...one more rung down that black ladder every day.
One more floor down the elevator to oblivion. What fun.
But the singularly awful one is being born.
The AD TWoP Con yesterday was pleasantly fun. Everyone showed up and we got along well and there weren't too many awkward silences after introductions were made. It was nice to know that I could talk to anyone in the group and they'd probably not hate me and think I was a complete freak. Good times. Photos are off the camera and on the hard drive, and I will make it my goal this evening to get them online for posting tomorrow. I promise.
Also, those fellow Arrested Development fans are just such cool people. They're funny and polite and easy to get along with. Best of all, many liked the idea of getting together in Orange County some time to visit the original banana stands and some other Newport Beach landmarks. That'd make a shorter drive for me, and I enjoy visiting Balboa Island, so I'm all for it. I love the Internet!
Brooke gave me many books for my birthday, so now I have even more to read. That's good. I began reading The Man Who was Thursday while in LA. Much goodness so far. Although the main plot isn't incredibly ground-breaking, it made me think that Mutant Enemy may have been inspired by it for the final Angel plot with the Black Thorn people. There certainly wasn't much forethought in those last few episodes.
The way Angel explained his plan sounded like however the writers explained the plot. "Well, we killed Fred, but we don't have time to develop Illyria. We need to use Fred's death for the good of the overall arc. Let's pretend that Angel had something to do with Fred's death, 'cause that would've been really evil of him. Also, the way we've dealt with culpability for Fred's death just didn't include enough explosions and breaking-down of doors. This'll be far more fun and self-indulgent and should keep the fans in a good mood until the Firefly movie hits theatres."
Seriously, Angel actually said something like, "I needed Fred's death to count for something, to use it for the greater good." Too bad Joss didn't get that G.K. Chesterton-style plot inspiration until he was told the show was cancelled.
Saturday night, Brooke and I saw Coffee and Cigarettes. I hadn't even known that it was screening in LA yet. The ads just pimp the fact that Bill Murray's in it, but it's full of lots of entertaining celebrities. For instance, Cate Blanchett in a dark messy wig reminds me of J.K. Rowling. And sometimes Alfred Molina (happy birthday!) really needs a hug. It's a v. funny movie and I highly recommend it. Oh, and in the last vignette, the man on the right hand side of the screen reminded me of Andy Warhol, if Andy had lived so long and wound up working some dull job.
Friday, I caught the last hour of Lord Love a Duck starring Roddy McDowall and Tuesday Weld. Mom and I watched it together years ago, not knowing anything about it other than the title, which still makes no sense. We found it very amusing, but couldn't tell right away how sincere it was meant to be. By the end we figured that it must be a dark, satirical kind of film. So watching it again with that in mind made it far funnier, but since I missed the beginning and have a crap memory I'm a little lost as to how the relationship between the leads came to be. It's an odd relationship.
The whole movie's v. v. funny, and I recommend it if you enjoy satire. It is available on DVD, 'cause I looked for it at the Virgin Megastore in WeHo on Saturday. There was a card for it in the rack, but no actual discs, so it was just sold-out. I'll be stopping by Borders on the way home this evening.
