Meandering Musings

So... yeah. Not a lot to say. Random bits of 'whatev...'

* While I get the point of this week's Being Erica, I cannot say I liked it. Neither can I say that I was particularly surprised. The deck was stacked a long time ago and the answer was obvious in the credits. But even then, though I knew the outcome and had accepted it even before it came about, I think the execution was lacking. Oh, and Erica's 'perfect man' was kind of gross. The only one who can pull off that sort of physique and still be attractive to me is Mark Lawson, and that's basically because he's clearly overcompensating for being so short. That and he has beautiful eyes. Otherwise -- blergh.


* Speaking of OLTL's Lawson -- who has been massively screwed in the writing of the ending of OLTL (why oh why is he being trashed for Rapey? Damn it, even when I root for the true blue good guy my ships never win). -- Anyway, it looks like OLTL's headwriter and Executive Producer are being transplanted to take over General Hospital effective immediately. Hope GHers like 'rapemance' and good guys randomly being driven insane and evil for no purpose to prop other characters ( ::pets Schuyler, Marty, and Brody::)


* Used my Kindle's free month of Prime to read the latest pure fluff romance by Connie Brockway. I tend to like the way the arch and rueful tone she writes her story with. There's quite a bit of meta-awareness in her romances such as her Victorian heroine's offense when the hero was berating himself for 'taking advantage' by kissing her with the heroine basically saying What? She wasn't a participant? He doesn't get to claim her actions. And there's no hint of rapemance anywhere in it. That said, I didn't care for the ending. I saw where the writer was trying to go with saying that the heroine was trying to live to her family's expectations not her own, but they didn't adequately set up a passion for the heroine other than archeology. I think they were trying to imply that she went on to become a writer, but honestly, it wasn't strong enough and it sort of came off as her sacrificing archeology to become a housewife. So, in the end, I still prefer Brockway's first book which happened to feature the latest book's heroine's parents... who actually were intrepid Victorian archeologists.


* Perhaps it was my disappointment with the most recent Brockway tale of Egyptology Romance that has led me to spend my audible.com monthly book credit on Book I of the Amelia Peabody series  Crocodile on the Sandbank  .  It's light, enjoyable, and amusing thus far.  Fluff read.

*  So, I've read the summary/review of the latest Angel/Faith comic series.  So, I gotta know, does this latest development/possession/whatever make Angel hate himself more than normal?  Seems like it should.  Question is, how would we know?  (And Angel should figure out whether there's some sort of insurance he can take to cover damage incurred the next time he's taken over/possessed/controled/and/or infected by some outside force/soul/entity.  It's happened a lot now, y'know.)

* Ooh, saw a bit on GRRMartins LJ about the upcoming season of Game of Throne's showing Arya's 'new look.'  That little actress is quite adorable.

* Seriously impossible deadline at work.  What else is new?

Ever google something perfectly innocent (like a movie title) and urban dictionary pops up... and inevitably it's some sex act you never, ever dreamed of?

The one that just popped up involves... egg yolks. And bread crumbs. And...buh-wha? Who thought that up? And were they unconcerned with salmonella?

Sure. She looks sweet, but she's crazy!

So my baby, pictured above, is the ripe old age of 18. She has lived the entirety of those 18 years as a 100% indoor cat. I mean, 100%. The only time she has ever been outside, it's been on my back porch with me carrying her... and she doesn't like being outside (because she grew up as an indoor cat). I've always been able to leave the garage door open for whatever reason and not worry that she would go outside.

So last night, due to the heat, I left the garage door open about a foot (with the attic door pulled down) so that it could pull some cooler air into the attic. But thunder began rolling and a really hellacious lightening storm started, so I closed the door.

Around 10 pm I started to get ready for bed. (Oh, did I forget that the thunderstorm became huge in the meantime). Usually, at bedtime Carly is around demanding to be fed and given fresh water.

No Carly.

I search her normal spots.

No Carly.

I search everywhere. No Carly.

Well, okay, she's good at hiding when she wants to. So I pulled out her bag of treats and shook them. She almost always comes for the bag of treats.

No Carly.

Now, I'm getting desperate. I pull out potato chips (she's crazy for potato chips. I don't know why). No Carly.

