Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

We’re not going back!

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

T R E 4 5 O N

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

DeSantis transforms Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

I was promised a recession.

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Reader Interactions

118Comments

  1. 1.

    Sarah in Brooklyn

    I tried the Netflix iPhone app today and was very disappointed. Lots of buffering, not much show. But the streaming to TV/computer is cool. I watched all of Friday Night Lights that way.

  3. 3.

    MeDrewNotYou

    The previous thread being mostly pets, let me ask again over here. Anyone watching Dallas/Houston? Even though this is pre-season and all, the Texans look great. I’m a bit nervous for my Colts. Of course we’ll win the division, but I want to sweep those damn southerners! (Indiana/Indianapolis probably is the most ‘southern’ place in the mid-west, but I don’t have to like it.)

  5. 5.

    asiangrrlMN

    @MeDrewNotYou: I’m switching back and forth between that game and the Vikes game. The Texans DO look good. I think you should worry.

    As for the Vikes, they have flashes, but nothing consistent. Except for the fluffing of Favre. That never ends.

  6. 6.

    Corner Stone

    @MeDrewNotYou: They’d better look good after that pitiful show at NOLA.
    Yeah, the defense looks stoked. That one play where Mario broke through and chased Romo until he was sacked by a DB was sweet.
    It was like Mario came off nothing and was just the nightmare in front of Romo.
    “Where’d this big black guy come from?!”

  9. 9.

    SIA

    John you might like Being Human on BBC. A vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost rent a house together….(sounds like the beginning of a bad joke).

    I wish I could figure out what wii is and how to view movies on it. No clue.

  11. 11.

    Corner Stone

    @SIA:

    I wish I could figure out what wii is and how to view movies on it. No clue.

    It’s what Cole calls his pocket johnson. And nobody wants to have anything to do with it.

  15. 15.

    The Dangerman

    OK, I know there is a 315+ post thread on this topic, but I’ll ask this question here. Just because I don’t want to read 315 posts tonight because I am a self-aware lazy fucker.

    On that point, what lack of self-awareness allows specific people to complain about the lack of sensitivity of building a (non) Mosque) at (not) Ground Zero for weeks on end…

    …to ignore the sensitivity of claiming the mantle of Martin Luther King on this anniversary and that location. Influenced by John Stewart, are they fucking evil or fucking stupid? Given their apparent complete lack of self-awareness, I could easily go for fucking stupid as the answer.

  17. 17.

    asiangrrlMN

    @SIA: Huh. That sounds intriguing to me. Netflix has it. I may have to watch it.

    @Corner Stone: There’s this thing called the recall button. During the commercials, I push the button, and presto! The other game. Dallas/Houston game is on CBS, and the Seachickens/Vikes game is on NBC.

    @The Dangerman: Team Stupid AND Evil. I don’t know why we gotta choose. Although, I think it’s a case of the stupid leading to the evil. Except in the case of the pundits in which the evil leads to the stupid.

  18. 18.

    MeDrewNotYou

    @asiangrrlMN: I liked watching the Vikes last year in the playoffs, but I came pretty close to just muting the TV so I wouldn’t have to hear about Favre. (Its been a while, but I think you guys deserved the spot in the Super Bowl. To be beaten, of course. ;) )

    @Corner Stone: Watching their offense at the start of the 3rd has been exciting, but I’m not sure if that’s Dallas 1st team or not. If so, damn!

  20. 20.

    Corner Stone

    @asiangrrlMN: Your snark aside, I am not blessed with this feature.
    But watching Texans whup Dallas is good enough. Especially since the Astros are also whuppin Los Mets.

  22. 22.

    SIA

    @asiangrrlMN: It’s good, and I never watch horror or vampire flicks. I scare really easy. They’re just 3 cool kids who happen to have some “issues”. The vampire boy is cuuuute.

  23. 23.

    MeDrewNotYou

    @SIA: The Wii is Nintendo’s current big console, the one with the motion-sensing remote. If you’re into gaming, they’re worth picking up. Great games and you can download and play classic NES and SNES games. You can also stream Netflix now, but I haven’t tried that out yet.

  24. 24.

    jwb

    @asiangrrlMN: “As for the Vikes, they have flashes, but nothing consistent. Except for the fluffing of Favre. That never ends.” I know. Can you believe that we have to put up with another season of this guy?

  25. 25.

    MeDrewNotYou

    @Corner Stone: Heh. I’m no big fan of them either, for some reason. I think it might have been a few years ago when I first got into football, when I saw a game where their defense seemed to be playing really dirty and looked like they were trying to pick fights constantly.

  27. 27.

