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dangermousie1. I saw a copy of TV Guide that had blurbs about all the "returning favorites" shows. It seems that every other show is either cop, medical, or law show. I am sure those professions have their interesting moments, but NO profession is interesting enough to have 25 shows about it at the same time. Maybe with the exception of mercenaries. I'd watch those. But OMG, there won't be a courtroom or scalpel in sight!
2. I was also amused by the prevalence of teen soaps. Who knew that adolescence was that special time where you found out that your mother was actually your sister and that the boy you loved was a transsexual (both of which, while made up, are not too farfetched if those blurbs were any indication). My eye was especially caught by "One Tree Hill" (what happened to the rest of the trees?) and "O.C." (is it next to "E.R.?") I might even watch either one one of these days: they sound so delightfully outre.
3. Charmed is still running. Good God. Are the sisters grandmothers by this point? I think any show should get axed after 5 years. Otherwise it loses the iterative quality. Come on: I remember a girl I was friends with briefly 15 years ago, but on these shows people forget their spouses or parents after a year. Must be some powerful pills they are taking.
4. Their Veronica Mars blurb made me giggle as it said "blah blah blah Veronica also found out that Logan didn't rape her and Duncan isn't her brother which is good because she has hots for them both blah blah blah." To exclude blood relatives and rapists from the dating pool doesn't seem like too unreasonable a thing to do.
5. I have a frightening urge to write a Baltar fanfic after Pegasus. Because to see him sprawled on the floor of Gina's cell...wow.
6. And now to completely switch gears: I am reading Terry Pratchett's newest, Thud. It's not bad (in fact quite funny and clever), but there's too much Vimes and not enough Carrot. And considering that Carrot is my favorite ever Discworld character, this is making![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dangermousie cranky.
Of course, I am not surprised because both the Carrot character arc, and the Carrot/Angua ship (the only romantic relationship in Pratchett I ever bought. He is usually dreadful at portraying women) got resolved, or taken as far as you can go, in Fifth Elephant (unsurprisingly my favorite Pratchett). FE basically dealt with Carrot's duality, as much as Pratchett ever was going to, because we saw him with his mask off when he rode to Uberwald after Angua. The people en route weren't encumbered with the preconcieved notions of "Captain Carrot, City Watch" nor was he particularly interested in maintaining that vibe, so people jumped out of his way double quick.
And Carrot and Angua worked out their issues (well, Angua's issues, Carrot never had any in regard to her) in FE too. My favorite ever Discworld scene is after Carrot and Angua buried Gavin and Angua (who is a werewolf) turns to Carrot and asks him what would he do if she ever went psychotic like her brother did. He says that she won't, and she repeats the question and asks him if he'd come after her then, and put her down. And Carrot pauses and says yes. And she is completely grateful. And I have a lump in my throat. Trust me to pick on the angst even in Pratchett.
But basically, he's taken Carrot as far as he can and it's pretty clear that he has this friendly, straightforward manner and tons of charisma but he is not simple at all, but quite clever and quite aware of his destiny but he choses to step back and let the city run itself because he truly is incorruptible.
So unless he'd choose to write a very un-Pratchett-like book where Vimes and Carrot end up on different sides, I can understand why in Nightwatch and Thud, Carrot and Angua are there, clearly doing their usual thing and being happy with each other in the background, but they don't have a major role (though Angua's jealousy cracked me up). Still doesn't mean I have to like it. :P
2. I was also amused by the prevalence of teen soaps. Who knew that adolescence was that special time where you found out that your mother was actually your sister and that the boy you loved was a transsexual (both of which, while made up, are not too farfetched if those blurbs were any indication). My eye was especially caught by "One Tree Hill" (what happened to the rest of the trees?) and "O.C." (is it next to "E.R.?") I might even watch either one one of these days: they sound so delightfully outre.
3. Charmed is still running. Good God. Are the sisters grandmothers by this point? I think any show should get axed after 5 years. Otherwise it loses the iterative quality. Come on: I remember a girl I was friends with briefly 15 years ago, but on these shows people forget their spouses or parents after a year. Must be some powerful pills they are taking.
4. Their Veronica Mars blurb made me giggle as it said "blah blah blah Veronica also found out that Logan didn't rape her and Duncan isn't her brother which is good because she has hots for them both blah blah blah." To exclude blood relatives and rapists from the dating pool doesn't seem like too unreasonable a thing to do.
5. I have a frightening urge to write a Baltar fanfic after Pegasus. Because to see him sprawled on the floor of Gina's cell...wow.
