Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Petty moves from a petty man.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

You are here: Home / z-Retired Categories / Previous Site Maintenance / Open Thread

Open Thread

by | 150 Comments

This post is in: 

Sorry for the lack of posts, but I am on spring Break and Tim is lazy busy.

BTW- I have been watching the Wire again while working out (the only thing that keeps me in that torture device exercise bike is a good show), and I had forgotten how good the show really is. I still can not decide who my favorite character is, because I just like them all so much. If I had to choose, it would probably be Bunk. Regardless, Major Rawls is a personal hero.

Reader Interactions

150Comments

  1. 1.

    Zifnab

    Everyone I know still in school went on Spring Break two weeks ago. :-p You crazy West Virginianers.

  2. 2.

    Punchy

    Hey Timmy and Johnny, have you guys seen THIS?

    Wow, if this is the Army of today….jesus lord christ are we in some serious trouble….

  3. 3.

    Jake

    Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick. Ms. Commode is a stellar example of the correlation between idiocy and bigotry.

    Priceless.

  5. 5.

    Tom Hilton

    Arguably the best television ever.

    I still can not decide who my favorite character is, because I just like them all so much.

    I’m a fan of Lester Freamon, but yeah–too many to choose from. Landsman is always fun (and apparently modeled on a real cop named Landsman, who actually appears in the series as another cop altogether). Rawls does have his moments.

    And on the other side of the fence, there’s Stringer Bell; Chris Partlow; Bodie; and of course d’Angelo.

  6. 6.

    28 Percent

    My prayers are with Sgt Ramode it is horrible to see people turn away from God and LOVE and she was just trying too rid him of the hate in his heart and bring him to JESUS. He should have been more respectful to her because she is serving and risking her life and I ask you is he? it is true that like Jonah Goldberg you can have an opinion withougt being in the military but if your opinion is just to trash the bravery and sacrifice of people like Sgt Ramode who bring the freedom I think you should just SHUT UP.

    I hope nothing happens to her because she is a Christian but would a real Christian say “ass” I do not know.

  7. 7.

    RSA

    Wow, if this is the Army of today.

    In other Army news. . . I don’t know if you’ll need to get a daypass or whatever to see the article, but the upshot is in the headline and blurb:

    Army deployed seriously injured troops

    Soldiers on crutches and canes were sent to a main desert camp used for Iraq training. Military experts say the Army was pumping up manpower statistics to show a brigade was battle ready.

    The stories from the soldiers interviewed are like something out of Catch-22, except they’re not funny.

  8. 8.

    Zifnab

    Even Catch-22 at least pretended to treat its characters with dignity. Stories like these would give Joseph Heller fits.

  9. 9.

    norbizness

    I like Lester for the good guys, Stringer Bell for the bad guys, although that wormy little City Council guy is growing on me (I have the first 3 seasons but no HBO, so no season 4 for me yet).

  11. 11.

    AkaDad

    Believing that a non-partisan independent system of jurisprudence is crucial to our Democracy, actually hurts the troops.

  13. 13.

    Krista

    “GO BACK TO AFRICA AND DO YOUR GAY VOODOO LIMBO TANGO AND WANGO DANCE AND JUMP AROUND AND PRANCE AND RUN ALL OVER THE PLACE HALF NAKED THERE.”
    — U.S. Army recruiter Sgt. Marcia Ramode, using her military email address to respond to Jersey City resident Corey Andrew, after Ramode learned Andrew was gay.

    Silly bitch. If Andrew’s physically capable of doing a gay voodo limbo tango AND wango dance, WHILE jumping around, prancing, AND running all over the place half-naked…then the man would make a formidable and versatile soldier, IMO.

  16. 16.

    Tom Hilton

    I like Lester for the good guys, Stringer Bell for the bad guys, although that wormy little City Council guy is growing on me (I have the first 3 seasons but no HBO, so no season 4 for me yet).

    Tommy Carcetti is a fascinating mix of calculated ambition and the genuine desire to do good. He’s at his best when the two coincide…but even when they don’t, occasionally he surprises us all by doing the right thing.

  18. 18.

    mrmobi

    First, Wire, Schmire. “Rome” ended last night. A truly great show.

    I hope nothing happens to her because she is a Christian but would a real Christian say “ass” I do not know.

    28, you are, apparently, completely illiterate, in addition to being the worst spoof you can be. Even the denizens of “Idiocracy” are better spoken than you. Keep up the terrible work, America needs more stupidity like yours.

  19. 19.

    Andrew

    If Andrew’s physically capable of doing a gay voodo limbo tango AND wango dance, WHILE jumping around, prancing, AND running all over the place half-naked…

    If?

  20. 20.

    mrmobi

    Important new legislation in Texas

    The Texas Spermatazoan-American Purchasing Act of 2007

    Sen. Dan Patrick
    Texas State Senate

    Dear Sen. Patrick,

    Kudos to you for introducing SB 1567, the Texas Baby Purchasing Act of 2007. Undoubtedly, it will save the lives of many blastocyst-Americans.

    But what about their tiny spermatazoan-American brothers? Your bill does nothing to protect them. Indeed, it completely ignores the tubesock holocaust. I hope you’ll consider amending SB 1567 to address this terrible oversight.

    It’s a lot easier to protect spermatazoan-Americans than you might think. All you need is a few collection points around the state, a number of modified milking machines, a good supply of mason jars, ink that fluoresces under UV lighting, a few Perry Como albums, a stipend for the donors, and a lot of cellar space.

    Here’s how I see it working. You offer every man in the state a stipend, say $15 dollars a visit, to drop by their local legislator’s office every couple of days to liberate their little spermatazoan-American citizens. To prevent cheating, we apply a UV fluorescent ink to their hands when they visit and then examine their little soldiers under a black light at their next visit. This will allow them to have normal relations with their wives while alerting us to any inappropriate touching on their part.

    I know what you’re thinking. It won’t work on Democrats, because they like to put their little soldiers in ladies mouths — often while they’re trying to kiss that mythical sailor in the boat the femislamunistofscists are always so excited about — but I think that’s something we can work on for the next legislative session.

    I’d like to go into this with you in more detail and show you my modified milking machine prototype. It’s great. I call it Sheila. I haven’t left the trailer since I built it.

    Please have your legislative assistant give me call to set up an appointment.

    Heterosexually yours,

    Gen. JC Christian, patriot

  21. 21.

    Krista

    Um, I meant Corey Andrew.

    But nicely done! With one syllable, you almost cost me my keyboard.

  23. 23.

    Punchy

    Wow, Greenwald–natch–nails it.

    wow. 2000+ words and now I want to fly out to DC and start thowing haymakers at The Blonde Dipshit myself…

  24. 24.

    Marcus Wellby

    Best Wire charachter?

