{ yesterday's tweets. }

[delga]

• 09:43 am about to head to the bank for The Dad. Am hoping that my legs don't break open there or back. #
• 10:25 Am back from bank; legs are okay from what I can tell. #
• 10:42 What with LJ turning itself off later today, I plan to finally have my Spooks marathon. That's if The Dad doesn't interrupt. #
• 18:16 ...somehow got sucked into watching The State Within. Which, by the way, is really, really, really good #
• 21:34 The soundtrack for Empire Records continues to be a favourite ♥ #

LoudTwitter, yo.

Comments

[tigertrapped.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're a State Within convert.

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

Mainlined the whole series: absolutely loved it!

[tigertrapped.livejournal.com]

That scene with George and Nicholas and the bullet in the wall - that's still one of my favourite TV moments ever.

[wliberation.livejournal.com]

Ooh, State Within! I'm somewhat... bipolar about that series, even more so because I can't quite point out why I liked it and why, at the same time, I was somewhat bothered by something in it. But yeah, good. At least with one 'really' attached.

Also, saw my first ever episode of CSI: New York, and thought of you. I can see why you like(d) it so much.

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

For me: it had a similar tone to Spooks and seemed very well put together. It had the usual emotional push-buttons (characters in peril! Sudden deaths! etc. etc.) but that didn't bother me. I just got drawn in, I guess.

Hahaha, that show is terrible and yet I watch it compulsively. There are few shows that are more formulaic. But everyone is a delight!

[wliberation.livejournal.com]

It does have many usual push-buttons, yeah, but I also think that in many ways it was surprising and first went to directions that seemed cliched and predictable and then blindsided you pleasantly* with a different solution. I suppose the thing I was most bothered with was that it felt a bit stereotypical in its portrayal of Americans. But maybe that was purposeful for the aforementioned blindsiding.

Oh man, it's been such a long time since I saw it. I mainly only watched it occasionally because of Oliver Platt! And the fantastic opening credits; they were pretty.

*Not that you can blindside pleasantly (...I think), but I couldn't think of another word

[wliberation.livejournal.com]

...Um, heh, I thought this was the comment in which I talked about Huff. Nevermind.

The CSI episode was the one where these Irish terrorists break into the lab to steal back all their drugses, yo. It felt fresh (compared to CSI: Miami definitely!) but maybe that was because it was a sort of special episode.

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

...I didn't notice until you pointed it out, lols.

Ah! That's the S3 finale. It's a homage to Die Hard. Fabulous episode!

[wliberation.livejournal.com]

It indeed was. Almost made me want to start watching the show, but I rarely watch anything these days so I couldn't be bothered. Gary Sinise in the end amused me for some reason.

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

It's probably best to sidle away with that as your vision of the show. lols. I do love the show - it is mental candy floss - and I'm tres fond of the characters. But, yeah, not a work of anything resembling genius.

I have this reaction to Sinise, too!

[wliberation.livejournal.com]

*BG* Heh, okay, I'll take your word for it.

I suppose it's a common theme with him. Mind, it's not as bad as with Caruso.

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

I don't know what it is with Caruso - there's something about HoCaine that I think echoes him directly (the actor-character line gets a bit blurred, I think). But I loved him in Proof of Life.

That guy is crazier than a marshmallow in a volcano.

[wliberation.livejournal.com]

I can't say I remember him in any other roles, so I can't say if it's the show or the actor who's at fault here. ...The show is pretty horrible in general, though.

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

I tried to sit and watch with The Sister recently: I had to leave the room. (Few shows fill me with such sourceless rage. The other one - for no apparent reason - is Without a Trace. Man, that show makes me so angry these days, wtf.)