Now I'm worried. I really, really search the house for her. Everywhere I can think of. No Carly.

She couldn't possibly... be outside. She never goes outside... and it's a MASSIVE thunderstorm. it had already blown out the cable and the lights once. (And strangely, the house lights came back on, but the street lights hadn't). No way could she be outside.

But... just in case, I checked the front and back porches. If she were caught outside, surely she'd end up on the porches, out of the rain.

No Carly.

She was just... nowhere. I kept searching the house until midnight. I raised the garage door in case she was locked out. Nothing.

I seached again. She wasn't here. I mean, she really wasn't here. Her... I don't know... presence(?) was missing. But... she HAD to be here. Where would she go? She never goes outside, and it's a lightening storm from hell outside.

Needless to say, I knew something was wrong. But...well... usually when I lay down for bed, she shows up for a cuddle. So it being 12:30 (on a work night), I get into bed...

Still no Carly.

I couldn't sleep. There were none of her noises. Usually she eats at bedtime so there are noises in the kitchen, and she goes to the litter box and I hear the click of her door into the garage, and then she insists on drinking from a bowl in my bathroom and I hear her bell clack against the bowl. But... nothing.

1am I have to get up to search the house one. more. time. And I look into the garage (I've left the garage door open for hours). I search the porchs one more time. Still nothing.

I go to bed again.

TWO FREAKING A.M. I hear a plaintive cry. It's her! She's coming down the hall. I start searching for the light. Before I can reach it, she tries to jump onto the bed... and doesn't make it. She falls. I turn on the light and...

There stands the most pathetic little creature you've ever seen. She's wet. I don't mean "she got damp" wet. I mean dripping, sopping, thoroughly soaked to the skin WET. And shivering (because I keep the house cool when I sleep), with her heart racing and looking traumatized.

The freaking crazy kitty had been out IN THE THUNDERSTORM -- not even on the porch that was right next to the garage. I don't know where the hell she was hiding (if 'hiding' can even be the term) but... she's insane!

So I wrapped her up on a towel and tried to calm her down. I cuddled her, but she was quite upset. She was so miserable, I pulled the hair dryer out... and she was so miserably wet that she actually tolerated my blow-drying her! At 2 am.

Crazy cat.

Good thing I love her. (And I won't be so free with leaving her access to her cat door to the garage if the garage door is open in the future).

So... is LJ just not working at all? Now it won't even go to the site. Before it would go to the site, but not actually access anything. Now? Nada. It just defaults to whatever I had before.

Has LJ given any explanation?

It's been strange seeing the heat wave coverage, because (I guess because we rack up temperatures rather north of 90) they still include this area in the 'heatwave' maps... but it's actually normal for Alabama to be 90+ degrees in July.  Looking up the averages on Weather.com we're sitting almost exactly on 'average' (one degree less actually). 

So, yeah, it's sticky, humid and hot... we live in Alabama!  :)

Actually it has been extremely humid.  It's taken to raining virtually every day.  And the (thermal) windows fog over night.   

At this point it feels (and is beginning to look) like we live in a rain forest.  My shrubs are putting on fresh new growth and so are trees (in July... and that really shouldn't happen.  This is the time of year when things usually try to just hang on to survive.  I worry what August will do to all this fresh new growth that shouldn't be there).

At any rate it's very weird to see the map and to see Minnesota (Minnesota for goodness sakes!) clocking temperatures 15-20 degrees higher than Alabama is posting at the same time (which is what has been happening lately).  That's just weird.  We're designed for months of 90++ temps. 

Minnesota?  Not so much.

And it rained again last night.  All last night.  It's great on the water bill... but I think all plants may soon be growing like kudzu.




(A little history of kudzu:

From TVGuide.com:

 

Alexa Havins and Justin Bruening are returning to All My Children, ABC announced Tuesday.  Havins portrayed Babe Chandler from 2003 to 2007.  The character died.

Bruening began playing Jamie Martin in 2003 and left the series in 2007 when his character went to work in Africa. The real-life couple will return for several episodes in September.

All My Children, which was canceled in April, will air its final episode Friday, Sept. 23.


