe...and... he's wonderful." Doctor Who, "The Family of Blood."

2. Captain Jack Harkness: "Torchwood: outside the government, beyond the police. Tracking down alien life on Earth, arming the human race against the future. The twenty-first century is when everything changes. And you gotta be ready." Torchwood, Season 1 opener on all episodes.

3. Brother Justin Crowe [talking about his upcoming radio broadcast]: "In a single coast-to-coast broadcast, I will speak to more souls than our Lord did in his entire lifetime. It's going to be breathtaking." Carnivale, "Ingram, TX."

4. Dominic Toretto: "I retract my previous statement." The Fast and the Furious.

5. Murtagh [in reference to a stone wall he and Eragon have run up against in their attempt to join the rebels]: "Tell me your vision looked something like this." Eragon.

6. The Guide: "Don't Panic." The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

7. The Doctor: "Don't blink." Doctor Who, "Blink."

8. M [to James Bond as he almost says her real name]: "Finish that sentence and I'll have you killed." Casino Royale.

9. Captain Jack Sparrow [in reference to almost anything]: "Not good -- not good!" Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.

10. Alice [before killing the monster that used to be her work partner and "husband"]: "I'm missing you already." Resident Evil.

11. Riddick: "If you can't keep up, don't step up. You'll only die." Chronicles of Riddick.

12. "I'm going to curl up in his sock drawer and sleep for days." MST3K riff in MST3K: The Movie: This Island Earth.

13. Dean Winchester: "Well, that's healthy." Supernatural, Pilot.

14. C-3PO: "Shutting up, sir." Star Wars: A New Hope.

15. Dr. Frank N. Furter: "What ever happened to Fay Wray? That delicate satin-draped frame...how it clung to her thigh as I started to cry... 'cause I wanted to be dressed just the same..." The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

16. Jim [wandering in an empty London]: "Hello! Hello -- hello! Hello!" 28 Days Later.

17. Temperance Brennan: "I don't know what that means." Bones, multiple episodes.

18. Plankton: "Well, goodbye, everyone. I'll remember you all in therapy!" Spongebob Squarepants, "The Algae is Always Greener."

19. Wesley Gibson [talking to Sloan who may, or may not, be trying to induct him into a secret brotherhood of assassins]: "So do you make sweaters or do you kill people?" Wanted.

20. Toshiko Sato: "Because you're breaking my heart." Torchwood, "Exit Wounds."

21. The Doctor: "Well, progress is a very flexible word. It can mean just about anything you want it to mean." Doctor Who, "The Power of Kroll."

22. Michael Corvin: "Are you fucking kidding me!" Underworld.

23. Mme. de Pompadour [talking to/about the Doctor]: "Such a lonely little boy. Lonely then and lonelier now." Doctor Who, "The Girl in the Fireplace."

24. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker: "We're smarter than this!" "Apparently not." Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

25. Marvin the Paranoid Android [about life in general...]: "I have this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left side..." The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

"it made me happy."

and for my last post before returning from vacation, i had some thoughts on a recent episode of supernatural. first season -- don't remember the episode number -- but it's called "the benders" and, for those of you who enjoy cross-show continuity, it guest-stars jessica steen who played dr julia heller on earth 2, a sadly short-lived show which nbc killed in much the same way as cbs did moonlight.

anyway, that's neither here nor there -- although earth 2 is totally worth watching and available on netflix insty if you have an account. :)

so "the benders" was last episode of supernatural that anna and i watched in our game attempt to get to the end of season 1 in reasonably short order. i found this british v/o'd promo on youtube:

and as the episode -- which begins with a young boy seeing someone disappear in a parking lot and works up to being a full-on the hills have eyes-style hillbilly family kidnapping people to play out a "the most dangerous game" scenario -- went its merry way, anna and i began to feel that we had seen something like this before.

and we had. it's this:

the supernatural episode was good. solid, a little gross, not terribly spooky -- bar the little girl of the hillbilly kidnapping family who is quite definitely terrifying. you can get an idea of it from this scene where dean has been captured trying to free sam and is being interrogated by the family. the girl is there, too, and freakily happy to be left to guard dean.

Benders

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but the torchwood episode promo'd there, called "countrycide" and from the first season, is chilling. (probably best not to watch this clip if you don't want to see the end of the episode. it will still be scary, i guarantee you, but it might lack a bit of punch.)

and i'm pretty sure this isn't just me; it's the same damn story bar the cages. and the fact that i find the torchwood episode much scarier -- that could just be me. i'm deeply prejudiced in torchwood's favor. and i realise that this is a common storyline in dark fantasy and horror: inbred families -- outlaws, deserters, genetic mutants, it's your choice, really -- of some sort who live in the woods -- mountaintop, valley, distant moor, name your favorite deserted location -- and nab passersby -- on a regular, cyclic, or irregular basis -- to eat -- have sex with, sacrifice, etc. -- and therefore form part of a local legend -- ghost story, myth, scare the children story -- or what-have-you.

there really is no grand over-arching point to this post other than i thought it was funny that the two episodes -- separated by time, cast, crew, location, and writers -- came up with so nearly identical storylines to call on a persistent horror myth.

