- Sorry, Nance. A thief am I. I got "rock the llama's ass" from when I was a DJ and played Wesley Willis nonstop for an entire 4 hour set. They didn't let me do the late night shift for about a month after that. Then I played Petrouchka, Le Sacre du Printemps, and the Spartacus ballet for the early morning shift. They didn't let me do that again for about 3 weeks. Old ladies were calling and complaining that it wasn't "restful" enough to wake up with in the morning. Rock over London. Rock on Chicago.
- Not as much food? Homey don't think so. I believe I saw a "60 minutes" feature on their dining plan: http://www.dining.harvard.edu/frameset_res.html
- Good riddance. However, the dittoheads have the combined IQ of a sack of hammers, so they will all happily hoist their vacuous noggins on the bandwagon again, and talk about the liberal media crucifying the true conservative, representative voices of 'Merica yet again. Vote Kucinich.
- In St. Petersburg in 1997, I was walking down Nevsky Prospekt, and stopped at the Grand Hotel Evropa. They were advertising "Bud and Burger: $8". After a week in Eastern Europe, this actually looked good. So I order my burger, get my Bud (they can't call it Budweiser there because the Czechs own that name), and pound it down. I walk up to the bar for another Bud, and this gorgeous blonde is standing beside me. Being a fearless virile American heterosexual, I say to myself, what the hell. So I look at her and say "Hi, what's your name". She responds "Two hundred dollars". Without missing a beat, I say "Is that your first name, your last name, or is that what your friends call you?" She looks confused, thinks for a second, then says again "two hundred dollars". Finally, I'm served my Bud, and I walk away. And out in front of the hotel were all of the Russian Mafia guys wearing the uniform: khaki pants, black shirts, italian loafers with no socks, and wrap-around sunglasses. Oh, and they were all leaning on black mercedes, black BMWs, or black somethings. I didn't follow my Rick Steves guide and try to strike up a conversation...
- Coquettish. That's how I'm describing that picture of you on the boat with the Beavis-like forehead. Coquettish. A nice word. Not like troika, but nice nonetheless. Perhaps for your half hour, you could discuss your breasts. I know you've written a few treatises on them, and here's your chance to delve into the exciting world of performance art! And yes, Texans, as well as most Southerners, have intense national pride. Note also Dick's use of "y'all". Instead of the repellant "youse", we have made up for the inadequacies of English by using "you" for singular, "y'all" for plural, and "all y'all" for plural collective. Yee hah, indeed.
- Well, the f word is gone wif da wind. Now, if you say the N word, you will lose your job. My question is, what the hell do I call my old Richard Pryor albums? In my graduate linguistics class, we discussed how "fuck" is the only word in English (and we thought perhaps any language) that can be used as any part of speech. Really. I almost bought a t-shirt on Bourbon Street that said "fuck you, you fucking fuck". From what I have read, the NBC censors gave Homicide more leeway than any series ever up to that point. Of course, the only things that other shows really copied was the shaky handhelds and the coarse language. God forbid they notice the writing, acting, and lack of car chases and shootouts. There is still a magic word or 2. Nigger and cunt will still stop conversations in their tracks. Period.
- He reminds me of the rich kids in high school that lived in the neighborhood you could only dream of. Of course, instead of being like the evil rich kids in every John Hughes movie, he's the nice rich kid who wants to date Molly Rigwald because she has a beautiful mind even though she's from the wrong side of the tracks. And he's married to a lawyer, so he has no soul, and deserves the same fate as Steve Bartman.
- He reminds me of the rich kids in high school that lived in the neighborhood you could only dream of. Of course, instead of being like the evil rich kids in every John Hughes movie, he's the nice rich kid who wants to date Molly Rigwald because she has a beautiful mind even though she's from the wrong side of the tracks. And he's married to a lawyer, so he has no soul, and deserves the same fate as Steve Bartman.
- Maybe it's not being a New Yorker, but I just never really, really got Woody Allen. Yeah, Without Feathers and Getting Even were kind of cute, but I didn't walk away feeling like this was the work of some grand intellectual. Sure I liked some of his movies, but I never really felt much empathy for any of the characters. Then, when he talked about someone being shat upon...well, I guess he's topical or somesuch. Maureen Dowd, otoh, rocks. An intellectual redhead. Boo-ya.
- That's exactly one of the reasons why I bailed, got my Ph.D., and got a professor gig. Tenure rules.
- OK, this is ancient history, but we should all know that the term HAL was derived by taking IBM and going back one letter in the alphabet for each initial. What you may not know is that this was repeated in the 90s. Dave Cutler, chief engineer for operating systems at Digital, was hired by MS to create their new operating system. The operating system he designed at DEC was called VMS. People always thought that NT in Windoze NT meant "New Technology". In fact, it was a homage to 2001. VMS became WNT.
- As stated in my class policies: http://morrisxp.cstcis.cti.depaul.edu/classes/policy.html#Interruptions, if a cell phone goes off in class, and you are not a physician or firefighter on call, you lose a letter grade. Or you have the option of letting me answer it. One time a guy let me answer it... I don't think she went out with him anymore.
- Jenny, I guess you didn't actually read the policy for which I provided the link. My classes usually do, and they realize that if they are in any of those situations you mentioned, all they have to do is tell me about it. And no, my phone has never gone off in class unless it was in vibrate mode. Many times I will, at the beginning of class, put the phone into vibe mode along with the whole class. Togetherness! The letter grade threat is one of the few things that will actually get them to pay attention. Have I ever docked someone a letter grade? No. OTOH, if there was no threat, phones would ring all the time. A colleague had one student who actually answered her phone during class. When he told her to hang up, she held up her forefinger in the air telling him to wait a minute. No shit. Last week, during a midterm in my class, a student went into the hall to make a cell call. During the test. No shit. What does this have to do with learning? Well, maintaining order and minimizing distractions in class has a whole hell of a lot to do with learning. I care about my students, and the ones that don't fuck up my class deserve not to have their time and money wasted.
- "...her arrogance and condescension..."? Hissssssss. Feel again, Jen, before you call me a woman. Jenny, I would love to see you attempt to conduct a class full of 45 undergrads with your Dr. Spock techniques. Maybe that would work in a class of 15, all of whom desperately wanted to be in there. Not in a required undergraduate class with 45 sophomores, at least 10 of whom would rather not be there. At that point, my job is to get to the other 35. Oh, Randy, nice line!
- Sorry, Jenny, I hope the point doesn't get in the way of your argument. Since you're hiding behind anonymity (nope@nope.com), keep t'rowin' dem stones! No need to answer the issues with which you were presented, when you can become petty and accentuate your magnificent grasp of the English language. BTW, as I mentioned before, feel again. You go, girl!
- I just wish she'd quit referring to me as a woman...
- Nance, love the Harry Chapin reference...
- Heh heh....you said "titties"....heh heh. Sorry. Nude beaches in Europe get quite dull for me after about 5 minutes. Topless seem to be much more interesting. However, it seems that the typical euro nude beach patron is a 50+ year old man who is far too relaxed.
- Damned opinions. What we need are more charts and graphs, and less of those little squiggly things between all the pictures.
- I had tix to see Gordon once, but he had to check into rehab.
- Writers of any kind aren't worth squat. At least, that's what the market bears out. Why else would networks be dying to put on more "reality" television? Because you don't have to pay either the actors or those pesky writers. Also, good writing is hard. Mediocre writing is ubiquitous.
- Kind of reminds me of Les Nessman's pronunciation of "Chi Chi Rodriguez". So, are they also going to write in and complain about the accent of the "Car Talk" guys? At least they aren't as politically correct as a certain large Catholic University in the largest city in Illinois, which has shed the term "ombudsman" for "ombudsperson". Feh.
- I read this 3 times before I determined that, in this context, AA means Ann Arbor...
- Remember as a pedestrian that the laws of physics always usurp the laws of the state.
- ...and if you haven't heard "Main Street" in a while, and you want to, just head to your local strip club. I guarantee you won't have to wait an hour. Sometimes, they'll do the "twofer", and follow it up with "Turn the Page".
- I don't mind bands like "Asleep at the Wheel" finally getting a steady cash flow. What pisses me off is that I now permanently associate Led Zeppelin with those skanky angular new Cadillacs. Bleccchhh. Last night, I was taken aback when I heard Lene Lovich's "New Toy" in a Target commercial. Punk lives!
- So my last 2 Chryslers were made, respectively, in Canada and Mexico. Most Accords are made in Ohio, BMW and Mercedes minivans are made in the South, and the new Nissan Quest is made outside of Jackson, MS. Hell, the engine for my Audi A4 was made in Hungary. The unions, like the rest of the populace, need to realize that due to globalization, the US has given up on the idea of producing anything, and now we just provide services. Chrysler is German, Ford was run by an Australian until the Firestone debacle, and GM makes Saabs. All Converse shoes are now made in China, and you can't buy US made Levi's anymore. Because of laissez-faire capitalism, the loyalty of the corporations is no longer dedicated to the consumer or the employee. It is strictly to the stockholder. The filthy rich are getting filthier and richer, and everybody else is going to hell in a bucket. And nobody cares. Hasta la victoria siempre. Viva Che. Viva la revolucion.
- ...oops... Change that BMW and Mercedes minivans to SUVs. I forgot, nobody else in the world wants SUVs, so they have to build them here. In other countries, they see the use of a minivan, and they also realize that an SUV is the equivalent of a brutal assault on the environment.
- I'm stuck in CDG airport in Paris, and what do I get on the tube in the bar? Michael Fucking Jackson. Between this and Pepsi, it's no wonder people hate Americans.
- kurva...
- These places (I haven't been to Easton but I have been to similar ones in South Florida) feel as sterile as surgical gauze. Much like a dog that's been fixed, I don't get it. OTOH, the outdoor malls in SanDiego feel great to me...maybe because they can get away with it because of the climate.
- To quote the reverend Horton Heat: "Eat Steak". Seriously. The Brasilians may have created the rodizio concept, but there are plenty o Argentinian churrascurias that will give every self-respecint carnivore a run for his money.
- In general, I think that BK is probably the most inconsistent chain, restaurant to restaurant, there is. KFC is fairly consistent (in Europe), and Pizza Hut is astonishingly consistent. I'm in Warsaw right now, and they have Mexican burgers at McD's. I think the only difference is mild, mild salsa. The rest of the food is like the McD's in Normal, IL. At the McD's in Prague (all of Czech, for that matter), they have some funky Czech Czeeseburger which does not have pickles, but does have raw cukes. Also, they didn't have 1/4 pounders (aka "Royal). They did have "Le Big Mac". What I'm shocked about is that NN hasn't mentioned anything about the Church of Maradona. I KNOW they had a demonstration when you were down there...you hear anything about it?
- Since we all want to respect the RIAA, and only download songs legally, then we would never, ever want to use a tool like Poisoned. Poisoned is a multiple-network downloading tool that allows you to easily and quickly find files anywhere on several networks and share them. It runs on OS X. So we would never, ever want to use Poisoned. Ever. Actually, I'll usually look in the iTMS first, but when they don't even have Tennessee Ernie Ford, come on...
