Ooooh, some books about Aishah!

I've always been interested in Aishah bint Abu Bakr, youngest and favoritest wife of Muhammad, ever since I wrote a biography of her during my sophomore year in high school. This Slate article discusses some modern titles about her.

My TV viewing this season

I watch TV shows exclusively online because a) I'm not tied to a specific airing time and b) I can stream them in the background while working. Interestingly enough, I find that many TV shows work perfectly fine without the images as radio shows because the clearly differentiated voices and the overdetermining music provide enough clues as to what's going on so that actually seeing the screen isn't necessary. Forthwith, my current slate:

Bones. I watch this primarily for the great chemistry between David Boreanaz [Seeley] and Emily Deschanel [Bones]. After a flaccid, frankly  boring start to season 3, the quality has picked up, both in the writing and in the mysteries. Though I find the increased prominence of the earnest, lonely, overanalytical and geeky psychologist Sweets charming, I'm still bitter at the writers for dispensing with Zach at the end of Season 2. His out-of-character departure ruined the wonderful rapport between the "squints" on Bones' team.

The Colbert Report. Amusing mild parody. I enjoy watching how much fun Stephen Colbert has with his character.

The Daily Show. Amusing mild parody. Jon Stewart's straight-man mugging STILL hasn't gotten old for me.

Fringe. Painfully stupid, chronically incoherent and blitheringly underpsychologized, this simplistic show is one that I love to hate. I also like listening to it because it's so anvilicious that I don't even need to look at the pictures. Will never be forgiven for its mangling of the "Boston" setting.

Heroes. You know, back in season 1, I used to like this show. However, I think it hit its peak with the season 1 ep, "Company Man," focusing on Noah Bennet and family. Since then it has imploded on itself repeatedly, reformatting character development multiple times, introducing and dropping characters at alarming speed, creating plot holes so large that they could expand and engulf the universe and, msot criminally, turning all the characters into impetuous, stupid morons. Like Fringe, it requires no brains or even eyeballs to appreciate its schlockiness.

House. I actually really like this show, mostly because I really like watching Hugh Laurie act like an arrogant genius bastard. Brilliant comedy!

The Office. I watch this not for the plot or even the characters, but because its small moments accurately capture the combination of zealotry, awkwardness and puzzlement characterizing white-collar at-work interactions. The characters' strange antics aren't so amusing as the other characters' often deadpan reactions to said antics.

Psych. I'm conflicted about this show. It's a comic detective show about a guy who pretends to be a psychic for a police department. It would be a slight, silly diversion, except for the fact that the fake psychic's reluctant partner and best friend is a black dude who suffers slapstick indignities and gets ordered around by the fake psychic all the time. Very Stepin Fetchit. No new eps until January, by which time I will probably have conclusively determined that it's a racist cesspool and therefore left it alone.

Supernatural. Even though this show suffered a largely plotless third season and even though it suffers from such misogyny that it kills off all female characters or makes them disappear, I'm still a loyal fan of this show who will be watching it through the bitter end of season 5. Actually, it's more accurate to say that I will be watching JENSEN ACKLES AS DEAN WINCHESTER through the bitter end of season 5. Ackles and co-star Padalecki consistently use their nuanced portrayals of the brothers to turn the occasional mediocre script and hammy line into a sincere, layered portrayal of fraternal devotion. Also, in case you haven't noticed, I think Ackles is hot. With an angel charging Dean with aversion of the Apocalypse, there seems to be an interesting plot for season 4, so I'm excited about the show on a structural level again, which I haven't been since the end of season 1. Let's hope that the Apocalypse doesn't fizzle like the demon war that was supposed to happen after the Winchesters opened up the gate of Hell.

Ethan, is that you?!

One of my hardest LHF characters to capture in plastic has been Ethan Stuart, the oldest known vampire in New England. Born at the tail end of the 1500s [!!], he's just over 4 centuries. He was old in the first place because he was turned when he was 91, but the years are really taking their toll on him. Furthermore, he's wasting away, so he basically looks like an exhausted skeleton with skin.

I considered several possibilities for his 1:6 form. I thought I might use a cheap 12" Halloween skeleton with basic articulation, but that would require lots of building UP with Sculpey, and a) I only do well with simple building up, like hair and b) I'm much better at carving AWAY.

I thought I might like to get a Peril Unlimited zombie, as reviewed here, but a) he looks pissed, rather than tragic and b) he's sold out. Most zombie figs I've seen look pissed and/or stupid [like Zinnia Pascale, who looks like she's permanently pained by the lack of intelligence exhibited by humans]. [No zombie figs ever look depressed to be dead. I wonder why.]

Now I think that I may have found a good base for Ethan in Mezco's upcoming 12" Jason Voorhees as seen in Friday the 13th part 9,000,000,000 7. As you can see in the linked review, he looks skeletal and aged without appearing too stupid or annoyed. This is probably because he does not have enough face left to be expressive with. I could sand his head to give him a more even distribution of skin, since Ethan is not wounded, just really old and etoliated. I'd also repaint him as less putrefying and more aged. It could work!!