Buffy vs. Edward*

Once upon a time, back in the 1990s, before there was this whole phenom called Twilight, there was this lovely little show about a vampire slayer. (Not the movie -- that one, er, sucked). Anyway, Auntie Nettie skipped out of a grad school class she was auditing to go home and watch the pilot and was a faithful fan until the end. No one was allowed to contact her by phone when it was on (except Janna and Michelle HI!); viewing parties were held at various apartments; discussions were held at lunch; and minor obsessing occurred. These fans followed the show from channel to channel and were distressed at many plot twists and early cancellations. Buffy and her "Scoobies" were the kinds of friends that Auntie had in high school, a gang of different folks out on the fringes, where things were happening that the "real" world didn't quite get.

Many years later, a new vampire was thrust into the public consciousness. One a bit more, well, a LOT more emo. While Auntie Nettie has loved the books, she is not one of the Twi-hards that has gone to conventions, signing, or gone gaga over the whole thing. (Nor is she a fan of the movie. She has not seen the movie. She WILL NOT see the movies. The soundtracks are okay.) She does not get the whole craze over the young pale messy-haired Brit who is cast as Edward. Maybe she's just too mature to get obsessed, with the book or the movie or the actors. Don't get her wrong. She likes the books. She has all of them. (Ms. Meyer's non-Twilight The Host is really the best of the lot so far.) But perhaps she's is a fan of the books more because she can put herself in the mindset of a 17-year old much easier when she reads it, than when confronted with images and bad acting on a screen. Plus, really, doesn't she have enough to do with four jobs, a blog, six e-mails, and A LIFE?

To that end and with that being said, whoever came up with this mashup is genius. From Buffy's eye-rolls and deep sighs, to highlighting the whole stalker-ish aspect of Edward, it's hysterical. (Plus, the Cedric Diggory/HP references and lack of copyright infringement with an explanation of fair use law ... perfect!)

The embed is from here! THANK YOU JONATHAN!

*Really, it was Riley vs. Spike vs. Angel for me ... most of the time.

That bites! - Part 1

from today's New York Times

A 'Twilight' Delayed

Compiled by JULIE BLOOM
Published: September 2, 2008

Stephenie Meyer is delaying indefinitely the completion of the final installment of her “Twilight Saga” after an unfinished partial draft was leaked online, The Los Angeles Times reported. “I did not want my readers to experience ‘Midnight Sun’ before it was completed, edited and published,” she wrote on stepheniemeyer.com last week. “I think it is important for everybody to understand that what happened was a huge violation of my rights as an author, not to mention me as a human being.” Ms. Meyer posted a link to the incomplete draft: “This way, my readers don’t have to feel they have to make a sacrifice to stay honest.” The leak follows the publication in August of “Breaking Dawn,” the fourth installment in Ms. Meyer’s young-adult series about vampires. The movie version of the first book, “Twilight,” is scheduled to be released in November.*

Delayed? Indefinitely? WHAT?! The sound you hear through the cyber-land you hear is millions of Twilight fans screaming in horror and plotting revenge against the person who leaked the m.s. Now that's just evil!

Now I know that many people have had less than favorable reviews for Breaking Dawn, though personally, I think I liked it best for many reasons, not the least of which is that I'm a more "mature" reader than the tween/teen set that it's "supposed" to be targeted to and therefore appreciate the more mature aspects of the novel (no spoilers here from me), but I was really looking forward to hearing Edward's side of things in Midnight Sun. I had read some of the approved pages that were previously released on the author's website and it had piqued my interest.

DARN IT. First no more Harry Potter books and now no more Twilight stories.


*Which I'm skipping. I gave into the Harry Potter films and it did totally color my mental visions of the characters. I want to keep "my" Edward and Bella.