- Oh yeah. Anybody seen the new Bugatti? Over 1000 horsepower, 0-60 in under 3 seconds, and a $1.2M price tag. Ugly as sin, though. Can't compare to the new Ferraris. The best looking cars all look like penises. A Dodge Viper is obviously circumcised. The E-type Jag is probably the most penis-shaped car ever, except for the penis-shaped car that Peter Griffin drove in that episode of "Family Guy". Problem with the E-type Jag is that you had to have a good friend who was a mechanic, or you'd spend all of your time and money at the shop. According to my father, the first British Leyland dealer in Florida: "The biggest piece of crap ever made. They would use a quart of oil a week sitting on the showroom floor." My dad was a car dealer for about 30 years, and he'd drive home a different car every day. I remember when he drove home a plain old Dodge Dart. However, at the time, you could get any Chrysler engine in any Chrysler car. This was a green Dart with a 426 Hemi. When he went to the shows, he'd come back with great swag. I still have the 45 record (in transparent red!) called "Challenger Challenges You!" from the 1971 (I think) introduction of the Dodge Challenger, their entry into the pony car field. The best bit of swag was a 9" B/W Sony TV, that also ran on DC power. This was from 1970. It still works.
- This talk about sex in the city reminded me of an old nn.com page where I said I guess it will be nothing but endless reruns of watching the dried out slag meat skanks on "Sex and the city" with their totally unpredictable plotlines and scintillating dialogue. Imagine, the media actually portrays them as sexy, and you guys buy it. Enjoy. I honestly don't think any of these women are attractive. Guess what gang: the head writers are gay men. The characters are basically gay men. The women are inconsequential. On another note, go ahead and bitch and moan and whine about taxes (55%...yeah right. Get a decent accountant, then), and then vote Republican because you think they will cut your taxes. Then pay an extra $350 a month in health care costs, assuming you still have a job. The time for the revolution is now.
- I like the quote about the ever-popular "No-style style". I swear, Clancy could just have 20 grad students mill out a book a month, and there would be no discernable difference. Leonard, OTOH, is a friggin' artist. I love Hiaasen, but I think he's a bit more pulpish than Leonard. Nance, I would personally take more offense with King grouping John Grisham with Elmore Leonard than Clancy.
- Ask her if you're supposed to (A) write for a producer that thinks that all stories must be completely wrapped up in 52 minutes, with "find me a motive" detectives (Law and Order)... Maybe, she'll say it's O.K. to have a story that has threads, that doesn't completely wrap in a single hour, that actually has 3 dimensional characters and believable dialogue. My guess is that she'll opt for (A). Ripped from the headlines my ass. Ashley the Cynic
- I, Testicleese, great warrior from the island of Scrotus, am honored by this tribute.
- Talk to somebody in "academic computing" or whatever UM has...they may know the skinny on this deal. Otherwise, MS is perfectly happy to offer you the "academic" rate direct. Me, I love the free photoshop and illustrator.
- I always wanted to teach a class where I could get all theatrical and shit. This quarter, I'm teaching "Relational Database Design" and "Spatial Databases". Dat shit don' play with this material...sigh. Hell, even Feynman had better material than I do. Although, I'm always proud when students tell others that my class made them like databases. If that is truly the case, that I can convert the heathen with this dry material, then I must be doing something right. That year of starving as a stand-up is finally paying off. Do give us a detailed report on Job, Noah, and the crucifixion.
- My mom was one of those that was whacked with a ruler when she wrote lefty. I'm all for forcing my kids to be leftys, as left handed pitchers are more in demand than rightys. Who needs a pension when you can have the Williams sisters? As for Mary Cheney, it's a crime that the Dems are too proper to attack the Bush/Cheney hypocrisy. They should attack it harshly, from the hypocrisy of their stand on gay rights to the hypocrisy of their stand on the 'war on drugs' (see: Noelle Bush).
- Wonderful. We're doing just what the GOP wants us to do. The GOP is determined to make gay marriage their #1 issue for the presidency. Just when its about the least important thing for the head of the executive branch to worry about. Since its a controversial, deeply personal issue, it may actually change the way people vote. Rather than the candidates stand on real issues. Sigh...
- I think sure grip is generic, the name for Cramer's is Firm Grip. I love the smell of that stuff. Actually, I never used it for taping, but then I didn't tape my knees: just braces. Fred Biletnikoff used to use gallons of the paste stuff until they outlawed it in the NFL. They still allow the use of the aerosol. Heard that the duct tape they use on the gowns could give cleavage to anybody. False Advertising, I say.
- Thinning the herd, I say. I think that's how we ought to portray it. Too bad he didn't crush his scrot', so we could nominate him for the Darwin awards.
- RB&R with no holy trinity? Sacrilege!
- Oh, and my lovely Katerina is being raised bilingual, which is kind of forcing pops to learn Czech. Yet another useless language. Me, I'm gonna work on my Espanol, as I want to retire to Costa Rica sooner rather than later. Francais is fairly useless there...and nobody mention Haiti as an alternative...good.
- Well, there's plenty of dem dere anti-Quebecois jokes, the best of which was done by Edge 102, a Toronto radio station (coincidentally, the subject of Rush's "the spirit of radio"). The parody is available here. There is a long, long tradition of the Quebecers and other Anglophones publicly proclaiming respect for different cultures and Quebecois rights, whilst in private laughing at the "pea soup eater" jokes, the bare mention of Celine Dion, and the expiration of Rene Levesque in his vichysoisse. And don't forget that bitch Anne Murray, too. Canada has sacrificed soul for political correctness. The US isn't far behind.
- He almost makes those acrid SBC commercials watchable. Maybe he'll go to Japan and start doing whiskey commercials.
- The one attractive character/actress on the show, and they try to make her to be superfrump. Too bad she didn't want to be a back door girl...
- Moderation means binging only infrequently, but then, I'm from New Orleans. God, I miss those drive-thru daiquiri bars. My wife still feels a twinge of guilt because she got loaded on 9/11...then found out a week later she was pregnant. If anything ever is excusable, that one is.
- Was I right? Now people are going to vote using this as the sole criterion as opposed to anything that matters. Congrats, dubya.
- Hey alex, don't dis George Wallace like that. At least, he finally repented. Dubya's gonna be a confirmed loser until the day somebody finally puts him out of his misery.
- In the voice of Homer Simpson: "mmmm...thin mints...."
- Deb, you're the first woman I've ever known to quote Sam Kinison. I owe you a beer or two. Or more. While we're in a spell of questionable taste...can you get pregnant from anal sex? Sure, where do you think lawyers come from. And as for Renee Zellwegger, you would think a girl from Texas could do a southern accent without sounding as bad as Matthew Broderick in Glory. Alas, she came off like someone had trained Bridget Jones by listening to Hee Haw.
- Skyline chili, The raisins/psychodots, a river, Fountain Square, Bailey Quarters, WEBN, and it's not as flat as Chicago. Lovable city. But what's up with Ohio and Porn? Larry lived in Columbus, and Reuben Sturman was a Clevelander. As for the Red Balloon, I think that if you watch that, you should, for the sake of context, also watch "The Player", just to see the evolution, and how we don't need writers anymore.
- My phone number when growing up ended in 7469. That spells S-H-O-W, same as every other cinema in town. We would get bombarded with calls during promotions and such. As this was the time before caller id, we didn't have the option to call the perps, so instead we had fun with them. My father would always tell them that if they made it to the theater in the next 10 minutes, they would get free admission. He usually got a "Really!!! OK, bye!". I would tell them we were closed for repairs, that we had a revival that night, locusts, stuff like that. My best was when I told them that tonight was the beginning of our new "all-porno" format. Our feature was Kurosawa's "Ron", starring Ron Jeremy. Finally, the proprietor called and asked if we'd been doing that. I said, of course we did. I told him that I had called previously and the people I spoke with blew me off. He asked how they could make it up to me. I told him we had that number for over 30 years, his was about 3 years old, so we were not going to give up our number. I suggested that he buy us an answering machine, where we would give his number on the welcome message. He refused. The next week continued the all-porno format...
- Gina Gershon is still a 1 in my book. Oh, I have a binary weighting scale, 1: yes, you would; 0: no, you wouldn't. Beer acts as bias. This show is like bloody carnage on the freeway. You don't want to look, but you can't turn away. ...but I'd always heard the "hole in the sheet" story about mormons.
- Last year, all my inlaws got their name domains for their birthdays. Of course, they're Czech, and haven't used it. That's why you don't see too much traffic for martinzizka.com. Me, I got domain names for everybody in my immediate family, for exactly the reasons nance mentioned.
- I don't even think it's tabloid TV quality. It's that condescending, "we know it all and you don't, simple viewer" tone of small market TV consumer reporters. Jeez, I'm sick of unskilled media workers. Like they say, there used to be a handful of outlets owned by 4 companies. Now, there's thousands of outlets owned by 4 companies.
- I mean, should I thank slate for saving me time for reading something I wouldn't have read anyway?
- Kind of reminds me of that mythical language, Ebonics. According to academics who actually get credit for this crap (as opposed to doing real research), they state that one of the many differences between Ebonics and English is that double (or simply multiple) negatives in Ebonics are intensified negatives. Ain't not havin' no problem wif dat. Word.
- It's USA Today, that bastion of journalistic integrity, the "Dick and Jane" of newspapers. What did he do, forge a pie chart? Actually, after reading the USA Today article, what I found most amazing was that "Kelley spent his entire 21 year career at USA Today". Where did this clown pay his dues, the Bumfuck High Tattler? Jeez.
- Hence the magnificence of "The Wire". Not only are things not all nice and tidy after an hour, but they aren't even tidy after a season. Kinda like real life. That TV writing class sounds excruciating. Basically, you're relying on print journalists to give you writing fodder. You, of all people, should know how lame that can be, especially with editors that are concerned with nothing but circulation numbers. The best writing on TV today has to be on HBO and the Simpsons. Go figure. I want to see HBO do an animated series. I guess it would turn out to be a full blown version of Family Guy.
- As a friend once told me when I lived in New Orleans: "Ash, your dick takes you places I wouldn't go with a gun." I don't think the same could be said about the author...ever. That's probably his problem. All hail inflatable transplants. My dad couldn't afford one, and with the history of diabetes in my family, I should probably begin saving up.
- In the south, the closest we got was KAAY out of Little Rock. Their "Beaker Street" show defined late night rock and roll. You could pick up KAAY anywhere down to New Orleans and Tampa. It would play all the cool stuff that the local stations would not, and set the stage for FM AOR formats.
- Of course, also in the south ('specially 'round Texas and Louisiana), you'd hear wonderful music from south of the border, as eloquently described in ZZ Top's "Heard it on the X". The X stations would be targeted right for us near the border, and they'd play exactly what we wanted to hear...with non-mexican advertisers and even non-mexican DJs. Now, with all this homogeneity, I think that college radio and XM are our only hope.
- "...The council meetings are so infamous that former Warren residents who have moved to Florida or the Upper Peninsula have been known to request video copies of the council meetings." Yankee go home.
- I am so pleased!
- I lay five to one he moved to Florida from Ohio.
- Back in the old days, before dormitories became as secure as Trump's private hair shellac station, you could enter lobbies freely to pick up your date, watch TV, or eat old Domino's crusts. I used this to my advantage. In 1985, after my startup company went belly up, I traveled across the country, sleeping either with friends or in dorm lobbies. I'd go into a dorm lobby with a calculus book and a pillow, and crash out on a couch. Nobody, anywhere, EVER said a word. Ever. On more than one occasion, a security guy would come up to me, and I'd feign studying the calculus book, and he'd instantly turn away. Occasionally, you could get a shower, too. I'd bring in my tiny toiletries bag, and somebody would let me into the main corridor. Then, saunter down to the community shower, do my bidness, and leave refreshed, without having spent a penny. Now, everybody seems to think that dorms are the next target of either Osama or the second coming of Ted Bundy. My guess is that nobody can do this anymore. Also, now most dorms have either individual or shared suite bathrooms. Damn soft kids today.
