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Dec. 5th, 2004 10:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solitary_summerWednesday as usual; Got a haircut I'm indifferently pleased with, there's something about my hair's recent tendency to fall into my face that no one has been able to fix to my satisfaction for the last year or two. But at least I'm no longer blinking at customers through a fringe down to my cheekbones, so I guess there's improvement.
Thursday, Nick Cave with U., a rather pleasant surprise. I'd associated him only with his ballads, Where The Wild Roses Grow & such, and always found them too pretty, too... smooth for my taste. Now I knew all of three songs from the set-list (Weeping Song, God Is In The House, Red Right Hand), I still don't much like the ballads and slower songs, and there were a couple others that seemed, not sure how to put it, a little too generically rock, not particularly interesting, but at other times he built up an amazing tension, a distinct hard, dangerous edge, very intriguing from a musical point of view, too, as far as I am a judge of such things. Which I'm really really not, beyond personal taste, but anyway.
I'm actually considering checking out the new cd...
I also watched the whole fifth season of B5 in one week (instant gratification, exasperated sigh) - on my sofa & my TV. Ha.
I rather like the things falling apart quality of the fifth season, the grittier day-to-day realism, the underlying sadness; as a whole it occasionally feels a little rushed and perhaps sketchy to me, and it may not be quite as compelling as seasons two to four, but it is a satisfactory counterpart to the slow build-up of season one, re-establishing a kind of normality after the big epic climaxes and revelations of the middle seasons.
However, there are bits I liked better, and those I liked rather less than I used to, specifically the telepaths' arc. It's not that I don't find Bester fascinating, or suddenly don't like Lyta any longer, but while I distinctly remember loving it all the first time I watched it, now the rogue telepaths remind me rather too much of a bunch of vampires right of a Rice novel, gothic clothing and long lush hair to the last, and Lyta and Byron have no chemistry that I can see; a desperate kind of mutual need perhaps, resulting from their PSI corps upbringing, but no chemistry, and I can't really see love between them. Byron could be an intriguing enough character, but we learn too late about his past; his character certainly could have done with a little more exploration before being killed off. The most interesting thing about him to me is that even as he rejects Bester and the Corps, like Bester he continues to believe that he can and must shape people to his will and his ideas, that he knows what's best for them and is responsible for them in ways it isn't possible to be responsible for another human being.
Londo of course is the classic hero of Greek tragedy. It's horrible to watch him in the episodes leading up to The Fall of Centuari Prime, knowing beyond the possibility of doubt that the rest of his life will be one kind of hell or the other, and knowing he knows it just as well.
The Delenn - Lennier - Sheridan triangle... another of the quietly tragic pieces of this season, so unavoidable, so sad, not the least because of Lennier's implicit assumption right until the end, that if he just changed enough Delenn might eventually love him. All the cultural differences adding to rivalry, a deeply ingrained Minbari sense of superiority, Sheridan's 'Well, as we say back on Earth three is a crowd.', a none too pretty, rather possessive, even pleased 'Mine! - Hands off! reaction; and his half-humorous and half-embarrassed reply to Delenn's very serious ‘On Minbar three is sacred' showing just how different in many respects they (still) are..
I find the Minbari fascinating, there's a certain archaic quality about them the show captured very well, the arrogance and ferocity beneath the calm exterior, still present even in a spiritual woman like Delenn, who has certainly mellowed and matured a lot since the beginning of season one, when she confronts Lochley about the ritual in Learning Curve. A strange, powerful episode in some ways; the Minbari teachers commenting the fight with such an utter sense of unquestioned superiority, is more than a little chilling - granted, this is an unpleasant criminal, but it still makes the scene uneasy to watch.
Delenn's "There are moments, when we all become someone else. Something other than what we are. It takes only a moment. But we spend the rest of our lives looking back at that moment in shame. For one instant, out of a lifetime of service, he became his own worst instincts.", and it's clear from her expression and tone of voice that she's not only talking about Lennier. One wonders, does she ever tell Sheridan about her part in starting the Earth Minbari war?
Garibaldi: Generally speaking my opinions/likes/dislikes regarding the B5 characters haven't altered all that much from what I remember when I originally saw the show; shifted a little in some cases, e.g., I found Ivanova (and the whole Susan/Marcus arc) less interesting than I used to, but no major changes, with the exception of Garibaldi. I don't remember paying particular attention to him when I originally watched the show, but I've become increasingly fascinated with him - caught up in his black and white view of the world and especially of himself, haunted by the constant fear of failing, or being anything less then perfect - not so much a result of his alcoholism, I think, rather the cause of it. Trying to survive and make his life have some meaning in a world he doesn't allow himself to have any illusions about...
There's a sense of familiarity.
Paragon of Animals, when Byron confronts him ("You're one of those people who rehearses everything, Mr. Garibaldi. You never enter a situation until you've gone over it and over it a hundred times, worked out what you will say and what the other person will say, how you'll respond. It's quite remarkable and extremely depressing. That little personality quirk must have cost you more than a few relationships.") and to see his face then. It hurts. And it's just what I tend to do, too.
(My only personal problem with his arc is that I don't really like Lise, never have, though I couldn't really say why. Perhaps it's that she's not really a personality of her own, just a necessary part of Garibaldi's story... and perhaps it's that she's entirely too beautiful and long-suffering saintly.)
I'm going to miss it, not that this makes any sense, but waiting for the fifth season's dvd release was still something to look forward to, and now... all the dvd sets are sitting on my shelf... sigh. B5 is just special in a way. The actors' commentary on Movements of Fire and Shadow is mainly about how much they loved it and how special it was &c., which on the one hand is somewhat beside the point, because I'd have preferred a commentary on the episode, but on the other hand... it's noticeable, I think.
