Loandbehold

I think Anne is the best of the season-opening episodes. And, I didn't like it the first time I saw it. Coincidentally, I got to watch it today (it was shown by FX today), and it brought out many of the reasons why I like it. We had Buffy first lost, but later reclaiming herself. The extended fight scene and Buffy's Gandhi quip. The example of a random act of slayer power when she rips the phone out of the wall at the blood bank, and her tea cozy speech. The Sunnydale scenes, as we watch the Scoobies dealing with Buffy's absence are also good. I was glad to see Xander and Cordelia get back together after their summer separation. I also think that they had every reason to believe Buffy had survived the Acathla apocalypse. The world hadn't descended into a hellish demon dimension, Acathla was silent, and there was no Buffy body in the mansion (all of which we learned, I believe, at the end of Becoming - I missed the first ten minutes of Anne this morning). I don't think anyone came across well in Dead Man's Party. Buffy was ready to run away again, Joyce gets drunk, Willow is at the height of passive-aggressive behavior, Oz decides to have a huge party at someone else's house without clearing it with the host, and Xander, who makes some good points, does so in a poor way. Which is one of his biggest flaws. Usually what he says has merit, but the way he says it is wrong because it's too harsh. This causes defensiveness in others, and that's understandable given the way he's speaking. Now, I admit that's coming from an unabashed Xander fan. While DMP is far from the best episode, I believe it's far superior to Where the Wild Things Are, Superstar, and the excrement that is Storyteller, which is not only worst episode of the series, but one of the worst episodes of any good series that I've had the misfortune of sitting through. The introduction of Faith in the next episode really counts as the beginning of Season 3, which is my favorite season. I enjoyed Mr. Trick and, for someone who was a relatively minor villain, he caused a lot of problems for Buffy for half the season, which is what you want in a villain.

Well, the regular season is over. Our last game was supposed to be this past Monday, but the other team forfeited. So, our season consisted of three forfeits (two by the other teams, one by our team due to a screw-up by our captain on the dates of the game), two or three rain-outs, and five games actually played. Of which, I had to miss a game due to other commitments. Our record was 6-2, but the crazy way our league works, forfeits don't count as "complete" wins. Also, wins are weighted depending on which division you are in. There are 10 or 11 teams in each division. My team is in the B division. To simplify the formula, If you're in the A (highest) division, each win is worth 1.25. B division wins are 1.0 and C division wins are .75. As I said, forfeits are not counted as "complete" wins, so I have no idea how they are scored. This is because the play-offs are the top 16 teams taken from all 3 divisions, so more teams get in from the A division. In order to get in from the C division, you pretty much have to finish first or second. Several B division teams make it, and let's say approximately 8 teams from the A division usually get in. Then you're seeded 1-16. We should make the play-offs, unless several other teams were able to play a lot more games than we did. Hopefully we'll know next week. I don't care if there are storms today, I just don't want them tomorrow. I am going to be at the Yankee game tomorrow and really, really, really don't want to sit through a rain delay(s).

I never heard that, which doesn't mean it didn't happen. I do know that Seth Green did commentary with Joss on either an early season 4 episode, or the one where he returns (and now episode names are escaping me).

Major vibes to Erratic, and some extras thrown to Endeavor and Earl is Dead. And a very happy anniversary, AnnieF! What is the proper gift for 24? 25 is gold, right? I think 24 might be crepe paper or something similar.

It was pretty good. Very near to where she currently lives. The company took over about a year ago and has been doing a ton of renovations, so inside is looking very nice. The rooms are also large. It's kosher, which is OK with my mom, but that limits certain things. The biggest draw back is that the neighborhood is boring and there's really no place to go in the area. They do take trips. The other draw back was that the residents that we saw didn't look too lively. Now, it might just be because we got there after meal time (they only have a single sitting for meals). The one we went to before was just off the water, and the residents seemed more lively. They have two sittings per meal and I know my mom would prefer a later seating. The rooms were a little smaller than the other place, which in a way is a good thing as it encourages the residents to leave their rooms. It has a microwave and small refrigerator in every apartment and you can walk to various places in the neighborhood as well as take trips. It's a little more expensive. My mom has a long-term care policy which says it's "unlimited." Many policies only last a few years for places like assisted living, so I'm not really sure what it means to be unlimited. If/when we decide mom has to relocate, we'll have the facility contact the insurer to see what exactly is covered. We're seeing another place next Saturday and my brother is going to make an appointment to see a fourth place. I would like my mom to be with active people her own age. When she was going to a senior center, she was doing better. Unfortunately, the other people, while they were more "with it" than my mom, they were also older, by like 10-15 years. The center no longer took trips. So, mom got bored and stopped going. I'm glad Mr. F's grandmother is doing better at her new digs, AnnieF. I believe it is important for people to remain sociable as they get older.

Sending vibes your way, Erratic. Even though I'm going to a Yankee game this coming Thursday (and one Yankee game per year is usually my limit), I wish I could have accepted valny's generous offer as she's great to hang out with and her company would have made the game palatable. If it had been a night game, I'd have been there. But, we're taking mom to look at another assisted living place this afternoon, and one next Saturday as well. Endeavor, just remember that most bats don't drink human blood. Well, not much of it, anyway.* *I have no idea if this statement is true, and following any advice or information contained therein is done solely at the reader's own risk.

Happy First Sleep at the New House! Glad the move went well.

"flea the jurisdiction" to make it itch. Damn wrist brace. I've made more typos since I've had to start wearing it. Still, it is kind of funny. I guess I won't edit the post.

That's interesting. What about Wesley at his introduction did you like? I wasn't a fan of the character until probably season 3 of Angel. I thought he was a pompous twit. More of a caricature of the snooty Englishman than a three dimensional character.