- Norm's good, but I prefer Dale Dribble of Arlen, Texas.
- Don't pigeonhole ALL Catholic Universities. Ashley Morris, Professor, DePaul University
- Jeez, as a NASCAR-watchin', BBQ-eatin', states-rights' promotin' Marxist, who believes that capitalism is evil, where do I fit in?
- Yee hah, hot damn, pass the sweet tea, comrade!
- In Chicago, and you didn't even call. I'm shattered. Sha-doo-be. Shattered. Shattered.
- Adriana got what she deserved. 'bout time. To quote Omar: "It's all in the game, yo."
- http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2002-09-17/feat2.html This is Ronnie Virgets' ode to the third place...if you ain't from New Orleans, you may not get it.
- First, I have the problem of watching each episode knowing that this season will probably be the last. I'm sure Simon and Burns can keep this fresh for a 4th year, but I don't know if HBO will give them the green light to do it. That being said, it does bother me that a few strings are left totally untied. Whatever happened to Prez clocking Valchek, ferinstance. Series 3 is tied to series 1, but it seems that series 2 is lost in the sauce. You'd think we'd see at least one white drug dealer from series 2 just for the sake of continuity. Or maybe the Greek showing up for a new connection? Do you find yourself rooting for Omar? Does it make you feel bad about yourself? Can you just wait until Avon gets released? What kind of wrath will come down on Stringer? Biblical proportions is my guess. BTW, the test of any entertainment is how it plays with your emotions. Well, The Wire was the only show that has ever made me physically ill. When Wallace got capped, I had to run to the bathroom and puke. This shit is powerful, yo. Best Tribute: Robert Colesberry is still listed as an Executive Producer. Best inside joke: Jay Landsman, played by Delaney Williams. Dennis Mello, played by Jay Landsman. Finally, a walk down nn.com memory lane June 3, 2002. All over the place. The diversity of NN.C's fabulous readership is reflected in the day's mail. From Ashley: "The Wire" kicks ass. Imagine "Homicide", but they don't have censors. Hell, they even use some of the same passages direct from the original Homicide book by David Simon. Good stuff...real stuff. As opposed to "Six Feet Under," which got so excruciating for me to watch that I quit. Basically, I hated all of the characters, and thought they all deserved whatever they got. No redeeming qualities whatsoever. Stalin had more redeeming qualities. No empathy, keep it. Ok, maybe for the Latino doing the makeup, but he's a minor character, so who cares. From Michael: I wanted to post a piece about the new HBO show ("The Wire") last night which I thought sucked beyond belief. Piss-poor writing, amateurish and stereotyped blacks with great teeth (no gold)! What a contrast with the last episode of "Six Feet Under" which was incredibly well done.
- Ok, but there's got to be more. You know that Valchek is going down to the basement to rabble-rouse, and he'll run into Prez. Or, knowing the shifty writers, they may show them interacting in a more familial setting. After all, Valchek is his father-in-law. I can see Valchek trying to shove a turkey leg down Prez's throat over Thanksgiving dinner. Man, remember Daniels' face when Prez slugged Valchek? Wow. And, unfortunately, sometimes when I see Idris Elba, I get a flashback to his appearance as a male prostitute on AbFab. I picture him poking his tongue after thinking that the penis-numbing spray was breath spray. Go figure, two of the guys with the best Bawlmer accents happen to be English: Elba and West. I remember in an interview Simon saying that none of the actors on Homicide tried to effect a Bawlmer accent since they were all from NYC.
- The most inconguous bit last night was the bit about the death of Bob Cole on the stairmaster. Of course, this was a thinly veiled tribute to the man who played him, Bob Colesberry, who was also the show's Executive Producer. The whole bit was something straight out of the original Homicide book. It didn't really fit in with the flow of the overall story line, but Simon certainly wanted to do a visible tribute to him. Note the "drug wars of '93" reference to Colesberry's work on "The Corner". Upon my second viewing, I noticed something about who capped Omar's accomplice. It was NOT one of Stringer's boys; it was Omar's male accomplice. Note how the wound was to the front of the head: as they were running to the car, shooting without looking, he shot without aiming, and capped her in the forehead. This could have some interesting results, along with the fact that Bunk is investigating it as though she were a civilian. And Omar's waiting outside the funeral home does not bode well for Stringer's crew. Omar has always been a popular character for the street kids to emulate, as the Robin Hood of the Western. I don't think the kids play acting was any different than what we've seen before, as the kids always wanted to be the guy with the biggest gun. You don't see any of the kids trying to be Stringer? Rawls is just doing what Rawls always does. He's probably the least well developed character, but he's probably an accurate portrait of typical DepOps. He has to make an example or two just to show who's boss. The interesting part is how Bello was Bunny's confidant and co-conspirator. In Simon's other work, I believe that Landsman (the man, not the character) was another of those who actually did propose legalizing drugs. I have no idea where they're going with the Carcetti character.
- Here's a good Wire FAQ from Salon and David Simon: http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2004/10/01/the_wire/index_np.html
- Maybe Ed Burns had something to do with a bit of that writing: http://theedge.bostonherald.com/tvNews/view.bg?articleid=47110&hlotslinks.
- Man, that whole a href stuff is just too technical... Ok. I think it was "Omar's Harpy" that got offed, because in the previous link, Ed Burns tells Lahane that you never see someboy get capped by their own crew when they shoot backward over their shoulder. The article states: "Lehane decided to use that, killing off one of the show's major characters". So she's probably the only one in Omar's crew that could remotely be called "a major character". BTW, I'm getting most of these external wire links from the old Homicide: Links on the Sites page. There's even an article where Simon plugs his own acting skills.
- My two year old with the Czech name, Katerina, begs us daily for my bootleg DVD of "Song of the South". She also wants Russian cartoons (Na Pagodi) dubbed in Czech, Czech cartoons (Krtek the mole), and in a nod to the evil that Disney has become, Winnie the Pooh. The 3 month old with the Southern (perhaps Baltimorean) name, Annabel Lee, prefers NASCAR. Boy, are they gonna hate me around puberty. We try to minimize the amount of TV time per day, but with 2 kids, the tube does make a good sitter for the bigger one.
- "We're all gonna get laid!"
- When we got married my wife told me I was one in a million. I found out she was right! Last week I told my psychiatrist, "I keep thinking about suicide." He told me from now on I have to pay in advance. My wife gives great headache. Would you like to go out tomorrow? I have class then. What about Friday? I have class then, too. Well, why don't you call me when you have no class? "Hey, that's some hat. Did you get a free bowl of soup with it? Oh, on you it looks good, though."
- Jeez, this veered into an "I hate Bob Hope" thread? Well, who doesn't? Fortunately, the memories my generation have of him typically consist solely of those Christmas Specials. That, and USO shows. Was there anything more lecherous, ever, than watching this geezer drool all over Brooke Shields?
- Personally, I think that one of Rodney's greatest contributions was his annual HBO Young Comedians Special. He had the cojones to actually put Sam Kinison on television. Amen.
- Here, it's $2.99 a bottle. Maybe they just like hiking up the price in Chicago. A buddy of mine had a box on the plane as his carry-on. I'm at the point where I either buy 2 buck chuck, or a
- I'm at the point where I either buy 2 buck chuck, or a ~$30 bottle of wine. I haven't found much under $20 a bottle that can touch Chuck. Huzzah!
- That was my guess too, because Landsman was with the city/is with the county, maybe his wasn't a prop and had a real badge number. Link of the week Whatever happened to the detectives from the book. Keep in mind, this info is about 5 years old. There really isn't anything like this for the characters from "The Corner", but in an interview with Simon, he basically said that there wasn't much good to report, other than Blue is still clean, Fran and DeAndre are trying, and DeRodd (aka Puddin' on The Wire) is about the nicest, straightest kid you can find. Strange plot foreshadowing: WTF is Stringer doing back with Donette? My guess is to keep her from talking, especially to Avon, about the fact that D'Angelo may have been murdered. Stringer does nothing without a reason. Wasn't it neat how McNulty's pointed attack on Freamon got him pissed off enough to make him check out the addresses? Real PO-Lice, indeed. Also, because Daniels is boinking Pearlman, McNulty should get a little more length added to his leash, if nothing else. Man, as long as he doesn't go back to his wife. The less airtime she gets, the better. Callie Thorne's entire range of emotions is a) cutesie, b) rolling her eyes. And no, I haven't forgiven Tom Fontana for adding her to Homicide because he thought she was better eye candy than Melissa Leo. Bubbles, to a degree, reminds me of Gary from "The Corner". The idea that he isn't really stealing from people, just "capers". However, when Bubs was talking about swiping a clock radio from his old job, well, that wasn't like Gary at all. Gary was a white collar until he fell. Bubs is still floating back and forth, and still wants to quit. He needs more impetus, like Steve Earle kicking his ass again. Speaking of fell, Cutty tried to walk that straight and narrow for all he was worth, but the lure is just too much. Another big indictment of the system: Cutty can go back to his old days of soldiering, and live comfortably; or he can keep riding in the back of a pick-up making minimum wage. Welcome to the corner. Reminiscent of when DeAndre tried to work at the burger joint. What is minimum wage when your old crew is rollin down the boulevard in an Escalade wif' 26" dubs? My guess is that Cutty's muscle is about to make its presence known, what with Avon getting out, and word of Marlo's whammy on Cutty's stash has to make its way back to Avon. Bunny is encountering some problems now because its the real world. Nothing goes smoothly, especially when you're dealing with street corner slingers. Maybe if he had a tete-a-tete with Stringer, they'd see the light. You can rest assured, though, that word will get back to Stringer, Prop Joe, Marlo, and the others, and TPTB will be happy to move shop to the DMZ. As for The Wire being a birthday cake, hey, I watch it at least 2x on Sunday, usually the 11:00 on HBOWest, and the 12:00 on HBOZone. Boo yah. Unfortunately, the nudity didn't involve Pearlman this time. I was sorely disappointed.
- It's going to be really, really interesting to see what happens to the Barksdale organization when Avon sees what Stringer has done. Stringer will probably say that you can't argue bottom line, but Avon is a little more old school than that.
- Being about 1/2" from a quadriplegic myself (broken C1 vertebra playind football), Christopher Reeve made me uncomfortable too. I think that a lot of that perceived uncomfort was intentional, as part of his activism. He didn't want people to think it was easy being a quad. It isn't. He was naive about stem cell research, but correct in his belief that W could be blockading years of foetal stem cell research through politics. Hey, we have some isolated nerve growth now, why not complete spinal cord repair soon? Still, that episode of "the Practice" he was in gave me the creeps.
- Hey, howzabout the most famous Ft. Wayne fella now, DaMarcus Beasley.
- Jon Stewart has cojones the size of Ganymede. Hell, yeah. I love how he didn't have to pretend to be even-handed, and was just himself. "How old are you?" What a slam.
- re: Shark Tale, Ain't it odd that big mass media outlets just don't get it? The writing matters! Look at Pixar and HBO, and even Comedy Central. The writing matters. Hell, if you want to lower the bar, look at Law and Order. The cast is interchangeable, the writing matters. That's why Roy Disney is right.
