Weekend activities
First up, a happy birthday to this blog! Yesterday (Sunday), Pfangirl Through the Looking Glass turned 4! Readers have come and gone, blog features have been adopted and dropped, but Through the Looking Glass continues to trundle along with its mix of geeky entertainment news, reviews and personal musings - updated at least once every day, Monday to Friday.
Never say I don't take up anything without commitment.
Anyway, in terms of my weekend pop culture consumption, here's what I got up to:
Film:
I caught 2 films screening as part of the Durban International Film Festival. Both were horror films and both were the 22:15 show, which required a little tweaking of my body clock.
Of course you can expect my full reviews on this blog shortly, but I found Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One in to be a bit overrated. Its performances were great, as well as its deft hybridisation of film genres, but the actual storyline was very predictable. Lars von Trier's Antichrist was also a flawed film, but its first half was utterly superb, and the end result still hard hitting enough for me to forgive its rather cryptic conclusion.
For the record, the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre at the University is a far better film festival venue than the Musgrave Ster Kinekor. You may not be able to buy popcorn at the Sneddon but the comfortable chairs and open bar make the pre-screening wait before the film begins much more enjoyable. This said, their projectionist screwed up badly (they were probably asleep) and we had to endure about 2 minutes of Antichrist with no visuals before they realised their mistake.
Also, I thought film festivals were supposed to attract a more sophisticated type of audience. The couple next to me during Antichrist were definitely not part of that group! They were that annoying kind of viewer that has to read aloud any text that appears on the screen ("Ooooh, Chapter 1: Grief"), debate amongst themselves the reasons for what is going on, and then mutter and grunt along with dialogue they agree with. Sheesh.
Also, for the record, I ended up seeing both films alone. I knew I had no takers for Antichrist, but I was let down by friends for Let the Right One In. One group arrived late when I was already in the cinema (and thinking I had been completely blown off), and the other group had last-minute excuses why they couldn't make it. In the latter case, amusingly, I received different stories from both partners involved. Doh! And this isn't the first time recently the separate parts of a couple have given me conflicting excuses. Just tell me the truth, people. Or confer first. You'd fail miserably during a police interrogation.
Books:
I started Stephenie Meyer's Twilight this weekend. Regardless of anything else, I have to give Meyer credit for getting her writing to sound exactly like that of an emo, over-infatuated teenage girl! Oh, and for making her book such a breezy read. I'm already 170 pages in. If reading was all I'd done this weekend I probably would have finished the first book in the vampire romance saga in just 2 days.
TV:
I am now deeply in love with Battlestar Galactica. I've been making my way through the entire series thanks to a friend who owns all the DVD box sets. This weekend I reached the Season 2 finale, and frakkin' hell, the show really knows how to surprise its audience. I'm not just talking about fantastic revelations, but also the fact that story arcs are continually being turned on their head, and no character is safe from death.
Screw Star Wars and Star Trek. Battlestar is sci-fi for me! Plus, for geeks who like to dress up, the uniforms are waaay cooler and credible than anything in the other sci-fi franchises. And the series score, by composer Bear McCreary is quite stunning - I must get hold of it. I want it even more than this.
Gaming:
That's it. I'm off the juice. This weekend I closed my World of WarCraft account. From 17 August I will be playing no more. The reason for my decision: I'm predominantly a solo player, and at Level 80 I'm a bit bored. I don't have a guild to regularly run raids and dungeons with (the chief form of endgame content), I've racked up most of the Achievements I wanted, and frankly, I don't feel like grinding another character to the top all over again. Plus, I'm probably going to be unemployed towards the end of the year, and I'm sure I could put the money used to pay my monthly WOW subscription fees towards something more worthwhile and necessary.
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In other news, my grandmother was discharged from hospital yesterday as her Medical Aid company decided she no longer needed to be there - this despite the fact she can't even sit up on her own, and is still very hazy mentally. However, seeing as there is currently no space in the local Stroke Rehabilitation unit, which she is on the waiting list to attend, she's back home with us for the next 2-3 weeks.
I'm sure my gran will be more comfortable in her home environment but the situation is certainly challenging; not to mention wasted independence-regaining recovery time. Right now, though, the major battle is just getting my gran to eat and drink! My mother has taken a few days off to just work on establishing a care routine. We were fortunately able to find a professional carer at very short notice (the Medical Aid announced their coverage cut-off on Thursday) who will help out during the day when we're all at work. I feel terribly clumsy and uncomfortable doing things like feeding and nappy changing, which my sister is fantastic at. I'm better at the "support" activities, like meal preparation, and helping to physically reposition and carry my gran. I guess I'll just do what I can during this difficult time.
Never say I don't take up anything without commitment.
