"Y'know, I just realized that..."

Now Playing: Ratt – Round and Round

So there I was, minding my own business, when Rishi takes it upon himself to tag me. First the guy told me who died in OotP, then this? This means war, man. *shakes fist*

But then I thought, “If I had to learn stuff in 2006, why should my blog readers get off scott-free?” Thus, without further ado, 2006 in Epiphanies, Realizations and Lessons Learnt:

1. Having all four wisdom teeth removed really isn’t that big of a deal - Seriously. You know how people are all, “OMG, the agony!!! It was horrible!!! THE PAIN!!!” and then you get all freaked out, and you almost decide not to have the surgery done, but then it’s too late to cancel? It didn’t help that a passing acquaintance (really, I’d just met her) felt the need to share the story of her friend who went into hospital to have her cancer of the mouth operated on, but who died of a hospital-acquired infection. Also not helpful was the knowledge that some people are actually non-receptive to pain medications such as percocet. So the night before the operation, there I was, tossing and turning, imagining myself dying of a horrible infection (damn you, pseudomonas!) without the least painkiller-induced respite. Imagine, therefore, my surprise, when the whole thing went off well, and I hardly even needed any pain meds, just a few days spent recuperating at home with an icepack to the face.

2. I may not be a dog person, but I absolutely cannot stand to watch movies where bad things happen to them. It’s pathetic, really – I cried everytime I watched the trailer for Lassie! The movie itself would probably have me bawling in the aisles, sobbing about that poor dog.

3. There are some people with whom it is useless to argue. While I’d like to be able to take the easy route and say that most of these people are conservative / right-wing ideologues (Varsha Bhosle, Bill O’Reilly, Christie Blatchford), the truth is liberal / left-wing ideologues can be just as overzealous and screechy and blind to the possibility that there can be truth beyond their narrow ken.

4. I LOVE the angst. All my favourite TV shows serve it up in dollops. Grey’s Anatomy? Angsty. Supernatural? Hot AND Angsty. Battlestar Galactica? Subsists on Angst and Octagons. Veronica Mars? Noir with angst. Doctor Who? Long-running angst. My favourite movie of the year, The Prestige? Existentially angsty. Angst – the flavour of the future.

5. Doctor Who is the show that never ends. It only just struck me this year, and frankly, it’s rather off-putting. Who wants to watch a character who can just keep going and going and going (for atleast 3 more actors?) I mean, I know it’s a long-running show and a hugely successful formula, but don’t people want closure on the character?

6. I’m a Christmas Carol purist. I grew up listening to Jim Reeves & Andy Williams at Christmastime, and anyone else just sounds like an interloper to me. One notable exception is Josh Groban, whose rendition of O Holy Night is just melt-inducing. Here, have a listen.



And now I tag Hemlyn, Stephen, Beth and Maja for a bout of reminiscence. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

and because I am on such a Supernatural kick right now -

Everything I need to know I learnt from... Bollywood?!?

Now Playing: The Scorpions - Rock You Like A Hurricane

'Twas a dark and stormy night afternoon when I heard fingernails tapping on my window. One Lockwoodesque freakout later, I realized that what I had heard was probably not the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw (for reasons geographical as well as sensible); but instead, as in the novel, simply the tapping of a tree branch against the glass pane.

Nevertheless, I was jumpy for the rest of the evening, and complained vociferously to my mother as we had our evening chai, "Argh! I'm still on edge!" To which Mum, disdainer of all things Bollywood replied, "Jo darr gaya, samjho marr gaya." (He who is afraid is as good as dead)

Three days later, I'm still laughing.

The Killing Box, or why Prison Break is made of awesome

Now Playing: Corinne Bailey Rae - Like a Star

Why I watch Prison Break -

• It's a conspiracy show. I cut my TV-teeth on The X-files, and so conspiracy shows always make me feel warm and fuzzy. (Unlike sitcoms, which fill me with feelings of dread and paranoia.)

• It keeps things moving along at a brisk pace. (Unlike Lost, which has spent the last two seasons giving us four seasons worth of backstory to go with half-a-season's worth of plot!)

• It has interesting, even compelling characters, who, while not always sympathetic, are fun to watch.
  

The main reason why I watch Prison Break, though, is Wentworth Miller, whose Michael Scofield is the linchpin of the show, and a total woobie to boot. Plus, he looks like this:


Dude's so pretty, they call him that on the show. Seriously. Him and Dominic Purcell (who plays his older brother, Lincoln Burrows) are pretty much the second-hottest TV brothers ever.*

So, you'll understand I thought the show was pretty good before this Monday's fall finale, "The Killing Box" aired - but then they went and just added big heaping portions of awesome, with Kellerman (Paul Adelstein) shooting his fellow Conspiracy stooge Mahone (William Fichtner) and offering his help to Michael and Lincoln in taking down the President, who's at the centre of the Conspiracy. See, Michael's uber-smart, but he's a puppy; Licoln's the proverbial all-brawns-not-all-that-much-brains - but Kellerman is smart, nonchalantly evil, and in the words of TwoP's Sobell, pretty much a magnificent bastard.

The Scofield-Burrows-Kellerman alliance, should it last longer than five minutes (given that Kellerman just tortured Dr Sara Tancredi, the object of Michael's affections, and that he murdered Lincoln's ex-wife and framed their son for the crime) promises to be a thing of absolute badassness. Too bad we'll have to wait until January 22nd to find out.

*The absolute hottest TV-brothers? Sam and Dean Winchester (Jared Paladecki & Jensen Ackles, respectively, from Supernatural) -


See?

Vindicated (and it feels so good)

Call me Gloaty McGloatGloat, 'cause guess how Stephen LeDrew did in the 2006 Toronto Mayoral Election this past Monday? The Great Bowtie placed a distant third, with an underwhelming 8,078 votes, or just 1.38% of total votes.

*happy sigh*

Sometimes, just sometimes, things go the way they ought to.