    Corner Stone

    @MeDrewNotYou:

    The Wii is Nintendo’s current big console, the one with the motion-sensing remote. If you’re into gaming, they’re worth picking up. Great games and you can download and play classic NES and SNES games. You can also stream Netflix now, but I haven’t tried that out yet.

    Just IMO, but the Wii is only good for kids’ games. The motion sensor business is a definite killer for shooter/violent action. It’s just not reliable.
    On the Netflix streaming to Wii – it’s awesome. Super easy to use, very reliable, little to never any buffer. It’s a huge plus, IMO.

  28. 28.

    asiangrrlMN

    @MeDrewNotYou: Yes. I have the misfortune of being loyal to my team while loathing the quarterback. Therefore, I root for us to win and for Favre to get a concussion (nothing life-threatening) every game.

    @Corner Stone: What snark? Well, if you have both games on, you can just keep punching in the channel of the other game at each commerical. Works the same way. And, I hate the ‘Boys, too.

    @SIA: Sounds VERY intriguing. As soon as I dump a movie on my queue, I will add the first disc.

    jwb: I was really hoping he would hang up the spurs this season, but alas, it was not to be.

  29. 29.

    Cat Lady

    @The Dangerman:

    And now it’s winter
    Winter in America
    Yes and all of the healers have been killed
    Or sent away, yeah
    But the people know, the people know
    It’s winter
    Winter in America
    And ain’t nobody fighting
    ‘Cause nobody knows what to say
    Save your soul, Lord knows
    From Winter in America

    The Constitution
    A noble piece of paper
    With free society
    Struggled but it died in vain
    And now Democracy is ragtime on the corner
    Hoping for some rain
    Looks like it’s hoping
    Hoping for some rain

  30. 30.

    Corner Stone

    @Corner Stone: Of course, my house is wired/wireless within an inch of its life.
    Occupational hazard.

    But the Wii is wireless streaming and it rocks.

  31. 31.

    Ripley

    What Michael G. said: Weeds first two seasons were great; after that, let’s just say the Cartoon Channel would have been the best place for the show.

  32. 32.

    Corner Stone

    @asiangrrlMN: My NBC isn’t giving me the Seachickens V Vikes game. Some other uselessness non sport BS.
    That’s what I meant. That you are blessed with the choice. But we suffer in ignominy here in H-Town.
    H-Town biatches!

  34. 34.

    Jim, Once

    Watched every single episode of Dexter available on Netflix, via my Roku box, which is pretty much what Cole has in his Blu-Ray – costs $85, hooks right up to the HDTV. Techie son gave it to us for a birthday last year. We love it. Also watch all the Monday Murder shows on BBC America (Touching Evil, et al.) God. Such fun.

  35. 35.

    Belvoir

    It got scathingly terrible reviews, but I am really enjoying the Kids In The Hall mini-series, “Death Comes To Town” on IFC. After all the bad press, I watched with zero expectations and was pleasantly surprised.

    Silly, offbeat, Canadian humor, I’m enjoying it . It’s like hanging with old friends, though I don’t get stoned anymore like I did in their heyday. Dave Foley is hilarious as the mayor’s wife, in particular. It’s fun, and I don’t know why people are bitching because it’s not the best of their very best of their sketch show 18 years ago. It’s enjoyable as heck, far more than 98 percent of the rest of what’s on TV. Gentle comic anarchy, Canadian style. Hugely likeable.

  36. 36.

    MeDrewNotYou

    @Corner Stone: I’m not big on shooters, so that isn’t much of an issue with me. As for other games, I think the quality of, say New Super Mario Bros. or Twilight Princess makes up for the kind of games the system lacks. They’re just so damn fun that I can forgive them for being meant for kids half my age.

  39. 39.

    Corner Stone

    I love Brian Cushing, drugs and all. He’s the evolutionary child of Ray Lewis and Urlacher.

  40. 40.

    Alwhite

    @Corner Stone:

    You are lucky. They seem to have gone for a special team of announcers for the game. Special in th same manner as special olympics. I don’t know what they pay the Vikings but the have commercial breaks between every play and special event advertising like when a team enters the ‘red zone’. Either they are giving those slots away for peanuts or they could have afforded announcers with some small amount of ability.

  41. 41.

    General Stuck

    Jeebus, just took something like 200 pics of hummers and forgot to put in CF card, second time I’ve done that this summer. Idiot.

  42. 42.

    amorphous

    I streamed a shitty movie on Netflix just because Kate Mara was in it. I would say I’m ashamed, but I’m about to stream a second one for the same reason.

  44. 44.

