sundries: media madness edition

[rm]

We have plan: Patty will be home Saturday. Yay.

Tragically, she'll probably be here too late or too tired for the Moulin Rouge singalong. Life is cruel.

Have to put up a few more auction things tonight, but remember that bidding at graduate_maria opens at 12:01am EST on 7/15/2010. You can still add new items to auction after that point, but it's nice to have a much stuff up by tonight as possible. So far things posted including awesome art, handmade items, fanfiction, a steno starter kit, laster-etched glassware with the custom design of your choice and more. For those willing to signal boost, now is a good time!

The Argentinian senate votes on the legalization of gay marriage today.

While not going to Infinitus was TOTALLY the right choice (I just got off a plane, the thought of getting on another one tonight is AWFUL), I'm a bit sad. Have fun, you all.

Last night the new season of White Collar began, and I liked it very much. The show is still very much a 2+2=5 experience for me, in that the thing itself is greater than the sum of its parts, mostly because of the chemistry between all the performers. And it's the opposite of Merlin -- here the chemistry helps the story instead of consistently getting in the way of it.

That said, despite brief moments from female characters (many of them awesome series regulars who were just here to wave and say hi in this episode) I find the relentless all-male nature of this show aggravating. Just as an aggressively gender dichotomous world is uncomfortable for me to live in, a single-gendered world is unpleasant for me to watch.

And I find it puzzling that I have that reaction so strongly to this show where the masculinity, while constant is hardly overbearing or traditional (Neal's shape is the masculine version of the hourglass; Peter loves his wife; no one would normally want to grow up to be a nebbish like Mozzie, but Mozzie is so cool), but that said there were points last night where I felt like we were seeing that "hints of softness in men, good! The actual presence of women, tedious necessity!"

I haven't really had this problem with the show in the past (thanks to my deep love of June and El), and I'm hoping this was a single episode aberration.

The show, of course, remains firmly about love, and I'm deeply interested in the construction of the world that has the ability to trust being Neal's salvation and, perhaps, Peter's downfall.

More than that though, I have to say I still don't quite trust Peter. I think, now that we're in the second season of this, it would be cheap to find out that Peter is some criminal mastermind who wants Neal and the music box for his own nefarious purposes, but the show continues to structure itself so that rationally you must doubt periodically, and are then thrust into Neal's position -- do you invest and trust or do you walk away?

Ultimately, I'm not one for mysteries. I didn't care about the Kate plotline, and I don't care who killed her. I do care how people cope in the face of it, but I could do without all this chasing after the music box, to be frank.

And since I was mentioning it to bodlon last night and he hadn't seen it, if you like Tim Dekay go netflix Carnivale right now, even if it was designed for a three season arc and only got two; even if it's super disturbing and occasionally frustrating in terms of internal mystery. It is, among other things, one of the most interesting examinations of female sexuality I've seen on screen.

Then I watched Covert Affairs which isn't very good and also has one of these central mystery plots I don't really care for. On the other hand, I sort of love the kinda weird looking blind guy with the more nerdly version of Ianto Jones's wardrobe who is ultimately played as totally hot. I probably won't keep watching unless someone who does tells me that four episodes in that character suddenly gets an interesting plotline of his own. Just as I found White Collar exhausting for its relentless masculinity, I found Covert Affairs exhausting for its relentless heteronormativity.

I don't know if it's my reading habits lately or if this there is suddenly a spate of Torchwood fic about Ianto adjusting not to the idea of being attracted to and sleeping with Jack, and not about Ianto dealing with being out in the public world, but Ianto dealing with a sense of internal disconnect regarding being out to himself or having a life very different than the one he once anticipated: i.e., waking up next to Jack, negotiating domesticity, not having the easy heteronormative guidance of "okay, I'm the guy, now I do this" about all the weird little nitpicky things about sharing intimate space with someone. Has anyone else noticed this? I'm not sure I'm even explaining it well. Anyway, it's a potentially interesting phenomenon (if it's not just all in my head), both for theme and timing.

Did anyone, btw, debunk that Torchwood casting sheet yet? It's fake, btw, but I don't feel like showing my math. Someone should get on that.

