in the darkness i feel his arms

[pensnest]

I did not give blood today.

I went to the blood donation centre, and spent quite a while filling in my introductory form (twice, because the computer wouldn't accept the trainee's input, and she was the one to take my details first). Then, because I had a few yeses ticked on the form, a long conversation with the nurse during which I dredged up trips I have made to hospital throughout the years. And eventually, she told me that there's no reason why I cannot donate usually, but, because my medication has recently been changed (to slow release), I must wait another week and be sure my GP is happy with the new dose.

On the positive side, my haemoglobin levels are great!

*

I think I'm becoming more inclined towards vegetarianism, or at least, less inclined to eat meat. I made a shepherd's pie (with lamb mince and fake mince) for Sunday, and remember thinking "the nasty smell of cooked meat", probably for the first time in my life. I have developed a few veggie or meat-traces recipes (usually nibbles of chorizo) , and have been experimenting with the various meat substitutes which are burgeoning on Sainsburys' shelves. And, plainly, my iron levels are doing fine without it.

*

Beast and I have started a re-watch of Babylon 5 and oh, my goodness, how it resonates. Even at the beginning, the Earth First, anti-alien movement is horribly familiar, and I know what's coming.

The aesthetics of the tech, by and large, does not hold up as well as Star Trek: The Next Generation, with the honourable exception of the starships, which behave much more reasonably and are used much more effectively. But the station graphics are pretty clunky. I do quite like the hand communicators. And they do have much more imaginative aliens. Kosh's encounter suit is glorious.

Peter Jurasik and Andreas Katsulas are *so* good. I realise they have a lot more showy stuff than Sinclair, but he's very stiff. I like him a little more with every re-watch, but I do think that replacing him with Sheridan - we haven't got to that part yet - was a good thing for the show, and keeping him as the cerebral, thoughtful guy was much more believable. He does show off as the man of action at the beginning of the show, leaping into a Starfury to be Heroic, but I have to accept that as the price of being a leading man in an American TV show. You have to be Good At Killing Stuff or you aren't a Hero.
Well, perhaps that's just the twentieth century way.

*

I am trying a new policy with my posts, adopting dine's sometime habit of using a song lyric as a header.

Comments

[badly_knitted]

What a coincidence! I just watched the B5 pilot The Gathering tonight. Might start re-watching again - I was re-watching last year but got sidetracked so I might start from scratch again instead of picking up where I left off, especially in the light of Mira Furlan's passing.

I agree about Sinclair being somewhat stiff, but I stil like him. The alien ambassadors and their aides are my favourites though. The show had so many great characters.

[turps]

That's a shame about your blood donation, but good you'll be able to donate soon.

Sainsbury's have some great meat substitutes, I had some fake bacon from there this week and it was delicious. Company also gets a lot of the substitutes, I guess in some places they mustn't sell as well so get passed on.

[turlough]

It's been years since I watched B5 (10 at least!) and I remember the xenophobic themes being just as familiar back then. It's really depressing how little have changed! Sadly I no longer have those VHS tapes in my possesion (or a player to watch them on, for that matter!) so I don't know when I'll have the opportunity to watch it again. I hope you & Beast will continue to enjoy your rewatch. It really is a fantastic show! Londo and Gkar are both fantastic and I've always been very fond of Vir - how can you NOT like him?!! - but my personal favourite was always Ivanova.

[frausorge]

Ack, what a rigmarole with the blood! No one can say you weren't ready to do your part.

I've never see Babylon 5, but Earth First, anti-alien movement is horribly familiar rings sadly true even just hearing that much.

[ephemera]

(I am currently listening to a documentary about ancient "aliens" that features a Dr Chavez, and you may correctly guess where my brain has gone with that - AU-tasic ;)

that sounds like a frustrating visit to the blood donation centre - hopefully it is setting you up for a more successful return once your medication has settled in!

[watervole]

I think I'm nearly due for another Babylon 5 rewatch.

I come back to it every few years the same way as I re-read Lord of the Rings.

We've discovered that the secret of fabulous veggie/vegan meals is think of the veg as the heart of the meal and look for recipes that showcase them, rather than thinking of the veg as an extra.