    Corner Stone

    @MeDrewNotYou: No, I agree. I only buy kids games for the Wii. They’re awesome, super fun, great suck-you-in stories. It’s a great system, just wanted to note it’s not really useful for a big subcategory that a lot of gamers enjoy.
    Just got Lego Indiana Jones 2 and it is awesome to play. So much fun for young kids.

  46. 46.

    Corner Stone

    @Alwhite: I finally understand The Sports Guy’s “Gus Johnson All Stars”.
    Had no idea he was black. My Blackdar completely fizzled on that one.

  47. 47.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Alwhite: A-men. Announcers suck. The Red Zone presented to me by Farmer’s Insurance? Sucky. Prolonged fluffing of Favre–triple sucky.

    @Corner Stone: Ah. Got it. Sucks to be you! not really. This game sucks.

    @arguingwithsignposts: Hey, we gotta get n cheering shape for the season, too, you know. EVERY GAME COUNTS!

    Antoine Winfield is yummy. That is all.

  49. 49.

    The Other Chuck

    I tried the streaming service when it came out for the XBox.

    It. Was. Awful.

    Every time, the quality would drop to unwatchable levels until cutting out altogether. Maybe they’ve improved since then, but I’d rather just be able to buffer the whole movie before playing it. The hardware is already extremely locked down anyway, so it’s not like I can steal a permanent copy from it.

  50. 50.

    Jim, Once

    The other thing I love about Roku, they keep adding applications, including live sports and music. I do have to pay extra for some of this, but so much less than cable – and it offers even more than what I want from cable. (No, I don’t work for Roku. I’m happily and recently retired.)

  51. 51.

    Delia

    I have Fawlty Towers on VHS tapes. My mom gave it to me years ago. Now that you’ve all reminded me I think I’ll go watch it. Maybe “The Germans.” Those just never get old.

  53. 53.

    Corner Stone

    @amorphous: While I disagree with your fixation, I will say i commend you for fixating.
    This was the absolute reason Netflix streaming was invented.
    Shitty movie? Questionable documentary? Kids show you hate?
    Don’t waste the 3 day turn around time on it, stream that chicken.
    I love it, and I totally called the uprise of streaming and the subsequent demise of Blockbuster a couple years before Netflix existed. Just fyi.

  54. 54.

    Yutsano

    @Corner Stone:

    so I don’t see her putting up much of a fuss over others writing books in her name.

    Feh. You’re not missing much. Seachickens are only ahead because of A) luck and B) pretty damn good defense for the Seahawks.

  55. 55.

    Cathie from Canada

    Ah, Fawlty Towers — best series ever:

    “Basil, you know what I’ll do to you if I find out you’ve been gambling?”
    “You’ll have to sew them back on first.”

    and

    They put Basil in the ratatouille?

    and

    I’m a doctor and I want my sausages!

    and

    My wife has made a mistake

    and

    Just off to see O’Reilly, my dear

    and

    He’s from Barcelona

    and

    Eva Prawn cocktail

    and

    Snagged her cardies, eh?

    and

    I’m doing it right now!

  56. 56.

    stuckinred

    Re-watching the Wire on DVD with the commentary. I didn’t think the best show ever could be better. . .it is.

  57. 57.

    MeDrewNotYou

    @Corner Stone: Ever since SNES and its RPGs went away, Nintendo has kind of been a two-system company for me. I absolutely love the Marios and Zeldas, but there were just too few ‘serious’ games, especially RPGs to be totally satisfied. After about a year with the N64, I need a Playstation; I actually had enough money to grab a Gamecube and PS2 at the same time; and its the same this time around. The DS has helped a lot with RPGs, but sometimes a man just wants to speed through town and kill hookers.

  60. 60.

    JGabriel

    I’m shocked that we’ve gone the entire Glenn Beck is Jesus Luther Rand Day without once hearing from Brick Oven Bill about how all the conservative Tea Party women at the I Have A Scheme rally are hotter than liberal lefty Islamosocialcommie women.

    BOB has truly gone and left us.

    .

  64. 64.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @JGabriel: If we could get some hawt women with industrial machinery in here, perhaps we could summon BoB again.

    And Netflix streaming (in general) is teh awesome. The only thing that would make it more awesome is if they had more movies. fucking studios.

    And, oh yeah, @Cornerstone – your life won’t have meaning until after preseason is ovah!

  65. 65.

    Corner Stone

    @Yutsano: If this was a little shorter we could start using it as substitute shorthand in the lexicon of BJ. It has a wide variety of applications, far as I can tell.
    Probably not bumper sticky enough as is.

  68. 68.

    Jewish Steel

    Listen, don’t mention the war! I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it all right.