    Without a doubt Bodie — watching his growth from season 1 through 4 was great TV. Maybe because he was so young in season 1, but damn — no show has ever shown progression of a charachter like that, in a realistic fashion.

    McNullty is great as well. Shit, the whole cast rocks.

    Rome ended last night, Wire has one more season, Deadwood is gone — I wonder what HBO has in store for the future. I can’t get excited about the Sopranos after the last season.

  25. 25.

    28 Percent

    mrmobi if you cannot do anything but use ad hominem then you are “detracting” from the conversation; try contributing to it instead you might like it you never know =) I think it is you who is “spoofing” an irate liberal who can always be counted on to call conservatives stupid. Maybe someday you will be smart enough to know that the MAJORITY will always include some who are below average and then you will not just confirm every time you talk that you liberals are all elitist snobs.

    Thanks for playing!

  26. 26.

    Andrew

    Deadwood isn’t totally gone. They are doing two movies that wrap everything up. We have about 4 hours of Deadwood left.

  27. 27.

    Punchy

    I can’t get excited about the Sopranos after the last season.

    Please, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, do not mention anything about this show. I’m only halfway thru season 5, and rationing myself (if left unchecked, I’d rent every last episode and take 3 days straight off of work).

    Thanks.

  28. 28.

    Darrell, D'Souza, Delay and Strauss

    and I had forgotten how good the show really is.

    How could you ‘forget’ how good that show is? It’s the best TV in the 21st century. WTF is wrong with you? I suppose it’s all the same to you.

    I still can not decide who my favorite character is, because I just like them all so much. If I had to choose, it would probably be Bunk.

    Pretty much all the white folk pale in comparison to the rest of the acting.

    Omar is the man. Gay black men with shotguns must upset ppGaz.

  29. 29.

    Andrew

    Deadwood isn’t totally gone. They are doing two movies that wrap everything up. We have about 4 hours of Deadwood left.

    Who the fuck is this guy?

    Anyway, if we’re talking TV, I have to say that the season finale of Battlestar Bob Dylanica was pretty crazy.

  31. 31.

    Darrell, D'Souza, Delay and Strauss

    Who the fuck is this guy?

    You two should talk with Fruitbat and Fruitbat Jones

  33. 33.

    Face

    Who the fuck is this guy?

    Happy to see this guy actually thinks he’s the only “Andrew” on the internets. Maybe it’s true. At least we know there’s a TON of Fruitbats logged on.

    Maybe Cole could rename teh blog “Fruit Juice”.

  35. 35.

    jenniebee

    Crazy lame.

    Spoiler Alert

    Four of the final five are revealed when – I kid you not – they all walk into the same room, see each other and say “I can’t believe it! I guess we’re all cylons! We should totally go back to work and be the best humans we can be, because not telling anybody that we can be suddenly triggered and compelled to follow our programming is the way we can best serve humanity. Which we really, really want to do.”

    Lee Adama has a big speech on the witness stand where he says that humanity has been just making things up as they go instead of staying true to a system of justice lately, and that wanting to throw a manipulative, arrogant, cowardly Quisling out an airlock just for being, you know, a manipulative, arrogant, cowardly Quisling would also be just making things up as they go, and that’s bad. You would think that the response would be “OK, so as long as we’re making shit up anyway… is airlock seven clear?”

    Guess it’s a good thing for Baltar that he was only on trial for the crimes they knew about.

  36. 36.

    Pooh

    The Wire sucks.

    So, when do you think Pooh’s going to show up to tell you off?

    Right now. You shouldn’t pick a fight with me on my birthday, jackass…

    Ahhh, the Wire –

    John re: Rawls, have you seen Season 3 yet? Just asking, because, not that there’s anything wrong with that…

    My favorite characters? Bodie, Vondas, The Bunk, and surprisingly, Chris, who somehow reminds me of Forrest Whitaker in “Ghost Dog”. Omar transcends the show, almost literally (he, and to some extent, Mouzzoune, are the only characters not fully grounded in verisimilitude). Since the show is about organizations and hierarchies, and he is completely outside of any such group, he’s sort of the Deus ex Machina who stirs the pot from time to time.

    The real Landsman plays Lt. Melo, who was Bunny Colvin’s second in command in Season 3.

    “Rome” ended last night. A truly great show.

    Second season especially – Titus Pullo is one of the great TV characters, ever.

  37. 37.

    Krista

    jenniebee – I actually thought the episode was great, and you’re assuming that those final five cylons (of which we now know four), would work the exact same way as the others. Everything we’ve seen on the show has indicated that those five are very, very different from the other cylons. Hell, the others don’t even know who the final five ARE. I think those differences, and their roles will definitely be explained more in the next season, but I do think that you’re really oversimplifying what happened in that episode.

  38. 38.

    ThymeZone

    Omar transcends the show, almost literally

    Nothing is more convincing, or profound, than the proof-by-asssertion arguments of dimestore tv critics on obscure political blogs populated mostly by spoofers.

    I mean, you guys alone should be good for another three years of renewals for this dogshit show.

    Who watches this stuff? I mean, in general. Really, who?

    Cops? Do cops watch it? Or gang bangers, do you think they watch it? Soccer moms? What’s the demo, I would really like to know. I am genuinely interested.

  39. 39.

    YellowJournalism

    I’m still mad at HBO for cancelling Carnivale. Where’s my two-hour movie starring Brother Justin and a psycho Sofie, huh?

  40. 40.

    Punchy

    Hey, ya know, there wasn’t ANYTHING illegal or improper about those US Atty firings. By the book I’d say. Followed all appropriate protocol, laws, ethics, and morals.

    So that’s why the Assistant Clown to the Traveling Clown Secretary is going to plead the 5th. It’s what innocent people do. It’s the correct way to answer questions to completely legal actions and motives, ya know.

    Next time the old lady accuses you of going to the strip club instead of the library, it always works better and ends the argument faster to stammer, stammer, lie, then plead the 5th instead of simply showing her the book…if you’ve really gone to the library. Uh huh. Yep.

  42. 42.

    Pooh

    Or alternatively, you’ve never seen the show, so have no idea what the hell I’m talking about. So:

    Fuck off.

    That is still all.

  43. 43.

    ThymeZone

    you’ve never seen the show, so have no idea what the hell I’m talking about

    Well, I have, and my opinion cancels yours, so tough shit.

    Also, I have worked in the one of the largest local law enforcement agencies in the United States, maybe the world, and seen the real world of law and order close up, and I am here to tell you, almost every tv cop-lawyer show is just pure fictional bullshit. Pure crap.

    What’s really astounding about this stuff when you see the real world side of it is …. the utter banality of crime, and the utter boredom that surrounds most of this stuff in the real world. Utter boredom with infrequent and occasional periods of action and excitment. That’s one reason why cop shows in general just suck, they are telling a story that isn’t true.