Despite not being a Holmes fan, and not even converted to such through the research I did for Bristol, I have to say, Moffat's Sherlock looks very smart, and I may be watching. And I'm not just saying this because Moffat is now on Twitter.

redstapler just sent me this: OMGWTF, Batpug!

Comments

[dsudis.livejournal.com]

Well, Tiffani Thiessen only just had her baby a month ago, so we're probably looking at an ongoing sad shortage of El.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Ahah! We need more June then. Grrrrr. Of course, we always needed more June.

[dsudis.livejournal.com]

Definitely more June, and it's making me sad that we apparently are not allowed to have Diana AND Cruz around in any given episode. (And why is Diana Diana when Cruz and Jones are Cruz and Jones? I just now noticed that.)

[rm.livejournal.com]

The thing with Diana, I think, is that she was Peter's trainee, so I think their relationship is different because of the mentor element, I also think it helps cement a sense of personal relationship that makes us not 100% sure we can trust her and Peter.

[alienor.livejournal.com]

Oh! Good for her, but sad for us. :-(

[alienor.livejournal.com]

but the show continues to structure itself so that rationally you must doubt periodically, and are then thrust into Neal's position -- do you invest and trust or do you walk away?

Personally, I think that's one of the things that's so neat about the show - the playing with trust. I haven't seen last night's episode though (it's on the DVR).

Husband is very excited about Covert Affairs, so I'll let you know if you turns into something interesting. I'm not too thrilled about what I've seen from the previews.

[melebeth]

I wasn't thrilled with Covert Affairs, but I REALLY liked the blind guy. In fact, I liked him so much that by the end I had decided to watch future episodes just to see him... even though I know that it's going to annoy me when he falls in love with her and she's still obsessed by mystery dude. Still, he's fascinating and charming and I want to see what happens in his life.

[byzantienne.livejournal.com]

-- so you mentioned that you had an amazing curry place in London. Where, perchance, might it be?

(And my god but I need to find a stream or download of last night's White Collar. And miss having my Neal hats, I didn't bring any of them here...)

[rm.livejournal.com]

Masala on Brick Lane. Best chicken dupiaza I've had and their sag aloo is really good too.

[byzantienne.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[pandarus.livejournal.com]

Really, I think you'd be hard pushed to find a BAD curry place on Brick Lane.

Mmmm, curry...

[elainasaunt.livejournal.com]

You can stream White Collar on CastTV.com. Not great quality but this Europe-based beggar figures she can't be a chooser. If anyone hears of a place with better-quality streams, do let me know.

Maybe with FoxyProxy and a US IP address one could watch it on the USA website?

[newsbean.livejournal.com]

Check your PMs.

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

If we lived closer than we do, I'd suggest an outing to museums in our Wizarding finest, to commiserate missing Infinitus. (With fresh squash as I have an abundance of it from my garden!)

As it is, Dragon*Con is the big, away, convention we're affording this year. (We've gotten a room in the Hilton? (I think, one of the main hotels; friends booked an extra room and are letting us have it.)

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Not following Ausiello, I've no idea if Foxy's suggestion to him that he debunk the TW casting sheet has paid off yet.

Yeah, I saw a teaser-trailer for Moffat's Sherlock and thought it looked like a savvy reboot. (I was particularly pleased to see that Watson seemed to be getting a meatier bit of character-development than in the traditional versions. "You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive" actually has meaning.)

Heh at Batpug. Needs a cape, but otherwise it's a brilliant costume!

[51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com]

Nope!

But if anybody likes scooping scoopy scoops, it's that guy.

I don't really know if anything's "news" until it's cast anyway, though, and we might find out then, like we did when we found out Cush Jumbo would be Lois in CoE, and stuff like that.

[laughingacademy.livejournal.com]

Re: White Collar, I'm getting a little tired of the arrogant male super-thief in the nice loft or penthouse with the hot chick assembling an all-white jigsaw puzzle or toting the electronic planner. I think the show could use an Irene Adler and/or Catwoman.

Is not dog! Batgoblin!

[idunn.livejournal.com]

That said, despite brief moments from female characters (many of them awesome series regulars who were just here to wave and say hi in this episode) I find the relentless all-male nature of this show aggravating. Just as an aggressively gender dichotomous world is uncomfortable for me to live in, a single-gendered world is unpleasant for me to watch.

