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Jul. 7th, 2008
I have always thought that when I buy things I am told a price and I give that price and it's all done.
Lately I have noticed that in some transactions people that are not me give also some extra.
Clearly there is a rule I'm not aware of.
What is the rule?
It's probably geographically specific, isn't it?
Lately I have noticed that in some transactions people that are not me give also some extra.
Clearly there is a rule I'm not aware of.
What is the rule?
It's probably geographically specific, isn't it?
(no subject)
Jul. 7th, 2008 08:29 pmToday:
I also read a 10 part story. Well, it said 10 and meant 12. It was okay, well written, interesting, yet I feel no need to memory it. Partly because it's AU, and I seem to have gone off those when there's so much room in canon. Partly because I seem to have had enough of Save The Universe stories. I mean, it's not exactly hard or heroic, deciding to save the universe. You're standing in the universe. Even the evil can figure out that means the universe needs saving so you personally are saved. So, yeah, the actual saving bit can be a bit tricky, but if you know the alternative to you personally dying is you and everyone you ever met and everyone you might ever meet and the whole wide universe also dying, well, not so much difficult after all. So I get a bit bored. The stakes are too high, nobody could back out of them.
What interests me right at the moment are the stories where the many risk themselves to save the few. Like with fires or search and rescue stuff. One person in peril, many teams of people putting themselves in that same peril to get them out. Because that's not math that seems to make sense, but humans do it anyway. That's stakes. That's knowing that at any time you can say bugger this and go home, and it'll only be one person you never met who suffers for it. And deciding to go through hell to save them when you *do* have a choice? That's heroism.
There's a sort of sliding scale in between, but the more plain math says it makes sense the less thinking needs be involved. And saving what you're standing on isn't even a choice. I mean technically if the choice is between the whole city that you're in going radioactive or you personally glowing in the dark that's not much of a choice either. You don't lose anything by doing it that you wouldn't lose by not doing it. So it's all thrilling and with the big FX, but it's not half as interesting to me.
If it's a disaster movie and it's about ordinary people pulling together to survive some grand cataclysm then scale has a point. Nobody else there to save you, they're all busy. And plenty other people to save.
But most of the time the difference between hero and regular person lives in the moment they could have done what everyone else does and didn't. If what everyone else was doing is dying due to universe ending, that moment isn't so much there.
As a season ender the apocalypse works better. We've seen problems on lots of different scales leading up to that. And sometimes they've decided to risk the many for the few without actually asking the many, and then it goes horribly wrong, which is interesting. Solving that kind of apocalypse means pulling out hero moments after having done the selfish thing, so there's that whole redemption thing going on. But even as a season end, I much much much prefer the end of Parting of the Ways, where everyone *could* take TARDIS or Vortex Manipulator and get the hell out of the way, but they decide not to. Universe at risk... in a future they could happily avoid for a great many generations. That's interesting, huge risk but room to run. Choices. Or I like when Cardiff is at risk, because running away from Cardiff then becomes the solution everyone isn't taking. Because a burned out uninhabitable Cardiff would be bad, but you wouldn't even have to feel personally responsible for what was done to it, and you could totally survive elsewhere. So then it's a choice to stay and deal and have consequences.
But if it's the End of Everything Especially You And All Your Friends... running and hiding and leaving it to sort itself out aren't even options.
So from this you can see what interests me is not kabooms and heroic saves per se, it's the characters and the choices they make to lead them to get involved in that stuff.
People who don't have that focus probably like the End of Everything stories, because you know, really big kaboom.
I also read a 10 part story. Well, it said 10 and meant 12. It was okay, well written, interesting, yet I feel no need to memory it. Partly because it's AU, and I seem to have gone off those when there's so much room in canon. Partly because I seem to have had enough of Save The Universe stories. I mean, it's not exactly hard or heroic, deciding to save the universe. You're standing in the universe. Even the evil can figure out that means the universe needs saving so you personally are saved. So, yeah, the actual saving bit can be a bit tricky, but if you know the alternative to you personally dying is you and everyone you ever met and everyone you might ever meet and the whole wide universe also dying, well, not so much difficult after all. So I get a bit bored. The stakes are too high, nobody could back out of them.
What interests me right at the moment are the stories where the many risk themselves to save the few. Like with fires or search and rescue stuff. One person in peril, many teams of people putting themselves in that same peril to get them out. Because that's not math that seems to make sense, but humans do it anyway. That's stakes. That's knowing that at any time you can say bugger this and go home, and it'll only be one person you never met who suffers for it. And deciding to go through hell to save them when you *do* have a choice? That's heroism.