*****

Heh, they're busy resurrecting folks  over there (in one form or another.  It could be a slew of angels... or zombies)  because in addition to Havins,   Cady McClain's Dixie is back from the dead (again.  And last time they killed her on screen, with a body, and a funeral... and then we saw her in HEAVEN!  Actually they did the same with Havins (except the heaven part.  Babe wouldn't go to heaven. Purgatory at best, and no the show can't say otherwise, no matter how hard they try to stick a halo on her.). 

Josh Duhamel's [sp] "Leo" is also returning from the dead (or having a ghostly visitation)

As is Thorsten Kaye's "Zach."

From Discovery.com:  Genetics Confirm:  All Non-Africans Part Neanderthal

(Not Kidding)

If your heritage is non-African, you are part Neanderthal, according to a new study in the July issue of Molecular Biology and Evolution. Discovery News has been reporting on human/Neanderthal interbreeding for some time now, so this latest research confirms earlier findings.

Damian Labuda of the University of Montreal's Department of Pediatrics and the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center conducted the study with his colleagues. They determined some of the human X chromosome originates from Neanderthals, but only in people of non-African heritage.

"This confirms recent findings suggesting that the two populations interbred," Labuda was quoted as saying in a press release. His team believes most, if not all, of the interbreeding took place in the Middle East, while modern humans were migrating out of Africa and spreading to other regions.

The ancestors of Neanderthals left Africa about 400,000 to 800,000 years ago. They evolved over the millennia mostly in what are now France, Spain, Germany and Russia. They went extinct, or were simply absorbed into the modern human population, about 30,000 years ago.

Neanderthals possessed the gene for language and had sophisticated music, art and tool craftsmanship skills, so they must have not been all that unattractive to modern humans at the time.

"In addition, because our methods were totally independent of Neanderthal material, we can also conclude that previous results were not influenced by contaminating artifacts," Labuda said.

This work goes back to nearly a decade ago, when Labuda and his colleagues identified a piece of DNA, called a haplotype, in the human X chromosome that seemed different. They questioned its origins.

Fast forward to 2010, when the Neanderthal genome was sequenced. The researchers could then compare the haplotype to the Neanderthal genome as well as to the DNA of existing humans. The scientists found that the sequence was present in people across all continents, except for sub-Saharan Africa, and including Australia.

"There is little doubt that this haplotype is present because of mating with our ancestors and Neanderthals," said Nick Patterson of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University. Patterson did not participate in the latest research. He added, "This is a very nice result, and further analysis may help determine more details."

David Reich, a Harvard Medical School geneticist, added, "Dr. Labuda and his colleagues were the first to identify a genetic variation in non-Africans that was likely to have come from an archaic population. This was done entirely without the Neanderthal genome sequence, but in light of the Neanderthal sequence, it is now clear that they were absolutely right!"

The modern human/Neanderthal combo likely benefitted our species, enabling it to survive in harsh, cold regions that Neanderthals previously had adapted to.

"Variability is very important for long-term survival of a species," Labuda concluded. "Every addition to the genome can be enriching."

* FNL Finale - *sniffle* *sob* *aw*  Matt and Julie.  State. And Riggins and "Texas Forever."  Perfect.

* Drop Dead Diva - Liked how they pulled off ye old soap opera cliche of wedding interuptus. Jane kept her dignity (by not interrupting) and they didn't dip-six their plot by tying down any characters.

* Falling Skies - It's hardly a "shocking development" when I called exactly what was going to happen the absolute minute the other resistance movement showed up.

* True Blood - Sucks to be a red shirt in a vampire town.  No one gives a crap when some vampire kills you...  Like the Witch plot so far and like demon baby plot for the lulz.

* Reading about the Murdoch stuff UK/US/Australia... it really is sort of a real-life Citizen Kane-esque, is it not.  And someone should explain to someone that writing apologies in a UK paper followed by a pissy screed (anonymously) in a US paper (that you own) about how 'mean' people are being to you is:
A) Transparent
B) Unintentionally funny  (Psst! There's this thing called the 'internet'... both sides of the pond can 'see' you. )
C) Kinda undermines the 'apology' doesn't it?
D) All of the above.

