Update and "Firefly" spoilers.
Dec. 2nd, 2006 01:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nolawitch58Work is swell. I'm settling in fine. There's a lot to do and I keep busy to the point of avoiding my computer when I get home.
The Monday before Thanksgiving, I met up with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
willowdragon and soaringoak. We had dinner and great conversation at the Gumbo Shop. Because none of us are spring chickens anymore and they had been on their feet sightseeing all day, we didn't go anywhere else afterward. I wish I had more time to spend with them, but I'm really grateful to have a new job that exhausts me.
The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I made pumpkin pies. Thanksgiving day was weird. We went to my mother-in-law's, buthmc_lavadogs's sister and brother-in-law had to fly to Florida to take care of their daughter who had been bitten by a spider. There were fewer of us, but we enjoyed the food and football. The rest of the long weekend was taken up by resting and watching the boxed set of "Firefly" that lab_rattus loaned us.
It's obvious why that series was cancelled. The series was too smart to attract a wide audience. The characters are well-written. Captain Mal is disdainful of religion even though he accepted Shepherd Book as one of the crew promoted from passenger. Zoe is a strong woman, believable as an army veteran. Each character has a uniqueness that transcends the archetype he or she is slotted to fill.
I can see why "Heart of Gold" never aired. The chief asshole representing so-called decent society gets his comeuppance from prostitutes and outlaws. The bullet to his head doesn't reinforce the conservative status quo where women are treated as property and men, especially those in power, can steal their infant sons from the whores that birth them.
The social structure of millions of people scattered throughout the galaxy, living hardscrabble lives on terraformed moons and planets, was both familiar and odd. The "Firefly" future was devoid of foreign creatures and sentient aliens. Those humans of the future hadn't learned the lessons of the past. They greedily moved out into space to accomodate their burgeoning numbers rather than curb their breeding and be good stewards of this planet. The Alliance was exactly the kind of authoritarian and fascistic style of government that would be needed to control such huge and disparate populations.
Mal and Zoe fought for the wrong side in the war: the losers. Aside from the hot potatoes of Simon and River, that fact was enough to make them want to avoid the Alliance whenever possible. Their smuggling operations also put them outside the law. I kept thinking how much like pirates they were. Not classic pirates as seen from the establishment side, but the type of people who disdain the phoney social contracts of the status quo.
All we have left to watch are the extra features and outtakes. I'm sorry "Firefly" didn't get renewed. In some ways it was better than "Star Trek" in its dim view of a dystopic future. I have every confidence that Joss Whedon will produce quality work in the future.
Ah well, back to the housecleaning grind. I've got class here tomorrow, then the writers' group is meeting here for the month of December since Barnes and Noble can't accomodate us due to the holiday shopping. Let them have their shopping frenzies and we can sit comfortbably on my couches and critique our stories.
The Monday before Thanksgiving, I met up with
willowdragon and soaringoak. We had dinner and great conversation at the Gumbo Shop. Because none of us are spring chickens anymore and they had been on their feet sightseeing all day, we didn't go anywhere else afterward. I wish I had more time to spend with them, but I'm really grateful to have a new job that exhausts me.The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I made pumpkin pies. Thanksgiving day was weird. We went to my mother-in-law's, but
hmc_lavadogs's sister and brother-in-law had to fly to Florida to take care of their daughter who had been bitten by a spider. There were fewer of us, but we enjoyed the food and football. The rest of the long weekend was taken up by resting and watching the boxed set of "Firefly" that lab_rattus loaned us.It's obvious why that series was cancelled. The series was too smart to attract a wide audience. The characters are well-written. Captain Mal is disdainful of religion even though he accepted Shepherd Book as one of the crew promoted from passenger. Zoe is a strong woman, believable as an army veteran. Each character has a uniqueness that transcends the archetype he or she is slotted to fill.
I can see why "Heart of Gold" never aired. The chief asshole representing so-called decent society gets his comeuppance from prostitutes and outlaws. The bullet to his head doesn't reinforce the conservative status quo where women are treated as property and men, especially those in power, can steal their infant sons from the whores that birth them.
The social structure of millions of people scattered throughout the galaxy, living hardscrabble lives on terraformed moons and planets, was both familiar and odd. The "Firefly" future was devoid of foreign creatures and sentient aliens. Those humans of the future hadn't learned the lessons of the past. They greedily moved out into space to accomodate their burgeoning numbers rather than curb their breeding and be good stewards of this planet. The Alliance was exactly the kind of authoritarian and fascistic style of government that would be needed to control such huge and disparate populations.
Mal and Zoe fought for the wrong side in the war: the losers. Aside from the hot potatoes of Simon and River, that fact was enough to make them want to avoid the Alliance whenever possible. Their smuggling operations also put them outside the law. I kept thinking how much like pirates they were. Not classic pirates as seen from the establishment side, but the type of people who disdain the phoney social contracts of the status quo.
All we have left to watch are the extra features and outtakes. I'm sorry "Firefly" didn't get renewed. In some ways it was better than "Star Trek" in its dim view of a dystopic future. I have every confidence that Joss Whedon will produce quality work in the future.
Ah well, back to the housecleaning grind. I've got class here tomorrow, then the writers' group is meeting here for the month of December since Barnes and Noble can't accomodate us due to the holiday shopping. Let them have their shopping frenzies and we can sit comfortbably on my couches and critique our stories.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-12-02 08:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-02 10:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-02 11:21 pm (UTC)Aww..that's too bad. That's like reading the ending of the book first. :(
Some of those outtakes and things are really good. You'll enjoy 'em. :)
no subject
Date: 2006-12-03 03:14 am (UTC)I feel hunger for more. It was like eating a bag of those oh-so-light potato chips. The tastiness creates a craving for more.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-03 09:42 am (UTC)btw, there's a site which does webcomics based in the Firefly universe.
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/serenitytales/index.php
Bill Mudron did one called The Black which is very good. There's a bunch of others as well. It's the best I can do for your withdrawals. ;)
no subject
Date: 2006-12-02 09:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-02 09:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-02 10:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-03 12:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-03 01:11 am (UTC)See the series first, THEN the movie. :)
4 discs for the series, about 14 episodes I think, plus a bunch of great featurettes.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-03 03:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-03 10:00 pm (UTC)Yes, you're right, and this is why Hubby and I curl up together with popcorn each Sunday night and watch "Dexter". It's our "datenight"!;p
But yeah, it sounds worth renting for a few days, thanks.