You've described how I felt about Supernatural, which was, at points, an incredible show with some good plotlines ... but then I got aggravated at a world where only skinny straight white people existed, and women only showed up to either be evil or sleep with one or the other of the protagonists and then meet a violent end. I had an easier time believing in the supernatural aspect of the show than its narrow and stereotyped view of the world.

[marcmagus]

I had no idea White Collar was back already. Thanks!

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Caught my eye on Twitter, but for the benefit of those who aren't following my account there: Star Wars: A New Hope first scene re-enacted on a NYC subway train by Improv Everywhere.

[dr-is-in.livejournal.com]

I LOVED Carnivale and was gutted when it was canceled. It needed one more season to finish out the storyline. They left us hanging so badly. It was bizarre and visually beautiful and did I mention bizarre but in that way thats fascinating? I also had fun poking fun at Bill Moseley at Dragon*Con one year for playing the somewhat creepy camp cook (a bunch of us asked him if he was Choptop's distant family).

Is it streaming on Netflix? **checks quickly** Nope, its not. Going to have to add it to the list. I am watching Spartacus thru the site right now and loving it so far. I have 3 eps of the season left and the last few have had moments that hit you from out of nowhere and I admit to crying at one of them.

Re: Moffat being on Twitter....this could go either way. It could be brilliant and fun (his current tweets are awesome). But beware if he attracts the wrath of fans over something (a la James Moran) and be driven off by people being asses to him.

[jendaby.livejournal.com]

I saw your tweets about White Collar last night and I am looking forward to seeing the episode (I will read your behind-the-cut commentary after I've seen it). I think the show is a ton of fun, and I am also very pleased that their show promotion is the reason my husband got a free Thomas Pink dress shirt last year. :)

I was a HUGE fan of Carnivale, even though they did end up rushing the ending.

[delchi.livejournal.com]

It's laser etched not hand etched. I'm good, but I'm not THAT good :)

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

after i actually read it, i was pretty sure it was fake, so for me it's 'fake until proven otherwise' not the other way round

and hey, you got links to all this new ianto fic? i'm interested

[dr-is-in.livejournal.com]

TV Guide is reporting that the casting list is true.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Kecks-Exclusives-New-1020550.aspx

[rm.livejournal.com]

Hardly a bastion of journalism. If they got it from ONTD and so forth I wouldn't be surprised.

Either way, no skin off my nose. No roles there that suit me, and when it airs, it airs. I got nothing useful to 'til then.

[dr-is-in.livejournal.com]

And considering they called it a remake and not a new season, it sounds like they don't know what they are talking about.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Bingo.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

I had no idea the new season of White Collar was starting. Huh. I guess I should get myself up to date.

I've only seen up to ep 7 and am bored with the Kate story-line. The OT3 is very cute, but it's all about the boys... which is... meh. It's very pretty no doubt.

The group dynamic is lacking.

[svollga.livejournal.com]

I wish someone dissected that stupid casting call already. Even more, I wish someone official called it fake officially. Because it's going rounds collecting RTD hatred, and I got tired of it about a year ago...

[newsbean.livejournal.com]

The first episode was certainly rocky. It almost seems as if they had planned through the first season not really expecting to be renewed and then had to scramble.

[rm.livejournal.com]

It felt that way to me too, even though to pitch you generally need a 3 season arc planned to bring to the table.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I find the relentless all-male nature of this show aggravating. Just as an aggressively gender dichotomous world is uncomfortable for me to live in, a single-gendered world is unpleasant for me to watch.

And I find it puzzling that I have that reaction so strongly to this show where the masculinity, while constant is hardly overbearing or traditional (Neal's shape is the masculine version of the hourglass; Peter loves his wife; no one would normally want to grow up to be a nebbish like Mozzie, but Mozzie is so cool), but that said there were points last night where I felt like we were seeing that hints of softness in men, good! The actual presence of women, tedious necessity!

I completely understand. I definitely enjoy White Collar (rather inspite of myself), but it & Stargate Universe (which suffers from a similar problem, which is worse in that case) are both well outside the normal range of (very carefully selected) TV that I watch, which all have many more central female characters.

[(Anonymous)]

graduate_maria

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

I signal boosted on twitter, will repeat elsewhere, right now I'm watching a pump pump water out of my house.(If it doesn't burn out, we're good.)

