(no subject)

It's really frustrating listening to lecture recordings where someone is clearly doing fascinating work but really, really, really can't communicate it. Including basic errors like 'as I said earlier' when they didn't say it earlier. And repeating sentences a lot instead of conveying new information. And watching a few minutes of cute video, which obviously may have been more informative in the original lecture setting but didn't seem to be. And spending some of their minutes asking repeatedly if someone can turn the lights down or the brightness on their videos up, when no, they couldn't ten minutes ago either.

somewhere under all that communication fail I just listened to something interesting about emotions in AI, but it was only clear enough to make me want to read a book or something that actually conveyed what they were trying to.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 5, up to Shadow

It's hard to think of new things to say about something I've watched and written about so many times before.

Also, it's hard watching, when Grandpa was in hospital, and may be home now with cancer nurses and painkillers and not so much time left. There's nothing to do there, so I do nothing, but entropy and mortality and all that stuff, it is hard.

And that's the theme in season 5, even in played-funny small things like Anya freaking out and sulking cause she realises she's mortal now. Buffy vs death, powerless and losing. Starting watching in a low mood may be a mistake.

But there's an equally powerful theme of family, love, choosing each other. ( Read more... )

I like how the season feels coherent and character led. Buffy has problems, proper growing up problems where she doesn't get to be the kid cause her elder and younger needs her. That resonates.



But it's kind of not fun.

Eh, there's a lot more story to go, some of it will be fun, in between the bits that'll wreck me again.