Life on Mars US Finale

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So apparently the Life on Mars US finale aired last night. I’d rather claw out my own eyes than watch that travesty of a show, but I did read the spoilers on Wikipedia, which says:

( MASSIVE SPOILERS for the end of Life on Mars US )

Seriously, you guys, if you've never seen Life on Mars UK, it's not only a million times superior to the US version, but its ending is brilliant and dark and complex and moving and pretty much perfect.

Look, you can even pre-order it in the US now, or get it from Amazon UK (on sale for £9--that's like $13! and overseas shipping isn't bad, though of course you need a region free DVD player).

In other news:

* I sincerely have no attraction to Neil Gaiman. What's wrong with me?

* And I'm getting excited about DreamWidth, which looks wonderful. I'm pleased about the lack of ads, the code improvements, the ability to import your journal and comments, and the owners' friendliness toward fandom, but my favorite aspect is that you'll be able to separate "who can read your posts" from "whose posts you want to read." This has the potential to change the way (this corner of) fandom is structured, to get us out of our little bubbles of like-minded people and expose us to many more perspectives, since we'll be able to check out new and interesting people without having to allow them in to our personal locked posts.

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Today’s Obsession

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Today’s obsession: the “Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud”/”All the Young Dudes”/”Oh! You Pretty Things” mashup from the Ziggy Stardust movie.

I like how the songs are merged, the way the emotion builds, and the way the tone shifts from dreamy to anthemic to ironic. I like the eerie way its filmed, red-tinged Bowie emerging from the darkness, with occasional illuminations from the flash cameras.

And of course, I love Bowie’s voice and the charisma of his performance. He inhabits every character that he sings about, and every move he makes is riveting. Plus he’s got this way of smiling–it feels like he’s sharing a secret with just you, even though this particular “you” wasn’t even born until nine years later. (Also, huh. I don’t think I’ve ever been a fan of someone who smiles onstage before.)

Unfortunately it’s only on YouTube in two pieces, but watch both as the first leads into the next.

(Is this annoying? Am I posting too many videos lately? Should I cut-tag them? I’m totally lost as to what the current LJ etiquette is.)

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