I had completely forgotten how much it rains here during the spring and I have felt damp for the past 48 hours. Desert life changed me. I am also just completely exhausted- I am not a young man any more and a three day road trip takes it out of me.
I feel like I owe you all a bunch of political posts, but all I want to do is curl up under a blanket and read and watch the new season of Daredevil (I am two episodes in). It’s really good and Vincent D’Onofrio is sooooooo good. And then I have Andor and the Wheel of Time and about a dozen other shows I didn’t even bother to try to get Joelle to watch.
KrackenJack
I’d prefer not to have a political post. Thanks. Just rest up.
Old Dan and Little Ann
I’m 4 episodes into Andor. I’m not one to complain about anything Star Wars related so I like it just fine.
JerseyBeard
Enjoy Daredevil. My son and I loved it.
Baud
What’s there to talk about? There’s bread, and then there’s circuses.
TF79
I never got around to reading the books, but Wheel of Time has been pretty great. Stupid, sexy Forsaken…
Suzanne
@Baud: Agree. Everything is terrible. All we do these days is argue and it’s all impotent anger.
Baud
@Suzanne:
My anger lasts for more than four hours, tyvm.
zhena gogolia
I’m about to finish Wolf Hall. Really don’t want to see Mark lose his head. He’s so brilliant.
Kirk
@Baud:
And then there’s the bread you get at the circus.
Joe Falco
I’ve watched Season 1 of the Wheel of Time, having read all of the books beforehand. The decisions that were made to write the TV version the way it was just bewilder me. I still want to watch Season 2, but I have to keep telling myself that this is just a version of the story. It’s not the version I grew up reading and loved, but it is a version.
Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.
lowtechcyclist
My ebike arrived, some assembly required. Took care of that this afternoon and took a first brief ride once the battery charged up. So far, so good.
Jerry
Man, just stay away from politics until you recover from the road trip. Unfortunately, all this bullshit will still be here when you are ready.
Jerry
We’re two episodes in the new Netflix documentary ‘Turning Point: the Vietnam War’ and it’s really good as expected. Their series on the Cold War was fantastic and I cannot recommend it highly enough. I’ll check out their 9/11 series after the Vietnam War one.
Suzanne
@lowtechcyclist: Ohhhh fuuuuuuun! I’m envious.
MagdaInBlack
@Baud: Had to think about that for a wee bit and then…OH! I get it.
hitchhiker
@zhena gogolia: I put off watching the last episode because I didn’t want to see it, either. Henry was such a mad fucker, and it was hard to see Rylance’s world coming apart.
And, I looked it up: just as now, very few people in that timeline got what they had coming. Some of the worst assholes lived in comfort to old age, and some of the righteous were punished.
Baud
@MagdaInBlack:
You notice RFK, Jr.’s anti-modern medicine crusade ain’t touching ED pills.
MagdaInBlack
@Baud: Heard Hal Sparks refer to RFKjr as “The Great Gonzo” (Muppet show) and do the voice……..and while I know it’s wrong to laugh at someones medical issue, I’m ok with being wrong.
No One of Consequence
@Joe Falco: I must inquire, having read the series until the initial author’s passing: With the visual medium of the screen, obviating the need for so much descriptive prose about clothing and dress of the characters, hangers’ on, extras, set pieces, etc. Did they have enough material (sic) left for a second season?
(enjoyed the books, but the endless clothing descriptions fuggin’ WORE on me…)
-NOoC
Harrison Wesley
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang, but with Netflix.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
Is anyone else seeing these ads for Trump’s energy policy or steel jobs or are they just airing here in the DC area to boost his fragile ego? I might have to write all my streaming services to tell them I’m cancelling if I see one more fucking add for that jackass. If that means I only watch Netflix so be it.
Baud
zhena gogolia
@hitchhiker: I was glad to see Rafe Sadler lived a long life.
I can’t help seeing him as the little boy in Love Actually! His face has not changed.
Ohio Mom
Another vote for not needing any more political posts. I’m saturated.
I think I said this before, my current state reminds me of the weeks leading up to my mastectomy. I knew things were bad, didn’t have any idea of what would happen, did a few small things to get ready, and then sorta sleep-walked into it. It was all beyond my control, it was something that was going to happen, I just had to muddle through.
The things I can do and do now, calling my Congressmen, going to protest rallies, seem so insufficient and ineffective. I am just muddling through. At 70, I hope to see the end of this era but realize I may have to settle for adjusting to it.
Joe Falco
@No One of Consequence: They took out and/or rewrote some significant portions of the first book, perhaps to retell some of those scenes in a future story, but it is very noticeable. It wasn’t all padding that got cut out.
No One of Consequence
@Joe Falco: Right on. Thanks. You and John seem to think it is worthwhile, maybe I should give it a watch.
-NOoC
geg6
Anyone else watching Paradise on Hulu? I’m two episodes in and I’m hooked. Totally got me with the twist. Stars Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson and James Marsden. I’m a big SKB fan and Marsden endeared himself to me with Jury Duty. Highly recommend so far.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@MagdaInBlack: There’s an exception to every rule and that guy is definitely it.
Jay
@Kirk:
Hot dog buns??????? Eeeeeew.
zhena gogolia
@Ohio Mom: Exactly me. I’m modeling my Russian friends, after 25 years of Putin.
schrodingers_cat
I am playing with my new Swan fountain pens. I have put hot pink ink in a Pink pen. I swatched my new watercolor set.