6. And now to completely switch gears: I am reading Terry Pratchett's newest, Thud. It's not bad (in fact quite funny and clever), but there's too much Vimes and not enough Carrot. And considering that Carrot is my favorite ever Discworld character, this is making
dangermousie cranky. Of course, I am not surprised because both the Carrot character arc, and the Carrot/Angua ship (the only romantic relationship in Pratchett I ever bought. He is usually dreadful at portraying women) got resolved, or taken as far as you can go, in Fifth Elephant (unsurprisingly my favorite Pratchett). FE basically dealt with Carrot's duality, as much as Pratchett ever was going to, because we saw him with his mask off when he rode to Uberwald after Angua. The people en route weren't encumbered with the preconcieved notions of "Captain Carrot, City Watch" nor was he particularly interested in maintaining that vibe, so people jumped out of his way double quick.
And Carrot and Angua worked out their issues (well, Angua's issues, Carrot never had any in regard to her) in FE too. My favorite ever Discworld scene is after Carrot and Angua buried Gavin and Angua (who is a werewolf) turns to Carrot and asks him what would he do if she ever went psychotic like her brother did. He says that she won't, and she repeats the question and asks him if he'd come after her then, and put her down. And Carrot pauses and says yes. And she is completely grateful. And I have a lump in my throat. Trust me to pick on the angst even in Pratchett.
But basically, he's taken Carrot as far as he can and it's pretty clear that he has this friendly, straightforward manner and tons of charisma but he is not simple at all, but quite clever and quite aware of his destiny but he choses to step back and let the city run itself because he truly is incorruptible.
So unless he'd choose to write a very un-Pratchett-like book where Vimes and Carrot end up on different sides, I can understand why in Nightwatch and Thud, Carrot and Angua are there, clearly doing their usual thing and being happy with each other in the background, but they don't have a major role (though Angua's jealousy cracked me up). Still doesn't mean I have to like it. :P
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Date: 2005-09-26 03:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 03:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 03:38 pm (UTC)House has no correlation to real life facts, but it is very in-tune with human emotions and such. Also, it has the pretty in it, which you know is always fun.
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Date: 2005-09-26 03:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 03:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 03:46 pm (UTC)I was glad to know that it was a Watch book, and I hoped to see more Carrot. I'm not surprised, though, first because of what you said here:
But basically, he's taken Carrot as far as he can and it's pretty clear
that he has this friendly, straightforward manner and tons of charisma but he is not simple at all, but quite clever and quite aware and he choses to step back and let the city run itself because he truly is incorruptible.
So unless he'd choose to write a very un-Pratchett-like book where Vimes and Carrot end up on different sides, I can understand why in Nightwatch and Thud, Carrot and Angua are there, clearly doing their usual thing and being happy with each other in the background, but they don't have a major role (though Angua's jealousy cracked me up). Still doesn't mean I have to like it.
The second reason is that if he wrote a Carrot book, Pratchett would have to really show Carrot's POV. And so far, we've never really seen it. We've seen people marvel at his naïveté, suspect that he's not that nice, really, and it's both funny and a little...not funny, because he hints more than once that Carrot is much more calculating than you'd think and not necessarily in a good way (even Angua wonders if he didn't bank on the fact that she couldn't let him die in the snow and would have to come save him) and that he's only good because he chooses to.
And I've read a Pratchett interview where he said that he couldn't really write from Carrot's POV, because he didn't really know how to pull it off. And things might lose their ambiguity. Plus, (that's just my opinion) one of the bases of his character are all the moments when he says something incredibly naïve or stupid and people don't quite know if he's taking the piss and are just a tad wee scared. Once you see what he thinks, that uncertainty is gone.
If you add to that what Vimes thinks to himself (in the 5th Elephant, I think?), that one day, they might find themselves on different sides, and that Vimes might have to kill him if Carrot ever wanted to take power...I can see why Pratchett avoids the issue. But I really regret it, both because he's one of my favourite characters in The Watch series (with Vetinari, and it's no coincidence that we never get their POV, we only see them through other people's eyes), and because I love his relationship with Angua. Love, love, love. Do we at least see Vetinari and Carrot dealing with each other in this one?
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Date: 2005-09-26 03:55 pm (UTC)Oh yes, and it's that disturbing undercurrent that makes him so interesting. Because really, there is NO leash on him except his own desire not to do anything awful. Because if he wanted to, I don't think anyone (not even Vimes) could stop him (I love Vimes' realization that you quoted. And his wondering how it would feel to have Carrot's destiny turn against him, Vimes).
