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July 13th, 2009
 | 06:41 pm - Comic-Con Coordination Confabulation Consternation!
Attention, all Comic-Con attendees! If you are going to be at Comic-Con, consider this a PLANNING PARTY POST! When will you be there? Where will you be? What panels are you seeing? And how in the hell are we going to meet up?
Below is my tentative schedule, subject to change. I will be hanging with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) gymble and miniglik most of the time, but they have given me permission to ditch if our interests differ. Panels in red are highest priority, and panels in green are ones I really want to go to, and non-colored panels are ones it'd be cool to make but I won't be too sad if I don't. I have quite a few conflicts that need to be resolved already. And I don't know when all the press rooms and signings are, so there could be even more conflicts in store. Hell, there are various panels here and there that I can't even consider because I'm going to have enough trouble juggling the ones I'm actively interested in. If you're interested in a panel I'm also interested in, let me know, and I will stick your name there so I know where to find you. And then we need to exchange numbers for the calling and the texting and the aaaahhh.
If you have not already, check out Seanan's Guide to Surviving Comic-Con. Let's all try to make it out alive and sufficiently awesomed.
( Wednesday )
( Thursday )
( Friday )
( Saturday )
( Sunday )
I haven't really figured out how I'm going to have time to eat. I welcome any suggestions of what to do or not do, and I am very interested in meeting people, so let's make it happen. Coordinate! (And oh yeah! We are staying at the Best Western Seven Seas. If you are too, that would be weird. And cool.)
Also! Uh. If you happen to be in the Pasadena area and would be free on Monday, July 27, to have lunch and take miniglik and me to the Burbank airport...that would be pretty awesome.
All right, mice and men, let's best lay some plans.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/crazy.png) crazy
Current Music: Oasis - Part of the Queue
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 | 09:49 am - The Most Awesome Story Ever Told
Yesterday, I drove out to Antioch with Rick and Lisa and Cat for Rey's birthday party, where pretty much the only other people I knew were Rey and a couple others. Nevertheless, I joined a game of Apples to Apples, which is generally more fun when you Know Your Judge but is entertaining regardless (and a good way to get to Know Your Judges, anyway). There were close to a dozen people in the circle.
When I play, I like to go through each person's choice one by one and evaluate it in turn, throwing down each card without looking. Yesterday, however, I got the idea to transition from one to the next, keeping with the theme of the adjective. I had Frightening, so I took us through the Apples to Apples House of Horrors, where we discovered such horrifying things as TV Evangelists. Then I had Philosophical, where we discussed things that were philosophical, like the Indy 500 (they had a lot of time to contemplate things during the race) and Homer Simpson ("Mmm...[something that didn't work]." Wait, let's try that again. "Mmm...Meatloaf!").
After a particularly raucous one, Jessica asked if I could make stories for all of them. Ethan thought I was a hard act to follow, so he gave me his cards to make a story about things that are Radiant. Like...cabbage, the most radiant of all vegetables, which you can find in the grocery store next to...gold chains, which are worn by Mr. T, who hangs out with his best friend...Katharine Hepburn and gets together and...fights forest fires. I had just invented Improv Mad Libs Apples to Apples. It was terribly ridiculous, and I was making all these strangers laugh.
They found me so funny, in fact, that when someone got the card for Awesome, it was demanded that I make up an Awesome story...and people would record it.
So I present to you, The Most Awesome Story Ever Told.
I was under quite a lot of pressure, but somehow, the cards fell pretty awesomely. Not so with my birthday tale for Rey on how to be more Refined, which had a pretty good start and a decent middle but fizzled out toward the end.
Jessica thought I might actually be a Mad Libs writer. Once I become a YouTube sensation, however, maybe I can be! I HAVE FOUND MY CALLING!
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/naughty.png) naked
Current Music: White Zombie - Thunder Kiss '65
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July 11th, 2009
 | 12:24 am - There's Even a Guy Named Sunil in This Movie
You have likely never heard of Shades of Ray since it was not released in theatres and instead is available exclusively on Amazon on Demand.
But it stars Zachary Levi and Sarah Shahi and Fran Kranz and Bonnie Somerville and also features Rex Lee and Cristine Rose and Lucy Davis, so it is tailor-made for the audience of People Who Read My Journal!
Half-Pakistani writer/director Jaffar Mahmood cast Zachary Levi as half-Pakistani actor/bartender Ray Rehman. And no, he doesn't look half-Pakistani at all, and it never really works, and the audition scenes where he's being "typecast" and forced to do funny accents don't come off right at all because he doesn't look half-Pakistani. But Mahmood was rejected by two production companies who wanted him to change the character to be half-black or half-Latino instead, and he walked away and raised the money himself so he could make the movie on his own terms, and if his own terms include choosing Zachary Levi, then so be it.
Ray Rehman has a Pakistani dad and a white mom. Around the time he proposes to his white girlfriend, his dad shows up on his doorstep, having been kicked out. And since he's there, why doesn't he introduce Ray to a nice half-Pakistani girl? Now Ray has to CHOOSE! And also reunite his parents. Symbolically or whatever.
As an independent film, it is perfectly enjoyable, if uneven; all the parts don't quite fit together, as if some of the pieces don't really know what their purpose is. But that's mostly the ancillary stuff; the main story with Ray and his parents and his lady loves is well done.
But the main appeal, of course, is that ZACHARY LEVI IS BASICALLY PLAYING ME. Sure, he's only half-brown, but as someone who's all brown and mainly attracted to white girls despite his parents' wanting him to marry a brown one, I obviously identified with him and what he has to deal with. For instance, when he complains to his dad about being set up with a "random girl," his dad exlaims, "What 'random'? She's your uncle's best friend in medical school's classmate's daughter!" SERIOUSLY THAT IS HOW IT WORKS.
There were times when I almost wanted to cry just because someone made a movie about South Asians. I just forget how goddamn rare that is. Bollywood is not my life. This is my life. American Desi is my life. Bend It Like Beckham is my life. The Namesake is my life.
Except not.
Like Born Confused, Shades of Ray tells the story of a South Asian who's allowed to date white folk until their parents force them to marry someone South Asian WHO JUST HAPPENS TO BE HOT AND AWESOME AND PERFECT AND HOW IS THAT ACTUALLY A CONFLICT? No one tells the story of the guy who was never allowed to date anyone, who wasn't even allowed to go to prom, who couldn't even date in college because he didn't want to be forced to lie his parents, who is now being set up with uncle's best friend's classmate's daughters who aren't even interested in him. Look, if my parents found me a girl who looked like Sarah Shahi and whose list of favorite TV shows on MySpace began with Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars, I would be set. (As a side note, HOLY CRAP SARAH SHAHI IS HOT UM MAYBE I SHOULD WATCH LIFE.)
Maybe I really should write my experience, because who the fuck else is going to?
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/depressed.png) depressed
Current Music: Ra Ra Riot - Can You Tell
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July 10th, 2009
 | 03:21 am - Terribly Listy LiveJournalcore
So a week and a half ago, I asked water_of_fire (L) to come see Nightmare of You with me. Luckily, she was currently in the habit of accepting bizarre invitations. Even more luckily, she did not wake up the next morning and decide it was a horrible idea, and instead we e-mailed in the interim. I told her to remain deliberately ignorant of Nightmare of You (and I did not listen to any songs but the one Pandora have given me), which meant she didn't even look at the opening bands...one of which was Plushgun, a band she had recently discovered through this video portrait of Zachary Quinto being covered in milk. Now she was really excited!
And we had a great night. Check out all these gerunds and participles, yo.
- hugging L for the first time and discovering she's a great hugger
- examining the menu at La Mediterranee and having no clue what to order because everything looked good
- having a hibiscus cooler ordered for me because, according to L, I was having one
- drinking a sweet, red liquid that was like drinking perfume or a flower
- being asked what I did when I wasn't listening to bands that didn't exist yet
- enlightening L about the violation of point-of-view in The Eyre Affair that pissed me off
- explaining what unreliable narrators are and how much I heart them
- L tasting my lemon chicken soup and deeming it terrible, she would finish it for me
- trying the very tangy, tart lemon chicken soup that was interesting for a few sips but too sour to finish
- devouring chicken pomegranate with meat that just fell off the bone
- convincing L to watch Lost because it is just that awesome (and explaining OMGWTFPOLARBEAR in the process)
- mocking opener Brian Bonz, who L thought looked like a wildly overgrown nine-year-old and I thought looked no older than fourteen
- attempting and failing to appreciate his overblown, I-wish-I-was-Ben-Gibbard sincerity
- watching L's delight at seeing Plushgun live
- declaring Plushgun to be totally adorable, as during one song the lead singer threw glowsticks into the audience and during another, he played ukulele while the guitarist playing the portable glockenspiel
- rather enjoying the fun, catchy synthpop, which L described as "terribly emo cuddlecore" because she wanted to punch them and put them all in her pocket
- getting some air and avoiding the hipsters
- convincing L that she had to buy the shirt designed by the guitarist who would totally steal her eyeliner
- seeing L actually talk to said guitarist and admire his tattoos
- patiently holding various layers of clothing as she removed them to show him her own tattoo
- the guitarist pulling his shirt up to display the backwards Gothic lettering across his chest
- telling L she had to wear the shirt the next time I saw her since it was clear there would be a next time
- getting complimented on my shirt by the merch guy
- being poked by the guitarist of Plushgun before I left so he could tell me he liked my shirt
- L declaring that she would be my pet Goth
- declaring that I would be her pet fanboy
- sealing the deal with a high-five and a fist-bump
- being thanked a million billion times for bringing her out
- enjoying Nightmare of You's performance of "My Name Is Trouble," the one great song I knew and none of the others lived up to
- realizing that "I Want to Be Buried in Your Backyard" sounded like it could be a Smiths song
- L agreeing and pegging the next song as a Cure song
- leaving before the show was over but picking up the first Nightmare of You CD since all the songs I liked were on it, whereas I was meh on all the songs he said were new
- pleasing L by noticing how clean her car was
- getting a burned copy of the Plushgun CD
- agreeing with L that we should see other again
- remembering how exciting it is to make a new friend
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/sleepy.png) sleepy
Current Music: Deftones - Xerces
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July 9th, 2009
 | 12:39 am - Frum? They're frum New York!
Woman on a plane: "Where are you from?"
Me: "Oakland."
Woman on a plane: "No, you're from India."
Me: "Yeah."
Woman on a plane: "I've always wanted to go to New Delhi, blah blah blah..."
