Happy weekending!

[oyceter]

Granted, it is not over yet, but I had a very lovely time today. laurashapiro and heresluck made lots of delicious food: cream of asparagus soup, which was creamy but still green-tasting and not overwhelmingly cream-flavored; chard and asparagus fritatta on a bed of greens, the fritatta was nicely crispy around the edges and there was a cream mushroom sauce on top; a very good pork sirloin, which apparently has many random bones but tastes absolutely delicious when cooked with white wine so that it's juicy and the meat actually tastes like something (I usually hate pork chops because they are dry and flavorless) and the bits of fat on my pieces just added to the texture and the taste. And then we had very rich ice cream with a caramal sauce that basically turned chewy right away.

So full and happy.

Also, I have watched tons of vids!

So, people, tell me: what is this Highlander thing? Would I like it? I have seen enough vids so that I can identify Duncan and curly-haired-guy-named-Richie and Amanda, but only when she has very short hair. So far, I know that Duncan is this Highlander thingamabob (is he Scottish or something?) and he is immortal and gets to wear lots of period clothing. He is very angsty and has long emo hair. Duncan sleeps with half a million women, often in different historical clothing, possibly so they can have corsets and heaving breasts. There is some scarred guy named Methos, and he and Duncan get married to Looney Tunes music and have a sappy ballet theme song. There is a curly haired guy named Richie who learns how to sword fight. And there is this woman named Amanda who must also be immortal or something, because she also gets lots of period clothing.

Things I have decided from watching maybe four Highlander vids: Duncan and his emo hair bore me and I could care less about his centuries-long angst and woe and losing assorted people (apologies Highlander fans). I am assuming that he has centuries-long angst and woe about losing assorted people a) because one vid was about that, b) all immortals with long hair seem to have this, and c) he just sort of looks like he has angst and woe. Richie does not particularly interest me either, though the vid was good. I can't even identify Methos and I am not sure if I will like him, though I enjoyed he and Duncan getting married to Looney Tunes music.

But! This Amanda person! She is awesome! At least from what I can tell! She goes through things and kicks ass and has awesome hair!

Is that enough to watch the show, or is the Duncan emo thing going to get to me?

Comments

[seajules]

Methos isn't scarred, and now I'm really interested in which vids you watched. *G* I like Methos, but I love Kronos, who may be the scarred one (alas, he doesn't show up much, and he's a bad guy [lots of bad guys whose names start with "K" are a standard of the show, and are generally referred to as K'Immies in the fandom]). Amanda is wonderful, even had her own short-lived spinoff series (Highlander: The Raven), but she doesn't really show up in Highlander enough to make it worthwhile. Duncan...oy. I loathe him, and the show does indeed focus on him and his emo-pain in ways that might actually make one nostalgic for Mulder, whose emo was at least interrupted on occasion by aliens and el chupacabra.

I loved the first movie, so I decided to give the sequels and series a try. Err...yeah. Bad idea. A fair chunk of the supporting characters are wonderful, but Duncan is an complete and utter ass, and it's one of those cases where the narrative clearly expects one to be rooting for him.

That said, it's not uncommon in the fandom for people to be...selective in their episode watching. As in, only the "Methos" eps, or only the "Amanda" eps. Someone currently in the fandom can probably point you at the resources to acquire those, and summaries of any information you need to know in order to get the most out of watching them.

[oyceter]

I watched... Uhhh... killabeez's "History Repeating," which is the way cool Amanda vid, some vid called "A Hero's Tale" or something (that's the Looney Tunes one) and... then I don't quite remember.

From everyone's comments, I think I'll pass on watching the TV show and just watch vids happily!

[seajules]

I'd say that's the best plan. Not like we couldn't all tell you any plotpoints you feel you might need to know to enhance your vid-viewing experience. *G*

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

::deep envy::

I am pretty happy to experience Highlander solely through vids.

[oyceter]

I think I too will experience Highlander via vids and construct some fantasy story for myself which only involves Amanda kicking ass.

[heresluck]

What Mely said.

Except for the part about the envy, because I was THERE.

In conclusion: asparagus! (I wasn't using my own recipe, which is better, but can post it if you're interested...)

[oyceter]

Yes! I am interested!

[loligo.livejournal.com]

I love Highlander, but yeah, you pretty much have to love it selectively. The first season, in particular, is full of some truly godawful eps. As for Duncan, I think anyone who can put up with Angel can find some sympathy for Duncan. He's not written as brilliantly, of course, because there's no Joss Whedon on board, but he's very much the same type of character: big, brawny, noble, and confused. He wants very much to do the right thing with the powers he has, but his concept of "the right thing" develops *sooo* slowly over the centuries because it takes his overly-muscular brain a long time to learn various life lessons.

But Methos and Amanda are both pure joy, and they bring out the best in Duncan. Richie is the one who bores me to tears, but there are people in Highlander fandom who would cut me dead for saying that, so apparently he has some appeal that I am blind to.

greensilver recently watched the whole series for the first time, so she has a bunch of review posts that might be helpful if you wanted to give it a shot. I guess I'd categorize the show overall as a guilty pleasure with occasional moments of brilliance.

[oyceter]

Oh, thanks for the link!

Maybe I'll try the movie and see if that is ok with me. Otherwise, I suspect that I will want to whap Duncan on the head repeatedly.

[loligo.livejournal.com]

The original Highlander movie is quite good, but very different in tone from the series, and it stars Duncan's "cousin" Connor. Then there are a couple of atrocious sequels that have nothing to do with the series and everyone pretends they don't exist, then there's the only Highlander movie with Duncan in it, and it's... not good. It's like a sub-par episode of the show.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

What she said.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

Here's the pork recipe (http://laurashapiro.livejournal.com/140568.html). Please to be using proper pork loin and not *sir*loin. (:

[oyceter]

Thank you for the link! It was really, really tasty! I say this repeatedly so you will know that I am not just being polite ^_^.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

*g* I'm glad you enjoyed it. I know you're not just being polite! It was delicious, it was just too small and too hard to carve.

So easy to make, though.

[morgandawn.livejournal.com]

it was wonderful to get to meet you. Did you watch Lum's History repeating itself vid which is the ultimate Amanda HL vid.

ps. adding you to my friendslist.

[cofax7]

Yes, we totally watched History Repeating, which never fails to be awesome.

[oyceter]

Hi! Yes, it was History Repeating! Was it Lum's vid or Killa's? I cannot for the life of me remember given the many vids consumed that evening.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

I've watched a bunch of Highlander episodes and think I'll probably watch all the seasons some day. But it sounds like it is not for you. Also, I think I need to warn you off of the sequel, which features Amanda, but from an alternate universe or something; it sucked, big time.

[oyceter]

Hrm, gotcha, thanks! Possibly I will watch the first movie to vet it and see if I am interested.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Duncan's emo will drive you mad.

But he is very, very pretty.

I watched it for the swordfights.

[oyceter]

*snorfle* I suspected as much wrt the emo.