    Yeah, I worked directly with the capital crime guys, too, and for a real life changing experience, you should hang around with THEM for a while.

    So based on real world experience too, my opinion not only cancels yours, it trumps yours. One opinion of mine here is worth about thirty six of yours.

  45. 45.

    Rusty Shackleford

    Punchy Says:

    I can’t get excited about the Sopranos after the last season.

    Please, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, do not mention anything about this show. I’m only halfway thru season 5, and rationing myself (if left unchecked, I’d rent every last episode and take 3 days straight off of work).

    Thanks.

    March 26th, 2007 at 2:04 pm

    Punchy,

    The Sopranos were the only thing I watched for about 3 weeks in February. I bought Season 1, borrowed 2-5 and rented 6. Everytime I turned on the tv I watched The Sopranos. There were a couple of weekends where I watched The Sopranos all day long. My brain felt like gabbagool.

  49. 49.

    Marcus Wellby

    Second season especially – Titus Pullo is one of the great TV characters, ever.

    Without a doubt.

    I watch the Sopranos mostly to see Edie Falco act.

    Her work alone is worth the price of all the collected seasons.

    Agree completely. Finest actress on American TV, hands down.

  50. 50.

    Fruitbat

    You two should talk with Fruitbat and Fruitbat Jones

    At least we know there’s a TON of Fruitbats logged on.

    Awesome. I post four, maybe five times in the year-plus I’ve spent reading this blog, and suddenly I’ve reached minor legendary status.

  52. 52.

    Marcus Wellby

    Utter boredom with infrequent and occasional periods of action and excitment. That’s one reason why cop shows in general just suck, they are telling a story that isn’t true.

    Well “true” stories, about boredom with infrequent and occasional periods of action don’t make for good TV — unless its baseball :)

  53. 53.

    ThymeZone

    Agree completely. Finest actress on American TV, hands down.

    Yes, probably, although I am also in love with both Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under) and Chloe Sevigny (Big Love, Boys Don’t Cry).

  54. 54.

    Darrell, D'Souza, Delay and Strauss

    Cops? Do cops watch it? Or gang bangers, do you think they watch it? Soccer moms? What’s the demo, I would really like to know. I am genuinely interested.

    People with an IQ.

    Now run along back to your powerrangers.

  55. 55.

    ThymeZone

    Well “true” stories, about boredom with infrequent and occasional periods of action don’t make for good TV

    Yes, of course, that’s why every show has at least one exploding car.

    You gotta have an exploding car, or a bullet in the eye socket, or maggots in a corpse, or a bare tit …. something to keep the audience interested ….. when the audience is a bunch of overgrown adolescents.

    I mean, that’s what tv is for, right? Or something.

  56. 56.

    tBone

    Crazy good, or crazy bad? I’ve seen a lot of both opinions.

    I thought it was crazy good, but I can see how the somewhat cheesy reading of “All Along the Watchtower” would rub some people the wrong way. And was anyone, anyone at all, surprised by the Starbuck reveal at the end? That one was so telegraphed, they should have ended “Maelstrom” with a title card reading “We’re Just Kidding!”

    Titus Pullo is one of the great TV characters, ever.

    Word. I haven’t watched the final two episodes yet. I don’t want it to be over.

  58. 58.

    Andrew

    Guess it’s a good thing for Baltar that he was only on trial for the crimes they knew about.

    Butterfingers!

  59. 59.

    Andrew

    Happy to see this guy actually thinks he’s the only “Andrew” on the internets. Maybe it’s true. At least we know there’s a TON of Fruitbats logged on.

    I may not be the only one, but I’m the best one.

  60. 60.

    demimondian

    It must feel so good to be so important so often.

    You’ll never know.

    Oh, I wouldn’t be too confident of that.

    You’re the Decider, after all — we know how important he fells, as well as how important he is.

  61. 61.

    tBone

    You gotta have an exploding car, or a bullet in the eye socket, or maggots in a corpse, or a bare tit …. something to keep the audience interested ….. when the audience is a bunch of overgrown adolescents.

    I mean, that’s what tv is for, right? Or something.

    Yeah. God forbid people should want some escapism in their entertainment. That would be soooo lowbrow.

  62. 62.

    mrmobi

    Punchy:

    Someone should really kick Tweety in the nuts, don’t you think? And the supporting cast in that “discussion” of the USAttorneys case should be neutered as well.

    I’m not sure when it happened, but at some point the TV-NEWS decided that no issues would ever be discussed, just the politics/horse race/scandal aspects. Fuck the facts, we don’t need them. Bloggers are now doing some of the things the media used to do. Look at the Friday document dump and how quickly bloggers came up with important information.

    The only one of the Sunday political shows I can watch any more is This Week. At least George S. tries, and I get to see George Wills bow-tie. What a dick!

    They also occasionally have Sam Donaldson on. Besides having dain bramage, he has the worst toupee anyone has ever seen. If that is actual hair, I want to know what it came from. I keep expecting it to try to crawl off his head.

  63. 63.

    ThymeZone

    God forbid people should want some escapism in their entertainment

    Have you tried the Rapture books?

    Good clean fun.

    You’re the Decider, after all

    I guess that makes you the Sore Loser, then.

  64. 64.

    Darrell, D'Souza, Delay and Strauss

    Yes, of course, that’s why every show has at least one exploding car.

    So here’s a guy who whines about The Wire being lame, about how unrealistic it is, but snears about shows that have exploding cars. If there’s ever been an anti-exploding car cops and robbers show, it’s The Wire. A show that involves an entire season of episodes to catch the bad guy – no, make that THREE whole seasons to actually NOT catch the ‘bad’ guy.

    A show in which the real ‘good’ guys (D’Angelo, McNulty, Frank Sobotka and ultimately Stringer), are the ones who get fucked over by cop and criminal politics. A show which spends no end of detail about how banal police dept. and city politics are…

    Man, go back to your powerrangers. They’ve got some exploding cars for ya.

  65. 65.

    Jake

    Shades of Foley?

    Meanwhile, Gonzales continues his campaign to make sure children aren’t exposed to genitals on the intertubes! I guess once you land in juvy all bets are off.

    If this is true Foley isn’t in these guys’ league. He isn’t close. Since when has statuatory rape had a consent component? Isn’t that the whole fucking point?

  66. 66.

    tBone

    Have you tried the Rapture books?

    Good clean fun.

    Nope, sorry. I’d never read those books, even if you paid me.

    I’m not going to tut-tut people who enjoy them, though. That’s your job.

  67. 67.

    ThymeZone

    Bloggers are now doing some of the things the media used to do.

    And for exactly the same reason.

    In tv it’s called ratings. Here it’s called page views.

    Same thing, same modus. Very few blogs of any note don’t cater to the traffic.