Anyway, in terms of my weekend pop culture consumption, here's what I got up to:
Film:
I caught 2 films screening as part of the Durban International Film Festival. Both were horror films and both were the 22:15 show, which required a little tweaking of my body clock.
Of course you can expect my full reviews on this blog shortly, but I found Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One in to be a bit overrated. Its performances were great, as well as its deft hybridisation of film genres, but the actual storyline was very predictable. Lars von Trier's Antichrist was also a flawed film, but its first half was utterly superb, and the end result still hard hitting enough for me to forgive its rather cryptic conclusion.
For the record, the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre at the University is a far better film festival venue than the Musgrave Ster Kinekor. You may not be able to buy popcorn at the Sneddon but the comfortable chairs and open bar make the pre-screening wait before the film begins much more enjoyable. This said, their projectionist screwed up badly (they were probably asleep) and we had to endure about 2 minutes of Antichrist with no visuals before they realised their mistake.
Also, I thought film festivals were supposed to attract a more sophisticated type of audience. The couple next to me during Antichrist were definitely not part of that group! They were that annoying kind of viewer that has to read aloud any text that appears on the screen ("Ooooh, Chapter 1: Grief"), debate amongst themselves the reasons for what is going on, and then mutter and grunt along with dialogue they agree with. Sheesh.
Also, for the record, I ended up seeing both films alone. I knew I had no takers for Antichrist, but I was let down by friends for Let the Right One In. One group arrived late when I was already in the cinema (and thinking I had been completely blown off), and the other group had last-minute excuses why they couldn't make it. In the latter case, amusingly, I received different stories from both partners involved. Doh! And this isn't the first time recently the separate parts of a couple have given me conflicting excuses. Just tell me the truth, people. Or confer first. You'd fail miserably during a police interrogation.
Books:
I started Stephenie Meyer's Twilight this weekend. Regardless of anything else, I have to give Meyer credit for getting her writing to sound exactly like that of an emo, over-infatuated teenage girl! Oh, and for making her book such a breezy read. I'm already 170 pages in. If reading was all I'd done this weekend I probably would have finished the first book in the vampire romance saga in just 2 days.
TV:
I am now deeply in love with Battlestar Galactica. I've been making my way through the entire series thanks to a friend who owns all the DVD box sets. This weekend I reached the Season 2 finale, and frakkin' hell, the show really knows how to surprise its audience. I'm not just talking about fantastic revelations, but also the fact that story arcs are continually being turned on their head, and no character is safe from death.
Screw Star Wars and Star Trek. Battlestar is sci-fi for me! Plus, for geeks who like to dress up, the uniforms are waaay cooler and credible than anything in the other sci-fi franchises. And the series score, by composer Bear McCreary is quite stunning - I must get hold of it. I want it even more than this.
Gaming:
That's it. I'm off the juice. This weekend I closed my World of WarCraft account. From 17 August I will be playing no more. The reason for my decision: I'm predominantly a solo player, and at Level 80 I'm a bit bored. I don't have a guild to regularly run raids and dungeons with (the chief form of endgame content), I've racked up most of the Achievements I wanted, and frankly, I don't feel like grinding another character to the top all over again. Plus, I'm probably going to be unemployed towards the end of the year, and I'm sure I could put the money used to pay my monthly WOW subscription fees towards something more worthwhile and necessary.
-----------
In other news, my grandmother was discharged from hospital yesterday as her Medical Aid company decided she no longer needed to be there - this despite the fact she can't even sit up on her own, and is still very hazy mentally. However, seeing as there is currently no space in the local Stroke Rehabilitation unit, which she is on the waiting list to attend, she's back home with us for the next 2-3 weeks.
I'm sure my gran will be more comfortable in her home environment but the situation is certainly challenging; not to mention wasted independence-regaining recovery time. Right now, though, the major battle is just getting my gran to eat and drink! My mother has taken a few days off to just work on establishing a care routine. We were fortunately able to find a professional carer at very short notice (the Medical Aid announced their coverage cut-off on Thursday) who will help out during the day when we're all at work. I feel terribly clumsy and uncomfortable doing things like feeding and nappy changing, which my sister is fantastic at. I'm better at the "support" activities, like meal preparation, and helping to physically reposition and carry my gran. I guess I'll just do what I can during this difficult time.
Comments
Congrats on your 4 year blogging anniversary. Well played.
On another note, my heart goes out to you and your family. For what it's worth, I'll be sending good vibes your way - and voodoo curses at that slimeball medical "aid". You are good people.
Blue skies and wishing your gran a speedy recovery...
[A]
And I'm glad to see your grandmother was discharged from the hospital. Here's to hoping for a full recovery.
Mark, sorry if my comment sounded bitter. I've been very lonely and down these past 6 weeks and everytime I've tried to organise something, to just get out there, see people, and try cheer myself up, I keep getting let down.