By Alfred Lord Tennyson
Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy Autumn-fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more.
Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail,
That brings our friends up from the underworld,
Sad as the last which reddens over one
That sinks with all we love below the verge;
So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more.
Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns
The earliest pipe of half-awaken'd birds
To dying ears, when unto dying eyes
The casement slowly grows a glimmering square;
So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.
Dear as remember'd kisses after death,
And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feign'd
On lips that are for others; deep as love,
Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;
O Death in Life, the days that are no more.
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I would have had a very lovely day had I not had a murderous migraine right in the middle. I went out early to meet PerkyPaduan and Gblvr to see Twilight, which we decided was a worthy fangirl excursion so we could all giggle together at the atrocious dialogue. And that dialogue was atrocious: if anyone had sent it to me to edit, trust me, no teenage girl would be talking like a bad romance novel. But I actually liked the movie better than I expected. Spoilers: There were some things that were really nicely done, like the Pacific Northwest cinematography...I didn't realize the book was set in Forks, Washington, where my family stayed while we were visiting Olympic National Park, and I adored the tracking shots of the actors high in the trees. In general I loved the way Edward looked in sunlight -- I like the idea that vampires avoid the sun not because it kills them but just because it reveals their condition -- but I thought the standard white makeup looked ridiculous.
I adored two scenes: the old movie vampire fantasy sequence, and the vampire baseball game. But the sexual politics that many people have already commented on were quite repellent, and the suggestion that Native Americans are werewolves with an agenda of their own is even more offensive. I don't blame Meyer for the whole vampire as predator/rescuer mode, that's much older than her novels, but the gender stereotypes and the game of good vampire/bad vampire in which the only people of color we see are human bloodsuckers are pretty inexcusable. I would complain about how heterosexist vampire life seems to be, too, except that Edward's father so clearly wanted to bite him even more than he wanted to bite his own wife, and that scene was so much hotter than the Wicked Bella Tries To Kiss Terrified Edward scene. On the plus side, I liked the soundtrack, especially the piano, and it's nice to know that Robert Pattinson plays his character's pieces.
After the movie, Gblvr and I went out to lunch with a friend of hers at Rio Grande, where I probably had too many chips and salsa when I needed protein, because between my blood sugar crashing and the season cycling, I ended up with a two-pill migraine. I had to write a review of "Remember Me", which may be even less coherent than when I usually warn for incoherence because I could barely see straight.
Fall color at Gambrill State Park last month.
A ringneck snake beneath Gambrill's Frederick overlook.
One of the many ladybugs on High Knob.
A hawk in the sunlight above South Mountain, seen from Washington Monument State Park.
A stinkbug in the Washington Monument atop South Mountain.
This woolly bear predicts a short, mild winter, according to tradition, although I've read that the band is more indicative of its age.
A katydid on the grave of Confederate General Samuel Garland beside the Reno Monument at Fox Gap.
Calves and a fowl friend at South Mountain Creamery.
The Friday Five: Feelings...
1. What made you happy this week? Getting my replacement phone quickly and easily.
2. What made you sad? Discovering that my camera was shattered beyond repair.
3. What made you angry? Slamming my purse in the car door in the first place.
4. What are you looking forward to in the next week? Getting my replacement camera and seeing what it can do.
5. What are you not looking forward to? Being broke.
Fannish 5: List 5 old school fandoms that should (or should not) get a big budget movie reboot.
1. Star Trek: NOT. If I had even the slightest inclination to see the J.J. Abrams version, it was erased by the barfighting, tech-worshipping, woman-undressing trailer.
2. Doctor Who: NOT. I know there is talk of this, and I would just like to plead, leave it on television, please please please, don't make the special effects bigger than the characters.
3. VR5: YES. Yanked off the air prematurely, never resolved, premise would have to be updated a bit but it's a great concept and not so developed that there would be any question of betraying the original.
4. The Prisoner: NOT. The disaster that was The Avengers movie should be clear evidence of this.
5. La Femme Nikita: No, I'm not on crack, I liked the TV series better than the movie (the French one) and I'd love to see a movie from that.
Had dinner with my parents, then watched what is no longer my usual Friday night lineup because when Crusoe returns after Thanksgiving, it will be buried on Saturday night, where NBC is apparently sending it to die, turning its spot over to the already-canceled Lipstick Jungle, woe! It wasn't my favorite episode this week because Crusoe and Friday were at odds, but we got a whole long scene with Sean Bean, which makes up for everything! I also love the fact that Crusoe would rather be killed by Friday so Olivia can save Friday than let Olivia kiss him. I don't have much to say about Sanctuary -- love the werewolf/Neanderthal bonding, confused by the artist-genius killer brothers -- and while SGA made me laugh quite a bit, I have to admit that a show with almost no John, Ronon, or Teyla does pretty much nothing for me. Spoilers: In fact, my favorite moment all episode was at the very beginning when John was all concerned whether Rodney was going to ask Jennifer out and Ronon was all "Whatever, come on."
I don't think it will surprise anyone to know that if I disliked Keller intensely in previous episodes, I loathed her in this one. Of course she and Rodney ended up together after she had to be rescued from near-death! In the fakest CPR scene I have ever seen, and that's saying something! Because God knows Keller is no use actually solving a problem herself, she's too busy being the traditional girlfriend who's all about bolstering her man when she isn't insulting him gratuitously and then being a cheerleader, "You guys are the best of the best." If she hadn't ordered Rodney to sign a document he had legitimate doubts about, she wouldn't have nearly died. Bill Nye was the saving grace of the episode for me, and the crack about declassifying Pluto. Kind of sad when Crusoe's feminism -- the doctor who ran away at sea and isn't afraid to own her desires -- impresses me in comparison not only to Twilight but to SGA.
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