Bearshorty's musings

I had to wake up early this Saturday, which is a travesty, because Mama wanted to go to farmer’s market bright and early. And to do some chores like getting a new cable remote. Farmer’s market was really nice. All these delicious vegetables just asking to be eaten. And pretty cheap too. We got a lot of stuff for $30.

( Highlander S5 E5,6 )

I have a slight cold, mostly it feels like someone is trying to claw its way from the inside of my throat. Next week is full of appointments with friends I don’t want to miss it so this timing sucks and I hope that it would just go away or at least allow me to feel up to socializing.

I went up to school this morning to prepare for my teaching on Friday. I always like to come in earlier in the week in case the photocopy machine decides to misbehave. And good thing I did, because the department printer was out of toner and I needed to use the administrator’s one. I made copies of my syllabi and the writing samples and the homework for the Goodall reading assignment I will give my students. I also filled out my office hours form. They moved offices this year from the large communal room to smaller upstairs offices. I actually preferred the large room because you could always interact with other instructors there. Ah, well. I’ll adjust.

Since I was on campus, I also wanted to check out my classroom before my actual first day (I always like to do this). That way I can actually find them and not get lost for my own classes on the first day and I can get a feel for the room. Good thing I did too, since the campus is doing stupid dining hall construction right in the middle and they blocked the most direct way from one of my classrooms to the other. So I tried to find the way around for a while in several ways before I picked up a new and improved campus map that showed a parking lot that I could cross. I have 20 minutes between classes and instead of the usual 5 it would have taken to switch between them, it will now be a 10 minute walk. I timed it. I’m not looking forward to snow. On the bright side, they were giving out free university T-shirts. Go, free stuff.

( Highlander S5 E1,2 )

It is officially the end of combat in Iraq, not that our troops will ever leave. After all, we are still in Germany.

I got up at 6:20 this morning to make breakfast for my Dad who just had to bitch about the thickness of his oatmeal later. Next time, I’ll just sleep in.

I had Work Orientation today, so I had to go up to campus. There is no new book this year, like we were promised. But I’m so tired of the articles I taught in the last few years, so I’m going to pick new stuff anyway. It might be more work for me to come up with new assignments but I really need something new. It was nice to see many familiar faces but I got a bit melancholy too. Work friends are very different from normal friends, it is sad sometimes.

I went to the library to pick up Stephen Fry’s “Moab is My Washpot.” It has been waiting on hold for me. The prose sounds just like him. It is really funny. I’m actually really happy to be reading a real book and not just stuff on the internet. Lately few books were exciting, so I’m happy to be reading again.

Highlander “Till Death” This episode is hysterical. I saw it before, when I was in Season 2 and now I get to watch it in context. Valicourts and their kinky sex games with swords and rape fantasies. Methos and Duncan living together and acting very married themselves. Fitz and Duncan both trying to win over Gina and being very silly. I had a grin on through the whole episode, I just adore it.

“Burn Notice” summer finale. These last two episodes felt like a filler for a pretty good season until now. The balance between main and episodic storylines felt off. I really like the addition of Jesse to the team this season, so that part is good. But the Main Bad Guy doesn’t seem that bad, plus he is dead pretty quickly. Michael getting shot is not much of a cliffhanger since we all know he will live. He is a main character after all. New episodes will return in November – so it is a pretty short break. Michael asking the client’s dad to get a submarine was really funny. Still, this episode would have been better if they focused more on ongoing storyline and not on episode-job story. Fi and Michael talking like grown-ups is always welcome on TV. She tells him about the stake-out kiss with Jesse and they talk it out reasonably. I appreciate it.

“The Wedding Banquet” The DVD was a bit weird in that you had to set subtitles in very beginning, not in DVD player itself. I saw this movie a very long time ago, maybe even in high school. It is even more adorable now. The scene where the father tells Simon that he is his son too is always so wonderful and moving. And at the end where he thanks him for taking care of his son. Aw.

Highlander .“The Immortal Cimoli” “Through the Glass, Darkly” I like both episodes again. This season is rolling. It is hard to take Crispin Bonham-Carter seriously and this role really suited him. The second episode was obviously more dramatic, and knowing what will happen later with Duncan and Richie, really show future Duncan’s state of mind too. And the flashbacks are nice since for the first time we see they are from a person’s point of view. I really need to see actual movie “Roshomon” since lately I watching so much TV that refers to it.

Netflix is being super cool. Because “The Wedding Banquet” wasn’t available in local shipping center they are sending it from another place. Meanwhile, they sent an extra movie. That is nice of them. I love “The Wedding Banquet’ and I wanted to rewatch it and was a bit sad not to get it this week. So yay!

Highlander “Something Wicked” and “Deliverance” Really a two parter. How do you know if your good character turns evil - he gets an earring (somewhere in the middle of the ocean too) and wears black. Very good two-parter too. Duncan was very gleeful when he was about to kill Richie. Good thing Joe was actually doing his job and witnessed the earlier quickening. Methos is just the perfect person to help Mac. Definitely the ‘best of friends.’ Mac didn’t kill Sean until he saw Methos, though.

We went to Brooklyn this morning and ended up staying for a while. We stopped by Brighton first in a repair shot since our vacuum needed some repair. Since it would take a few hours, we had time to kill. We went to visit my grandparents and ended up watching a tv program on Russian tv about a Russian composer who died at 50.

