Monday, June 26, 2006

The swings and roundabouts of a lion's sex life

It's been a weekend of Must-See TV for me.

My favorite scene, perhaps of all the Harry Potter movies so far,
is the demonstration duel in Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets
where Gilderoy is so busy posing that he gets zapped by Severus Snape.

Why do I like that scene?
I find it immensely gratifying when a poser gets their come-uppance!
Don't we all?

One of the most enduring themes in literature is hubris:
the dramatic downfall of someone who gets too big for their boots.

If you can't zap someone obnoxious, or watch them being zapped,
it's fun to imagine telling them they are about to be zapped.

"Your High-and-Mightiness, you are in deep shit!" one of my characters
says with great glee --and lives-- in my next survival romance,
Insufficient Mating Material. In real life, most of us wouldn't dare
say that sort of thing to a boss, or to a world leader....
hence the cathartic charm of reading, or watching TV and movies.

Another program that stands out in my mind is Nigel Marvin's
documentary about the swings and roundabouts of a lion's sex life.

Actually that is my very loose, personal interpretation of what I liked
best about his high minded and scientific program.

The up-side of being a lion with a big, dark mane is that the lionesses like you
(and you have fewer parasites).

The down-side is that you have a lower sperm count.

I haven't figured out how I can work that quirk of nature into one of my
alien djinn romances, but --trust me-- I probably will.

I wish you all an interesting week.

Rowena

No comments: