May I just say....

It's wonderful to have LJ back! *happy dance* Because of the attack I couldn't get through at all yesterday. Very not fun.
But now I have LJ, my laundry is getting done, and I've had raisin oatmeal for breakfast. Life ain't bad.

Farscape - "A Constellation of Doubt" and "Prayer"

These are my comments on the last 2 weeks worth of Farscape, for those who care. I put the one for "Prayer" behind a cut to avoid spoilering for those of you in the US who get to watch it tonight. Enjoy.

“A Constellation of Doubt”
I really liked this ep. Now I missed “Terra Firma” so this was a bit of catch-up for me, getting an idea of what happened on earth. There was lots to like about this episode, John’s obsession manifesting (yet again), the ending where he gives up what he’s fought for in exchange for the one person he truly loves. I also liked the inclusion of the tabloid TV show, it was so an earth thing and gave John something to focus his obsession on. What really caught my eye were the “experts” on the show, in particular the sociologist and the anthropologist.
At first the sociologist seemed very anti-alien, talking about how we “couldn’t handle” the contact and what not, then you realized he really did see good coming from them, but the good that reflected back on society (primarily American). The interest for him is what the aliens said about us. For the anthropologist though, this was just another culture, another bunch of differences and similarities to be explored. There was wonder for him and a sense of familiarity. He talks about Noranti curing someone of blindness in South America and says “well why wouldn’t they be able to things we can’t?” with a “well, duh” look on his face. For him it is just self-evident. Honestly, I think they nailed these two academics. They also nailed the fact that overall, earth was not ready. Let us be honest, on the whole humans don’t like what they don’t understand, and aliens are well, alien. This leads me to the Karl’s Web vote for quote of the week, with which I thoroughly agree:

John: “They never even gave it a chance.”
Rygel: “Well, what do you expect?”
John: “It’s not what you expect, it’s what you hope for.”

( ”Prayer” )

London Hints

London Hints

For that group of you coming to London in just a bit. I’ll post more if anything occurs to me.
Transport: is expensive here. The best way for you to go is probably a travelcard, since you’ll be here for about a week. They allow you onto Tube, bus DLR, the whole 9 yards. There are lots of different types, depending on what you want to do. Basically the wider a geographic area, the more expensive. The best place to look up prices/options is here. If you’re going to buy a travelcard when you get here make sure to bring a passport-sized photo with you. You need to have a photo card to get anything beyond a weekend pass. The cards themselves are free, but you do need to bring a passport-sized photo with you.

Arty Bits: As a note there's a big Titian exhibit going on right now at the National Gallery. Normally admission to the permanent collection is free, but Titian will put you out £9 (£5 for students). If you're going to do museums I suggest a small amount of pre-planning as they are often in clumps and you can therefore save yourself some running around.