I've spent the past 3 nights being more or less a couch potato. Tuesday was Buffy night, of course. A very entertainingly wacky episode, featuring the dual plotlines of Buffy and Spike's newfound "relationship" (Salon had a great article about it), and of course, Willow's descent into the addictive world of black magic and the tragic effects thereof. Nooooooo, not Willow. Anyone but Willow!

"Please God^H^H^H Joss, don't let Willow go bad. Help her find her way back to the light. Let her see that everyone in the Scooby Gang loves her and cares for her (not to mention the millions of tv viewers). Please give her the strength to make it through these hard times, and realize that happiness will come again if she could just have the patience to allow what must pass to pass. Oh, and if you could, also send a few smiles and warm fuzzies her way. She's given so many to others, couldn't just some of those be sent back her way? Finally, into thy wise and all-knowing hands to we entrust the future of the Hellmouth forever. Amen."

Amen.

And now, let me not start cackling with an idiotic and foolish glee. Yep, yep, yep. I'll be watching next Tuesday. :)

Last night, I invited the UPN-less Zan Lynx over to watch Enterprise. It was... a time travel episode. More visitors from the future. [yawn] I think I would have to agree with T'Pol's logic here. If they're such great time travelers, why not just go to the year before (and the year before that, and the year before that) and reset things? Time travel stuff can be really fun if it's well done. (Think TNG: Yesterday's Enterprise) Lately though, on some of the later Voyager episodes and now Enterprise, it seems more like a crutch for writers who suffer a shortage of new ideas. "Can't think of any new story ideas this week? Let's throw some time travelers into the mix to liven things up!"

Oh well. Maybe that's just my jadedness coming through.

"Please Rick Berman, help Captain Archer to see, as the Borg might, that time travel is irrelevant. That no matter where he goes, no matter who he meets, and no matter what orders he gives, the universe will continue to live on in harmony for centuries to come. Let him him realize that although he does not know who they are, there is nothing he can do prevent the future ascension of Captain Kirk, Captain Picard, Captain Sisko, and Captain Janeway. And give him the strength to..."

Riipppp. Ok, enough of that. Moving on...

Tonight I did indeed watch the Pi commentary on IFC over supper. Darren Aronofsky, the insightful entertainer of the film commentary world. Now I think I'm going to have to rent (or, heaven forbid, buy) the Pi DVD so I can watch the actual movie again. Having also seen Requiem for a Dream now, I can agree that he definitely nailed several of the same camera and style techniques for both movies.

Comparing my initial reactions to both of these movies, I can say that this guy has one hell of a talent for misery. One film gives me a headache, and the other one makes me feel nauseous and deeply depressed. Yet still, I come back for more.

[Bitscape shakes his head with mock grimness and moves on.]

The temptation becomes stronger. Every time I read slashdot comments like this or reviews like these, it gets worse. I'm getting a nasty itching to go out this weekend and comb the retail outlets until I find a place that actually has a GameCube in stock.

My temporary spending moratorium ends Saturday. I just got my credit card bill tonight. I will zero out the balance on that and mail the check tomorrow morning. There will be a new paycheck in the bank, out of which will come the rent and car payment. Then, I should have enough left to buy a GameCube and a game or two, at which time, the balance in my account will again necessitate that I bring spending to a near halt until the middle of December, when another check arrives. At that time, there will be another round of (smaller) bills coming in, Christmas presents to buy, etc etc.

Mmmmm... temptation. Hmmm.... I shall have to think about this some more over the next couple of days. Possibly run some more numbers.

Given knowledge of my own behavioral patterns, I estimate an 80% likelihood that I will purchase a GameCube in the very near future, provided it is available to do so.

need a super duper video game console. That it would be wise for me to save my money for the future, or spend it on something more enduring.

The other part of me (the evil angel) says, "Aw, fuck it. Go buy the damn thing already! That way, maybe you'll quit bothering ME about it. I have no intention of appeasing your supposed guilt at having fallen prey to the consumer culture which you so self-righteously criticize whenever that Utopia-istic whim hits. And you know what? I'm not going to take the fall for it. Don't blame me for your own latent spirit of self-indulgence, for which you feel you must pay with guilt! I'm not going to assume that role anymore. You do what you do, and YOU deal with the consequences. Leave me out of it. Fuck you."

Why thank you, mister demon. I feel so much better!

lol.

This rambling has gone on long enough. I'm journeying to somewhere else.