Drive-By Weekend Blogging
I'm rather all over the place this weekend, but by way of summarising:
I took a flight on the London Eye yesterday for the first time in almost three years, and it remains quite a cool thing to do. We were able to spot the office, and we had pretty clear conditions for seeing all the way out to Canary Wharf and right round the city.
Last night I had a late-notice family visit, so had to miss Mike's Eurovision party. On the subject of Eurovision, I'll just say this: It was a bad song, performed badly by people with the thinnest voices I've ever heard on a professional stage. It doesn't matter how Wogan attempted to dress it up with "European anti-war voting" pretences, it deserved no points, and it got no points. Fair's fair.
This afternoon I'm off to see Full Frontal (which finally opened here this weekend, see postings passim) with Alison, before engaging in a Buffy, Angel and West Wing marathon this evening.
Tomorrow, I'm lunching at Alison's, then in the evening I'm determined to catch up on some correspondence. So if you've been expecting a mail from me for months, the long and arduous wait may soon be over.
That is all.
Loving London
I've recently partaken in a discussion about why I love my city, and my reasons for loving London are many and varied.
But as of today, I realised another one. I love London because it keeps surprising me. In the middle of a bunch of relatively modern buildings, a (much) older archway remains, apparently linking two buildings which came along far later.
It made me smile and put me in mind of the whole 'why I love my city' discussion.
(You can't see it very well in the small version, but the larger click-through one is clearer.)
Lord, So Soon!
So - Big Brother 4 then....
That's come round quickly. I missed the whole entering-the-house extravaganza, though I've taped it for Barnaby as he's on holiday, and I'm going to try very hard not to get as drawn into it as in previous years - though that may be a vain hope.
I wonder how long it'll be before we start complaining that the Channel 4 Big Brother site isn't capable of handling the load, or links aren't working, or.....
Oh look - I'll start: the links to the audition tapes don't work. Tossers.
I am, by the way, watching them make their first, surprise, nomination, and I will offer this extremely superficial first observation:
Cameron is a serious cutie.
Yesterday…All My Troubles….
I'm sure I started out yesterday with all sorts of good intentions about writing up fascinating incidents from my daily life and incisive commentary on the new, and then I just got insanely busy. Immediately after getting back from one meeting I was dragged off to the other side of town for two others, from which I didn't get back to the office 'til about 8pm, then I didn't bother taking the machine home because I had houseguests, but they turned out to be not back for a couple of hours so I might have been able to fit in a quick posting, but then I also had to go and say a fond farewell to globetrotters Paul and Claire, who are off travelling for six months, and before I knew it, the day had gone and I hadn't even logged into Movable Type.
I'll try to do better today.
1602
Marvel have finally started releasing some tiny snippets about Neil Gaiman's upcoming project for them, 1602 (first mentioned here ages ago) in the form of three teaser images which Newsarama have on display. I can't think of a single project I'm more intrigued by at the moment, the moreso because Marvel have managed to keep any details such an incredibly well-kept secret.
Gaiman himself is expansive enough to note that though the series has lots of Marvel characters in it, it doesn't have Man-Thing, which is surely to its detriment.
[Via L:e:g:a:c:y]
There Is No News
It seems that, at long last, the day has arrived when the people at Metro have finally realised that there isn't actually enough news that can be recycled from the previous evening's Standard to fill 40 pages. So this morning, under the guise of 'news', they're reduced to running a good-sized photo of the Cox-Arquettes and captioning it with an outline of their new Coke ad (the one that's been running since some time last week to my certain knowledge), with the exclusive revelation that it will air from the 1st June.
Chosen: I’ve Seen It
Okay - breaking with my own traditions, I've actually spent my lunch hour watching the last ever Buffy. And it's a cracker.
If anyone actually wants to know the key bits of the plot, you'll need to highlight the whole of the next section. Don't say you weren't warned, and any comments giving away details *will* be deleted.
The First's efforts to swing Spike back to its side by playing on his jealousy of Angel come to nothing. Buffy finishes off Caleb once and for all. Angel has brought a mystic amulet with him which can only be used by 'a champion'. He offers to stay and fight alongside Buffy, but she sends him away, noting that if she fails there has to be a second line of defence, and he has to run it. He and Buffy also discuss their relationship and its possible future, and her relationship with Spike.
Back home, Buffy gives the amulet to Spike. They spend the night together and she is visited by The First, who taunts her over the fact that she, like all Slayers, is essentially alone. After its departure, Buffy realises that there is a way to win. She discusses changing the balance with Willow, who will need to perform a spell to make it happen, then rallies the Potentials and the rest of the Scoobies for a final assault on the Hellmouth.
They descend on the school, and set up their positions. Willow is defended by Kennedy as she sets up her spell. Giles, Wood, Xander, Dawn, Andrew and Anya will prevent any of the vampires leaving. Buffy and her team open the seal and find the vampire army. As they come under attack, Willow performs her spell and activates every potential slayer in the world, including the potentials with Buffy.
There follows quite a battle (note - significant understatement). During it, Buffy is mortally wounded, but The First, taunting her again, actually gives her the strength to fight on. At the climax of the battle, Spike's amulet kicks in, smashing a channel to the surface and letting in the light, which it then channels at the vampires, destroying them all. Buffy is forced to leave Spike behind, telling him that she loves him. "No you don't, but thanks for saying it" is his reply. He is apparently burned up by the energies he's channelling.
The others escape from the school and Sunnydale just as the town is swallowed entirely by the Hellmouth. Spike is gone, and Anya has been killed in battle, but the others emerge mostly intact to face a very different future. Buffy especially has to deal with the fact that she is no longer 'The Chosen One'.
Best lines:
Buffy: "I just realised something - something I never realised before. We're going to win."
Willow: "You know Buffy? Sweet girl; not that bright."
And Xander's reply to Andrew's revelation that Anya died saving his life: "That's my girl. Always doing the stupid thing."
Best scene: There's a beautiful moment where Buffy and the original Scoobies discuss what they'll do on the day after doomsday. Go shopping, basically.
"It's all about power."
Today’s The Day
Just a couple of quick points:
In the US, both Buffy and Season 2 of 24 reach their conclusion this evening, and TV Guide Online previews them both (looks like this link will work today only - Note, contains significant 24 spoilers for UK viewers in the first half). TV Guide has been a long-time supporter of Buffy especially, noting that the quality of both writing and preformance set it above and beyond most non-genre shows, never mind its peers, so it's good that they've stayed with it to the end.
And CNN looks back on seven years of slaying in a positive review.
UPDATE - Even Reuters are getting in on the act.
Two To Go
Days to the last Buffy, that is. (There's a clever Buffy-related link in that title too, but only people who follow the series will appreciate the care and thought that went into it. *snort*.)
Anyway, to round up a few late notes:
Joss Whedon gives a brief but I would say heartfelt end-of-run interview to The Hollywood Reporter.
He also answers a handful of questions for the BBC, including one about a mad rumour that I think the Daily Express started that someone called Holly Valance would be taking over as Buffy. Quite sensibly, he makes clear that he doesn't even know who she is. (Note - until I asked someone when I heard about that rumour, nor did I.)
And two from buffy.nu:
By this account, a sequence in Episode 7.20, Touched features the first ever US TV Network screening of a lesbian sex scene. Nice to see that the series is pushing back boundries right to the very end.
And finally: some (possible) Spoilers. You have been warned....