Sunday!

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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23 Responses

  1. Saul Degraw says:

    I watched a bit of the Getdown yesterday.

    The story is very interesting to me. It is about the birth of Hip-Hop, Punk, and Disco in the NYC during the summer of 1977, mainly in the South Bronx. Mainly the focus is on hip-hop. The main character is a sensitive soul high school poet who later becomes a hip-hop superstar (you see flash forwards of him as a 36 year old star in 1996).

    But it is a Baz Luhrman production which makes all the acting really over the top and chewy and not in a good way. I don’t mind stylistic acting over psychological realism (aka Method acting). But something about Luhrman kicks style from being a conscious choice to being a cartoon. I’m trying to decide whether to continue or not.Report

    • Maribou in reply to Saul Degraw says:

      @saul-degraw Thanks for this, mostly because I adore Baz Luhrman’s chewy over the topness but didn’t know he was the lead on this project, and it’s moved the getdown from the middle of my list (because of the interesting topic as you mention) to much nearer the top :D.Report

  2. Maribou says:

    As an aside to the readership, Sheamus might have more of “THE LOOK” that heterosexual men and Vince McMahon are drawn in by, but for the rest of us? I’m betting it’s Cesaro by a mile. *fans self* And that’s even before the charisma kicks in. Vince might not care about that, but plenty of his staff are aware of it.

    I’ve been reading not very much. Slowly rereading a kid’s book from the 50s, Pagoo, which is exactly the kind of plot-driven-but-heavy-on-the-facts story that they just don’t make anymore. So much less dry than modern kids’ science writing, but just as geeked out. And the illustrations are masterful, and thoroughly labeled. <3 (I'm only reading it slowly so I don't run out of it.) The main character is a hermit crab and the ecology is tide pools.

    Finished watching Arrow (first 3 seasons anyway). Now watching 1st season of the Flash. Kinda bummed that Jaybird and I haven't watched more of the final season of Person of interest, but a) we've both had so much going on that once we're home, we just want to companionably hit separate corners, and b) once we finish it THERE WON'T BE ANY MORE. So we're going through it very slowly indeed.Report

  3. Jaybird says:

    First World Problem: “I’d like to order 100 wings.” “For takeout or dine in?”Report

  4. Miss Mary says:

    Finished a bit of summer reading with Holly Madison’s Down the Rabbit Hole last night. I Started Go Set a Watchman on Audible for the drive home from California today. Am I the last person to finally get around to reading this?Report

  5. Chris says:

    I went to an amazing used bookstore in Eugene, Oregon, with an overwhelming selection of old books and a bunch of stuff to stumble upon. I bought some 1890 editions of Shakespeare and a 1920s edition of 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte as gifts, and then The Poor Mouth and Lotte in Weimar for myself. In Oregon I was reading Churchill’s History of the English-Speaking Peoples, the one-volume version, which I need to finish, but then Flann O’Brien and Mann (I’m really looking forward to Lotte in Weimar). Oh, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy!Report

  6. Maribou says:

    The Cena / Styles match was AMAZING.Report

  7. Zac Black says:

    Finally sat down yesterday and read that online story Mother Horse Eyes. Pretty good stuff, reminds me of early (pre-sobriety) Stephen King in some ways.Report

  8. Pyre says:

    As per policy:

    The air started getting let out with the 6 woman tag and I think a lot of that can be pinned on Carmella. Naomi’s outfit aside, when Carmella was in the ring, I felt like I was watching a “bra and panties”-style match while the other women were doing “women’s revolution” wrestling. She was really the dissonant element of the match. From there, it just kinda stopped popping.Report

  9. Jaybird says:

    So let’s do a post mortem:

    Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens
    Golly, did I ever get this one wrong. I even made my “veteran” joke when one of the announcers mentioned Jericho’s “veteran awareness” (or skillset or something) and I was shocked when Jericho went on to get the pin.

    Good match to open the card, good idea to get the crowd fired up with these guys… I just don’t understand the finish.

    Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte
    2nd best match of the night. I enjoyed the heck out of this (though Sasha took a *NASTY* bump). Really good work from both of them. I can’t wait to see this feud evolve.

    I said “if they were smart, they’d give it to Charlotte” and they gave it to Charlotte.

    While this was smart, I don’t think it’s an indicator of intelligence as much as a slow clock being right once a day or so.

    The Miz (with Maryse) vs. Apollo Crews
    Good heeling from Miz, good showcase for Apollo. A fine match and I like what I saw from both of these guys. I got this one wrong too. They weren’t too hungry. Smart move. (Maybe even for real smart and not just stopped clock smart.)

    John Cena vs. AJ Styles
    Oh how we loved this match. Oh how we yelled at the television. Oh how we cheered. Oh how we yelled “that’s not the finish, Jay” when I yelled “NO NO NO” at the television.

    I am so very pleased to have gotten this one wrong.

    Best match of the night, hands down. Might be the best match of the year.

