36 Hours

[poliphilo]

The night before last I kept waking up to discover I'd forgotten to breathe and needed to rectify the mistake pretty damn quick. Stupid old body.

Yesterday I spent in a reclining armchair watching stuff on TV. I watched Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix- a turbo-charged account of a leisurely novel- and the last three episodes of the BBC's new Torchwood series- which more than fulfilled the promise of the first two by turning all political and state-of-the-nationy. Russel T. Davies is a classic writer. He's produced a lot of tosh- much of it in the first two seasons of Torchwood- but when he gets things right he's outstanding.  Torchwood: Children of Men is a masterpiece- bitter, shaming, heartening, kinky, sentimental, morally challenging, subversive- also very exciting and funny.

 Last night I slept for 12 hours straight.

Comments

[jfs.livejournal.com]

I watched all 5 episodes yesterday; sat on the sofa with a laptop so that I could check my mail, read livejournal etc. whilst watching. I was expecting the usual Torchwood fare and while I enjoy that, it's not exactly stretching.

By Day 4, I was sat bolt upright, with the laptop forgotten. That was one of the most uncomfortable hours of television I'd watched in years.

I would have preferred a slightly less rushed resolution - 10 minutes for Captain Jack to work out how to 'reverse the polarity' seemed a little too quick - but given _how_ he had to do it, I won't complain too much.

It's quite reversed my opinion of Davies; I was happy that he'd managed to get Doctor Who back on the TV, but wasn't very impressed with him as an adult. Children of Earth is exactly what Torchwood was first advertised to be - truly adult SF.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Like you I can forgive the perfunctoriness of the solution because of (a) how shocking it was and (b) the fact that the sci-fi stuff was really only a McGuffin.

Davies has overstretched himself recently. A lot of his work for Dr Who and (especially) Torchwood was shoddy, but I've never really doubted that he's a major writer. Have you seen his Casanova- with David Tennant and Peter O'Toole? It's brilliant!

[jfs.livejournal.com]

I've just noticed that I wrote 'adult' when I meant 'writer' in my description of RTD; on reflection, I'm going to leave that somewhat Freudian slip stand.

The first series of Torchwood was teenage; occasionally brilliant, often purile, desperately wanting to be grown-up without knowing quite what that meant. And oh so earnest in its beliefs. (I can identify, or maybe just project. That's certainly how I felt as a teenager.)

CoE was mature.

I saw Casanova, but don't recall being grabbed by it - O'Toole was fantastic, as he always is - he's a magnificent old man (by which I mean he portrays loss, dignity, irritation and joy with complete aplomb) - have you seen Dean Spanley?

As for McGuffins - Science Fiction's strength has always been that it looks at today with a slightly distorted lens. It's why it's both a great record of, and also a commentary on, the times it was written in.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I seem to remember Torchwood getting better as it progressed. Even so, very little of it has stuck with me. It always seemed like a neat idea that should have spent longer in development. As it was they learned on the job and CoM was brilliant.

I loved Casanova. It was funny, sad- and the frocks were gorgeous. It was also my first real look at David Tennant. I guess I have a taste for historical farragos that don't take themselves too seriously.

I haven't seen Dean Spanley. Peter O'Toole seems to be having a distingished late career- with lots of decent roles in decent projects- which is excellent.

[craftyailz.livejournal.com]

I know I spent a lot of the last 3 nights watching you!!!

I just can't function without you - it's pathetic - you've just started cooking some interesting meals, I'd have to go to the chippy (lol)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Over my dead body!

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

Have you though about having a sleep study done? It's a pain, but getting a CPAP machine has dramatically improved the quality of my life.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I haven't. In fact it's not something I've ever considered before. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll look into it.

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

If you could tell you stopped breathing while you sleep, you probably do it a lot more than you think. The risk of dying from this is quite high. When I had my sleep study done, I discovered that I stopped breathing several times an hour, for as long as a minute and a half!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Wow.

This has never happened to me before. I'm hoping it was aberration, brought on by the heavy cold I was suffering from.

