![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Starting to feel short...
Jul. 31st, 2013 11:05 pmQuoting an email I just sent to a colleague, in response to his "How are things out there among the camels?" query:
I still enjoyed a session in the sauna after a light dinner. It was my second session since I've been here, and I allowed myself to stay in just a bit longer and then go back in for a second "treatment." Sergey, the logistics coordinator, was also taking advantage of the sauna, and I found the session went a lot better because there was someone to talk to while absorbing the heat.
Sleeping instead of napping also almost certainly threw a wrench into my sleep cycle, which means that I'll be up and about, quite alert, until well after midnight. However, short of chemical intervention (not really feasible without the availability of such aids, nor something I would do even if they were available) there's not much that can be done, other than to wait for Morpheus to come knocking on the door. (For sure, the one thing you never want to do when you can't fall asleep is get all worked up about not being able to fall asleep. That's a recipe for insomnia.)
So, secure in the knowledge that nobody is going to blow reveille out in front of the hotel tomorrow morning, I'm simply not going to worry about it.
* * * In other news, I am intrigued by the report that Cote de Pablo (the actress that plays ex-Mossad-now-NCIS agent Ziva David on the very popular NCIS television series) has decided to leave the show, despite "being offered a lot of money, and then even more money," according to the head honcho at CBS.
Cliffhanger season endings serve the purpose (and, in my opinion, the primary purpose) of positioning an ax over the heads of what may turn out to be recalcitrant or avaricous cast members. (It should be kept in mind that the cemeteries of the world are filled with "irreplaceable" people. )
I seem to recall that a major part of the suspense over "Who shot J.R.?" back nearly a quarter century ago (in the series "Dallas"), had to do with just how greedy the actor playing the role of J.R. (Larry Hagman) was going to be in contract negotiations. The way I understood it, if Hagman got too greedy, network execs would let J.R. die, and the writers would proceed from there.
Apparently a different dynamic is in operation here. Clearly the Ziva David character is popular (and although I'll go with the herd on this point, in my opinion, she's not the tough nut she was when she first came on the scene). Indeed, the episode in which Gibbs, DiNozzo, and McGee stick their necks way out and rescue David being kept prisoner by the bad guys is, head-and-shoulders, one of my favorites. And there is an unmistakable tension and chemistry between David and her "partner" Tony DiNozzo that I think most regular viewers—including myself—would love to see blossom into something more substantive.
That said, it that were to happen, there would be merry hell to pay with Gibbs Rule 12, "Never date a coworker." Because while Gibbs might tolerate the occasional breach of one of his rules (e.g., Rule 22: never interrupt Gibbs during an interrogation), dating a coworker is temporally the kind of thing that's just going to stick in the craw, and since the show is called "NCIS" and not "Tony and Ziva," that's a huge issue. (That said, it would make sense for Rule 12 to be the linchpin for David's ultimate departure, though that would put DiNozzo in a pretty awkward place—not that such a place is terribly unusual for Tony, but I digress...)
(Are you surprised as to how I can go on and on about the story line of "NCIS", i.e, something of no actual importance? Hey, don't get me started on Castle's proposal to Beckett, or the reboot of "Unforgettable," okay?)
Cheers...
Pretty quiet, by and large. Hot. No camels. A few stray cats. A few stray dogs. The food is starting to get to me (in terms of its lack of variety). I miss my wife rather spectacularly. The internet keeps me sane.After a rather vigorous morning dealing with issues (on behalf of others, which is the eternal fate of interpreters on assignment), I retired to my room after lunch with the intention of taking a nap. Instead, I woke up at ten to six with the firm knowledge that I had not napped, but slept. This threw something of a wrench in my afternoon plans, but nothing that can't be mitigated. Stuff just gets pushed down the line, is all.
I still enjoyed a session in the sauna after a light dinner. It was my second session since I've been here, and I allowed myself to stay in just a bit longer and then go back in for a second "treatment." Sergey, the logistics coordinator, was also taking advantage of the sauna, and I found the session went a lot better because there was someone to talk to while absorbing the heat.
Sleeping instead of napping also almost certainly threw a wrench into my sleep cycle, which means that I'll be up and about, quite alert, until well after midnight. However, short of chemical intervention (not really feasible without the availability of such aids, nor something I would do even if they were available) there's not much that can be done, other than to wait for Morpheus to come knocking on the door. (For sure, the one thing you never want to do when you can't fall asleep is get all worked up about not being able to fall asleep. That's a recipe for insomnia.)
So, secure in the knowledge that nobody is going to blow reveille out in front of the hotel tomorrow morning, I'm simply not going to worry about it.
Cliffhanger season endings serve the purpose (and, in my opinion, the primary purpose) of positioning an ax over the heads of what may turn out to be recalcitrant or avaricous cast members. (It should be kept in mind that the cemeteries of the world are filled with "irreplaceable" people. )
I seem to recall that a major part of the suspense over "Who shot J.R.?" back nearly a quarter century ago (in the series "Dallas"), had to do with just how greedy the actor playing the role of J.R. (Larry Hagman) was going to be in contract negotiations. The way I understood it, if Hagman got too greedy, network execs would let J.R. die, and the writers would proceed from there.
Apparently a different dynamic is in operation here. Clearly the Ziva David character is popular (and although I'll go with the herd on this point, in my opinion, she's not the tough nut she was when she first came on the scene). Indeed, the episode in which Gibbs, DiNozzo, and McGee stick their necks way out and rescue David being kept prisoner by the bad guys is, head-and-shoulders, one of my favorites. And there is an unmistakable tension and chemistry between David and her "partner" Tony DiNozzo that I think most regular viewers—including myself—would love to see blossom into something more substantive.
That said, it that were to happen, there would be merry hell to pay with Gibbs Rule 12, "Never date a coworker." Because while Gibbs might tolerate the occasional breach of one of his rules (e.g., Rule 22: never interrupt Gibbs during an interrogation), dating a coworker is temporally the kind of thing that's just going to stick in the craw, and since the show is called "NCIS" and not "Tony and Ziva," that's a huge issue. (That said, it would make sense for Rule 12 to be the linchpin for David's ultimate departure, though that would put DiNozzo in a pretty awkward place—not that such a place is terribly unusual for Tony, but I digress...)
(Are you surprised as to how I can go on and on about the story line of "NCIS", i.e, something of no actual importance? Hey, don't get me started on Castle's proposal to Beckett, or the reboot of "Unforgettable," okay?)
Cheers...