Me: *continues putting on headphones*
Random old guy in Berkeley waiting in line for a movie: "You're from India, huh? Pakistan?"
Me: *grunts*
For future reference, here is where I am from: Oakland. California. Arlington. Texas. "San Francisco." The Bay Area. The East Bay. "Dallas." Dallas/Fort Worth. America. The United States. The U.S. My mom's uterus.
You may notice that India does not appear anywhere on that list because I am not from India. I was not born there; I did not grow up there. My parents are from India, but they've been here long enough that they're not really from India either.
Honestly, I don't know what the statute of limitations on fromness is, and I am certainly not the person to define it. But, look, world, I know I have brown skin, and I know that when you ask where I'm from, you really mean to ask what my heritage is. Or perhaps where my family is from. Or my ancestors. You're certainly not interested in where I, personally, am from, as that would require you to look beyond the color of my skin!
I feel like there are a fair number of Indian people around. I cannot be the first Indian person you have run across, and if by chance I am, I will not be the last. Kudos on identifying my race, though! Surely you will get a medal for that. I truly do not care how great you think India is, stranger, because you have instantly alienated me with your totally racist question. I am not a representative of all things Indian. Why do you want to talk to me about how Indian I am? Obviously, you do not read my journal, or you would know that I AM NOT EVEN THAT INDIAN.
Maybe there is a polite way for someone to approach someone of another ethnicity and ask them about their culture, but it would take so many more words than "Where are you from?"
It's a very sticky preposition.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/pleased.png) pleased
Current Music: Shiny Toy Guns - Photograph
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July 7th, 2009
 | 10:13 pm - Save the Last Dance 2: Cruise Control
Last week, I had issues with flies in my apartment, and on Tuesday, after killing over three dozen flies, I was not in the mood to cook dinner, so I took advantage of Rubio's Fish Taco Tuesdays. And then I took advantage of the Barnes and Noble to finish reading Powers.
I sat in one of the chairs by the graphic novel section. To my right, someone had seemingly abandoned a stack of books by a chair, but she came by to claim them just as an employee was about to sweep them up.
An employee who looked kind of familiar. Could it be...?
Flashback to five years ago—although at the time I thought it was seven or eight years ago—when I went on a cruise to Mexico and Central America with my family. I made Cruise Friends, as you do. One day was particularly memorable. Here is what twenty-two-year-old Sunil wrote in his journal that day:
( I don't remember what we were talking about, but she must have said something girls would say about me a lot, because I said... )
Our little group hung out together for the rest of the day. May and I talked a lot and I ate off her fork and we looked at stars, and then we both went back to our respective rooms. At the time, May was thirty-two and managed the Barnes and Noble in Berkeley. When I moved out here a couple years later, I wondered if I would run into her.
And I was pretty sure I had, at the Barnes and Noble in Emeryville. It took me a few minutes to come up with her name.
I found her at Customer Service and asked her where Jilli's book was as an excuse to talk to her. Once she showed me, I asked her what her name was since she looked familiar.
It was May.
Had she gone on a cruise to Mexico and Central America? And she had a sister? Laura, right. Yeah, we had hung out and danced and looked at stars.
She had no memory of me at all.
I told her a few more details that I could remember, and she felt bad that she couldn't remember, maybe she shouldn't be admitting that. The one thing she did remember better than I did was when the cruise actually occurred; I was confusing the timeline with the Alaskan cruise we had gone on. If I see her again, I'll have to tell her she was right about that.
I introduced myself again, five years later, and told her about my job and such when she asked. She was pleasant and nice about the whole weird affair—and even sheepishly joked with me when I pointed out how not prominently displayed my friend's book was—but then she went back to work.
It doesn't always go like in the movies.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/lethargic.png) lethargic
Current Music: Chevelle - Mia
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July 6th, 2009
July 5th, 2009
 | 06:32 pm - Gothic Charm School Is Now in Session
Gothic Charm School: An Essential Guide to Goths and Those Who Love Them, by Jillian Venters (cupcake_goth) with illustrations by Pete Venters, is both enjoyable and appropriate for people who aren't even very Goth at all, this non-Goth proclaims! I assume that any Goths reading this post are already interested in the book, being part of the built-in audience, but you may want to read this book if any of the following apply to you:
You know a Goth personally: Does that person you hang out with who's always wearing black kind of freak you out? Jilli's here to tell you that you have nothing to worry about, and she will even tell you ways to politely engage in conversation with this Goth and, having learned a little more about the history of Goth and the Goth subculture, you will have things to talk about!
You're not a Goth, but you see one on TV: Although I don't watch NCIS, I know that there's a popular character named Abby who's a Goth. Now you can see how subculturally accurate her portrayal is! As above, if you've been exposed to Goths without knowing much about them, the book gives you a very good explanation of why Goths are gothy. The only chapter that really started to lose my interest was the chapter on fashion since it was not Relevant to My Interests, as I have no sense of fashion, but everything else is still interesting to non-Goths.
You're not a Goth, but you're Something Else: As I suspected, a lot of the Lady of the Manners's advice applies to anyone who's "different." If you're a little left of normal for whatever reason, you likely experience some of the awkwardness, prejudices, and misconceptions that the Goth community does, and Jilli can help you deal with that sort of thing.
