T'eyla Minh

You'll be pleased to know there's only one more episode to go. As much as I'm sad the show is ending, I'll be SO GLAD when it's over and done with and I can resume my normal non-fandom-consumed life until I get around to reading the books. Honestly, this season has been a rollercoaster that I was totally unprepared for. (But it’s still distracting me from work stress, which is probably for the best considering we’ve just another stupid email about another stupid thing which is pissing everyone off.)

( Episode 8.05 - The Bells )

I wish I’d never started watching this bloody show.

There was a new Jonathan Creek Chrismas special last night, namely "Daemon's Roost". I knew this was coming but only knew it was on thanks to Denise texting me to ask if I was watching - to which the answer, obviously, was yes, though admittedly with a combination of trepidation and excitement. Trepidation because I fully expected to be disappointed, and excitement because NEW JONATHAN CREEK.

My immediate reactions are already on Twitter but, as ever, this deserves a full write-up. So without further ado...

( Daemon's Roost - capslock warning )

Now that this is done, I have a half-drafted Year in Review Meme to post as well. Watch this space...

(PS: Apparently I haven't got any Creek icons on Dreamwidth. Derren will have to do instead...)

Apparently the three new episodes, a.k.a Series 5, are due to be shown at some point in February. Not exactly sure when. In any case, given the latest news, at least it'll be over with quickly...

( Cut because of minor spoilers. )

I am tempted to livetweet the new series when it's on, as I suspect I will have rather a lot to say once the incoherent silent rage has worn off, and it might be helpful to have a point of reference. :P

In other news, Paul and I have made a start on marathoning all eleven seasons of Frasier. :D We're currently halfway through season 1 (because they're only short, of course) and it's really great fun finally getting to see all the early episodes I missed the first time around. I didn't start watching properly until season 7, and even then managed to miss a few episodes (including the finale) because of Channel 4 rescheduling it...

So obviously, I spent the weekend reading fanfic (Niles/Daphne was one of my first 'ships, of course, then latterly Frasier/Roz) and episode transcripts and prematurely rewatching the season 7 finale on YouTube because OH MY GOD THAT EPISODE. (Resolving seven years of unrequited feelings / UST: ur doin it perfickly.)

Also I am amusing myself by retrospectively ascertaining where my Niles-crush came from whilst simultaneously trying to fight it off with a big stick (I think it was just lying dormant all these years). I can't even blame the frivolity of youth this time around. :P

It's a relief, actually - with three separate rewatches (X-Files, Buffy and now Frasier) in addition to the Grand JC Watchathon (which I must get back on track with), I do at least have something with which to distract myself from the above-mentioned fail...

And I'm determined to do a Farscape marathon this year as well, as Lloyd was nice enough to get me season 2 for Christmas. Not quite sure when, though - maybe when we're a bit further through Frasier and have finally finished Twin Peaks (it transpires watching a mind-mangling David Lynch show on a 12-inch screen at bedtime is not the best idea; we've moving it to the big TV downstairs instead...) I might actually attempt proper episode recaps this time around, as it's another of those fandoms which will benefit from being Older and Wiser. :)

(Oh, speaking of the TXF and BtvS rewatches, Denise and I have hit season 2 of both now. Which means abduction arc / "Irresistible" (a.k.a the Episode That Turned Me Into A Shipper) / "Humbug" (first comedy episode); and Spike, respectively. :D)

I think this is quite long enough. I'll try to update before the Creekfail occurs, but I promise nothing. ;)

Okay, finally getting around to posting this... (Oh, also: I've finally set up Semagic to cross-post to DW automatically when I post here, as I kept forgetting and had repeatedly imported my old LJ entries to DW, thus ending up with older entries 3 or 4 times. I've deleted it all and started again, with cross-posting now happening by default...)

To explain: I'm working on a post-Easter Special angstfic for Jonathan Creek, the first draft of which I sent to commoncomitatus, typos and all. Following that, we somehow ended up having the Epicest Jonathan Creek Fandom Discussion of All Time, which now deserves to be noted on LJ along with all the in-depth episode write-ups.

My initial plan was to finish the story first so I could post the emails in their entirety, in context... but instead I'll go from a point that makes somewhat more sense outside of the context of the fic. Unfortunately I still have to explain the basic concept of the story, which is ( spoiled underneath this cut here. )

That being said, here is the Fandom Discussion - all typos as per the original emails, including one particularly spectacularly hilarious one from Eni. The only additions / amendments are to put in words that were missing, just so it's a bit easier to read. The first few emails are snipped to take out some irrelevant / nonsense bits, and there are also some spoilers for the Doomfic and/or my ALTAF-verse, but probably nothing more than I've already mentioned on LJ elsewhere. I've also colour-coded: mine are purple, Eni's are green.