- Damn, I feel a bit like Karnak. Bunny did go above the slingers heads, but to the mid-level boys, not to the Prop Joes and Stringers. Was that wild about busing the fiends? Go figure. And what about Bubs refusing to go along with Johnny's caper, instead banking on his steady income from Kima and McNulty? Snitchin's dangerous, but so are capers. However, this may be the turning point for Bubbles to go straight...or at least get on the wagon. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I'm seeing a bunch of parallels to Gary from "The Corner". Of course, he went straight for a while, then slipped, and because he'd been out of the game so long, he OD'd. I don't wanna see Bubs go that way, but Simon had no problem with dumping Wallace or D'Angelo. It's all in the game, yo. McNulty got laid, for what may have been the first time since the Russian prostitutes. I don't see it happening with her again. I hope Jimmy doesn't. Once again, Callie Thorne gave a spectacular cameo, showing her entire range: 1) coquettish followed by 2) annoyed, rolling her eyes. My, but she annoys me. I did like how Jimmy's flirting made her character jealous. Cutty has decided he's a soldier and not a lawn man. I don't think he likes the way his crew treated the slinger wearing Mr. Unseld's jersey, but yes, the game has changed. The whole "brothers forever" thing between Avon and Stringer tells me that one of them is going to be cut loose. My guess is that Avon is OG, but I don't know where that puts Stringer and his above-the-table funds. Avon knows not to get his hands dirty, but this whole socialism among gangsters got to piss him off. And I think the mayor is about to get played. Bigtime.
- Two cool things on the HBO site this week: Org charts! There's one for da good guyz, and one for da bad guyz. Of course, your definitions may differ. According to my sources, Ed Burns was the writer. Man, didn't you just love it when McNulty said "fuck it", and walked into Stringer's copy shop? Stringer is so well grounded in legit business...even Bodie has to lift his shirt to show he ain't wired. "He wanted to sell me a condo".
- Oh, and don't forget, no new episode next week.
- Cutty's gellin' like Magellan? Thanks for putting that earworm in my head. ;^) He's sensitive, and conflicted...but I don't know yet about tragic. At least, I hope not. Although he does have a somewhat higher tolerance for violence than D. Last night was an example of where the expression "bitch slap" came from. Damn! Now, thanks to you, I also have a picture in my head of Avon riding a missile, screaming "I'm workin' for David Simon". Thanks for that, too. I just wonder where and how the Stringer/Avon showdown will occur. The thing is, except for Shamrock (thank you, HBO org chart), I don't see any of the slingers or soldiers taking String's side. And since String doesn't let anybody in on the legit deals, he has no partners there, other than Levy and Davis. That may be enough. For there to be a showdown that String could win, it would have to be an administrative level one, that included the law. That's also the best way to bring him down. That is, unless String's "We are the world" policy pisses off Avon so much that he calls it off and declares war on every dealer that goes near "his" corners. Oh, and last night was one of the few times that Stringer and McNulty have directly spoken. You know how hard it had to be for them to speak in their Bawlmer accents. It was bizarre to see the clips from the premiere party, where Elba and West were speaking in their normal, English accents. Also, it was nice to see Santangelo again, even if he is just a street cop nowadays. I don't see him getting a gold shield (wait, Baltimore doesn't have gold shields for detectives) again as long as Rawls is Deputy Ops. Burrell may be out soon as commish, but Rawls will NOT become commish, unless they have a really good way for selling the community on a white commish.
- You know, I'm a New Orleans guy, but that Neville Brothers version of the theme just don't move me like the Blind Boys version. Maybe if Aaron was singing it...
- "The states' rights argument offends me; if we'd left it to the states on the question of slavery, it would never have been abolished." So we'd still have slavery today, huh? I respectfully disagree.
- Too late. All we can do now is pray for the Cards. Although, I think that typically, rooting for the Yankees against the Red Sox is like rooting for the Lions against the Christians.
- I blame their agent.
- You guys got it all wrong: he's a uniter, not a divider!
- Ah...to inhabit a house in a blue state (Illinois), yet be registered and officially reside in Florida. I've already voted...only once, though. No phone calls, plenty of bulk mail, and my t-shirt keeps the republicans from talking to me.
- When you're done hemming, will you be hawing?
- Ok. For all of you 18-24 year olds that didn't vote: congratulations! You'll be the first ones drafted to serve the United States of Halliburton in Iraq, Iran, or wherever der Fuhrer needs oil. Also, good luck on that privatized social security, chumps. You get the government you deserve. For all the retirees on social security: wait until it is privatized. Then enjoy eating your 9-lives and burning newspapers for heat. Remember all those FDR social programs? Well, fuhgettaboutit. You voted red. You get the government you deserve. For all you people of color: good luck next time you're at the airport. You reelected the guy who doesn't know the difference from a Mexican and a Jordanian. He also thought that Sweden didn't have an army. You get the government you deserve. For all of you not born in the US but live here. Enjoy that whole Patriot Act and Patriot II thingy. He did that shit before he declared having a "Mandate". Yeah, and 55 million voted against him. You get the government you deserve. Welcome to the largest deficit in history...4 years after the largest surplus. You get the government you deserve. We are now no better than Saudi Arabia or Israel. We are now a theocracy: the Evangelical state. You get the government you deserve. As for me: hasta la victoria siempre, siempre.
- And a more accurate map.
- Actually, all of the maps are kind of misleading.
- "The problem is, NYC, DC, and PA were going to get struck regardless who was in the White House in 2001, and that person was going to have to either risk going too far (as we agree Bush has) in protecting America, or else risk not going far enough." No. Fucking. Way. I'm not buying this line, not for a minute. This is the kind of shit the NeoCons have used to make fear the biggest motivational factor in voting. If a memo named "Bin Laden determined to attack inside the US" appeared across Clinton's desk, he would have 1) read it, 2) done something about it. Too bad Gore and Kerry have written more books than Bush has read. He even BRAGS about not reading newspapers. What a fucking twit. This idiot has put more idiots (look at Condi's academic publication record) in positions far exceeding their peter principal limits, and doesn't even listen to their advice, as he thinks that God speaks directly to him. Bullshit. Show me the stone tablets if God is talking to you. Another thing. If terrorists had struck while Gore or Clinton was in office, you KNOW that the republicans would be screaming "It happened on HIS watch. We'd be tough on terrorism, unlike the Democrat." You know that's true. You know it. I am a Christian, but I don't try to force my beliefs on others. I also don't let my faith get in the way of rational, logical thought. I also don't believe that if you don't believe exactly what I believe that you will burn in a lake of fire for eternity. And as for Lincoln, well, I think he was vastly, vastly overrated. But what do you expect from an "elitist liberal" like me. Maybe Marx was right. Maybe a violent revolution is the only way.
- "Clinton had eight years of memos on UBL and DECIDED not to go after him". Wrong. Very, very wrong. Personally, I think it's hard to live in uptown New Orleans, as I did and soon will again, which is 63% black, and be a racist. They live in English Turn or Metairie. Or Marin county. I agree with you about the annoyance of things like Kerry showing up in a black church once every 4 years and every other Christmas. Clinton was not like that, is not like that. Kerry and Gore seem to be like that. Alan Keyes is an idiot. I hope we can agree on that point. That being said, Condoleeza Rice is a true academic lightweight. As a professor, I have to look at publication records and such for promotion and tenure cases. I can assure you, she has not gotten where she is on her publication record. Bush's cabinet is diverse in color, not in thought. He promised in 2000 to bring democrats on his cabinet, and to aid in the decision making process. He lied. Obviously, Karl Rove is an evil genius. He is not dumb by any means. He is, however, evil.
- Go figure. I read today that a new name has surfaced for the role of James Bond: Dominic West. That's right...McNulty as James Bond. My two favorite Wire quotes from this week's episode: "Conscience do cost." "Bushmills? That's Protestant whiskey!"
- Note that the USA was founded by people whose religious beliefs were so wacky the Dutch kicked them out of their country. The Dutch. They are probably the most tolerant people in the world. At least, until now. When I was reading about how Muslims are not going to heaven, it reminded me of this old joke. DId you see how annoying and knee-jerk Alan Simpson was on Bill Maher? Evidently, the right is, en masse, becoming intolerant. I say, let's be intolerant of intolerance. Let's all be as intolerant and vicious as Ann Coulter. God, I wish I had her adam's apple. Let's all adopt Dick Cheney's attitude. Go fuck yourself.
- Danny, I hate to break it to you like this, but I have a massively large penis; and Barry, please don't quote the Washington Times, unless you think that Sun Yung Moon is a bastion of righteousness.
- Barry, "sometimes the whack jobs are dead on". That is frighteningly true, see: The Christian Science Monitor. When I see what the Moonies did to what used to be my favorite fishing village of Bayou la Batre, Alabama, I get reactionary. The Washington Times can't get away with towing the Moon line on religion, but everything else (or at least, what I've read) is pretty much just like the Rev wants it to be. As for the Puritans, well, I don't think they are the ones that made this country great, but I believe they are the root of much of this intolerance. That is one of the reasons why New Orleans is my favorite city in the world. The roots of that city are not tied to puritanical values. So I can carry my beer outside, as long as I keep it in a paper or plastic cup. They don't have a history of legislating morality. Hell, they even have drive-thru daiquiri bars... As far as seceding county-by-county: here is a fascinating collection of maps regarding the whole red/blue/purple/county-by-county maps.
- I'm going to be buried...er...interned above ground in either St. Roch's or St. Vincent DePaul. I'm also going to have a jazz funeral parade by either Rebirth Brass band or Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ swingers. Come join in on the second line! If nothing else, it will give my family and friends an excuse to go to New Orleans.
- Funny how both Danny and Juan are the ones that publicly besmirched my masculinity on this blog, both of them calling me a "gal" or a "woman". Evidently their moral values don't extend to the idea that Ashley could be a male name. Hey, it ain't my fault mommy liked "Gone With the Wind" a bit too much. At least I ain't "Rhett". I know I'm not the demographic center. I'm far, far to the left...but then, that is a conscious choice I have made over the last few years, primarily caused by a) extensive international travel, b) marrying a European, c) reading a lot. Sorry that I don't want my children to be saddled with a massive debt. Such is life. And 51 to 49 percent doesn't blow anything anywhere. I didn't tell anyone to go F themselves. The Vice President did. I just sent a link to the UMichigan page: I did not claim anything one way or another. In my spatial database classes and my research, I extensively cover how to use spatial data to aid in multiple criteria decision making. Mark Monmonier's "How to lie with maps" is an excellent book showing how data can be manipulated by the data modeler to alter influence. It's GIS homey, it ain't Photoshop. Don't be hatin' da playa...
- I need two additions to my wardrobe, so that I can live up to my name. The first would be a blue & white seersucker suit. White shoes and belt (from the "Herb Tarlek" collection), and a nice white straw fedora. The second would be something like a Colonel Sanders getup. Gotta love that tie. The son of a friend attended a sorority's formal social last year. They had a choice, and could either wear a tuxedo/tails or a confederate officer's uniform. This was, of course, in Mississippi. Jeanne needs a shooter. It ain't that pretty at all...especially with Tara burning down.
