Monday, July 14, 2008

True Blood pilot pre-review location, and I tell an arcane insect fact

True Blood Pre-pilot review!

Oh, I am such a lame poster!  But for those of my buddies who are excited about True Blood series, Voxy over at Suburban Trash has mysteriously been able to view the pilot, and has a very thoughtful review here.

And she has pictures!  Very intesting--and a fine blog, too. 

Late breaking update: Okay, Marta Acosta at Vampire Wire weighs in on this troubling tidbit: Alan Ball has never been a big fan of vampire mythology, hasn't seen an episode of Buffy, and has never read Anne Rice.  Whaaa?  Read about it here

Wasp in my kitchen

A wasp was in my kitchen tonight as I was trying to make dinner and really unnerving me. Further, I have actually never been stung by a bee or wasp, so I could be horribly allergic! Anyway, after watching it warily for 10 minutes, because I don't like to kill them but I have to be in a certain mood to catch and evict them, a duty usually reserved for DH, who was not present, I thought, I wish it would just magically disappear.  


And then it went on a window behind a blind and it disappeared!!  

But then I looked out the window and saw other wasps flying around outside the window, and also, a baby wasp was on the window, and I realized, shit, wasps can get in and out of the kitchen and there is a nest outside of it.  And then I ate dinner.  If it continues to escalate, I know that it will be very easy to fix this wasp's nest hole-in-window frame problem.  In fact, the only tool I will need is a telephone.  One of the great beauties of renting vs. owning. 

Bee and wasp fact taken from a dubious but delightful source


I'm actually not sure if the following is true, because it's taken from the body of amateur entomological literature created in the early 1900's which I was sort of fascinated with at one time. Basically, it was guys who would spend all this time watching the behavior of ants and bees and bugs and write these highly entertaining essays on insect toils and habits and lives and sometimes draw serious philosophical conclusions.  

Actually, it's really delightful stuff, specifically authors like playwright Maurice Maeterlinck, (Life of the Bee is his best work, but Life of the White Ant is kind of interesting, where he makes the case of the superiority of termites to humans) and The Insect World of J. Henri Fabre is one of my personal favorites. 

Anyways, in The Life of the Bee, Maeterlinck talks about how he and his buddy would have these long arguments on whether bees or flies were superior beings.  Maeterlinck's friend, solidly in the fly corner, would point to how, if you trap a fly in an open bottle that is laying on its side, the fly can fly right out, because it follows air currents, but the bee will always try to fly upwards toward the light and never get out.  Maeterlinck took the position that this merely proves that the bee is a more pure and spiritual being. 

So when a bee or wasp is trapped in my place, I always think about that. 

13 comments:

lisabea said...

We have carpenter bees. I have a guy who comes to take care of them, but I'm thinking he does a bad job, cuz they are still here. Basically we have to replace all the cedar siding.
But watching them bring to mind that book The Secret Life of Bees. The young lady has honey coming through the walls of her house.

I keep waiting for that one. I mean, it's been a very special year here at the homestead: why not honey?


Really? You've never been stung? How strange.

JenB said...

If I saw a wasp in my house, there's no way I could just eat dinner and ignore it. I'd be running around squealing, begging my husband to kill it. If he wasn't here, I'd be calling my dad. Then maybe the neighbor, and probably the fire department if the neighbor wasn't home. I would get SOMEONE to kill the damn bug.

Spiders, snakes, and rodents are no problem for me, but I do *not* deal well with insects. Especially stinging insects. Eek!!

You're very brave. I'm all worked up now.

Carolyn Crane said...

LB: Isn't that strange? Never been stung! Honey will be hard to get off your walls, I think.

JenB: hey, nice new avatar! Also, the wasp got out, so that is the only way I was able to eat a peaceful dinner.

Jessica said...

I'm super pumped about the True Blood spoilers--thanks for the link :)

And you would probably have to be stung twice before a terrible allergic reaction set in, if that makes you feel any better :)

Carolyn Crane said...

Jessica: It does make me feel better. Thanks!

Ana said...

Pssst, I saw the pilot too ; )

I did not like Anna Paquin as Sookie AT ALL. But I can see the potential of the series as a whole. No signs of Eric in the pilo though. : (

Sarai said...

Wow I am HIGHLY allergic to bee stings VERY ugly to say the least and add to it Coconut as well It's a werid combo over in Sarai land which is why being on the Desert island would suck for me unless I had alcohol...
There you go my 2 cents for th eday.

KT Grant said...

If I go to Hell, bees will be there to torment me. I hate bees.

JenB said...

KB - Oh yeah, that's where you're going. I've seen the books you read. ;) (See you there! LOL)

KT Grant said...

Wait, scratch that. My hell will be bees and no books!! ACK.
Why Jen, what reading material do you speak of? *blink blink*

Carolyn Crane said...

First of all, everybody is getting cool new avatars these days.

Ana: No signs of Eric in the pilot? What good is it then?

Sarai: We'll keep the bees and coconuts away from you. Unless a coconut falls on your head.

KB & JenB: What can I say? We'll meet up.

Sarah said...

I am looking forward to the series much!!!!

I was stung while reading a book in the bath once. I got no sympathy... it hurt and I was yelping in a terribly unattractive manner and trying to get out of the bloody bath at the same time my SO just did the whole laughing till crying thing.

Anonymous said...

I've also never been stung. I think it's because I run and hide whenever a bee/wasp, etc is seen. My allergist told me, however, that an allergic reaction will come on gradually, after being stung multiple times over a period of time, each time become worse. So now worries, really, but I still run. Strangely, my 5 year old dog has been stung 4 times. Guess it doesn't help to be 8 inches off the ground.