It’s happening, isn’t it?

Now, a few years back, if you had told me that 2013 would see the return of Arrested Development to TV, I’d have said you were insane. If you told me that later on that year, Joss Whedon would also be returning to TV, this time with a S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show, starring Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson, I would have been infuriated by your cruel humor.

Sometimes the world is just a beautiful place.

It’s happening, isn’t it?

A quick review and my initial feelings:

Arrested Development: I can’t even begin describe how excited, nervous, giddy, and freaked out I am by this show coming back. A TV show really shouldn’t have such a profound effect on me, but oh well.

It’s an unheard of phenomenon, an unfairly cancelled show being revived after nearly a decade off the air, and showing on the internet alone by a DVD rental store. It’s symbolic of the industry as a whole, how consumer demands are shaping the way we create material. The kick-started Veronica Mars movie is similar.

And like I said, it’s a mix of emotions: Nervous that it will be a disappointment, wonder that it’s happening at all, and, mostly extreme excitement. I’ve watched the trailer around fifty times, because it’s these characters I have watched over and over again, and they are saying new words that I have never heard them say before.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: I mean, it’s my favorite TV writer, helming a show that takes place in the Marvel universe, connected with the movie franchises. Like Arrested Development, it’s unprecedented and exciting. And, like AD, it’s burdened with bloated expectations.

Whedon has a thing for Brits and young geniuses, and this time he’s combining that those tropes. While that’s great and all, I’m not enthusiastic about the cast, so far. They look generically young, white, and pretty, with the one exception being young, Asian, and pretty. I get that he wanted an entirely original cast, for whatever reason, and it’s Whedon, so I’ll shelve my trepidations for now.

Now, who is J. August Richards playing? The idea that he’s playing Luke Cage has been pretty much tossed out. His one joke line about carrying a shield makes me think he might be Patriot, or some variation on him. It would tie in the to movies, and make a certain amount of sense. I guess we’ll find out. I’m glad to see Richards back on screen though, in any case.

So a fair bit of nervousness mixed in the with excitement. But come May 26, we’ll know about Arrested Development, and S.H.I.E.L.D. won’t be far behind.

I still can’t believe these programs are actually happening.

The Most Tragic Couples of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Television

Heart-Broke. One of the most painful feelings we have in this world. Unrequited love, lost love, the ones that got away. Yet, as terrible as it is, we pursue it in literature and entertainment.

And it works pretty well for some.

 

My friend and inspiration, Brenna, has compiled three comprehensive lists on the best, worst, and sexiest couples of sci-fi and fantasy. My favorite way to write a blog post is to craft a companion piece for her work, which spares me the trouble of developing my own ideas. My maudlin, pained aesthetic demands I respond to her lists with my own: The most tragic Sci-Fi TV relationships. Because we seek out the heartbreak.

Short Heroes of Sci-Fi and Fantasy

I noticed something while busing across the Ross Island the other day. It’s weird that I had not noticed it before; spending most of my life in this town, growing up on the streets of Hawthorne and Belmont, leaving for Eugene for a few years and returning to find the neighborhoods in NE expanded and grown, avoiding Downtown for the most part, but still inevitably giving that instruction of, “I’ll met you at Pioneer Square”, you’d think I’d have realized it. I didn’t. But it came to me in a sudden rush while heading to work.

Portland is a small town.

Looking at the downtown skyline (because that’s how you judge a town, right?) I realized there were only a couple of large buildings. Calling anything a skyscraper would be laughable. Sure, you’d have a hell of a time walking from the Alberta Arts district to Sellwood. It would take the better part of your day. But you could do it.

We have this lovely little town, and we often forget how small it is. I think that’s why I love it so much, why I feel so at home here. We are both smaller on the outside. We care about books, bikes, beers. We try not to force ourselves on our surroundings. We care very much about what people think of us. And we don’t let our size make us small.

My First Comicon

I’m still wearing the bracelet pass–I don’t have it in me to take it off. I’ll have to before I go to work tomorrow, but I’m unwilling to accept being back in the real world just yet.

It’s strange: I’ve never considered myself someone to hide from the real world. I’ve always prided myself on being a nerd that doesn’t rely on escapism to be happy; the real world, as bleak as it might be at times, holds more allure to me than any fantasy world. Yet my own actions would argue otherwise: Studying theater, playing Dungeons and Dragons, writing about TV shows, etc… are all forms of escapism. Still, I denied my reliance on it. But tonight, getting ready to head to bed so that I might get up at 5am and drag myself to my last week at this job, I realize how much I need a fantasy world, and how much I love it. I really am a nerd, after all.

My Life is Beer

Due to my present financial predicament, this blog is fairly silent. I’ve really only been able to afford beer, and by afford beer, I mean my roommate graciously provides me with the necessary elixirs to keep me operable each day.

As grateful as I am (which is extremely), there is a hole in my heart: I miss having a bar. For a long time building a bar has been a passion of mine. I used to make beautiful concoctions, full of bitter liquors and aged whiskeys. I filled my glasses with classic and original cocktails. Now I pop a beer, and maybe use a chilled glass.

Almost more than spirits, I miss wine. I was just on the cusp of wine education when my finances dropped out from underneath me. No more vibrant Oregon pinots, grassy Sancerres, or playful prosecco. Now it’s a choice between IPAs or session lagers.

I cannot complain about the beer I drink now; my generous roommate has impeccable taste for beer, as do many of my other friends who graciously provide me with it. Beer has an immediate charm and ease to it.  But wine has romance. It has sensuality. Good red wines and sparkling wines both carry an obvious connotation of romance, and it is not without reason; anyone who has drank Burgundy or Champagne would not deny their seductive charms. Complicated, layered, lush, rich, all these describe wine.

Cocktails share that romance. Try a Vesper, a Boulevardier, or Crimsons Slippers sometime, and tell me they not lusty, not vivacious, and slightly troubling. They hint at a hidden danger, their alcoholic heat masked by bitterness and rich sweetness.

If beer has anything, it’s a ragged sexiness. Nothing profound or deep, but something vicious and raw. It denies introspection and demands immediacy, which is ironic since its alcohol content is lower. Beer offers the pleasure of a one-night stand, and one that results in a splitting headache and a bloated stomach. Wine offers a lifetime of romance, or at least a passionate fling. Cocktails take work and involvement. You can chug a beer while playing a video-game with your friends. You can’t be that detached when drinking wine. It requires attention. Once again, this is an allegory for romance.

I like beer. I love wine. Beer is easy. It is simple. It is bitter hops and sweet malts. It is bubbles and freshness, but that’s it. There are times when it’s perfect, but it never matters as much.

I miss wine, and I miss liquor, but that is my life now. I live paycheck to paycheck, day to day. I lack investment and give into immediacy. I work to get by, not to get ahead. My life is beer.

Thank god I live in Portland.

The Best Friends of Nerdy TV Shows

Continuing with my theme of a personal blog post followed by a trivial one about tv shows, this time I present you with the best groups of friends on nerdy TV! In no particular order, and let’s get the obvious one out of the way, first:

5. The Scoobies: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (God I’m predictable)

Mighty Forces Will Come to Your Aid

The days are growing longer, the nights less bitter, but I am not ready for the spring.

Two months ago, I was unemployed and living at home, dumped, broke, destitute. A month ago I was living at home, at a job that was lacking, broke, and single. Today, I have a fantastic apartment, with a fantastic roommate. I’m still broke, single, and destitute, but I’m working on pulling that off.

I’m passing through a pretty dark time of my life. It’s not quite over, as my career is floundering, but there is a light. It’s dim, and at times I cannot see it at all, but I know it’s there.