Buffy Favorite #4-The Zeppo

Season 3 Episode 13

This is the episode where Cordy tells Xander that he's worthless and is the Zeppo of the group. Zeppo refers to the Groucho Marx's forgotten brother. The episode focuses on Xander and how he actually prefers to be the Zeppo. Xander is one of my favorite characters because he is the most human. He is, in fact, the only real human. He is insiteful, thoughtful and genuine.

There is a touching moment in season 7 when Dawn realizes that she is not a potential slayer. Realizing what a let down this can be, Xander comforts her and he is amazing. In fact, he is the only one who can do it and this episode is a major part of his character development.

Noteable Quotes:

Jack: "What are you, retarded?"
Xander: "No. No, I had to take that test when I was seven. A little slow in some stuff, mostly math and spatial relations, but certainly not challenged or anything."

Jack: "You wanna be startin' something?"
Xander: "What? Starting something? Like that Michael Jackson song, right? That was a lot of fun, huh? 'Too high to get over, yeah, yeah.' Remember that fun song?"

Xander: "Is it hard to play guitar?"
Oz: "Not the way I play it."

Xander: "It's my thing."
Willow: "Your thing?"
Xander: "My thing!"
Buffy: "Is this a penis metaphor?"

Giles: "All we know is that the fate of the entire world rests on the
(looking in the donut box)— did you eat all the jellies?"
Buffy: "Did you want a jelly?"
Giles: "I always have a jelly. I'm always the one that says 'Let's have a jelly in the mix.'"
Willow: "We're sorry. Buffy had three!"

Buffy Favorite #3-Band Candy

This is the episode where the band candy makes everyone turn into their teenage-selves. The best part of this episode is Buffy playing mom to her mom. Especially when Joyce and Giles have their fun.

Notable Quotes:

Cordelia: "Actually, I'm looking forward to it. I do well on standardized tests. (Everyone gives her a look) What? I can't have layers?"

Xander, making guilty conversation while playing footsie with Willow: "The band! Yeah. They're great. They march."
Willow: "Like an army. Except... with music instead of bullets, and... usually no one dies."

Willow's attempt to explain the adults' behavior: "Maybe there's a reunion in town, or a Billy Joel tour or something."

Oz: "Teenagers. It's a sobering mirror to look into, huh?"

Buffy: "Giles at sixteen? Less 'together guy,' more 'bad-magic hates-the-world ticking-time-bomb guy.'"

Buffy: "Something's weird."
Oz: "Something's not?"

Buffy Favorite #2-Halloween

Season 2 Episode 6
This is an interesting episode because in the Buffyverse, normally Halloween is boring. Amature night. In this episode a wizard has everybody actually turn into their costumes. Xander turns into a soldier; Willow turns into a ghost.

I like this episode because 1) Xander gets mad skills and 2) Halloween is the night to dress up as you what you would want to be in real life... this episode explores that premise.

Notable Quotes:

Drusilla: "Do you love my insides? The parts you can't see?"
Spike: "Eyeballs to entrails, my sweet."

Xander: "Buffy! Lady of Buffdom, Duchess of Buffonia, I am in awe! I completely renounce spandex!"

Willow: "She couldn't have dressed up like Xena?"

Willow: "Okay, your name is Cordelia, you're not a cat, you're in high school, and we're your friends. Well, sort of."
Cordelia: "That's nice, Willow. And you went mental when?"

Spike: "Well, this is just... neat!"

Dale Carnegie Cliff Notes

Jane In Progress

Jane Espenson, one of the writers on Buffy, has a fascinating blog. Her audience is potential script writers, but it is interesting for TV viewers too.

Grr... Arrgh... Reprise

This morning, I watched the last episode of Buffy. I've officially seen the entire series straight through. I feel a little sad. It had a great ending, but I'm going to miss it. I know I'm a little late with this since I watched all of the episodes in syndication.

So I think I'm going to give a few posts on my favorite episodes. A top ten episodes by my own standards.

I think I'll start with Season 1 and work my way through. So top 10, in no particular order. Oh, yeah. I'm going to exclude season/series finales.

Season 1. Episode 7. "Angel"

After our introduction to the Hellmouth and a few of its mysteries, there is still one large mystery, Angel. In this episode, Buffy and Angel finally get their romance on and we find out that he is a vampire. After the whole series, it is hard to remember that she didn't always know that he was a vampire.

This is a great episode because it sets up much of the next several seasons and the entire Angel series. A vampire with a soul... classic.

Notable Quotes:

Xander: "I mean, guys'll do anything to impress a girl. I once drank an entire gallon of Gatorade without taking a breath."
Willow: "It was pretty impressive. Although later there was an ick factor."

Buffy: "You want Xander, you've gotta speak up, girl!"
Willow: "No, no, no, no. No speaking up. That way leads to madness... and sweaty palms."

Angel: "You have no idea what it's like to have done the things that I've done... and to care."

Occasional Quote:

Liberace

"Nobody will believe in you unless you believe in yourself."

