Study in Pink - A Sherlock Mistake

Thanks to a friend of mine, I've been watching the BBC series Sherlock, created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss and played by Benedict Cumberbatch (as Sherlock) and Martin Freeman (as Dr. Watson). You can't see this series here in the channels we've access to through public or paid TV, so the way you access to them is by the way of Internet, and those people who know were to look for the series. I'm not one of them, but I'm being provided with the episodes.

In the begining the series can throw you off a little bit because we are talking here about a Sherlock Holmes that's played in modern times, with a sort of fixation for texting, and a Dr. Watson who served in Afganistan. You quickly get the hang of it, so it doesn't really bother you. Something I appreciate terribly about the show is the absolute naturality with which homosexuality is treated. The mention of it in absolutely natural terms is refreshing, and thus helps the world break down the remaining reserves and prejudices some still have about it. It had been done before and it has worked, up to the point where nobody thinks twice when the idea is proposed that a woman might be the Big Boss (such as M in James Bond, just to show an example). One can only hope that after the wall of reserve and discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transexual people is destroyed, the world won't stop and we would see a more open approach towards people of other religions, other countries and etnicities.

In the first episode, or pilot of the series, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go investigating a series of suspicious suicides - four in total - that clearly bear the mark of a serial killer. The fourth "suicide" is the one to which Scotland Yard calls Holmes and from where the case unrolls. It features a woman with a serious case of pink addiction. The excesive amount of pink drives Dr. Watson to name the case "Study in Pink" in his blog. Yes, Dr. Watson is a blogger. Of course, you can read his blog in real life.

Anyway, there's a woman in some abandoned looking house, laying on the floor, dressed in pink, like she's some kind of Legally Blonde or something. Looking around a little and deducing lots of stuff about her from her tacky clothes and tacky jewelry - clunky gold stuff, the type that looks like it was designed from some imbecile who thinks that the more the better -  from her being from Cadiff, to she being a serial cheater and a smart woman and that the most important thing is missing: her suitcase. How come? There's mud behind her left leg, spattered mud, which would only get there if you're pulling a suitcase behind you. That suitcase is important because most likely her phone is in it, and no, she wouldn't leave it home because she being a serial cheater, and smart, would most likely make sure her phone is always on her.

Have you pulled a suitcase behind you? I have, but never through mud, so I can't tell you if the spatter on the legs is created, though yes, if the suitcase gets dirty and you roll it in your leg - as I do it all the time - or you keep it from tilting over, by kicking it in place by kicking back with your leg. However, as this went on I felt that something wasn't right. In the show it was right, it was awesome, it was brilliant, and once the pink suitcase was found answers came forward and things got solved really nice. And yes, all that was cool, but still, something was off. So what happened?

Well, though indeed the pink lady had a suitcase, it was really odd that such a girly, pinky, high heel, dress, lipstick and nail polish woman wouldn't have a purse. I guess there weren't women involved in the writing of the script, so I guess this just slipped, but I must say that this was a biggie.

Basically you can't hardly find a woman anywhere not carrying a purse or a clutck of some sort. Men can go around packing everything you need in your pockets, but women can't do this so easily for two simple reasons: we tend to carry far more stuff than men, and women's clothes are usually designed to cling tighter to the body, so there's less room for pockets, and sticking things in those pockets that are put on our clothes. So, deconstructing this a little bit, let's look into what women carry around with them.

Most women carry with themselves at least four basic things: their keys, their wallet, their phone and a cosmetics' bag that may or may not include any of the following: tampons and or sanitary pads, basic make up, hand cream, some sort of disinfecting gel or spray and pills or any other sort of medication. The concept of basic make up can also be opened, but that depends on what each woman considers necesary, and it can go from a chapstick and a mascara to a kit that includes everything you'd need to appear on TV. Actually it's interesting to check on the make up women carry, because that usually gives you a glimpse of the features they love more of themselves, and how they perceive them.

Now, men usually carry their keys, wallet and phone. These can be distributed in two pockets. Men's clothes are more roomy, baggy than that of women, and have much more pockets. As a matter of fact, much of the clothes designed for women have no pockets or the pockets they have are decorative. Others do have pockets but either are small and can't hold anything bigger than a key or some spare change, or the clothes themselves are so tight that whatever you put on your pockets bulk up and show through.  So, yes, purses are needed.

Now, when you are traveling, and staying somewhere, there's even more need of a purse or a bag of some sort. If you go to a long distance bus terminal, a train station or an airport you'll most likely see every woman carrying a purse or a bag, in addition to their hand suitcase. They may not have a suitcase, but they'll certainly have a purse or a bag. Why is that? Well, because when you travel there are things you'll need to keep at hand - you know, the things men keep in their pockets. Wallet - and if you pay close attention, women's wallets are usually larger or bulkier than those of men, basically because women won't fit them in their pockets -, traveling documents - at least the ticket -, phone, keys and our little bag of fix-it (cosmetics), all those need to be at hand, and the way to keep them at hand is by keeping them in your bag. Just think logically for a moment: you are carrying a suitcase that's rather big, that usually opens with a big zipper or some other mechanism that would require you to basically open it whole and leave it's contents for anyone to see, spreading a top that's just as large and wide as the suitcase itself, where your underwear is rolling around around with other private stuff... and you'll do that to fish out your wallet to pay the taxi fare? Do that to answer your phone? In the middle of a bus or a train or a plane? Maybe even going through having your suitcase pulled down from the overhead compartment? And then put it back? Really?

