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Written on November 30th, 2006. Filed under Scribtotum. Tagged with From The Web, Giving, New Media, Video.
“Jericho” Better Than “Heroes?”
Time for one of those infrequent television posts.
I’ve been following “Jericho” — the CBS series about a small town in central Kansas after a series of nuclear explosions cuts off the rest of the world — and “Heroes” — the NBC series about an interconnected group of “new mutants” threatened by a pending nuclear detonation in New York City — since the season began.
Originally, I ate up “Heroes” like the best comic-book cake in the bakery, and tolerated “Jericho” because my wife liked it.
Lately, though, I’m flipping.
Now, I’m a huge comics fan — and when I knew “Heroes” was coming, I got pretty excited. I had my TIVO Season Pass all set up before the pilot aired. I wasn’t disappointed by the first few episodes, either, and really dug the cliffhanger episodes.
Then… I started to be able to predict things. Was I discovering a special ability myself? Would I be compelled to “watch the series… save Monday night for the network?” (Since unfortunately “Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip” isn’t gonna do that.) Nah… I’ve just read too many comic books, and “Heroes” follows comic book conventions so closely, they’ve started depending on comic book cliches. The cliffhangers are less shocking; the coincidences, contrived.
“Jericho,” on the other hand, I was apathetic toward, then intrigued… and now I’m engaged. Much slower than “Heroes,” and that’s all right, because it’s focused on character conflict and growth. People are changing for better and for worse, and characters are making choices that drive the plot, not the other way around. And maybe it says more about me than it does about these television shows, but I have yet to say, “Well, I saw that coming” watching an episode of “Jericho.”
It’s social science fiction, which is a pretty rare thing on television. When the plot twists come, I’m genuinely surprised because they make sense without feeling like mere shock value. I’m interested in the characters on “Jericho.” On “Heroes,” I’m not so concerned. I know New York will be saved. I don’t much care who lives or dies on the way to the season (series?) finale, because the characters are… pardon the blasphemy… too comic-booky!
Just one guy’s opinion, of course. Commence your attack runs..!
Poisoned By A Thousand Cranes!
Written on November 28th, 2006. Filed under Scribtotum. Tagged with food poisoning, Kyoto Grand Hotel, Personal, Thousand Cranes.
On Sunday, I went to the fiftieth wedding anniversary lunch of the parents of a friend. It was held at the Thousand Cranes in the New Otani Hotel Kyoto Grand Hotel & Gardens (new name as of January, 2008) in Los Angeles.
Now, this is a pretty swanky place that caters to Japanese travelers, in the heart of J-Town. I didn’t think twice about the safety of the buffet.
The food was good, the conversation was fun, and that was that.
Monday, I had to do a lot of driving. Got back home… and felt… woozily. Went to bed around nine thirty.
By ten, I was up and feeling horrible. On an almost hourly basis until the morning, I was in the bathroom, engaged in what is best described as a North / South evacuation plan.
It was horrible. Didn’t sleep much. The North evacuation wrapped up around three in the morning. I managed to sleep a little, fitfully, until ten or so the next morning.
Come to find out: at least five other people who were at the anniversary lunch also got sick! That’s potentially very bad, since some of the people are elderly.
Why am I telling you this?
Spite, mostly. I’ve had food poisoning… three times in my life? This was hard core. So watch out for the Thousand Cranes in the New Otani Hotel Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens in Los Angeles.
Probably a good idea to avoid seafood, sushi, and sashimi buffets anyway… but that’s no excuse for this place.
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