Sunday!
I hesitate to check to see if Wrestlemania 30 is playing anywhere in town… because, well, what if it’s not? And then: What if it is??? I mean, I’ve caught every Wrestlemania since XIV. I don’t really want to miss this one… but it’s so much better when I’m watching it with my peeps.
Okay, there’s a blast area 22 miles away.
Which doesn’t help much… do I go? Do I not go? Argh, this is so much easier when I am back *HOME*.
Maybe I’ll buy the WWE network. Then I can watch stuff like “Legends House”.
In any case, when I get done with laundry, I suppose I’ll choose between that and “Hannibal”.
So… what are you reading and/or watching?
Rereading Ellroys LA Quartet, in anticipation of Perfidia, to be released this fall. I also just found out that there is a spanish filming of Captain Alatriste on youtube, starring the Viggo. So that will be in the viewing list.Report
Dudley Smith lives? Cool.Report
From what I have read, it takes place during WWII, so many of the characters will be around.Report
This LA Times piece mentions Dudley and Kaye Lake.Report
Awesome!Report
I’m closing in on finishing Breaking Bad. Shockingly, it turns out, according to my wife, vg vf orlbaq zreryl hayvxryl gung Thf jbhyq unir orra noyr gb jnyx bhg naq fgenvtugra uvf gvr jvgu gur nzbhag bs oenva qnzntr gung jnf vapheerq.
I am listening to Night Prey, a Lucas Davenport novel by John Sandford.Report
Artistic licence.Report
A danger of watching TV with a doctor is that licensure becomes stingier.Report
I assume the same would be true of watching many of my favorite shows with Burt. Like, he’s explain that Levy would have been too smart to ask Omar “Excuse me? What?” and allow him to respond that they’re the same except for their choice of weapon.Report
My father watched the original Star Wars with a bunch of aerospace engineers who couldn’t let go of the fact that there is no sound in space.Report
My son and I were just watching Battlestar Galactica and he had the same complaint.Report
When it first came out I went to see it with some college friends, and I couldn’t help yelling out “Oh, come on!” when “parsec” was used as a unit of time. They were all business or humanities majors and had no idea why I was so irritated.Report
[debates internally whether the upsides of pointing out that there are reasonable in-universe explanations of the use of ‘parsec’, outweigh the downsides of defending Lucas]Report
Oh, c’mon… Star Wars was a 1950s western with WWII aerial dog fights added on, set in space, and with — for the day — excellent special effects. Given those constraints, I thought the dialog was outstanding.Report
Very clever people can retcon “a parsec is a space-second”, but in the film it was inexcusable ignorance, like thinking “light-year” is 186,000 years.Report
The first and most likely explanation is that Han is bullshitting the yokels, intentionally using bogus terminology to judge their gullibility, so he can decide how much to take them for. This is actually Lucas’ original explanation IIRC and is even somewhat supported by script direction that says Han is supposed to be clearly lying (and Luke’s exasperated reaction to his boast). It’s like an unscrupulous auto mechanic telling you you have a “burnt flibbertigibbet” in your engine – if you swallow THAT, he’s taking you to the cleaners. This would fit with OG, “Shoots First” Solo’s characterization.
