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Month: August 2010 Page 1 of 2

From Twitter 08-30-2010

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From Twitter 08-28-2010

  • 13:30:59: @mariancall Ready and waiting. 🙂
  • 20:21:26: Finally got fed up with the performance of the 3G and upgraded to iPhone 4. My phone is zippy and fast and happy again.

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From Twitter 08-27-2010

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From Twitter 08-26-2010

  • 07:34:18: Fresh sliced peaches for breakfast. Life entirely fails to suck.
  • 07:58:11: @custardfairy are you bright tailed and bushy eyed?
  • 09:48:17: @kristamonster Btw, did you get the mp3 I sent you yesterday?
  • 12:11:25: . @judgingyou “Jegging” sounds like something that should be done only by consenting adult in private.
  • 12:12:45: @scalzi To be fair, for a good part of those two decades, we didn’t often send attachments. It was a more civilized era.
  • 12:52:14: @PasteMagazine You guys should get an interview with @mariancall while she’s in town next week. She’s six kinds of awesome.
  • 13:51:29: @vixy Five Minute Jesus is the name of my new prog-rock gospel band.
  • 14:05:24: @judgingyou I figured it was a rapper who needed a new rhyming word without changing his subject matter.

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From Twitter 08-25-2010

  • 07:37:11: @SFEley There’s a little black spot on the sun today
  • 09:48:54: @ferretthimself Pity you can’t bottle that. You could call it a Gini Tonic.
  • 09:55:35: @wilw @jephjacques We can dance if we want to. (We can leave your friends behind.)
  • 14:15:11: Doritos “First Degree Burn: Blazin’ Jalapeño” chips have an amazingly strong slow-build burn. Not sure I’m up for 2nd and 3rd Degree.

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From Twitter 08-24-2010

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A Month of TV Commentary: A Meme in 30 Parts: Day 10

Day 10 – A show you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving

It was at the Dead Dog dinner at OVFF that we found ourselves sharing a table with our good friend markbernstein, and the animated conversion turned its way to television, as it does. We listed the various things we were watching, and Mark began to enthusiastically tell us about his favourite show, So You Think You Can Dance

I have to admit, I was sceptical. I’m not a big fan of “reality Tv’ as a genre; while I admit some are less tawdry than others, they all seem to have the same sort of backbiting commentary and bitter factionalism, which honestly I tend not to find entertaining over long stretches of time. But Mark insisted that SYTYCD had a different tone and that we should give it a try. That week was going to be the first episode with the Top 20 from that season (season 6), and thus would be a good point to jump on. So when we got home, we thought “well, why not” and punched it up on the Tivo, determined to at least give it a fair viewing before writing it off.

I wasn’t surprised to find it mildly entertaining. Good dance is always fun to watch, and the mix of styles (both in the variety of performers and the variety of choreography) kept it from developing any sense of sameness, and if nothing else, it was (to steal kitanzi‘s phrase) “pretty people doing pretty things’, which isn’t a bad way to spend a couple of hours when nothing else is on.

I was surprised to see how quickly we both got invested in the show and the contestants. From the first episode, we were already noting our favourites, and as the weeks passed, we got more and more connected to these people. We were actually disappointed when one of “our” dancers went home, and before we knew it, it went from “something to fill the slow season” to “must-see TV”. I even ditched a standing engagement so we could watch the season finale live and actually vote, something we didn’t do up to that point (usually we were watching the episodes 24 hours after they aired.) The first week after the finale, we had pangs of withdrawal, because our new favourite show wasn’t on, and we eagerly looked forward to the start of Season 7 (just recently completed).

I’ve given a lot of thought to why this show has managed to capture my heart, when no other show like it has been able. I’m not that big a dance fan1; if it were merely the form of art, I’d expect myself to like American Idol, and I don’t. There’s nothing particularly novel about the format, which has been used on everything from Vatican City Idol to The Belgian Congo’s Got Talent, none of which lured me in.

I think the big difference for me is how overwhelmingly positive the whole show is. None of the judges are snarky for the sake of being snarky; they genuinely critique the performances2, giving praise when its merited and criticism when it’s needed, but there’s no viciousness in their remarks. More to the point, the competitors seem to genuinely like each other. You can see them turning into a company by the middle of the season. They support each other, cheer each other on, and get emotional when one of them has to go. The whole thing is just uplifting in tone, and the world needs more of that.

I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Mark, without whom I would likely never have taken a moment to consider watching this show. I’m already looking forward to Season 8!

1Well, I wasn’t then, at least. It’s grown rather a bit on me.
2I’ve done competition theatre. I know the difference.

From Twitter 08-23-2010

  • 07:39:14: @Knitronomicon Seeing the word “boobs” and the word “scaffolding” in the same tweet sends my mind rabbiting off down interesting paths.
  • 11:25:59: @seananmcguire I’ve sampled what passes for confectionery in Australia. I’d say you were being wise.
  • 11:40:47: @aiela Oh, huzzah. I was actually thinking of bit-torrenting it just because of the editing, but that means I can just TiVo it instead. 🙂
  • 11:56:05: @twMaize I’ve been very fond of Twitterrific: http://www.twitterrific.com/
  • 13:29:48: “There’s always goals. If you don’t have a mountain, build one and then climb it.” –Sylvester Stallone
  • 14:53:04: @Randydeluxe First rule of marketing. Be where the people are.

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A Month of TV Commentary: A Meme in 30 Parts: Day 9

A while back, I started on an ambitious thirty-day meme about television. I had every intention to follow it through to the bitter end, but then Jenna got sick, and I got distracted, and never got myself tracted again. But I didn’t forget about it, and I figure I’ll pick it up where I left off. If you missed the beginning of this, there’s links to the previous entries behind the cut-tag at the end of the post.

Day 09 – Best scene ever

This is insanely difficult to pin down. There are scenes that are great because they’re funny, and scenes that are great because they’re poignant or profound.

But I if I have to pick just one, I’m going to go with the scene between Mal and Simon at the end of the Firefly pilot, “Serenity” (not to be confused with the Fireflymovie of the same title):

SIMON You need me to look at that?
MAL Just a graze.
SIMON (a beat, then) So where do you plan on dumping us?
MAL There’s places you might be safe. You want the truth, though, you’re probably safer on the move. (turns to him) And we never stop moving.
SIMON I’m confused. No wait — I think maybe you’re confused.
MAL It may have become apparent to you, the ship could use a medic. You ain’t weak. I don’t know how bright you are, top three percent, but you ain’t weak and that’s not nothing. You live by my rule, keep your sister from doing anything crazy, you could maybe find a place here. ‘Til you find a better.
SIMON I’m trying to put this as delicately as I can… How do I know you won’t kill me in my sleep?
MAL You don’t know me, son. So let me explain this to you once: If I ever kill you, you’ll be awake, you’ll be facing me, and you’ll be armed.
SIMON (smiles) Are you always this sentimental?
MAL I had a good day.
SIMON You had the law on you, criminals and savages… half the people on the ship have been shot or wounded including yourself, and you’re harbouring known fugitives.
MAL (looks out at the black sky) We’re still flying.
SIMON That’s not much.
MAL (almost to himself) It’s enough.

From Twitter 08-22-2010

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