Well I just wasted five of my thirty minutes on here trying to remove the link to this blog from my Facebook account, it's in the 'Websites and Social Links' section. I didn't let me get rid of it, it just comes up with an error! It probably doesn't matter either way though, because I only just noticed that the entire section seems to be hidden from the public, it's seems to be only visible by me. This is fine now but somewhat annoying because it means that list of links hasn't been visible to friends for, well, maybe ever, maybe decades or whenever I added them. I wished to remove the link here for a silly reason - Logging into here today, I noticed it's saying all my latest entries have been viewed once. Now I shouldn't want this blog to be unacceptable by all but... actually maybe I do. Anyway it's all stupid because it's likely saying there's been one view due to Blogger simply wigging out, or I just viewed it once without being logged in.
In other news, I met up with my mum. I walked into town to meet her and remembered that it was the 15th, the day some of the restrictions on the lock-down were lifted. Most places were still closed at first glance, my area of town didn't seem that different. However the center of Nottingham was just as busy as it used to be before the virus, even though not that many places were open and there were annoying looking queues due to the social distancing rules. The amount of people filled me with anxiety when I got the feeling that everyone else had loads of friends, things to do and people to hang out with.
As soon as I got back home after my mum left, I said to myself that I'd spend the rest of the day (well until about 10pm when I eat and watch TV) doing productive but fun stuff. I mean, as in the productive stuff that isn't as stressful. So why it then I ended up spending ten minutes watching Youtube and then forty-three minutes reading this flipping book;
Slayer - An Expanded and Updated Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer
How long have I been in Nottingham already, seven, eight years? It would be in the early days, perhaps year one or two that I was going to a library a lot, mostly because I was doing courses that the job center were putting me on, it's a nice library and I should start going back there when they re-open, come to think of it. In year one or two I was in there and they were selling books that they weren't going to lend out anymore, why do they do this? I guess books that hardly ever get loaned out.
I bought a few things, a Teen Titans graphic novel, if I recall, maybe something else and this book. I never read it and I hadn't seen Buffy for a long time but it must have sparked something in my mind to make me want it, not just the price of 20p. Even then, I'm surprised I bought it because I reckon I had very different things on my mind at the time, though maybe I'm wrong. Things have happened in my life in recent times which have lead me to believe that my memory isn't as good as I thought it was.
I found it in a dusty cobwebbed corner (I think on the book shelve) in my mum's garage when I was tidying it a couple of months ago. Just so you know, a load of my stuff is in there from last time I moved, when my mum kindly let me leave less important stuff in there so as to not clutter my new flat. Well that was the plan but I have gradually taken more stuff to the flat over the years I've been here (two or three years, maybe?). What happens is I occasionally visit and get all nostalgic for things so I take them back with me, there's still a fair amount in there though. Last time I was there I focused on a big organising of my books, comics and magazines, baring in mind I was never much of a book person when I was young and became even less so over time, but have been getting a bit back into them lately.
I forgot to take this Slayer book back with me but I asked my mum to bring it with her and umm... she did. Where I am going with this? I've just ran out of time and realised I probably shouldn't explain every single detail... I'm enjoying that though for some reason. Anyway the book, I don't think I actually have much to say about it (famous last words).
Even though it took me forty-three minutes I've only read a little - The review of 5x01, 5x02 and funnily enough the back of the book has short reviews of some of those novels I've been waffling on about on here, so I read the one on Halloween Rain.
BTW I'd spent so little time looking or thinking about this book before, that I didn't know it was some kind of guide, it could have been one of the novels for all I know. I probably bought it all those years ago and chucked it on the shelf without a second glance. Come to think of it I was already in Nottingham by then so I most likely but it straight in the garage and then moved out not long after.
Before opening this book today, a thought crossed my mind - This is probably going to make me self-conscious about my blog writings on Buffy, it's going to be a lot like my write ups but well written and far more thought provoking and notice stuff I didn't. And explain the complexities which I struggle with, ignore because they're hard or didn't even notice. Also the fact that the book is from 2001 made these feelings worse for some reason, actually that reason would be that it would make my blog even more pointless. That fact that it was 20p also should have emphasised those feelings. I'm saying all this as if I put a lot of effort into this blog, haha.
