I Guess That Would Be a Pre-Existing Condition

[snurri]

You know that thing where bright lights make you sneeze? Well, either you do or you don't. It happens to me all the time, and it turns out there's a name for it: the photic sneeze reflex. (Via My Elves Are Different, which also lists some other interesting reflexes.)

I watched the Terminator show last night (I am not sure I will ever remember the actual name, even if it stays on for years). I will watch it again tonight. I'm not sure about it, but it had its moments. I thought Summer Glau was great (I actually cheered for her when she delivered the immortal "Come with me if you want to live" line), but the woman playing Sarah Connor isn't doing much for me. My Sarah Connor is buff, crazy (and not-teenaged) Linda Hamilton from T2; I can't picture this woman doing hundreds of pullups in the mental hospital. The kid is eh. I wonder if Dean Winters will show up again; I like him as an actor, but I'm not sure why he's there. I liked the bank not-robbery, with the time machine; it was an interesting twist. But I didn't so much like the dodging-and-outrunning-every-bullet-ever-fired phenomenon.

Check these out: Swordspoint/Fall of the Kings/Privilege of the Sword shirts for the Ellen Kushner fan in your household. I'm getting the green.

That's only three, but it'll have to do.

Comments

[jocelina.livejournal.com]

I do. It happened just now, actually, though illness may have been a contributing factor too.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

A fellow photic! Hope you feel better. I am superstitious about the sick right now, since I haven't had a cold (or flu) yet this season. KNOCK ON WOOD.

[wheatland-press.livejournal.com]

They kept running the promos for the Sarah Connor Chronicles (there, I said it) during the bowl games that were on Fox...so now Nicholas and I look at each other periodically and say, "Get your guns. I'll make pancakes."

I was afraid that was the best line from the whole series though.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

I can't say the dialog has been real strong so far. That was a good line, though.

[mekkavandexter.livejournal.com]

Summer was the best part. the rest was rather meh, I thought. We'll see what happens tonight. Although, the mentioned "I'll make pancakes" was kind of funny!

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Agree on the meh. It has potential, but the potential for suckage is greater, I think.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_stranger_here/]

Photic! I thought it was just some magic I figured out for myself. Conversely, if I want to stop myself from sneezing, I look at the darkest area/thing visible nearby, and as often as not that will do the trick.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

I know! Do you do the thing where if you feel a sneeze coming on, you look up at the light and it EXPLODES out of you in a satisfying rain of snot?!?

We are so bonding. I love it.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_stranger_here/]

Of course! Why just sneeze when you can be carried on the crest of XTREME explosive power? I like to live on the edge that way.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Speaking of LIVING ON THE EDGE, how was Wizard Quest?

[http://users.livejournal.com/_stranger_here/]

omg so much fun. We chose the "challenging" quest and didn't finish it in time! Largely due to so much exploring and wandering around having fun and stuff. J said we are "definitely" going back today, but I think he is wrong. We will, however, have to return to finish the quest. Perhaps on a day when you're visiting?

[gregvaneekhout.livejournal.com]

My reactions to The Terminator Show (they should really just call it that) pretty much parallel yours.

This version of Sarah Connor is more interestingly written than acted, maybe. In T2, she had to go from being a crazy machine woman to remembering her humanity. In the show, it seems her humanity has eroded a bit, but it remains close to the surface, so when she has to hurt John to protect him, it's hard on her. The dynamic has potential, at least, to be interesting.

Summer totally rocks, of course. I'm guessing she's been programmed with the personality of someone close to John in the future. Also could be interesting.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

I was totally wondering about the psychology of Dirty Old Man John Connor sending his teenage self a hot bodyguard. That could go to a really weird place.

Agree that the dynamic of protect/hurt is interesting; I like that she worries that he will just leave rather than put up with her tough love. But isn't that something that was explored in T2 as well? I dunno. I'm also concerned that SkyNet and the Terminators will turn into Boss Hogg and Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane if they don't find some other sources of conflict to drive the plots.

[gregvaneekhout.livejournal.com]

I think the plot is going to go Incredible Hulk. Summer and Sarah and John go from town to town, Bill-Bixbying their way through menial employment, befriend someone who needs help, conceal their specialness until Act 3, at which point Summer and Sarah shoot up the room, and then they bail just as the tabloid reporter Skynet/FBI shows up. Cue sad piano as they walk down the lonley road to their next menial job.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Oh god I remember that sad piano. It played while he walked along the dusty highways, holding out his thumb for a ride . . .

