RAM #2: Summerfling

Been a while, eh? Can’t say I’ve been overwhelmingly busy, but something always draws me away from the computer in the summer months. Case in point:

So far Season 2 is surpassing Season 1. I'm happy.

I’m catching up on the Being Erica episodes I missed last fall due to Season 6 of So You Think You Can Dance. I really like the whole philosophical attitude of this show and how applicable it is to real life. And though I don’t relate to the urban Eastern Canada vibe it has, I definitely get the regret and lack of fulfillment. Season 2 is even better than its predecessor: I like seeing the ever-expanding world of the time-travelling psychiatrist. Or is it psychologist? I always get those screwed up. Anyway, happy I’m seeing it finally… and mmm, Kai is cute. A prig, but cute. And I am still jealous of Erin Karpluk’s hair.

SYTYCD Season 7's Top 11. 

Speaking of So You Think You Can Dance: I quite enjoyed this summer’s Season 7. I had my doubts about mixing a Top 11 (instead of a Top 20) with a bevy of “All-Stars” (popular dancers from past seasons) – it seemed too much like Dancing With The Stars – but I needn’t have worried. The majority of the dancing was high-quality entertainment and a pleasure to watch. In previous seasons I’ve been able to pick out a favourite dance, but this year I really couldn’t narrow it down that far: Collide (Lauren & Kent), Mad World (Billy & Ade), Fix You (Robert & Allison), and Outta Your Mind (Alex & Twitch) were all amazing, and there were even more standouts (my mind is just drawing a blank right now). And YAY – I got to see my very favourite SYTYCD dancer ever again – Neil Haskell. Alas, no random Wookie noises, but the eye candy still got moves. Now if only they’d invite the winners of SYTYCD Canada down for a finale (they’ve had guests from the Australian and British shows – and the Canadian show has been around LONGER than the British show, for crying out loud) – put Neil Haskell and Nico Archambault in a Wade Robson number and I’ll be in heaven.

SYTYCD Canada's Season 3 Top 22. Very M. Night Shyamalan with all that red.

Which brings me to SYTYCD Canada – I just finished watching the second results show of Season 3. It’s hard to pick favourites at this point in the game (and hey, nobody is ever topping Nico), but so far I’m liking what I’m seeing from Jara, Mackenzie, Jeff, and Denys. No word on the girls yet, but I hardly ever pay attention to them. I was a bit pissed that Shelaina beat Jenny Dailey into the Top 22, so – though I don’t wish injury on other people – I was happy that Shelaina didn’t make it any further. If you saw what she did at the Season 2 auditions, you’d understand. Had she stayed, she would have become this season’s Emanuel or Izaak. Right now that undesirable title is resting on Shevar.

Enough SYTYCD. Praytell, what else did I do this summer that was worthwhile? Well, I milked my library card for all it was worth. And several billion knitting books aside (BTW, I’m loving Debbie Stoller’s Stitch & Bitch series), I’m also dabbling in the land of graphic novels. Yes, indeedy. Baby steps, though. I’m sticking to what I know – namely the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibuses & Season 8 collections, and Marvel’s rendering of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. They’re both nice ways to keep things I though were long gone chugging along in my mind. Like Charlie the Choo Choo. Evil evil train. Anyway, if you’re familiar with the subject matter – heck, even if you’re not – they’re worth checking out.

I'm so not gleeful about this.

What else, what else… Back on the TV thing – I’m trying to like Glee. Really. Honestly. I’ve seen two episodes (the pilot and the one Joss Whedon directed), and a few bits of others… and I just can’t get into it. I don’t know if it’s because it’s the implausibility (the random bursting into song doesn’t work outside a ‘50s musical, when you think about it… unless you’re Baz Luhrmann or Joss Whedon doing his own thing), or it’s the remake factor (I hate when people remake songs – it almost always turns out badly, and then people who haven’t heard the far superior original are clueless to the badness), or the popularity (I’m just not the bandwagony type). I don’t get it. I love musicals. Just… not this, so far. But I have borrowed the first half of the season and will attempt to sit through it. No promises, though. Heartland Season 2 beckons, and I may just give up and give in.

And then there’s the matter of September the 7th – the day when half my birthday list is available to own. I’m excited for Supernatural Season 5 (they’re good at leaving things off with cliffhangers) and Smallville Season 9 (because it seems to get even more superheroey as it goes along – and yay, Michael Shanks is a guest star!) – both of which I missed the entirety of (ah, the joys of Peasantvision). BUT the remains of my birthday money are going towards Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep for the PSP. It’s a prequel, so no Sora or Riku (though I’m guessing their four- and five-year-old selves will make an appearance), but I’m excited for the new characters (Terra in particular, since he shares the same name meaning as Riku (“Terra” and “Riku” are Latin and Japanese for “land,” respectively) and I’m hoping the same personality), the Organization XIII backstory (Axel and Saix’s backgrounds in particular – lots of potential there), and Zack Fair’s cameo (good gracious, I love the guy). You know what’s the coolest though? Cinderella world land! Really really! I’m stoked! Can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of this game.

You know the knitting hobby is out of control when I'm counting the stitches in his sweater.

Oh, and I finally finished Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. And – as I expected – cried like a ninny over my Zacky. He sure didn’t go down without a fight, though. Had the story allowed, I’d have totally kicked all those Shinra lackeys’ asses. Having 20000ish HP and 999 MP with a Phoenix Down or two in my back pocket certainly doesn’t hurt. But apparently that’s no match for a bullet to the head. Sigh. I should do a BFYB on the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. Others must hear of its awesomeness.

And – movies! I rented movies! Mostly old stuff: Kiss Me Kate, High Society, The Last Picture Show, The Prisoner of Zenda (1937 version), Rebel Without a Cause, Lifeboat, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 version), Bride of the Monster, and The Twelve Tasks of Asterix. Eclectic mix, I know. All are worth watching, save perhaps the last two: Bride of the Monster was better than I expected (and therefore not nearly as wonderfully awful as Plan 9 From Outer Space); Asterix was not as good as I remembered, though still funny in places (The Place That Drives You Mad reminds me of college, sad to say). I also enjoyed Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (which strays far from the book, but is equally good in its own right – a la Howl’s Moving Castle), and Remember Me (which, despite the somewhat contrived ending which I saw coming about 10 minutes in (time and setting totally gave it away), was surprisingly good, not to mention freakishly in tune with my own private notions at age 22. Get over your Robert Pattinson abhorrence and watch it.). I’ve yet to see Inception (which, if anything like Memento, should be amazing) and Eclipse (which is hopefully as laughably bad as New Moon). Looking forward to that.

And… have I covered everything? Well, everything I can think of. I’m writing this at 1 AM and the neurons aren’t exactly firing in a straight line. But I hope my rambling recommendations are of some use to you. Despite all the idiocy I’ve had to endure, this summer turned out not to be a complete waste of time after all, I guess. I’m just sad it’s over.