You're not a Goth, but you're not sure What You Are: What struck a chord with me while reading the book is how comforting it must be to be Goth. Because it affords you a template upon which to construct your own identity. It gives you an outlet to express yourself. In delving into what is a Goth and what is not a Goth, falling headlong into this whole different world of aesthetics, you start to wonder what your own system of aesthetics and identity are, even if it's not Goth. What makes you you?
You're an asshole: The Lady of the Manners's #1 Manner is "Treat everyone as you wish to be treated." Her advice about how to behave in public, at work, at clubs, with roommates, when dating, on the Internet, and in any number of other situations is sound whoever you are. It is a good reminder of the general rules of etiquette, and we could all use a refresher.
It's also good if you just want to while away a few hours learning something new and laughing all the way. Jilli writes as if she's addressing you, the reader, giving the book a readable, informal tone that lends itself to witty asides and amusing digressions. I will admit, the third-person affectation can be a bit grating at times (I've never read a book where the author referred to herself in the third person the whole time), but you get used to it. Another minor annoyance was the fact that terms like babybat and babygoth and gothling are used throughout and written in spooooky font, but there's no glossary and, although most of the spoooooky words are defined through context clues, I couldn't really figure out the distinctions between the terms since they appeared to be used interchangeably at times. Knowing exactly what age range each term encompasses, however, isn't really essential to one's enjoyment of the book. Besides, any flaws are balanced out by Pete's lovely illustrations—I particularly liked the depictions of all the different Goth fashion styles (Deathrocker, Perkygoth, Rivethead, Cybergoth, etc).
So buy Gothic Charm School and support my friend Jilli, Goths everywhere, and good manners!
(Please.)
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/hungry.png) hungry
Current Music: Marilyn Manson - mOBSCENE
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July 3rd, 2009
 | 10:13 pm - Steampunk Arm and a Gun for a Tongue
Last night, Rachel (harriettheelf) and I went to a show at Cafe du Nord. I am not up for a full-scale narrative post, but I think it deserves a short write-up. And music downloads!
The opener was local boy Ryan Auffenberg, whom Rachel identified as "so San Francisco" because of his skinny build, sneakers, blue jeans, shirt with rolled-up sleeves, and general awkward mien. He was not bad, but he was not really my thing, since out of the influences CD Baby lists—Americana, jazz, blues, soul, and rock—I only like the last one. I really liked the bassist, though; he had such nimble fingers that his bassline was a song in itself. But he had a very unfortunate crotch patch on his pants. It was quite distracting.
The co-headliner was Emilie Simon. Now, I had gotten a couple Emilie Simon songs from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) audiography, and they were very tinkly and ethereal, cold (appropriate since the titles were "The Frozen World" and "To the Dancers on the Ice"). They hardly seemed like songs. So I didn't know how that would play live. As it turned out, those songs were both from the March of the Penguins soundtrack, which explained the coldness. Onstage, it was just Emilie Simon, a little LED light box that displayed geometric patterns to the beat, her keyboard, and her laptop. And even though it was just her, she commanded the small stage all by herself. To my surprise, the music she played was twenty times more upbeat than the two songs I knew, and I quite liked it! She said most of it was off her upcoming album.
Apparently she's been described as the French Björk, and I can see that. She has an unusual voice, but she's a great singer, and her music is a little out there, composed of a lot of electronic percussion and various sounds along with her keyboard. And she has a STEAMPUNK ARM. It was fascinating. On her left arm, she wore what looked like a falconer's gauntlet, a leather sleeve all up her arm. But it also had a couple knobs that she turned to create reverb and echo with her voice. But it also had a pocket watch dangling from behind her elbow, along with a random chain. Look at this crazy thing! It was without a doubt the most amazing accessory I'd ever seen someone wear onstage at a concert. (I hesitate to say the most amazing thing, period, because I've seen Of Montreal three times.)
It was her first time ever playing in San Francisco, and she gave us many a "Merci beaucoup" after our applause. She was totally adorable and precious; Rachel wanted to pinch her cheek. Rachel likened her to Regina Spektor, but I think she is crazy. Maybe. Her music was quite fun and dance-able, but she ended her encore with an awesome cover of "Come As You Are." It was so lovely and creepy. I found it more interesting than Tori Amos's cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit"; it reminds me of Emm Gryner's awesome cover of "I'll Stick Around."
The woman we'd come to see, however, was Butterfly Boucher, although Rachel had to leave early since she'd been up for seventeen hours. Butterfly Boucher is Australian, adding some more international flavor to the night. Her debut album, Flutterby, has no bad songs and is fun and clever, but it had been years since that album had come out. Now, she was releasing Scary Fragile. Like Emilie Simon, she was alone on the stage. She had her guitar and a red pedal that functioned as her band. She apologized for being self-indulgent and playing mostly songs from the new album, but she said it was time for us to learn them anyway. On first listen, I didn't love the new songs as much as I loved the old songs, but a few did catch my ear, like "I Found Out" and "Gun for a Tongue." She sounded great and clearly enjoyed rocking out onstage. The only old songs she played were "I Can't Make Me," "Another White Dash" (of course), and, as an encore, "Life Is Short," which is one of my very favorites. It was more fun to sing along to the ones I knew.