    You know what really excellent and on Netflix? News Radio. My roommates made me watch it in syndication and I was shocked at how good it was. If you’ve never watched it, give it a shot. It is tightly plotted and wonderfully acted.

  69. 69.

    philly71

    @MeDrewNotYou: To steam Netflix from Wii, you need the free netflix disc. They will send it to you for free as part of your netflix subscription. You just have to ask. You put it on the wii consoile slot like a game and presto. Only negative thing about netflix on the wii unlike all of the other devices is that it is only standard definition as wii only is 480i.
    I tired it but use my roku or multiple samsung devices.

  70. 70.

    Cat Lady

    @stuckinred:

    I just got season 1 and season 2 for my birthday, and have just begun watching. I’m 4 episodes into season 1. I’m seeing the appeal.

  71. 71.

    El Cid

    No one at Beckstock spoke of electrifying the trains. Thus not enough energy was released to capture BoB’s putrefying spirit from the aether.

  72. 72.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Yutsano: S’ok. Just don’t do it again.

    By the way, the announcer feed on the Cowboys/Texans game went out. Heaven! I love having the sounds of the game without the incessant blather.

  73. 73.

    Corner Stone

    @MeDrewNotYou:

    but sometimes a man just wants to speed through town and kill hookers.

    You mean every day that ends in a Y?

    No, no. Hookers are people too. God bless ’em.

  75. 75.

    Yutsano

    @asiangrrlMN: They ran a social experiment in the 1980’s (I think). They showed an entire quarter of football with no announcers, no play-by-play, nothing. They never did it again, even though the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. Amazing what happens when you get the fuck out of the way and let the story tell itself.

    And they throw in Sage and find their offense. Astounding.

  76. 76.

    stuckinred

    @asiangrrlMN: Um, you can always just turn the volume off. . .but you knew that! Years back NBC did games with no announcers, it didn’t fly but I liked it.

    “On December 20, 1980 NBC made history by broadcasting a game between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins with no announcers. “

  77. 77.

    Corner Stone

    @Yutsano: I “watch” a lot of sports on mute. Never felt like I was missing anything.
    Like I need someone to scream at me that Usain Bolt is mind numbingly fast.

  78. 78.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Yutsano: I know. Go figure. Sweet TD.

    @stuckinred: Yeah, but I really like the crowd noise. I just hate the announcers. I want to be able to mute the announcers, but not the sounds of the game. Goddamn but Phil Simms irritates the shit out of me.

  79. 79.

    philly71

    @Corner Stone: Could not
    t have said it better. I have been streaming with Roku for almost 2 years now and have probably watched or partially watched a good portion of the whole streaming catalog. You highlighted the awesomeness of streaming beautifully. Dumb show you just started, stop and watch something else. No 3 day turnaround, and no limits on how much you can stream. I am sure the day that verizon, comcast, or timewarner buy off congress to monetize this by instituting tiered pricing on the amount (in GB) one can stream/download per month will be here shortly. Get while the getting is good.

  80. 80.

    Belvoir

    @Jim, Once:

    I almost added, “It’s no Citizen Kane, but it’s as entertaining as any sitcom.”

    It was Citizen Kane! It was Citizen Kane! It was Citizen Kane!

  82. 82.

    Cat Lady

    @stuckinred:

    I’m going to watch a few more episodes and let it sink in before I go tangential. A lot happens each episode, but each character is already fascinating and I don’t even know all of their names yet, or how they fit together. It’s compelling, that’s for damn sure. McNulty is a great character. I love that black Irish kind of cop.

  85. 85.

    Corner Stone

    @philly71: Exactly. I smash through whole catalogs of sitcoms, and action epis like Numbers, old Buffy episodes, Stand up Comedy routines, PBS documentaries, etc.
    My main thing is to stream things in Spanish. I start and stop them at my schedule.
    That’s misleading a little. Actually I stream 70% for my son. He watches Survivorman, Wubbsy, Spongebob, Labyrinth (with Bowie), all kinds of things. If he likes them we keep them queued. If he doesn’t then we’ve lost zero time transitioning to the next idea.
    We’ve watched Stomp Live, PBS Painting docs, all kinds of things we would have never had the chance.
    It’s brilliant really.

    I stream Chapelle Show while I walk on the treadmill. Does it get any better?

  90. 90.

    stuckinred

    @Cat Lady: Bunk, he’s a main character in Treme as well. You’ll love Kima and Lester too. Give it time and remember that each season is longer than the entire Godfather.

  91. 91.

    asiangrrlMN

    @burnspbesq: That’s really sad.

