whining

I lose at blogging.

But Heroes has been losing at TV, to be honest. Uninteresting new characters, unconvincing romances and a scattered storyline are combining to break down my interest, which breaks my nerdy little heart a little. But all is not lost; the show's creator, Tim Kring, recently told Entertainment Weekly that he knows the show's been sucking (my word, not his).

What I think is wrong is a little different, though: It's just not been making sense. Just this week, we had Suddenly Powerful Matt! and Suddenly Stupid Mohinder! — two terrible tastes which do not go well together. A tiny bit of inspiration and Matt understands his powers? A tiny bit of manipulation and Mohinder changes sides, or at least appears to? Please tell me you're kidding.

At least one of the show's sour points has finally come to an end: Hiro is back from Japan. And he's not the only one! (Cue ominous music.) That plotline did nothing but bother me, endlessly, and not least because of its reliance on a princess what needs saving. There is far too much saving of women on your show, Mr. Kring.

Am I repeating myself? Probably. But it's tired, tired, tired stuff to watch over and over again.

What the show does well is build. Last season built toward what could have been a great finale, but then lost its momentum. This season, nothing much has built. Finally, now, we're getting the rebuilding of Peter, the mystery of Elle, the revelation about Adam Monroe (not an iota of surprise there for anyone who read any theorizing, but still fun. And it might be worth noting that now we have an Adam to go with the sadly deceased Eden). We haven't had to suffer through the Wonder Twins and their weak storyline for a bit, which is a relief; I've yet to see them add anything to the show. On the other hand, there's Monica, my new favorite character, who's apparently off training somewhere.

One wonders what will happen when Peter gets that power too.

Anyway, I'm discombobulated from too much to do, but I haven't forgotten about Heroes; I've just forgotten how to blog properly about it. And it's not given me much to work with, lately. I'm almost relieved that this "volume" of the story will come to an end with the December 3 episode, even though I'm worried that this means we won't get satisfactory answers for the mysteries already floating out there. If the entire story of the early generation is "Adam brought us together and then went bad," I'm going to throw things at the TV.

So I skipped yesterday. Sorry. I'd like to say it was the impending doom of having to get four fillings today, but I only just found out this morning that today is the Day of Dental Hell. Also, as you may have noticed, it's raining. A good day to wear flip-flops, too.

Yesterday did turn up one lovely example of what I shall ever so creatively call Oregon In the News: The New York Times did a nice piece on Clear Creek Distillery (as always, if it wants you to log in, go to BugMeNot). Pear brandy always reminds me of being a curious 14-year-old, asking my stepfather what he was drinking; the hot, fruity scent was wafting across the table at me. "Would you like to taste it?" he asked.

It was a very effective way to leave me disinterested in drinking. At least until college, anyway.

While I'm talking Oregon, don't forget the Tillamook Mac & Cheese contest. I can't claim to be inspired to such heights as to include crab — or maybe it's just that my wallet can't reach to such great heights — but there's something tantalizing about this all the same.

Which is more than I can say for most of the internet today. Short of doing another trawl through my unread bookmarks — all too many of which have to do with Harry Potter or Joss Whedon, it seems — I've got nothin'. You want something to do? Go vote for Best of Eugene! And come by and pick up some flyers while you're at it.

There. That should keep you busy for a while.