4 posts tagged “goodwatch”
Love it. Enjoy.
It's funny - for the last 18 months I haven't had a break at all from study. It's just been one subject after another, with maybe a weekend in between if I'm lucky. I'm at the beginning of an entire week off, between the summer study period and the first new one for the year, and I'm really feeling lost. It's so weird not having readings that need to be done, no discussion boards to keep up with, no assignments that I should be collating research for...
That being said, it is quite nice to have a bit of preparation time before the next SP. I think I mentioned earlier that I've done something a little silly, and enrolled for 3 subjects... 2 is considered a full time load, but after hearing that one of them only requires minimal work (allegedly) I thought it would be a good time to try out a web design unit I've been wanting to try forever.
I'm also doing my first level 2 unit this SP, Literature & Culture: Representations of the Medieval. It has a pretty good reading list, but haven't been able to get into the site yet to look at the full course outline.
The novels I have to tackle (and I've already read one and am halfway through 2 of the others.. I'm a bit schizophrenic like that) are:
The Mists of Avalon
This is the one I've already read, and I loved it... so much in fact that for my birthday my sister bought me the next couple in the series (not that I've gotten around to reading them yet). The movie was absolutely shocking, hopefully a comparison won't be part of the course - I don't think I could bring myself to sit through it again!!!
The Castle of Otranto
This is one of the ones I'm halfway through. I really need to put aside an afternoon and just read it, I'm finding I'm just reading the same bit over and over because I'm leaving it too long between readings... however what I've read so far I've liked.
News from Nowhere
I've read bits and pieces of this one too, but months ago when I should have been concentrating on Ancient Rome. It's not as easy a read as the others in the course, but I don't think we're going to be focusing too much on it (although I could really be way off the mark here).
The Name of the Rose
After a few false starts, I'm finally sucked right into this one. I watched about half the film (the young Christian Slater with a bald crown was a bit off-putting) and have been listening to an abridged version while dozing on the bus... so I'm up to 3 different parts of the story, but it's all weaving itself together, and making the book a better read as a result. I always seem to get to the really gory bits while eating though!!
So this will be the full on subject for the next 3 months - I'm just hoping I enjoy it as much as the last english unit I did (and considering I hated most of the novels we did last time, I'm off to a much better start!!).
I'm also really really really looking forward to the web design unit.. and not so much to the scientific communications unit, but that's the one that's allegedly really easy going.
Back to the point - a week with nothing to do... yes, getting ahead with the English novels, but I just hate the lull! I want to get into it again! I operate best when I'm under pressure... giving me this much free time is actually driving me mental.
It isn't helping that they've gotten a temp in at work over the next couple of days to help me out while I'm being 'trained' in another section of the business... the training isn't taking up very much time at all, so I'm left with hours of spare time, but with no desk or, worse, computer. Today was bad, tomorrow will be worse.
Today would have been a total write off without the invite to go to a screening of 10,000 BC. Not the greatest film ever made, but the CGI was amazing, the lead actor was very easy on the eyes (although just seeing how young he is... feeling like a dirty old woman!!), the story was bearable... there are worse ways to spend a Monday night.
I've been procrastinating again, unable to bring myself to get started on the two essays that NEED to get written this week.
Procrastination helper.... Buffy.
Series two of Buffy was the season I really got hooked. The relationships really made this season... the dysfunctional relationship of Xander and Cordelia, the sweetness of Willow and Oz, and the ultimate tragedy of Buffy and Angel.
Spoilers ahead ... if you haven't watched, don't keep reading
The entire series of events leading up to Angel's death plays out like a Shakespearian tragedy: They sleep together, Angel turns bad, Angel screws with Buffy's head, kills Miss Calendar, and really makes Buffy's life a living hell. Angel and co decide to bring a big, bad evil into the world and Buffy is told the only way to stop it is to kill Angel. Without Buffy's knowledge, her friends are working on cursing Angel to make him good again.... and turn he does, just as Buffy has to kill him. That scene is up there with one of the saddest scenes I have ever watched.