Wire In The Blood: Series 4

Wire in the Blood, Series 4 is now filming. Maybe I will have something to watch after I finish watching Buffy and Alias ends.

Saturday Sparky

This is my good side.

Big Animals

My friend Laura, who sent me the picture of the giant bunny, just sent me this picture of this giant cat. This guy is pretty heafty, but not as big as my sister's cat, Zoe. He looks like Sparky if he had just eaten his body weight in "muscle max weight gainer supplement".

Toonophobia

Check out Cox and Forkum's take on the recent cartoon issue.

200

This is my 200th post. A milestone? I don't have anything special to say... just, um, hello, be excellent to each other, and, um, party on, dudes.

Sparky on Sugar

I think Morris and Sparky might both have sugar in the cat food.

Happy Birthday George Washington

See his bio here.

Punching Holes in Boats

Dee and Aviva had a bit of a hair raising experience today. Read the quote from her blog below.

...The first job was to make a 2-inch hole in the bottom of the boat, no mean feat I can tell you and yes I was very nervous. I had checked with the shore support team to make sure I could reduce my chances of sinking. The speed transducer had stopped working; it had been intermittent for a while but had now given up completely. I needed to pull it from the bottom of the boat to inspect it. After I had checked the method and confirmed which transducer I needed to pull, as it sits next to the depth transducer in the hull, I set to work. There is something quite surreal about pulling something from the hull that when absent leaves a hole. I had been assured that a valve would close the hole and water would enter the hull slowly at a trickle, if I got it wrong I would have a two-inch hole and the water would enter pretty fast and fill the watertight compartment in about four hours. A relaxing thought to keep me company. I was confident and didn't wear my mask and snorkel however I did have some butterflies in my stomach. All was well and I found the transducer had a friend attached to it. I wasn't sure if it was animal, vegetable or mineral and not being one for little nasties, I extracted whatever it was from the paddle wheel using a screwdriver, once clear I replaced the transducer back through the hull and heh presto the speed suddenly started working again. Another job successfully completed and I wasn't sinking!

How's that for adventure!

1 Part Peanuts, 1 Part Buffy, Shake Well and Serve

See it all--here.

Hat Tip: Whedonesque

I'm a little bit country...

she's a little bit goth and punk.

So I decide to break out my newish kickers of the s**t for a night on the town. I put on my only cowboy shirt , my boot cut levis, my worn leather belt, and I'm good to go. I don't look down right hick, but I have the look of a mild mannered accountant ready to play cowboy for a night.

So Y and I go to meet her friend Mike for his birthday at Bull and Bush. After dinner, we give him the choice of where to go next. He chooses a bar at 23rd and Champa(?) that I've never heard of. They play "industrial" music, he says.

We go into this place and I immediately stick out like a white man at a Black Panthers meeting. It wasn't an "industrial" dance club. It was a Goth bar.

So my tan plaid shirt looks like neon white compared to all of the black at this club. I'm the only one whose hair is not platinum blonde or jet black. I have no makeup on, no fishnets, no black at all come to think of it. I stick out. I thought to myself, "of all the nights you decide to go hick, you choose the night to go to a goth bar."

So what did I do? I had a great time. I danced to Siouxsie and the Banshees, Decpeche Mode, the Cure, etc. I drank something alcoholic and steaming like witch's brew.

In any case, the really interesting part of the evening was Jerry, one of Mike's other friends, who joined us at the Goth bar. He was wearing a dark shirt and blue jeans and didn't quite glow in the dark like I did. But he was SO uncomfortable. It was as if he felt how I looked---really out of place. I'm not sure why he though it was so bad. No one looked at him (or me) twice. Nobody cared--well, except for my mistaking the women's room for the men's, but that's another story.

The whole experience made me think about how the people there were no less costumed than the people at "Cool River Cafe" meat market. Just a different style of dress.

Well, to quote my dad: "Clothes don't make the man".

Saturday Sparky

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Sparky!

I'm starting a new tradition. I will post a photo of my Sparky every Saturday. I'm doing it because he is tired of the paparazzi following him around and harrassing him about driving with a baby in his lap. Wait that's someone else.

Podcast Update

So I've produced three shows and I'm definitely getting better at making everything flow together. I'm running into three problems.

1) My comes with the computer mic is a piece of go-se. When I make my internet debut, I have to get a new mic and a preamp mixer to accompany it.

2) I don't know any cheap (read: free) way to get the shows up on the internet. I have already overloaded at least one of my friend's email accounts.

3) My software program: Audacity--good... Castblaster--better. Audacity---free... Castblaster--not so much. (Hat tip to Cali Lewis on GeekBrief. Check her out to see why Adam Curry says Grrhrr!)


So--the long and short of it is, if I'm going to do a Podcast, I'm going to have to spend money. Since it will be a bluesy type of Podcast, John Lee Hooker's song "Money" is coming to mind. "moneh, thas what I wan'"

I've decided to take the plunge and go for it. I'll keep you posted.

Serenity--Muppet Style

All of the action...

All of the adventure...

All of the excitement...

And Muppets too.