Torchwood: Miracle Day - Not So Miraculous!

First of all, I want to apologize for disappearing all summer. I got very busy with work and studying for the MPRE (which I passed by the way) . Then school started and well here we are at almost the middle of September. And I promise, in the next few days I will post a round up of my Summer TV Rewind of series 1 of "Robin Hood" over on More TV, Please !

Anyway, last night Torchwood aired the series 4 finale on Starz. After watching the conclusion, I felt the need to do an overall reaction to the series (if you pop over to More TV, Please!, you'll see that I blogged episode 7 "Immortal Sins" for Jen). Be warned, SPOILERS abound for the finale.

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Way back when they first announced Torchwood was coming back, I was excited. We would have Jack and Gwen back on our screens. Then they said it would be set in America and have two American team members. I grew skeptical. As sad as it makes me to say this, I'm afraid "Miracle Day" was not miraculous for me.

If I had to pick one overarching problem with series 4, it would have to be the storytelling. I believe the show suffered, rather than benefited, from the enhanced budget and production values. Sure the explosions looked good but the story being told was not as compelling as the writers (yes I'm looking at you RTD) would have liked to believe. The premise, the entire world becomes immortal one day when no one dies, in and of itself had the potential to be amazing. In execution, it was lacking. We had more than half the series full of episodes about political and Big Pharma drama instead of fighting aliens. In fact, if you are as big a fan of Torchwood and Doctor Who as I am, you will be outraged to know there was no alien behind the miracle at all. Just a big chasm running through the middle of the world (which made me wonder whether the hole in "A Whole in the World" in Angel season 5 was somehow related). I think Torchwood worked better either with the format of series 1 and 2 (with more monster of the week episodes) or the mini-series format with a shorter episode run. Children of Earth was so compelling and mind-blowingly intense because it was crammed into a shorter span of episodes and it was mainly nonstop action and craziness.

Miracle Day by comparison was drawn out. We could have done without the entire PhiCorps nonsense. In the end it really wasn't all that important. Yes, The Families had their fingers in a lot of pie, including Big Phama but still, they could have shown that in a much abbreviated form. The same could be said for the overflow camps. We understand that no one dying means the economy goes to shit. But we didn't need to see people burned alive. We really didn't.

In addition to sub-par storytelling, I found the new characters of Rex and Esther to be poor substitutes for well...any of the prior Torchwood team. I'll probably never forgive RTD for killing Ianto but even Tosh and Owen wee preferable to clueless Esther and over-the-top Rex. I didn't feel, even by the end of the series, that I'd connected with them as people who I cared about. When Esther got shot, I honestly wasn't surprised or felt that I cared that she died. It was more, okay who of the team will get killed this series. RTD has a penchant (much like Mr. Whedon) for killing off characters. And perhaps the stupidest part of the whole resolution of "Miracle Day" involved Rex transfusing Jack's blood so that when the miracle reverted, he became immortal like Jack. I will concede that perhaps what Rose did to Jack in "The Parting of the Ways" probably affected him physically but they never said his blood was what made him immortal. Also, I dislike Rex enough that him being immortal now just pisses me off.

Now, the series did have a few high points. We got some shout-outs and throw-backs to prior Torchwood members. In the pilot, Jack goes by the name Owen Harper to get in to see the bomber that got charred. And we had several references to Ianto (usually when Jack was dealing with some hot guy he'd slept with). And we had some deepening of Jack and Gwen's relationship, especially in "Immortal Sins". Even in the finale, we saw how close Jack and Gwen had become over the years. She was willing to kill him and he willingly let her do it to save the world.

If Starz orders a fifth series (and RTD is around/available to write it) I hope they do a shorter order and for god sake, have aliens in the damn thing! I really think "Miracle Day" could have been done just fine from Cardiff, even if it wasn't back in the Hub. Needless to say, if I feel the need to indulge in some top-notch Torchwood, I will be going back to old favorites like "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" and "Captain Jack Harkness" before I venture into "Miracle Day" reruns.

Harry Potter: The Epic Finale

SPOILER ALERT! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 AND DO NOT WISH TO BE SPOILED!

