Thursday and a Fannish Dream

[nightdog_barks]

... except it wasn't any of my fandoms. Dreamed I was sitting at a picnic table in a bar with another woman and a man. "Methos," my brain said happily. "Methos, Methos, Methos." Except he didn't really look like Methos -- he looked something like a shaggier version of James May, and besides, I've never watched Highlander. Anyway, he was looking at me in that way people do sometimes when they're trying to figure out if they know you or not, and all the while my brain kept insisting "Methos!" So I'm wondering if some wires got crossed on some aethereal plane, and somewhere there's a Highlander fan who got stuck with a House dream, with James Wilson looking at them quizzically as if to say, "Well? Who are you?"

Bright sun and much cooler -- 55 degrees (12.8 Celsius) with a very light breeze out of the north. Juncos and chickadees in the backyard, scattered more corn and feed for them and the rabbits.

Watched Avatar last night and was very impressed by the special effects and worldbuilding. The story ... not so much. It really was Dances With Wolves in space and had a lot of the same problems that film had (in my opinion) -- ham-handed storytelling, with not much subtlety. One moment I did like very much was when the protagonist, Jake Sully, starts to lose his bearings as to which world is the real world -- Pandora, or his human life. I would have liked to have seen more of that -- the psychological dissonance of this double existence.

Mr. N was up at 4:15 this morning to catch the red-eye to Philadelphia. I did go back to sleep for awhile but am still a little bleh. Also read the first story in the new Stephen King, and YIKES. *g*

Comments

[fierynotes]

Thundersmurfs!

Yeah, the story was kinda terrible. And it could have been amazing, in better hands.

[nightdog_barks]

And it could have been amazing, in better hands.

Heh, I actually meant to say that and forgot. Absolutely -- it would have been fascinating to see what someone like Guillermo del Toro could've done with this, or Frank Darabont. Or hell, even give it to Robert Zemeckis. Why not? *g*

[l_eremita]

At last! Someone who feels the same way I do about Dances With Wolves! *hugs you*

But I do love Methos. He was my favourite thing about Highlander. In fact, I only watched the episodes with him in them <3

Stephen King is definitely "yikes". I don't read his books anymore because they really get under my skin -- it's the way he describes the horrors of "real life" that get to me, not even the scary stuff...

[nightdog_barks]

Heh. Dances With Wolves should've been called Dances With Anvils, I think.

[hannah]

I left the theater disappointed I didn't get a movie where the human got a ten-foot-tall blue alien girlfriend without having to be a ten-foot-tall blue alien himself. She could've given him piggy-back rides. That, or a movie about a paraplegic living in space where all four limbs aren't needed to move around in a three-dimensional environment who would have trouble adjusting to a two-dimensional planet-based navigation system.

[nightdog_barks]

I knew a lot about Avatar before watching it, but one thing I didn't know was that all the Na'vi were twelve feet tall. I told Mr. N it was like seeing a bunch of NBA stars painted blue.

That, or a movie about a paraplegic living in space where all four limbs aren't needed to move around in a three-dimensional environment who would have trouble adjusting to a two-dimensional planet-based navigation system.

Now that sounds like a REALLY interesting idea!

[hannah]

With tails. Don't forget the tails. And that alone could've done so much for Na'vi body language, but no, James Cameron wanted giant blue tits.

There's something like that in the Miles Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold: "quaddies" are genetically engineered humans designed for zero-G environments that have a second set of arms instead of legs. You'd like them - the main character is physically very weak and fragile, so he has to think and improvise his way out of problems.

As it is, a crippled character in zero-g space...any chance of that bunny attaching itself anywhere?

[nightdog_barks]

... but no, James Cameron wanted giant blue tits.

LOL! Although I do think they got some nice effects with the ears, it seemed as if once they'd decided to use the tails as ... er ... plug-ins, any other use of them for body language got tossed out the window.

... any chance of that bunny attaching itself anywhere?

You never know. :-D

Sigh. Edit for tag fail.

[hannah]

It was the hair queues that were the plug-ins, not the extra limbs. Which were, for the most part, just kind of there, not even really used to balance. Sigh.

A certain space-going haemavore would also have a cane for extra leverage and navigation. Push off a wall, pull himself around a corner...