Re: Angua's thought. I think she is actually right that it was Carrot's gamble. I don't think it was a horrible thing to do on his part: he was risking only himself (and Gaspode) and he knew her and gambled on the fact that she would come and that was the only way to track her. But this is certainly a lot darker than the Shiny Honest Carrot of the City Watch that he usually has as his facade.
I love his relationship with Angua. Love, love, love.
Oh yes. I have to say, it's so funny but true that it drives her crazy that he would love her even if she shaved her head or what not, and it makes her feel even crankier that it annoys her. LOL, so true.
Do we at least see Vetinari and Carrot dealing with each other in this one?
Haven't finished yet, not so far :)
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Date: 2005-09-26 04:10 pm (UTC)I didn't think it was either. And the fact that he left Ankh-Morporkh and resigned from the Watch, which is everything he ever wanted...Of course he'd do anything to get her back. It's just that he appears so straightforward that even Angua, who knows him, regularly has these "not so much with the straighforward" epiphanies. And she can't really call him on it.
it's so funny but true that it drives her crazy that he would love her even if she shaved her head or what not, and it makes her feel even crankier that it annoys her.
Hee! It doesn't even bother him that she sleeps in a basket several nights a week! I love it when she wishes he'd complain or say something bitchy once. But wait....I don't remember in which book she openly complains that a girl can have enough of "too nice", and helpful guy that he is, he later says something awful about her family having people for dinner (in the werewolf way), and when she gives him this look, he blandly answers:"You said I was too nice.", and she has to admit that he may have an undiscovered talent for nastiness. :) I loved it.
But seriously, I sympathise with Terry Pratchett's issues, because a Carrot POV would probably mean the end of the ambiguity that makes the character. Still, I want a Carrot book. *whines*
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Date: 2005-09-26 04:17 pm (UTC)It's interesting, because I think that settles one of Angua's chief insecurities right there. In one of the previous books she thinks that the City would always come first for him and if it was a choice between her and A-M, Carrot would choose the latter. And it proves not to be the case.
he later says something awful about her family having people for dinner (in the werewolf way), and when she gives him this look, he blandly answers:"You said I was too nice.", and she has to admit that he may have an undiscovered talent for nastiness.
Oh yes, that totally makes me laugh. I can understand her frustration actually: if someone is always nice to everybody, then his being nice to you is not proof of your specialness.
I do love the end of Fifth Elephant where he makes Colon and Nobby and the rest of the Watch snap back up and Angua thinks that he does know how to use the nastiness, but it's like a sword, taken out only when necessary and completely hidden unless needed.
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Date: 2005-09-26 04:39 pm (UTC)Excellent point. You're right, she has her answer right there. And coming back to her birthplace made her see that she may not like Ankh-Morporkh (who does, except Carrot?), but it's still the best place for someone like her. I think that once she realises that, and is safe with the knowledge that if she'd been happy staying in Uberwald, Carrot would have stayed too, she no longer has problems with Ankh-Morporkh and with her place in it (and in Carrot's life).
I do love the end of Fifth Elephant where he makes Colon and Nobby and the rest of the Watch snap back up and Angua thinks that he does know how to use the nastiness, but it's like a sword, taken out only when necessary and completely hidden unless needed.
I really loved it. But it brings us back to what you said in the beginning: once their issues are solved, and once Carrot's real personality is more or less openly acknowledged (if even Colon and Nobby cop to it? It's in the open), it's difficult to write a major story with the character without having some important crisis. And that crisis would have to be political, once the personal has been dealt with. Still, I want to see Pratchett do it once. He's a little too much in love with Vimes, who is not uninteresting, but is still a fairly one-dimensional character. I prefer the ambiguous ones, like Carrot or Susan Sto-Helit, who are where they are only because they choose to, but who have a dark streak a mile wide. I think that since The Fifth Elephant, the only recent Pratchett book I madly loved (I enjoy them all, and Going Postal was very good) was Thief of time.
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Date: 2005-09-26 04:46 pm (UTC)Oh yes. But I don't know if he could do it. I think the book would have to be very different from his usual type.
He's a little too much in love with Vimes, who is not uninteresting, but is still a fairly one-dimensional character.
Oh yes. And there is only so much you can write about Vimes, too, because he is not hideously complicated or complex. There aren't hidden corners to explore. I like the man, but I am not fascinated with him, the way I am with Carrot, or Vetinari (or Susan, actually).
I prefer the ambiguous ones, like Carrot or Susan Sto-Helit, who are where they are only because they choose to, but who have a dark streak a mile wide.
Oh yes. And who have all this amazing power and choose not to exercise it. With Vimes, you know how he is going to jump. With Carrot, not so much.