[lefaym.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've always thought that White Collar's biggest failing is that it doesn't pass the Bechdel Test, which necessarily means that women are consistently in roles about supporting men. This doesn't stop those women from being awesome, but there is little space for women's stories in this show.

El, as you know, probably won't be in this season as much (at least not the first half of it) becasue of Tiffani's Theissen's pregnancy, but I'm hoping that we see a lot more of June and Diana in future episodes.

(It's kind of my not-so-secret hope that after this series, Diana gets her own spinoff set in DC, where she goes around being generally awesome.)

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

I started blogging the inexplicable White Collar sausage fest and realized, "You know, I keep thinking I'm going to start AC-ing that column," and broke down and did it. I'm still bowled over with the win that was last night (with the exception of weird exposition moments I thought the whole thing was amazing), though. Seriously. They pulled that ending off in less than eight minutes! Without rushing or doing anything (too) ridiculous!

[rm.livejournal.com]

It's great writing and the Bechdel fail isn't inaccurate to the world of it. And that they even have characters like Diana and June and El! It's not wrong. It's just tiring.

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

It's certainly not the most egregious case of Bechdel Fail I've ever encountered, no. Most of the recurring women on White Collar are really complete people. It's wonderful. Just, you know, more time with them would be awesome. :)

Also, I'm really iffy on Diana. She just shows up knowing things a lot. Then again, Mozzie does the same thing. Am I being too harsh?

[rm.livejournal.com]

Well, I think the biggest issue with Diana is she was gone for my of S1 so it seems odd and we've largely forgotten she was Peter's trainee. They need to remind us of that, because that she has inside info because of her unique relationship to Peter is critical, she's not just a coworker like Jones or Cruz.

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

Right. WE know that, but we also pay really close attention to these things.

(Also, Peter and Diana fistbump love.)

[timelady.livejournal.com]

Totally seconding non-interest in Kate and the music box. Though, sadly, it looks like the music box is going to be a big thread in this season. And I really, really doubt we've seen the last of Kate. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Peter himself, though he seems genuine in wanting to hunt for Kate's killer, if he was the one who set it all up, and they actually managed to sneak Kate out through a hole in the bottom of the plane when Neal wasn't looking or something. We all know he wanted to get Kate out of Neal's life, and we can't be certain if Peter was telling the truth about that scene with Kate since the scene was from his recollection... Yeah, haven't trusted Peter from the start, sometimes he seems genuine, maybe he's doing it all with Neal's best intentions in mind, who knows. Calling it mentor, and calling in Diana who he was a mentor of hadn't occurred to me. Honestly, I was originally thinking Oversight was working with whoever taught Neal, Neal's mentor.

Enough on that, yes, the show needs more female power. And turning Diana into a villain isn't helping anything. And it is incredibly sad that they never want to put Diana and Cruz in the same episode, since I can imagine them being an awesome team together. I'm personally hoping for more of Alex.

Covert Affairs...I actually liked it. Though, like you, I mostly liked it for the blind guy. All the scenes with them together were pure gold. I mean, I'm wondering just how blind he is, considering he could see her heels. Maybe it's some sort of elaborate cover. Even if it isn't, I loved that scene with them sneaking into the medical examiner's morgue and calling the FBI questioning him sight-ist was brilliant. His whole conversation with the guys questioning him was memorable. Admittedly I didn't care much for the Matt Damon Bourne Identity movies (though the original Robert Urich ones are pretty good), and Covert Affairs has the same pace, and not much threadable story. I think I'm with the others though, swearing to watch it mainly for the blind guy.

[yendi]

The Torchwood sheet's info has been repeated by Ausiello (albeit presented as his own scoop, instead of something he found online), which means it needs debunking even more.

Argentina becomes 1st Latin American nation to legalize same-sex marriage

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

@CBSnews http://bit.ly/9EvvRd

[firefly124.livejournal.com]

Did anyone, btw, debunk that Torchwood casting sheet yet? It's fake, btw, but I don't feel like showing my math. Someone should get on that.

Someone official really should, because the media types are now reporting it as fact. Even After Elton just did. As someone pointed out, it's like the Lindsay Lohan thing all over again. You'd think after getting burned like that, they'd learn.