Monday, 19 October 2009: Fall and fantasy

On Saturday, 17 October 2009, Janice and I had considered going to a local pancake
breakfast or up to Salem, Massachusetts, for the pre-Halloween festivities. However, our plans were derailed when Janice noticed our water heater leaking, almost four years to the
day after the basement of our previous apartment flooded. Fortunately, only a few cardboard boxes were damaged this time, and our oil provider sent someone to repair the leak fairly quickly.

Instead of going down to Dedham and Norwood, Janice and I drove out to Framingham,
Mass., for a late lunch at Olive Garden. We then met Beruk A. and Thomas K.Y. to screen Where the Wild Things Are. The loose adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s classic book had convincing visual effects and good acting, but the movie probably had too much emotional depth for most children and wasn’t really marketed as being for adults. Of the previews we saw, only Roald Dahl’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox intrigued me.

Yesterday’s early snowfall enabled me to clean up my basement and catch up on recorded

genre television. Among other things, I watched The Quest for King Arthur, a good History Channel International documentary on one of my favorite sets of legends.

As I write up notes for last night’s Pathfinder: “Holy Steel” teleconferencing game and prepare for tonight’s D&D4e “Vanished Lands: the Faith-Based Initiative” role-playing session, it’s interesting to note that sword-and-sorcery fantasy isn’t well-represented on TV right now.

Despite cast changes and melodramatic rather than swashbuckling storylines, BBC
America’s Robin Hood has been good in its third (and presumably final) series. The addition of Friar Tuck, more focus on Robin’s political role as a Saxon rebel, and slightly fewer anachronisms have made this the lead historical fantasy on the air right now.

Fans of Hercules: the Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess can look
forward to Strarz’s sword-and-sandals Spartacus, coming later this autumn, as well as the return of the syndicated Legend of the Seeker, which Buffy/Angel alumna Charisma Carpenter will be joining.

Despite the latest wave of adolescent vampire romances, I’m still hoping that the relatively
cheap computer backdrops used in Sanctuary (which just returned) can enable high-quality literary adaptations or original heroic fantasy to be brought to TV. I’ll try to report more on my second takes of the current TV season later this week.

15 October 2009: Thanks for all the wishes

Thanks
to all who sent birthday wishes. While its not as big a deal as last year's
40th birthday bash in New York, I appreciate being remembered. On Wednesday, 14
October 2009, my superiors Lauren H. and Margie S. surprised me and co-workers
Pat O. and Steve C. with pastries from Keltic Krust bakery in Newton, Massachusetts.
Today, I had lunch with Pat at our cafeteria, and fellow CW alumnus Craig S.
started working at TT.

In
addition to e-cards and Facebook posts, I've received a few books, DVDs, and other
gifts. Tonight, Janice and I plan to go to Fuji, a Japanese steakhouse here in
Needham, Mass., and she baked a chocolate cake. This coming weekend, we'll meet Thomas K.Y. and Beruk A. for Where the Wild Things Are.

Coming soon: Second
takes on the new TV season

6 October 2009: Weekend update Part 2: Documentaries and SF

Among
other things, I caught up on recorded and broadcast television this past
weekend. It's easy for critics of any art or media to become jaded, but I try
to watch for things I'll enjoy, including the occasional documentary.

Ken
Burns' The National Parks: America's Best
Idea on PBS provided insight into the evolution of U.S. policy setting aside land
for tourism, ecological protection, and historical preservation. I wasn't fully
aware of the controversies among environmentalists, those who used the land for
things such as lumber or ranching, and people who explored natural and
historical sites. I'm not the outdoorsman that friends such as Steve M. are,
but I still appreciate the challenges facing our country.

I'm
glad that naturalists, government officials (including both Presidents
Roosevelt), and ordinary citizens came together to set aside territory for the
benefit of future generations, despite the ever-increasing degradation of our
biosphere by human activity. Burns' documentary could have been paced better
and rhapsodized natural vistas without giving enough representation to both
sides of various debates, but I'd still recommend this miniseries.

On
VH1 Classic, I watched the long-awaited Anvil!
the Story of Anvil, which chronicled the 30-year struggle of a heavy metal
band to attain commercial success after initial popularity and artistic
acclaim. There were uncomfortable moments that reminded me of the parody This Is Spinal Tap or the psychodrama of
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, but
this documentary showed that bad agents, personality quirks, and the fact that
only a small percentage of performers (artistic, athletic, or otherwise) are
able to achieve their goals.

The Anvil
profile was followed by the season premiere of That Metal Show, and I caught Tenacious
D and the Pick of Destiny on Sunday. I only mention the Jack Black mash note
to the musical subgenre because I've used a wallpaper for his upcoming game, Brutal Legend, for this blog post.

As
previously noted, Thomas K.Y., Beruk A., and I didn't screen the new Bruce
Willis action flick Surrogates
because of numerous mixed reviews. The previews for the science fiction film
reminded me of the bastardization of Isaac Asimov's I, Robot starring Will Smith from a few years ago.

Still,
the concepts brought up by the cyberpunk movie (and its graphic novel source)
intrigued me enough that I may eventually try to catch it on video or cable. As
with the Terminator franchise, fears
of technology embodied by killer robots remain as timely as ever. Of course,
speculative fiction has had as many bad assumptions and adaptations as good
ones.

Coming soon: Cartoons!