[gregvaneekhout.livejournal.com]

The Incredible Hulk "Lonely Man" Closing

It alarms me to realize how much this stuff informs my artistic sensibilities.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

I can't believe you remembered that. I had buried it so very deep. THANKS I THINK.

[rnb.livejournal.com]

I gave up on it almost immediately, as soon as some genius decided to start a television series with a dream fake out. No thanks, winners.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

I was less annoyed by the fakeout itself than by the fact that T2 started in a very similar fashion. Not a dream per se, but a nightmare vision of the future, anyway.

[dxmachina.livejournal.com]

A phellow photic! Phantastic!

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Phabulous!

[timakers.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed it. As far as Sarah goes, maybe they're going for a less uber-confident, uber-competent version of the character. Maybe. She's too bitch-skinny, though.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

She's too young. Character ages are one thing, but the actors are too close in age to be mother and son. When they appeared naked on the highway, I was waiting for John to look over and notice how hot his mom was.

[timakers.livejournal.com]

Let's see...John is 15...I don't remember how old Sarah was supposed to be in the first one, but let's say early twenties...I know plenty of hot late thirties types. I mean, I'm 35, and I look FANTASTIC!

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Heh. I'm not saying she can't be hot; I'm saying that unless she had him when she was twelve, they're not convincing me.

[cofax7]

She looks 35 to me. Hell, I look 35 to me, and I'm 43. *g*

I have issues with her size: 110 lbs is far too skinny for a woman my height who's fighting killer robots. But not her age. Sarah in T1 was around 22 or so, so I figure it's close enough.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

I agree that the size is more annoying. I remember that Linda Hamilton said, after T2, that she had to lose all the muscle mass to get roles because they went to "soft women."

[jeffsoesbe.livejournal.com]

Random facts (from IMDB) to fuel the discussion:
- Lena Headey (yow!) is 34 and 5'5.5"
- Thomas Dekker is 20, but playing a 16-year-old high schooler
- Summer Glau is 26 and 5'6.5", but she's playing a robot so age don't matter.

Age thing can barely work (if you say Lena is playing 36/37 and John is 15/16).

I agree that Sarah/Lena is not buff enough and that there's too much bullet-dodging and convenient info-travel. The terminator-killing gun was nifty, as was the bank vault time travel twist (which I saw coming when they got themselves locked in).

- yeff (over here from reference on greg's LJ)

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Hello! And thanks for the vital stats, which I was too lazy to look up myself :-)

I think it's the kind of thing I may get over if I decide I like the show. Last night was . . . OK, again. I liked some of the action; the motorcycle-as-projectile followed by Summer getting hammered by the SUV were cool, and so was Sarah tossing Cameron out the window just to get her out of the room. I'm curious about the origin of the junkyard Terminator, too. On the other hand, John sneaking out was so telegraphed and expected that they probably should have just taken him along in the first place.

[jeffsoesbe.livejournal.com]

One has to wonder how many times in each episode the Terminators are going to get hit by cars. Cause it seems like a lot.

Supposedly, based on a summary I read elsewhere, the junkyard terminator is actually the 1997 terminator from the bank vault. The head went through the time portal, the rest was apparently junked. And cat saliva is, I guess, an activation catalyst for hibernating Terminator heads.

I keep telling myself: don't take it too seriously, just have fun.

- yeff

[snurri.livejournal.com]

I keep telling myself: don't take it too seriously, just have fun.

Yeah, that never works for me either.

[blueeverglades.livejournal.com]

I have that reflex too! It happens whenever I go out into sunlight, but I can trigger a sneeze by looking into certain lights, too. (Given that everyone always stops and looks at me and thinks it's adorable, well, clearly I try not to do this too often. Can't let them get the wrong idea or anything. ;)

[blueeverglades.livejournal.com]

(Ah, yeah, I squeak when I sneeze. Sometimes puppies come out.)

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Snerk. I can understand your reluctance to do that, then. Must be a hassle to find loving homes for all those puppies :-)

[carnwrite.livejournal.com]

Yep on the sneezing thing. I thought everyone did it until I read otherwise on Slashdot awhile back. Looks like little Jack has inherited this trait, too :)

Sadly, I missed the Terminator show. Probably not a good idea to add another TV show to my watchlist at this point ;)

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Aw. Baby sneezes are awesome.

Dude, I don't know how parents do it. I'm afraid I'd never have time to write again!