The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940

I went to see the farce "The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940" last night. It's a silly play, like a game of Clue gone nuts: bodies falling out of secret passages, half the cast having secret identities - it made me laugh, which was good, though I was extremely tired. Note: I wanted to put a link to the webpage for the play but I see it isn't up yet, though I spent some time yesterday morning scanning the photos for the webpage coordinator. I hope she gets it up soon. The cast is getting antsy.

Long days. Why can't I sleep a full eight hours these days? Rhetorical question.

I read a good Smallville story: Balance by scribblinlenore. A story that makes good use of Martha, which is good to see, and which isn't predictable in its development. This Lex is interesting, which is the important thing: screwed-up but intelligent, and Clark quite adorable; the relationship subtly developed. Or maybe I really liked it for the beautiful inclusion of Lionel, with his sights on Martha.

At 8 a.m. I went to Aliya's place to practise kundalini yoga for an hour before work. Some of it was gruelling, but it certainly feels good. I'm not sure whether it's easier or harder than the hatha yoga I study with Barbara on Tuesdays: it's certainly different, but leaves me with similar feelings of relaxation and well-being. I followed my ayurvedic diet one hundred per cent, too, yay me! Lucky thing I like cilantro. though haven't paid much attention yet to the food combining. Mission for today: to read over the instructions for that again.

The bad thing that happened at work: there was an error on the T-shirt proofs I okayed. They came out back to front. My fault: I should have caught the mix-up, but hadn't paid enough attention to the file names with the proofs. No one seriously blamed me (the President called it "an understandable mistake") but I felt incredibly stupid.

I started reading Growing up Weightless by John M. Ford. Love his style, as always. The way he puts words together. I don't always love his plots, so this one remains to be seen. It won the Philip K. Dick award in 1993, which I can take as a hint in the right direction. Ford is the author of one of my favourite pieces of poetry, an Arthurian railway-train fantasy called Winter Solstice, Camelot Station, with such wonderful lines as the following:

* * *

Galahad already on the steps, flashing that winning smile,
Breeze mussing his golden hair, but not his Armani tailoring,
Just the sort of man you'd want finding your chalice.
He signs an autograph, he strikes a pose.
Someone says, loudly, "Gal! Who serves the Grail?"
He looks - no one he knows - and there's a silence,
A space in which he shifts like sun on water;
Look quick and you may see a different knight,
A knight who knows that meanings can be lies,
That things are done not knowing why they're done,
That bearings fail, and stainless steel corrodes.
A whistle blows. Snow shifts on the glass shed roof. That knight is gone.
This one remaining tosses his briefcase to one of Kay's pages,
And, golden, silken, careless, exits left.

* * *

The portrait of Mordred now reminds me of Lex Luthor: "Mordred and his car are both upholstered in blue velvet and black leather./He prefers to fly, but the weather was against it."

So many books, so little time.... So much good slash, too.

On which nice thought... it's time to do some yoga.

Love and Friendship

A friend used this quote today on one of my Dunnett mailing lists:

> "Destroy love and friendship; what remains in the world that is worth
> accepting?"
>
> David Hume

It sounds to me like a good theme for a Smallville story - yes, add it to my list of the unwritten, the half-written, and the almost-finished.

Lex has said he has no friends (until Clark came along) and he has diffiuclty with love. What will remain to him?

He needs Clark.

Red!Clark musings

Having read a whole bunch of red!Clark slash stories in the last few days, I've come to the conclusion that I don't like them nearly as much as stories about our regular Clark.

This despite the fact that Clark on red K in the show is very, very sexy, especially but not exclusively in "Rush". And in "Red", that look Lex gives him, toe to head, when he sees him in the good suit - oh, yes! Not to mention Clark at the end of "Exodus", all pain-filled and determined.

But I've yet to see a story that really studied the ramifications of what/who red!Clark is. Is it Clark without his regular inhibitions? I don't think so. Is it Clark's inner desires being unleashed? To some extent, but that can't be the whole story. A sort of AU personality? If so, where did it come from? This has never been fully explained on the show and the fan writers don't delve into it either. They see an assertive, tough, aggressive, conscience-free Clark, and go for it.

Somehow in my mind this translates to an artificial character: I feel as if I'm not really reading about Clark. I won't go so far as to say it feels as if Lex is with someone else (which, incidentally, is fine) - but that it doesn't fill the same niche in my psyche as Lex with Clark, but doesn't develop like Lex with another lover either.

I love Clark's innocence, the way he is always learning and assessing and trying to figure our what is right. This disappears when red!Clark comes along. Yes, yes, that's the whole point.

But with red!Clark, there isn't enough of a contrast with Lex.

Of course I'm going to read every red!Clark story I can find. Maybe someday I'll find one that hits my buttons the way other examples of good CLex do.

The funny thing is, I love it on the show when Clark gets aggressive without the influence of red Kryptonite. Examples: his showdown with Phelan, or his fight with the drunken bullies in "Witness". But that's Clark in a temper, quite a different thing, with different ramifications. I'd like to see that developed more, both in the show and in slashfic.

Firefly

Got this one from the talented sffan:

( Firefly... )

On the way home

Something wonderful happened this evening.

I dropped into a Loblaw's grocery store on my way home to buy a pot of roses. As I was leaving, I saw my friend Marcelle going into the store through the other door, so I ran over to say 'hi'.

She said, "Don't you look thin!"

I was so delighted I bounced. You are probably now embarrassed to know me. It was just a little bounce, and I don't think anyone noticed. Sort of a genuflect-bounce. I couldn't help it.

This diet-and-exercise business must be working!

(no subject)

happyminion (bless her heart) cited an article in which Michael Rosenbaum said:

"I guess I'd better give you something dirty on Smallville, huh? Well, I can't think of anything other than there's much more stuff coming up to do with the triangle between Clark and Lex and Lionel, which is great, and which is what I think people really want to see. I know I signed on because of the relationship between Clark and Lex, the hero and the anti-hero. I always felt that was where the show was really centred. Their heads will continue to butt and Lex gets as close to knowing Clark's secret as he's ever going to get. That's all I can tell ya except under torture."

I like his priorities.

I also like the appreciation of the journalist, Thomasina Gibson, when MR flirts with her: "The publicist is in shock, my legs have gone from under me and we've called for smelling salts. Rosenbaum is tittering away quietly to himself."

Who says journalists have an easy life?