Heavy thoughts

First, a word of thanks to sablin27, who has repeatedly over the past while provoked and/or enticed me to think. I'm not sure if that was the intent, but thank you for it. *smiles*

This ... is something I've been wanting to put into words for a while, and on a prompt of death, survivors, integrity and the power of ideas, it seemed a good enough time to do so. Warnings for personal history, relatively frank discussion of depression, suicide and perhaps a skewed view of what makes life bearable. Heh.

( Some slightly mad ramblings ... )

Wild Wild West

On a slightly more cheerful note than my last post -_-; But I've been watching episodes on and off over the past few days of a marvellous sixties show that until this week I hadn't know existed. *smiles* And I think I may actually have to buy The Wild Wild West on DVD. I'm quite charmed.

Mostly, I must admit, by Artemus Gordon. *grins* James West may do his steely-eyed, rough-housing hero bit as much as he likes (not to mention having it away with almost literally every damn woman in sight - seriously! I know it was the 60s, and in the spy-drama mould, but the man's worse than Napolean bloody Solo at his worst, and that takes some doing!), but it's Artie, genial and grousing and master of disguise, that gets me every time. *smiles* Though watching them play off each other is as much a treat as watching Napolean and Illya, and for very much the same reasons. Heh.

The show is rough in a number of areas. Women, in particular, are slightly problematic. The show has a ridiculous double standard where they're concerned. Women seem to exist almost solely to seduce and be seduced by the heroes, serve the villains, be damsels in distress, or cheerfully try to murder people, or all four at once. Then there's things like the one episode where apparently all a woman has to do to get out of having coldly assassinated several men and sent several ships of people to their deaths was pout prettily and kiss James West. *shakes head* A woman's job on this show is apparently to be pretty and kill/be killed, and the one pretty much excuses the other. *grumps*

But aside from that. The show is steampunk western spy shenanigans set in the 1870s, involving two very pretty heroes, an awesome steampunk train-carraige base, more nifty gadgets than you can shake a stick at (but not a billiard ball, if you want to keep your hands), and madmen and insane schemes galore. It's basically a western/steampunk Man From UNCLE. Of course I'm bloody sold! *grins*

Still though. Artemus Gordon, all the way. James, my boy, you just can't win them all ...