Halloween 2010

Episode 8 was amazing! There was good stuff all around.


Here you are, my comments on the whole thing...


Oh, and a Halloween poem for you all. Enjoy.

Skeletons dancing along the trip
Click the dry fingers then
Down for the dip
Spin with a creak
As the bonesaw squeaks
This is the dance of the dead.

Living things aren't found round there
Dancing in the mist of a
Crypted square
As ghosts sing a tune
To a cold Hallows moon
Wailing the dance of the dead.

Those passed things dance only for tonight
When the air is ghoulish and
The full moon is bright
When Death leads the band
With his scythe in his hand
There is the dance of the dead.







SPOILER LINE!





Okay, so there were three big important things to this episode that I want to address:

1. Gwen knows about Morgana being bad. It only seems fit that in two weeks Arthur may find out, because she may be forced to tell him when Morgana decides to play another card out of her evil deck (I won't go into further detail here-if you want to know go look up 3.10's episode description on Wikipedia. Really, I wouldn't want to spoil it for you because it sounds SO good...) However, Morgana does NOT know that Gwen knows, although she must think she suspects something's going on. Her friends become less, her enemies become more. Now only Arthur and Uther are oblivious to her evil, and I don't believe Arthur will be for very much longer.

2. Merlin receives the Water of Avalon. I would assume that it would save someone from death seeing as Avalon is the land of immortality and this water is out of the LAKE. It's meant to save HER. We have no idea who HER is save that there's a crazy rumor out there that Merlin's supposed to get a sibling (I would assume it's a twin seeing as Balinor didn't hang around that long in Ealdor.) It's not Freya as she's already dead. It might be Morgana (he'd certainly change their relationship if he gave her a nice drink instead of smacking her with ceilings or slamming doors in her face and sending her flying backwards down a flight of stairs.) I don't think it's Gwen-the water is awfully precious and he's already gonna have to save Gwen in two weeks.

3. Morgana didn't kill Arthur (the shock of him STILL being alive made her drop her drink!) and her powers have taken another step up. She's now voluntarily lighting wooden boxes on fire. And voodoo doll images of Arthur. I'd put a little face on it and write PRAT and CLOTPOLE on it, but that's just me. Being evil must mean she has no imagination. I mean, last week it was a tracking ring she used, and she tried to kill Arthur. This week it was a bracelet, and guess what? SHE TRIED TO KILL ARTHUR. Maybe Merlin should just confiscate all suspicious jewelry until it's been checked over.

Someone else noted that Morgana must be cracking under the strain, because she's starting to show her true colors far more often and far more blatantly than she should be. She's getting reckless with all the failures, she's getting careless, and that is going to cost her BIG.

This was a great episode, one of the best of Merlin I've seen. It had everything-jokes, deep awesome stuff going on, Merlin eating olives at top speed, Merlin getting hiccups (how do you fake hiccups without getting them? They must teach that in drama school...)Merlin using his Dragonlord powers to cow the wyverns, him getting a quest when we all thought it was Arthur's, Gwaine causing ruckuses everywhere he went, Gwaine laughing his ass off at Merlin and Arthur's married couple routine in the tower, Gwen suspecting Morgana had gone off the deep end and deciding it was no longer her job to hide Morgana's misbehavior. And Gaius finally, finally refusing to lie to Gwen about Morgana because it wasn't going to do any good anyway.

So I would say this is the end of Gwen and Morgana's friendship. I assumed it was coming and now it has. Now for the next little while, Gwen will be spotting Morgana's misbehavior and reporting to Gaius and Merlin, which can only mean good things for Team Arthur.

Next week, another relationship disaster occurs...this time for Gaius. This show continues to trash the concept of a normal relationship for anyone, doesn't it? Think about it-Arthur hooks up with an evil fairy chick who wants him drowned just so she can go home, some floozy stupid princess, and almost marries a clumsy princess with a fairy gestating inside her since birth.

Merlin falls in love with a girl who morphs into a winged carnivorous panther at night (aren't we glad this is family show and we didn't get any bedroom scenes? THAT would have been a disaster...) and who now is a spirit possessing a lake.

Lancelot falls in love with Gwen (you KNOW that ain't gonna work out).

