Random Ramblings

4-20-09
Since I had free time Sunday, I set out with a humble goal: to listen to every song in The Crüxshadows catalogue in one day. Considering that I have a 15 hour playlist for them in iTunes, it was no small task. Still, I had fun sitting around the apartment all day, soaked in the aural bliss of The Crüxshadows. Also, iTunes was kind enough to save my favorite, “Winter Born” for last.

4-13-09
Now I feel dumb for putting up my last comment about the Sarah Connor Chronicles. Oh, yeah, time travel. To quote the Bob and George comic “I hate time travel!” A character dies and all we have to do is jump to another point in time. On the other hand, it is a new angle for the show. A future where no one knows John Connor. That’ll do well to kill any hint of a savior complex. Still, separating John from Sarah will make next season fragmented.

Dollhouse keeps getting more interesting. Ballard finding out about Mellie will really jack with his character. I still don’t know what to think of Topher giving Boyd the heads up when Topher thought he was the spy (I mean, those two interact regularly, but they never struck me as being too tight). The identity of the traitor and his motivation still doesn’t work for me. I mean, the first time Ballard was contacted by the Dollhouse traitor, he got suspended, but the second time doesn’t seem to sync with what the traitor said when confronted by DeWitt. And DeWitt... I won’t even get into that.

I finally had the opportunity to see Coraline at the discount theater, and I regret not seeing it at the regular theater where it would have been in 3D. Still, they didn’t omit much from Gaiman’s story, though they added quite a bit. Actually, I think it was the most accurate book to movie I’ve seen.

4-6-09
I’ve been watching the Sarah Connor Chronicles just because I have fond memories of the Terminator movies from my younger days (however, I spared myself from Terminator 3). Anyway, the show has a decent story, nothing wonderful but okay. The problem I have is it tends to be anticlimactic at times. For example in the last episode [spoilers] Derrick, Kyle Reese’s brother and one of the main characters of the show, is killed by a Terminator just like that. Pop, dead. And afterwards we don’t stop long enough to grief for him or feel his death at all. I liked his character and it still didn’t bother me when he died because it was so sudden and clumsily handled. Sudden, unexpected deaths can work when handled properly. Take Wash’s death in the Serenity movie. Pop, dead...but then Whedon put enough pathos in the movie so you could feel his death. [spoiler]

4-3-09
I started reading The Book Thief. First off, the title grabbed my attention, and secondly the narrator of the story is Death. I’m not too far into the book yet, but so far it is an amazing book. Go out and get a copy; read it, damn it.

3-30-09
Dollhouse keeps getting better and better. We’re getting to see what led Caroline to become Echo, and we have one person who could possibly be Alpha. Yet even with that, there is plenty that is still up in the air. I don’t know how long Whedon can string along some of these plotlines, but even when the current questions are answered, I’m sure he’ll bring up a whole new set of questions.

3-23-09
After many months, I have managed to gather every song (that I know of) in the Crüxshadows’ catalogue. Though I did cheat and download the songs from “Vier Factor #1” rather than buying the album. Still, I have them all on one massive 15 hour playlist on my Mac.

3-16-09
I finally broke down and bought a copy of the “Walking with Strangers” album by The Birthday Massacre. I don’t think I ever realized how much better the sound quality is on a CD versus a file uploaded to YouTube. There are so many little nuances that don’t come through on YouTube. I hope I can manage making it to the TBM show in May.

3-9-09
I watched Watchmen this weekend. Not bad, good even, could have been much worse. I mean, I liked it well enough, but too much was lost from the comic. In fact, I think all my favorite moments from the comic were lost. First off, the minor characters were jettisoned. Joey, Bernard, even Detective Fine and Dr. Long’s parts were cut down considerably. I hated that they truncated the therapy sessions and the Comedian’s first meeting with Laurie, and damn it, we lost Rorschach’s confrontation with his landlady. Admittedly, these are all little things, but the little details breathed so much life into the book. That and they changed the conspiracy up way too much. I mean, granted, Alan Moore’s story was out there, but not enough for willing-suspension to handle. Still, the movie was good enough.

I’ve been keeping up with Dollhouse. The show’s pretty interesting. However, the Dollhouse seems completely inept, or as a friend pointed out, as far as Echo goes. I mean, they program her with the memories of the victim of a kidnapper she confronts, they botch up a background check on a guy who wants to play “The Most Dangerous Game,” and now they suddenly realize that you can remotely wipe the memory of one of their dolls. Brilliant.

I like Ballard, and I hope he can bring this organization down (though that won’t happen right away). The Dollhouse trying to kill Ballard doesn’t endear them to me any. I wonder what they plan to do next. I get the feeling Dewitt’s comment about giving people what they want may be a reference to Ballard’s investigations.

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