Author: James McNally

Sex And The City

I’ve spent the past two days watching eight episodes from the first season of Sex and the City. I’d never watched it and was slightly curious, so I rented the set on DVD. Although I giggled a few times, I wasn’t really impressed. These women have conversations that are just as shocking and insightful as any of us have (which is to say, “not very”.) Just because they’re having them on television is no reason to get excited. I find each episode’s topicality annoying. The conceit is that Sarah Jessica Parker’s character writes a weekly column, and just happens to find material in her friends’ lives. Conveniently, they all seem to wrestle with the week’s chosen “issue” at the same time. Sure, it’s a TV show, but something this contrived just fails to resonate with me. It’s the television equivalent of junk food.

Worse, Sarah Jessica Parker’s habit of stopping mid-scene and addressing the camera drives me crazy. Funny thing is, the same thing used to drive me crazy about her husband (Matthew Broderick) in his work. One hopes their real lives aren’t filled with these dramatic parentheses.

Another weakness is the way every character is so easily assigned a “type.” There’s the good girl, the slut, the gay friend, the geeky straight guy, and then whole legions of rich “toxic bachelors.” The funniest is the character of “Skipper” (I kid you not), a late 20s “website designer” who has the demeanor and brains of a lost puppy.

I don’t know. Maybe it’s a girl thing…

Internship?

Update on my employment situation, for anybody who cares: I’ve applied to do a 3-4 month unpaid internship at a cool magazine, but won’t know if I got it until tomorrow or Friday, so I don’t want to say anything else for now. I’m also hoping to meet with the Director of New Media at TVO, a public television network in Ontario that’s similar to PBS. I’ve almost given up on applying for advertised vacancies. My skill set is far too nebulous to match up with some of the herculean attributes some of these employers are looking for.

Toronto Rocks

Toronto rocks. Truly, this feels like the cheapest place in the world to buy media. Today, for instance, I purchased the following DVDs (multiply prices by .67 to get $US):

I’m surprised more Americans don’t visit Toronto just to buy DVDs and CDs.

And Mac owners, check out this strange and compelling game: Tranquility. A Windows version is on the way.