If…

The BtVS Scoobie Gang (from the first or second season)

Photo source: Hulu

Jo derived these five questions from Evelyn McFarlane’s The Book of If: Questions for the Games of Life and Love. Somehow, I think five is the perfect number for these question things.

If you could program the perfect evening of television shows, which ones would you select and in what order?

I assume in this mystical place, we would magically have new episodes of the shows, not just reruns. So I’m including a couple that are no longer on the air.

6:30-7:00: Friends—This is the exception to my general dislike of sitcoms. Even though I didn’t really like any of the characters, I enjoyed their foibles and felt as if I knew this collection of twenty-somethings stuck in early adolescence.

7:00-8:00: House—I don’t know what I like about this show so much. It is formulaic and filled with really dislikable characters, but they somehow seem real, if somewhat emotionally arrested.

8:00-9:00: Buffy the Vampire Slayer—This is the best show ever. I actually like most of the characters, even the bad guys. It has horror, humor, and character development. I also liked that the strongest characters (emotionally) were the ones without special powers.

9:00-10:00: Fringe—This is the most Buffy-like show on TV today: great writing that puts realistic characters in totally bizarre situations. Again, a good mixture of horror, humor, and character.

If you had to name the one area of your life that you are the least self-disciplined in, what would it be?

I’m really not very self-disciplined, even though I work at it. There are so many areas I could cite.

But I’ll have to agree with Jo and choose eating. I just love to eat. I love most of the flavors and textures of food. And as with most of life, even the icky stuff has value.

If you could enact one law that applied only to your own family, what would it be?

See I don’t think you can legislate family. Although the family has its power structures, what makes a family work is how we negotiate within those structures.You can’t force people to respect each other or be nice to each other or even take responsibility for themselves or each other.

Once you apply a power structure to those things, they tend to shatter. Even if you attain compliance, that attainment is temporal and breeds resentment.

If you could relive any single family outing in your life, what would it be?

I think it would be the trip I took to North Carolina to meet The Prince and Flo. I really enjoyed the time we spent there. It was totally stress-free and the weather was awesome.

The trip back with Suna and Beccano was fun, too. Even though we were pushing to get home, we stopped to have fun and see some of the sights.

If you could eliminate one hereditary characteristic from your family, what would it be?

I wouldn’t. We are what we are. If you change anything about us, you change something that made us what we are and, therefore, who we are.

Buffy Tarot Dies Yet Again

Death has found the Buffy Tarot…again.

Image source: Major Spoilers

Well, I had expected it when the deck didn’t ship at the end of September. When it didn’t ship in October, the second and final death of the Buffy Tarot became almost certain. Still I hoped, but the last nail in the coffin arrived in the email this morning.

Thank you for ordering from Entertainment Earth. Unfortunately, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Tarot Cards (Item DH15339), which you ordered, has been cancelled[sic] by the manufacturer. From time to time manufacturers cancel items for a variety of reasons. No additional information was given as to why this item was cancelled, however. No units were ever shipped to Entertainment Earth. We certainly would have filled your order had this item been manufactured. We apologize for any inconvenience. The order you placed for this item has been cancelled in our system.

Things from Another Planet sent out the cancellation months ago. I can only assume that EE left the product on their site to gather more email addresses for their “newsletter,” or as I prefer to think of their daily mass mailing: marketing spam.

The good news is that I can add EE to my junk senders list now. That will keep a little of their junkmail out of my inbox.

The New Religion

Somehow, it’s fitting.

I don’t usually blog YouTube stuff. I don’t even usually go to YouTube. But when I found this video through Whedonesque, I couldn’t help myself.

Book Review: Wolves at the Gate

Goddard, Drew (2008). Wolves at the Gate: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, Issue 3. Cover source: Dark Horse Comics

Andrew: Oh, hi, Buffy. Hi, nude Asian girl…. How much Dramamine did I take?

—Drew Goddard

Wolves at the Gate comprises issues 12–15 of Season 8. As of this writing, it has not been reissued in book form, but that is only a matter of time given the previous history of this series.

Wolves returns the focus to Buffy, but it still feels like an arc device. That is, its main purpose seems to be to move the season along rather than to stand on its own. When BtVS was on the air, each season always included at least one show so dedicated. While important to the season, they were never very satisfying.

Wolves is an improvement on these other arc devices in that it provides a look at new facets of Buffy’s character. It also provides some insights into the relationship between Xander and Dracula, who appears to fight on the side of the slayers out of personal vanity because a group of upstart vampires in Tokyo have stolen some of his powers.

But Drew Goddard is what really separates Wolves from previous arc devices. He brings the wit and humor that characterized the series to the comic form. The writing is superb, making us fall in love with the characters again. What this episode lacks in plot, it more than makes up for in character development. Maybe, it isn’t just an arc device after all. Read it and decide for yourself.

Slayer Tarot Ressurection?

More cards from the [resurrected?] Slayer Tarot

Photo source: Entertainment Earth

Those of us who occasionally (or frequently or as often as possible) visit the Buffyverse, know that it is not uncommon for Buffy Summers to resurrect. She has come back from the dead on at least two separate occasions.

I reported earlier that the Slayer Tarot, a deck designed for use by slayers in the Buffyverse and mystically transported to our world (where Buffy may be a mental patient straitjacketed in an asylum somewhere in sunny California), had been slain. Like Mark Twain’s, reports of the death of the slayer tarot may have been exaggerated. Unlike Twain’s, one can hope they will prove more than just premature.