- Aggressive? Moi? ;^) "as god is my witness, i thought turkeys could fly!" -- one of the greatest lines ever, from one of the greatest shows ever (within the confines of a broadcast network), from what had to be the greatest thanksgiving episode of any show ever. "i always wanted a boyfriend -- or at least a partying buddy -- like johnny fever. and a body like bailey quarters'." To me, the whole "Ginger/Mary Ann" test is bogus, as Ginger is a redhead. If one is wont for testarossas, the whole test is skewed (read: if Ginger is a blonde, I'm going for Mary Ann...hell, I'm going for Mary Ann anyway). The much more revealing test was Jennifer/Bailey. If anyone picks the bleach blonde, then my trust level drops a few notches. Ferinstance, tell me what James Brolin is thinking, marrying Babs? Is this supposed to be a step up from our beloved Jan? I saw her in a supermarket in SoCal once. I was too starstruck to say anything. Oh Bailey, Bailey, Bailey. Trivia: my nickname for my youngest daughter, Annabel Lee, is the same word that got Johnny Fever fired from the job he had before WKRP. Any guesses?
- Deb, you have just won your very own coveted Silver Sow award!
- I don't know why, but I was going to say Arizona...but I guess that's where his last gig was before coming to Cinti. I cheated, and looked him up on IMDB. Wilmington. Go figure. Last I heard about Gary Sandy, he was in Bob Crane dinner theatre hell. So who wore tighter jeans, Bailey or Andy? Probably Andy...
- Back in the '70s, we used to see tons of footage from Vietnam, with Walter Cronkite warning us beforehand if it was too graphic. Now, we are essentially forbidden from seeing any of this, except for beheadings live on the internet. By depersonalizing war, we are trying to make it less abominable. I have two purple hearts and two coffin flags for my father and my uncle. We need to make people realize that war is real, that it is not civil, and that is to be avoided at all costs.
- From Danny: "Though I am conservative and disagree with some of your political views, I try to show you respect." Is that why you called me a woman? I tried to leave this alone, but you just remind me so much of W. You refused to admit that you made a mistake (assuming I was a woman), let alone apologize for it. You weren't intellectually curious. Note that when you mouse-over my name, you see the domain ashleymorris.com. You could have gone there and seen for yourself that I have a Y chromosome, but that would be like W reading a newspaper. (When I moused over your name, I saw aol.com. 'Nuff said.) Then you take offense that someone insulted you, when you started the (flame) war. Sigh...
- I certainly hope that the movie version of "Skinny Dip" is better than the last of his novel adaptations: "Strip Tease". How anyone thought that Demi Moore should play the lead role in a comedy is beyond me. Wait, no it isn't. They didn't cast her for her comedic skills, they cast her for her silicone protuberances. Makes sense now. Although, I did like the scene with Burt in the boots and vaseline.
- Personally, I would pick WMD over Bottle Rockets any day. ;^) Did Brianna get schooled by McNulty or what? I hate the whole plea-bargan system, but that's what we have to deal with. That's why D got 20 years, and Avon is walking the streets today. Now she's trying to lay blame somewhere, but McNulty doesn't care because it won't make a black one out of a red one. I also like how Hamsterdam is more like a cess pool than heaven. I don't see it as a problem that the brass doesn't know. Nobody outside of Bunny's crew has any reason to ever drive through West Baltimore. You know they don't want to. The telling tale will be how Colicchio gives Bunny up (because you know he will). They may try to revoke his pension. Odd seeing Clarence Clemons as a community rec guy, but why not... I think Stringer wants it all. He doesn't want out of drugs, because they are extremely profitable. Don't forget, he's the guy that got every supplier in town to "unionize", and deal directly with the NYC wholesalers as a single entity. He just wants to be seen as a leader. As long as Avon's around, he won't be THE leader. Don't underestimate Stringer's street smarts. He knows that the truly big money is to be made at a level where you have to have a tie, but without his organization, he can be eliminated at any time. Now, the question is what happens since Stringer 'fessed up to Avon. Will Avon do the right thing for blood, or the right thing for bidness? I see Avon as having the same goals as Stringer, but different priorities. Avon sees the legitimate business as a vehicle for a larger share of the drug market, and Stringer sees the drugs as a way to get into the legit (aka white collar) deals. Because of this, I don't think that Avon will do anything to Stringer. Brianna is a different matter...I don't know how, but if she finds out what happened, she will be one angry momma. She, unlike Avon, believes that blood is thicker than water. She could cause problems. She could be eliminated if she does. I know one thing for sure, Avon needs a whole lot more soldiers. Cutty is doing wonderful, but I kind of think I'm being set up as a viewer. I remember one on-line chat that HBO had with David Simon. A viewer asked "What happened to the kids that Wallace was taking care of?". Simon replied: "What do you think happened?". So, I see Cutty as evolving into respectable success, possibly even getting back together with the teacher, and then being cut down by Fruit for the hell of it. It hurts me to watch Bubbles and Cutty try and fight and crawl out of the mess only to get eaten up by it. Just as I shed real tears when I read that Gary died in "The Corner", I don't see Cutty and Bubs escaping clean. They have corners everywhere, and for every Blue success story there are a hundred Gary tragedies. Marlo, otoh, has just opened a massive can of whoop-ass. I don't care what Stringer says to Avon, Marlo went too damned far to just wing Avon. Marlo's world is about to turn nasty.
- Stringer may be better, but is he more evolved? Can he survive in both worlds at one time? Avon has no preconceptions; he doesn't try to fit into the construction rehab scene, but he can survive on the street. Stringer thinks he can do both, but that may ultimately be his downfall.
- Nance, I agree with your analysis that character motivation is the driving force of "The Wire". Everybody's motivation is pretty much crystal clear. Only thing, with characters like Bubs, the motivation changes from time to time. Of course, it seems to be like that with most addicts.
- Ok, I always thought Nigella was a Euro version of Lynne Russell, except Nigella coudn't kick my ass as much as Lynne, and Lynne probably couldn't cook as well as Nigella. And you be dissin' da vibes? Or maybe, it's just vibes in the morning. That, I understand. They aren't suited for "wake up" music, but hey, don't dis Milt, Bobby, Lionel, and me with one fell swoop. I'll miss ODB, if for no other reason than wondering what outlandish thing he would do next.
- Mary: I concur about the prices of her stuff at "the container store"...in fact, the prices of just about everything at the container store. I bought this elfa closet organizer stuff, and it costs about what pure cedar would. Ouch. Brian: Rachel Ray? She's perkier than Katie Couric! They ought to put her on Iron Chef -- if she can do that much damage with a thirty minute meal, imagine if they gave her a full hour! EVOO! EVOO! EVOO!!! It's amazing to see how the Food Network is trying to constantly broaden its audience by offering new shows, then seems to come back to the ratings reality that people only seem to care about "Iron Chef" and Emeril (and, to a lesser degree, Alton Brown). Dweezil and Lisa? Come on. Also, Lisa is a vegetarian, so they immediately alienate either half the audience, or her. Once, they went to a butcher shop...I thought we'd get to see her puke right there on camera.
- Deb: Bobby Flay? I'm so very disappointed...Morimoto, yes; Flay, no. The food channel is absolutely hypnotic. When I was in grad school and had that pesky dissertation thingy hanging over me, I could watch it for hours upon hours. Anything to avoid all that writing and research stuff. At a certain point, I thought about dropping out (as ABD) and becoming a chef. After all, I lived in New Orleans, home of the best food in the cosmos (IMHO), and I had several friends working in the finest restaurants in town. A friend jolted me into reality 2 ways. 1) he reminded me of my student loans. 2) he said (of becoming a chef) "Wow, that would be a blast...for about 6 months". Mulling that over kind of did it for me...Professor Ashley it would be!
- deb, you rule. For my birthday this year, I told da wife no cake, but a peanut butter pie. Amen, Hallelujah.
- Oh, and just as the Myers's Rum makes the sweet potato pie, throw a jigger of Booker's Bourbon into your pecan pie. Boo Yah.
- A quote from a friend, who was in a band with me back in college, and became a professional drummer for a while, and is now a DJ. "Back in the 80s and 90s, we had to worry about falling into that trap of drug and alcohol abuse. Now, the thing that can be our downfall is pie."
- Okey doke. Because this culture values celebrity so much, because we equate wealth to intelligence, we kind of deserve this. Now, I think that if you pay the ridiculous prices for tickets that professional entertainment (aka "sports") teams charge, then you have the license to scream whatever you want, as long as you don't utter profanity so as to ruin the experience for those around you. I think that you can verbally abuse players, and they have to take it. That is part of their job. Don't give me that "how would you like it if we heckled you at your job" crap. That isn't part of my job description, but all professional athletes should know that comes with the territory, disgusting as it may be. When these guys make more in a single game than a hard-working person does in half a decade, well, we have a problem. The millionaire should deal with it and walk away. However, when the professional athlete is hit by a projectile, things change. The athlete still must not enter the stands, acting like one of the Hanson brothers, but the fan should be criminally liable. I honestly think that much of this has to do with culture. Because of the NBA glorifying the gangsta image, well, you get gangsta behavior. Note how every player that was interviewed chose to talk about how the other players were justified, as they were "disrespected". Jeez, louise. Reminds me of tonight's episode of "The Wire", where a kid was shot dead because he made fun of somebody's shoes. Get real, NBA. You aren't on the corner, you are all millionaires, act like adults and just deal with it. On the corner, pride is all you have, and showing weakness may get you killed. As long as the NBA players still act like they're on the corner, instead of discussing tax shelters with their fellow players, you're going to have this crap. Stern did the right thing by giving Artest the boot for the season, and Jackson and O'Neal long suspensions. These spoiled kids who have never had to work a day in their life finally get to realize that actions have consequences, and that they are privileged to play for a living. Maybe Indiana and Detroit will have to be like European soccer franchises after something like this happens. I think that the financial burden of playing before an empty arena will knock some sense into people. The only thing that works here is money. Take money from a player, and you're going to get to them. It's the only way.
- Man, I told my wife that Prez don't need to be goin' to pick up no Chinese food. I saw that coming. I knew he'd pull his gun, because, well, he's cursed that way. An absolutely brilliant cop, when it comes to doin' the po-lice work behind the desk. A mo-ron in the street. Why Freamon didn't tether his ass to the desk, I'll never know. I didn't, however, see him cappin' a cop. Jeez, Simon. Wallace, D'Angelo, now Prez. Cold, man, just cold. There's no escape for Prezbylewski from that. As he said, "I'm done". Yes, you are. I've heard of crossing the thin blue line (as Herc did calling up the Sun), but damn. Herc surprised me by using the back door to bring down Hamsterdam. I figured it would be Colicchio. You know that Herc is not the straightest arrow in the quiver, but he surprised me by 1) not agreeing to move the body, regardless of Carver's stripes, and 2) making the phone call himself. Giardello from "H:LOTS" would occasionally use the Sun to advance his agenda, but I did not see Herc making that phone call. Stringer is out of control. He's risked $250k of Barksdale drug money for a scheme that may or may not pan out. Now he's goin' off on Clay Davis like he's a mid-level distributor that whammied him with some Arm and Hammer. Then he breaks the Sunday truce. If you in the game, you got to know the rules. And Stringer is breaking them all. Omar works in a cafeteria at the airport. Brilliant. Now I could see Omar and Avon conspiring to get rid of Stringer. At least both Omar and Avon know the rules of the game. At this point Stringer has few friends. If anything, Avon and Omar may have a sit-down. Wouldn't that be a nice conversation to hear? Especially with the foreshadowing of our old pal Brother Mouzone in the coming attractions. Boo-yah. However, note the prominent distinction between Omar and Avon. They are both preparing to escalate a simmering war, courtesy of Stringer. While Avon is bringing in hired muscle from the east side, Omar is telling his crew that he's going this one alone. Omar is the consumate loner, and Avon needs the familiarity of the crew. Barksdale, though, is like Germany in WWII. He is about to try and fight a multi-front war (Omar and Marlo and maybe even West Baltimore's finest, now that Hamsterdam is going up in smoke) with a drastically overextended army. Avon is a survivor, though, so it could be quite interesting. Especially since there are but 3 episodes left. In this season, anyway. Last note: didja notice, after that Cleveland steamer of a date between McNulty and D'agostino, that McNulty was staring at the pictue of Beatrice (the officer from the docks) on the squad's fridge. Hmmmmm.