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Date: 2005-09-26 03:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 03:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 04:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 05:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 05:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 04:08 pm (UTC)I dunno, I see a lot of myself and several friends in the witches, even though they're meant to be archetypes. And Tiffany Aching is *so* me!
he choses to step back and let the city run itself because he truly is incorruptible
I think it's for different reasons. First of all, The Patrician might be a right bastard, but he's also a superb ruler who is doing a fair amount to make sure that the average Ankh-Morporkian has a relatively decent life. Carrot isn't needed to raise the downtrodden and defeat the oppressors on a large scale because there are no downtrodden and oppressed on a large scale.
Second, if Carrot ever exposed himself for what he was, instead of just letting the rumors swirl around him, the city will explode into civil war as group after group tries to use him as a standard or a pawn. His best bet of "ruling" well is to keep the peace - which means, keeping his mouth shut, and pulling things behind the scenes if necessary.
Both Vetrinari and Carrot want peace in the city. The Patrician gets it by dealing with the big crimes and making sure that the large groups rub along well together. Carrot gets it by dealing with individuals on an individual basis. I'm thinking he prefers it that way.
You are making me want to reread 5th Elephant, though!
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Date: 2005-09-26 04:14 pm (UTC)Yes. There is no need for him to step in and become a King...
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Date: 2005-09-26 04:50 pm (UTC)Probably the same
cracklogic SciFi wassmokingusing when they decided Tremors: The Series was a viable replacement for Farscape. Meh.no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 05:05 pm (UTC)Yes, there is no rhyme or reason to any of this!
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Date: 2005-09-26 04:53 pm (UTC)It's BAD. I tivo'd the finale of last season (cause it was supposed to be the series finale and play out like one but then they got renewed) and finally watched it last week. It was okay thought I really couldn't have cared less and I used to love the show. (I hadn't watched regularly since season 3).
I tivo'd the premiere last night and we shall see if it's any good. I can't wait to see how they explain away what happened in the finale. It really should have ended a while ago and if not then, last season.
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Date: 2005-09-26 05:04 pm (UTC)What happened? Also, how many years has this thing been running?
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Date: 2005-09-26 05:09 pm (UTC)At the end of last season they blew up part of the manor and everyone thought the girls were dead and then you find out that they took new identities and they are okay and they walked away to start new magic free demon free lives and live happily ever after.
awwwwwww /sarcasm
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Date: 2005-09-26 05:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 05:11 pm (UTC)Seeing as they gave the kids to the girls dad how are they going to get them back?
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Date: 2005-09-26 05:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 07:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 04:59 pm (UTC)Don't you know? The only cool professions are in law or medicine. It's the cardinal rule of TV! Any other jobs are just not worthy of the attention.....
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Date: 2005-09-26 05:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 05:10 pm (UTC)I still can't believe The X-Files ran for 9. And it actually kept up its quality for a full 6. 7 started to wear thin, and then the last two seasons I have erased from my memory. *covers ears and hums*
But yes, the overabundance of cop and medical shows puzzles me too. I guess it's because they're easier to tune into without having seen previous episodes; there's little in the way of overreaching arcs. (With a few exceptions, of course.) So, TV execs love 'em. Oy.
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Date: 2005-09-26 05:12 pm (UTC)there's little in the way of overreaching arcs
Unfortunately, that's exactly the thing I like: really long arc-ed plots. The ones that require two minutes of "previouslys" at the start of each ep.
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Date: 2005-09-26 05:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 05:17 pm (UTC)Oh, I love those!
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Date: 2005-09-26 05:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 05:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-26 05:20 pm (UTC)Secondly, I enjoy the fact that the parents get a real story line. Seth’s parents are especially cool, particularly his dad.
Mischa Whatever can gag on a stick though.
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Date: 2005-09-26 05:23 pm (UTC)What's the premise?
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Date: 2005-09-26 07:36 pm (UTC)So Ryan moved to Newport, aka, FreaishlyRichVille.
Sandy's wife is Kirsten, she's very nice and down to earth, considering her father was one of the freakishlyrich.
Seth is their son. He's... original. lol Very nerdy (but in a hot way).
That's kinda the basics of the characters and the original premise. The show is just kinda about their lives.
The last thing to happen was Ryan and his girlfriend Marisa have been kicked out of school for something that wasn't their fault. Kirsten has also just returned from a program for alcohol abuse. She started drinking when her father died last season and went to the place over the summer. She's back, but there's an strange woman from the center who seems to want something, but we're not sure what's up with her yet.
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Date: 2005-09-26 07:40 pm (UTC)Maybe I'll check it out, thanks!
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Date: 2005-09-26 10:16 pm (UTC)