There's a sort of sliding scale in between, but the more plain math says it makes sense the less thinking needs be involved. And saving what you're standing on isn't even a choice. I mean technically if the choice is between the whole city that you're in going radioactive or you personally glowing in the dark that's not much of a choice either. You don't lose anything by doing it that you wouldn't lose by not doing it. So it's all thrilling and with the big FX, but it's not half as interesting to me.
If it's a disaster movie and it's about ordinary people pulling together to survive some grand cataclysm then scale has a point. Nobody else there to save you, they're all busy. And plenty other people to save.
But most of the time the difference between hero and regular person lives in the moment they could have done what everyone else does and didn't. If what everyone else was doing is dying due to universe ending, that moment isn't so much there.
As a season ender the apocalypse works better. We've seen problems on lots of different scales leading up to that. And sometimes they've decided to risk the many for the few without actually asking the many, and then it goes horribly wrong, which is interesting. Solving that kind of apocalypse means pulling out hero moments after having done the selfish thing, so there's that whole redemption thing going on. But even as a season end, I much much much prefer the end of Parting of the Ways, where everyone *could* take TARDIS or Vortex Manipulator and get the hell out of the way, but they decide not to. Universe at risk... in a future they could happily avoid for a great many generations. That's interesting, huge risk but room to run. Choices. Or I like when Cardiff is at risk, because running away from Cardiff then becomes the solution everyone isn't taking. Because a burned out uninhabitable Cardiff would be bad, but you wouldn't even have to feel personally responsible for what was done to it, and you could totally survive elsewhere. So then it's a choice to stay and deal and have consequences.
But if it's the End of Everything Especially You And All Your Friends... running and hiding and leaving it to sort itself out aren't even options.
So from this you can see what interests me is not kabooms and heroic saves per se, it's the characters and the choices they make to lead them to get involved in that stuff.
People who don't have that focus probably like the End of Everything stories, because you know, really big kaboom.
It seems like I keep bumping into reviews that think John Barrowman is too musical theatre.
There's this standard little paragraph that goes in about how there's a major difference between stage acting and television acting and things have to be unlearned and relearned and blah blah blah and somebody mentions camp and over the top and it all goes downhill and I stop reading.
I don't want to talk about JB. I like his acting. But just saying that isn't going to change anyone's mind.
What's a more interesting question though is: Why is Captain Jack theatrical?
( Read more... )
If you look at the acting, at what can be perceived as flaws, as instead a set of symbols attached to this symbol-set called Captain Jack Harkness then you can extrapolate aspects of character from it that then give you ways in, things to identify with or contrast with, layers to the character. And that, to me, is way more fun.
There's this standard little paragraph that goes in about how there's a major difference between stage acting and television acting and things have to be unlearned and relearned and blah blah blah and somebody mentions camp and over the top and it all goes downhill and I stop reading.
I don't want to talk about JB. I like his acting. But just saying that isn't going to change anyone's mind.
What's a more interesting question though is: Why is Captain Jack theatrical?
( Read more... )
If you look at the acting, at what can be perceived as flaws, as instead a set of symbols attached to this symbol-set called Captain Jack Harkness then you can extrapolate aspects of character from it that then give you ways in, things to identify with or contrast with, layers to the character. And that, to me, is way more fun.
Doctor Who: Time and the Rani
Jul. 7th, 2008 10:44 pmI'm pretty sure I haven't watched this since it was first on.
... did the TARDIS just land in its very own rainbow?
Awesome.
"Leave the girl. It's the man I want."
*blinks and doesn't comment*
*loudly*
Least convincing regeneration ever!
... I should totally be drunk to watch this, yes?
Yes.
( Read more... )
Okay, that wasn't terrible. Erm, some of it was, but mostly that wasn't. Weird, but...
okay, I see why all the 7 DVDs are from much later.
7&Ace for yaays!
... did the TARDIS just land in its very own rainbow?
Awesome.
"Leave the girl. It's the man I want."
*blinks and doesn't comment*
*loudly*
Least convincing regeneration ever!
... I should totally be drunk to watch this, yes?
Yes.
( Read more... )
Okay, that wasn't terrible. Erm, some of it was, but mostly that wasn't. Weird, but...
okay, I see why all the 7 DVDs are from much later.
7&Ace for yaays!