Think of your own habits. You are going to another city to spend a day with a friend, or just for some mini-vacations. You might just throw a pair of undies and a shirt in the bottom of your backpack or bag along with a tooth brush and a deodorant and be done, but if you are taking a suitcase - like pink lady - then were are you going to put your wallet, your tickets, your phone? Where do you keep your bubble gum or snacks? Where's your handkerchief? Before you make a case about these being in the coat pockets, let me remind you of the size of pockets in women's clothes again, ot the lack of them, and then direct you to the picture to the left. Does that look to you like the kind of coat that's not snug and would fit all you need at hand during travel?

Yes, I have a trench coat which I love, and it has fabulous big pockets, and I stick my keys in them sometimes, but not my wallet or my phone for two simple reasons: 1. I don't want them to be stolen, and 2. their weight would ruin the lines of the coat. A woman wearing so much pink, with polished nails and matching lipstick, wearing heels and a dress that short at that age is constantly trying to get attention, trying to appear feminine, she wouldn't ruin the flow of her clothes by sticking bulky things in her pockets, so Mr. Holmes, where's the victim's purse?

Crappy TV Shows and Why I need IPTV

I'm waiting desperately for my boyfriend to make up his mind about signing a contract on a tripleplay service package with a multinational telecommunications company, so that we have deliciously wiiiiiiiiide broadband connection (I'll go for 25 Mbps, and holding myself from signing from the max. 80 Mbps, while my boyfriend wonders why can't we go for a lower broadband width. Uhhh... no, because I say so?), a landline like any normal, lawabiding household and IPTV with 75+5 channels! And since today I've been tackling the tax and amenity bill payments, errands AND set up (and am still working on) our "Home Finance" Excel book, there's a chance I'm charged enough to go tomorrow down to the store and sing myself for a fabulous - even if maybe a bit expensive - plan of TV, landline and unlimited high speed internet. Why such a need now? Because currently there's no paid TV at home and that means that I get to see, but don't hear a channel (M1) and see and hear another (M2).

The one I can't hear shows in the morning what seems like Korean or Japanese series, while the other presents the most horrendous programs known to men. From the same boring three or four Infomercials every single day, to parenting shows to whatnots. I didn't notice I needed the TV at all, and the weeks we spent at my aunt's place, I was never in front of the TV, but ever since we moved here, in the mornings when my boyfriend leaves for work, I turn on the TV for some background noise, or really feel like watching something, but all there's coming from the tube is "Baby Minutes" or the same infomercial about the NicerDicer or some hearing enhancer or something like that.

Before you ask if we need 75+5 channels, the answer is Yes! I want an arrange of sports, cooking shows, home design shows, history, series and movies and I want them there whenever I feel I want to watch some of that.

Now, one of the shows I've noticed is a FortuneTeller show. In this show, which is live, there's a model-like hostess and a Fortune Teller person, and the hostess urges constantly the audience to call a given number so that people get on the air, give their name and age and the Fortune Teller makes a reading for them. Each day also seems to have a theme, though the hot topic seems to be - naturally - money. That's not hard to guess given the fact that we are in Europe and Hungary is doing royally bad. Eventually, to boast the calls, the Fortune Teller starts giving away some trinket, like a small statue or image, or a piece of jewelry, which they are supposed to have charged with some special energy to bring money to the caller.

The speach of the hostesses was always the same, though there's a really upsetting blonde hostess who is very aggressive and at one point starts screaming at the audience to call or else, and even uses negative enticers such as "take this fortune away from someone else". On the 29th, the speech was that it was "the 29th" and "the energies of 4 years have accumulated" and the Fortune Teller of the day was giving away white elephants that bring money to people. The hostess insisted that the white elephants were available only that day and the four year energy could be given away only that day. It was that day or wait for another four years. The next day another Fortune Teller was giving away the energy of four years he accumulated and harvested the day before, and was giving it through Goddess Fortuna that day and that day only to people who needed Fortune and money. Half way down the show giving  away only energy and him hoovering his hand over the statue wasn't enough, so he started giving necklaces, however it didn't bring the success of his colleague the day before and the hostess when red in the face shouting at people at the end of the show and shaking her head in reprimand for all those of us who didn't waste our time on a call for some card reading and a trinket.

