aliassmithjones | Member Posts

Have I done the picture right this time? We shall see! (No, it's all small. Well, click on it and it gets bigger.)

You know... I'm gonna watch it. I'm gonna give it a try. But omg, that ad looks like 'Star Trek 90210.' I have such an OMGWTF reaction to it.

The trailer appeals to me more.

Watch on YouTube

elayna

I was feeding the cats their wet food this morning, and paused for a second, and remembered to split it into three. I've recently lost two older cats, one unexpectedly, the other after a lingering illness. I've gone from having four for many years, to briefly five, and then back to four and now to three.

Loss makes me think of Data's quote: "As I experience certain sensory input patterns, my mental pathways become accustomed to them. The input is eventually anticipated and even 'missed' when absent."

I remember watching that episode and thinking it was an interesting way to justify an android having emotions, but I have reflected back on it often over the years when dealing with grief, and how much routines can increase loss.

My mom was the worst, because I was very close to her and we often did things together. She was gone and I missed her but also so many... we both watched these shows and discussed them the next day, who do I talk about them with? Do I go clothes shopping by myself or can I find a friend who will be as encouraging as she was?

Maybe that sounds heartlessly practical or self-absorbed? This person is gone and how does it impact my life? But I've lost people like my paternal grandparents where I was very sad but also, they lived three hours away, our getting together was semi-regular but also sporadic. It wasn't tied to any particular activity except Thanksgiving, and then we continued going down to see other relatives in that city. For me, it's a different type of grief when it's not tied to routines. It's just this general sadness rather than coming up to event and knowing you have to do it alone. Or find a replacement.

I guess my situation is sorta the reverse of Data's, he found routines built emotions, while I'm dealing with absence requiring new routines to be built. But still, I find that quote to be poignantly relevant. Data was a wise man.

My nephew has already found a new kitty for me, but he still has a month to be weaned. So we'll see. Maybe I'll go back to fourths on the wet food in January.

elayna

And why, oh why, do they not accept musicals? Talking recently to a woman who saw "Wicked" and she was totally fine with that as a musical. Munchkins and wizards and such breaking into a song, sure. But she'd also seen "West Side Story" and ew ew ew, that was so weird, normal people opening their mouths and singing and dancing. Too much to suspend her disbelief, way too much.

I have heard this same complaint many times during my life and I don't understand it. I love musicals, they are a joy to me, I will see pretty much any that I can.

One good guy with a handgun, 12 terrorists with assault rifles, sure, totally believable that the good guy will win. And outrun bullets numerous times along the way while making quippy remarks.

That a Norse god would come to Earth and fight alongside a billionaire in a suit, a revived super soldier, and a rage monster, sure, no problem. Admittedly, I know two people, my dad and a former boss, who roll their eyes at superhero movies, but they've been the only ones. (And my dad even made an exception to watch the Wonder Woman movies, he can apparently suspend his disbelief for Gal Gadot in boots.)

Even sitcoms, that every week a family or a group of friends or co-workers can have some sort of dispute, and thrash through it and make up in a feel-good moment, are you kidding me? Every group I know has some sort of unresolved dispute or bitterness that lingers, even if often suppressed for the sake of civility.

And for the most part, I'm completely happy that people can suspend their disbelief and allow somewhat absurd happenings to be neatly ended, all loose plot parts tied up, in a satisfying conclusion. I like media with good endings. I love the good guys winning, I love superhero movies, I love people working through problems and getting along.

But I love musicals too! *hugs them tightly to protect from bizarre disbelievers* Why is this genre such a sticking point for people?

azdak

In a totally unexpected moment of fandom collision, I have just learned from John Finnemore’s substack post on Pictures of Giraffes in Order of How Sure I Am the Artist Has Ever Seen a Giraffe* that in Chinese mythology the mythical qilin is said to appear at - get this, NiF fans - the start of the reign of a “wise, auspicious and legitimate emperor.”** No wonder Prince Yu and the Crown Prince were falling over each other to get to Langya Hall first. And who topped the Langya List of Marketing Directors that year, I wonder?

*Unfortunately, I am not a subscriber, so I didn't get to see more than the Pictures By an Artist John Finnemore is Fairly Sure Has Seen a Giraffe (Even If a Few Details Are Slightly Off), but the commentary was still so funny I had to take myself off into another room so I could have hysterics in peace.