A smattering to share

So this weekend has been a really good one. And this week should be equally as good. As I've mentioned here before, this summer I'm doing a big pleasure reading campaign. To date, I have read fifteen books. I've still got seventeen on my list to read. No, not this entire summer. I'll probably get through five or six more before school begins. Especially once I sit the MPRE and get that out of the way. Plus, at that point, I'll also be only working my weekend job. I haven't read this many books in a long time. Last year I read the Percy Jackson series and maybe one or two others. Still, that's only six or seven. I am really loving being able to discover all these new series and continue ones I've picked up previously. Of course, once I finish the list, I'll have to wait a year or more for new installments. I've got eight series to wait for. Only one of those is non-sci-fi/fantasy, too. Which is kind of impressive. I'm not 100% sure of the break down but I think only 3 of them are young adult series. The rest are all adults. Which for me is kind of odd as I really like young adult novels.

As for writing, I'm nearly halfway through the first draft of Shanna O'Guinn (family saga set in Northern Ireland). After starting two other novels this year and stalling out a little over the 10,000-word mark on each, I'm quite pleased with the progress I'm making on this project. I've also been thinking about what I'd like to write for National Novel Writing Month this year. It's likely going to be a kind of futuristic sci-fi with sword fighting, political assassinations and winged badass leather-clad women. Currently called A Broken Hallelujah. I'm also planning in August (again, once the MPRE is completed) on getting back to revising Euterpe's Song. If you haven't heard, I'm turning it into a young adult novel from a middle grade. I've already added about 3,000 words in word count. And I'm only on chapter 3! I'll definitely be able to beef up the storyline. Then probably in like October-ish (hopefully) I"ll be able to start querying it.

In a more temporally proximate line of thinking, I'm only 4 days from seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I will be going to 3:10am showing at the theater up the street from my apartment because the 12:01am showing was already sold out. Yes, you read that right. Three o'clock in the morning. And then I'm going to work that day, too. Now I know I"m not a college kid anymore and I never did pull all nighters (the awesome folks of the Boston Wrimos will tell you crashed near the end of our twenty-four hour write in last November) but I've got a plan. I'll get home on Thursday, the fourteenth (between 4:45-5:00) and sleep probably until ten o'clock or so. Grab something to eat and maybe watch Suits. Then I'd like to get to the theater around midnight (hopefully they'll be letting us into the theater at that point in time. I'm bringing a book (I do have to keep up that campaign, plus it's a 3 hour wait). I'll be reading The Jefferson Key by Steve Berry. I'll get home from the movie around 5:30 or so and probably nap for a bit. Til maybe seven o'clock, then get to work by 8;30 per usual and work until 4:30. I'll come home, sleep for a bit and hopefully get up and watch Torchwood at ten and then go back to bed and be up the next morning to go to work. I've been planning this for weeks so I really hope it works out properly. I've read a few reviews of the film and they are positive. I'm really hoping they do the parts of he book justice that they've not done so well in the past (i.e. Snape's memory in the fifth film was pretty pointless).

The last thing I'd like to share is that I recently bought concert tickets to see Hanson play the House of Blues here in Boston on October 9th. I saw them at this venue two years ago and it was all right show. I couldn't get out of class so I was a little late to venue so didn't have a very good spot in line to get a good spot within the venue. This time I'm getting there early and getting in line. I want to be near the stage damn, it. I'm also bringing a friend from school. This will be her first Hanson show so hopefully it will be a great experience for her

My Dream Job

So, everyone probably has that one job they would totally love to do if money and loads of other factors weren't an issue or consideration. And yes, I'm one of those people. However, I might actually be closer than some to their dream jobs. Right now, I'm working as an intern with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD). I am in the Enforcement Unit handling the investigation of cases. Right now, I've got seventeen (17) on my plate right now. And I'm loving it.

I should probably backtrack just a tad. Last summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to intern with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). It's the federal agency that handles employment discrimination. MCAD is obviously the state equivalent. So this past winter when I was looking for jobs, I thought I'd see if MCAD had any positions open for interns. Lo and behold they did. I sent in my application and got an interview. The interview went great. I interviewed with the person who became my supervisor, Karen. She has been a great support during my first month with the Commission. She is very much a believer in the open door policy and she's always got time to discuss my cases with me. I think working for EEOC gave me a leg up in terms of understanding the process a case goes through and what are needed to prove a claim of discrimination.