The other explanation, probably a later retcon, has to do with the route of the Kessel run itself, which apparently take it around some black holes and meteor fields. Basically, with either A. Fast computers on the Falcon that can quickly compute/recompute the necessary jumps, a normally-longer journey can be shortcutted, and/or B. A daring pilot/fast ship can fly close enough to the black holes to utilize their space-warping properties to the same end, rather than going the long way ’round.Report
Yeah, it’s Han deliberately misusing a term that Lucas trusts the audience to know, because George is well known for both his respect for his audience’s intelligence and his subtlety.Report
There was good in him once, before he went over to the dark side.Report
As much as I liked that character, his entire storyline took the show a bit further than I preferred from (what I imagine) is the usual reality of such a situation. Just a bit too supervillainy, vs. the way the show started, with various lowlifes and incompetent criminals.Report
The disbelief I keep having to suspend is that anyone would care how high-quality the blue stuff was. As Jesse points out when Walt is obsessing about the fly in the lab, “We have the least picky customers in the world.” And I’m pretty sure that high purity just means that it can be cut more heavily before being sold. (Which could argue that Walt’s process leads to higher profit through being more efficient, but no one ever talks about that. It’s always “This stuff is amazing!”)Report
I view it in the same light I view Law & Order. Some folks take exception to the fact that the did-its on that show are so overwhelmingly white and middle class or wealthy and think that represents a departure from who actually commits murders. In reality, it represents a desire of fans to see themselves in as many characters as possible including (and these days, perhaps especially) villains.
Gus wasn’t white, of course, or American, but he was still someone we could (particularly early on) relate to. “If we were a drug distribution mastermind, that’s how we’d want to do it…”
It also allowed for a greater sense of ambiguity. Was there any doubt how low Tuco would go? With Gus, you weren’t sure. He got the benefit of the doubt, I think, for longer. With me, anyway.Report
And there was the irony that while Walt thought that he was cool, intelligent, and discreet, Gus actually was all of those things and saw quite clearly that Walt was dangerously hotheaded.Report
Fb sne, Frnfba Svir unf fubja gb or n erznexnoyr ivaqvpngvba bs Thf’f zrgubqbybtl.Report
“uvtu chevgl whfg zrnaf gung vg pna or phg zber urnivyl orsber orvat fbyq. (Juvpu pbhyq nethr gung Jnyg’f cebprff yrnqf gb uvture cebsvg guebhtu orvat zber rssvpvrag”
Gb or snve, guvf vf n cybg cbvag zber guna bapr, bapr Jnyg “znxrf vg” naq vf bcrengvat ng uvture yriryf – ur frrxf gur purncrfg, zbfg pbfg-rssrpgvir cerphefbef, naq sbe fuvccvat gb Pmrpu znexrgf lbh jnag n zber pbapragengrq (fznyyre) nzbhag gb fzhttyr, gung pna or phg zber gvzrf ba gur sne raq. V guvax bapr Jnyg trgf vagb orq jvgu gur ovt oblf vg’f qrsvavgryl vzcyvrq zber guna bapr gung gur “ornhgl” bs uvf cebqhpg’f chevgl vf gung vg thnenagrrf uvture cebsvgf gb nyy va gur pevzvany betnavmngvba, naq vg’f va cneg gung chevgl gung oevatf uvz gb gur nggragvba bs gur ovt oblf va gur svefg cynpr.
V nz pregnva gung Tvyyvtna gbbx fbzr vafcvengvba sebz gur 2000 YFQ ohfgf bs Cvpxneq/Nccrefba/Fxvaare, juvpu vs lbh’ir ernq nalguvat nobhg, vaibyirq rabezbhf nzbhagf bs zbarl, zngrevny, naq fjrrg fhcreivyynva haqretebhaq ynof (va gurve pnfr, n erabingrq Ngynf zvffvyr fvyb). Gurl nyfb nygrerq gurve cebprff j/e/g cerphefbef naq vachgf, fb gurl pbhyq fryy gb gurve pbagnpg ng terngyl erqhprq engr, juvyr erncvat zhpu ynetre cebsvgf sbe gurzfryirf.Report
V whfg jngpurq gur bcravat fprar bs Obk Phggre (juvpu fubjf Tnyr hacnpxvat gur fhcreyno’f arjyl qryvirerq rdhvczrag jvgu n obk phggre. Arire abgvprq gung orsber.) Tnyr pna cebqhpr 96% chevgl. Jnyg trgf 99%, juvpu vf n ovt rabhtu qvssrerapr sbe Thf gb tvir va gb Tnyr’f vafvfgrapr gung gurl fubhyq uver Jnyg, rira gubhtu ng guvf cbvag arvgure xabjf ubj zhpu Jnyg fcraqf ba cerphefbe gb trg gur rkgen lvryq. Naq jura Ylqvn pbzcynvaf nobhg Qrpyna’f eryngviryl penccl zrgu, vg’f arire nobhg lvryq be cerphefbe pbfg, ohg nyjnlf nobhg n fvatyr ahzore: chevgl, naq gur pbaprea vf gung gur Pmrpuf jvyy sver gurz engure guna gung gurl’yy unir gb qebc gur cevpr.Report
@glyph and @mike-schilling I just watched episode six of BB. Gur rcvfbqr raqrq jvgu Jnyg rfpncvat sebz gur ehoorephssf naq gheavat gur gnoyrf ba Zvxr naq znxvat uvz na bssre (qba’g xabj jung gur bssre vf lrg).