    For all the crap I give John, BJ is actually pretty good in this regard. WashingtonMonthly and Kevin Drum remain my favorite. Drum caters to nobody and delivers the best material day in and day out of any blogger I know. Of course he is tied to a larger website, I don’t know if he could have made it standalone.

  68. 68.

    ThymeZone

    I’m not going to tut-tut people who enjoy them, though. That’s your job.

    Really? That’s interesting. So you think religio-sociopathy is just okay, then?

    To score a lame point with me on this stupid thread over a tv show, you’d line up with that horsehit idea?

    Wow. That’s pretty pathetic, man. Really.

  69. 69.

    ThymeZone

    A show that involves an entire season of episodes to catch the bad guy – no, make that THREE whole seasons to actually NOT catch the ‘bad’ guy.

    Wow, I’m sold. You know, when you try to build a strawman, you should pay attention.

    The exploding car thing was about “escapism” and whether that’s a wonderful thing. Please write and tell us what you think “escapism” on tv today is about.

    Hint: It ain’t about three-year-long plots that don’t catch a bad guy. It’s about exploding cars, and survivors, and American Idol, eh? Or, what do you watch?

    I swear, all of you guys together couldn’t take a whole day and come up with one coherent argument for something if your lives depended on it.

  70. 70.

    Dreggas

    Jake Says:

    Meanwhile, Gonzales continues his campaign to make sure children aren’t exposed to genitals on the intertubes! I guess once you land in juvy all bets are off.

    If this is true Foley isn’t in these guys’ league. He isn’t close. Since when has statuatory rape had a consent component? Isn’t that the whole fucking point?

    No Joke these asshats are, and always have been, more interested in going after consenting adults than going after sick fucks like the ones in that article.

  71. 71.

    ThymeZone

    NON-OFFICIAL EMAIL….Karl Rove sends 95% of his emails through a Republican National Committee account? If he’s spending 95% of his time on RNC business, shouldn’t he be working there instead of the Oval Office?

    Laura Rozen wonders about the security implications. Meanwhile, Henry Waxman wants to make sure all the emails stay safe and sound in case he wants to subpoena them. The hits just keep on coming from these guys, don’t they?

    Since this is an Open Thread, and the tv show topic might peter out soon, heh, thought that this blurb from none other than Kevin Drum, blogger extraordinaire, might be interesting.

    Don’t know about you Wireheads, but this revelation about Rove is a gen-u-wine jaw dropper in a long (six year) series of jaw droppers from this administration.

    Un.Fucking.Believable.

  72. 72.

    tBone

    Really? That’s interesting. So you think religio-sociopathy is just okay, then?

    No one who isn’t already a “religo-sociopath” is going to become one by reading a shitty series of hack novels. Relax. Go watch a TV show that features exploding cars and/or bare nipples. It’ll make you feel better.

  73. 73.

    ThymeZone

    these asshats are, and always have been, more interested in going after consenting adults

    Wherever they think the bathos-driven votes are, that’s where they’ll go.

    “Defense of marriage!” Sniff!

  75. 75.

    ThymeZone

    No one who isn’t already a “religo-sociopath” is going to become one by reading a shitty series of hack novels

    You raise a good point, though. What does make people become religio-sociopaths? I mean, if it isn’t the blatherings of other religio-sociopaths?

    Personally, I think it’s Diet Snapple, but what the fuck do I know?

  76. 76.

    Punchy

    If that is actual hair, I want to know what it came from.

    Maybe he’s got that rare mutation that grows the short and curlies on top of his head, and he’s got some long, flowing locks in a tight ponytail below the equator.

    It happens.

  79. 79.

    ThymeZone

    Oh, I wouldn’t be too confident of that.

    Have you met Pooh?

    Take your time and get back to me later on this.

    The man lives in a state that considers watching dog sleds disappear into the frozen wastes, a sport.

  80. 80.

    Darrell, D'Souza, Delay and Strauss

    I swear, all of you guys together couldn’t take a whole day and come up with one coherent argument for something if your lives depended on it.

    Man, maybe you are Darrell… He can’t handle two trains of thought on a single thread either (an IQ limitation).

    You posted about how The Wire was crap

    Well, I have, and my opinion cancels yours, so tough shit.

    Also, I have worked in the one of the largest local law enforcement agencies in the United States, maybe the world, and seen the real world of law and order close up, and I am here to tell you, almost every tv cop-lawyer show is just pure fictional bullshit. Pure crap.

    What’s really astounding about this stuff when you see the real world side of it is …. the utter banality of crime, and the utter boredom that surrounds most of this stuff in the real world. Utter boredom with infrequent and occasional periods of action and excitment. That’s one reason why cop shows in general just suck, they are telling a story that isn’t true.

    Yeah, I worked directly with the capital crime guys, too, and for a real life changing experience, you should hang around with THEM for a while.

    Then when it’s pointed out that The Wire isn’t about exploding cars but a storyline, plot and character development than spans seasons and isn’t a pop escapist cops/lawyer show, you reply:

    The exploding car thing was about “escapism” and whether that’s a wonderful thing. Please write and tell us what you think “escapism” on tv today is about.

    Hint: It ain’t about three-year-long plots that don’t catch a bad guy. It’s about exploding cars, and survivors, and American Idol, eh? Or, what do you watch?

    We watch The Wire, Einstein. Which you obviously haven’t seen, because you don’t know WTF you’re talking about. I’m sure you don’t get Masterpiece Theater, or Hamlet, or Tolkein, or anything else that might take more than a few watts or hours of your time.

    I am sorry that your low IQ gives you such a time and subject-constrained view of escapism. I realize it’s over your head, so I shouldn’t be so condescending about it. But it is fascinating how an adult male of your age ended up with the attention span of a bratty 10 year old. So why should we treat you different?

  82. 82.

    ThymeZone

    I am sorry that your low IQ gives you such a time

    I read your post. What was it about, exactly?

    Which you obviously haven’t seen, because you don’t know WTF you’re talking about

    Uh, yeah, that has already been “asked” and answered. Bzzzt. Wrong. I’ve seen it. Thought it sucked. Ergo, my first post to this thread. Just another phony-baloney cop show AFAIC. Maybe if they made it into a musical?

    Just saying.

    Back to you.

  83. 83.

    ThymeZone

    Well, at least with TZ’s performance here, no one notices Darrell’s absence.

    That’s all you got, man? Really? After Krista pimped you up as the be all and end all of Wireheads?

    “You’re a poopyhead!”

    Okay.

    “So’s your old man!”

    Your turn.

  84. 84.

    Darrell, D'Souza, Delay and Strauss

    Well, at least with TZ’s performance here, no one notices Darrell’s absence.

    Actually, it’s about ppGaz not really being funny or entertaining anymore. The shtick is pretty well baked, and what passed as intellect is pretty well dry. Perhaps that’s why Darrell isn’t around anymore (or much), because there is no Sherlock to Moriarity. Instead, it’s just the shreaking whiner.

