Did some more work on the essay I’m writing for a horror movie magazine. I hope to have a pretty decent first draft done by the end of the weekend.
My buddy Dave from Overlook Connection sent me one of the slipcases they made for King’s Full Dark, No Stars. It’s quite a loud red color, with white drawings all over it, pictograms inspired by the stories. The kicker, though, is that they glow in the dark! I left mine out in the direct sun today so I can get its full effect this evening. Full dark, but there will be stars…and a well, and a tool chest.
My favorite clip from this week’s Survivor is a diary segment that was on the preview. Rob, discussing Phillip’s oddball behavior, says, “Let it be a lesson to ya. Government jobs? Stressful.” Phillips did everything except flagellate himself after contributing to the second loss in a row at the immunity challenge for his tribe. He’s getting progressively weirder, and not in a good way. On the other tribe, Ralph steps out of the background and pulls a Russell, by which I mean he finds an immunity idol without any clue. Of course, the fact that he was hunting for rocks at the time makes him a little quirky. However, he had the wisdom to keep his discovery to himself for the time being, which few other players ever do. And then—and then!—he catches Russell pocketing the clue to the whereabouts of the idol—or, rather, the former whereabouts—and calls him out. If Ralph has a couple of brains to rub together—and the jury is still out on that one—he might be making a savvy move. History tells us that anyone who ruffles Russell’s feathers becomes his next target, regardless of whether it’s a good strategic move or not. If Ralph can get Russell focused on him, and keep his idol secret, he might create a boomerang that will catch Russell unawares. That would be great.
A little disappointed that we didn’t find out what is going to happen on Redemption Island, but the blindside Rob orchestrated more than compensated for that. It’s so cool when a player suddenly realizes that they were the target that week, and not someone else. I’m a little bit leery of Rob’s motivation for getting rid of Matt. He seemed really riled by the fact that Matt showed good sportsmanship and congratulated the other side for winning. Of course, Matt was also forming a very close alliance with one of the women, and Rob knows how dangerous that can be.
I love my new DVR system. I was interrupted 15 minutes into Survivor, so I turned the TV off. Then, 10 minutes later, I turned it back on and watched the recording, fast-forwarding over commercials until I eventually caught up with reality. I’ve never been able to do that before.
I run hot and cold on Criminal Minds, but I really liked this week’s episode. It was a switch from the usual psycho-madman-killer. Instead, the perp this week was a desperate man at his wit’s end making a play to save his family. And it all goes horribly wrong for him. The clue to his identity is locked in the mind of an autistic boy, which is why the BAU is on the case in the first place. Had to laugh at Reid explaining that he’s never played the piano before but “it’s all just math,” and at the new girl’s reaction to him going on a dweebathon about Doctor Who. “I’m sorry,” she says as she walks away mid-rant. “I’m sorry I asked.” For a change, too, this week, they actually made parts of the location look like where the story was supposed to take place. The ongoing subplot regarding Emily’s past with Interpol is intriguing, too.
