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by · August 10, 2014

Jaybird

Jaybird is Birdmojo on Xbox Live and Jaybirdmojo on Playstation's network. He's been playing consoles since the Atari 2600 and it was Zork that taught him how to touch-type. If you've got a song for Wednesday, a commercial for Saturday, a recommendation for Tuesday, an essay for Monday, or, heck, just a handful a questions, fire off an email to AskJaybird-at-gmail.com

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36 Responses

  1. Mike Schilling says:
    August 10, 2014 at 12:47 pm

    My oldest, who is OTMNT, is annoyed at the Johnny-come-lately fans that don’t even know “the name of the mouse dude”.

    (Master Splinter voiced by Tony Shaloub? How could Monk live in the sewers?)Report

  2. Tod Kelly says:
    August 10, 2014 at 2:52 pm

    The fam watched Bernie last night, the Jack Black based-on-a-tire-story movie about a funeral home director who kills an old lady. My guess (I could be wrong) is that it mixes actors in with town folks who knew the actual murderer. It was… odd. Points for trying something different, but maybe not a recommendation to see it.

    After starting and quickly putting aside maybe 4 times, I am finally about to the end of Soon I Will Be Invincible.

    I would really like a great fiction book to sink my teeth into next. I just looked to see if Chabon, Ishiguro, or de Bernières had released anything when i wasn’t looking, but sadly they have not. Suggestions welcome.Report

  3. Saul Degraw says:
    August 10, 2014 at 3:03 pm

    I am eagerly awaiting the release of Murakami’s new novel on TuesdayReport

  4. Will Truman says:
    August 10, 2014 at 3:35 pm

    (Spoilers ahead, because it’s a 25 year old book) I finished the first Turtledove book (“How Few Remain”). There was really no doubt from early on how the book would end. Not just because I knew that there’d still be a CSA in future books, but it was pretty apparent the CSA’s western expansion would not be impeded and that this war was just not going to end well for the USA mostly on account of good leadership versus transparently bad, and a deck that pretty strongly favored the CSA. The string was pulled back and it was mostly just watching the thing go. And yet it was still good and enjoyable, despite being over 24 hours long. It impresses me when a story can do that, rather than relying on surprise.

    I realized that the ninth season of 24 was done, so that solved my TV dilemma. Report

  5. Chris says:
    August 10, 2014 at 4:19 pm

    Finally got a copy of The Narrow Road to the Deep North, which I’ve been waiting for since they released it in Australia back in March or April, because Flanagan is one of my favorite living authors.

    I believe this will be the first time I’ve ever read a book on the longlist before the prize is announced. I’m quite certain that this means it will win, based on this simple logic: There exists no book that was both on the longlist and that I have read before the prize was announced that has not won the Booker Prize. I (will, by the time the prize is announced) have read this book and it is on the longlist. Therefore, this book will not not win. Unassailable, right?

    Watching a variety of things, trying to come down from Season 4 of The Wire (I’m going to pretend I didn’t watch Season 5, and the series ended with 4).Report

    • Glyph in reply to Chris says:
      August 10, 2014 at 9:05 pm

      Season 5 was pretty weak, comparatively speaking. There’s still some good stuff in there, but it just didn’t feel like The Wire.

      Season 4 is devastating though.Report

      • Chris in reply to Glyph says:
        August 10, 2014 at 9:41 pm

        Season 4 was amazing television. I am watching it again.Report

      • Chris in reply to Glyph says:
        August 10, 2014 at 9:44 pm

        Also, the words “social promotion” now really piss me off.Report

      • Glyph in reply to Glyph says:
        August 10, 2014 at 9:53 pm

        Lbh tbaan uryc, uhu? Lbh tbaan ybbx bhg sbe zr? Lbh tbaan ybbx bhg sbe zr, Ftg. Pneire? Lbh zrna vg? Lbh tbaan ybbx bhg sbe zr? Lbh cebzvfr? Lbh tbg zl onpx, uhu?Report

      • Chris in reply to Glyph says:
        August 11, 2014 at 8:59 am

        Frnfba 4 znxrf Pneire bar bs gur zbfg vagrerfgvat naq flzcngurgvp pbcf ba gur fubj. V zrna, ur fgnegf gur frevrf nf onfvpnyyl n shpxhc vagrerfgrq cevznevyl va onatvat urnqf, ohg unf gur gnyx jvgu Pbyiva, naq qrpvqrf gb gel gb znxr n qvssrerapr. Juvpu vf jung znxrf gung fprar fb cbvtanag: gurer vf abguvat ur pna qb. Gur sbeprf jbexvat ntnvafg uvz, obgu va fbpvrgl naq va uvf bja qrcnegzrag, ner gbb terng.