Afterwards, I bought the CD and waited for Butterfly to come out so I could get it signed. I told her that I had seen her play at a Borders in Ann Arbor five years ago, and she commented on how long ago that was. She remembered playing a couple Borders back then. I said that I had asked for an autograph for my brother—who had introduced me to her—and she had drawn a picture of the concert with her on stage and a row of seats in the front with a little arrow pointing to where he should have been. It was the cutest autograph ever. She thanked me for coming out, and I said it was great to have another album. It had actually been done a while ago (like 2006), but she'd had trouble getting it released. Like most singer/songwriters, she's very personable and easy to talk to and appreciative of her fans. And she has an accent!
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/listless.png) listless
Current Music: The Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up
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July 2nd, 2009
 | 03:41 pm - Star Trek? More Like Bar Dreck!
Over a month and a half ago, I enjoyed Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (is that what we've settled on?) so much that I was inspired to finally watch Star Trek: The Original Series. So using this guide, this list, and your recommendations, I put together a list of thirty some-odd episodes that would give me the optimal Star Trek experience. That's right, for the first time in the history of new show squee, I will be reviewing a series I haven't watched all of.
My impression of the series from the first episode I watched was not that favorable, but it deserved the Pilot Pass. Subsequent episodes were much better, and I found myself really enjoying the series and the characters. There was something comforting in the formula and lack of continuity. In each episode, the crew face some crazy shit, and by the end of the episode, they have prevailed and everything is back to normal. In fact, in another departure from my usual viewing methods, there were a couple episodes I watched out of order! Even though the characters never change, the actors made every single one of them iconic.
Kirk (William Shatner): Captain James T. Kirk is true captain material, except for the part where he disobeys Starfleet command all the goddamn time. But that's because he has a heart, dammit! Kirk is always right, even when he's lying through his teeth, which is frequently. While the Kirk Knows Best philosophy became tiring after a while, I appreciated how idealistic he was. It was so quaint. And I kind of love Shatner's delivery. It just seems so right, somehow. He makes it sound like that is a natural way for Kirk to speak, and it fits with his personality, the way part of the sentence gets thrown out before a short pause introduces the next part with a slightly different inflection. That's how Kirk operates; he rushes headlong into trouble before pausing and taking a different tack when the first one doesn't work.
Spock (Leonard Nimoy): Spock! Half-Vulcan and half-human, he self-identifies as Vulcan and views everything in terms of logic. Nimoy could basically make anything sound awesome; he just has that voice and that carefully precise delivery. As a result, any episode focusing on Spock (with one notable exception that focuses more on, er, his brain) is sure to be gold. He's the most interesting character in the mix because of his background and alien way of life.
McCoy (DeForest Kelley): Bones! Oh man, DeForest Kelley owns. Dr. McCoy is Chief Medical Officer, but more than that, he's Kirk's friend and frequent confidant. He's a curmudgeonly bastard with a wry sense of humor, and he complements Spock by being the voice of humanity and emotion. I love him to bits even though he's kind of totally racist against Vulcans.
Scotty (James Doohan): Man, I can't believe James Doohan is Canadian. He sounds so good Scottish! Most of the time, the Chief Engineering Officer doesn't get much to do besides give the ship more power and pull a bunch of levers and yell technobabble through the intercom, but he's totally lovable while doing all those things. And for some reason the chain of command gives him the ship whenever Kirk and Spock are taken hostage (which is a lot), so he gets to be all awesome and loyal to Kirk in those moments.
Sulu (George Takei): SULU! Oh man, Sulu is the best. He's this happy-go-lucky Japanese dude who...I don't really know what he does, but he plots courses or presses buttons or something. Takei's deep, rich voice sometimes seemed at odds with Sulu's personality, but other times it worked perfectly and you just wanted to hear him speak. Sulu is terribly underused and rarely gets to do anything of import, let alone leave the bridge.
Uhura (Nichelle Nichols): Uhura is even more underused than Sulu. I hardly ever saw her standing up; she was always sitting in her chair and listening to communications or sending them. She's basically a switchboard operator. Occasionally, however, she gets to be fierce. What I found interesting was that the show never ever commented on the fact that she was black and Sulu was Japanese. Their races were treated as non-issues. There's no racism in the future! Except against Vulcans.
Chekov (Walter Koenig): He's Russian! He likes Russian things! He talks about Russia a lot! Chekov, like Sulu, plots courses or presses buttons or something. He seems to be a pretty serious kind of guy for the most part, at least on the ship. He loosens up when he's off the ship.
I had no idea that the show was basically the Kirk/Spock/McCoy show and everyone else was just there. I'm so used to ensemble shows that it's beyond me that you wouldn't take more advantage of your strong supporting cast.
I could attempt to summarize my feelings about the show in general, but I think anything I say has already been said a million times by more intelligent people in the last forty years. A better way to get across my feelings about the show would be to present capsule reviews and letter grades for all the episodes I watched. And, hey, aren't you glad I did that?