I also came into my current internship with a semester of employment law and disability law under my belt. I thoroughly enjoyed both courses and am still in touch with my professors. So beyond just knowing how to write a disposition, I really know the law. I think having all this background knowledge on the subject matter is extremely useful. Plus it makes me feel as if I really have learned something in law school and that I have found a real, practical use for it. I am putting what I know into practice.

So as I said earlier, I've currently got seventeen cases on my desk that I'm working through. Sure I got through about fifty during my summer with EEOC but this summer, I am the primary investigator on thee cases. I'm the contact person for the complaining parties and the respondents. I think I'm making up for the smaller volume with the ability to really analyze each case more carefully and really think about what kind of information I need to ask fro to make a decision in each case. Another thing I've come to realize no that I've got my own case load and have requested quite a lot of information from various parties is that the process takes so long because there is a lot of waiting around for responses. I have been waiting on documentation on the majority of my cases since my first week on the job. I don't like to be idle when it comes to work. I'm extremely efficient (probably why I have 17 cases right now and other interns haven't even gotten through all o their original ten cases). I have a system I've developed when I get a new cases where I go through and summarize the complaining party's allegations and the respondent's position. Then, all that's left is really to apply the facts to the elements of the law and see what I get. It allows me to make excellent use of my time. But it also tends to leave me wanting more cases with a day or two after receiving new cases.

So you may be wondering how all that ramble about loving the work I'm doing right now ties in with y dream job. Well, I think it's pretty clear I would love to work for MCAD. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear they are hiring for the coming year in the Enforcement division (or any division for that matter). While I'm really enjoying my time with MCAD (and it's not just the work. I'm making a lot of friends with the other interns which I've never really had a previous job), I could see myself working for EEOC as well. I really want to work for a government agency at either level. But as I'm beginning to realize that government jobs are hard to come by, I might need to settle for actually working for a firm that handles employment law. So I'm planning to use the connections I've made in the last year with both my professors and my contacts at EEOC to see if I can find a way to stay in the employment discrimination area.

Brandi Carlile: A Live Experience

Sometimes Facebook will be creative and surprise you. Yesterday while playing my daily dose of Wheel of Fortune (yes I'm a dork. Get over it!), I saw a small ad on the side of the page. Normally, i disregard those ads because they're pointless and have no interest to me. However, that one got me going. It was an ad for Brandi Carlile's new album "Live at Benaroya Hall. I hadn't known she'd be coming out with any new albums this year. I thought "Give Up the Ghost" that came out last year would be it for a while. So I was pleasantly surprised when I clicked the link and it took me to a look associated with iTunes and I could check out the album. It is a live album (as the album title suggests) which made it even better.

I had the chance to see Brandi live last year in Boston (at the House of Blues) and it was a fantastic experience. I had gotten into Brandi's music back when her debut album was released in maybe 2007 or so because dad had found out about her (i think through Pandora or something like that). I have say, my dad has pretty good taste in female indie artists. I will definitely give him credit for that! Anyway, he came with me to the concert an it was a lot of fun. Brandi is one of those rare artists that sounds just as good live as she does in a studio recording. I have to believe it takes a lot of raw talent and musicality to be able to be that good. Hanson is the only other band I know of that share that musicality. She puts on a great show. She interacts with the crowd and feeds off the crowd. I remember at the show, she performed one of the new songs off "Give Up the Ghost" called "Dying Day" (which is my ringtone for my dad on my phone incidentally) and they did it completely unplugged. No microphones for the vocals or the instruments (just a violin, guitar and maybe cello or base) and the entire room of like 3,000 people got quiet enough you could hear it all clearly in the back of the venue (we were near the front). It was the most impressive thing I've ever seen happen at a concert.

Anyway, this new live album was definitely on par with the live show I'd gone to. It had all the same elements of excitement from the crowd and from Brandi her back up singers (Timmy and Phillip a.k.a. The Twins). But this time, she was also backed by the Seattle Symphony. That added an additional layer of quality. The instrumentality wasn't that different but it was backed by flutes and violins and the rest of the orchestra and it made some of my favorite songs even better.