Today, the first fortune teller - the lady - was on the show and was again doing readings, but also was promising to include people in a special "money attracting ritual" she was going to perform at midnight. It wsa supposed to be some unique ritual nobody else knows, which she has read from very ancient texts of many hundred years, and with the aid of a gold pen, red envelopes, horseshoes and ashes, she would to a very powerful and ancient ritual - curiously known only by her, which can be done only by her, and which can be realized only today at midnight - and then throw the envelops containing the names and ages of the selected people into the Danube and thus send them financial luck.

There weren't as many callers now as on the 29th - I guess most of the usuals got their phone bills and realized that the white elephants and the other trinkets and energies first cater to the sender and then to the recipient... if ever. You kinda get a mean sort of pleasure at watching the same hostess (the 29th there was another, more calm hostess) of the day before get so upset, so blatantly desperate to get the calls, that she goes on loops repeating on and on the same sentence, the same two lines in hopes to be interrupted by a call that never comes. And then, as the minutes go by and the show must end, the raw desperation at getting one single, miserable call and listening to the silence, to her own voice while the fortune teller next to her revolves quite uncomfortably in the seat feeling publicly rejected by an audience of simple, often elderly people maybe no longer interested in their schemes.

People can be gullible, and the speach is strong, and you may feel inclined to believe "what of today is really a power day?". Well, if so, and you want to take advantage of it, you don't need a "magician" or a fortune teller to take away your money in order to conjure you some, or to get you love. All you need is yourself. Did you know that you can do magic? It's really simple, and you don't need to pay anyone ot buy expensive, esoteric things to make it happen. All you need is to follow your instinct and work hard to achieve your goal. Also, something that helps a lot is a dab of a very well known type of magic: positive thinking.

Sure, maybe you can't stop financial crisis or a war, BUT you can always help yourself. You out of a job? Start by believing in yourself and applying to a new one. It's hard? Nobody said it was easy! Analize your options, look for alternatives, be smart about your decisions, practice some personal discipline... and insteand of focusing on the closed doors, be positive about what's out there, about hope, about chances.

The hostess constantly yelled at the audience "only you can help yourself!" and there she was right, but not to her benefit. You can't help yourself expecting some esoteric magic to solve your life, but you can by seeking for the alternatives and keeping an open and positive mind.

Finally, last year I've got myself a Witches Datebook for 2012 - which is quite interesting and is filled with many curious facts and advises for people following Pagan religions. This book notices their festivities, astrological movements as well as times for the different cycles of agricultural life. Not a word about power days to make money or never-again-returning-opportunities or "four year accumulated energies"... which curiously exists only since the Gregorian calendars, but were unexistent before, even though the world is older than that. Any day is a power day and it's a power day for any purpose you wish to make it, just put your heart and thoughts in it.

How a Spartacus related to the Truth behind Relationships

Finally I've got my hands on a copy of "Spartacus: Blood and Sand". Not owned, mind you, but rented. My local blockbuster did pushed its luck with me on this matter, as it took it forever to secure me a copy, inspite the fact I specifically requested to be informed the moment the SOLE copy was available again (honestly, which self-respecting video renting joint keeps only one copy?). Two weeks of waiting to finally have it in my hands yesterday - even went as far as run to the store as soon as I was called - and at once watched the whole first CD. This, of course, explains why I'm so tired now, and sustain myself on coffee alone.

It's too early to give any comments or pass judgments over the series, as there are parts somewhat disappointing, parts that are good and... 9 unseen episodes. So far I can tell you that at least in the begining the poor acting is evident, the stiff and awkward lines are the norm, and the abundant crass language a resource abused to stamp a feel, an environment that better acting, directing and writing could better succeed in. But - and this is important -  our hero looks beautiful. Nice eyes, nice eyebrows. Evidently airbrushed ass, so I can't say anything about that.

Originally I was thinking about writing something on relationships - since it seems to be a topic on the go now -  but suddenly a series seemed more important to me. This series in particular, famed for its profuse blood spilling, and I tell you, it's like hosing with blood and throwing buckets of blood at the smallest sign. "Oh I cut my finger" and the garden sprinkler is full on. I'm not talking Kill Bill-like, or 300-like, I'm talking Saint Seiya like, where you thrust a sword into a guy's chest on the top of the Everst, and his blood covers the mountains and leaks to the Ocean. But then again, blood sells. The series is also famed for its profuse and uncovered sex scenes. It's advertised as an "all you can eat", no restrictions, slave-on-slave action, and yeah... sure.

So we have blood and sex - the first one in cartoonish amounts, the second in hard efforts to be presented as modern-society-shocking yet still stiff and gathered - and it sells while trying to push the attention away from the points where shortcomings are evident. Hell, the lines are bad, but look at all these worked out men running around in briefs! The plot is a little bit too stupid, and it's a sloppy second of many other series and movies, but don't pay attention to that! There's lots of sex! Look! We can even have slaves performing for the enjoyment of their masters and the masters' guests! Like ancient times porn!

