wait...worry...who cares?

so, for our customary midwinter gift exchange, my sister got me the 2nd season of Millennium DVD box. (i'd gotten her the first season for her birthday, you see, so she thought she was being clever. XD)

as i don't think i've gone on about my love for Millennium at length here, i will now do so---behind the handy cut below.

assuming you're already aware of this fine and overlooked TV series that started in 1996 and lasted three seasons (two of which were brilliant; one of which was absolute and unmitigated shite) and was created by the same Chris Carter of X-Files fame, let me say flat out: i thought (and still think) Millennium was a much better and more consistently engaging show than X-Files ever was.

X-Files had its moments, and there were a lot of good episodes, it's true. my sister was a huge X-Files fan, and through her i saw most of the series (up till she gave it up for lost in the last couple of seasons, and especially when Duchovny went away and the T1000 Robert Patrick stepped in). but Millennium was more consistent all around---at least, the first two seasons were. XD

Millennium, simply put, was the predecessor to Profiler, the rash of CSI variants, and the general forensic profiling pop-cultural rage, and if i may say so, was much better than any of them. for one, it didn't have characters attempting to explain aspects of their jobs to other characters on the show for no particular reason other than as a point of plot exposition because the show's writers obviously felt their audience was far too stupid to grasp it otherwise. it was the (fictional) story of forensic profiler Frank Black (played by Lance Henriksen), who had a rather cursed gift: his mind could quite readily get inside the minds of those individuals he was profiling. or, to put it in Frank's own words, "I see what the killer sees." which, while it sounds like the sort of premise that could go horribly wrong, didn't. it examined the various complications of this "gift," and the ramifications it had and continues to have on his personal and professional lives.

which, i believe, is what was so brilliant about this show. it was episodic, in one sense, but because it so skillfully intertwined the various portions of Frank's life, it was very easy to get a sense that the characters portrayed were more real, more true---and the show itself was more linear and less episodic than it actually was. it wasn't just a crime drama, and it wasn't just a family drama---it was a life drama, and not in the sense that most movies-of-the-week tend to be. critically lauded and yet reviled by some for the extreme levels of violence portrayed, it was such an interesting mix of human elements and rampant symbolism that it was fascinating to watch in a way few other shows before or since have been.

the first season focused on introducing the viewers (all two of us) to the lives of Frank Black, his wife Catherine (Meghan Gallagher) and daughter Jordan (Brittany Tiplady), his contacts in Seattle law enforcement, his flirtations with a mysterious organisation called the Millennium Group (hence the title), and acquainting us with elements of his past that had led to his family's move into the yellow house that came, as the series progressed, to signify all that is pure and good in the world. it was, perhaps, slightly episodic at the beginning, but soon built up the confidence to weave a more ongoing story. it was this that we loved about this show.

the second season focused on things built up in the first falling apart, and further exploration of various levels of refreshingly non-monochrome evil. it also introduced the brilliant character of Lara Means (played by Kristen Cloke), a forensic psychologist also being courted by the Millennium Group for possible induction, and also gifted with a dubious ability: that of seeing angels, usually as a harbinger of horrible events. it also introduced the character of Lucy Butler, which may have been the only reason to even bother with watching any of the third season. (this show could not have had better recurring characters if it tried. seriously.)

the third season, sad to say, was when the show lost the plot altogether and decided it wanted to be another X-Files, with the reintroduction of Frank into the FBI (after having a nervous breakdown after two rather key and rather stupid plot points happened at the end of the second season) and the subsequent introduction of his new partner, Emma Hollis. i generally tend to think those two key (and did i mention stupid?) plot points at the end of the second season colluded to comprise the EXACT point where the series went badly off course, but i wanted to believe it might right itself somewhere along the line...despite more Lucy Butler in the third season (and a guest appearance by Juliet Landau!), it never did.

the show died in the ignominious shadow of its rather terrible third season, but thankfully it's now in the process of being released on DVD. at first, i didn't believe it would actually be released in R1; the UK seemed to like it a lot more than the US did, so it was no surprise that it got released there relatively quickly. however, had Harsh Realm gotten released here and Millennium not, i'd have been really upset. cos, y'know, Harsh Realm is kinda crap. Millennium (or at least, the first two seasons of it) was very much not.

no wonder i'm half blind

...and no, it isn't what you think. XD

after having shotgunned all the Kushiel's Legacy books one after the other, am now at the beginning of Banewreaker, which is Jacqueline Carey's newest offering to the world of the fantastic.

i purposely avoided reading the dustjacket, after mention of its awfulness (and quotes of its awfulness) were brought up by acquaintances; i'd forgotten exactly what awfulness was involved, and didn't wish to be reminded right before reading. didn't want to taint whatever conclusions i'd come to on my own. so far, i haven't come to any with particular regard to this book, but that's mostly because i'm only about 30 pages or so in. i will say, however, that it doesn't start out with nearly as sure a tone as the Kushiel books did.