She also did a few covers ("Forever Young", "Hallelujah" and "Sixty Years"). The Twins also did a song just the two of them. A rather kick-ass cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence". When it first began playing I actually thought 'why are Simon & Garfunkel taking over Brandi's concert?'. The guys can SING! And they're both tenors and have enough range that they blend beautifully with Brandi. Of the covers that Brandi sang, I think I liked "Hallelujah" most. I am partial that song anyway (having heard it sung by a few other groups, including a pretty decent a Capella group called Blue Jupiter). I think the thing that made Brandi's version so great was it was backed by acoustic guitar and violins mainly.

Of the songs from her previous albums that she included on this live record, I have to say I'm torn between "The Story" and "Before It Breaks". They're from her second and third albums respectively. Some artists change their sound between albums, but Brandi has remained consistent in her tone and range. I like "Before It Breaks" on this particular album because she really gets the crowd involved. She splits the audience up into three groups and gets them singing. I remember doing that at the show we went to. It was lots of fun. If she plays a small venue in the Boston area again, I would most definitely see her. I findhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif her overall stage presence to be endearing and genuine. She really is grateful for her fans.

If anyone is interested listening to Brandi's latest vocal stylings, you can go over to her website and check her out. She's doing a tour as well in the mid-west right now and moving across the country.

In Memoriam

In the life of this blog, I haven't ever really talked about super personal things. Sure, I've discussed school and the writing process and the trials and tribulations of writer-hood, but never anything extremely personal. But today, I feel the need to do so. I was going to write this post a couple days ago but I wasn't ready. I think, now, I am.

On Monday, I traveled home for one of the hardest days of my life. We (my parents and I) had made the extremely tough decision to put our dog, Wiley, to sleep. My mom and I were with Wiley at the vet while they put him down and it was peaceful. But heartbreaking nonetheless. I think he was ready. He'd been sick for the last few weeks (gastric problems) and he was really unhappy and uncomfortable. He stood by the closet door where his leash was all morning. And he was calm while we drove to the vet (normally he'd be shaking like a leaf and whining the whole way).

He and I grew up together. We got Wiley after I had a rather tough year in 4th grade. My teacher wasn't exactly stellar and so my parents decided we needed something to make up for it. And a puppy seemed the right choice. He was the cutest puppy. A tiny little ball of fur with brown eyes and a short snout and black nose. He had the softest head and ears, like velvet. Even at 14 it hadn't changed. It was one of the things I thought of as we said goodbye. He'd gotten thinner and his fur was falling out in places (and his tail hair was completely gone) but his head and ears were just the same.

We were a little worried Wiley might not remember me when we first got him because I spent nearly back-to-back weeks away at sleep-away summer camp but there was nothing to worry about. He remembered me. I was his girl. And boy was he protective of me. And my mom. He'd bark and get all jealous whenever my parents hugged or my mom and I hugged. He had a strong dislike of workmen and loved to bite boy's bathing suits during pool parties. He'd chase kids around the pool in our backyard and into the pool. He didn't like going in the pool though. He'd put his feet in and drink the water (we didn't have chlorine in our pool don't worry!). But being a rather furry breed, Wiley went from looking like a rather handsome dog to a drowned rat when he got wet. He would get all mortified and run off and hide if we tried to dunk him in or give him a bath.

He was never much of a fetch dog. He'd chase things if you threw them but you'd be hard pressed to get them back. He was rather gifted at volleyball though. it was rather astounding. You could throw a ball at hi and he'd bounce it off his nose back to you. It was one of his favorite games. So was getting a rawhide stick and having you chase him to try and "get it" from him. He also loved Christmas. I don't know how he knew but on Christmas Eve he would be dancing around the living room while we put out presents and filled stockings. He loved presents. We would have to put his stocking out of reach until morning so he didn't open everything before we got up. He didn't care what was in the presents (though he did steal a toothbrush from my dad one year). He just loved to rip off the paper. And he was really good at it!

Wiley was my first and only dog so saying goodbye was a really hard thing to do. I know it was the right decision and that it was hiss time but I'm going to miss my puppy. I really have lost a member of my family and it's never going to be the same without him. I've got a nice photo of him that my dad took a few years ago (he's smiling in it...well as much as a dog can smile) sitting on my desk within reach and view. This way, even now, he greets me when I come home. He's with me in spirit and I'm trying to remember the good times. But even as I think of all the fun he and I had as I grew up, I can't help but cry. He was a good boy and he will always be loved.