( In which we analyse the Easter Special to death and back and still get nowhere. SPOILERS and FLAIL beneath this cut. You were warned. )

So, there you have it. All other Jonathan Creek fandom discussions and/or theories are hereby null and void. :P


Oh, whilst I'm here, as I haven't updated in ages - new job is going much better now. I'm pretty much always busy and too tired when I get home from work to actually update, but so far I'm really enjoying it. This is a strange, alien feeling after the last few months of hating every second of every day in Legal! I've also covered two cases at New Aston House in Newtown, which transpires not to be too bad to get to (45 minutes door to door because I can get the train halfway). So yeah.

The only odd thing is that - obviously - I've run into people I used to work with at Ladywood. Amanda is my acting manager, Tina H is still the Senior Admin Assistant for West&Central, and Cynthia still works as a Clerk... but so far we've all been dancing around Sandra-gate and the reason I left Children's Services in the first place... which is kind of weird, but also a relief. The only person I've spoken to about it properly has been Jenny, because she knew about it before she had anything to do with Child Protection, from knowing me personally. So yeah. I'm pretty sure both Amanda and Tina are fully aware of my history with Child Protection AND my reasons for leaving, and the silence has been mutual. Frankly, I'm not going to complain.

This is long enough already, so: over and out, for some indeterminate amount of time...

I know that writing off a year before it's properly begun is generally a bad idea. But seriously, 2011, you need to start bucking your ideas up already.

Eni, when you said you wanted me to update more often, I'm fairly sure you didn't want daily rants. :P

( Choir Rant )

It's especially annoying because there are a couple of old choir-type friends on Facebook who I'd like to invite to the open rehearsal next week, but I've already moaned about this in a status update and that would look a bit weird, to have complained about it in one breath and recommended it in another. Besides which, anyone who does turn up to the open rehearsal next week is not guaranteed to remain in their chosen part if they do pass their audition!

I am also annoyed that my 'cheaper option' for my latest glasses prescription actually isn't cheaper. SpecSavers are now charging a £39 "reglazing" fee (i.e. putting new lenses in old frames) on top of the cost of the lenses. Which makes their reduction on said lenses completely bloody pointless, as it still cost me £79 to do one pair. By the time I've done the second pair next month it'll have cost me just under £160 to reglaze my perfectly functional frames, which means it would have been cheaper to actually buy new frames. Said reglazing cost also doesn't guarantee against damage caused to the frames during the process, for which the customer is liable. I imagine this is to cover any frames brought in from other providers, but both my frames are the "Osiris" range, which are only sold at SpecSavers. Plus, you know, the glazers are presumably trained in their chosen profession, so WTF are they doing wrong if they manage to damage your frames?

Odd year syndrome, indeed. Maybe I should stop making plans now, before they get crushed by a boulder.

So, Christmas has nearly descended upon us. Time to start getting organised. My diary is starting to fill up already, so for my own benefit more than anything else, here's the dates I need to organise myself around:-

( Cut because it's just for my own benefit. I need a big wall calendar. )

In other news, despite our efforts to boycott X-Factor after last week's 'deadlock' debacle, we ended up watching the Sunday night results nonetheless. I've tried to avoid rambling about it (because I shouldn't even be watching it because GAH, the brain-melting horror) but I seem to keep getting sucked in. Quite frankly, it's been a total farce this year, and I'm not just talking about 'Jedward'.

( This is probably only of interest to one person... )

Aaaaaand breathe.

Bloody reality television. We caught the first episode of I'm A Celebrity... and thankfully, it's not as horrendously addictive. Kim Woodburne FTW! GTFO Jordan! And that's all I'm saying on that.

Anyway, that's more than enough. I shall post this and have some lunch. This ranting is hungry work. :P

This rant has been a VERY long time coming, but as it came almost completely to fruition in my brain on the way home, I might as well just write it and get it out of my system.

( LONG AND FULL OF RAGE )

I need to stop now, because my hands are freezing. The heating was broken at work today and I've had cold hands since I got in, so that hasn't helped with the aggravation in the slightest. Sometimes, I just think all these gigantic companies - the NHS, Birmingham City Council, whatever - need to be taken apart, examined on a deeply molecular level, and put back together again by someone who knows what they're doing, someone with a fresh perspective and who lives in the fucking 21st century. FFS, give me a sledgehammer and I'll do it myself.

I apologise for the length, but these things just make me so frustrated and angry, and in the absence of being able to do anything about it, all you get is the verbosity. Meh.

