Things could be worse

As one among those who appreciates the anticipation of Advent and celebrating Christmas starting Dec. 24, I try to avoid Christmas music before Christmas, but it gets harder all the time. What really annoys me is the setting of commercial jingles to sacred tunes. I do not believe that a sale on [fill in brandname here] merits a full-scale rendering of Handel’s “Hallelujah” chorus, sometimes with new lyrics. On the other hand, John Mark Reynolds reminds us that things could be worse, because there are some truly terrible Christmas songs out there that no one wants to hear under any circumstances. One of them, “Santa Baby,” has been playing over a commercial this year—which is fairly appropriate—but where are the PETA protests over a little girl running downstairs singing “put a sable under the tree—for me”? Maybe she’s just asking for a live weasel as a pet?

Even the most gruesome Christmas song can have unexpected consequences,  perhaps: in Nick Hornby’s About a Boy, the enormous fortune inherited by Will, whose father wrote “Santa’s Super Sleigh,” enables him to live in splendidly selfish isolation, until—well, I recommend the movie!

An end and a beginning

Today is the end of NaBloWriMo. If there was a prize, I did not win it, because I skipped a couple of days, however, I’m sure I beat my own previous record, so there. I only managed to add one episode to the BtVS rewatch. It doesn’t take long to watch the episodes, but writing up my notes takes a LONG time. Must think faster, I guess, or summarize more.

So, November comes to an end and Advent begins. I’ll try to keep up while anticipating the next adventure.

Staffordshire Hoard background

Medievalists.net provides a collection of articles on the recently publicized find of buried Anglo-Saxon gold and silver and enameled artifacts known as the Staffordshire Hoard, starting with How the Staffordshire Hoard was Discovered.

From their collection of scholarly experts’ opinions on the signficance of this archaeological discovery:

Leslie Webster, formerly Keeper at the British Museum and the leading expert on artefacts of this period:

This hoard is going to alter our perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England in the seventh and early eighth century as radically, if not more so, as the 1939 Sutton Hoo discoveries did; it will make historians and literary scholars review what their sources tell us, and archaeologists and art-historians rethink the chronology of metalwork and mss; and it will make us all think again about rising (and failing) kingdoms and the expression of regional identities in this period, the complicated transition from paganism to Christianity, the conduct of battle and the nature of fine metalwork production – to name only a few of the many huge issues it raises. Absolutely the metalwork equivalent of finding a new Lindisfarne Gospels or Book of Kells.

Coincidentally, 2009 marks the 70th year of the discovery of the Sutton Hoo ship burial.

Thanksgiving, day 2

My dad and I spent a great afternoon with my sister & brother-in-law’s families. My nephew & niece were home from college and we enjoyed visiting with them. More than enough delicious food was consumed by all, including (if I recall correctly) four or five different desserts.

After dinner, we tormented all assembled with a variation of  “What are you most thankful for?”—questions from the Thanksgiving Box such as “What should be your family motto?” “What have you learned from a culture other than your own?” and “What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?” Similar boxes available for all occasions—entertain and annoy your friends and families!

Thankfulness

Thankful today for many things, with one exception: the big traditional family feast. That will be happening tomorrow. In our family, with our TCK/CCK heritage of missionaries and military, we focus on celebrating when and where we can. If that doesn’t exactly match the officially designated time/place/menu, we celebrate anyway. For us, this year, Thanksgiving day will be on Friday.

However, this has not stopped my father from watching football this evening!

And nothing can stop me from quoting from the only Thanksgiving-themed Buffy episode, “Pangs”:

GILES: Well, you know, you should be very pleased.
BUFFY: Wasn’t exactly a perfect Thanksgiving.
WILLOW: I don’t know. Seemed kinda right to me. A bunch of anticipation, a big fight, and now we’re all sleepy. And we did all survive.
BUFFY: I guess that much is true. First thanksgiving on my own, and we all got through it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night.

Good news too

All the longuers of yesterday somehow overwhelmed what should have been the day’s notable good news: my proposal for the 2010 SC4: The Slayage Conference on the Whedonverses has been accepted!

What is my proposed paper? For several years, students in my Freshman Comp 2 classes have been analyzing Buffy 7.16 “Storyteller” as part of a unit on metafiction. For many of them, it’s also their introduction to the show. So I’ll be discussing how that has worked out.

The literature anthology that has included this “metafiction” unit goes into a new edition next year, cutting the unit and most of the stories in it, so Spring 2010 is probably the last semester I’ll be using “Storyteller.” However, I’ll probably find a place for another Whedon show episode from Firefly and/or Buffy.

Long day

Last day of classes. Not much to say about that. The semester isn’t over yet, but I’m thankful for Thanksgiving before exams.

One of those days

…when things don’t quite connect. At work, after waiting two weeks for an travel expense check, I inquired whether my reimbursement request had been signed, and learned that the check had been waiting to be picked up for some time. So I went to pick it up myself, only to be told that after holding it for several days, they had put it int the mail that morning. I hope to see it before Thanksgiving!

At home, I received two calls for a person who now lives elsewhere, which is understandable, but why today? Weird!