        Man, that was a great season. Honestly, if I were comparing Seasons 1-3 to Homicide in its time, I’m not sure Homicide (with two, maybe 3 of the best characters I’ve ever seen on television) doesn’t come out ahead (man, can you imagine Homicide done in the early Aughts on HBO?!). But Season 4 is 13 of the most memorable television episodes I’ve ever seen. It’s 13 bombs dropped on viewers, inescapably devastating.

        Robert Wisdom is awesome. That should also be said.Report

      • Glyph in reply to Glyph says:
        August 11, 2014 at 10:39 am

        I watched Homicide intermittently when it was on and really liked it, and tried to do a post-Wire re-watch of it, but I just couldn’t get through it. As good as Homicide is, it still seems like “TV” after The Wire, which at its best feels like a documentary somehow.

        I actually feel a Wire re-watch brewing now. The season that kind of grays out a little in my mind is S3 – it’s great, but I am one of those weirdoes that likes S2, and S4 is just…man.

        VVEP gurer’f n dhvpx fubg va F5 jurer jr frr Enaql oevrsyl ntnva ba n fgnvepnfr va n tebhc ubzr, naq vg’f urnegoernxvat – uvf genafvgvba sebz unccl xvq/nzovgvbhf uhfgyre (erzrzore uvf yvggyr fuveg-fjnccvat pnaql-fryyvat zbarlznxvat fpurzr) gb avuvyvfgvp guht vf pbzcyrgr. Tbqqnza Urep – jub, vg zhfg or fnvq, vfa’g n *onq* crefba, whfg fb zhpu nf n gubhtugyrff qbbshf, jvgu qrinfgngvat pbafrdhraprf. Yvxr lbh fnl, uvf sbezre cnegare va pevzr Pneire vf ng yrnfg nggrzcgvat gb or tbbq cbyvpr – vs gur flfgrz qbrfa’g tevaq uvz hc, ur pbhyq or n Qnavryf be Pbyiva bar qnl (naq GURA vg pna tevaq uvz hc).

        Gur guvat va F5 gung znxrf ab frafr vf abg ZpAhygl’f fpurzr vgfrys – ur’f na nypbubyvp ybbfr pnaaba, V zvtug ohl gung ur’q qb fbzrguvat fb qhzo – ohg gung Fzbbgu Yrfgre Sernzba norgf uvz. Gung, V pbhyqa’g ohl.Report

      • Chris in reply to Glyph says:
        August 11, 2014 at 10:49 am

        Gur fubg va Frnfba 5 gung trgf zr vf npghnyyl va gur frevrf raqvat zbagntr: Qhdhna fubbgvat hc. Guvf vf jul “fbpvny cebzbgvba” fb cvffrf zr bss: urer’f n xvq jub jnf fgnegvat gb trg vagb fpubby, jnf tvira n “fbpvny cebzbgvba,” qebccrq bhg, orpnzr na varssrpgvir qeht qrnyre, naq va gur raq vf fubbgvat hc jvgu na nenoore nsgre fpnzzvat zbarl sebz uvf sbezre grnpure sbe qbcr. Ur vf creuncf gur xvq zbfg snvyrq ol gur flfgrz, gubhtu ur unf fgvss pbzcrgvgvba sbe gung qvfgvapgvba.Report

      • Chris in reply to Glyph says:
        August 11, 2014 at 10:51 am

        Also, I watched Homicide at the time, starting when I was in high school. Frank and Bayliss were just amazing characters (G and Meldrick were pretty awesome as well). If you watch the whole series, Bayliss’ evolution is really something to behold.

        I haven’t watched an episode of Homicide in about 10 years, though, so I would have to watch it again to know if I still think of it the way I did then.