- I think that Brother Mouzone came back to see what really went down. Note how Prop Joe, Avon, and even Omar all have solid reputations on the street, but Stringer has always been known as someone who played the numbers. No soldiering for String. So, because of the fact that Omar didn't off him, and dialed 911, my guess is that Mouzone came to pay a visit to Avon, to see what kind of an ambush Stringer sent him into. Another good thing about Mouzone coming back: we may see more of DeAndre McCullough, Fran and Gary’s kid from “The Corner” who played one of his bodyguards. Link-o-rama: Here's a column where jason Whitlock says that HBO should dump David Chase, and make David Simon Exec Producer of the Sopranos. Fave quote: "Avon Barksdale, Brother Mouzone and Omar -- roughnecks from "The Wire" -- would absolutely wipe out what's left of Tony's crew". Here here. I can't wait to see what the headlines in the Baltimore Sun look like when the lid is blown on Hamsterdam. We all know about those Sun reporters, don't we... ;^)
- "NBA stopped being about basketball years ago". Reminds me of Edward Norton's character's speech in 25th Hour: "uptown brothers; they never pass the ball, they don’t wanna play defense, they take five steps on every lay up, and then they wanna turn around and blame everything on the white man."
- Nance: "Just for the record, it's been, wow, ages since I kicked anyone in the balls. Like, never". My daughter did that to me about 5 minutes ago. I think I'm getting callouses. And wasn't Arness the guy that played Marshal Matt Dillon?
- There are 3 cookbooks that I'm constantly referring to: 1) Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen, 2) The Frugal Gourmet, 3) Jamie Shannon's Commander's Palace cookbook. Prudhomme is a god, and this is his finest book. I know, I own them all. His recipes are fully run through by a test kitchen, so you'll know what you get is what you want. Emeril's books are pleasant enough reading, but man, they must not test the recipes. His king cake recipe just blows. Jeff may have been a lot of things, but he was an excellent cook. I'll constantly glance at this thing just to make sure I'm not missing an ingredient (like mustard powder in my bearnaise). The Commander's book is good, but unless you live on the gulf coast, it's often hard to get many of the ingredients. Although, I found a mexican market in Chicago that carries fresh mirlitons, although they call them something different. They also carry fresh okra. Da Wife uses Fannie and the big-ass Good Housekeeping book. The old version, where they call for ingredients like lard. Amen.
- Man, after working through this book, I can't help but think that a mezzaluna is cheating. Double bladed, no less. How you gonna sharpen that sucka? I'm just not a fan. I'm thinking that I'll use my 10" wide blade Wusthof for the big things, my Kyocera ceramic paring for the little stuff, and my Cuisinart mini-prep for the stuff that I just want small, and don't care how it looks. Of course, you could always just get a veg-o-matic, but then, even Sam Popeil's daughter didn't use one of those.
- Don’t worry. Omar ain’t out. Despite Butchie’s best intentions, Omar is about to be real in, real deep. There’s gonna be a showdown with Brother Mouzone. As Omar shot Mouzone, yet showed him respect, Mouzone will not off Omar. They both, however, are going to get to the root of the problem: Stringer telling Butchie that Mouzone whacked Brandon, and Stringer getting in the way of Avon hiring Mouzone to watch the shop. Don’t forget, they also both now know what really goes on in the funeral home. I don’t know about anybody else, but I loved the way DeAndre McCullough played the part of Lamar. Simon wouldn’t have cast him in such a big role if he wasn’t straight, and if you’ve read “The Corner”, or watched the miniseries, you can’t help but root for the guy. On top of all that, he’s incredibly believable as Mouzone’s assistant who doesn’t want to go into the gay bar. Nance, I can’t believe you didn’t mention the guy in the back of one of the gay bars. Rawls. Yep, that’s right, Deputy Ops Rawls is hanging out in a gay bar, prowlin’. As much as this guy has tried to ruin the careers of Santangelo, McNulty, and Daniels (among others), a guy like McNulty could use this to shake things up a bit. I imagine that nobody downtown has a problem with Griggs being a lesbian, but they probably would have a big problem with the Deputy Ops prowlin’ in a gay bar. BTW, off topic, I had a revolutionary idea. I read that Dominic West was being considered for the new James Bond. Also, you probably read that many believed that Vin Diesel as XXX is yanking the spotlight from James Bond, and that more young people would prefer to watch a XXX styled character. With that, I ask you: what is the criteria for being James Bond? Well, you have to look good in a tux, you have to be somewhat athletic, and you have to have a British accent. Might I propose an actor for the James Bond character: Idris Elba. He meets all the criteria, and you just know that a black James Bond would fill the theatres. Just a thought. I don’t know how out Colvin is, either. You may have noticed in the "coming attractions" the conversations between Burrell and Carcetti. I’m thinking that Burrell and the brass may try and save their collective asses by somehow pinning the whole Hamsterdam operation on the mayor. Think about it: if they can somehow hijack the Sun story and say that Hamsterdam was the mayor’s idea, then they come off somewhat clean, and all they do is burn a mayor or a councilman. That’s not ideal, but it’s a whole lot better than carrying the load themselves. The whole mess will probably depend on who can manipulate the Sun reporters. The other people to now know what goes on in the funeral home are Colvin and McNulty, thanks to CI Stringer Bell. I think that when String gave the documents to the runner to take to Levy, he was probably getting rid of all the documents that show the legitimate business dealings of the organization. Now, if the place is raided, all they will find is drug money and drug paperwork. Cutty is still holding on. If he can teach boxing to some kids, he can resolve a bunch of loose ends, and hold his head high. Only thing, Avon may use Cutty’s ring as a training camp for new soldiers. Cutty may stay on this season. Congrats to Simon and crew. With only two episodes left in this season, you have given us a stone cold whodunit, as opposed to the dunkers that the rest of television forces upon us. That being said, there’s only two more episodes! Hopefully, we’ll get another season or two of “the best damned show on television”. The thing I like best about this show is that it truly is a story. Oz seemed to be an exercise for Tom Fontana to see what he could get away with. The Sopranos has evolved into David Chase’s “I bet I can do anything, including totally tangential episodes, and they’ll still watch”. I just can’t do Carnivale. Deadwood, I like, in a perverse sort of way. And pretty much all network stuff is crap. The Wire is just da bomb, homes! Link of the week: What are you going to do the Saturday before Christmas? You gonna be near DC? Why not spend it with the cast of The Wire? Don’t forget: no episode this Sunday. Penultimate episode the 12th, final episode of season 3 the 19th.
- Looks like the previous hotlink didn't take. Here you go: The Wire official season finale party.
- Brian: Jeez, man, it ain't all red-state vs. blue-state. Kind of reminds me of the Yahoo commercial where Ben Stein and Al Franken talked about what the other side used the internet for. Stein said it was so democrats could find trees to hug, and Franken said it was so republicans could find trophy wives and yachts. The fact of the matter is that "The Wire" IS about how urban America really operates. Rather than just have writers pontificate about crap, Simon and Burns spent several years in the middle of it. Read "The Corner". It's fact, not fiction. The good thing is, Simon doesn't have to sugar-coat the story for higher ratings. As the companion book says "the truth be told". And comparing "The Wire" to "Hill Street Blues"? Maybe "Hill Street Blues" to "NYPD Blue", but not "The Wire". If nothing else, "The Wire" has shown me enough local color to let me believe that I could enjoy living in Bawlmer. Nance: My European wife is still shocked by the violence on TV, but many broadcast series are much more gory than "The Wire". Hell, last night she about lost her cookies during "Iron Chef" when they were fileting live turtles. Admittedly, Marlo's last job was decidely nasty. I did like the effect of the smoke coming out of the girl's mouth. This was simply to show that Marlo is one cold mofo. Typically, "The Wire" doesn't overdo the gore portion, but they do make it have impact. When Bodie and Poot shot Wallace, they didn't have to show a lot of blood, but the inhumanity of it made me puke. Literally. And it took me several takes before I realized that the guy in the flyer with the mustache was Poot. Then I realized that the mustache wasn't what threw me; it was the do-rag covering up his receding hairline. Mary: Thanks for joining the party! I also liked the Dennis Lahane credit. "The Wire" does this all the time, and it's hard to catch them all. Ed Burns was the only name I recognized from the list of real po-lice last week, but there could have been more. The one that's most obvious this season is having Jay Landsman play a character, and having someone else playing a character name Jay Landsman. Landsman, of course, was one of the sergeants in the homicide squad from the book "Homicide: a year on the killing streets". Like I said in last week's discussion, I think that Simon is setting us up with Cutty, so they could whack him big time. I'm hoping against hope that he'll make it through this year and the next. I hadn't thought about Colvin losing the Hopkins gig because of Hamsterdam, but that is a very real possibility. Up until Hamsterdam, Bunny was a 30 year man on the force looking for the retirement and either a security job, a PI job, or a gig in the county. The gig at Johns Hopkins was perfect. If he loses that, then he may be sentenced to his own hell, like some king of public service thing. And as for both Rawls remark about Bunny and Deadwood being the new Bonanza, well, I was trying to watch my language here ever since I was chastised for quoting Vice President Cheney. ;^) That, and Nancy's obtuse website censor which told me I couldn't use the word "i n f o" because of objectionable content.
- Pearlman: "an excellent legal mind". Nice gams, too. Wonder if she was goin' commando that day. I watched the coming attractions again, and I zeroed in on Avon telling Stringer that if he had a problem with them, that was on him. Hmmmm.... who could Stringer have a problem with? My guess is the combo of Mouzone and Omar. Both of these guys are big-time muscle, but they are also the most intelligent guys on the other side of the line. I'm still betting that they talk through everything, and decide that Stringer is the bigger problem for them, not Avon, and not each other. "Remarkably ineffectual". Yep, that 'bout sums it up. Now to see how they spin it. Bunny is just hoping he can make it to 30, then they're on their own. On Homicide, Brodie was simply a device, not a character. I think they may try to use the Sun reporter the same way. Simply a conduit. The powers that be will spin, manipulate, and twist that story until the truth is so far removed, you'll have to go back and watch the DVDs to find out what really happened. I like what Kim said about Carver, but he still may not get respect. The only guys who are on his side are Burrell (who bribed him with the 3 stripes) and Bunny (who told him he knows nothin about policin'), and at least one of them will be gone in 3 weeks. Although Carver may go for the higher reward, self-respect, kind of like Sydnor did at the end of the first season. People like the Hamsterdam effect, but can any of the mayoral candidates use that for their advantage? If anybody says in public that they want to continue Hamsterdam, either they will get spun out by the other candidates, or the Feds will come in on a RICO -- but maybe that's part of the bigger plan. I hadn't thought about Brianna ratting out Avon. The person who did the ratting even knew that Avon's name was on the papers. I thought that Brianna's name was on the papers -- that was part of the scheme so that Avon didn't come up on any paper trails. How could this have happened? Either Brianna or Avon or Levy had power of attorney for Avon while he was in prison. My guess is that it was never rescinded, and somebody did this recently to try to nail Avon. Stringer has no friends. Even Omar has Butchie. Stringer's time may be winding down.