This kind of pulled me back to the topic of relationships. (The Mind works in Mysterious Ways.)

The other day I was reading a post posted by this guy I read, and he was talking about this topic, much related with a line he has been developing on the subject, focusing on the social pressure, the behavioral patterns observed and the expectations. (So far a collection of 3 posts on condescending attitude towards hooking up, mutual satisfaction and the time to have sex in a relationship.) These topics, often a sort of taboo in "much more educated, polite circles" are also the topics that draw people. In a way to say it, these are topics that sell, such as the unrestricted blood shed, and the unrestricted outlashing of sex in a series. Why do they sell, because by being labeled as "unproper", "dirty", they arouse the imagination of people, and pull them towards a sense of different, higher pleasure. Topics are not new anymore, and in a way people kind of expect that - by walking into the taboo - they'll uncover something new, something that breaks the routine, that still has the power to astonish them. More than a revisiting of the old, dirty pleasures, there's a sort of hope to catch a new bit. At the same time, it's interesting how the attention still focuses on the same thing, on the taboo of hurting and killing as well as on the taboo of sex. People wouldn't go looking for a new way of entertainment by now exploring the developments of solar explotions.

I won't even delve into why 'sex&violence', but make a farfetched connection. On one hand we have the social requirement to have a relationship, a commited sexual relationship with a partner, that would make you fall into the "Social Schedule" in order to form a social cell - commonly known as "family" - in which you'll produce a given number of new elements - commonly known as "children" - to keep the well oiled social machine running. All elements or individuals, born into the "single" status, are systematically ushered into a series of "in a relationship" status, often pushed forcefully into, like two not matching pieces of a puzzle, by the muscle of society - this muscle commonly refered as "pier pressure" - seeking the production of new elements, and hammering them into line. Though in some societies the kind of relationship pressed forward is marriage, others settle for at least  common law marriage, partnerships and so on.

Once the elements are steered into this status, the hammering towards the production increases.  This, however, due to the profuse set of programs and rules related to the status, tend to difficult the sustainability of the pairing. Obligations, adjusting, jealousy, commitment, expectations, dos-and-don'ts and so on, could easily push the individuals out of the social lock, back into the untamed "single" status. Thus, aside from the social bullying consisting on the taunting of the single, the name-calling and the debasing, bits and pieces are pulled into attention from relationships - here mainly the sex - in order to sell it and keep people "in schedule". Push forward the "fact" that you need a partner to have sex (debase those who have sex without a fix parner, in the meantime), and also, well, that you can't cheat if you don't have someone to "cheat on". In the end, exactly like with the series, the package of the relationship is sold world wide through sex, throwing in a few "beaten into shape" complimentary concepts such as trust, love, being aproved of, never again being alone (which you must avoid or you'll be a loser and get depressed and die of sadness and bitterness), self esteem boost because finally someone saw something worthy in you (your own appreciation of yourself, of course doesn't count, because you are not objective about yourself, so you don't really know how worthy you are and besides, what do you think of yourself?) among other similar minor goodies, usually aimed at the "sensible" market composed by women - because they fall for that kind of corny, mushy shit - though truth is this is what you sell women, because they can't openly admit to love sex, so you have to push in the excuse for them to fall, as a matter of fact, for the same selling propaganda (sex).

Okay, this is all nice and good, but technically - if you REALLY don't give a flying fuck about social expectations and social bullying - you can get all that and still avoid the relationships. The "Social Schedule" and social muscle will keep your mind away from this insurgent idea. One thing the social program can't really keep out is the notorious contradiction happening here. On one hand we are told that relationships are not only about sex, but relationships as sold through sex. If they are not only about sex, why are they not actually sold through any other of their attributes?

As a consequence of this move, people often step into a relationship moved by the sex, and then find themselves holding a bundle of complications they can't even mention, and stand there -  often feeling desolated and more alone than ever - trying to figure out what is what and is that supposed to be that way. You look around trying to find help or clues to solve this thing, but everything points you again towards sex ("Are things going bad? Change your sexual position! Have sex in an unsual place! Go on vacation and have sex in a strange bed!"), or towards obscure elements and advises that basically are resumed in "suck it up". Sex is easy, it's pleasurable and just like booze, it can momentarily take your mind off other things. And if there's no mood for sex - because of all the other things - blame it on the shitty sexlife, and thus you are back to the one root you are allowed to attack: sex.