Buffy 1.5 Never Kill a Boy on the First Date

BtVS 1.5 “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date”
written by Rob Des Hotel and Dean Batali, dir. David Semel

This episode (acronymically referred to as NKaBotFD) is rarely mentioned in fans’ “best of” lists, but in building the Buffy mythos, it contributes more than it has been given credit for. First, even more than in the previous “Witch” episode, where Buffy’s slayer duties conflicted with her desire to regain the popularity associated with being a cheerleader, NKaBotFD highlights one of the show’s essential themes: the conflicts between our hero’s “normal” life and the responsibilities of her vocation. I was noticing this as I watched it, and then I watched the featurette in which Joss Whedon says the very same thing. (Either I am very bright, or I have a very retentive memory, or I can read Joss Whedon’s mind. Whichever it is, I’m giving credit to Whedon.)

Another contribution of this episode—several, in fact—quite a few quotes that have become iconic “Buffyisms,” starting with the teaser, in which Buffy introduces herself to the vampire she’s about to slay: “I’m Buffy, and you’re….history!” {stake!—poof!} Others:

Giles warns Buffy to conceal her secret identity and she promises, “Well, in that case I won’t wear my button that says, ‘I’m a Slayer. Ask me how!’” (I actually have that button as a refrigerator magnet; I don’t have a lot of fannish swag, but I love that button.)

This classic exchange in which Buffy and Xander discuss her (entire lack of) love life:

XANDER: You’re acting a little overly, aren’t you? I mean, you could have any guy in school.

BUFFY: He’s not any guy. He’s more…Oweny.

XANDER: Sure, he’s got a certain Owenosity, but that’s not hard to find. I mean, a lotta guys read. I can read.

In three lines, three different examples of “Slayer slang” as described by Michael Adams: using an adverb (overly) as an adjective, or else to describe an implied adjective (here perhaps “emotional” or “upset”); adding -y to a noun to make it an adjective (Oweny); and the creation of an entirely new word: Owenosity, which appears to mean the essence of “Owen.”

Confronted by Giles with yet another impending prophecy of doom, Buffy insists she can go on her date with Owen and still be “on call” for Slayer duty, saying, “If the apocalypse comes, beep me!” We never see this beeper again after this episode, or anything similar, such as a cell-phone—the Scoobies are limited to land-lines until season seven (a vampire does use a cell phone in season 3)—but this line is frequently quoted as quintessentially Buffy.

Cordelia’s first words on catching sight of Angel in the Bronze: “Hello, salty goodness!” When she loses her memory in Angel 4.6 “Spin the bottle,” she’ll have the same reaction. Nice work with the continuity, writers!

Owen is the first of the impossible “normal” guys Buffy will long for. He likes her, but he doesn’t quite get her. Both Giles and Owen, for different reasons, describe Buffy here as “the strangest girl.” Owen’s morbid emo fascination with Emily Dickinson and death turns into a fascination with danger for its own sake. He has no idea what he’s getting into. It’s irresistible to see him as a prototype of Riley Finn in seasons 4/5. Riley has more skills and motivation, a better understanding of “the mission,” but his first encounters with Buffy leave him similarly baffled:

RILEY: She’s all right, I guess. She’s just kind of… I don’t know. Peculiar….I don’t dislike her. She just–she never feels like she’s really there when you talk to her. I like girls I can get a grip on. (4.7 “The Initiative”)

OWEN: It’s weird.
BUFFY: What is?
OWEN: You! One minute you’re right there. I’ve got you figured. The next, it’s like you’re two people.
BUFFY: Really? Which one do you like better? (1.4 NKaBotFD)

 

It’s also in this episode that we get our first glimpse into Giles’s backstory, and some information about how the Watchers’ Council works (at least for some Watchers):

 

GILES: I was ten years old when my father told me I was destined to be a Watcher. He was one, and his, uh, mother before him, and I was to be next.
BUFFY: Were you thrilled beyond all measure?
GILES: No, I had very definite plans about my future. I was going to be a fighter pilot. Or possibly a grocer. Well, uh…My father gave me a very tiresome speech about, uh, responsibility and sacrifice.
BUFFY: Sacrifice, huh?

And finally, Whedon once again subverts our expectations—after warning us right up front with the Master’s prophecy that “‘the Slayer will not know [the Anointed One], will not stop him, and he will lead her into Hell.’” I’m virtually certain that the first time I saw this episode, I got so caught up in all the Owenosity that, like Buffy and Giles, I followed the red-herring of the crazy-prophesying vampire and was shocked to discover how the prophecy had been fulfilled. I wish I could say that I was annoyed, but at the time, I was really creeped out.

Saturday

1. Saturday morning: join other CU faculty and staff to interview prospective student candidates for two major scholarships. They were all smart and sincere, a few almost frighteningly so. Hope to see a good number of them in the fall, however things work out.
2. Thanks to early Christmas present from parents, replaced my car stereo and can now play CDs without elaborate and awkward Rube-Goldberg contraptions. Happy, because the library’s audiobook collection is growing in CD form, static or dwindling on cassettes; also I have a lot of music CDs I’ve only been able to enjoy at home or in the office. On the other hand, I now have a lot of cassettes that will no longer be playable in the car. I guess that’s progress!
3. Shopped for Operation Christmas Child and church’s Thanksgiving food drive.
4. Came home & collapsed.
5. Plan massive grading push for the next few days.