    So you regulars should start stepping it up some, because otherwise, this place is going to dry up like ppGaz’s last brainstorm at Kakistocrats.

  85. 85.

    ThymeZone

    Perhaps that’s why Darrell isn’t around anymore (or much), because there is no Sherlock to Moriarity. Instead, it’s just the shreaking whiner.

    Wow-how! Two weeks ago it was an established fact that the only reason Darrel was here was because I “baited” and “fed” him.

    Now he’s gone because I drove him off.

    I can’t wait for the next episode of the stupid shit you guys write. Really, never a dull moment.

  86. 86.

    Zerthimon

    Thymezone,

    It’s hard to believe you’ve watched the show, or at least more than one episode, when you say this

    What’s really astounding about this stuff when you see the real world side of it is …. the utter banality of crime, and the utter boredom that surrounds most of this stuff in the real world. Utter boredom with infrequent and occasional periods of action and excitment. That’s one reason why cop shows in general just suck, they are telling a story that isn’t true.

    The Wire totally illustrates that concept throughout it’s four seasons. I think if you had actually watched an entire season or two you wouldn’t be saying this.

    Can you say specifically what it was that you saw that makes you think The Wire is “just another cop show?”

  87. 87.

    ThymeZone

    I think if you had actually watched an entire season or two you wouldn’t be saying this.

    So if I don’t watch “an entire season or two” I am not qualified to decide how good it is?

    This will go down in the annals of tv commentary as one of the most amazing statements ever uttered.

    All I can say is, it’s a good thing they made all those seasons of it so that you had time to arrive at the right conclusion!

    Whew! Talk about dodging a bullet!

    I already answered your latter question. There is nothing realistic about the portryal AFAIC. Of course, I haven’t tried watching it stoned.

  88. 88.

    ThymeZone

    It’s hard to believe you’ve watched the show

    God, that is hilarious.

    Really, funniest line all day.

    “Hard to believe” that someone could just disagree with you, isn’t that what you mean? IT’S JUST HARD TO BELIEVE.

    Well, goddamit, life is hard sometimes. Sometimes you’re the Louisville Slugger, sometimes you’re the ball. Ain’t that about it?

  89. 89.

    Darrell, D'Souza, Delay and Strauss

    I can’t wait for the next episode of the stupid shit you guys write. Really, never a dull moment.

    Actually, it’s been pretty dull for awhile. At least John and Tim can be bothered to put up open threads now.

  90. 90.

    Moll Slanders

    No one who isn’t already a “religo-sociopath” is going to become one by reading a shitty series of hack novels

    It seems to me, if one really thinks about it, isn’t that exactly what the Bible was, in a sort of prehistoric sense?

    It worked for the Christian community quite well.

  91. 91.

    ThymeZone

    To summarize the pathetic ass whipping being taken here by the all-mouth-no-cattle Wireheads:

    1. The Wire is the greatest!
    2. The characters are really cool! We’re all cool and we say so! So that proves it!
    3. You can’t know this until you watch two full seasons!
    4. But Damn, it’s the best thing on tv ever!
    5. Anybody says otherwise, he’s Darrell! HAHAHAHAHA!

    I counter with:

    Saw it, it sucked. Isn’t realistic at all, just another cop show. Only worse.

    Crowd returns with:

    6. FUCKIN’ DARRELL!! FUCK YOU THYMEZONE!

    God, I love this place. Nothing like it anywhere.

  92. 92.

    Zifnab

    I’m not sure when it happened, but at some point the TV-NEWS decided that no issues would ever be discussed, just the politics/horse race/scandal aspects. Fuck the facts, we don’t need them. Bloggers are now doing some of the things the media used to do. Look at the Friday document dump and how quickly bloggers came up with important information.

    I’m with TZ. The Daily Show learned how to make genuinely good edu-tainment, but so many other networks can’t seem to get ratings without sensationalizing everything. The result is content casualty.

    That, and if you’ve ever seen Tweety shove a DeLay shaped cigar and brag how he can get it to touch his larynx, everything else he does kinda rolls off your back. That dude sold out like a timeshare.

  93. 93.

    Zerthimon

    So if I don’t watch “an entire season or two” I am not qualified to decide how good it is?

    Well, think about one of your other statements

    What’s really astounding about this stuff when you see the real world side of it is …. the utter banality of crime, and the utter boredom that surrounds most of this stuff in the real world. Utter boredom with infrequent and occasional periods of action and excitment. That’s one reason why cop shows in general just suck, they are telling a story that isn’t true.

    Now judging from that quote my guess is that there was some action and excitement, and judging that from that you just assumed the show was completely fake and not representative of real-life, like other shows. However, you also say that there are periods of action and excitement in real life. So isn’t it possible that really what The Wire was showing in that episode is one of those “periods of action and excitement?”.

    In fact if you do watch the entire season you will constantly here references from the cops on the show how boring and tedious they find their job, and when something exciting does happen on the show, they will indicate that this is unusual and contrary to their usual routine. But of course you would need to watch a few episodes to get that.

    The writer of The Wire, David Simon, also wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. Widely regarded as one of the most accurate non-fiction police novels ever. And near the very beginning of the book, he talks about the life of a typical police officer. And mentions the very thing you just said, that their job is full of constant boredom, and only rarely does something exciting happen.

  94. 94.

    ThymeZone

    isn’t that exactly what the Bible was, in a sort of prehistoric sense

    I have to say, at eight they (the big people) sent me off to Catechism and Bible Class one summer and I figured out the whole Bible thing to be a bad novel from the get-go. The idea that people actually believe that shit still amazes me fifty odd (very odd) years later.

  95. 95.

    Krista

    I thought it was crazy good, but I can see how the somewhat cheesy reading of “All Along the Watchtower” would rub some people the wrong way. And was anyone, anyone at all, surprised by the Starbuck reveal at the end? That one was so telegraphed, they should have ended “Maelstrom” with a title card reading “We’re Just Kidding!”

    No kidding. I didn’t think her special destiny included being turned into so much space oatmeal. But yeah, I thought it was a fantastic episode. “Butterfingers” was definitely one of the funniest moments Baltar’s had. And I just really, really cannot wait to see where they are going with this and to see what the actual role of the final five will be. At least we now know to whom D’Anna was apologizing.

    After Krista pimped you up as the be all and end all of Wireheads?

    For starters, the thought of my being a Pooh Pimp amuses me greatly. (Pooh’s my BITCH, bitches!) Secondly, are you okay, dude? You seem much more belligerent than usual. (Not to mention more prone to wild exaggeration, as “When you do think Pooh’s going to show up to tell you off” hardly constitutes my pimping him as the be all and end all of Wireheads.

    At any rate, I suggest some deep breaths, and a saving of that righteous bile for the next time Darrell proffers his opinion of yet another way we dishonest moonbats have destroyed the social fabric and security of America.