- Nance, Most of the legalization advocates that I have talked to have said "legalization, but with regulation". Meaning: tax the hell out of it. Kind of like what Canada does with cigarettes and liquor, but to a much higher degree. Supposedly, this would help pay for all of those needle exchanges, condoms, and clinics. To a degree, I don't see how Hamsterdam is much different than the idea of a junkie going to the clinic to get his government-paid dose of methodone. It's still basically a government-sponsored sanctioning of drug use. It ain't Zurich's Needle Park, but it's close. We can't legislate morality, but we can segregate drug users. At least Bunny had it right by putting Hamsterdam in unpopulated areas. The alternative helps no one. Remember when Kima asked Bubbles if there was anyone on the West Side he didn't know? He said "Citizens". Those that live around the Corners know how to differentiate between taxpayers, and those who are in the game. You think that the Mayor would have hesitated to fire everybody unless there was a 14% drop in crime? Because the citizens are happier, there is some worth to it. Hamsterdam is hell on earth for those that live there...but they aren't taxpayers. It's a start.
- Brian, buddy, face it. You are a troll. You don't really add anything to any discussion; you just quote Fox News. If I can't really add much to the discussion, I try to stay out of it. I read this blog every day, but I don't necessarily eat up bandwidth for the fun of it. You're just into that whole provoking theme. Settle down, Beavis. By the way, Brian, nice line about the "Pregnant Pause".
- To Brian: a)I'm an msnbc man Sorry 'bout that. I'm not a fan of any of the cable news channels anymore. CNN no longer promotes their news, they promote their personalities. I miss Bernie Kalb. b) the "preganant pause" line wasn't mine Sorry again. Great line, Danny. c) as far as worthy expenditures of bandwidth, I would tend not to blindly trust the judgement of a person who expends 4000+ characters & spaces each week on the characters and plotlines of a tv series.... but nonetheless Point taken. I just really, really like that show, and I like discussing it. To me, this is the most real thing on television. "Reality TV" just means "we're too cheap to hire writers". First time caller: I appreciate your remarks, but please read the wikipedia link I posted to the definition of a troll. I remember the old Scientology v. everyone wars in the early/mid '90s. I know what a troll is. The term is more an indicator of intent rather than viciousness.
- Holy cow. It is really bizarre when I find out with whom I agree! "Because we don't give a damn about how them Yankees teach their children, but they aint gonna rest until they damn sure tell us how we're gonna teach ours.": Nice quote, Juan. Definitely prophetic. "I am just thinking of how in the past two election cycles, the DNC has trotted out these foolish, groundless comparisons of the GOP to the Jim Crow south." Exactly. The party of Kerry was also the party of Clinton and Kennedy and Lester Maddox. The party of W was also the party of Lincoln and Nixon and Reagan. What have you done for me lately, everybody? And juan, I am shocked and amazed that I agree with your opine about the origin of the war between the states. Go figure. Although, I think you're stone cold wrong to blame this on liberals in academia. I'm one of the farthest left of anybody that posts here, and I think I'm the only university professor. This just came about because the yankees won the war, and the yankees write the history books. By making it sound like the yankees were valiantly carrying the flag of the just, they've succeeded in rewriting history. Hate to tell y'all this, but the USA had slavery since the USA was founded. Way, way before the CSA existed. Please note that I am not defending slavery in any way, shape, or form. My big question to you juan, is why do you think that liberals dominate academia? According to a NYT article last month, it is along the lines of 10:1. I'll tell you why. Because people that read become liberal. At least, that's if they understood what they read. Conservatives typically do not value doing anything for the public good unless it lines their pockets. Conservatives don't believe in art the sake of art, or social justice, or any of the other "tree hugging" causes that the liberals champion. People that get PhDs usually have a higher purpose than the acquisition of wealth. I just detest the whole "school vouchers" debate. If you don't like the school in your district, then either 1) move, and contribute to "white flight" (oh, and you'll have to move again in 7 years), 2) change it. Raise teacher salaries. Become a teacher yourself. If you take your tax money out, then you're widening the chasm. Like a friend of mine said: "Re-elect Bush. Accellerate the revolution".
- "This just came about because the yankees won the war, and the yankees write the history books." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This was bouncing around in my head after I logged off last night, Ash. "Winners write the history books." I think that's what you meant to say. Unfortunately Brian jumped all over a minor mispeak and ran with it at full speed in the wrong direction. Sigh. Yep. That's exactly what I meant to say. I should have paraphrased it so that it read "textbooks" instead of "history books", as current HS textbooks make the war between the states about as black and white (no pun intended) as it can be. "Cults breed cultists." Oh yeah. I have seen so many PhD students forced to put the pods in their trunk. Fortunately, my PhD was in a scientific field. They usually aren't as bad. Many people I knew in the humanities could only "successfully" defend their thesis if it towed their advisor's line. "I'll tell you why. Because people that read become liberal. At least, that's if they understood what they read." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`` ...And then Ashley walked into the forest of ad hominem and chewed the trees. Dang, dude. You were so rational there for a minute. Sigh. Sorry I forgot to tell everyone that I set the snark-o-meter on "obliterate" there. ;^) - "If you don't like the school in your district, then either 1) move," I only mentioned this because in the quaint little town where I got my B.S. degree is the most amazing case of white flight I've ever seen. The town is on a county border, and all of the good-ole-boys moved to the other (lily-white) county. The core of the city keeps moving westward, and of course, everyone still works in the other county. So they've basically abandoned the schools. It is truly depressing. ---- "Raise teacher salaries." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``` Amen. Teachers and Cops should make more than doctors and lawyers. Well, lawyers, anyway. I'd keep the doctors up there on the scale. ---- "If you take your tax money out, then you're widening the chasm." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`` No chasm in my neighborhood. I'm a rich Republican, remember? My school district is the second best in my state. But I understand your concern. You are talking white flight. I was talking forced values. It's a sticky wicket. Sticky indeed.
- I'll match Brian!
- I say we legalize steroid use. Even encourage it. Then, they'll all die at 35, and we won't have to listen to them be commentators on TV.
- To prep for living in Detroit, I suggest you start reading the collected works of Donald Goines.
- Edwards was a total waste of a Veep candidate. If the guy can't even deliver his own state (which would have been one short to deliver the election, but still...). My prediction was that Bob Graham would become the VEEP candidate the second he dropped out of the election, because he could probably deliver Florida, and thus, the election. How do people like McAuliffe and Kerry's strategist keep getting jobs? Brian's right: make it look simple. Things like "It's the economy, stupid" get the point across. Nuance don't win elections.
- When I think about how Reagan dumped all of the mentally ill out of the institutions, I think of Philip Bury. Of course, you may know him better as Buck Naked, if you know him at all. Long story short: guy named Michael Kagan was released from an institution when Reagan was emptying the looney bins (and increasing the prison population with draconian drug policies...anyway). Kagan was an obsessive pigeon feeder. Buck was walking his dog in golden gate park. Kagan thought that Buck and his dog were bothering the pigeons. So Kagan shot Buck to death. At least we didn't infringe on Kagan's second amendment rights.
- Juan, Why do I have to pick either "good" or "bad", and "not good" or "not bad"? Are there no shades of grey? (This, coming from a professor whose chief research has been in 'fuzzy logic') Kind of like, there are no blue or red states, but they're all kind of purple.
- I always thought that Mississippi liquor laws were victorian because you couldn't buy on Sunday, but this was county specific. Also, it was 18 to buy beer/wine, and 21 for liquor, and they had drive-thru beer barns. In Florida, you had to wait until 1:00 on Sunday to buy beer, at the time when that mattered to me. Of course, in New Orleans, it's 24x7 for anything, anytime. Drive thru daiquiri bars, and it ain't an open container if they don't pierce the lid with the straw. Liquor for sale in drug stores and gas stations. Amen.
- Beg, borrow, or steal the money. Get the house you want, and don't spend years and thousands of dollars trying to turn something else into the house you want. You don't want or need that hassle. Worst case scenario, go with a novel mortgage instead of a traditional mortgage, and interest be damned.
- Apologies up front; this is really long. I just watched a 58 minute episode, and about the only thing I can remember is: "Your own boy gave you up". And "get on with it, motherfuckers". If nothing else, this shows the brilliance and discipline of David Simon. So what if Stringer has become a fan favorite and the character with the most facets. Character is subservient to story. Everything is subservient to story. If it advances the story, go with it, everything else be damned. Remember D, Sobotka, and Wallace? It shouldn't have been a surprise. Now, I have been saying for the past few weeks that Stringer had no friends, from Clay Davis to Avon to the boys on the corners. He also had plenty of enemies, from Brianna to McNulty to Marlo to Prop Joe to Brother Mouzone to Omar. But I didn't see String getting whacked the way he got whacked, with Avon giving him up. Damn. BTW, it's always a bad omen when two guys that came up together giving each other a hug with about 10 minutes left to go in the show. Happened in New Jack City, Happened here. Also, after that hug, don't tell the guy where you're planning to be the next day. Damn. So. Where are we now? Well, McNulty is trying his damnedest to mend fences with Daniels, but it looks like Daniels is still less than thrilled with Jimmy's behavior. Jimmy doesn't want to go back on a boat. Can you believe that Jimmy walked out on D'agostino? Evidently, that piece of ass wasn't worth his pride. He saw that she was just playing him to find out the scoop on Bunny. Jimmy is loyal like a dog to Bunny, and some Washington spin doctor with boobs ain't changin' that. Avon is stealing pages from Pablo Escobar, and helping out Cutty in the public affairs sector. Somehow, I don't see Marlo doing this kind of thing, ever. Avon is the people's drug dealer. For some reason, I'm feeling better about Cutty making it through. However, that next episode looks like Fallujah West. I'm not wagering any money on who comes out of that one alive. Did you catch the cameos of Dennis Lehane and former Bawlmer mayor Kurt Schmoke' With Russell Bell (RIP) gone, who starts handling the day-to-day affairs of Barksdale, inc.? Who else knows Robert's rules of order? What becomes of the co-op' We may find out next week. Link-o-rama: Need a late Xmas present? How about Season 2 of The Wire
Ashley on Homework.
October 7th, 2003 Â 12:47Â am
ashley on Grr.
October 7th, 2003 Â 12:51Â am
ashley on Get in line.
October 14th, 2003 Â 12:15Â am
ashley on My homework assignment.
October 15th, 2003 Â 12:18Â pm
ashley on It was 20 years ago, but not today.
October 15th, 2003 Â 12:09Â pm
ashley on No duh.
October 17th, 2003 Â 11:28Â pm
ashley on One fine day.
October 17th, 2003 Â 11:15Â pm
ashley on One fine day.
October 17th, 2003 Â 11:16Â pm
ashley on Ick.
October 19th, 2003 Â 11:46Â pm
ashley on Same to you, boss.
October 28th, 2003 Â 10:32Â am
ashley on Geek fun.
October 30th, 2003 Â 12:03Â pm
ashley on Geek fun.
October 30th, 2003 Â 12:07Â pm
ashley on Geek fun.
October 30th, 2003 Â 5:24Â pm
ashley on Geek fun.
October 31st, 2003 Â 12:35Â pm
ashley on Geek fun.
October 31st, 2003 Â 3:00Â pm
ashley on Geek fun.
October 31st, 2003 Â 4:50Â pm
ashley on I was the afternoon DJ on WEIRD...
November 3rd, 2003 Â 10:32Â am
ashley on The naked truth.