R.I.P. Wiley (4/28/1998-6/13/2011)

Summer: A Preview

So I thought I would take a little time to just decompress and let you all know what's going on with me for the foreseeable future (aka the summer). I'm actually going to be quite busy. I am working full time for the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. I'll be working in the Enforcement Division, so I'll be evaluating claims of discrimination (mostly in employment but some in housing as well). It's pretty much what I did last summer for the EEOC, but at the state level. We finished day 2 of training today. It is really intense. At my previous job, I didn't really get much orientation. I just jumped right in. But since we have more responsibilities with MCAD, we have intensive training. Not to mention there's thirty of us in the office. It is really cool because there are people from various law schools and colleges around Mass. as well as a few other states. It's a diverse group so I hope to make some new (and lasting) friendships over the course of the summer.

But that's not all that's happening on the work front this summer. I'm also working at the front desk at my law school's library on weekends. Yep, I'm working seven days a week right now. It may change once I get into full swing at my full time job and see how tired I am. I'm getting paid at the library which is nice but I need time to myself too. Working at school, though, allows me to see friends from school who are taking summer classes or studying for various state exams (either the bar exam or the MPRE). I will be studying for the MPRE (to be taken in August). I'm hoping I do well on the first try as it's a pain to submit everything again to take the test again. I know the law fairly well thanks to my ethics class so I'm currently cautiously optimistic.

I will also be blogging a Summer TV Rewind for More TV, Please!. For those of you who followed me last summer, you'll remember I blogged the first series of BBC's Merlin for MTVP. I enjoyed that experience, as well blogging the occasional episodes of Glee and No Ordinary Family as well as the freshman run of Body of Proof. So I decided I would blog a different show this summer. I thought about doing series 2 of Merlin (to keep it consistent) but then I decided that I would change things up. So I will be blogging the first series of BBC's Robin Hood. Notice a theme? Yes, I love some British TV shows. A lot of them in fact. If it weren't only three episodes, I probably would have seriously considered blogging series 1 of Sherlock (on a side note, they are now filming series 2!). I discovered Robin Hood over the Christmas holidays and fell in love. A few of my writer friends had been talking about it and then I got a Netflix subscription and found all three series were on instant watch. So, naturally, I marathoned. It is a fun retelling of the old story of Robin Hood and his band of Merry men (and a couple women in this case). it also makes it rather adult in that the romances are a little more flirty than would be for a children's show. The fight scenes are really well choreographed as well. So I will likely be posting up a post at some point when a few of the recaps have gone up on MTVP.

In semi-related TV news, I thought I'd share what shows I'll be watching this summer. Most of them are shows I've watched for a while (White Collar, Warehouse 13) but I'm adding a few new shows. This past spring I got in Eureka so that will be joining the schedule. It's a fun and quirky show that is cheesy but kind of interesting an I've come to find I really care about the characters (and it made the crossover episodes with Warehouse 13 make so much more sense). Obviously, I'll be watching Torchwood: Miracle Day (series 4). For recaps of that, you can visit More TV Please! as Jen will be blogging that. The other new show I will be adding this summer is Alphas. It will premiere on SyFy on July 11 at 10pm (with a 90 minute pilot). I hadn't really considered watching this until very recently. I saw some press on it on one of my trusty TV news websites and I realized that one of my favorite interns from Bones is one of the core cast (it so happens his character on Bones died so he could be on this project). It's good sci-fi drama (much like X-Men). I'll give it a shot because it has a lot of great genre people (including producers and writing staff from other shows I've watched).

And lastly, I'm doing a rather intense reading campaign. First, I am re-reading the entire Harry Potter series prior to the July 15 release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I am nearly done with Order of the Phoenix, leaving me only Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows to get through in the next month and a half. I am anticipating success. I am also reading The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series and the latest in Steve Berry's Cotton Malone series (The Jefferson Key) and Kelly Meding's latest in the Dreg City series (Another Kind of Dead). My ultimate goal is to read at least 14 books before I have to start doing homework for the fall semester.

So, that's what I am going to be up to for the summer. I'll be one busy bee but that's not such a bad thing if you ask me. I like to keep busy. So, I hope you join me in some fun TV watching and check out some of the books I'll be reading if they interest you.