    The New Day vs. Gallows and Anderson
    Got this one wrong too. That said, it was a comedy match and, surprisingly, it actually provided some huge laugh-out-loud moments.

    Kind of a drag that it ended with a DQ, but… hey. It was a comedy match and it made me laugh.

    Jeez, did any of my predictions end up correct?

    Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler
    Oh, yeah. I got this one right. It was even a good match.
    We really liked Dolph’s promo against Ambrose in the package they played before the match and we all sighed and said “yeah, he’s never going to get near that belt”.
    Then these guys put on a really, really strong match and we were confused about whether they were officially turning Ambrose… I mean, Ambrose has the best Heel Toolkit out of anybody in the roster. Going and hiding from his opponent in the ropes, ducking out of the ring, that sort of old-schooly cheaty stuff that plays to the cheap seats without exposing the biz? He’s great. Amazing.
    His promos are edging ever closer to heeldom… but I don’t think he’s fully transitioned yet. I hope that he does something truly dastardly and we can have a heel champ for a bit.

    It was at this point that I said “Gentlemen, I believe we have a good PPV.”

    I was wrong about that too.

    Carmella, Becky Lynch, and Naomi vs. Natalya, Alexa Bliss, and Nikki Bella
    Sigh.
    This is where the air started being let out of the balloon.

    Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins
    Now this match was awesome. It was the third most awesome match on the PPV and, being a dang fine match, you’d think that that would mean that it’d be a dang fine PPV.

    I completely got this prediction wrong too… and I’m a little apprehensive that they’re pushing Balor as hard as they were pushing Reigns a year or so ago.

    That said, I love me some Balor.

    That said, I’m still apprehensive.

    Colonel Sanders vs. The Miz in a Chicken Suit
    This was the best commercial I’ve ever seen.

    https://youtu.be/6VDBM9MYbOk

    This was the last good thing on the PPV.

    Rusev vs. Roman Reigns
    This storyline is terrible. Rusev is the heel? I guess? Running down Americans in his promos? Then Reigns, the guy who ruins a wedding reception and insults a newly wedded wife is the face? And then the match ends in a no contest because Reigns injures Rusev before the bell?

    I made a joke about how Colonel Sanders beating up the Chicken was a better match than this one.

    It’s funny because it’s true.

    And then… and then…

    Sigh.

    Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton
    I got this one wrong too. Not because I didn’t pick Lesnar to win, but because I picked him to win in such a way that didn’t leave everybody feeling deflated and gross.

    So Lesnar stood over Orton after Orton bladed (and, apparently, erred while blading and *NOT* on the side of caution) and then got awarded the win as a TKO?
    Of all of the old-school finishes to go for tonight, that one was a buzzkill.

    Three absolutely amazing matches on the card, a handful of good strong matches that made you cheer and laugh, and two absolutely stupid schmozzes to close out the card leaving you saying that the wrestling match that they had in the fried chicken commercial was the last good match of the night.

    Ugh.

    Ugh.Report

    • Jesse Ewiak in reply to Jaybird says:

      Rusev attacked Roman first, so Roman was totally justified in kicking his ass the same way every babyface in history before Roman has been justified in kicking his ass from pillar to post since the days of Bruno.Report

      • Jaybird in reply to Jesse Ewiak says:

        Sure, but kick his ass AFTER THE BELL and GIVE US A FINISH.

        If Rusev hits Reigns with the good old cheap shot, then have a match and have the announcers say that Rusev got put paid.

        That was just a mess. A loss of momentum. A loud raspberry noise.Report

        • Jesse Ewiak in reply to Jaybird says:

          Eh, non finishes are fine. Wrestling prior to about a decade ago was full of non finishes, yet the people who “thought it was real” minded it less than people who know its fake. Honestly, this screams of “we don’t want to job Rusev yet, but we don’t want to him to beat Roman, so let’s built this to CotC.”

          Also, if it’d been the 3rd or 4th match, it wouldn’t have been such a dumb thing.

          Overall though, in the show in general, another #politicalhit on Roman, Cena/AJ going overboard on self conscious epic WWE match style, Finn Balor continued to be shoved down out throats, a meh Ambrose/Ziggler match, Brock continuing to be pushed as a killer despite the lack of evidence he’s a draw at all, and Sasha and Enzo continuing to their bet on who can end their careers sooner.

          But hey, we had the return of Nikki-sawa and Cena continues to be the least selfish top guy of all time, so it wasn’t all bad.Report

          • Jaybird in reply to Jesse Ewiak says:

            So don’t put it on the PPV!

            That was a perfect Raw closing segment.

            Hell, it might even have been a half decent middle-of-the-card match for Extreme Rules or something.

            But the penultimate match at one of the big three PPVs?Report

            • Jesse Ewiak in reply to Jaybird says:

              I agree. The placement was dumb. I just think that it being a non-match was fine, just don’t put the non-match after two World title matches and right before the main event where you’re going to have a shitty finish again.

              If you need a “cooldown” before Brock/Orton, throw in the New Day tag in there or something.Report