( My capsule reviews contain no major spoilers beyond what you'd find in an episode description. Except for my review of Spock's Brain, but you'll think I'm exaggerating. Sadly, I am not. )
The best thing about new show squeeing right now is that I am posting about how much I love the show...and there is still more show for me to watch! (Plus movies!) I plan to watch the episodes I skipped in syndication (or CBS.com) so I can continue to get my Star Trek fix, even though I've seen most of the best episodes, which means I have a lot of bad episodes to look forward to. And Star Trek gave me a whole new perspective on bad television. But it also gave me a whole new perspective on good television. It's easy to see why the show is a classic, and its influence on all sci-fi television following it is undeniable. I was interested in it as a cultural text, but I wound up enjoying it as a television show.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/bored.png) bored
Current Music: Seether - Fine Again
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July 1st, 2009
 | 09:40 pm - Superherocide: Life on the Streets
Powers, by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, was my gateway comic. It was the first comic my pusher, Angelo, thrust upon me, and it's what led me to seek out other comics and become the comics fan I am today. I have a great fondness for it.
Powers is superhero crime noir. Christian Walker is an ex-superhero. Deena Pilgrim is his snarky, headstrong partner. They fight crime! No, literally, they fight crime. They're part of a special division of the homicide department devoted to cases concering powers. The series kicks off with the murder of Retro Girl, one of the most beloved superheroes of all time in the Powers universe. The consequences of this investigation have repercussions that echo throughout the series. In true noir fashion, the past never dies, and it always catches up to you to bite you in the ass.
The appeal of Powers is Bendis's unique take on superherodom. In Powers, superheroes are fairly prevalent and in the public eye. There's an entire tabloid TV show, Powers That Be, to talk about powers. The media and public opinion play a big role in the series, adding a lot of interesting flavor and perspective. Bendis is interested in what it really takes to be a superhero and make the choices that only a superhero can, regardless of what everyone else will think. If superheroes were real, how would they behave? How would they act? Wouldn't they fuck a lot of superhero groupies? You bet your ass they would. Wouldn't it be really hard to take down and arrest a superhero suspect? You bet your ass it would be. Bendis envisions superheroes as rock stars, and he takes inspiration from VH1: Behind the Music; for instance, one story arc is pretty obviously influenced by the break-up of the Fugees.
Another thing Bendis rightly gets a lot of praise for is his dialogue, which is natural yet snappy, with a lot of back-and-forth, the way real people talk. Real people also curse a lot, and I think Powers is where I got "Jesus fuck!" from. And Deena occasionally bitches people out for being "so far up her uterus." I had forgotten how funny the book was.
What's really awesome about Powers is that even though there isn't a major, overarching storyline from the beginning, it still builds on itself and has a very good sense of continuity. Each arc tends to take something introduced in the previous arc and bring it to the fore, and, seriously, it seems that every single story arc is one that Changes the Powers Universe Forever! No joke, Bendis keeps shaking up the status quo, never letting himself settle into something repetitive, always giving himself a new challenge. The first volume concludes with the epic Forever arc, which begins with the infamous monkeyfucking issue, and the second volume has expanded the universe a lot, as if Bendis is giving himself room to tell more stories. And although there isn't some Big Mystery that pervades the series, the characterizations of Christian and Deena evolve from the beginning in very compelling ways, as does their relationship. They're both good cops, and they work well together, but they don't necessarily like each other. It's not a buddy-cop routine; it's two detectives getting to know one another and getting comfortable with each other.
And I love Oeming's art, which is terribly pretty. He was very much influenced by the style of Batman: The Animated Series, which means that Christian basically looks like Bruce Wayne. He uses a lot of shadow, this being a noir book.
Powers has its flaws, of course, but, in general, I think it's a fantastic series, as does the Eisner committee. The good news and the bad news is that if you read all twelve trades that are out right now, you will be completely caught up! Who knows when issue #31 is going to come out since Bendis is busy running the Marvel universe? But if you think superhero stories need more crime and crime fiction needs more superheroes, Powers is right up your alley.
Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)
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June 30th, 2009
June 29th, 2009
 | 11:36 pm - Buffista F2F: Seattle Edition, Part III: The Fist-Bump of Bonding
Previously on Buffista F2F: Seattle Edition—I arrived in Seattle, hung out with friends, and explored the city a bit. Then I hung out with Buffistas a lot. When last you saw me, I was leaving Plei's brunch to make my own way to the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame.
( Saturday afternoon: Science Fiction Museum, Experience Music Project, and snack )
( Saturday evening: Sex and fanvids )
( Saturday night: Prom and debauchery )
( Sunday afternoon: Lunch, bookstores, and socializing )
( Sunday evening: Dinner and dessert )
In conclusion, polar bear.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/annoyed.png) annoyed
Current Music: Robots in Disguise - La Nuit
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June 28th, 2009
 | 10:39 pm - Buffista F2F: Seattle Edition, Part II: The Highs and Lows of Being Polter-Cow
Previously on Buffista F2F: Seattle Edition—I arrived in Seattle, hung out with friends, and explored the city a bit. Then there was an EXCITING CLIFFHANGER where I had just entered the Buffistas Hospitality Suite.
( Friday afternoon: Lunch, comics, and coffee )
( Friday evening: Guitar Hero, socializing, and small children )
( Friday night: Dinner, Seattle Underground, and more socializing )
( Saturday morning: Brunch at Plei's )
Next time on Buffista F2F: Seattle Edition—Science fiction! Music! Dancing! Books! ORGY! Maybe not that last one. MAYBE.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/hot.png) hot
Current Music: The Prodigy - Everybody in the Place (Fairground Remix)
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June 23rd, 2009
 | 11:45 pm - Buffista F2F: Seattle Edition, Part I: The Five People I Met in Seattle
So remember that time three years ago when I wrote about the Buffista F2F? No, you probably don't. But that's why I link! Since these posts are like the sequel! Every year, the Buffistas descend upon an unsuspecting city and rock out, and this year, we gathered in Seattle. Which, luckily, contained other people I wanted to see, so it was all sorts of fun.