In other news India and Pakistan are at war.
frosty
That about sums it up, right there.
laura
@geg6: episode 7 gonna wreck you.
Marigold
@Joe Falco: Season 1 was rough, but COVID shut them down in the middle of filming, they lost a main actor, and had to rewrite the ending.
In Season 2 they were still trying to get the characters where they needed to be, but there were a lot more moments that felt right. And Season 3 knocked my socks off. Just… scenes I’ve been imagining since middle school, and some of the choices they made in Season 1 had payoffs in 3, which kind of retroactively made it better.
HopefullyNotcassandra
Wheel of Time is excellent. There will be a season 4 too. Get good sleep.
Kelly
@lowtechcyclist: hmm, doesn’t this make you a hightechcyclist?
Denali5
Recommendation: Istanbul Encyclopedia on Netflix. Especially if you have been to Istanbul.
Omnes Omnibus
I am alternating episodes of Shetland with episodes of New Tricks. It works.
sab
@Omnes Omnibus: Took about three episodes before husband could understand them in Sherland. I think he wasn’t even trying.
schrodingers_cat
@sab: I counted all the pencils I have. I have over 2000. (this includes spares of my favorite supplies) So they are not all in use.
NotMax
Tried watching both Andor and Wheel of Time. Neither pushed my buttons enough to justify continuing.
As always, YMMV.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, … Washingtonian.com – ICE agents are targeting DC restaurants:
Grr…
WTOP.com from March 19:
I guess 47 and ICE wants even more restaurants in DC to close…
Grr…
Best wishes,
Scott.
Jeffro
DAREDEVIL is good tv. I wish they’d done one of the other legendary story arcs from the comics (including, oddly enough, the series’ namesake) but it’s good.
ANDOR is better! Thoroughly enjoying it.
In both cases, I didn’t see the earlier seasons and I still feel like I’m on top of things, so…good job, binge-TV producers!
(related or maybe not: I’m still thinking about seeing SINNERS at the local Alamo Drafthouse last week. just extremely well-done movie-making)
Jeffro
@lowtechcyclist: what’d you get? I’m going shopping for a bike next week…not sure if I want a ‘regular’ (non-E) bike, an e-bike, or both if the prices are right?
Jeffro
That’s a remarkably spot-on take.
Thanks Pete!
Sally
@zhena gogolia: I turned it off as he was heading towards the tower. Couldn’t watch. Fabulous show, acting, cinematography, costumes, everything was marvellous.
Gloria DryGarden
@Baud: so he can Fock us both ways…
prostratedragon
“Authentic ethnic flavors for bigots who don’t deserve them”
YY_Sima Qian
This just showed up among the headlines:
I think the senior Chinese officials are going on a previously scheduled trip to Switzerland, not sure about Bessent.
I suspect the news reporting is overplaying the significance of the meeting. It is between senior level counterparts, so it is not nothing, & could portent the start of a formal negotiation process (that is likely to be long & tortuous). However, nothing is certain as of this moment.
Nevertheless, the US equities markets should do well tomorrow
& then there is this:
YY_Sima Qian
Bessent settled on leveraging tariffs to compel global decoupling from the PRC, to sane wash the shambolic omnidirectional trade war. Here is how that “strategy” is working:
prostratedragon
New spying in Greenland [archive.ph]
YY_Sima Qian
@prostratedragon: We live in the nuttiest of timelines. There are only 50+K residents in Greenland. Gabbard may be sending more US spies than there are pro-US Greenlanders.
prostratedragon
@YY_Sima Qian: Hope they’re not counting on blending into the local background.
YY_Sima Qian
@prostratedragon: Gabbard probably thinks that Greenlanders look like Danes. Trump certainly thinks so.
Turgidson
Andor is FUCKING AWESOME.
That is all.
Jackie
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:
I live on the West Coast (WA) and haven’t seen any, albeit I fast forward through commercials.
The Audacity of Krope
@Jackie: They’re on Fox News all the time. No, I’m not watching by choice.
ronno2018
I can also relate to how tired you feel in the late 50’s and 60’s!
I am ramping up exercise to counter the tiredness!
Will it work? I think not! :)
sab
@schrodingers_cat: That seems a reasonable amount if you are doing art every day, which it seems you are.
I only do black, white, gray. With colors you need a lot more pencils.
sab
@YY_Sima Qian: Game of Thrones fans know otherwise. Jaime Lanister actor is a Dane married to a Greenlander.
sab
Well two out of three on local elections.
Library renewal levy passed. Statewide renewal of infrastructure bonds passed.
My local city council guy failed, but I was very not sure he was the best candidate. He had an army of youngsters supporting him. I hope they are not too disheartened moving forward. Yes I did vote for him, when the Fraternal Order of Police came out for the other guy.
YY_Sima Qian
@sab: I’ve forgotten about that!
Chris T.
@sab:
And you only get five! That’s the new Pencil Allotment, be grateful His Goldness has increased it.
Paul in KY
@hitchhiker: Thomas Cromwell had some very jealous enemies. He also, in hindsight, made some serious tactical errors. Should have gotten married again. That would have stopped all the sniping that he was trying to marry Princess Mary, etc. etc. Should have been more on top of the Anne of Cleves fiasco, also.