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

My sense is that you may have noticed it when you were sick, but that you probably still stop breathing during normal circumstances without noticing it. Most of the time people don't notice it--I certainly didn't realize that my problem was as serious as it was.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

How strange to have a condition like this and not be aware of it. I'm going to have to find out more.

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

I think that most people aren't aware of it. They are aware of snoring from time to time, or feeling tired during the day, but not of the actual apnea.

[baritonejeff.livejournal.com]

http://www.sleepapnea.org/info/index.html

Do yourself, and Ailz, a favor. Get this checked out.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link. This is all new to me. I think the other night's problem was an aberration- due to me running a fever and having blocked airways- but I'll look into it.

[craftyailz.livejournal.com]

You know very well that I often tell you that you stop breathing regularly - you just don't listen to me

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Well, maybe we need to check it out......

[wyrmwwd.livejournal.com]

Sleep is good.

Breathing while sleeping, priceless.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Heh, heh, heh.... Couldn't agree more.

[still-althea.livejournal.com]

Sleep apnea killed my favorite uncle. It is more of a health condition than a sleep disorder, and they have made a ton of progress in treatment over the last decade. Really, talk to your doctor, and take your wife with you since she's more aware of what goes on while you're sleeping than you are. If have this problem and get it fixed it will enrich the quality of your life so immensely you will not believe it, (not to mention lengthening it).

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

I obviously need to get this sorted out. I could do with an improved quality of lfe :)

[amritarosa.livejournal.com]

We're downloading the last of the episodes today, can't wait!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't think you'll be disappointed.

[daisytells.livejournal.com]

Gee! Get better, dammit! That cold has hung on for some time now -- and what's this with the breathing? It's something to see about, I think.
I care.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's been two distinct infections. The first, I think, was flu- and the second was a cold. I believe I'm on the upward path now.

Thanks for caring.

[wokenbyart.livejournal.com]

I was crying during the last episode of Torchwood as it touched bits of my psyche that the rest of hadn't. It was very a brave subject to tackle (and even braver to have got it broadcast and not pulled from the airwaves) - as science fiction. Imagine that content without the sci-fi element of it... Rather too much in it like nazi Germany bussing off some of my family and ancestors to the camps for my liking. I presume that's what it was meant to imply (apart from the vaguelly silly 'drug' implication). Monster=nazis. Or maybe I'm just being oversensitive and reading too much into a TV story.

As for the sleep apnea - well, others will have given you info about this, but my thought is always - barring anything going down the airways that shouldn't, just before breathing stops - how long can one normally hold ones breath for before expiring?

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

If one holds one's breath often enough (like, several times an hour), one ends up oxygen deprived. It's truly NOT good for your body.

[wokenbyart.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's true.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't think you were reading too much into it. I think it was Davies' intention to smuggle a deadly serious moral conundrum onto primetime TV under the guise of a sci-fi yarn. The bravest thing was the lack of an easy solution. The politicians were prepared to sacrifice the innocent, but so was our "hero".

[wokenbyart.livejournal.com]

Glad it's not just me. Thanks.

Our 'hero' was a bit of wimp at the end... (beam me up scotty!)

I'm adding you, btw... I keep meaning to, but my memory is like a sieve these days. You used to be on my flist when I previously had an LJ... I left 'cos of the Russians' but returned - with an art journal - cos I realised I'd overreacted! I was originally 'fickleasever'. I'm not as fickle these days!
;)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, I remember you under your old name.

It's good to have you around.

Your art journal is fascinating. I've friended you back.

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

Well, I finally finished the last Torchwood at 1 AM. I can't believe I stayed up that late! It was pretty exciting, but I mostly felt like Davies wanted to make sure that "Torchwood" would never be back by removing all possibility. Having Jack kill 2 family members was completely over the top, IMO.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

There's always a way to bring back a successful TV or movie franchise if the will is there. After the success of the mini-series, I should imagine execs at the BBC will be keen to keep the show on the road- if necessary with an entirely new team.