Do I need to worry about spoilers with your respective posts?Report
Yes. Don’t read mine until you’ve watched 5-10 (Buried).Report
I think mine is safe.Report
@glyph & @mike-schilling I am through episode 10, but I should be finished by next Sunday, so we’ll pick up the conversation there.Report
I watched a little bit more of Game of Thrones (like, half an episode) …. and I must have read something… oh, I’m just in the middle of many things. The books I most recently started being in the middle of are The Interestings, When Kambia Elaine Flew in From Neptune, and Farm Friends. They are all really good and I wish I had some time to read them (also to catch up on Small Gods).
When “leisure” starts to mean, “I can watch Wrestlemania… IF I bring my laptop and do homework the whole time…” Maribous get grumpy.Report
I just finished “Princess and Queen”, which is the most recent ASoIaF short story. (GRRM put it into an anthology he edited to boost its sales. I foiled his plot by getting it from the library.) It’s quite unlike the Dunk and Egg stories, which are narrated in tight third person, like chapters in the novels, and have a very sympathetic protagonist. PaQ is a historical account of a civil war early in the Targaryen dynasty (described in the appendices as The Dance of The Dragons), and not a single character is sympathetic, except perhaps for some of the victims. It’s as if GRRM were saying in his Paul Hogan voice “That’s not meaningless blood and horror. This is meaningless blood and horror.” The one thing it does well is to depict how dragons really were the ultimate weapon. They allowed the Targaryens, with a relatively small army, to conquer all of Westeros, and the civil war is full of both dragon-against-human and dragon-on-dragon combat.Report
I love fictional history, so that was kind of a neat way to tell the story, but I agree about none of the characters being sympathetic.Report
Friday I went dancing in my new boots (http://www.fluevog.com/code/?w%5B0%5D=search%3Aprepares&pp=1&view=detail&p=7&colourID=3866). The rest of the weekend I did math.Report
Math of pain to heel ratio? Or whether the cost was worth it?
I always find his shoes run a bit small for me.Report
These are actually ridiculously comfortable. A bit pinchy in the toes, but I took them dancing and had no problems.Report
Those are very nice thoughReport
I decided to reread Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow again.
My other reading is Paying for the Party: How College Increases Inequality and Americans and the California Dream: 1850-1915.Report
That’s a wonderful book. (I reread it recently when one of the kids was assigned it.) I think it’s the only one of his I’ve enjoyed.Report
Writing. A comment, specifically. I really want to place it elsewhere, but I don’t want to be rude. I live in this world where I’m supposed to treat believers with respect, but my beliefs offer shock and set many on edge. But I really like this; which probably reveals what a bad person I am, and how little respect I have for traditions others consider sacred. So I’m going to post it here, instead:
Report
Have you ever read Philip Dick’s The Transmigration of Timothy Archer? I think you might love it. (It’s the association of religion and hallucinogens that made me think of it.)Report
Probably like 25 or 30 years ago; I think I’ve go the 1st edition paperback upstairs.
You could safely say Dick and Roger Zelazny shaped my belief system, such as it is, after I turned my back on the Christian Church at the ripe age of seven and wondered through the desert until I found the first book of the Chronicles of Amber. (Deux Irae may be my favorite book of all time.)Report
And the reindeer story does actually happen.
And don’t eat the American variety of Amanita muscaria, it will just make you incredibly sick to your stomach.Report
I read Deus Irae maybe 10 years ago. I’m afraid it made no impression at all.Report
Although I’ve never watched wrestling and have no desire to (ever), I empathize with your want to enjoy something with friends. Stinking work 🙁
The Sparrow reads like a movie. In spite of that, I’m enjoying it enough to be sad when it’s over. You’d think I would watch more sci fi… I’m watching Rules of Engagement, because I’m a sucker; once I begin a series, I can’t just quit. Ugh, ask me how many seasons of Rescue Me I watched.Report
Did you get to watch WM XXX Jaybird?Report
I did!
I don’t know that it was the best Wrestlemania I’ve ever seen but it was no slacker.
I mildly enjoyed the Daniel Bryan match against HHH (I mean, I kinda *KNEW* he’d win…)
The Shield match kinda has me confused because The Shield still has a Heel Toolkit but they’re being pushed like faces. We’re not talking about Diesel/Razor Ramon level heeling, either. They’re run of the mill, strength in numbers bullies. AND THEY’RE GETTING CHEERED? Without veering into politics, this is representative of what is wrong with the country.
I *LOVE* that they’re pushing Cesaro. I *LOVE* that he’s still making people yell “WE THE PEOPLE” even after he beats up his old teammates.
The Bray Wyatt match was surprisingly good. He’s got some good brawling skills.
The “When Bush Was President, Undertaker Was Still Undefeated” meme did elicit a laugh, I admit. That was a good match. I couldn’t believe it, actually… but Undertaker knows that the best way to go out is looking at the lights. Good for him. I only wish it were CM Punk.
And Daniel Bryan’s triumphant win at the end of the night? Awesome. (He’ll have the belt for less than a month.)Report
You echo a lot of my thoughts.
With HHH vs. Bryan, I was shocked that he got such a clean win. I expected HHH to get DQ’ed trying to break him into pieces.
The Shield are still transitioning. A few weeks ago, they were going to break up, then they decided to keep them together and turn them face together.
I have mixed thoughts about the Taker match. I did not really get into it. While I could not realistically see 50-year old Taker beat Lesnar, he is a part-timer. I would have preferred some newer guy get the rub. On the other hand, I do not know that anyone else on the roster could have been as believable. When the match ended, it just felt like a non-event. Also, considering how Punk took his ball and went home, I am glad he was not the one.
Yes, I think Bryan is better chasing gold than wearing it. He had his moment, and they finally brought some closure to all of the screw jobs and everything else, but he is no Steve Austin. It needed the payoff, but I am not sure where they can go now to keep it interesting.Report
Who are they going to have Bryan wrestle? The CM Punk/Bryan matches (when they were allowed to go 20 minutes) were awesome… but who can give a match that will really let Bryan shine?
Cody? Sandow? (I tremble to think) Cesaro??? (Note to WWE: Bryan vs. Cesaro.)
I’m worried that they’ll put him in a feud with the New/Improved Funkasaurus and when those numbers prove disappointing, use that as proof that they should have put the belt on Batista.Report
My thoughts on the Undertaker match:
If you’ve read my G+, you already know how I felt at the time. However, an article that I read today concerning the legacy of the Ultimate Warrior and The Undertaker kinda puts it in perspective for me.
Undertaker wanted Lesnar to win the belt in 2011. One of the reasons given is that he didn’t want to lose the belt to someone who left the ring to go Hollywood (such as The Rock) but he wanted to lose it to someone who had been in different rings. Someone who had done the real fighting.
Fast forward three years.