I filled out the day planner I got in Minsk. Every single school child in former Soviet Union uses this type of planner, where they record homework and grades and where parents need to sign every week. (One time I really didn’t want my parents to see a note about a refusal of dental appointment at school, so I sneakily made my grandfather sign it. Mama found out about it six month later when she was looking through the planner, but she did not get mad about it.) When picturing days of the week I still think Mon-Wed, Thur-Sat like the planner shows on its pages. So I bought one in Minsk and that is what I will use this school year. It is very patriotic toward Belarus too.

Mama and I were cleaning out the room downstairs in preparation for Papa’s medical stuff. Lots of going up and down the stairs.

I was going to watch “Invictus” but I really really hate having to be forced to sit thought more than 10 minutes of previews with no way to get to the main menu. It is fracking annoying. I let it run in the background but really it is ridiculous. So I didn’t watch the movie today.

Creative Arts Emmys were today. Mia Michaels got an emmy for her choreography last year. Definitely deserved.

Highlander “Wrath of Kali” and “Chivalry” Methos gets the best lines.

I like the ideas of morality and how you really come out of your time and place that this show addresses – but also need to change and adapt that Methos talks about. Both episodes seem to talk about these themes.

I’ve seen “Chivalry” before, it was one of the earlier episodes I checked out when I was slugging through Season One and Two and wanted to see some Methos. And it is fun as many times as I see it. Their flirting and house painting and the fight – just wonderful.


Burn Notice S4E11 That last moment between Fi and Jessi was really tense, I didn’t think he would actually shoot her but there was a nugget of doubt. I got so used to watching this show OnDemand that watching it with regular commercial seems so tedious.

Finally got the teaching contract today. We get a pay raise. Yay.

Highlander. “Double Eagle” and “Reunion” I like Anne much better now that she and Duncan are just friends. “Double Eagle” was ridiculously funny. Amanda torturing Richie and getting information out of him, Duncan trying to keep Amanda and Kit apart – pure comedy. I think I was laughing at every moment. “Reunion” was great for Amanda character moments.

“Daybreakers” This was one terrible movie, which is disappointing because the concept was very interesting. I would have liked the movie better if there wasn’t a plot device to turn vampires back into humans. Also, seeing ‘plot twists’ miles away does not a good movie make.

For some reason, the 12th of this summer stand out. In June, it was the musical or actually I remember most the night before, sleepy on the train with Bear’s amused face looking down at me. In July, it was the hospital waiting room. And now, just marking time.

“A Family Wedding” Wow, it is not funny and offensive movie. And the jokes are very very stupid and badly telegraphed. And who wouldn’t know Spanish curse words? This movie is really a waste of time.

( Highlander S3 E20,21 )

SYTYCD. Finale. Lauren won! I do feel a little bit bad for Kent. But in this season, so heavily focused on boys, having a girl outlast them all and win is just wonderful. And it was fun to see so many good routines of the season.

Highlander. “Blind Faith” and Kalas arc. Four episodes up to “Methos”. Finally.

“Blind Faith” was interesting conceptually, since the question of redemption is well raised. Can a person really change and is that enough to atone for past crimes. Duncan is always a judgmental sort – that is how plays the Game, only killing those he thinks deserve it. And in this case he personally witnessed horrible things this guy did – not of innate cruelty but because he only cared for money and did not regard humans as anything. Because it was personal for Mac, it is harder for him to walk away. Because it wasn’t personal for Joe, it is easier for him to cast judgment. The situation will be reversed in Horseman arc a bit. There, because Joe knows Methos and it all happened so long ago, Joe is much more willing to believe in redemption and possibility of genuine change. For Mac, knowing and loving people on both sides of the situation really tears at him. While he is very judgmental of Methos, he doesn’t want to kill him, he just ends their friendship (or at least tries too). In”Blind Faith” the circumstances around redemption are different, but Mac does learn that he can’t bring himself to kill the guy he used to hate. He does want to believe that people can be better. I think that ethical questions with no right or wrong answer is what makes this show really stand out.

Kalas arc – part 1. Three episodes. Kalas arc was really well done. Yes, Kalas is evil and all and was taking advantage of Holy Ground Monastery. But it is not like he really cheated, he did fight the guys fairly enough. Mac is a bit self righteous there. And Kalas does have a very genuine grudge against Mac, since Duncan took away his one gift, his ability to sing. No wonder he is bitter. Kalas’ evilness comes from trying to hurt Mac through people he is closest to, people he loves. He tries to set up Anne and Joe and later Fitz, whom he kills in a real combat (so at least that was fair). But, of course, in trying to hunt Mac and taking away Fitz, he also leads Mac to Methos – so Kalas serves a very great narrative push there. Kalas is also a great nemesis for Mac and his later storyline works really well too. There is a sense that Mac can lose, or he at least makes Mac suffer. (I’m ignoring Richie’s racing storyline, since that is the only boring part of the Kalas episodes). And, of course, we finally get to Methos, which is very much a plus for me. And I like when the show moves to Paris.

Highlander “Blackmail.” The lawyer was very skivvy in this episode, and the show got him appropriately killed for being an idiot who thought way too much of himself. Duncan and Joe on the stake out was pretty funny. Why don’t the watchers use cameras?

Today I fell on my butt rollerblading in the parking lot. I don’t know how it happened – I didn’t really trip, I overbalanced somehow. I usually fall forward, on rare occasions I fall. But this time I knew I was falling backwards. It is a good thing I learned how to fall properly in my karate class in college, so I mainly just sat on my butt. A few people in the parking lot did ask if I was OK, which was nice of them. I just felt a bit silly to fall on a flat surface apropos of nothing.