Uther falls for a troll. Enough said.

Morgana falls for some dude who you KNOW never gave a damn about her.

Gaius is hooking up with an old girlfriend who has chimaera issues.

Gwen and Arthur, well, if they can get past the "you're of a completely different social strata than me," they'll be fine...if Gwen doesn't decide to run off with Lancelot first.

It makes you wonder if in the magical land of Camelot if ANYONE besides Arthur is gonna get married, because if it was me, I'd forget it unless they could prove they weren't associated with fairies, flying panthers, chimaeras, or trolls...

Ta,
Bec

NOTE: I will put this far south of the rest of the stuff so that if you don't want to look you don't have to. I want to kind of detail out the rest of the episodes (there ARE only four left.)




SPOILER LINE NUMERO DOS








9: Gaius gets hooked up with a chimaera-laden chick. Merlin and him have a temporary falling out.

10. Morgana decides to tell Uther about Arthur's relationship with Gwen. Uther decides to banish Gwen and Arthur's all set to go with her, but then Morgana tells Uther that Gwen's enchanted Arthur. I just want to see the look on Uther's face when he finds out that Arthur's got the hots for a serving girl...ooh, whee...

You gotta think that Arthur's gonna wonder who told Daddy, cause Merlin, Gaius, and of course Gwen wouldn't have done it. And when he questions Gwen, well, there goes Morgana's days of quiet, unsubtle evil in the Land of Camelot...

By the way, this episode was Colin and Bradley's favorite episode to shoot. They told someone in an interview.

11. Excalibur is in the next episode, and while I thought this was the Lady of the Lake episode, apparently it's not and Freya appears in the last episode. So I don't know HOW Merlin's gonna get that sword unless he does a big swim or has help with getting it out.

12. Lancelot turns up. I believe Gwen's brother Elyan and Gwaine also turn up for some reason. They end up in the woods. I would assume that this episode is when Morgana takes the throne, probably near the end.

13. I predict the dragon will show up (because he hasn't all YEAR, not like usual) and him and Merlin will kiss and make up (so to speak.) I predict Morgana will be exposed and be forced to flee Camelot. At some point Merlin will use the Water of Avalon to save Morgana's life.

I don't know when Merlin will be aged or if it's his older self turning up to smack his younger self around the head. I haven't found any confirming of the Merlin sibling rumor and so I can't place that, either, but logically I would put them in the same episode at this point. I can't place either detail in an episode and that's why they're here at the end.

One of the four is gonna be forced to leave Camelot, possibly forever. It's just a matter of who it's gonna be, and I'm sticking with Morgana here, although Arthur spending a bit of time as Robin Hood, Prince-not-a-Thief would teach him not to be such an arrogant ass. But remember this: if Gwen goes, Arthur goes, and if Arthur goes, Merlin goes. They'll all wind up in the woods as the Happy Outlaw Camelot Troupe if they're not careful...

Power to the People (At The End of the Electrical Line)

Thanks to the much-reported storms that hit the Midwest in the early part of the week, we've had wind, rain, and yes even the dreaded SNOW.

But with wind, rain and snow you get lovely things like power outages. And there we are.

All in all, it came to about 30 hours without it. Let me just say this: I would not do well in place without electricity to keep me sane.

I cannot begin to tell you the joy I felt when I saw the water care system in the basement had kicked in this morning. I cannot express how ridiculously happy I was flicking the light switch on and off and having it produce a result. And mind you, I did it several times in glee just to see the light go on and off.

Some fun stuff that happened:

*Whisper glaring at me for not turning the TV on

*Spritey being so black and short that when I tried to feed her last night I nearly tripped over her little fat self in the way (hard to see a small black dog in the dark, especially one so gluttonous she has to be underfoot and make sure her food is on time)

*Me eating my fast-food sandwich by the light of a single candle that was clear across the room last night (so much for watching what I eat.)

*Me lighting the burner on the gas stove with a MATCH!

*Mom and me constantly flicking the light switch when we went into the basement (it didn't work but it's such an unconscious movement we did it anyway.)

*Me waking up early this morning and while lying in bed, flicking the lamp switch above my head to see if the power had returned yet (I did this about twelve times and it didn't do anything, much to my chagrin.)

