Apologies for the extended absence. After a wonderful Thanksgiving at the parents’ homestead, a fun trip to western Mass. to cut down the family Christmas tree, and a relaxing Sunday, I went to work Monday to discover I’d come down with some sort of cold/sinus infection/creeping death. I tried going in again Tuesday only to find I was even worse than the previous day. Today I didn’t even bother trying to go in and I now seem to be on the mend and will be able to return to duty tomorrow.
What did I do while I was sick? Mostly I slept and watched season three of Angel.
Other than that, there’s not much to report at the moment. I can’t comment on last night’s Veronica Mars because DG and I haven’t watched it yet. Looking forward to a new Mythbusters tonight. Does anyone else think they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel for myths these days, though?
By the way, please welcome the newest member of my Sphere of Influence: Robynjade of robinsworld. Robynjade (hereafter referred to as RJ) is a college friend of DG (my girlfriend, for those of you who just tuned in). Check out her Lovejournal for thoughts on comics, movies, and innoculating maxiprep.
Yes, I’m commenting on my own entry.
Turns out there was a pretty cool myth to bust on Mythbusters last night—the infamous “sniper shoots the other sniper through the scope” gag, as seen in Eraser (possibly Schwarzenegger’s most-forgotten movie) and Saving Private Ryan. Turns out it’s pretty much impossible to do, which surprised me and, I’ll admit, was a bit disappointing.
Huh.
How did they determine it’s impossible? I mean, I imagine it’d be pretty friggin’ hard, but did they get actual military trained snipers, or what?
Nah, they had this rig where they had a laser sight set up inside the center of the sniper rifle barrel and projecting through the scope of the other rifle. They also did a bunch of calibration shots to account for barrel imperfections and whatnot. They tried it twice with the laser and once with a professional shooter.
When that didn’t work, they put the barrel of the sniper rifle about a foot away from the scope–even at that range, the bullet still bounced inside the scope and didn’t penetrate all the way to the eyeball. The conclusion was that it was practically inevitable that one of the five or six lenses in the scope would deflect the bullet enough to make it strike the side of the scope instead of passing on through to the eye.
Still, though, I suspect there’s a decent chance they’ll revisit this one. As a viewer, I was satisfied that the shot-through-the-scope could probably never happen in real life, but I bet they could replicate the result with enough computer assistance.
Season 3 of Angel!!! Welcome to the best 100 episdoes of TV ever created (Seasons 2-5). I envy you, watching these little gems for the first time. Man, I think I need to have a sick day and watch a few myself…
See… I bailed at the exact wrong time. I caught Angel Seasons 1 & 2 and found it plodding (the exact opposite of Buffy which I enjoyed from start to finish). I will admit that killing off Doyle was ballsy – and I really liked that dude too. Of course, if Whedon didn’t do it, the actor himself would beat him to the punch later on. RIP
Years later I would learn that the show hit its stride at the exact moment I tuned out. I did catch a few eps here and there and feel I missed out on a lot!!! Just wait until you meet the Pee Pee demon in Season 5.
Maybe I need a sick week.
There are definitely times I prefer Angel to Buffy. I love the noir tone of the series and all the various, colorful demons (good and bad) on the show, not just as bad guys but as characters (such as Lorne).
I can’t see how you could have watched the last three episodes of Angel season two (where they rescue Fred in the sword-and-sorcery world of Pylea, Lorne’s home dimension) and then decided the show wasn’t for you. I thought those were some of the best episodes of the show to that point.
Buffy is up and down for me. I just finished season six, which bothered me with its emphasis on Spike and its de-emphasis on Willow and Xander (except when making them miserable). The last three episodes were good, but they couldn’t make up for a turgid, soap-operatic season with three bad plot twists/devices (cancelled wedding, one-night stand, attempted rape). Buffy‘s best seasons are still two and three, in my opinion.
If you were disappointed with season six of Buffy, which I can completely understand, then season seven will be a welcome comeback. Not as good as season’s two or three, but just as good as four and five (it ranks in at number three all-season for myself). The writers knew that this was it, so they revisit alot of the old material and wrap everything up in a neat little bow. Season 7 is best watched at the same time as season 4 of Angel. Make sure you finish Angel before you finish Buffy. Also, watch for cameos from Firefly, they are all over the place.
On a side note, I am rather self-conscious posting on a English majors website. With my horrible grammer and the lack of a spell check, I can only imagine what Jason must be thinking as he reads my posts…
BG, I graduated from college six years ago. I don’t think “English major” should be my job description anymore, if it ever was—if I were to be interviewed on the nightly news, I’m pretty sure it would say “Library Assistant” under my name (or more likely something like, “Saw coyote attack victim” or whatever the story was about). I was never really a stickler anyway and I resent the implication! 😉
And I’m looking forward to my remaining episodes of the Buffyverse. Especially “Smile Time.”
BG and I have something in common as every time I contribute to this site – I triple check each sentence… and even then, a mispeldt word slipz thru the crax… every once in awhile.
It’s not an indictment of you, my friend, as I don’t think you’ve ever called me out for it (now – personal appearance is another story – that seems to be an open book for you to criticize : ) )… but I know your pedigree and thus I can’t help but be a wee bit self-conscious.
… and this coming from a Journalism Major.
So you’re telling me the reason people never comment on my posts is because of my pedantic reputation? Phew. I was worried I was just boring.
The funny thing is, I fiddle with the grammar of my posts for ten minutes after I upload them. But I certainly don’t care what commenters write, so long as they actually reply. I’d rather have a quickly-written reply than none at all. Would it help if I started making my own speling and grammer errers in my posts?
I fel much betor.