Class Schedule vs. Viewing Schedule January 14, 2008
Posted by kmiddleton in asian america, pop culture.trackback
One of the things I often fail to take into account when I choose teaching time slots is what I’m watching during any given semester. At many schools, this wouldn’t be a problem: the vast majority of the courses are during the day. At Saint Rose, however, we tend to have a vibrant host of classes offered in the evenings, and those can cause all sorts of conflicts with the primetime lineup.
Take tomorrow night, for instance. It’s the first evening of my graduate course Literature in the Information Age, about which I’m so excited I could spit. Contemporary novels, hypertext, new media readings—good times! And yet, tomorrow is also the Democratic debate in Las Vegas. This is important viewing for a couple of reasons: first, because it’s in my hometown (this is the least important reason). Second, because it’s the lead up to the Nevada caucus on Jan 19—a first for the state and for the region. The west gets to weigh in on candidates before SuperTuesday? Hot damn!! Third, and perhaps most pertinently, there is a significant voter drive going on in Nevada among Asian American populations. The Asian and Pacific Islander Vote initiative has an article up describing the importance of the Asian American vote in this primary because of the significant populations in Vegas. If the Democratic candidates are going to make any mention of Asian American issues, this would be the place to do it.
So, normally I’d be at home, glued to the television and mocking Brian Williams’ hair. But instead, I’ll be having a delightful conversation with my intrepid grad students. Immovable object meets irresistible force. A war of two goods.
Thankfully, my Wednesday night class ends with just enough time for me to get home before Project Runway starts.
Well, I seldom watch anything in real time, so I seldom think about my schedule in light of television schedules — and besides, there’s very little to watch on American tv.
Last night we watched the first episode of series 2 of Torchwood! Whoo hoo — last series we had to wait until almost the end of the series to get a decent snog out of Cap’n Jack, so it was great that this one started with some great liplock at the start. Especially since it was with Spike (double whoo hoo — when did Russel T look into my dreams? very sexy scene). James looked awfully good in his Adam Ant jacket. Praise the gods, it looks like this season won’t be all about sex with ugly Owen, but a little more of cutie Ianto! Flirt, Jack, flirt — pout Ianto, pout!
*^%$!! I thought Torchwood didn’t premiere until next week? Do you have some sort of super-secret, MI5 hook up or something?
Confession: I only started watching TW because I had read that Marsters was going to be on it. Surprise, surprise—not until season 2. Guess where I’ll be on Saturday night?
Yes, of course I do. But it’s secret, so now I have to kill you and everyone who might have read this blog…
Torchwood on the whole is a bit of a disappointment, but with the shortage of hot boy snoggin’ action on mainstream television these days, I watch. There’s a Guardian piece on watching the next episode minute by minute, but I haven’t read it yet because we’re watching Ep 2 tonight.
I’ll alert you to the relative Spike content. I’m diggin’ the Adam Ant vibe though.
Ep 2: totally Spike free, but Ianto-riffic. In fact we were joking that one of his best pals wrote the episode because he had all the good lines (for once, rather than simply bringing coffee).
Yes! The Adam Ant jacket! What’s up with that?
And “paralyzing lip gloss”? Where do I get me some?
Ianto also had the great pleasure of naming some of the alien technology in episode one, namely the “life knife” and the “risen mitten.” Snort.