*And lastly, but not leastly, I FINISHED "THE SILMARILLION." This may mean nothing to you, but it took 5 years, a bunch of false starts, and a major power outage in the area to get me through it. Now I can read the other two books I couldn't read until I finished that one. And finish the two movies (I finished Fellowship for the fourth time last week. Extended edition at a length of 3 hours, 20 minutes. Even a Tolkien aficionado is drooling by that point. Don't know what I'll be like at the end of Return of the King, which is upwards of 4 hours with all the extra stuff thrown in.)

I have to go get Mom's bath ready-she hasn't been clean in three days and she'll probably sprout fangs if it isn't prepared. She made me promise I'd have it ready, so I'd better go.

Ta,
Bec

Hitting People With Ceilings Part 2

Sorry for the delay on reviewing-I had a paper due along with two questions and it consumed all my time yesterday.

Oh, I found out this morning that Merlin got an early renewal and we're getting a Series 4, but it's going to be 10 episodes and we won't see it till 2012. Less episodes and four extra months of waiting? Total bummer. But we're getting Doctor Who where it SHOULD be so I'm not complaining much.







SPOILER LINE!











So, the Castle of Fyrien was a damn good episode compared with some of the drivel we've been hit with as of late. Thanks to Merlin's increasing heap of secrets, Arthur couldn't be told that they were walking neatly into a trap and that Morgana was feeding the bad guys information. Gwen stood out here and was actually quite wonderful with Arthur and Merlin both-we haven't seen her do anything but smile all year so it was nice to see her actually do something.

Merlin and Morgana basically snarled at each other all episode and if Arthur and Gwen hadn't been so bloody busy making goo-goo eyes at each other they might have noticed the other two trying to kill each other with looks alone (and a snake. Don't forget the snake.)

We found out Morgana is completely flippin' evil and hates everyone, really. And she doesn't get along with Cenred so well, even when they're not pretending to hate each other.

I want to say it again, if Morgana keeps it up she is not going to be able to maintain her place at Camelot. She pushed it to its breaking point this week; Arthur did question where she'd been and Merlin showed a complete lack of trust when it came to her. It should be obvious to Arthur that something is going on between Merlin and Morgana; it won't take much to get Arthur to question it.

I said while this little head to head was going on that they're on a knife edge as far as trust goes, and if Morgana makes ONE mistake and shows her colors Merlin will get the opportunity to erode the trust everyone else has for her (and don't doubt he will exploit it to its utmost because it'd be to his advantage if Morgana was out of favor. She's a major nuisance to him and having to watch her all the time to make sure she doesn't kill anyone must be EXHAUSTING.)

I do want to say, though, that Merlin's really got a knack for hitting Morgana with convenient ceilings. And doors. And accidental staircases. In fact, Merlin seems to have a knack for hitting Morgana with various and sundry parts of buildings and at some point they're going to be outside trying to kill each other and all they'll have is sticks to hit each other with. (Or tree branches. He's done those a thousand times for Arthur when he was outnumbered...)

But really, how many ceilings can you knock people over with before they notice that YOU are the one causing the roof(s) to cave in?

And Gwen's brother is hot. Let's hope we see him again.

Next week, Arthur goes to see the Fisher King and get a golden trident. Morgana and Morgause try to kill him and probably will not succeed.

The week after is the Gaius in love episode. Then there's only three episodes left to go for a YEAR.


Ta,
Bec

Let's Hope It's The Cold

So lately a couple of fingers on my right hand have been seizing up. They're not working all that well and it makes tasks like giving the dog a neck massage or picking up an object a tad difficult. Also typing is getting slow.

Hopefully the colder weather is causing it and not the thing I won't say, because I'm not out to increase my bad luck.

Hopefully this improves. I'll let ya know.

Oh, and "The Hobbit" got the greenlight over the weekend. Can barely wait the two years till I see it in theaters. Then I'm gonna buy a new set of Lord of the Rings along with the Hobbit discs because mine are getting scratched up. I was bouncy all weekend because of it-we've been waiting a long time.

Ta,
Bec

Someone Hit The Bridge Again!