( Wednesday night: Beth )
( Thursday afternoon: JStew )
( Thursday afternoon: Broomy )
( Thursday evening: Katie )
( Thursday night: Brian )
Next time on Buffista F2F: Seattle Edition—Everyone dies! No, wait. Everyone lies! No, that's not it. Everyone has pies? Maybe no one has pies. The only way to find out is to tune in!
Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: The Long Blondes - Lust in the Movies
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June 15th, 2009
 | 12:23 am - Walla Walla, Keokuk, Cucamonga, Seattle
Tell me I'm awesome! It's a meme where you tell me I'm awesome. Specifically why, preferably.
Also: tell me whether you live in Seattle! Because I will be there from Wednesday evening to Sunday night, and maybe I can give you an awkward hug or something. Or a handshake, like when I met ankai last Sunday and gave him the Polter-Cow Tour of the Mission: El Toro Taqueria/Bi-Rite Creamery/Paxton Gate/pirate store/Clarion alley of murals. Hugs, handshakes, hand grenades, we can exchange something.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/anxious.png) anxious
Current Music: Puddle of Mudd - Out of My Head
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June 11th, 2009
 | 11:12 am - So One of Us Is Living
Only Neil Gaiman—or Roald Dahl—would begin a children's book by murdering the protagonist's entire family. Welcome to The Graveyard Book, ladies and gentlemen.
Nobody survives the brutal act committed in the first few pages. That is, Nobody survives. For Nobody is the protagonist! At least, that is what he is christened by his dead parents. No, not his actually dead parents, but the ghostly Mr. and Mrs. Owens, who adopt him. Nobody—Bod for short—grows up in a graveyard like Mowgli grew up in a jungle, if you catch my drift. His guardian, Silas, is not a ghost (but is not a living human either) and so can leave the graveyard to acquire food for the boy...and be on the lookout for the man Jack, who killed Bod's family and will not rest until he finishes his task.
I was halfway through the book when I realized that nothing had really happened for 150 pages. It's a good sign that I didn't notice and didn't care. The majority of the book is basically Nobody Has Wacky Adventures Growing Up in a Graveyard, and it works because of Gaiman's storytelling style. He has a very keen sense of audience, and he is intensely aware of A) what the reader should know, B) what the reader should not know, and C) what the reader should be able to figure out on his own. He creates a surprisingly cohesive mishmash of fantastical concepts while, of course, introducing an original creature or two. The book is almost like baby Neverwhere in the way it blurs the line between reality and fantasy, allowing that the two worlds coexist without much issue.
To my delight, the whole Jack Is Still Out There Waiting to Kill Bod plotline doesn't just get dropped but instead becomes kind of awesome...until it becomes kind of anticlimactic in typical Gaiman fashion, but this time, I let it go because the rest of the book was good enough to make up for it. There may have been a CAPSLOCK E-MAIL involved.
I enjoyed The Graveyard Book more than Coraline. I thought it was richer and the characters were more endearing and interesting. It felt like a world one would want to return to. I loved the way it treated life and death. Even though death is not The End, life is still to be treasured. But death is not to be feared, necessarily. There is one chapter that has one of the most creepily beautiful sequences I've ever read.
Appropriately, on the night I finished The Graveyard Book, I saw Up, which also makes you feel good about life and living it. After it rips your heart out, of course. The first fifteen minutes comprise an Oscar-worthy short in themselves. As with WALL-E, the Pixar team prove themselves to be masters of visual storytelling, able to be emotionally affecting with no dialogue at all, just images and implications.
The rest of the movie, the one the trailers promise, is about an old man and an Asian-American boy having wacky adventures in a flying house. And the plot itself is kind of silly and somewhat predictable, and there are fewer snappy lines and quirky characters than in, say, Finding Nemo, but, for me, the major strength of the movie is the same thing that's so strong about The Graveyard Book: what's left unsaid. In The Graveyard Book, Gaiman doesn't tell you everything about the world and how it works, and he doesn't tell you why the characters act and think how they do, but he trusts you to use your imagination and intuition. Up has an intangible Something where the script may never tell you what the themes and messages are, but the story does, both through what happens in general and little moments here and there that, again, usually require no dialogue to get their points across.
Both the book and movie have left me thinking about life, how long and short it is, and how best to make the most of it.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/pensive.png) pensive
Current Music: System of a Down - Spiders
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June 9th, 2009
 | 09:38 pm - It Amazes Me, the Will of Instinct
cereta has made an excellent post about the insidious thought processes that pervade society regarding rape, and rachelmanija has supplemented with a list of myths out of which, in her experience, most men she's discussed rape with believe at least one. This is not to say that all men are rapists or all men are idiots or all men are ruled by their penises, but it is to say that all men better take a good look at themselves and figure out what they believe. If they happen to discover they believe one of those things, it's not the end of the world, just the beginning of the re-education process. We pick up so much of our values and assumptions about people through cultural osmosis, and it's only when you take them out of the soup and examine them separately that you can determine whether or not they belong in the soup at all. And it's up to us to keep the soup tasty.