So, as I mentioned, I watched this last night. The theme of the show, for those that don't know, is to put modern teenagers into an old-fashioned school environment for a month to see how they cope. I saw the one a few years back that put them into a 1960s comprehensive, or 'secondary modern', as they were called. This time, they're in a 1950's boarding grammar school, and split into same-sex classes in a bid to see who does better: boys or girls.

This entry may be controversial, and it's not open or up for debate - at least, not with me. I'm just attempting to re-inject some intelligence back into my journal, if only for my own benefit, because I'm starting to feel like my brain cells are shrivelling up. Anyway, back to That'll Teach 'Em.

On a purely superficial level, it's great entertainment. These kids don't have a clue what they're letting themselves in for, and their reaction upon finding that they're going to be split up is priceless. It also goes to show that they wouldn't even survive in a modern grammar school, let alone a 1950's one.

( However... )

"Yes", I hear you shout, "it's all very well you preaching about this, but what do you have to show for yourself?" And yes, you're right. I have a grammar school education and a University degree, and I'm working in a low-paid admin job that I mostly hate, and that's so far under my abilities it's laughable. But that's not a product of my education; it's a product of myself. I'm crazy, and crazy people can't make important decisions about their futures. Until I'm such a position to think about mine, I'm going to sit here and eat my lovely cream bun.

I think I'm about done.

Okay.  So.  We know about the mini-series already.  We weren't supposed to, technically, since Kemper&co. didn't officially release the information and, at least according to what I heard, it was meant to be a secret.  In any case, we all knew about it via the Save Farscape site.  The getting of this mini-series is, of course, completely wonderful.

It might be slightly less wonderful than we thought...

If that link doesn't work, and it might not as it gets moved around, just click on the 'SciFi Channel' link and you'll find the article in the listing.  If not, well, it's not that interesting, and the gist is basically that the new mini-series is going to be shown on SciFi US.  There's been some discussion on Tortured Space about it.  Some points raised:

1) The fact that SciFi US are showing it is sending inexplicable shudders down everyone's spines.  Somehow, the thought of them getting their grubby paws back on our show is completely unpalatable, when they made it quite clear that they wanted nothing more to do with it.  Nobody bought the funding excuse, I'm afraid.  If that was really the issue, then they could at least have had the decency to let Kemper end the series properly.  If that was really the issue, the fan reaction wouldn't have been so immense.

2) Apparently, they are also claiming that it's entirely them responsible for resurrecting it.  Sounds to me like they're just covering their own backs and pretending like they had nothing to do with its cancellation in the first place.  What's next?  Blaming the fans for the cancellation?  Angry letters are already being planned, but, obviously, after the show is actually aired...

3)  There's been much worry lately about whether our beloved Beeb will show it or if they even know about it at all.  Apparently they're keen to show it, which is a step in the right direction.  Lately, though, their treatment of science fiction fans in general has been appalling - remember the Buffy scheduling?  That was the final season they did that to, and Buffy probably gets them higher ratings than Farscape ever has.  The BBC2 6.45 sci-fi slot seems to have been obliterated.  Even if they rectify that and do get the mini-series - all four hours of it, which I'll comment on in a moment - it'll be edited to death and shown at the wrong time, as usual.  If there's any hope at all, the title, ( spoiler of title ), might imply enough violent content that they put it on at the right damn time...

4) And if the Beeb don't show it?  It's left to the realm of Channel Four and Five.  The problems?  Ad breaks.  More horrendous editing.  The fact that not all of Britain can even get Five (a similar argument to what might happen if it goes straight to SciFi UK, who have the repeat rights; they do, at least, show them unedited...)  A break with tradition.  Similarly awful treatment of science fiction in general...

So, while the BBC's treatment of Farscape wasn't exactly perfect, it's still miles better than C4 or Five could do.  It's pointless to hope the BBC might finally see sense, but the thought of either of those two channels getting it sends waves of disgust rolling over me.  We're very definitely stuck between a rock and a hard place...  I really, honestly believe that if Sky One had initially bought the rights, it would be doing far, far better over here; Sky One have a knack when it comes to advertising, and when something's popular on there, it tends to get snapped up really quickly by terrestrial.

5) Does anyone else feel like the entire situation is just really... childish?  Or, at least, SciFi's reaction to it is...  The cancellation always seemed off to me - and everyone else, most likely - and I think the reason is it seemed like a jealous reaction... Farscape had what most others shows didn't, and Sci Fi cancelled it to make room for other things.  The fans retaliated in what could be construed an equally immature way - writing letters en masse, sending crackers and bras, throwing proverbial tomatoes at Bonny Hammer (not that she didn't deserve it) and fighting it to the death.  So SciFi conceded defeat; this mini-series has a definite vibe of "Oh, fine.  Jeez, have your damn series back." and it just makes the success seem really bitter...  We didn't win; they just got pissed off with our whining and tried to placate us.