Someone from Canada smucked it this time. We just found out. I'm not rehashing this; go look under the entry here: http://becca-blog-bec.blogspot.com/2008/10/truck-idiot-and-bridge.html

This makes four since they fixed it over four years ago. Bravo for flashing lights and little signs and things that say CLEARANCE and how high the bridge is. They clearly work VERY well.

What makes it six times funnier, however, is when the local newspeople act oblivious to the goings-on in their own town...take this for example: "This is not the first time a truck has gotten stuck at this location."

Is it now? Really? Fourth time in four years and you guys type the understatement OF THE YEAR. I applaud your obvious knowledge of the town you're reporting news on. By now you should be laughing along with the rest of us.


And now onto the sixth episode, The Changeling...







SPOILER LINE





Well, Arthur ALMOST got married to the girl, but decided that he wanted to make up his own mind who he would marry (cough*Gwen*cough). I don't think he would have fought the marriage off if he hadn't had someone he wanted beforehand. Not that the girl wasn't nice...if Arthur wanted a socially inept girl who tripped over her own feet...

Which means I have about as much chance of getting myself a handsome prince as winning the lottery or being struck by lightning or having actual luck.

(For the record, however, I do not eat frogs and I cannot ride a horse and my hair does behave itself. Sometimes.)

Anyway, Morgana found out about Gwen and Arthur's smoochies, so that means everyone knows they're mad crazy about each other except for, you guessed it, Uther. It becomes the second worst-kept secret in Camelot (after Merlin's magic, of course.) It's gonna figure into next week's episode so they had to get it out on the lawn, so to speak.

Morgana had the creepiest look on her face, however, when she had sussed out their relationship and got Gwen to fess up to it. She has nothing against Gwen but I get the feeling this has something to do with kicking Arthur down a flight of stairs or stabbing him with the birthday dagger or getting a crown so she can take over Camelot. (Morgana needs Morgause for originality in offing people. Seriously, she couldn't come up with anything better than stabbing Uther with a knife?) You gotta give her credit, though- even when it's not her episode she's plotting away. She's won the Manipulative Bitch of the Year Award and the series isn't even half-over yet.

Merlin fighting the Mighty Sidhe Mugwump and sending him off to Avalon was my favorite scene. It's gotta be difficult pointing a stick at a little blue light and blowing it to hell (half-awake and in your jammies. You've got some Doctor in you!) but Merlin managed it beautifully (well, save for bashing up the potion jar, but give him a break. He DID kill the King Sidhe. That's gotta mean something.) Although, for next time, Merlin, here's a little advice from a chronic klutz: WRAP THE POTION IN COTTON AND STASH IT AWAY SOMEWHERE SAFE BEFORE YOU KILL EVIL SIDHE BEINGS IN THE LAB.

And I know I keep saying it, but here I go again: Colin Morgan gets cuter every single week this show is on.

And it appears that this week and the week after are going to be Morgana and Morgause desperately trying to off Arthur so Morgana gets the Big Chair. Now things get fun and dark and nasty.

Next week: Gwen's brother is kinda hot, but Cendred turns up AND Arthur's in this episode imprisoned and everything, so who WILL Gwennie choose now? And then there's Morgana and Morgause trying to kill someone (no change there then.) And where the hell is Merlin?

Wireless On!

Hi! Talking to you from a laundromat on the laptop. Got the Internet wireless up and running and functioning wonderfully-trying to get my settings on here, however, is gonna be a right bitch. Mom's reading a cookie book and hasn't come up for air in about ten minutes; I suspect she's too busy drooling.

Since we still don't have a dryer we wind up coming into this place about once a week and drying the clothes. It's okay sitting here except for the skeeter flying about and the little kids crying as they wait to get into dance class.

Mom found a cookie recipe that has deep-dark chocolate in it. She's committing-you can see it in her eyes.

Laundry's dry. Gotta shut the connection down,

Ta,
Bec

Laptop Arrives!

It's here! I will post pictures tomorrow-I have a paper due in three hours and the laptop is sitting in the bedroom charging itself.

My hip is killing me tonight and I am parked on a pillow trying to get some relief. We'll see how this goes.



Ta,
Bec

Five Days Becomes Six

My laptop is here, but there's a hitch. I wasn't here today to sign for it and so the delivery guy took it with him and will deliver it tomorrow.

