Treatment #2 tomorrow

[wickedwords]

I really am becoming one of those people who only talks about one subject, aren't I? How about I mix it up a little? Perhaps I should mention games I'm playing and what I am watching on TV.

My son got me hooked on farm town, castle age, and mythmonger, all on facebook. I spend hours on my farm, hoeing and planting crops, then selling them to buy stuff. I'm having a lot of mindless fun with it, and just started in yoville which is sims light. Castle Age and Mythmonger are turn-based games, so I don't have to think too hard about them either.

I'm also playing monopoly city streets, and just built up to the one billion dollar mark, woo-hoo! The game is rife with cheaters, and its performance is dog slow. Still, I loved monopoly as a kid, and playing it makes me happy.

For TV, I'm watching a raft (and I mean a raft) of cop-related TV. Bones is the only one I'd call a procedural, with all the gross and mucky stuff of the actual investigation. I'd fallen in love with the characters over the summer, as Ev seemed to watch it the three-times-a-day that it showed on one of the channels, and I got hooked on it as well.

The Mentalist is a more light hearted cop show, with a neat streak of darkness and not-quite-ethical stuff that vaguely reminds me of SGA. The lead is adorable and pocket-sized, angst-ridden and driven. He is as charming as people expected John Sheppard to be, and no where near as ethical. I pair him up with Cho (aka Cho Friday), a former gang member turned by-the-book-cop that somehow keeps letting Patrick talk him into doing things that aren't completely up front, and always seems to have his back.

NCIS is one I am loving for the fantasy element. Okay, it's a military fantasy element, but it's still a fantasy! There is no way it's a real cop show; it's one where everyone has become level 75, so they're just goofing around, but it's done within the context of the backstories they have created for everyone. (And I think calling Tim the sidekick never gets old.) Oh, maybe some of the actors are phoning it in on occasion, but it's still a family.

NCIS: LA meanwhile, is not a family. It's a buddy-cop show, and as long as I have LL Cool J smiling on my screen and Sam and G being buddies together, I am a very happy woman. Seriously, I know there are other characters -- the boss for one, the newbie for another, the girl, the geek and the profiler -- but they aren't living for me yet the way that Sam and G did the moment they showed up on-screen. Again, lots of fantasy mixed in with this -- it's more, uhm, starsky-and-hutch meet wild wild west -- with all their toys, I keep thinking they should be battling "the tornado" or something, rather than terrorists.

Guess I've been watching SciFi for too long, huh?

Anyway, so that's what I've been up to outside of work and stuff: tv and mindless computer games.

Comments

[devohoneybee]

What's "level 75"? I totally agree about NCIS being a family and NCIS:LA not being that. They seem very conscious of the buddy/slash vibes of the latter, deliberately tweaking the audience from the get-go. I like it but I'm not seriously hooked yet. Linda Hunt, though, is never bad. I would like to see them write her character a bit more coherantly -- like give us a backstory on that accent, for example, but I'm willing to wait on that. I hope they take her seriously as a character and not simply have her there for the "look, we have a character who is a bit unexpected! she's short! and kind of domineering! isn't that fun?" effect. I totally agree on The Mentalist in terms of the shaky ethics (and Cho Friday, yes! -- he works dour better than anyone in a long while). He's a bit of a guilty pleasure -- as he wobbles unrepentedly on the side of the creepy on occasion. Have you been watching "Lie to Me"? It has a similar dynamic -- a character who is deliciously/creepily effective at what he does, and willing to be a real jerk at times to get the job done. Total guilty pleasure.

[wickedwords]

The 'level 75' bit was a reference to D&D or other role playing games, where a character starts off with a small score in a skill, but over several years of play, becomes super-powerful and practically omnipotent. Plays hell with game balance. *g*

I'm loving Hetty more as the series progresses. I love that she's an accountant at heart, and yet she's got this adventurous background. She's a person who collects people, and I'd love to see them do something with it.

The mentalist is becoming even more fascinating. They are really trying to build some back story for the rest of the team, and while I don't like what they've necessarily chosen (did Lisbon really have to have an abusive father? really?) I love that they have made Van Pelt a fantastic chase driver. So we'll see how that goes too.

[kimberlite.livejournal.com]

Yay for tv and mindless computer games! *hugs*

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Thanks, hon. {{hugs}}

[dorinda.livejournal.com]

It's a buddy-cop show, and as long as I have LL Cool J smiling on my screen and Sam and G being buddies together, I am a very happy woman.

How much do I love an acknowledged buddy-cop pair? Thiiiiiiiiiiis muuuuuuuuuch! The show's credits even endorse it. *g* They're totally bonded and warm and devoted, and look out for each other, and have stellar levels of broccoli (http://fanlore.org/wiki/Broccoli_Test). And isn't Sam's smile adorable? (Not to mention his body in those fitted shirts, om nom nom nom.)

Again, lots of fantasy mixed in with this -- it's more, uhm, starsky-and-hutch meet wild wild west -- with all their toys, I keep thinking they should be battling "the tornado" or something, rather than terrorists.

HEE! Yes. I feel completely comfortable not demanding verisimilitude from my superhero buddypair.

Good luck with the treatment!

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Those shirts! Wow, yes, yum! I have had a crush on his since I first saw him on MTV. He's one of those guys who has always looks yummy to me.

The buddy cop thing makes me so happy! I love that they are doing fan service around it. It slays me that they are so willing to bring up the 'holding hands' jokes so early in the game.

Their office isn't really an office you know. It's a lair, like the bat cave. If the bat cave were in the tropics, and served mojitos.

[elgraves.livejournal.com]

I'm really enjoying NCIS: LA for the buddyness. Why is it that I feel like it's been forever since the last time I watched a buddy-cop show?

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Man, I don't know. I was feeling the same way myself.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Hey, how's Ev doing? Was he okay?

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Mild concussion, but he was fine. No side effects and he didn't do any martial arts or anything until Monday, just to be on the safe side. So all was good! Sorry I didn't mention that sooner.

[alysswolf.livejournal.com]

There's a lot to be said for mindless fun. Of course, now I have to go check out farm town and castle age. Thanks, I think. ::grin::

Some of the characters on NCIS drive me up the wall, but I will put up with a lot for David McCallum.

Good luck with treatment #2. Sending warm fuzzy vibes your way.

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

I love Ducky. He's still so adorable.

[rosawestphalen.livejournal.com]

I love the Mentalist. Patrick Jane is adorable and yet twisted. And Cho is awesome! I'm glad you're watching.

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

I love the little hints of darkness that we get about Patrick, and wow, they are really starting to graft on the back story to the rest of the characters, aren't they? Teresa's abusive father, Cho's gang activity, Rigsby's Biker dad...and Van Pelt's driving. They are trying to flesh things out a bit more than last year.