Which doesn't, obviously, negate the fact that we are getting a mini-series, and it's the very, very best we can hope for... so for that reason, we're going to cherish it and welcome it with cookies and open arms.

6) As mentioned, the mini-series is four hours long, possibly in four one-hour instalments, or two two-hour ones.  Either way, that four hours out of what should have been twenty-two.  Talk about throwing us a bone.  It's not enough.  Farscape was supposed to end after season 5, not after Season 4 plus 4 hours...  Kemper had that much planned.  The cancellation not only screwed the fans over, it messed up Kemper's vision, too.  Is it too much to ask that he manage to achieve what he wanted in just four hours?  No, because I have faith in him,  He's never disappointed us, he's never disappointed his cast, and that's why I believe he can do it.  It doesn't make the wound any less raw after what SciFi did to us, but it's something.

He left that cliffhanger there for a reason.  It would have been so much easier to take off the 'To Be Continued', to end the season right there... but he didn't.  There were too many unanswered questions, and he knew that the fans would want to know.  With any luck, those questions will get answered; knowing Kemper, he'll pose us even more and then leave us hanging again... but even so, we're getting Farscape back for four more hours, and even though it's not nearly enough, it's still more than we could ever have hoped for.

I realise that I am not exactly qualified any more to do fan rants about Farscape, since I sort of abandoned the obsession at some point last year, and the extent of my fighting for the show was to sign online petitions.  I didn't even bring my videos with me to university, because I knew I didn't have another series to record.  I'm ashamed to admit that I did pretty much give up, where others kept fighting.  Despite that, I'm still on tenterhooks waiting for the mini-series, I'm still overjoyed we're even getting it, and the cancellation did sting, albeit a good few months after the initial news (I think, at the time, after Cats had been closed earlier that year, my brain just couldn't cope any more.)  I didn't earn this.  I probably don't deserve to be so happy about it.  But no matter what, it's Farscape, and I'm proud of everything everyone did, even though I wasn't a part of it; it proved that the death of something loved can provoke a huge reaction, and it brought the entire fanbase closer together because of it.  Some dropped out of campaigning, others kept slogging on, but we all hoped it would prevail.

And look.  It did.

We're getting a mini-series, dudes.  I don't know when, I don't know where, but we're gettting it.

(Damn, I need a Farscape icon.  Just thought the wording was apt on this one, though...)

well, this was going to be a proper rant on the 100 greatest musicals thing, but since channel four doesn't have the list up on the site yet (bah!) it won't be. therefore, for the moment:

1) grease is, in no way, the greatest musical of all time. it's good, granted, but it's not the greatest. when the wizard of oz and the sound of music came in at 3 and 2 respectively, eyebrows were raised... with the latter, no matter what you may think of it, it is the best musical ever made ever, and grease has no right being at the top...
2) everything i voted for came in the top 40, so i guess that's something. from what i remember, nightmare before xmas was number 38, and once more, with feeling was 23. however, phantom and cats were both beaten by bugsy malone, for which there is just no excuse...
3) the top ten i think i can remember... hang on.

10 - moulin rouge!
9 - something i don't remember
8 - chicago
7 - the rocky horror picture show
6 - something else i don't remember...
5 - singin' in the rain
4 - west side story
3 - the wizard of oz
2 - the sound of music
1 - grease

okay, maybe not. but i do recall saying originally that if chicago came anywhere above number 20 i was going to hurt someone. at least having now seen the tour, i can see why the film was staged the way it was - it doesn't mean i agree with the direction, though. the trouble with these 100 greatest... lists is they make me continually want to slaughter the general public. there should be a rule - you are not allowed to vote in this poll unless you have seen at least 3 stage musicals. when it's pitched at a modern, movie-going public, it's inevitable that the greats get shoved to the sidelines...
4) someone complained that moulin rouge! was 'too claustrophobic'. um, duh. that's what the moulin rouge would have been like at the time... *rolls eyes* some people... although i did agree with most of the comments made - the fact that 8 mile is not a musical depite its getting into the list...
5) miss saigon came in at number 99, but i'll attribute that to the fact that most people probably saw the nominees and went 'miss who?' since it's not that well known.
6) something that continually annoys me: disney laying claim to nightmare as one of their productions. the truth of the matter is, they didn't want it! when burton pitched the idea, disney wanted to cutesify it and then didn't want it because there weren't cuddly talking animals and it was too 'dark' (just like all the stuff tim did for the black cauldron got cut...) but then, when they see the merchandising potential, it's suddenly theirs! it was by touchstone and buena vista! it's not a sodding walt disney film! gah!

my fingers are too cold to continue. but my wrath is great. 100 greatest musicals, my arse... i knew i should have voted more than once...