        Also, Homicide is the reason I will never stand on the edge of a subway platform.Report

      • Glyph in reply to Glyph says:
        August 11, 2014 at 11:12 am

        Do you think you will be doing some kind of wrapup post on it? I might have more to say (since it is *possibly* my favorite show ever, and for sure in the top 5) but don’t want to blow it all in comments here. Also resisting the temptation for just naming the scenes and lines that stick with me.

        Also, you’ll now start having a lot of “hey, it’s so-and-so from The Wire!” moments when you are watching other shows going forward. Lot of alumni made good.

        Weirdly, I think I read somewhere that Idris Elba doesn’t seem to think too highly of the show or at least doesn’t like to talk about it. Not sure if he and Simon butted heads or something.Report

      • Chris in reply to Glyph says:
        August 11, 2014 at 11:58 am

        I’m going to try to do a wrap up post this week.

        Also, The Wire was full of Homicide actors:

        http://thewire.wikia.com/wiki/Homicide:_Life_on_the_Street

        R. and I (she watched the show with me, from New York) played a “spot the Homicide actor” game throughout the series.Report

      • Mike Schilling in reply to Glyph says:
        August 11, 2014 at 12:19 pm

        There was a big overlap between both of them and Oz. Not surprising, since Homicide and Oz had the same showrunner.Report

      • Mike Schilling in reply to Glyph says:
        August 11, 2014 at 12:23 pm

        I watched all of Homicide a few years ago (the wrapup TV movie is available on YouTube; the rest is on Netflixable DVD.) The first two seasons are amazing, as they’re extremely faithful to David Simon’s book. It gets much more uneven after that as, (1) it became a full-time series rather than a summer replacement, (2) the writers had to start inventing material, (3) ratings became enough of a concern that it did stupid things like introduce prettier detectives. But as TV goes, it’s very good TV.Report

  6. North says:
    August 11, 2014 at 10:46 am

    Saw Guardians of the Galaxy. Was enormously surprised by how much I liked it. I’m more of a marvel fan-nerd than your average moviegoer (though much less of one than the true marvel fanboys) but I caught a good dozen oblique fan service nods. I would have never thought that they’d try to make this story into a big tent pole summer movie. I’m even more surprised how well it came off. If they can do this kind of film with this kind of material then Disney is sitting on a gold mine and they are going to mint money for years. Also I’m going to start actually looking forward to the Marvel phase II movies.Report

  7. Mike Dwyer says:
    August 11, 2014 at 1:43 pm

    I finished Dan Brown’s last novel, Inferno, over the weekend.

    Brown’s problem for the last couple of books seems to be that he can come up with a great premise, but then tries to pack so many facts into the book that it really muddles the story-telling. With that said, I find that I almost need to keep a notebook handy to write down all the historical references I want to Google later. His books are fun that way for a history nerd.Report

    • Kim in reply to Mike Dwyer says:
      August 11, 2014 at 1:53 pm

      Are these historical references that one should be capable of getting?

      I know an author who makes popculture references that I’m pretty much certain most of his audience isn’t going to get… (Might make them look it up, though.)Report

      • Mike Dwyer in reply to Kim says:
        August 11, 2014 at 2:29 pm

        I understand the references in broad terms but it’s the specifics I always want to explore later. For example, much of this book takes place in Florence and Venice and he makes a lot of references to various Renaissance architects. I spent a lot of time afterwards reading more about them and the specific buildings he mentions.Report

    • Mike Schilling in reply to Mike Dwyer says:
      August 11, 2014 at 2:35 pm

      The very last criticism I’d make of Dan Brown is too many facts.Report

  8. notme says:
    August 11, 2014 at 7:33 pm

    I spent the day reading the book “the ascent of money” and watching the politico talking heads discuss Obama’s decision to bomb Iraq. I’m surprised there aren’t any threads about it.Report

  9. greginak says:
    August 11, 2014 at 7:43 pm

    Holy Frac….Robin Williams dead of apparent suicide……terrible.Report

  10. Miss Mary says:
    August 13, 2014 at 10:26 pm

    I’m a few pages from finishing Tales of a Female Nomad.

    I just finished Season 2 of House of Cards. I’ve started Season 5 of Breaking Bad.Report

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