TV Update

Well, I did not end up in Oz. But we did have sustained winds of more than 25 miles per hour here, with gusts of up to 50 mph. Today's much calmer. I wasn't really planning to go out yesterday, anyway, because I haven't been feeling that great. It occurred to me this morning that I feel the way I tend to feel when I'm recovering from the flu, only without the respiratory symptoms -- I've had the achiness, the tiredness, the lack of appetite and the general fuzzy-headedness, but without the fever, coughing and sore throat. I had the flu shot, so I'm wondering if maybe I've had a mild case of the flu that the shot partially deflected. I'd been feeling down on myself for being so out of it, and now that the pieces have fallen into place, it makes sense. Which means I'm totally justified in taking it easy for a couple more days. I'm not feeling really bad. I just don't feel all that good.

On the up side, that means I've had time to read. I've been re-reading some of the Terry Pratchett books I read when I first discovered that series, and now that I've read the earlier books, they take on an entirely different meaning. For instance, when I first read Monstrous Regiment I barely knew anything about Sam Vimes because I hadn't read any of the Watch books, so I didn't really get it when the main character ran into him. And when I read Thief of Time I hadn't read any of the Death or Susan books. I suppose it's odd to be re-reading books in a series when I haven't even read all the books in the series yet, but this is almost like reading new books.

Meanwhile, TV has been making me rather happy. I really enjoyed the Stargate movie last week. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed that series and those characters. I got the sense that everyone involved was having fun with it. I suppose that fits into my category of "brain cupcakes" TV. There's another one on tonight, and I'm looking forward to it. Then next week, Sci Fi starts showing Primeval, which I enjoyed on BBCAmerica. That's getting closer to brain candy, but it's still good for a Friday night.

Friday Night Lights got renewed, so yay. That show has an impressive track record for making me cry in every single episode, and for making me eventually love characters I started out disliking. They take types I recognize and know I'll hate and gradually flesh them out into people I can't help but feel sympathy for.

On Life, I have to confess that I like the fill-in partner (while the actress who plays the regular partner is on maternity leave) better than the regular partner. She has great chemistry with Crews, and it's entirely in a non-romantic sense. I love how amused he is by her ambition and how she doesn't let her ambition get in the way of being willing to learn.

I really have to thank my parents for hooking me on NCIS. One thing I find interesting about that show is that a lot of it is non-verbal. I have to actually watch it instead of reading or doing something else to catch everything, because there's a lot of stuff they just show without talking about it and there's a lot of subtext in facial expressions and body language so that you get an entirely different impression of what's going on from watching than if you just listen. As I have a bad habit of reading or doing crossword puzzles while watching TV because I get bored if I just watch, it's nice to find a show where there's a real reason to watch.

I've sort of started watching House again. The last episode or so have been better, and they've been teasing us with yet another shakeup, though I doubt they'd be so kind as to jettison Thirteen for me. Opposite that (thank goodness for OnDemand), I'm loving Chuck more and more, and as much as I think Jayne Cobb was a wonderful character, Casey may be the role Adam Baldwin was born to play. I love the subtle ways he shows that he's actually thawing toward Chuck while he's still the total tough guy. And somehow he can be hilariously funny just standing still.

Finally, in case you missed it, Masterpiece Theatre is doing a nice production of Little Dorrit. The first installment was on last Sunday, but I think you can still watch it online at the PBS site. There's the usual "spot the British actor" fun, with rather high Doctor Who points, but I don't think I've yet spotted any Harry Potter people.