But what other matters actually enter the whole relationship package? Well, for instance the bringing into the relationship of all your other relationships (family, friends, pets, coworkers, so on), the managing of personal interests, personal time, managing of temperament differences - simple acceptance and behavioral modification are not acceptable to my standards as I believe no one should give up him or herself for anyone else - management of ideologies, management of individual and cojoint plans for the future, management of dreams and ambitions, handling of believes and habits, managing of the concept of relationship itself, handling of the rules of the relationship, management of the emotions and what goes in and what goes out, and well, the actual content of the relationship itself, whether it becomes a co-ownership of each partner, whether it is acceptable to keep up a friendship relationship with the counterpart, and how much the sexual element must be tied to all the "extra goodies" sold in the package. Does sex actually mean love, or can you keep loving your partner when he or she doesn't provoke any sexual attraction in you? And what is actually this love thing? Is it absolutely necesary in a relationship? Are its mutations - organic or externally induced - detrimental to it still being love, or are these acceptable? Is the developing of the same sort of emotion, called love, for someone else, necesarily mean the termination of the ongoing relationship? Is love an emotion attached to one person each time, just as one body can occupy only one space?

Then, what is really heartbreak? A broken heart really stays broken or does it regenerate to end up as good as new? How much must be endured in a relationship? Shall anything actually be endured in a relationship? Is it possible for two or more people with different views and different concepts of life get into a relationship without compromising necessarily the integrity of their views and concepts, or must necesarily be sacrificed until the prevailence of only one?

What is a "functional relationship" anyways and do we actually want one of those?

Yes, I know, though questions, and these are only the tip of the iceberg. Socially these are conveniently solved with "these you must talk with your partner about and get to an agreement", and "no relationship can fructify without a lot of compromise from both parts", which, as you've noticed, actually gives you no reply to your concerns. The concept continues in sale. Go for it, go for sex and you'll be successful, loved and worthy. If something is off, remember "improve your sexlife", "talk it over" and "both of you need to commit to it to make it work". Fix a smile on your face and swallow the mess in your hands. Smoke screen. Men in briefs, and pretty eyes, profuse shallow sex and buckets of blood to ignore the fundamental flaws in the construction. Sex and hazy advise to take your eyes from the fact that the social structure of a relationship is failed.

So what are you gonna do? Suck it up and adjust to a diminished satisfaction, focus on sex and ignore the rest, or kick it up, go single and make your own?

Fire Has Never Been so Welcomed

Yes, this is about White Collar, and it will probably be seasoned, sprinkled and generously dashed with SPOILERS and all sorts of SLASHY comments, like the could be any other kind of comments regarding this  "Oh dear, I love it so much" series. I mean, I've been checking out Dr. House, and it is catching me, and no little merit on that goes to no other than Hugh Laurie - amazing how good can that man look - and yet still, White Collar... it got me hooked. But then again, you've already knew that.

For WEEKS now I've been hooking on Fox Channel every Tuesday night to peek at Mr.Hot and Mr.Good do what they do best: come up with all kinds of unseeming plots only to repeat every once in a while how Neal will get canned if the suspect isn't (kinda like "there will be an arrest, no matter who, but there will be one"), Peter has some trust issues with Neal, but can't live without him and goes ignoring his wife more than what's healthy (it spells CRUSH with capital letters for me), while Neal keeps rubbing up to him, all smiles and puppy eyes (Sam Winchester would have a thing or two to learn from him), suffers like some maiden locked in a tower (and he is... kinda locked in a tower) everytime Peter doubts him, and does everything in his power - legal, ilegal or borderline - to please him. All this while kept on a leash, which up to this point he seems to enjoy greatly. Then now, as you are eased into the series, things get... warmer. Personal space gets reduced almost to strict bodily occupied space, as they are constantly so on each other's face as if they were trying to physically fit a 15' TV screen. They are often so close to each other that the only way to look into each other's eyes is by crossing them.

Not that I mind.

Then comes "the speech". Subtext is quickly replaced with Neal confessing his absolute and greatest "trust" in Peter... even above Kate. If you are an otaku, a manga reader or a yaoist (or all at once), this particular scene may have taken you back to one so many shojo mangas where the weakened/drugged (yeah, because Puppy-boy was tripping on chill-pills) half confesses his or her love to the Hero or Heroine of the story. All slashers of the world, I'm positive, sneered "Trust... suuuuuuuuuuure". All wholesome, family-centered, Republican, homophobes probably either turned off the TV and sore not to watch that pack of fruit cakes ever again, or performed extreme denial-reasoning procedures on their brains, hoping to convince themselves that Neal is evil and he's so stupid he thinks he can seduce Peter the same way he picks up chicks, and yeah, he's probably Democrat... but this is not a gay scene.

Then comes Peter ruffling up Neal's hair and Neal letting him like the good little boy he is. And Peter chops off a big chunk out of their personal space, and Neal kinda clings to his side, and Peter comes even closer, and then Peter totally ignores Elizabeth, Chuck bless that slasher woman's heart, and Mozzie runs with messages from Neal to Peter, and Neal worries about the words Peter says to him, and Peter can't care less for anything, brushed off his wife, but at the sole mention of Neal, he drops everything and charges ahead.

Plot thickens because in the most classic slasher fashion there is one episode where oh-dear, Peter must go live with Neal. A question comes to my mind: Do they have J.L. Langley on the payroll? Here quoting Bobby Singer from Supernatural "Vegas' money is on Yes".