Okay, this post is a mess. I had some really good soup with dinner; it's distracting me. Let me back up.
I do not believe that once a man is sexually aroused, he's not responsible for his own actions, nor that sex is inevitable and something he can't control. That's an extreme view of things, but I can totally see how someone would believe it. Because I've done some things I'm not proud of. I am no paragon of goodness and virtue. Not that I think myself capable of rape, but until reading Rachel's post, I had never really considered that the first two things in her list were not true. I had never specifically considered them to be true, either, but the fact that I did not immediately disagree with them meant that somewhere inside me sure believed them. I read the rest of the list very closely, making sure I understood perfectly what was being stated and exactly how and why I should disagree. Because these myths get perpetuated almost innocently without your even knowing it and then they get deep inside your soul and the only antidote is direct confrontation.
The main reason I was compelled to post, however, was because of the comments to cereta's post. Her post describes That Guy, the one who would never rape a woman, the one who would do what he could to make sure someone else didn't rape a woman either. And the comments are full of examples of Those Guys. Men like that ought not to be commended because behavior like that should be the norm (they don't give out medals for Not Raping Someone), but cereta makes the point that, regardless, we don't hear enough about them. All we hear about are the rapists in the news, so, again, that's the image that gets perpetuated and digs deep inside your soul. Reading the stories women were telling, I realized I needed to hear them. To know that things like that happened. In real life. It gave me an appreciation of the sort of situations in which being That Guy is necessary and what action That Guy would take. I had never consciously thought about what I might do in some situations, but now I have some good examples to emulate.
This post is still a mess. Basically, everyone should go read those two posts and the comments, especially if you're a guy. Make sure to be That Guy, and do what you can to foster the development of little That Guys, and let's try to spread the That Guy vibe to men whose belief systems and behavior need some correcting. Because they sure as hell aren't going to listen to women.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/thoughtful.png) thoughtful
Current Music: Great Northern - Home
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June 7th, 2009
| 11:56 pm - Help I'm Alive My Feet Keep Hurting Like a Hammer
This Saturday was BFD! It was my third year in a row going to Live105's big summer all-day concert, and my compatriots this time were holly96 and her friend Christina, who did not look burnt...or dead. We kept up my tradition of getting Jack in the Box for lunch, and I kept up my tradition of getting mozzarrella sticks and Coke for the drive back, but between all that, we TOTALLY SAW A LOT OF LIVE MUSIC AND SHIT.
( BFD 2009: Audrye Sessions, Anberlin, Cage the Elephant, The Airborne Toxic Event, Glasvegas, Mute Math, Metric, Dizzy Balloon, Alkaline Trio, MC Lars, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, 311, The Offspring )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305/Polter-Cow/Avatar%20Mood%20Theme/tired.png) tired
Current Music: Snake River Conspiracy - Lovesong
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June 2nd, 2009
 | 11:09 pm - Sometimes Stories with Long and Intricate Titles Aren't That Good, Unfortunately
Poll #1410223 Let's see who's been paying attention.
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: AllDo you know who Sherman Alexie is?
After loving one book and really liking another by Sherman Alexie, I was excited to read his first collection of short stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. I really enjoyed the Introduction.
Maybe I should have stopped there?
Out of the 24 short stories in the collection, I liked...5? 6? "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona," about two friends (or "friends") going to bury one of their fathers. "The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor," about a marriage crumbling after the husband is diagnosed with terminal cancer but continues to use humor as a defense mechanism. "Indian Education," about...Indian education. "Witnesses, Secret and Not," about a boy and his dad traveling to answer questions about an unsolved murder. "Junior Polatkin's Wild West Show," about an Indian guy hooking up with a white girl at college.
This handful of stories I enjoyed (most were buried at the end). I cared about the characters and what was happening to them. I'm not certain whether I liked them objectively or whether they were simply good in comparison to the rest.
Which were inscrutable, boring, and almost off-putting at times. It's obvious Alexie is a poet, as he tends to be very lyrical. And it's obvious Alexie is an Indian, as he is depicting the modern Indian Experience in all its drunken glory. But I think the problem I had with most of the book is that I thought the insights and arguments and anecdotes would have been better served in essays or poems; a lot of the stories seemed constructed around the opportunity to use this One Great Line. And a lot just had that One Great Line thrown in there at the end as if that would give it the proper impact except the goddamn story had done nothing to illuminate the point he was trying to make. Scattered throughout were many interesting observations and sad proclamations that did give me insight into what it's like to be a Native American today, but I could barely appreciate them because they seemed so shoehorned into each story, which generally went nowhere or dicked around in faux magical realism and metaphor. Sometimes I liked little parts of a story but then it just ended and I wondered what the fuck the point of it all was.
I had to force myself to keep going after story after unsatisfactory story, hoping that at some point they would get good (and, as I said, most of the ones I liked are near the end). The fact that they were all interconnected with recurring characters was neat, but the characters—with the exception of Thomas Builds-the-Fire—weren't really distinct enough to make it interesting to see them in different stories. Eventually, I wanted to get to the end of the book so I could read something else, and I am not a fan of that reading experience.
I'm always hesitant after reading a book I don't like by an author I do like.
Current Mood: annoyed
Current Music: Hey Ocean! - Wise
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