  96. 96.

    Darrell, D'Souza, Delay and Strauss

    And mentions the very thing you just said, that their job is full of constant boredom, and only rarely does something exciting happen.

    I think it probably hit too close to home for ppGaz as he’s got a whole life invested in that waste. The show pretty much portrays 95% of cops as wasted space, and there are more good crooks than good cops. And the only people who actually try to make a difference end up as fish food.

    ppGaz probably had a career of never seeing anyone really trying to make a difference.

  97. 97.

    Zerthimon

    Here’s a quote from Homicide.

    Television has given us the myth of the raging pursuit, the high-spped chase, but in truth there is no such thing; if there were, God knows the Cavalier would throw a rod after a dozen blocks and you’d be writing a Form 95 in which you respectfully submit to your commanding officer the reasons why you drove a city-owned four-cylinder wonder into an early grave.

    That’s just one of many quotes throughout the book where Simon totally destroys the myth that is perpetuated in typical cop shows.

  98. 98.

    ThymeZone

    not representative of real-life, like other shows

    Uh, I don’t know where you are going with your diatribe, but I tried to say that there is nothing on tv that is a realistic portrayal of coppery and law enforcement, based on my …uh …. experience working inside a real agency. And of course, simple observation of real life.

    The evening news protrays the latest cop-involved shooting every day or two here in the metro area of about 4 million. What they don’t portray is the umpteen eleventy thousand hours of “not much happened out there” that is what a lot of it is really about. The felony rate here has stayed relatively stable as a percentage of population for what seems like forever. I’m sure it’s in line with the rest of the country excepting some odd areas like the District of Columbia, at one end, and Boys Town Nebraska, on the other.

    The evening news apparently thinks you only care about the shootings, and most of tv does too.

    So anyway, I guess your argument is that Simon agrees with me, which makes sense, and therefore …. The Wire must be good and if I only watched two seasons of it I’d be agreeing with you.

    Okay, I’ll make you a deal, if I ever get up the nerve to sit through two seasons of the thing, I’ll get back to you.

    Meanwhile, based on the less-than-two-seasons that I saw so far, I hated it.

    IS THAT OKAY WITH YOU FOR CHRIST’S FUCKING SAKE?

    PLEASE GOD TELL ME IT’S OKAY.

  99. 99.

    ThymeZone

    Oh, did I mention? I watched Homicide all the time, went out of my way to watch it. Enjoyed it. Even though it was gratuitously melodramatic and overblown, the characters and actors pulled it off.

    I can’t wait to see how the spoofed echo chamber decides to take this revelation apart. Can this further insult to the CW here be tolerated? WILL IT DESTROY BALLOON JUICE after all?

    Excitement!

  100. 100.

    The Other Steve

    Didn’t Barney Miller portray real cops sitting around all day doing nothing?

    I haven’t watched the Wire, no comment. 24 can suck my donkey, as i watched the first season religiously until the 49th time kim was kidnapped and then I’d had enough.

    I do like Law and Order reruns, good mindless entertainment. I don’t watch CSI because it’s cheesier.

    Barney Miller, Kojak, Hawaii 5-0. They don’t make ’em like they used to!

  101. 101.

    ThymeZone

    Barney Miller

    Actually, in terms of reality, closer to the real world than most other “cop” shows!

    Maybe a little funnier than real life, is all.

  102. 102.

    Dulcie

    Homicide: Life on the Street was the single best show on television. I cried actual tears when it was canceled.

  103. 103.

    Darrell, D'Souza, Delay and Strauss

    HEY PUNCHY!

    Here’s the crowd who agrees with you that we shouldn’t be telling Mubarak to GFH on his police state ammendments.

  104. 104.

    Darrell, D'Souza, Delay and Strauss

    IS THAT OKAY WITH YOU FOR CHRIST’S FUCKING SAKE?

    We accept your surrender.

  105. 105.

    Moll Slanders

    I haven’t watched the Wire, no comment. 24 can suck my donkey, as i watched the first season religiously until the 49th time kim was kidnapped and then I’d had enough.

    TOS, after about three times, I’d had enough.

  109. 109.

    Zerthimon

    Oh, did I mention? I watched Homicide all the time, went out of my way to watch it. Enjoyed it. Even though it was gratuitously melodramatic and overblown, the characters and actors pulled it off.

    You should read the book, seriously. The book isn’t nearly as melodramatic and overblown. Instead it’s real-life stories based on Simon spending a year with the Baltimore homicide division. And I think you would appreciate how Simon really does seem to understand the banality of police work. And if you do end up liking the book, which I think you will, I think that will help you be more encouraged to watch The Wire again. Since so much of what makes that book great is also in The Wire. For example how often the greatest obstacle to apprehending criminals isn’t the criminals themslves, but bureaucracy

    Now there are reasons why you might not like it. It does start off slow, and it takes a while for the plot to get going. Honestly I didn’t care for the first 3 episodes or so. But give it some time, and I think you’ll end up getting hooked.

    And The Wire really isn’t a cop show anyway. It’s more of a social commentary on the collapse of urban America, and the failure of it’s institutions (albeit told in a highly entertaining way). In fact there was little actual police work in the fourth season.

    But Of course you do have to watch from the beginning.

  110. 110.

    Moll Slanders

    This explains, to some degree, why Hee Haw was his favorite tv show.

    Oh God, say it isn’t so!

  111. 111.

    ThymeZone

    It’s more of a social commentary on the collapse of urban America

    Well, it might be, but I have to confess, I don’t find that theme compelling.

    First of all …. fifty years ago I was seeing social commentary on the collapse of urban America. Forty years ago I literally walked the streets of DC east of the Capitol, and NYC, and Boston, and Philly one summer and saw the collapse right there in my face, and I dunno … I don’t think popular tv is the right vehicle for this story.

    I happen to think urban anthropology is very interesting, but I am more interested in nonfiction.

    Let’s see, let me try this on you. Ever heard of Ernest K Gann? “The High and the Mighty.” “Island in the Sky.” “Fate is the Hunter.”

    A lot of kids were moved to get into aviation by these spellbinding books of aeronautical adventure and danger, stories based on true stories from Gann’s experience.

    Well, I spent the first part of my adult life being a real pilot and chasing the adventures, and hanging around with other adventure-chasers, and while we could, as an aggregate bunch, tell some great stories (and embellish the holy hell out of them, of course) ….. the real life reality was that flying is crushing boring most of the time. And that’s a good thing. If it were all like Gann’s books it would scare the Bejeezus out of almost everybody.

  112. 112.

    Darrell, D'Souza, Delay and Strauss

    You and your gerbil?

    Me and my githzerai

    Oh, the intellect. Perhaps you left it on some other plane.

    This explains, to some degree, why Hee Haw was his favorite tv show.