[wliberation.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know exactly how you feel. There was a time last spring when it seemed that all any channel aired was CSI:Miami, so I kind of had to be exposed to it occasionally; the urge to just start ranting at the walls about how bad it was was unbearable. I think it's because the show takes you for an idiot, it has no characters (seriously, no personalities WHATSOEVER), no believable plot, and it's only concentrating on showing off the cool techie stuff and simulations and camera tricks that are now available. I remember one scene where not-Ainsley and that guy who looks like Greg from the original CSI were going over some test results: Not-Ainsley asked Not-Greg about them, Not-Greg looks Very Serious, hands the paper over, and then we get this wooshy camera pan into the paper which is... *drumroll*... Empty! Not-Ainsley looks up looking Very Serious and says "But, there's nothing here". Not-Greg says Very Seriously, "Yes, I know. And you know what that means." Cue Very Serious dramatic music and eyebrow arching, and Not-Fan considers Very Seriously killing herself with the remote control. I mean, [Basil Fawlty] what was the point? What was the bloody point? [/Basil Fawlty]

...Um, got a bit ranting there. But yeah, THIS IS WHAT CSI:MIAMI DOES TO ME!

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

CSI:NY will have a Useless Montage before the credits sometimes. So. Yes.

But Miami... people will randomly posture at one another! The dialogue slows down and speeds up randomly! The camera does weird things! And EVERYONE is an idiot. I ...grargh!

[wliberation.livejournal.com]

Random Useless Montages I could take. The inaneness of Miami I can't. And the thing that pains me the most is how many people love the show; it kind of makes me lose faith in humanity.

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

I recently heard it is the biggest show in the world.

What. the. fuck.

[wliberation.livejournal.com]

DON'T DEPRESS ME!

Heh, okay, I think I have to start getting ready now. But *MEGAHUGS*. You have a nice night, and I'll talk to you again soon!

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

*superhugs* Enjoy the party!

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

It played pretty well with expectations. I liked the plotty mcplottiness of it, for lack of a better term. (Weird thing I have noticed: I'm a big fan of narrative - form, style etc. - and that has yet to change, but these days I am finding that I have a sincere love [and need] of plot, too.)

stereotypical in its portrayal of Americans
Yeah, and that's a thing that Spooks can have a handle on too. But it's something I was able to whitewash over because there were a whole range of American characters, and British characters, and the hero was a Brit. So. There was a modicum of balance. lols.

The credits are gorgeous. Oliver Platt is a delightful character, too. I didn't think I'd like Hank Azaria but I do.

[wliberation.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'm confused - what do you mean by narrative (as opposite to plot)?

And yeah, that's the beauty of minis: the mcplottiness. (How I love that word now.)

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

Plot = what happens; narrative = how what happens is conveyed to the audience.

Try using that in a lit seminar! Haha.

[wliberation.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Actually, seriously, thank you. Life makes some much more sense now, and I'm not kidding. You know, Finnish fails at translating these terms properly (narrative = kertomus = a story, a tale; to make things even more confusing, some people use tarina [another word for a story or a tale] to mean 'plot i.e. what happens' and juoni [our word for 'plot'] to mean how it's told. hate!), which is probably why I spend a lot of time being confused.

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

It took me a long, long, long time to get the definitions straight in my head because - just to be even more confusing - the terms are used interchangeably (when they're different things) and as synonyms of each other.

It doesn't help that another definition of narrative is 'a story'.

[wliberation.livejournal.com]

And this, my friend, is precisely why entire books have been written on the subject of defining one term in literature studies. Le sigh. What a pain in the arse.

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

This is also why language students are so WORDY. Because otherwise it doesn't feel like you're getting your money's worth! lol

[wliberation.livejournal.com]

ROFL!

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

For example: before I had a higher tolerance for things that didn't have a lot going on, but were well put together. I still have a fairly high tolerance for that sort of thing. But when it comes to shows &c. I prefer more series-arc stories than the week-by-week stuff.

Possibly my explanation fails at being explanatory.

[wliberation.livejournal.com]

No, it does make sense. It does make a lot of sense. ...There's some special terminology for both types of television, but I can't remember them. Doesn't matter. Anyway, yeah, sense has been made.