[nightdog_barks]

Gah, you're right. Which actually would have been more interesting, when Sully was rejected by the tribe, if they'd threatened to cut off that hair queue.

[hannah]

I think it was some sort of central nervous system extension - a big, huge brain jack. Which the Na'vi use in...intimate moments. Which makes the bit where he plugs into other animals just that much more creepy if you think about it.

[pwcorgigirl]

My guys saw Avatar in the the theatre, and they were rather unimpressed because there's really nothing new about the plot.

That is funny about you getting the wrong dream. And we were awake at the same time! Even though he was not on call, the Big Giant Corporation's support unit in India decided to call Corgiguy to fix their code. Of course, when the phone rings at 3:15 a.m., I'm instantly heart-pounding awake because I'm certain someone's calling to tell me bad news about Mom. It was not a fun way to start the day.

[nightdog_barks]

Well, I was prepared to cut the movie some slack because the first part really is amazing, but then the deeper it goes the more hackneyed the plot gets. It's like they took all these incredible A++ effects and threw in this grade-C potboiler. As fierynotes said, it could have been a terrific movie, but jeez they really took the easy way out with the plot.

It was totally the wrong dream for me! *g* And heh, it's REALLY DARK that time of the morning, isn't it?

[pwcorgigirl]

"Pitch-black" was coined for 3:15 a.m. :D

Did you see this book excerpt on NPR?

http://www.npr.org/2010/11/17/131382460/an-oncologist-writes-a-biography-of-cancer?ps=cprs

It sounds like a truly excellent book, and I especially liked his explanation of what a fellowship is really like.

[nightdog_barks]

I've seen that book mentioned in the NY Times, but I hadn't read any reviews or excerpts. That is a great description of being a fellow. Very interesting, hm.

[taiga13]

I once had a vivid dream about The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a show I've never watched one minute of.
I haven't seen Avatar. I figured I've already watched Dances With Wolves and that covered the subject.

[nightdog_barks]

I once had a vivid dream about The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a show I've never watched one minute of.

Isn't that just bizarre? I've never seen a single episode of Highlander. I knew enough about it to know there's a character named Methos, but that's it.

I figured I've already watched Dances With Wolves and that covered the subject.

Trust me, it does. *g*

[taiga13]

I just watched On The Beach</> on TV, I'm fond of both the book and the film. Even if we are expected to believe that all Australians and Englishmen speak with American accents.

[nightdog_barks]

And I just watched the ending of On the Beach! You must get Turner Classic Movies! :-D

Even if we are expected to believe that all Australians and Englishmen speak with American accents.

Hugh Laurie does. Doesn't that mean they all do? *g*

[taiga13]

But he's an Englishman playing an American, these were Americans playing Australians and Englishmen! It's a small quibble, I suppose.
Turner Classic Movies? That must be what I saw then, they were playing another Ava Gardner movie after it.

[nightdog_barks]

Yep, it must be Gardner's birthday or something -- that's usually why TCM runs 2 or 3 movies in a row with a specific star. This is something about the Spanish Civil War, but I'm afraid it's just about bedtime for me. *g*

[silverjackal]

Heh. I know you're not familiar with the canon, but appearing in your dream inexplicably as someone else would be right up Methos' alley. He's one devious, tricky, subtle old man. :)

[nightdog_barks]

Ha! I very much like that.

:-D

[silverjackal]

Methos (and the historical vignettes) were my favorite things about Highlander. (Ignore all the movies but the first by the way. They are shite of the highest order -- the makers evidently think the fans are idiots who will swallow anything. The show -- certain inevitable plotting problems aside -- was good.)

[bethctg]

Hee! I love that you dreamed about something you've never seen. And could you please send James May to MY DREAMS??

Stephen King! About time for a good new anthology. *weighs methods of acquisition ... library? purchase? ...*

[nightdog_barks]

Ha, if James May shows up in a dream, I'M KEEPING HIM!

:-D

Sadly, there are only four stories in King's new anthology. But -- they are fairly substantial, so that's good. I will say that the first story features rats, dead bodies, and dirt, so READER BEWARE. *g*

[bethctg]

Aw, man, Nightdog, you are being GREEDY! ;p

I am all for rats, dead bodies and dirt. *nods* Gotta check it out. *g*