"i may have made a social blunder. i showed them how to destroy the world."

a few passing thoughts for your sunday morning on the first episodes of the second season of the sarah jane adventures.

you will definitely need to have watched the first season to be au courant with events since the season opener doesn't even bother with a brief "detective exposition and sergeant plotpoint" sort of recap. (i did some desultory searching for a first season trailer to post here and had no luck; no time to search further! try the bbc america website if you're really keen.)

the adventures, for those of you not in the octopus-like grip of russell t. davies, is his third reboot of the doctor who series and the second successful spinoff -- torchwood being the other one. i can only say that if you're not watching torchwood you're missing something very special. but i say that a lot when it comes to doctor who-related things.

sarah jane herself -- the eponymous character of the adventures -- is an old-school companion; she travelled with the 3rd (jon pertwee) and 4th (tom baker) doctors back in the 1970s-1980s. she's one of the absolute all-time knock-down drag-out top ten best companions ever and they tried to give her her own show before in the mid-'80s with k9 and company:

K9 and Company - A Girls Best Friend (1)
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that's the first nine minutes or so of the one episode it got. if you want the rest, it seems to be mostly present between google video/youtube and dailymotion. it isn't a bad way to spend an hour or so but you can pretty much see -- with doctor who at the time still going strong -- why the show didn't go too far. if nothing else, k9 was something of a sensitive point with fans; a lot of people -- including some of the crew of the show! -- hated him and wanted to see him thrown into the nearest collapsing star. presumably this is why, in the new adventures, k9 is barely present, being busily occupied repairing the damage done by a runaway physics experiment and only accessible when he spins past earth every few weeks. i hear rumours that he will get a spin-off of a spin-off of his own, based out of australia? but i think that might be too spin-off-y even for me.

regardless of all that, the new adventures is a blast. elisabeth sladen (if you watch the new who, you saw her in "school reunion") is clearly having one hell of a time playing sarah jane but with some of the doctor's best tricks up her sleeve (sonic lipstick!). her companions are three young teenagers: her adopted son luke, and two schoolfriends of his, clyde and maria. maria's dad, alan, also gets in on the show in the later episodes of the first season; his ex-wife and maria's mum, chrissie, has a disturbing habit of waltzing in at odd minutes and anna and i took to shouting at her to go away because she's just dreadful. but the first episodes of the second season seem to hint that perhaps, just perhaps, she will improve.

i thought that, with doctor who as the angst-fest of the millennium and featuring some remarkably angry, violent, and difficult episodes with torchwood not far behind in tormenting its fans by doing awful things to their favorite characters (russell, you and i still need to talk about that season 2 closer!), that the adventures would be more aimed directly at little kids -- originally doctor who's target audience! and it is noticeably gentler than the davies's other two series, but i can't say he pulls a lot of punches to gather in a younger audience. the first season features episodes where parents are possessed and try to harm their children; a rearrangement of the space-time continuum such that people are randomly plucked out of their proper time and forgotten by everyone except one or two people; and some gripping depictions of the consequences of childhood actions in later life. (not to mention a great guest star turn by phyllida law playing a woman suffering from the effects of age-related memory loss who has forgotten the importance of a piece of critical alien tech she has hidden among her jewelry.) while the adventures aren't, for example, doctor who's "turn left" or "midnight" or torchwood's "meat" or "countrycide," they're not dumbed down fare to make kids feel happy. some of this stuff would have scared me stiff as a child; i would've watched anyway, probably with my mouth hanging open, but the prospect of your parents being taken over and controlled by something you can't see and them coming after you? not okay!

and, while i couldn't find teaser trailers for either season, i did find the first section of the first episode, invasion of the bane from season one which may, if you're into this sort of thing, make your netflix queue longer by a few discs (the rest of bane, at least, also seems to be up on youtube in 9-10 minute chunks if you're into watching things that way):

"and now for something completely different."

so here's the latest i could find on the whole "lead in books" thing. the ala website was up the last time i checked but it took some messing around to find anything about this particular issue, so maybe it isn't such a big thing as it appears? i don't know, but i did find this news brief on the original legislation, a letter the ala sent to the consumer product safety commission, and the cpsc's response.

i also tracked down -- again, via neil gaiman's twitter which is just awesome and disturbing by turns -- a different blogger's post about the same subject. the blogger in question, nathaniel grey, went so far as to write to the ala's washington office and excerpts the letter he got in reply.

on the more amusing, less work-oriented front, i happened to luck into a copy of stephen king's latest short story collection just after sunset at the bpl today and ran through the first story, "willa," and half of the second, "the gingerbread girl," on the train home. so far, so good! i'm looking forward to his promised notes at the end of the book since those are always fun.

i also treated myself to two more episodes of the second season of torchwood which, i have to say, does not grow any more reassuring. fine by me so long as they're going to keep up this quality of show -- "meat," "adam," and "reset" were all riveting and i'm making myself be good and save "dead man walking" for tomorrow so that i don't run through my entire weekend treat in one night! i just can't imagine how they're going to ramp up from here to the season finales which i hear are killers. 

and i get to go see the new underworld this weekend -- happy dance! i notice a fair number of critics and fan sites who have already decided they hate it -- *shrug* what's not to like, really? vampires, werewolves, sharp things, leather -- where's the problem?