**Obviously this reference goes even more right over your head if the subs you are watching choose to translate "qilin*** talent" as Divine Talent.

***The qilin, as I learned from John Finnemore, is a "horse-dragon with fish scales" that looks a tiny bit like a giraffe if you squint hard. Which means that, amazingly, a vampire yeti is not the silliest creature in Mei Changsu's portfolio.

“Tell me honestly, do you like it? Or should I go back to spots?

"The giraffe Shen Du definitely saw was the giraffe sent to the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty early in the fifteenth century.

"But, you might ask, if Shen Du definitely saw that giraffe, why did he give it overlapping hexagons instead of patches and spots? Well, who can say. Of course, if a giraffe did have overlapping hexagons, like a fish’s scales, then that would make it even more certain that it was not in fact a giraffe at all, but a qilin, the legendary Chinese horse-dragon with fish scales that appears at the start of the reign of a wise, auspicious and legitimate ruler. Kind of like how the Yongle Emperor, who has just now started ruling, is wise and auspicious and very legitimate indeed, and it’s a real shame about his elder brother being caught in that palace fire, and the Yongle Emperor is very cut up about that, actually, and only wishes he'd known his brother was in the palace when he set light to it. But he didn’t know that, as the prompt appearance at court of this approving qilin makes clear, so let’s all stop talking about it, shall we?" (John Finnemore)

elayna

Here on the eve of the national holiday celebrating thankfulness, I shall grumble, possibly a repeat, but one that always comes to mind when I cook a turkey.

There's an episode of Hawaii 5-0 where Mary, Steve's irresponsible sister, is trying to thaw a turkey with a blow dryer. Steve catches her and chides her for not being better organized and she apologizes/whines it's not her fault, whatever. (I should rewatch this episode, I don't recall how all the dialogue goes.)

But I'm just watching and thinking... that's not how you thaw a turkey. It's frozen from the inside. Blowing heat on the outside is pointless. You read the instructions that come with every turkey and follow the direction to run water into the middle. (Possibly it's a drip and I believe the water should be room temperature but don't quote me. I rarely need to do this.)

Totally, I could see as a reflection of Mary's character, that she doesn't move the turkey from the freezer to the refrigerator on the correct day for it to thaw naturally. I could even see that she doesn't read the flipping instructions and so tries the forced thawing wrong.

Though I had to wonder if the writer actually knows anything about thawing turkeys? Because *Steve* is the one who bothers me. A turkey that size should have been in Steve's refrigerator at least three days before the holiday. *Steve* is always presented as a good host and decent cook. Sure, he's more often seen at the barbecue, but he's also regularly carrying various bowls of side dishes, he knows his way around a kitchen. *Steve* should have noticed that the turkey wasn't thawing and asked. *Steve* should have told his sister to put down the hair dryer and get that bird under the tap. And Steve doesn't. I'd say maybe Steve is always supposed to have done fresh turkeys, except I've never even seen a fresh turkey in our grocery stores, they're always frozen. This scene is several seasons into the show and Steve is totally the guy who has been hosting holiday meals for his ohana.

STEVE IS A BETTER COOK THAN THIS SCENE SHOWS. And I assume that the writer isn't trying to imply that at all, because the writer either doesn't know how turkeys should be thawed or assumes that the audience won't think about it. Ha ha ha, look, Mary is screwing up again and Steve is being the annoyed big brother again, that's their sibling dynamic. Except I cook one turkey a year, every year for the last 20 or so years, and wow, it weirdly grated on me that *Steve* didn't know how to thaw a turkey.

I don't know how people who work in law enforcement watch cop shows, health people watch medical shows, etc. Those things must be full of procedures, etc., not being done correctly.

Ah, now I want to rewatch some Hawaii 5-0. McDanno rocks. And in summation, if you're ever going to cook a turkey, read the instructions! /weird grumble

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Alias Smith and Jones

...pretty good bad men...

Member Posts

Fannish Fifty #43: Starfleet Academy

Fannish Fifty #42: on grief and routines

Fannish Fifty #41: what people accept

On qilins, talented or otherwise

Fannish Fifty #40: The Thanksgiving grumble

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