A lot of moments go by, mostly gestures, attitudes, half words and stuff of the sort, enough to keep up the slasher bonfire, but not so much that would either create so much expectation you would necessarily have to get them in bed and rename the series "Gay Collar". After all, you gara keep the promise to the wide audience, and this is a series about a thief, an conterfeiter working with the FBI.

Then comes the season's last episode, a clear promise of a second season, and boy if I am not waiting for it with great impatience and deep hunger. Loose ends kind of seem to get tied, only to untie others even more twisted, pack the plot with as much questions and potential as it can take, get the box, give the box, say the standard good-byes... ask Elizabeth about who she and Peter... and the question in the mind of all (since Elizabeth answers about how she knows Peter is her one), is whether Neal is questioning is feelings about Kate... and about Peter? Yeah, yeah, blame it all on the slasher eye... whatever, and then in the last scene, Peter catches up with Neal and does his best to convince him to stay. Kick Kate's butt and stay with him. Neal visibly wavers, doubts and his resolution is as firm and set as custard, yet still decides to go. Peter then asks him why is he the only one he didn't say good-bye to.

"Because you're the only one who can change my mind."

I'm sure I have read that in so many yaoi stories... yeah.

A smile, a contented, happy, smile.

"Am I?"

That doesn't go with an answer. Peter tries again, pleads his case, tells him that he has people there, he has a place and Neal walks off, stops and seems truly tortured, thorn between his... love? A matter of Peter or Kate to choose from, and it nearly seems as if he's going to choose Peter, or he would choose Peter but he has decided long ago for Kate, who is the one who got him break out of prison and risk everything for love, when (and here I remember Agent Hendricks from Supernatural, now Wilkes in White Collar) the jet he was about to board, where Kate was waiting for him (and I hope she really was in there!) explodes in a bliss of golden fire. Quite an explotion and quite a mass of flames for such a tiny plane.

Neal screams and goes berserk, Peter holds him from behind, restrains him and keeps him safe, which is quite metaphorical as that's what he always does, that's his role: worry for Neal and so restrain him, keep and eye on him to keep him safe.

If we are all lucky, Kate will go to the roasted-chicken hell or heaven, I don't care, but won't pull a Winchester and will stay dead. If we are lucky we will have another season with Neal and Peter and more of this "closing on each other" thing that's going on. If we are really lucky, Alex will be the next to die, and will do so soon. After all, like I told Carrie today over the phone: "Supernatural hardly has any more women on the cast, but you don't see the fans complaining!". After all, if you wanna see women, watch The L Word.

Really, Tuesday is my favorite day. Today... NCIS: Los Angeles. Time to see Chris O'Donnell and L L Cool J hit it. Odd but there my ultimate favorite, like I've told you before, is Linda Hunt in the role of Hetty Lange. I mean, Chris and LL go out of their way to make slashy remarks and sometimes pull slashy stunts, but still Hetty is there the star. You rock, Girl!

How to Screw Your Brand for A Lot of Money

There I was yesterday, comfortably lying on my bed, shoes and socks off, resting my feet after all the walking I had to do. Well, I choose to do, but that's not the matter here. Point is that the TV was on, but I wasn't paying much attention and instead I was browsing on my de-lovely Nagi. Then, I glanced at the TV and saw this... thing. Well, it's not a thing, but a ... an absurdity. This made me think about how utterly stupid the world can be when it's entirely ruled by money with not even a speck of common sense.

You've probably see how nowadays series and sitcoms have sponsors. These sponsors are anounced everywhere, and often related with the given series, with a line like "This shows has been brought by..." and so on. Then, depending on the expected audience so is usually the sponsor. (I guess this is actually chosen by the sponsor, since they want to reach their target market.) For some reason Supernatural is sponsored for us by Concha y Toro, a brand of wine. I would put a car brand or beer or fast food, or jeans, but wine... that's too sophisticated for Supernatural. However, wine, all in all still goes along. Some other shows get shampoo brands, make up brands, photo cameras, phones and so on.  Yeah, so far so good and so boring you don't even look at them, right? Right.

Well, this is kinda how the shock came. Today I discovered which brand in the sponsor of a certain series called "Vampire Diaries". This series is like Twilight Weekly. Yeah, I know, like two movies and I-have-no-idea-how-many books weren't nearly enough, if not too much already. Then again I guess today's youth craves to taste the chalice of pathetic and abhorrently corny. Then again, if I think about it, they totally deserve the sponsor they have.

Yep. Vampires, TEEN vampires to it, are being sponsored by pads, tampons and daily liners. Now, thinking like any regular women out there (unless I'm mistaken) they are being sponsored, actually, by menstruation. So, if there is a connection there like, 'oh teenager girls like these young, handsome vampires and all of them want to be the young, beautiful heroine, and they all are having their first period and suffer from it! How about we bomb them with our product?', I think they kinda... didn't get it well. Lemme elaborate what we all already know by now. Vampires consume blood. Vampires are sponsored by pads. Pads that are ment to be used during menstrual periods. Menstruation that is blood couming out of you for days. One word: Ewwwwww!