The rumors have been largely confirmed. Undertaker did suffer an injury during the match and had to rely on Brock Lesnar to carry the match. This is why he had such trouble getting back on his feet at the end. He wasn’t just selling his injuries. He really was injured. It also explains why Brock had to keep positioning himself for the Undertaker’s moves. (Something that I commented on during the match when it seemed to be taking overly long for Undertaker to grab Brock’s arm and put him in a submission hold.)
Whether or not he had planned to continue the streak before the match seems to be still somewhat up in the air. (Confirmation is difficult because of all the anger that WWE fans have over the outcome.) It is possible that Undertaker realized that he just couldn’t continue and told Brock to finish it. I have trouble believing that it wasn’t scripted from the start but it is possible.
Whatever the case, the 49-year-old Mark Calaway decided that it was time to finish it. As Dman pointed out, Undertaker matches have been a matter of “Technique, rest a couple minutes, technique, rest a couple minutes.” At 49 years, he was beginning to noticeably slow up. Even if he had beat Lesnar, what then? Retire with streak unbroken? Give it to John Cena who will be turning 37 at the next Wrestlemania? Continue to rely more and more on wrestlers to carry him through the match? Ending the Streak while he was still able to put on a show was Mark Calaway’s decision.
And I refer to him as Mark Calaway because of today’s news. As you may have heard, the Ultimate Warrior is dead. The devil has finally gotten his claws on his Warrior soul at age 54. Mark Calaway is only 5 years younger than that. In light of the Warrior’s untimely death, Mark’s decision to end the Streak seems even more understandable. He has kids that he’d like to continue to be there for. He would like to live long enough to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. He would probably like to live past age 54 in a body that isn’t falling apart.
While I would have wanted to see the Streak end at Wrestlemania 28 (which was a hell of a match that hit all the right nostalgia points), this was also a good ending for the Streak. At the very least, an outcome that gets me to forget that I’m at Dman’s house long enough for me to bellow “Holy Crap” is a good one.Report
I think the reasoning for ‘Taker to choose Lesnar is kind of simple. He’s old enough to have come into the business when far more of the boys in the back were legit tough guys. Stan Hansen, Bruiser Brody, and the like. He’s an MMA fan, as well.
So, who is he going to drop the Streak too? A skinny fat comic book geek? A guy whose only in his spot because he’s married to the bosses daughter? A guy whose ass he almost had to kick 15 years ago for him to do the right thing for business, in probably the 2nd most important WM main event ever? Nah, he’ll drop it to the only guy in the business who he probably thinks is a legit bad ass.Report
It’s kinda funny. The last time I watched a match and thought “Holy cow… Undertaker might actually lose this…” was when he fought Ric.
Since then I *KNEW* that he wouldn’t lose. He’d keep the streak. I didn’t have any doubt for Shawn or HHH. Well… maybe the sledgehammer shot spot for HHH during the first one. But I walked into Wrestlemania XXX knowing that Lesnar would lose and thinking that 22 wasn’t a bad number to end on (because there’s no way that he’d be back next year).
As it is… Undertaker did the best thing for business and he picked a guy that might not be the worst guy he could have chosen. (Note to Brock: STICK AROUND THIS TIME.)Report
Everything with Ultimate Warrior over the past few days is kind of weird. I suspect he had a diagnosed condition and knew he did not have much time left. His decision to mend fences and try to salvage his legacy, his response to the “One more match!” chants at the HOF induction, and his speech on Monday night. It seems like he just came back to say goodbye.
BTW, have you ever thought about having a wrestling post in the lineup to class up the joint? There seem to be a few of us marks here.Report
I used to have posts dedicated to Wrestlemania (with match-by-match predictions) but, this month, I’ve been sent to the East Coast so that threw a wrench in everything (but I’d like to thank Vince McMahon for coming out with the WWE Network… this allowed me to watch despite being a million miles from home)…
Wait, wait. That’s not what I’m supposed to say.
“Dude, you want to write one? I’ll put it up.”Report