The ONE day this week I'm not here and it comes. Darn it, darn it, darn it...

Gotta go-it's thundering outside and Mum will want the computer off.

Ta,
Bec


PS: Good luck to the horde of people trying to get the miners out in Chile. Not long now, people, not long now...

Well, Well, WELL...

The laptop's in Laredo (I think) but it's not anywhere near HERE yet...


Onward to a pivotal episode in the continuing awesome of Merlin...







SPOILER LINE


Well, I was wrong, folks. Here's the NEW family tree as it stands in canon, and since the bloody chart would take too long here's a quick rundown:

Gorlois and Vivian had Morgause. Vivian and Uther had Morgana. Uther and Igraine had Arthur.

I still don't know if Vivian and Igraine are sisters. One would assume as much given the evidence (Morgause knowing Igraine "very well" despite them not living in the same place.)

About the bit we saw at the beginning, with Merlin seeing a possible future before he sees the whole thing that he thinks is Morgana killing Uther, they gave us a couple of interesting scenes here: Morgana with a truly ugly crown on her head sitting in Uther's chair(meaning that she's gonna be in charge of Camelot at some point in this series,) NOTE: After the fourth watching I noticed a blonde in armor standing back behind the throne. I can assume that's Morgause back there. And we see an old man. It took two watchings for me to suss out exactly WHO had been made an old man for it, since it's a short glimpse and Gaius doesn't look like that. My assumption is that the old man is Merlin. The cheekbones and the eyes are right, meaning it's probably him. It certainly looks like Colin Morgan in old man makeup.

Questions raised: Where is Uther? Where is Arthur? Who made that horribly ugly crown and who can we shoot for it? Did Morgause or Morgana turn Merlin old?(I would assume so. I would also assume it's a reversible thing. They can't take away Merlin's gorgeousness or the fans will riot.)

I had an idea after I went to bed last night-what if an older version of Merlin has figured out time travel and has come back to slap his younger self around the head for being such a dummy? If Old!Merlin meets Young!Merlin, then at some point Merlin knows he's going to do it (here we go with the self-fulfilling prophecies and paradoxes again...)

Apparently they're sticking with legend and making Morgana Arthur's half-sis, but instead of Mom being the common parent they went with Dad. I'm pretty certain, however, that they're not gonna sleep together and produce a child that kills Arthur, simply because A) the kid's already here and B) Ew.

What we DO know is that Morgana is REALLY pretty mad at Uther for not officially giving her the claim to the throne (putting her second in line after Arthur) and for not telling her that she was his kid. As if she didn't hate him enough...

Merlin's going to find himself in a bit of a spot. Morgana is out to get Uther and Arthur BOTH, so he's got to watch both king and prince without letting them know about it (and not letting Morgana know he's got magic but that's completely another problem.)

And this episode marks Morgana's first visible on-purpose use of her magic (smacking Merlin against the wall.) And the second time in three years she's supposedly suffered a bleeding in the brain.

Merlin becomes part of the time stream and tries to "fix" what he thinks is broken, but actually he'd have had it easier if he'd NOT shut the door with his magic, thereby tripping Morgana down the stairs and breaking her head open, and then if Uther and Gaius hadn't had that little talk about happy families and who's whose kid, and THEN if Merlin hadn't felt overwhelming guilt, had a fight with Kilgarrah, and gone and saved her ass so she could toss him against the wall and give him another case of concussion when he was trying to stop her from killing Uther.

So it would have all been better if Merlin hadn't screwed with things in the first place. He's learned a valuable lesson, then...I hope. I bet he'll be regretting saving her when he has to keep Arthur and Uther in a forcefield because Arthur gave Morgana a dagger for her birthday. Stupid boy.

Next week: Arthur supposedly gets married to a bug-eating, trippy princess who can't get married to anyone else. And her nursemaid goes to the Sidhe (hey, it's the same dude we saw in the Sophia episode back in Series 1! Is he like the Supreme Sidhe Mugwump or something? Are we going to see the Blue Stony Sidhe Stick of Awesome Evil Monster Killing come out from the dusty confines under Merlin's bed???)

These, and other questions, will be answered next week.