I'm curious, did you like Wesley in season 3, or is this opinion based on looking back after what Wesley became on Angel? Unpopular Opinion? I love Beer Bad and not in a guilty pleasure kind of way. I think it is one of the most subversive PSAs that I've ever seen. I heard that the WB shows, in order to get some special funding, had its shows do "special" episodes that would give the target audience (teenagers) an important life lesson. So, Buffy does Beer Bad. And, what's the point of the episode? The lesson is beer: foamy. Plus, you get Cave!Slayer, Xander as college bartender, Willow misinterpreting what happened to Buffy the night before, and Xander suggesting that Giles not make Cave!Slayer angry. On top of that, Willow delivers an excellent smackdown to Parker.

Do you think it's a such a good idea to flea the jurisdiction?

It definitely was. After Amy tells him that the intent of a love spell has to be pure, he says his intent is revenge. The show makes it very clear that Xander is wrong to have the spell cast. Yep, Xander suffered absolutely no consequences from the spell. No, wait, Giles yells at him, Oz punches him, Angel(us) tries to kill him and pulls him out of a second story window, he is threatened and attacked by almost every woman in Sunnydale, every guy in the highschool wants to beat the crap out of him, and Willow isn't talking to him. Buffy said that he as at least one month of groveling before that changes.

You can't talk about this episode w/o mentioning the "Got the Love" perp walk down the hallway. Or Cordelia's, "Get your mom-aged mitts off my boyfriend - former!" Giles telling Xander that he can't believe he'd be foolish enough to mess with a love spell and Xander's "oh, I'm twice the fool." This might be the funniest episode of the series for me. It's definitely in the Top 3.

So, cko, no chance of your needing Darkpool's services. I'm glad, but, in a way I'm also disappointed. I think you'd do a kick ass job on season 3 of OITNB.

AnnieF, I'll add my moving vibes. Before you know it, the move will be over and the unpacking will begin (yay?). Really, in the end it will work out. It reads like a good place, so I'm sure you and the family will be happy there. I haven't watch OITNB, but it's certainly not unheard of for shows and actors to be nominated in weird categories. From what I read, OITNB decided to submit as a comedy because the drama category was overloaded. In the past, all the Modern Family actors submitted themselves in the Supporting Actor category, and Michael J. Fox went from Best Supporting Actor to Best Actor (much to the enjoyment of John Larroquette who then went on to win at least one Best Supporting Emmy for his work in Night Court. In fact, part of his speech was thanking MJF for no longer being in the category. In any event, after the second straight snub of Tatiana Maslany, the Emmys are dead to me. I shall speak of them no more. *ptui*

As others have said, Jaime Murray's portrayal of Stahma has been fantastic. Stahma was pissed that Datak would not let her be partners, but I think she would have let him continue to be in charge while she schemed behind the scenes, until he hurt Alak. That she could not let pass. I also have serious doubts about the full extent of the Mayor's story to Amanda. I thought the rape was a bit too spot on after what Amanda said. I didn't think he was the one who raped her, but I can now see that is certainly a possibility. Did we know that Amanda had a job in politics with the E-Rep before she came to Defiance and had her talents discovered by Mayor Nikki? Kudos to Graham Greene in that last scene with his godson. The pain in his whole body because he knew what he needed to be done. I'm glad Berlin survived. I thought on several occasions that she was done for. This season has been a huge improvement over last season and I did enjoy the show last season, but it was more of a "hey, a science fiction show with Jaime Murray and others" that a "wow, I was not expecting that."

Giles walking into a tree, Giles asking out a chair, Giles staking a vampire, Giles wearing a magician's hat or a sombrero, Giles hugging Buffy.

Endeavor, I sent the info in (2) PMs.

Sounds like fun, KPC. Enjoy yourself. And, speaking of KPC, I have posted information in the other place regarding her upcoming Fringe Festival show. ETA: Orphan Black officially renewed for 10-episode Season 3! [insert Kermit the Frog waving his little froggy limbs back and forth saying "Yayyyyyyyy!"]

Maybe they had their fingers crossed when they took the Hippocratic Oath. I also had been thinking that DYAD needs a better HR Department to do better screening so they won't keep hiring these unscrupulous employees for high level positions.

cko, definitely let us know how the interview with the Feds goes (if you're called). Of course, if it goes badly and you only have one phone call, I would suggest Darkpool as he would have a better chance of knowing a good criminal defense attorney on the West Coast.

There isn't an awards thread, so I thought I'd mention here that The Emmy nominations are being announced this Thursday. http://www.emmys.com/events/2014-emmy-nominations-announcement What we need is some proactive Angelinos to build catapults, obtain large rocks, and amass our legions to be prepared to storm the castle where the announcements will take place. If TM doesn't get a nom, that'll be the cue to launch the offensive.

KPC, we were an offensive machine last night. 12 runs in the first inning, one in the second, and another 10 in the fourth. The game was called after 4 innings (mercy rule) 23-3. Lots of vibes of all sorts, and some hearty congratulations for old jobs ending, new jobs with great bosses beginning, and high school graduations with ice scream scooping.

I think I understand the curse. The gypsies wanted him to suffer mental and emotional torment, not a physical one. So, Angelus remains, but the soul lets him understand and feel all the pain he caused others. What doesn't make sense is the loophole. For that, I agree it's there because the plot says it needed to be there.

Well, there's dead, and then there's "head-on-a-stick" dead.* For me (as a guy), it was when I saw her on Hustle. The word I'd use to describe her was luminous when she first appeared on screen. Amen brother. * FarScape reference.