    @debit: Me, too. I would put him ahead of Tavaris, as much as I hate to say it. I’ve always rooted for Tavaris, but man…the upside to Webb (to use a dreaded phrase) is huge. Or rather, I would put him right behind Tavaris until he (Webb) improves enough to be number two.

  92. 92.

    philly71

    @Corner Stone: You also just highlighted the other beauty of streaming. As a new father, having kids shows is such a life saver. Thanks god for Spongebob (Never thought I would say that). Also, good point about watching things one would never watch. I would have never got the discs for Torchwood for example, but I loved it. And sitcom watching is so easy. It takes like 4 discs to watch a season. With streaming the ducks are lined up. 10 bucks a month with a device you already probably have anyway. It might be the only thing we are not getting gouged by the corporations . almost too good to be true.

  95. 95.

    Jewish Steel

    @Chris G.:

    Ah, you’re right. How observant! You must be a theater person to notice that.

    I remember hearing that the Cheers set was uncommonly detailed and lavish for a sitcom. Which I noticed once someone pointed it out to me.

  99. 99.

    burnspbesq

    Can someone explain why Uncle Tupelo didn’t make shitloads of money? Damn, that was a good band.

  100. 100.

    Chris G.

    @Jewish Steel: Indeed I am. I think that makes you the observant one here.

    @arguingwithsignposts: Plenty of love for M*A*S*H*, but that wasn’t the same sort of single, standing set that most NewsRadio episodes were shot on. M*A*S*H* episodes often jumped from the Swamp to Col. Blake’s office to the showers to the mess hall to the operating room. NewsRadio often had characters running in and out of frame, reacting to something happening on the other side of the set, physical bits playing out in the background while characters conversed in the foreground, and the like.

  102. 102.

    Origuy

    I watched a show about the making of Blackadder. They decided to make a historical comedy because they didn’t want to be compared to Fawlty Towers. They felt that anything contemporary would not measure up.

  104. 104.

    Jewish Steel

    @burnspbesq:

    I went to school with Mike Heidorn’s sister. Uncle Tupelo were local giants here. They played our quad and everything.

    They did (invented? kind of, I’d say) the awesome and forward-looking thing they did about 5 years too early-and stopped to soon.

    Wilco is such a pale afterthought compared to the roaring punk rock-country monster that was Uncle Tupelo.

    Son Volt’s pretty good though.

  106. 106.

    Chris G.

    @arguingwithsignposts: That’s true, but those areas were contiguous with the studio/desk area set and often interacted with them. See the episode with Bill’s cane for a great example of that.

  108. 108.

    Warren Terra

    The love for excellent TV shows coupled with the mention of The Kids In The Hall reminds me to mention the Canadian comedy drama series Slings And Arrows (one of the Kids is in it, but it was really just Canada that reminded me) — it’s available on Watch Instantly and it’s just delightful, especially the first season.

  109. 109.

    Warren Terra

    Sorry about the hyphen-induced strikethrough error – difficulty with text entry on my iPod (on which Netflix streaming has worked well for two of three things I tried, even using my unknown generous neighbor’s unprotected WiFi access).

  114. 114.

    roshan

    How do panhandlers and homeless use a prepaid credit card?

    What would happen if, instead of spare change, you handed a person in need the means to shop for whatever they needed? What would they buy? Can you spare your credit card, sir?
    In New York City, an advertising executive recently handed over her American Express Platinum Card to a homeless Manhattan man after he had asked her for change. The man, who had been without home after losing a job, used the card to buy $25 worth of deodorant, water and cigarettes. And then he returned the card.

  115. 115.

    jake the snake

    Isn’t Wii only 480P?
    I have a Panasonic Blu-Ray and can’t stream Netflix on it.

    That is the biggest downside to the Panasonic, which was rated highly, particularly as an upconvert machine.

  117. 117.

    bago

    I luvs me some streaming netflix on my xbox. The facebook, twitter, and last.fm are just gravy. Well, there’s also the part where I get to play Mass Effect 2 and Dead Space. That also rocks.

  118. 118.

    SciVo

    @The Dangerman: I’d say they’re on Team Team. I mean, it’s all about the team for them, and so I think that they honestly don’t see the ridiculousness of equating their tribe’s danger of loss of social hegemony with other tribes’ history of being oppressed (by them!).

    Is self-righteous harmfulness evil? Is articulate credulity stupid? The answers don’t matter; either way, ignorant tribalism causes people to treat each other unjustly poorly, and so we need maximum pushback against it everywhere that it’s found.

    @Ripley: I really enjoyed all five seasons streamed on Netflix. To be fair, it was my “late night after a few beers” show, so YMMV.

    @General Stuck: It took me three tries to find the right definition. Vehicle? Sex act? Bird!

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