Ta,
Bec

The Endless Wait of 5 Days Begins

I had to go for the cheap shipping on the laptop. (Free is the cheapest you can get, I guess...)

It says on the shipping thingumbob that it won't be here till TUESDAY.

WHAT?

TUESDAY!

WAAAAH!

What's the betting I will spend all of Tuesday looking out the window in a nonstop, obsessive sort of manner? Except for when I won't be here (bit of a problem as I have to sign for the package...)

But when I'm HERE, OH, will I be LOOKING out the window. And looking. And looking.

This is going to be a long, long weekend.

Hopefully the estimate is extra days and it'll be the happy surprise of Monday. But my luck is rotten so maybe not.

I also had to stay up late tonight to finish Mom's cinnamon rolls (if you leave them overnight to rise the results are impressive but unfortunately cinnamon rolls are quite hard to stuff back in the pan once they've grown out of it.) They're cooking now. When they're done I'm gonna plunk them on the table and go to bed. Mom can frost them in the morning. I also made really awesome chocolate brownies with nuts in them today so the sugar is flowing in this house today. Shame on us.

Gotta go check the rolls.

Ta,
Bec

Computer Switch and I Get Serious About Bullying.

So, my poor desktop is starting to die. It won't turn off on its own anymore. And it turns itself on when I move around it.

It did this once before and I had to rebuild it from the ground up the last time (it took months.) I just got moved back in, so to speak, and now it's starting to do it again.

So I decided that after three years, it's time to retire the faithful desktop computer and get me a laptop.

Moving out is always hard. There's the boxes to pack and the stuff to move and then the mover breaks your favorite vase...

I'm taking my files over to the parent's computer until my new tricked out laptop arrives next week. New toys to play with are always fun. I will take pictures for you all.

Now for something definitely serious:

I am hearing a lot about bullying this week thanks to the poor soul who committed suicide last week due to some truly immature little bastards.

I speak from experience- I was bullied. I was choked in the locker room in a Lutheran grade school, I was bashed into the walls by kids that were bigger than me (while most of the rest of the class laughed), I was poked with a sewing pin in the shoulder, I was told that I was a liar and that I was going to hell and wound up crying in the school bathrooms because of it.

I also had a mother who was bullied and she had had it worse than I did. She got me through those years.

I was a too smart, too skinny kid in a class that had a pack of idiots who had no one else to pick on. I had a principal in the school who didn't give a damn about the poor kid with no importance.

It makes me SICK inside to see people picked on like this, in college no less. College people aren't always very mature, but you would think by the time you reach adulthood you would have enough brains to know when something that you do, something that you put online is going to hurt someone. It's just the same as saying it out loud in the middle of campus. Grow a brain. It's ONLINE where all can see it. You may think it's funny to put your buddy's video online...but he might not.

People need to learn RESPECT for others, and they need to learn to respect other people's private lives. So WHAT if he was gay? He was HUMAN. He deserved your respect the same as if he was bi or straight or transgender or whatever he was. I don't care what you think about homosexuality, I don't care if you think that he was damned or whatever the hell you think, HE was a person. He had family and friends who are now never going to see his smile again or laugh again because he was driven to the edge by these people's bullying. And that, people, is unacceptable.

Yes, bullying ends at some point, but the truth is the damage stays with you forever. The scars heal but they are still scars, and it still makes me furious when people are bullied like this because it reminds me of the hell I went through as a kid. I don't talk about my being bullied out loud except in front of a therapist, mostly because I get too upset even over a decade later.

Very few people know about this, but I had a friend commit suicide because of depression. Suicide is not painless, not for those who are left behind to grieve for those who are gone. It fucking hurts those who are left behind. I still can barely speak about it to this day and it's been five years.

I don't have an answer for the bullying. I just want it to stop. I don't want another kid or teen or adult to be driven to the point of no return by this, PLEASE. Respect your friends, your classmates, your co-workers. You don't know how close to the edge they might be, and your shove might be the one that sends them over the cliff. Remember they have families and friends and lovers that would miss them, that don't want them to be cut off in the prime of life because of your bullying. You don't want that guilt on your conscience that you were the one that shoved them away when all they needed was someone to give a damn.

Ta,
Bec

Four!