    Better than your favorite, Lawrence Welk. But I’m sure you found blue hair hot back then.

  114. 114.

    Darrell, D'Souza, Delay and Strauss

    I don’t think popular tv is the right vehicle for this story.

    Maybe they’ll make a comic book series out of it. I’ll email Simon and see if he’ll add some boring airplane scenes for you in season 5.

  115. 115.

    ThymeZone

    Oh, the intellect. Perhaps you left it on some other plane.

    It is better to have thought, and lost, than never to have thought at all.

    I tell you this for your own good.

  116. 116.

    John Cole

    PPGAZ-

    We get it, you don’t like the show, and it is not erudite or sophisticated enough for you.

    The rest of us like it. A lot. Quit pissing all over it.

  118. 118.

    Darrell, D'Souza, Delay and Strauss

    The rest of us like it. A lot. Quit pissing all over it.

    There need to be penalties for unacceptable behavior.

    Might I suggest a spot ban of 24 hours or so? Since he just lives for this site, it would be like taking a 10 year olds Wii away from him for strangling his sisters doll.

  119. 119.

    lard lad

    I posted this story at the ass-end of a thread a few days back, so hardly anyone saw it (the downside of blogging at 6AM)… so, this being an open thread, I’m putting it up again because… well, because some serious shit needs to be stirred up over this outrage.

    Let me put it like this: if you thought the assholery at Walter Reed was the rock-bottom worst that this scumbucket administration has inflicted on our troops, you are sadly mistaken… and in for a fresh load of outrage.

    The gist:

    Eventually the rocket shrapnel was removed from (Spc. Jon) Town’s neck and his ears stopped leaking blood. But his hearing never really recovered, and in many ways, neither has his life. A soldier honored twelve times during his seven years in uniform, Town has spent the last three struggling with deafness, memory failure and depression. By September 2006 he and the Army agreed he was no longer combat-ready.

    But instead of sending Town to a medical board and discharging him because of his injuries, doctors at Fort Carson, Colorado, did something strange: They claimed Town’s wounds were actually caused by a “personality disorder.” Town was then booted from the Army and told that under a personality disorder discharge, he would never receive disability or medical benefits.

    Town is not alone. A six-month investigation has uncovered multiple cases in which soldiers wounded in Iraq are suspiciously diagnosed as having a personality disorder, then prevented from collecting benefits. The conditions of their discharge have infuriated many in the military community, including the injured soldiers and their families, veterans’ rights groups, even military officials required to process these dismissals.

    They say the military is purposely misdiagnosing soldiers like Town and that it’s doing so for one reason: to cheat them out of a lifetime of disability and medical benefits, thereby saving billions in expenses.

    But there’s more! Not only did the Army screw a combat-wounded vet out of his benefits, they hit him with a bill for nearly four thousand bucks.

    The final blow for Town came when he found out that, despite assurances from Wexler and other Fort Carson officials, the specialist would indeed have to give back the bulk of his $15,000 signing bonus. At the time of his dismissal, Town had served one year of his six-year contract. Under 5-13’s regulations, he was allowed to keep one-sixth of his bonus…

    When Town sat down with Fort Carson’s outprocessor, he saw the details of his own discharge for the first time. He’d receive a $500 closing allowance, $1500 for leave he didn’t take, and $6,000 of separation pay. But his 5-13 dismissal also meant returning to the military $12,000 of his 2005 signing bonus.

    The result: Town packed up and left Fort Carson without a penny. In fact, he now owed the Army close to $4,000.

    Remember this the next time you see some lard-ass Republican bloviating about “supporting the troops.” Our military estabishment (of which Bush is the Commander-in-Chief, so I’m told) is giving our wounded veterans a royal assfucking. To save a few dollars. Nice.

    Anyhow, apologies for posting this twice… what can I say, this has my dander up.

  120. 120.

    Andrew

    ThymeZone is the Callie/Baltar/CapSix/Starbuck/Romo of Balloon Juice.

    Pick one.

    (P.S. Cole is Tigh.)

    (P.P.S. I am Anders. Tory is hot!)

  121. 121.

    ThymeZone

    Quit pissing all over it.

    What in the world is wrong with you?

    We get it, you don’t like the show, and it is not erudite or sophisticated enough for you.

    Actually, you obviously don’t get it, and have decided to try spoof posting today. I can’t fathom any other reason for your outburst. (Traffic down? Hemmorhoids acting up?)

    The rest of us like it.

    Oh, the REST OF US (it’s Festivus!). I see, I see.

    You’ve decided to go all Red State on us?

    Hahahaha!

    Good one.

  122. 122.

    ThymeZone

    Since he just lives for this site

    Take a post count for the last week. If you have more posts than I do, you’re off the island.

    Fair enough?

    Show some balls, man. Come on, make it interesting.

  123. 123.

    Zerthimon

    Well, it might be, but I have to confess, I don’t find that theme compelling.

    First of all …. fifty years ago I was seeing social commentary on the collapse of urban America. Forty years ago I literally walked the streets of DC east of the Capitol, and NYC, and Boston, and Philly one summer and saw the collapse right there in my face, and I dunno … I don’t think popular tv is the right vehicle for this story.

    I happen to think urban anthropology is very interesting, but I am more interested in nonfiction.

    Heh, there’s always a danger when I say that The Wire is a social commentary, since it makes it sound too preachy and more like doing schoolwork.

    The thing about The Wire is that the social commentary of the show is very subtle, and doesn’t get in the way of telling a highly entertaining story. The show doesn’t get on a soapbox and beat it’s lessons into the head of the viewer. In fact the average viewer isn’t going to pick up on the commentary unless they take time to seriously think and reflect on what they’re watching. Instead, the social commentary is used to help heighten the drama of the story. For example, it is because the institutions seem so corrupt and overpowering, that when a character is wiling to stand against these institutions, that the character becomes truly heroic and courageous in the eyes of the viewer. Simon likes to think of The Wire as belonging to the genre of Greek tragedy. Except instead of the characters of the tragedy being victims of Gods, they are instead victims of the institutions that are supposed to serve them.

    But as I said, many viewers don’t even care much about the commentary, or are even that aware of it. Some just watch it for the incredible dialog, because the show has some of the most fascinating and compelling characters ever to grace the small screen, and because it’s “holy shit” moments rival or surpass anything that is coming out of shows like Lost, BSG, or 24.

  124. 124.

    Krista

    ThymeZone is the Callie/Baltar/CapSix/Starbuck/Romo of Balloon Juice.

    Pick one.

    Hm…well, I don’t think his legs are quite as long as CapSix’s (then again, a giraffe’s legs aren’t as long as CapSix’s), but I hear he’s just as seductive.

    On a side note, would Callie cut her goddamn bangs already? I swear I can see them move when she blinks, and it’s really distracting.

    (P.S. Cole is Tigh.)

