Asta 2

I must be on a roll now....

In case anyone hasn't heard, James has disbanded GotR. His statement can be found HERE. I'm not broken hearted over this, heck, I'm happy about it. The band was something he did for fun, but it was never going to be anything more than what it is right now. He needs to be focusing on his true talent - acting.

Surprisingly, I am a bit sad for the rest of the band. Yeah, they're young, they'll find other bands, other jobs, but, the way James phrased his statement, it was all about him and I think that's a bit unfair.

OK, I it seems about half of my Flist is either going to WriterCon or contemplating it going. I want to go! But, I can't. Stupid work issues. Next year the organizers really need to consulte me about my schedule.

And now,
I don't know if it was the extra time they had, but I really felt this was one of the stronger episodes of the season. Hey, they even used the wife and kids to good effect. Along with his friends, they are his reasons for going on. Oddly, amidst so much death and being forced to confront his past in that very same hospital, it was the most upbeat I've seen Creegan this season.

Yay! to Rivers pulling through. Even though absent, I enjoyed the comment to Creegan that he was still recovering so take it easy on him - implying that they spend time together outside of work. Further evidence that Creegan is working at forming bonds.

It goes without saying that I loved the finale scene. I love seeing two characters just talk and with more emotional openess than I expected. It really surprised me when Branca confessed she should have told Creegan more about herself. It was perfectly written - giving the audiance, yet not giving away too much. And, apparently, I've become so jaded I actually believed she was moving to fix his collar. ;)
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    lollobrigida
    Okay I had to skip past the TE review.. since I TiVo-ed it.. but I had to say that I too am happy GOTR is no more.. because aside from his David Letterman song... they weren't really that good. I think his success was based on his name.. not so much his talent... ha!
    asta77
    I agree. Any success GotR had was due to James' name and, more specifically, because he was Spike. There were a couple of songs of theirs I did like - 'Angel' and 'Dangerous' - but some of the others left me cringing. James is an OK rock singer, but the band was never going to gain any more success than they have right now.
    onetwomany
    I'm kinda glad GOTR is over too ... I really can't say why without sounding horrible though ;) I'm sure the young'uns will find something else. They got good exposure out of this, if nothing else.

    I wish you could come to Writercon! That'd be neat.
    asta77
    I wish I could be at WriterCon just to meet you and some others, but I'm finding it hard to make it feasible right now. :(
    asta77
    I do think disbanding GotR was one of James' wiser moves. I've always looked at the group as a vanity project, but, lately, it seems to have become an embarassment as well. Maybe James is realizing that if he wants to be taking seriously as an actor he needs to concentrate on that instead of trying to live out out some unfulfiiled rock star fantasy.

    I remember when I first heard about WriterCon, I thought it was going to be this little get together with some people sitting around a table chatting. ;p Now, it's huge and perhaps a bit overwhelming. But, it would be cool to meet a lot of people face to face that I've gotten to know online.
    lynnb
    James' statement was pretty self-serving. I think it comes down to the fact that he could indulge his interest in the band as long as he had a steady job, but now that he has to go out and look for work again he can't afford to. Tough for the other guys though, as this seems to be their main source of income.

    But the younger ones will likely bounce back; I hope Steve can find something, I think he's in his early to mid-30s, and I can relate to changing jobs at that point in your life :)

    asta77
    I was rather disappointed in James' statement. For a guy who always stressed the importance of the band and tried to play down he was the main attraction, he made the announcement all about him. And I've noticed more than a few pissed off fans who don't understand why they couldn't perform their few remaining gigs before James decided to quit. I really hope all this means he is focusing on his acting career.

    But, I'm also wondering if without the stability of Buffy and Angel, he's a bit adrift as to what to do at the moment. At least he realized GotR, while a fun way to fill breaks in filming in the past, would never suceed as a full time job.
    lynnb
    I was disappointed too, after all his words about the band not being all about him. Oh well, wonder if we'll ever know what really transpired.

    I tend to agree that it's finally hit home with him that he is no longer employed and needs to get something going, and feels he can't devote time to the band anymore. I sure hope so. It's fine to indulge your fantasies when you're gainfully employed, but not otherwise.
    (Anonymous)
    Didn't he announce at some Con recently that he had received a bunch of money for a Macbeth project (film?) he's been planning? Maybe, it's why it happened now.
    Gail
    asta77
    He announced at Moonlight Rising that he received 50 million to adapt, act in, and produce a film version of MacBeth. Though, I have yet to see any official confrimation of this from the various media outlets. If it is true, that plus a possible Spike TV movie plus auditioning for the Dresden series would be keeping him very busy in the forseeable future.
    danceswithwords
    I just saw Touching Evil for the first time last night because of what appeared to be some kind of USA or DirecTV scheduling snafu. It was the season finale? I thought it was pretty interesting, and certainly yonks better than most of what the networks have been unveiling recently. Definitely very different than the original British version, from what I remember of it, but that's only natural.

    I share your feelings about GoTR breaking up. To me this is a nice reminder that JM is actually a pretty sharp cookie under all that adolescent hyperactivity, and he's got his priorities straight and knows where his real talents lie. I also wonder (thought it's 100% pure conjecture) whether he felt like committing to tour dates way in advance might cause problems with the serious projects he wants to work on. With Buffy and Angel, his schedule was pretty predictable from year to year; now, not so much.
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