Extraterrestrial

44

Just watched this DVD. Some interesting moments, but on the whole i found it hackneyed, cliched, and boring with a crappy ending. The alien craft interior reminded me of the Wraith ships in Stargate Atlantis. They were much more creepier than these aliens.

Also, the couple that are brought back from the terrifying (yawn) alien abduction get shot by trigger happy military men in the woods in the final scenes of the movie. Unexpected, admittedly, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. I guess i was so emotionally unattached from the film that it left me with feeling of being short changed.

Just not my cup of tea, sorry bro, but that will definitely be sold on Ebay!

So it is back to Buffy i am afraid. Great lines, comedic moments, very sad moments, and lots of philosophical angles to ponder over.

Nielssen Symphony No .2

The forwarding of the clocks made me aware that i needed a good lie-in this morning. The the dreaded hoovering had to be done. It was hard work with all the cats hairs and other stuff and so on, as i have been over a week of being away from it.

So now i am relaxing to some Carl Nielssen music, his Symphonies No. 2 & 3





This is the Second Symphony.

Nielsen began on the Second Symphony while the work on his first opera, Saul and David was still in progress. The first movement was finished on 28 December 1901 but after this the composition made slow progress. The composer only finished his work at the last moment. The fourth movement has is dated 22 November 1902, just a week before the first performance.

Nielsen himself describes the background to the symphony in a programme note for a performance at the Konsertföreningen (Concert Society) in Stockholm shortly before he died in 1931.
"I had the idea for 'The Four Temperaments' many years ago at a country inn in Zealand. On the wall of the room where I was drinking a glass of beer with my wife and some friends hung an extremely comical coloured picture, divided into four sections in which 'the Temperaments' were represented and furnished with titles: 'The Choleric', 'The Sanguine', 'The Melancholic' and 'The Phlegmatic'. The Choleric was on horseback. He had a long sword in his hand, which he was wielding fiercely in thin air; his eyes were bulging out of his head, his hair streamed wildly around his face, which was so distorted by rage and diabolical hate that I could not help bursting out laughing. The other three pictures were in the same style, and my friends and I were heartily amused by the naivety of the pictures, their exaggerated expression and their comic earnestness. But how strangely things can sometimes turn out! I, who had laughed aloud and mockingly at these pictures, returned constantly to them in my thoughts, and one fine day I realized that these shoddy pictures still contained a kind of core or idea and -- just think! -- even a musical undercurrent! Some time later, then, I began to work out the first movement of a symphony, but I had to be careful that it did not fence in the empty air, and I hoped of course that my listeners would not laugh so that the irony of fate would smite my soul."

Book 16 - Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty (Illustrator) "Buffy : The Long Way Home"

Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty (Illustrator) "The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)" (Dark Horse)





If you thought Buffy ended after seven seasons, you're wrong. Buffy and the gang, well most of it anyway, are back. Of course, the gang's a bit bigger these days, what with there now being over a thousand slayers and all. Now though, the enemy might be harder to fight in a new way. It could be that humans, those the slayer was made to protect will be a bit uncomfortable with all of these superwomen running around. Backfire.

This first volume was pretty much like watching Buffy, only with subtitles. The characters look eerily like the actors that portrayed them in the show, only just a little off. Honestly, that is both cool and creepy. Some time has passed since the end of the show, so the slayer army has been organized, Willow's been coming and going doing magic things and Dawn has made a poor dating choice (who's shocked?) and is now a giant (apparently, bonking certain demons will make you very large, a boy that was actually a thricewise). Pretty awesome though, because I am amused by tall, whiny Dawn.

The final chapter in this volume was a bit boring, largely because it followed an unfamiliar character and does not yet have any meaning for the reader. Presumably, this will come later in the form of yet another foe for Buffy and the gang to kill. Otherwise, you can expect pretty standard Buffy fare, meaning completely ridiculous but in a rather nice way, even if there is someone I would rather not have seen again, especially with that person's new look.

There is one limitation of this form form - you can call them graphic novels, but they're not remotely novels. They don't have the depth and power of the written word or filmed drama. Actors, directors, a staff of writers beyond Joss brought dimension to Buffy.

On the other hand, the dialogue is snappy and witty, it really was great to see these characters again, and literally to see them, even if in a two-dimensional drawing. Whedon does pull off one gasp-worthy moment at the end of Part III of this book.

While the story was fun, I felt like the continuity between seasons seven and this new season was missing.The one thing that dampens the enjoyment of this volume is that there is a lot of story crammed into a small space.


Overall, I am quite happy with my reading experience, despite the caveats, and the graphic novel had the same balance between dark and silly as the show.

Beastly Subotnik

A classic piece of electronica from Morton Subotnik now -

The Last Dream Of The Beast -

Soprano is Joan Le Barbara.

Quite eerie and disquieting. Enjoy.

Earth Dances

Here is one of my favourite pieces of music from Harrison Birtwistle, Earth Dances.

Enjoy

Buffy Fanfic

I have been tucking into the BtVS and Philosophy book and re-watching some episodes of Season 1 from the TV series. A thought had crossed my mind - has anyone done a Buffy / Dr. Who crossover fanfic?

Good night.