Anyway, it has been years and years and years since I have watched any early Buffy, and Innocence has always been one of my favourite episodes. Last night watching the lead up to it, I was getting quite emotional. The horrible things he said to her after they slept together, before she knew he was bad, tore at my heart. Joss Whedon really has that stuff perfected. I couldn't sleep until I reached the end (so yes, it was a stupidly late night). I was crying like a baby through the last 15 minutes of Innocence, just knowing that no matter what, Buffy had to kill Angel, and she had to be alone.
Series two was probably the peak of Buffy. Other seasons were brilliant in their own right, and there were other episodes (Hush, Once More With Feeling, etc) that were probably better episodes than any single episode in series 2, but as a whole, series two just nailed it. The 'big bad' wasn't anything over the top (Glory and Adam were kind of annoying), it was more human and true to life (well, as true to life as vampires can be). Spike and Drusilla teamed with Angel were like the cool kids at school that made life horrible. Oz's struggle with coming to terms with being a werewolf is like the identity crisis that we all have as teenagers. The love triangles and loss of innocence were all just spot on.
Series three starts screening this weekend!!
Procrastination helper.... Buffy.
Series two of Buffy was the season I really got hooked. The relationships really made this season... the dysfunctional relationship of Xander and Cordelia, the sweetness of Willow and Oz, and the ultimate tragedy of Buffy and Angel.
Spoilers ahead ... if you haven't watched, don't keep reading
The entire series of events leading up to Angel's death plays out like a Shakespearian tragedy: They sleep together, Angel turns bad, Angel screws with Buffy's head, kills Miss Calendar, and really makes Buffy's life a living hell. Angel and co decide to bring a big, bad evil into the world and Buffy is told the only way to stop it is to kill Angel. Without Buffy's knowledge, her friends are working on cursing Angel to make him good again.... and turn he does, just as Buffy has to kill him. That scene is up there with one of the saddest scenes I have ever watched.
Anyway, it has been years and years and years since I have watched any early Buffy, and Innocence has always been one of my favourite episodes. Last night watching the lead up to it, I was getting quite emotional. The horrible things he said to her after they slept together, before she knew he was bad, tore at my heart. Joss Whedon really has that stuff perfected. I couldn't sleep until I reached the end (so yes, it was a stupidly late night). I was crying like a baby through the last 15 minutes of Innocence, just knowing that no matter what, Buffy had to kill Angel, and she had to be alone.
Series two was probably the peak of Buffy. Other seasons were brilliant in their own right, and there were other episodes (Hush, Once More With Feeling, etc) that were probably better episodes than any single episode in series 2, but as a whole, series two just nailed it. The 'big bad' wasn't anything over the top (Glory and Adam were kind of annoying), it was more human and true to life (well, as true to life as vampires can be). Spike and Drusilla teamed with Angel were like the cool kids at school that made life horrible. Oz's struggle with coming to terms with being a werewolf is like the identity crisis that we all have as teenagers. The love triangles and loss of innocence were all just spot on.
Series three starts screening this weekend!!
I've had this for a while, but only tonight got around to watching the final episode. It's a brilliant series, the guy is an absolute nut, and I love listening to his radio show (you can download some of the episodes here)
The last episode, however, is driving me crazy. I started watching expecting him to be clearly faking it all... but I don't think the guy is that good an actor.... his lisp was nowhere to be seen, and he was going absolutely psycho.
*sighs* Time to watch the dvd extras, hopefully it'll shed some light!!
The last episode, however, is driving me crazy. I started watching expecting him to be clearly faking it all... but I don't think the guy is that good an actor.... his lisp was nowhere to be seen, and he was going absolutely psycho.
*sighs* Time to watch the dvd extras, hopefully it'll shed some light!!
