RAM #1: Supernatural Dancing at the World's End with Henry

Figured I'd flesh out my more coherent, thoroughly researched posts with a few random thoughts that might merit further exploration at some future date. Random-Access Memories, if you will - you probably won't. But if that's the case, just nod and smile benignly.

• I finally finished The World Ends With You for DS. At first I was weirded out by the shameless Japaneseness of the game - there was statue-polishing and evil frogs involved - but this has got to be one of the best video games I have ever played on the DS. It's inspiring a new entry here, methinks - one about the DS games I've managed to root out of the endless pile of "Pony Princess" and "Penguin Olympics" kiddy sort of crud that seems to come part and parcel with this system. There are good DS games - they're just really hard to get a hold of.

• I watched Regarding Henry last night, and though it's nowhere near the epitome of Harrison Ford movies, it wasn't as bad as some things I've read made it out to be. Basically this jerk lawyer gets brain damage and learns to be a better person. It had the potential to be sickly sweet, and I'm glad it never went there. And bonus - Harrison Ford has nice hair in this movie. This coming from a smitten fangirl, but meh. Check another off the list of "Harrison Ford Movies To See."

• I also interrupted watching of said movie to skulk out Dancing With The Stars. Yeah, I'm really drawing from the bottom of the barrel here - but thankfully, it's the last week, and the dancing is actually quite good. Can't say, however, that those freestyle dances were anywhere near the quality of those I've seen in the past - Shawn Johnson's is still my favourite:

• And I've finally managed to acquire Supernatural Season 4 for a reasonable price, so I'm happy to say the Jensen Ackles drought has ended. There's never anything good on Peasantvision these days. Anyway, I'm up to episode 11, and eager to keep watching (though the Goddy stuff is a bit of a turnoff for me), so I'm a gonna go do that now.

#5: The Chosen One (Part 2)

On with the show – Seasons 4-7. 

If you missed out on Part 1, do read it here.

Season 4: Random and Restless

Buffy: “You know what? I think you don’t want us to let you go. Maybe we made it too comfy here.”
Spike: “Comfy? Do I look comfy? I’m chained in a bathtub drinking pig’s blood from a novelty mug. Doesn’t rate huge in the Zagat’s guide.”
– “Something Blue”

High school is over and done – a smoking ruin on the Sunnydale horizon. Buffy (and most of her friends) have moved on – either to university, or (in Angel, Cordelia, and Wesley’s case) L.A. Everyone feels a little lost and out of place, suffering from all sorts of things: loneliness, overbearing roommates, behaviour-modification chips… the list goes on. On the plus side, Buffy gets a new boyfriend in nice-but-boring-Iowa-farmboy Riley Finn, Willow gets a new girlfriend in nice-but-quiet-albeit-not-too-boring-witchy-woman Tara Maclay, and Xander and Anya’s relationship finally becomes more than just the love/hate variety. But demons and vampires are still running amok, and – for some unknown reason – being hunted down by military commandos working out of an underground base, which houses a nasty new experiment…

#4: The Chosen One (Part 1)

Giles: “As long as there have been vampires, there has been the Slayer. One girl in all the world – ”
Buffy: “He loves doing this part.”
Giles: [speeding up] “All right: They hunt vampires, one Slayer dies, the next is called, Buffy is the Slayer, don’t tell anyone. I think that’s all the vampire information you need.”
– Breaking it down for Willow and Xander, “The Harvest”

I usually start these things by saying how underqualified I am to write them. This is no exception: I was not, nor probably ever will be enamoured with vampires – I enjoy the fantasy element, and that’s about it. Nor was I such a rabid fan of this show when it was still on TV – my mom gave me the choice of watching either it or Xena, and since Xena was about as fantastical a show as you could get at the time, naturally I went for the leather, over-the-top swordfighting, and that earsplitting scream. Though I don’t fully regret that choice – nostalgia has a high value – yet another Boxing Day splurge has taught me to never judge a book by its cover. Or a TV show by its title.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer isn’t the campy-horror-hokum its name suggests. It is, however, one of the best damned (ha ha) TV shows you ever will see. Its humour and wit rivals that of M*A*S*H (which I believe to be the best-written TV show ever – and I don’t make superlatives lightly), and its suspense and drama can compare to the best of the silver screen. It may even have surpassed Charmed as my favourite TV show (though the jury’s still out on that one – I don’t make favourites lightly either). In short, this story of a supernaturally gifted teenage girl and her lovable, oddball friends is brilliant, one-of-a-kind, humourous, heartwrenching, and not-to-be-missed.