Now do I want to start with Buffy? I only dropped in it mid-fourth season, but seven seasons with the dvds about twice as expensive as a season of B5?
Thursday, Nick Cave with U., a rather pleasant surprise. I'd associated him only with his ballads, Where The Wild Roses Grow & such, and always found them too pretty, too... smooth for my taste. Now I knew all of three songs from the set-list (Weeping Song, God Is In The House, Red Right Hand), I still don't much like the ballads and slower songs, and there were a couple others that seemed, not sure how to put it, a little too generically rock, not particularly interesting, but at other times he built up an amazing tension, a distinct hard, dangerous edge, very intriguing from a musical point of view, too, as far as I am a judge of such things. Which I'm really really not, beyond personal taste, but anyway.
I'm actually considering checking out the new cd...
I also watched the whole fifth season of B5 in one week (instant gratification, exasperated sigh) - on my sofa & my TV. Ha.
I rather like the things falling apart quality of the fifth season, the grittier day-to-day realism, the underlying sadness; as a whole it occasionally feels a little rushed and perhaps sketchy to me, and it may not be quite as compelling as seasons two to four, but it is a satisfactory counterpart to the slow build-up of season one, re-establishing a kind of normality after the big epic climaxes and revelations of the middle seasons.
However, there are bits I liked better, and those I liked rather less than I used to, specifically the telepaths' arc. It's not that I don't find Bester fascinating, or suddenly don't like Lyta any longer, but while I distinctly remember loving it all the first time I watched it, now the rogue telepaths remind me rather too much of a bunch of vampires right of a Rice novel, gothic clothing and long lush hair to the last, and Lyta and Byron have no chemistry that I can see; a desperate kind of mutual need perhaps, resulting from their PSI corps upbringing, but no chemistry, and I can't really see love between them. Byron could be an intriguing enough character, but we learn too late about his past; his character certainly could have done with a little more exploration before being killed off. The most interesting thing about him to me is that even as he rejects Bester and the Corps, like Bester he continues to believe that he can and must shape people to his will and his ideas, that he knows what's best for them and is responsible for them in ways it isn't possible to be responsible for another human being.
Londo of course is the classic hero of Greek tragedy. It's horrible to watch him in the episodes leading up to The Fall of Centuari Prime, knowing beyond the possibility of doubt that the rest of his life will be one kind of hell or the other, and knowing he knows it just as well.
The Delenn - Lennier - Sheridan triangle... another of the quietly tragic pieces of this season, so unavoidable, so sad, not the least because of Lennier's implicit assumption right until the end, that if he just changed enough Delenn might eventually love him. All the cultural differences adding to rivalry, a deeply ingrained Minbari sense of superiority, Sheridan's 'Well, as we say back on Earth three is a crowd.', a none too pretty, rather possessive, even pleased 'Mine! - Hands off! reaction; and his half-humorous and half-embarrassed reply to Delenn's very serious ‘On Minbar three is sacred' showing just how different in many respects they (still) are..
I find the Minbari fascinating, there's a certain archaic quality about them the show captured very well, the arrogance and ferocity beneath the calm exterior, still present even in a spiritual woman like Delenn, who has certainly mellowed and matured a lot since the beginning of season one, when she confronts Lochley about the ritual in Learning Curve. A strange, powerful episode in some ways; the Minbari teachers commenting the fight with such an utter sense of unquestioned superiority, is more than a little chilling - granted, this is an unpleasant criminal, but it still makes the scene uneasy to watch.
Delenn's "There are moments, when we all become someone else. Something other than what we are. It takes only a moment. But we spend the rest of our lives looking back at that moment in shame. For one instant, out of a lifetime of service, he became his own worst instincts.", and it's clear from her expression and tone of voice that she's not only talking about Lennier. One wonders, does she ever tell Sheridan about her part in starting the Earth Minbari war?
Garibaldi: Generally speaking my opinions/likes/dislikes regarding the B5 characters haven't altered all that much from what I remember when I originally saw the show; shifted a little in some cases, e.g., I found Ivanova (and the whole Susan/Marcus arc) less interesting than I used to, but no major changes, with the exception of Garibaldi. I don't remember paying particular attention to him when I originally watched the show, but I've become increasingly fascinated with him - caught up in his black and white view of the world and especially of himself, haunted by the constant fear of failing, or being anything less then perfect - not so much a result of his alcoholism, I think, rather the cause of it. Trying to survive and make his life have some meaning in a world he doesn't allow himself to have any illusions about...
There's a sense of familiarity.
Paragon of Animals, when Byron confronts him ("You're one of those people who rehearses everything, Mr. Garibaldi. You never enter a situation until you've gone over it and over it a hundred times, worked out what you will say and what the other person will say, how you'll respond. It's quite remarkable and extremely depressing. That little personality quirk must have cost you more than a few relationships.") and to see his face then. It hurts. And it's just what I tend to do, too.
(My only personal problem with his arc is that I don't really like Lise, never have, though I couldn't really say why. Perhaps it's that she's not really a personality of her own, just a necessary part of Garibaldi's story... and perhaps it's that she's entirely too beautiful and long-suffering saintly.)
I'm going to miss it, not that this makes any sense, but waiting for the fifth season's dvd release was still something to look forward to, and now... all the dvd sets are sitting on my shelf... sigh. B5 is just special in a way. The actors' commentary on Movements of Fire and Shadow is mainly about how much they loved it and how special it was &c., which on the one hand is somewhat beside the point, because I'd have preferred a commentary on the episode, but on the other hand... it's noticeable, I think.
Now do I want to start with Buffy? I only dropped in it mid-fourth season, but seven seasons with the dvds about twice as expensive as a season of B5?