Well I was surprised to find that this book doesn't seem very good so far, I'm not sure if that makes me happy or not. On the one hand it means I was worried about nothing and it's make me a little happier about my admittedly terrible and lazy writings on this show (I really just do it to get the thoughts out of my head). But on the other hand it means it's not going to be a fun read, also perhaps I could have learnt something from it for this blog, or at least been pointed to things I didn't know about Buffy. I dunno, maybe there's better parts of it that I'll find later. Barring in mind I don't think it's a book that needs to be read in order, it's sectioned into episodes so I skipped to the season I'm watching.
The reason it seems lame is that it doesn't actually exactly review the episodes, it more just lists factoids. I said a minute ago "or at least been pointed to things I didn't know about Buffy", actually this book does have that but it's things I don't really care about. I don't care about what real world song could be heard on a radio in the background in a scene for 3 seconds! I guess there's a few little interesting things, it clearly would have taken a lot of research to write this book. He's looked up things like interviews so it's kinda interesting to hear how Alyson Hannigan felt about having to suddenly play Willow as gay.
But I need to point out that it's just a couple of mines from the interview and it's the kind of thing I read and say "hah, ok" to myself and then move on, I really care very little about it. I'm more interested in the storytelling and emotions in the actual episodes, not that "Sarah Michelle Gellar's boyfriend almost got the role of Draculla" in 5x01.
So what does the book say about the actual episodes? I thought it was going to be the writers thoughts on the episodes story, he seems to very briefly sometimes mention this but for the most part it seems to be lists of stuff from the actual episode. I'm explaining this terribly - He will list quotes he thinks are good and explain them if they are referencing something like pop culture like a film, and mention that something someone said is a reference to an earlier episode. He'll then list the page number for said episode. So basically most of the "review" for say 5x01, is stuff that feels like it's been copy pasted from the shows scripts, or referring to stuff that happened to in the episode but actually taking about it. It's simply saying this happened and this happened.
Come to think of it this is probably my misunderstanding, does it say 'review' anywhere? No, this is a GUIDE, something that is good if I want to look up FACTS like what film did Xander joke about in episode so and so. An example of my disappointment is this - I know I haven't written about it on here yet because I'm super behind my notes but I feel that there's a lot of stuff that can be said about Dawns introduction into the story. How it's done and how shes a part of the story from then on is genius in my opinion. But what does this book say about this? Well in 5x01 I don't think he mentions it at all besides saying something like 'Buffy's sister is introduced, wait Buffy has a sister?'. OK this is fair enough, shes only seen for a few seconds as a cliff hanger at the end of the episode. However 5x02 fully introduces Dawn and it's a head fuck and a WTF is going on moment. But all this book says, besides listing quotes, is something like "It was worrying that Dawns actress couldn't pull it off, but shes good in the role". And THAT'S IT. Oh I think he also lists things that shes been in before, I think he mentions that her and Sarah Michelle Gellar were in a different show before when they were younger.
I GUESS that kinda stuff is super interesting to some fans, but I thought the book was going to be more thought provoking. I mean, it looks like each ep has a bit called 'It's a Designer Label' where he almost literally lists what the characters were wearing. "Xander is wearing an orange top with white trousers", he might say "which is flashy" or something along those lines if you're lucky. It seems like the book is a result of a hell of a lot of research while the opinion on of the writer is not important so almost non-existent. At the end of one ep he does say that it was a great one and says one more line but that's it, quite surface level stuff.
Again though, perhaps I'm misunderstanding what this book is for, plus maybe there's parts of it I don't know of yet. Also his command of the English language is still far better than mine, to be fair. Looking online, it seems the book has been revised several times, adding the later seasons. There seems to be one that might be as recent as 2019?! My one is 2001 I think.
I gotta go, I've been on here for... almost an hour and a half?! What?!
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