November 4th, 2003 Â 2:55Â am
ashley on Bad news for the republic.
November 3rd, 2003 Â 6:37Â pm
ashley on The legend lives on.
November 6th, 2003 Â 2:37Â pm
ashley on But the experience is worth so much.
November 6th, 2003 Â 2:33Â pm
ashley on And pledge week just ended?
November 7th, 2003 Â 1:12Â pm
ashley on George! Drop the keys!
November 9th, 2003 Â 11:44Â pm
ashley on Hard lessons.
November 11th, 2003 Â 10:28Â am
ashley on You can have your funky world.
November 12th, 2003 Â 2:45Â pm
ashley on You can have your funky world.
November 13th, 2003 Â 10:29Â am
ashley on Out of the mouths of Michiganders.
November 15th, 2003 Â 12:21Â pm
ashley on Out of the mouths of Michiganders.
November 15th, 2003 Â 12:23Â pm
ashley on Proud to be an American.
November 22nd, 2003 Â 9:10Â am
ashley on Yob tvoyu mat.
November 29th, 2003 Â 1:52Â pm
ashley on Praise Easton.
December 2nd, 2003 Â 1:58Â pm
ashley on Light duty warning.
December 3rd, 2003 Â 2:23Â pm
ashley on A few snaps.
December 20th, 2003 Â 10:31Â am
ashley on Hosed.
December 23rd, 2003 Â 2:46Â am
ashley on Grab your keys.
January 5th, 2004 Â 10:49Â am
Ashley on Just a few things.
January 7th, 2004 Â 11:57Â am
Ashley on Grr.
January 7th, 2004 Â 12:08Â pm
ashley on Homework.
January 11th, 2004 Â 12:28Â am
ashley on Proud to be an American.
January 16th, 2004 Â 1:37Â am
ashley on Networked.
January 20th, 2004 Â 6:07Â pm
ashley on My work, done for me.
January 22nd, 2004 Â 12:30Â pm
ashley on Calling all queers.
January 22nd, 2004 Â 9:42Â pm
ashley on The clipping service.
February 7th, 2004 Â 7:37Â am
ashley on The clipping service.
February 7th, 2004 Â 7:15Â pm
ashley on The morning papers.
February 8th, 2004 Â 3:03Â pm
ashley on Something smells good.
February 8th, 2004 Â 11:08Â pm
ashley on Something smells good.
February 9th, 2004 Â 3:48Â am
ashley on Blame Canada.
February 16th, 2004 Â 3:18Â am
ashley on His name is Richard Kimble.
February 19th, 2004 Â 11:33Â pm
ashley on Not the up-the-butt girl.
February 19th, 2004 Â 11:30Â pm
ashley on Mother's milk.
February 20th, 2004 Â 11:41Â am
ashley on A constitutional amendment?
February 25th, 2004 Â 12:15Â am
ashley on A constitutional amendment?
February 26th, 2004 Â 6:31Â pm
ashley on Buckeye state of mind.
February 29th, 2004 Â 12:19Â pm
ashley on Banana bread afternoon.
March 1st, 2004 Â 5:01Â pm
ashley on Empty head, highlighted.
March 4th, 2004 Â 12:00Â am
ashley on Wrong number.
March 7th, 2004 Â 9:10Â pm
ashley on The round-up.
March 7th, 2004 Â 11:19Â pm
ashley on Name game.
March 9th, 2004 Â 12:43Â pm
ashley on I say it's spinach.
March 9th, 2004 Â 2:22Â am
ashley on Shorter Jayson Blair.
March 9th, 2004 Â 2:17Â am
ashley on Bones to pick.
March 12th, 2004 Â 10:11Â pm
ashley on Jack Kelley, p.o.s.
March 22nd, 2004 Â 2:03Â pm
ashley on Teevee.
March 23rd, 2004 Â 11:25Â pm
ashley on Goodbye to all that.
March 24th, 2004 Â 1:04Â pm
ashley on The big 8!
March 27th, 2004 Â 1:22Â pm
ashley on The big 8!
March 27th, 2004 Â 1:27Â pm
ashley on Tough towns all over.
March 27th, 2004 Â 1:17Â pm
ashley on Home for the aged.
April 1st, 2004 Â 2:11Â am
ashley on When the going gets weird...
April 16th, 2004 Â 2:02Â am
ashley on Sulking.
April 21st, 2004 Â 12:34Â am
ashley on Speechless.
April 28th, 2004 Â 1:08Â pm
ashley on Bad manners.
April 28th, 2004 Â 1:06Â pm
ashley on Where's Purple America?
April 29th, 2004 Â 2:10Â am
ashley on Where's Purple America?
April 29th, 2004 Â 9:55Â pm
ashley on On tour.
May 1st, 2004 Â 12:53Â pm
ashley on Long-term parking.
May 24th, 2004 Â 11:40Â pm
ashley on Neither first nor second.
June 1st, 2004 Â 4:10Â am
ashley on By popular demand...
September 30th, 2004 Â 5:37Â pm
ashley on By popular demand...
October 1st, 2004 Â 12:14Â am
ashley on "The gods will not save you."
October 4th, 2004 Â 3:30Â pm
ashley on "The gods will not save you."
October 4th, 2004 Â 6:10Â pm
ashley on "The gods will not save you."
October 4th, 2004 Â 10:49Â pm
ashley on "The gods will not save you."
October 5th, 2004 Â 12:43Â pm
ashley on Borden's rule.
October 5th, 2004 Â 12:49Â pm
ashley on Rodney Dangerfield, RIP
October 7th, 2004 Â 1:39Â pm
ashley on Rodney Dangerfield, RIP
October 7th, 2004 Â 2:06Â pm
ashley on Rodney Dangerfield, RIP
October 7th, 2004 Â 8:01Â pm
ashley on Rodney Dangerfield, RIP
October 10th, 2004 Â 1:20Â pm
ashley on Two-buck bliss.
October 7th, 2004 Â 10:08Â pm
ashley on Two-buck bliss.
October 7th, 2004 Â 10:11Â pm
ashley on Amsterdam.
October 12th, 2004 Â 4:29Â am
ashley on Amsterdam.
October 12th, 2004 Â 7:50Â pm
ashley on Hot pumpkins.
October 12th, 2004 Â 8:10Â pm
ashley on Princess Diana fever.
October 15th, 2004 Â 2:35Â am
ashley on Whassamatta U.
October 18th, 2004 Â 3:45Â am
ashley on Whassamatta U.
October 18th, 2004 Â 6:08Â am
ashley on Hamsterdam.
October 18th, 2004 Â 3:41Â am
ashley on Hamsterdam.
October 18th, 2004 Â 4:36Â am
ashley on Hamsterdam.
October 18th, 2004 Â 4:37Â am
ashley on Hamsterdam.
October 18th, 2004 Â 1:30Â pm
ashley on Hamsterdam.
October 18th, 2004 Â 11:30Â pm
ashley on What's the matter with Ohio?
October 18th, 2004 Â 11:35Â pm
ashley on Red Sox Nation.
October 21st, 2004 Â 12:29Â am
ashley on Red Sox Nation.
October 21st, 2004 Â 3:21Â pm
ashley on Two depressing stories.
October 25th, 2004 Â 2:23Â pm
ashley on Two depressing stories.
October 26th, 2004 Â 1:19Â am
ashley on Black satin.
October 27th, 2004 Â 11:36Â pm
ashley on Saying something nice...
November 4th, 2004 Â 4:45Â am
ashley on Saying something nice...
November 8th, 2004 Â 1:31Â pm
ashley on Saying something nice...
November 8th, 2004 Â 3:03Â pm
ashley on Off to Beertown.
November 6th, 2004 Â 1:27Â am
ashley on Off to Beertown.
November 6th, 2004 Â 11:54Â am
ashley on Travel notes.
November 10th, 2004 Â 12:35Â am
ashley on Today's bitter bummer post.
November 9th, 2004 Â 8:32Â pm
ashley on Today's bitter bummer post.
November 10th, 2004 Â 11:53Â am
ashley on Today's bitter bummer post.
November 10th, 2004 Â 2:03Â pm
ashley on Our way of death.
November 9th, 2004 Â 8:10Â pm
ashley on "I am a liberal."
November 10th, 2004 Â 6:02Â pm
ashley on "I am a liberal."
November 10th, 2004 Â 7:56Â pm
ashley on "I am a liberal."
November 10th, 2004 Â 8:57Â pm
ashley on "I am a liberal."
November 10th, 2004 Â 10:03Â pm
ashley on "I am a liberal."
November 11th, 2004 Â 3:11Â am
ashley on A day away.
November 11th, 2004 Â 3:05Â am
ashley on A day away.
November 12th, 2004 Â 3:46Â am
ashley on It's heee-eeere.
November 14th, 2004 Â 8:10Â pm
ashley on "Gotcha WMD!"
November 15th, 2004 Â 7:02Â pm
ashley on "Gotcha WMD!"
November 15th, 2004 Â 8:56Â pm
ashley on "Gotcha WMD!"
November 16th, 2004 Â 7:07Â pm
ashley on She bites.
November 15th, 2004 Â 9:07Â pm
ashley on She bites.
November 16th, 2004 Â 7:01Â pm
ashley on She bites.
November 16th, 2004 Â 11:28Â pm
ashley on Everybody loves pie.
November 19th, 2004 Â 12:29Â am
ashley on Everybody loves pie.
November 19th, 2004 Â 12:31Â am
ashley on Everybody loves pie.
November 19th, 2004 Â 2:57Â pm
ashley on It's a tough town.
November 21st, 2004 Â 10:43Â pm
ashley on Patience, my man. Patience.
November 22nd, 2004 Â 9:25Â pm
ashley on Patience, my man. Patience.
November 23rd, 2004 Â 10:08Â pm
ashley on So simple.
November 23rd, 2004 Â 11:02Â am
ashley on So simple.
November 23rd, 2004 Â 10:12Â pm
ashley on Sniff.
November 24th, 2004 Â 2:21Â pm
ashley on Mne sorok syem lyet.
November 29th, 2004 Â 7:54Â pm
ashley on Slow train comin'.
December 1st, 2004 Â 3:16Â pm
ashley on Slow train comin'.
December 1st, 2004 Â 3:22Â pm
ashley on Slow train comin'.
December 1st, 2004 Â 7:08Â pm
ashley on Slow train comin'.
December 2nd, 2004 Â 1:44Â am
ashley on Slow train comin'.
December 2nd, 2004 Â 8:49Â pm
ashley on Faith-based faith.
December 4th, 2004 Â 3:03Â am
ashley on Faith-based faith.
December 6th, 2004 Â 12:55Â am
ashley on A word about comments.
December 6th, 2004 Â 12:39Â am
ashley on A word about comments.
December 6th, 2004 Â 8:55Â pm
ashley on Go away from this place.
December 4th, 2004 Â 9:24Â pm
ashley on It has come to pass.
December 6th, 2004 Â 1:04Â am
ashley on We have an announcement.
December 10th, 2004 Â 1:10Â am
ashley on Clean freak.
December 10th, 2004 Â 1:16Â am
ashley on Crazy thinking.
December 11th, 2004 Â 12:33Â pm
ashley on Crazy thinking.
December 13th, 2004 Â 4:28Â pm
ashley on A grand night out.
December 13th, 2004 Â 9:55Â pm
ashley on Move-in condition.
December 13th, 2004 Â 9:49Â pm
ashley on Get on with it, then.
December 14th, 2004 Â 9:27Â pm