Oh, and "daily liners" do not cover it. Kotex, in every mind means "menstruation". Sorry. I really think they should give up this series and maybe go for... "Glee"? "Gossip Girl"? "Trauma"?

On the Deep Heart of Soul and Mind Transportation

"Las 9:37 y todo sereno" (9:37 and all quiet), would howl the old watchman on the streets of some Spanish or Spaniard town. And in all truth it is. I expected more of a ruckus, but things are soft and quite, safe from the Sun, that's rising up against my shaded, polarized window, pumping up the heat as if it where the one thing I needed to accompany my daily glass of bubbly, dark, refreshing Coke. The door to my office, made of glass and metal is open, held that way with a broken piece of light gray plastic that came off from whatever unidentified piece of furniture we all hope is not missing it. See? I don't mind having or not an office. I can work fairly well with the door open.

I can't work, though, without my music, so I hooked up my earplugs on, and pushed the play button on my iTunes letting the gates open for the flood of Dutch music (in English) break to the levees of silence and pour unsuspected into my ears in the sweet voice of Sharon den Adel, waiting for her glorious duet with Anneke Van Giersbergen. (And this is that very thin, very fine, very fragile point where all my cells, pouder for a moment a whim, to just push everything aside and say yes, I love them and if that makes me a lesbian for the lenght of the song, fucking be it. Those two worth it.) Music, this particular music is just... so transporting. Their voices, the sounds instruments and throats conjure cast such a dark, maddening hex upon us, dribling in our ears like the poisin in the King's ear in Hamlet. It makes us fly. It makes me fly. They make me fly. It's like the voices of dark angels guiding you in the chilly black night sky, in a trail of kisses and feathers towards an unknown destination that might be dooming, might be enlightening, but the trip itself splits self from body, consciousness from soul, rips you to your components, untangles the human and spread it so far apart pieces doesn't seem to match anymore. This looks a lot like a great day. 

I've plans to meet with Carrie for some fangirling, basically all about Supernatural - what else? -  and the last Episode "The Devil You Know", and the episode before that, and perhaps a few others down the way. After all, going the series down the trackthey are taking only two things are worth to do: fangirling and fanfic-ing. Not that I can complain, because at least Dean has finally stopped going all Twilight every time Sam breaths, and Sam has been losing his Marianne Dashwood mood too, so things are going back to two-hot-brothers-kicking-the-supernatural, with a few glitches on the way, totally forgivable because they are handsome. I know, that's so sexist, but I'm not watching the series because they are smart of curing cancer, or are you? (Yes, I'm a straight woman who appreciates male beauty VERY MUCH! Is there a problem with that?)

I'm thinking also about talking to her about my latest (one of them, at least) fangirling, fanslashing discoveries. You know, because among girlfriends all good things must be shared, and this one is so awesome! It's White Collar. As a matter of fact yesterday I proded the net for some pieces and found a few quite... ummm... so, cannon makes Neal the uke? Interesting. ^_^ Not like I oppose, oh dear no. It's just interesting that from... 15 stories I found basically none of them let dear Mr. Caffrey take any role other than the passive one. Could it be due to his anklet? Could it be due to his charm? Could it be due to the fact that he's basically pussy whipped by Kate? Be it as it may, I guess I'll keep... ummm... researching the phenomenon, looking for all other possible scenarios to the case. Another thing I noticed, Hell, the way they play Agent Burke makes you look again at the plain, kitten gentle, slightly goofy, won't-kill-a-fly, clueless FBI agent. The phenomenon here is much like the Snape phenomenon: he's not supposed to be much, just some plain, flat, graceless spot on the wall, the "annoyment center", but fanfickers pick 'em up from the dust their creators leave them and push 'em up, make them into breathtaking gods. When it comes to the point where you can't decide between Caffrey and Burke, and find yourself oddly leaning towards Burke a bit more, that's the grand, the unstopable, the all transforming, all taking, all possessing power of fanfickers.

Media Whores

Everyday more and more "reality shows" and other "Celebrity Seeks"x kind of programs are crowding the tv these days. Maybe this kind of shows are a trademark of an era, just like the contest progams were people went to answer all kinds of questions or guess letters or something of the sort. So maybe this is a sign of the traditionhal tendency of the mass media to stupidize people around the world and offer them something to keep them aenestesized, turning them into zombies that wouldn't interfere with the ambitious plans of those who really run the world.

The first reality shows were stupid but somewhat entertaining. Do anyone remember them? "The Real World". Soon it was obvious that they picked the people depending on their personality in order to ensure conflict. After all, people can actually live nice and cordial lives with little conflict, but who would watch that? In order to raise attention, there must be a "dysfunctional" element, someone to hate, someone to break the harmony and get people on each other's throats, ganging up against each other. Soon more and more of these "reality shows" started to appear, where "regular people" were the stars, even if they were only for a moment.