{ETA: WTF?  "Sean Hoare, the former News of the World showbiz reporter who was the first named journalist to allege Andy Coulson was aware of phone hacking by his staff, has been found dead, the Guardian has learned.  {...} "The death is currently being treated as unexplained, but not thought to be suspicious..."}

* Watched the "Wall Street" Sequel with Michael Douglas... Can't say that I was all that interested.  Though I will say, Charlie Sheen looked awful even before his most recent meltdown.

Peter Dinklage, yay! 
FNL, yay!   
GOT, yay! 
Martha Plimpton, yay!
Tim Olyphant, yay!
Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler, yay!

Also find I'm quite pleased over Matt LeBlanc.  The fight in the finale of Episodes was comedy gold.  (The cactus! And the cologne!)

On the other hand Joel McHale and  Community were robbed. 

Noms:

Best drama series: Boardwalk Empire, Friday Night Lights, Dexter, Game of Thrones, The Good Wife, Mad Men.

Best comedy series: Modern Family, 30 Rock, Glee, The Office, The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation.

Drama actress: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife; Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men; Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU; Kathy Bates, Harry’s Law; Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights and Mireille Enos, The Killing.

Comedy actor: Steve Carell, The Office; Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock; Jim Parsons, Big Bang Theory;  Matt LeBlanc, Episodes, Louis C.K., Louie; Johnny Galecki, Big Bang Theory. 

Drama actor: Jon Hamm, Mad Men; Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire; Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights; Michael C. Hall, Dexter; Hugh Laurie, House; Timothy Olyphant, Justified.

Comedy actress: Tina Fey, 30 Rock; Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie; Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation; Laura Linney, The Big C; Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope; Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly.

Supporting drama actor: Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age; John Slattery, Mad Men; Alan Cumming, The Good Wife; Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones; Josh Charles, The Good Wife; Walton Goggins, Justified.

Supporting comedy actor  (I don't know how these got erased but I don't have time to look them up again at the moment)

Supporting comedy actress: Julie Bowen, Modern Family; Sofia Vergara, Modern Family; Jane Lynch, Glee; Betty White, Hot in Cleveland; Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live; Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock.

Supporting drama actress: Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife; Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire; Christine Baranski, The Good Wife; Michelle Forbes, The Killing; Margo Martindale, Justified; Christina Hendricks, Mad Men.

Reality competition: So You Think You Can Dance, Top Chef, The Amazing Race, American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, Project Runway.

Variety, music or comedy series: The Colbert Report, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live, Conan, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Outstanding Reality Program: Hoarders, Antiques Roadshow, Deadliest Catch,* Mythbusters, Undercover Boss,
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List

* Was that the season when Captain Phil died?  If so, they seriously need to win.  That had me bawling.
 

GOT also got a nom in writing for the episode "Baelor".
 

 

angearia made the suggestion that I do the Narrative Likes/Dislikes meme, the only problem being that I don't know how to do it. I'm not sure what they are. I know I have narrative preferences, but I'm not always conscious of it.

However, a few years ago I sussed out that I have 'thing' for fate vs. free will when doing some meme about recurring themes in our own fanfic. I realized that though the fanfics I had written were in different fandoms and had different plot lines, they each had pivoted on a questions of free will... usually by playing with something that looked a heck of a lot like 'fate'.

So maybe the way for me to discover the answer to the meme is to look at the stories I've followed and liked. Since it's already quite late, what I'm posting is limited to my kidhood... ( Read more... )

So, I don't know. What does that say so far? That I watched too much TV?

That I was a sucker for high concept stuff virtually from the cradle?

That I have a penchant for bickering/bantering couples solving improbable mysteries (actually, I know I'm a sucker for that. So I guess that definitely goes into a 'like' column). And even as a kid had a thing for men with foreign accents?

That if there's a ghost involved, I'm going to assume that it's a stupid guy in a mask, but lizard men and Tyrannosaurs are scary!

And that while I have a perverse enjoyment of post-apocalyptic stuff (This is true), I'm also highly tolerant of wholesome all the way to the downright sacchrine.

And it's now excessively late, so maybe I'll do teen and adulthood another time. (Actually reading through this stuff, kidhood clearly imprinted on me because my tastes haven't strayed all that far afield...)