Some random browsing today revealed that Entertainment Earth is offering the deck for September release. Thing from Another World originally offered it for August release but pulled the offering for “reasons beyond our control.” The deck has not been relisted on the the TfAW site.

EE also published a picture of a few additional cards (copied here). The images are true to the Buffyverse and to the concept that the cards are intended to be used by Slayers, as described by Comic Book Resources. Here’s how that site quotes designer and Tarot writer Rachel Pollack:

“The idea is it’s a tarot deck created for (use by) slayers in their task and for their allies in struggling against the vampires and the demons,” Pollack said. “So we’ve constructed a whole kind of world for this in which it’s not simply characters from the story, it’s actually cards that those characters actually use. There are characters, and some of the cards represent particular moments in the story.” The Lovers card, for instance, is Buffy and Angel.

Even though I wonder how a professional writer can use the word “actually” so many times in one sentence, I placed an order today with Entertainment Earth. I will let you know if I get the deck or if this order is also slain.

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12 November 2008 Update: It was a false hope. The EE order was canceled today.

Slayage: The Slaying of the Slayer Tarot

The Magician in the Slain Deck

Photo source: Mary K. Greer

Even though Buffy died twice, her tarot deck will apparently never have the opportunity. And I was so looking forward to it!

I got the word in an email from TFAW yesterday, since I had pre-ordered. Officially, Dark Horse says the cancellation is due to “circumstances beyond our control.” What could those be? Noted Tarot author Mary K. Greer speculates that someone who controls the rights thought a Tarot deck would be “too occult” and attract “the wrong people.”

Wasn’t it the wrong people who made BtVS a hit in the first place? And as Greer notes, several episodes of the series featured Tarot readings.

“Someone who controls the rights” can just …

I guess that someone who owns the rights should just get a life instead of irritating the fan base that makes money for the product. Academic conferences on the philosophy of the Buffyverse only bring in so much. Why not widen your sights. Oh, wait! I forgot! You’re an executive in the entertainment industry. That means you’re just the other side of brain dead.

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12 August 2008 Update: I have found the deck listed on another site for September distribution. TfAW originally listed for August distribution, so I am hopeful that we may eventually see this deck. For details, see my 12 August entry.

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12 November 2008 Update: It was a false hope. The EE order was canceled today.

Book Review: No Future for You

Vaughan, Brain K. (2008). No Future For You (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 2). Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse.

Photo source: LibraryThing

No Future for Youcompiles issues six through nine of Season 8 . It tells the story of Faith as she tries to redeem herself by taking an assassination assignment. The writing is good, and Faith’s character develops nicely within the parameters already established while BtVS was on the air.

Giles’ character also undergoes a couple of predictable, if unexpected, twists. Buffy and the other members of the Scooby Gang, however, remain on the periphery and relatively flat.

I enjoyed rereading the set with the acquisition of this volume. Buffy fans should consider it, although I wouldn’t call it a must-read.

Book Review: Buffy Omnibus Volume 4

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus, Volume 4

Photo source: LibraryThing

Omnibus, volume 4 (O4) is the best of the series so far. The writing is much close to the quality I came to expect from the series, partly due to the inclusion of the 19-issue, 200-page “Bad Bood” by Andi Watson, who has written the scripts for several graphic novels in the Buffyverse.

But the overall writing is better than the previous volumes. There were times in the first three volumes when I had to make myself continue reading. In O4, I had to make myself stop. Even the supplemental stories were well crafted.

And this volume ties in nicely with Season 3 of the TV series. The characters are more consistent with the series, and the action fits nicely in between the cracks of the season. For Buffy fans, volume 4 is a must read.

Celebrating Our Birthdays

Suna looks at a birthday card from TubaBoy while he is busy texting his friends. The card features a large biker-type wearing hotpants he doesn’t have the butt for.

The Prince came with us to church. After a rough night (my sinuses closed completely down after dinner), I finally took half a Benadryl at about 6:00. I slept through most of Rev. K’s sermon.

We spent the afternoon working on the house. The Prince and Suna pulled up vines and other weeds in the back flower beds. They have them looking very good. I finally got around to cutting a couple of fence boards that a tree had grown into. They no longer make that annoying creaking in a wind. The only other thing I got accomplished was to trim a shelf so that it fits in the cabinet with the new brackets. One shattered the other day, and we realized that another had been missing for a while. I had wanted to make a tennoning jig, but I realized that the piece of scrap I wanted to use was too badly warped. Looks like I’ll have to buy a little MDF. It’s more stable and will last longer, anyway.

The Prince treated us to dinner at Artz Rib House, where we enjoyed the music of Danny Santos and Eddie Collins, who asked me if I would be interested in playing bass with him, assuming his current bass player actually quits. The boys ate a lot of meat. The Prince seemed to enjoy the meal and the music. Jeff Tveraas also showed up and played part of the break set, the 20 minutes between sets.

When we came home, we celebrated our respective birthdays. Mine is on Tuesday. Suna’s was last Wednesday. The Prince’s was in February. TubaBoy got me a 4G USB key. Suna got me a collector’s edition of The Long Way Home, a collection of the first “episode” of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8. The Prince and Princess gave Suna a bracelet. It had been a gift from The Prince to The Princess that they had planned to bequeath to Suna. But they decided to give it to her when they could enjoy her reaction.