Thing is that soon waning celebrities decided that they wanted a piece of the cake. Celebrities "invited" the audience to their lives, and you've got to see them in their PJ's, living in a world that made you realize that they are not like us even if they speak like us and curse like us (or worse). Some of those took off, some of those don't, some costed marriages, some were too invasive. Thing is that other celebrities and celebrity wannabes saw in them the potential to get back to the limelight. It was then when the reality-contest-shows came. "Next American Idol" and all it's spinoffs, that never really made it to produce a real, time resisting celebrity. But let's say that has "some" potential, some sense, sice it's like making the market study, and then create the "need" before launching the product. But what about the shows where with whatever excuse a celebrity or celeb-wannabe tortures a group of people, forcing them through a series of stupid tests, eliminating them week after week?

Donald Trump and Martha Stewart made "The Apprentice", where they put people to test dangling before their eyes a position in their companies. Really. Can't they just pick someone through man power and buy off an executive from another company like any other enterprise? This idea of putting people through a series of games and stupid tests as a job interview is something of a very, very, very long shot. Well, they needed to get back to the scene and project an image. Martha was in jail for tax fraud and Donald won't admit that he filed for bankrupcy three times, four during this recent crisis. Yeah, they needed a show to get people talking about them and buying their stuff.

Then other celebrities came with longer shots. Two dunderheads came with reality shows to get attention, one claiming to look for love, and another for a best friend. Okay, who is going to believe that? At this point it's obviously just a scheme to get attention. And they apply the well known formulas learned from years of reality tv: get an annoying element that will always wreck havoc among the participants and keep things happening all the time. The celebrity doesn't interact much with them, only to establish its status of "prize" and "master of the circus". The group is composed by sycophants screaming constantly "I love you x!!!", desperate celebrity pleasers, phony, immature people that take every available chance to rip each other into pieces.

So what goes on? It's all about people seeking fame. No one is "honest", they just play the game to get their 15 minutes and stretch them for as long as they can. It's all about the attention, all about getting in the media, and through the media become "celebrities", known celebrities. They do anything for the media, and so they whore out.

People in those shows are nothing but whores.

TV

The coke at home lost all it's gas. Hell, how I hate that. So I've been thinking I should keep here also a stash of cans for "just in case" situations. The problem with "secret stashes" is that you tend to attack them quite fast and so they quickly go depleted, unless you keep hundreds and hundreds of safety stashes all over the place. The coke situation is critical, kind of like a smoke situation or a fix situation. The bad thing is that coke cans can't be stashed as easily as a pack of smokes or a fix, so my job with it is harder. Dude, I sound like a junkie here, but then again, when it comes to Coca-Cola, that's what I am. No point in denying it.

Today I did my best to have a calm day, which was easy given the fact that some annoying factors were out of sight. I delved into rutinary activities that helped me lower stress levels, and then stimulate the creative side with a small proyect that could do the difference in a slideshow I'll prepare as a side dish for a tiny little project I compiled in 94 pages after Mr.B fucked up the original, and perfectly good 74 page version. Hell, that still pisses me off, buut then that's what happens when someone without the knowledge or the vision, who never moved a finger to get involved, really involved in the project pretends to present it.

So, while I worked ahead in my new assignment, which has been my regular assignment since I started in this star crossed process, I thought about the presentation and way to make the project airtight.

Then I came home, and turned on the tv. Was greeted the great news that NCIS is coming back to AXN this Friday, where they'll present the season that finished a few weeks ago on CBS, or NET1 or whatever that channel wants to call itself. NBC or whatever. The point is that NCIS will be back, and that's AWESOME! Sure, NCIS is no Supernatural, which, really, is awesome ^_^, but I totally love, loooooooove, looooooooooooove NCIS, from McGee, DiNozzo, Ziva, Abby and Gibbs all the way to Ducky. (It's Ducky, right?). Well, I don't like Jen, which is why I'm actually glad she was offed. She was the "Ruby" of NCIS: the woman doing nothing but eing in the way. Because, let's face it, no matter the sexual tension between Ziva and DiNozzo, Ziva is too much of a butch to ever come between DiNozzo and either Gibbs (a total canon) or McGee (which has it coming!). Abby is so much fun, and such a child, she couldn't threaten a maggot.

Mental is a series that didn't really make it for me. I really had expectations with it, but episode after episode, the series didn't make it. It's like "The Mentalist" meets "Dr. House" on a psychiatric ward and it goes all wrong. To tell you the truth I started to watch the series because the main character strips naked in the first episode. And that was it. I didn't get to see him as much as in the trailer. Well, that's true to the rest of the series as well: they are not what they pretend to be. They are just an excuse to get actors and a crew paid. Period.

All other series I watch, I watch pretty much as "filling" for when I've nothing better to do. Do you do that too?