DaveSumm

I didn’t pick up on that reference. Did we have time to read the paper in any detail? What did she die of exactly?

Oh good, it’s not just me. Look she’s being a hero! She’s leading fully sighted people out of the building and going back for more! Oh and she died. Yea basically. Can’t be bothered dredging over all the stupid, it was pretty stupid.

Even if we accept the existence of the recorder, I don’t understand why the President would ever talk about stuff like her husbands affair, or how they could maybe just delete the tapes. Even by the shows internal logic, there’s either a recorded conversation about destroying recorded conversations, or there’s a gap in the records, and they state in the episode that those are both problems. But they’re just … doing it again? And still talking freely?

I’d forgotten about that; is this correct, that there is a tape recorder in the Oval Office that’s recording 24/7, and the President knows about it, but they still talk freely there, and they can listen back to the tapes anytime (while, it should be noted, talking freely about how they could destroy the tape)…? What if someone gets hold of that tape? Or is that literally the recorder, so there’d be a gap at that point? Does this make any sense at all?

Honestly I didn’t even mind the Korean guy at the end just cos it was something other than the soap opera back at base. I do worry that this show has too much of a formula and won’t keep my interest for much longer. What made the first season so good was that we could still recognise ourselves in it, it still resembled the 60’s even though things got more advanced. That’s what makes scenes like the Russian shooting the window so striking, because internally we know how fucking horrendous that’d be for international relations. But the more things deviate, the less familiar things become. And ultimately it’s plots are built on disaster; Season 4, one assumes, they’ll head to some other moon even further away? And it won’t go smoothly? And there’ll be some interpersonal conflict between a badly aged-up Danny, and someone’s kids or something? This could get old fast. I enjoyed the press conference scene, as again, this is returning to the shows core premise - the space race keeps us all focused on a better future. And I love when they intersperse it with real historical footage. But I’m not sure how much they can draw from that well either, once we move into the next millennium.

I have to say, as much as I’ve hated the Danny plot the last few episodes, I don’t mind the angle that he feels responsible for Shane and has been trying to live his life. I’m hoping they can just turn a corner with it now and stop moping around. But we need some stupid on the show! How about, a professional and intelligent NASA astronaut just fucks around up there without condoms? I mean that should be fine right?

Eesh, that one really tested my faith in the show. The Stevens kids front and centre and they’re the worst thing about the show. Isn’t Jimmy supposed to be nearing 30 by now? And this story feels like it’s written for a 15 year old, doing bad shit cos a pretty girl smiled at him. So many stupid moments in this; how the fuck did they steal a statue? What there’s no cameras at the front of the main building? Thank god they had a badge so they could get to … that bit that Jimmy had to pass to get the badge in the first place. Ed clearly knew Danny was high, so maybe restrict his access to the drugs? Maybe don’t put him anywhere near anything critical, instead of saying “Hit me! Be a man!” What lesson is he hoping to leave Danny with there? And other guy knew Danny was a liability, should never have left him watching something so critical. This whole trope of ‘drug user empties another pill and looks at himself in the mirror’, there must have half a dozen of those same scenes by now. Contender for worst episode ever I think.

So, I was 11 in 1994* and wasn’t paying attention to the progress of gay rights in the US. Did the level of outrage seem about right here? It kinda felt overdone but I’m not sure. I know the military thing would be an issue, but it would’ve been nice to balance that with some segment of the population being happy for him. Maybe swap out a Danny scene… another classic from him. “Doesn’t think I’m cut out?! I’ll show him!” *destroys some equipment* *actually, I had a feeling that was too early for Supergrass - ‘Alright’, do we assume we’ve rolled around to July 1995? Did Kelly get sent the song from Earth?

Finally caught up! Whew. It’d be so cool if the forum had a feature where it flagged up episode dates in discussions like this. Had to keep cross referencing airdates and post dates. Such a great series, but gotta agree about Danny. It was so out of character for Karen to sleep with him, and now he’s just a ticking time bomb and we’re just sat waiting for him to fuck up his life. Agree with the previous post; he’s absolutely stupid enough to tell Ed. I put money that he does by the end of the season. It’s a bit of a shame that we’ve only seen him act like a jerk, the part where he got his life together and became an astronaut was off screen. All we’ve seen him do is pine after Karen.

So he managed to finish an email, apologising for a blog that isn’t written, a blog about a sample chapter that isn’t written, from a book that isn’t written. I guess we should be grateful he made it to the end of the email?

I don’t actually own a computer anymore, my iMac gradually got used less and less in favour of the iPad. Just never have any call for it. I watch everything on a TV, YouTube and all streaming. I still find it weird when YouTubers say ‘hit the bell in the corner’ and wonder who the hell’s watching on a computer, and not in full screen. I use Prime a lot more recently since I discover they have all of South Park, though weirdly it might be a glitch - it says they only have selected seasons, and the others are purchasable, but then you just go to one that’s free and go down to the episodes and along, it’ll play all of them.

Holy shiiiit this gets dark… long, but worth a watch if you have the time.

For some reason ‘Horse-mmunity’ cracked me up, and seemed to sum up the type of humour they were aiming for here.

I forgot to mention this, it’s really weird that something so important is buried in the appendix. It’s all fantasy and then you hit the appendix ‘so, these aliens landed...’ ... WTF?

I really enjoyed the first two books, the third was OK but I felt like they built up the mystery of Kellhus’s Dad a bit too much and the pay off wasn’t worth it. The first and second of the next trilogy, I’ve never been so bored reading a climax. They’re in a cave, they’re in another cave, they’re in another cave, cave, another cave, yawn. Never bothered with the last two.

I haven’t see that season, but that sounds awful. I bailed half way through the Jo Brand season cos I got the same vibe from her. It’s quite childish, the “you can’t fail if you don’t try” attitude. The show’s best when the contestants are funny, but also really want to win and are truly competitive.

Yea it is one of those shows that’s only really as good as the contestants. I think season 2 was my favourite.

I attempted Discworld many, many years ago but lost my way somewhere in the middle of The Colour of Magic. It sounds like it isn’t the best example of the Discworld novels, but does that mean it’s better to start elsewhere? Or is chronologically still the preferred option?

So, I’m not exactly sure what to call what it is I generally look for on YouTube, but I love discovering interesting mini-documentaries about pretty much any subject. Adam Neely has this excellent video on a particular jazz solo, but ends up getting really in depth about what it is about music that connects with an audience: Trekspertise is a fantastic Star Trek channel, and their review of Lower Decks delves into what it is about all Trek that resonates with them: And the great Lemmino, who researches random mysteries and produces some superb videos. Love to hear of any other YouTubers who can hit these heights, engaging, well produced, insightful, interesting stuff on any topic really.

I’m watching for the first time at the moment, and I’m really impressed with the voice actor of Aang, and that’s just a voice. It’d be a very tough cast.

Indeed. Genuine question; what portion of the ultimate audience that Netflix would hope for for this series come from fans of the animated series? Is it not better to keep everyone positive by keeping the original creators on, fixing whatever their issues may be? Or is that naive, and actually the old fan base would be negligible in terms of numbers? I suppose most would still watch, albeit with a more negative predisposition.

Can I ask a question about Tigana? I've just started Part II, Dianora.

http://thewertzone.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/where-to-start-guy-gavriel-kay.html?m=1

test

test