The diet is a bust at the moment. I'll try to get back on the wagon tomorrow (ha ha ha.)


Episode 4 coming right up...





SPOILER LINE





Let me just say, this episode was very good compared to last week's. It was a mix of last year's jousting episode and the Lancelot episode from Series 1.

That said, Gwaine is an interesting fellow, completely reverse of Lance. Where Lance wanted so badly to be a knight, Gwaine is of noble blood and has no want of a knighthood. His refusal to admit it actually gets him banned from Camelot when he's caught attacking the two not-knights.

Gwaine is a player, living for the moment. He's independent, doesn't like to stay in one place long, likes his drink and his women and his blade. Where Lance was quiet and unwilling to cause any trouble for Arthur on his behalf, Gwaine ran up a bar tab that got him and Merlin shining the army's boots in repayment to Arthur. I found myself liking him more than I like Lance, and I really can't wait to see the two of them have to work together with such different and opposite personalities.

Gwaine hit on Gwen but Gwen refused his advances (unlike Lance *cough cough*). I think she likes him but has no romantic interest, and that's a good thing. We really don't need her torn between 3 GUYS...and how awesome was Arthur's jealousy? He didn't seem all that ticked when it was Lancelot hitting on his lady last year...

I would hope Galahad turns up and have the hots for Merlin, because I want to see Arthur get stinking jealous over it. That will be a sight to see.

This was another great Merlin/Arthur episode this week. Lots of good stuff there. My favorite bit of the whole episode was the barmaid saying "You're a handsome fellow," Arthur immediately trying to take the credit, and she corrected him saying it was Merlin she had the hots for. You should have seen Merlin's smug face...and Arthur's rather miffed one.

I gotta say, if it came down to a choice, it's Merlin every bloody time. The sword is nice, Arthur, and the body, and dear god the EYES, but really, I am FLATTENED by Merlin's dimples in this episode.

Next week is going to be a beauty, people. Merlin gets put in the Crystal Cave and sees some stuff he shouldn't (the future is a dangerous bit of business to muck with.) And Morgana falls down a flight of stairs backwards (whee!). And she tries to kill Uther with a shiny, shiny sword of death. And Taliesin, who was an actual honest-to-goodness Welsh poet but now for some reason has magical powers turns up (they got the actor who played the unintelligible police officer in Hot Fuzz to play him.) I can tell we're going to see lots of sweet evil smirks and Merlin doing time stuff and magic and some other awesome stuff.

Prediction of who dies and then comes back (at least this what I assume will happen. Watch me get it wrong AGAIN...) Probably Morgana. It'd certainly make the relationship between her and Merlin take on a whole new level of weird. And of course he'd spare her ass-that's the way he is.

Ta,
Bec

White Diet: Day 1

I went to see my mom's therapist yesterday and she suggested my constant stomach issues (I'm becoming lactose intolerant and I get heartburn when I eat a large meal) could be caused by my eating badly (sugar, heavy cream sauces, and lots of pasta.)

She referred me to the website of a nutritionist and suggested I try the diet entitled the White Diet. It's supposed to let my GI tract recover from all the abuse I've been tossing at it.

So I'm trying it. What can it hurt? Here's the gist of what I can't have for the next three days:

No fats, fiber, protein, dairy, artificial sweeteners, tea, coffee, fruit juices or flavored beverages.

What I can have has become a very small list: Plain rice with no pepper, Rice Krispies, Rice Chex, chicken Ramen, and Cream of Wheat (but I wouldn't touch that stuff normally.)

I'm sitting here munching Rice Krispies with no milk on them.

I also have to keep to a fairly strict diet for about two weeks after the three days of White Diet hell are over, just to get my system behaving again.

Just as a note: I HATE my Krispies without milk.

Here's a link to the page on her site: http://www.karenhurd.com/concern_bowel_disease.html


PS: The therapist also suggested that I might have Asperger's (I've heard this from three different experts now, so I've probably got it.) Someday I'll get this particular disability documented, too, but for now I'm just coping with having two papers due this weekend and being stuck on a rice diet.

PS: I failed already. Guess I'll start over tomorrow. What can I do when there's fast-food pizza being thrown at me from all directions?

Ta,
Bec