[ETA: something else i'll note, upon a bit of further reflection? of course, the more one reads of any one particular author's work, the more one is going to notice certain tropes that author seems to be saddled with. mileage will of course vary by author and fondness the one reading has for a particular author, but it seems everyone has some. it is, of course, even more evident if one reads a bunch of books by the same author in a very short time span.

my point? Ms. Carey loves the phrase "When all was said and done." also "_____ cursed with the fluency of a _______." there are others, i'm sure, but those immediately come to mind. when i come upon those phrases, it's a bit like playing Mad Libs to me. XD]

also recently picked up at the library on a whim:

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, by Ann Brashares. i mean, it involves pants. it has rules about these pants. and it reminded me way too much of both Mariam and Fi simultaneously. so i really had no choice but to pick it up, you see? XD

it was okay...i would've been much more entertained by it were i in junior high; in fact, i think i'd remember it with greater fondness and less amused chagrine than i remember many things i did read at the time, if i'd read this then. ah, memories. i see there are two more books out in this series, and perhaps at some point i'll read them to see where the pants go. not high on my list, but amusing and fluffy enough. ONE PANTS TO RULE THEM ALL, AND WITHOUT PANTS TO BIND THEM.

Tangled Threads: a Hmong Girl's Story, by Pegi Deitz Shea. (yes, the new books are located right next to the junior books in my local library, why do you ask? XD) picked this up because...who writes fiction about refugees in Thailand, anyway, Hmong or otherwise? it intrigued me. and while whoever wrote the blurb on the inside of the book jacket needs to be shot, it was not bad. a bit more simplistic than i'd have liked (yes, i know it's aimed at a certain age group, but still), but overall quite interesting, and probably enough to get some who read it more interested in reading about all topics involved. a fine gateway book into history and research, says i. XD

while reading the latter, i mused aloud about how Thailand alone amongst the southeast asian countries escaped invasion and remained a sovereign nation, and why that might be. Spaz' response? IT'S THE ELEPHANTS.

you don't want to mess with Thai elephants, yo. apart from dooming yourself to bad luck forever, they'll eat all your tapioca right off your truck, too. (can you really blame them? it's TAPIOCA, man! =9)

what definition of "rocks," exactly, are they meaning?

now spinning: "the show must go on." (the real) tuesday weld.

...in case anyone wondered what the talented and wonderful Yuka Honda was up to lately, she's apparently now in collaboration with Shinohara Tomoe (amongst others) in a band called Panikaraqs!

my worlds just keep colliding and imploding. i mean, i'm not complaining or anything, but. XD

info courtesy of the Shinorers ML. YAY SHINORERS.

wanted to be your superman, but i turned out such a jerk (long overdue rekkid reviews, vol.2!)

this may well be the shortest review i will ever write.

it will be so simply because any and all gushing i might wish to do about this album would be completely surpassed by your own were you to buy it and listen to it yourself, assuming you haven't done so already.

therefore? i will unabashedly say you should go buy Nick Cave + the Bad Seeds' Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus double album RIGHT NOW.

not later. now.

it is lovely to see that they've still got it in them, even without Blixa. and while the fifteen minute not-quite-Birthday-Party-but-should've-been "Babe, I'm On Fire" off of Nocturama was utterly BRILLIANT, and possibly the most brilliant singular moment they've ever had as a band, the rest of that album may give you pause when contemplating future Bad Seeds projects.

don't let it. it is only trying to trick you.

go get this album. if you're bothering to read this review with even the smallest glimmer of passing interest, i'm pretty certain you won't be sorry.

so tired as i go (long overdue rekkid reviews, vol.one!)

now spinning: "mama was an opium smoker." rasputina.

what can i really say about the new Handsome Boy Modeling School album? it's certainly no So...How's Your Girl?, that's for sure. which, of course, probably surprises no one (esp. since i'm writing this quite awhile after i'd meant to. par for the course for me, hee).

to be sure, White People does have some good things about it; none of which are the very unfunny skits featuring later-generation SNL castmembers doing the same unfunny sorts of things they did when they were on SNL. and to be honest, Julee Cruise + Pharrell Williams guesting on "Class System" is much more amusing in concept than actuality (though for me personally, i'd say the concept is so amusing it almost carries over into the actuality, but that's quite probably just me).

in short, however? part of what sold me on this album before i'd heard a tiny bit off it was how great So...How's Your Girl? had been. because truly, that album is nothing short of brilliant. White People, however, made me immediately go get myself the first album, because it reminded me i'd only ever borrowed it on extended loan from someone and never actually purchased it. and boy, did i positively ache for it after listening to White People, Alex Kapranos or no.

which is to say it isn't terrible, but it's really not worth more than $5 in the used bin, either. pity, as i would generally have faith in Prince Paul + Dan the Automator...