    Cranky, one-eyed, loyal as hell, and prone to the drink?

    (P.P.S. I am Anders. Tory is hot!)

    Mmm….Anders. Although Shirtless!Helo was quite enjoyable as well.

  125. 125.

    Darrell, D'Souza, Delay and Strauss

    Show some balls, man. Come on, make it interesting.

    Oh, so interesting, getting you to change monikers again. Whoo-woo.

    I’ll stick to having a bigger dick and a faster airplane.

  126. 126.

    Andrew

    Mmm….Anders. Although Shirtless!Helo was quite enjoyable as well.

    Me/Anders is totally hotter than Helo.

  130. 130.

    Krista

    Actually, TZ, being Tigh is actually a bit of a compliment. He’s an irascible, cranky SOB, but he’s loyal as hell, has miles of guts, and has more honour in his left nut than some people have in their entire bodies.

  131. 131.

    The Other Steve

    This explains, to some degree, why Hee Haw was his favorite tv show.

    Can’t say it was my favorite. But I have always wanted to learn how to play the Bango.

    I bought a guitar instead, but with the Bango everything you play sounds cheerful.

  132. 132.

    The Other Steve

    Republicans are flipping out because an aide to Senator Webb was arrested carrying a gun into the Senate building.

    Apparently the gun belonged to Sen. Webb, and the aide had been carrying it because when Webb traveled to the airport he could not bring his gun with him. He forgot it was in his bag, when he tried to enter the office building.

    This is awesome watching the destruction of the Republican party aided by Fox News.

  133. 133.

    ThymeZone

    Actually, TZ, being Tigh is actually a bit of a compliment. He’s an irascible, cranky SOB, but he’s loyal as hell, has miles of guts, and has more honour in his left nut than some people have in their entire bodies.

    Okay, but can he dance the fandango?

  134. 134.

    Punchy

    Here’s the crowd who agrees with you that we shouldn’t be telling Mubarak to GFH on his police state ammendments

    I’m glad I have company. Figured I took the popular position.

    Uh….

    I have always wanted to learn how to play the Bango.

    What the hell is a Bango? Is that redneckery for banjo? Is it a combo banjo and bongo? A beatbox? ghettoblaster with two turntables and a microphone? cuttin’ the wax while fresh cold chillin? What the hell am I talking about?

  135. 135.

    tBone

    Actually, TZ, being Tigh is actually a bit of a compliment. He’s an irascible, cranky SOB, but he’s loyal as hell, has miles of guts, and has more honour in his left nut than some people have in their entire bodies.

    But he’s also a drunk who killled his own wife and hears phantom Bob Dylan tunes in outer space. So you have to take the good with the bad.

  138. 138.

    jh

    The Wire Rocks.

    That is all.

    TZ,

    I started off avoiding the Wire for reasons entirely different from yours.

    I grew up in the urban America you saw collapse “in your face” some forty years ago – Washington DC, “east of the Capitol” to be exact.

    Which is why I found the Wire difficult to watch.

    While I can’t vouch for its accuracy in portraying the ins and outs of police work, I can honestly say that its depiction of life on the “other side” where the hustlers, crack fiends, winos, and law abiding civilians try to get by while the cops are busy trying to figure out who the bad guys actually are is almost spot on.

    I know the characters on the Wire. They were my friends and neigbors, the only differences being the names and the places.

    So for me, it was emotionally wrenching watching to have the decay and despair of urban America beamed into my living room at the speed of light every Sunday night.

    As a result, it wasn’t until season 3 that I could manage to sit through an entire episode without walking away completely bummed. But eventually I did force myself to sit down and take it all in.

    And you know what?

    It was worth it. The performances from the actors were spot on and despite my emotional closeness to the subject matter, it did my heart a world of good to see both the cops and the robbers behaving like actual people rather than the cardboard cut-outs you see in other shows.

    And if you can watch Season 4 and honestly still not be moved, you probably died a long time ago and just haven’t realized it yet.

  140. 140.

    Andrew

    I don’t think TZ is Tigh, anyway. He’s clearly Doc Cottle.

    Dudes, Tigh is a cylon, so there are multiple copies. Darrell is probably also a Tigh, but with serious programming errors.

  141. 141.

    pharniel

    Dudes, Tigh is a cylon, so there are multiple copies. Darrell is probably also a Tigh, but with serious programming errors.

    Nah. I think they’re just prophets of the God what can’t be named.

  143. 143.

    Andrew

    Nah. I think they’re just prophets of the God what can’t be named.

    RDM says they real cylons, but not normal cylons.

  144. 144.

    ThymeZone

    And if you can watch Season 4 and honestly still not be moved, you probably died a long time ago and just haven’t realized it yet.

    What a bunch of crazy asses you are. One guy here pans the fucking show and it’s as if I declared the earth flat or the moon made of green cheese.

    Fuck the show and fuck you.

  145. 145.

    tBone

    Fuck the show and fuck you.

    Your Cylon god isn’t going to like that pottymouth, Colonel.

  146. 146.

    lard lad

    What a bunch of crazy asses you are. One guy here pans the fucking show and it’s as if I declared the earth flat or the moon made of green cheese.

    Fuck the show and fuck you.

    SOMEbody woke up a great big crankypants today.
    I think a nap is called for…

  148. 148.

    ThymeZone

    Intense and wonderful as “The Wire” is, one understands why its ratings were so devastatingly low. The drama never had “The Sopranos” as a lead-in, and rarely figured prominently into the premium channel’s branding campaigns. It’s not sexy like “Entourage,” “Big Love” or “Rome.”

    The second major viewer repellent is that it looks like another cop series to the uninitiated, which is kind of like lumping “Lost” in with “Survivor” and “Fantasy Island,” and it isn’t set in a postcard city. “The Wire’s” Baltimore looks like a city with its heart ripped out, and we don’t like wallowing in the troubles of drug dealers, addicts, gangbangers and morally conflicted cops and politicians.

    This reviewer gets at least the conclusion right. No, we DON’T like wallowing among a tv world populated with lowlifes and depressing shit. That’s not the world, that’s just a little shitty sliver of the world, and I have better things to do than be manipulated by this crap.

    So the dialogue is juicy and the actors are juicy too. I don’t give a shit, the show sucks. It’s depressing and dreary AFAIC and I’d rather watch the fucking Teletubbies. Any sane person would. If I wanted that kind of crap around me, I’d go down to the south end of town here and wallow in the real shit, and I wouldn’t have to pay for frigging digital cable to see it.

  149. 149.

    JH

    Okay that’s it, I call spoof.

    And if TZ is not spoofing, that’s cool too…he can just KMNBA.

    For real.

  150. 150.

    JH

    Okay that’s it, I call spoof.

    And if TZ is not spoofing, that’s cool too…he can just KMNBA.

    For real.

Comments are closed.