AuntiePam

The Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer, originally published in single volumes, my copy was three-in-one. A mysterious event has affected an area on the southern coast, nicknamed Area X. Expeditions have been sent in to explore, the expeditions come back changed, or not at all. The story follows several characters, some identified only by their function (job titles), and the story hops back and forth in time. There are long periods where the characters speculate about what's going on, with a few scenes of intense violence. Questions are raised but not answered. At least not in a way that I could understand. It's a compelling story, the writing is fine, but the book is basically unsatisfying. The highest praise I can give is that it does make you think. It's sort of a cross between H. P. Lovecraft and Neal Stephenson -- other wordly and long-winded. Next up is The Fade by Chris Wooding.

This was another episode with an event (Lex killing Fruit) that didn't seem to mean much until later in the season. Reverberations, my gosh. I caught something that I missed before -- Dookie telling the boys to come look, he exploded some bugs. Did I hear that right? Dookie doesn't seem the animal abuser type, even insects.

I'd forgotten about some of the fallout from the end of this season. The little hoppers back on the corners instead of at Cutty's gym (Marlo got his package back), Marlo having free rein, Burrell's promotion, Daniels owing Burrell, and something that was just a throwaway line. Bodie's in the interview room with Ronda and McNulty. Bodie says Hamsterdam was "contrapment". Ronda says "You mean 'entrapment'" and then she looks at McNulty like, "Shit, all these arrests will be thrown out."

Watched this episode again last night. We learn the name of the kid with the sideways hat -- Justin. Agree with Constantinople about Avon asking Stringer what time he'd be at the development. Stringer noticed -- he seemed puzzled, and Avon looked like "Damn, that was clumsy of me." I don't understand Stringer wanting Avon back in prison. As we saw when Avon was jailed before, he still had power. Does anyone think Stringer was just pissed at Avon for saying "I told you so" when Stringer trusted Clay Davis. Stringer doesn't like to look the fool, especially with Avon. His ego was bruised.

I've borrowed a line from Marlo, when my husband or one of the kids complains about something triflin': "You want it to be one way, but it's the other way." I always feel a bit weird saying it though, considering the context in the show.

http://freakonomics.com/2008/01/09/what-do-real-thugs-think-of-the-wire/ -- first in a series of blog posts, but don't read any of it until you've seen the whole series, since there are spoilers galore. I'm in the process of rewatching the remastered episodes and I can't tell any difference. Maybe if I saw side-by-side screen shots.

Makes me wish I was watching for the first time.

We're either splitting hairs or I'm not explaining my position very well. You might work for a corporation, but if you're in a union, the corporation can't change your work hours, your duties or your pay. If they want to fire you, it has to be done by the terms of the union-employer contract. All that stuff has been negotiated between the union and the company. The issue is representation. If you're not in a union, it's just you and your employer -- no one's acting on your behalf.

Mine too. He ties the show together for me, even more than Bubs. He seemed so aware -- like he was thinking and learning, adapting. I rank the series 2, 3, 1, 4, 5. I didn't watch in real time either, until season five. We had HBO when the series started, and flipping channels I tuned in on a scene with Kima and Cheryl. I rolled my eyes and thought "Okay HBO, another sex-filled edgy show, I get it, never mind." I don't remember why I gave it another try. Might have been all the good reviews -- it certainly wasn't awards, because the show never got any. Anyway, I put the S1 DVD on my Amazon wish list and one of my kids got it for me. That hooked me, that first scene with McNulty and the dead Snotboogie, and the kid saying "This America man."

Oh you would have to make me think about this! :-) I don't see any similarities between unions/members and corporations/shareholders. The differences (as I see them) are mainly relating to power. Individual union members give up their right to negotiate directly with employers -- the union does that for them, working with employers in setting wages, working conditions, criteria for advancement, discipline, termination, etc. When an entity has that much power over someone's life, there's an added level of care, responsibility. That makes unions similar to lawyers -- they're acting on behalf of someone else so the standards are high. Corporations control your investment, but they have no power over your work life. And then there's the matter of publicly-funded projects awarded to unions -- taxpayer money -- another layer of responsibility.

David Simon said in an interview or DVD commentary, can't remember which, that he really didn't want to do the flashback, but they were afraid that people wouldn't remember who Gant was. I loved that slo-mo scene but I'm glad they only did it once.

Unions are held to a higher standard than an ordinary business or organization. It's because they represent other people -- they don't just act on behalf of themselves. Like lawyers -- there's a code of ethics. With the unions, it's a charter. They didn't want to break the union so much as they wanted the union to elect new, honest leadership.

It's a close call for me, between these two shows. Breaking Bad loses a few points because of some of the more improbable coincidences -- a lack of realism. But the shows had different goals. The Wire was the story of a city, and BB the story of one man. Both were plenty ambitious and succeeded more often than they failed. But I held my breath and was on the edge of my seat more often on BB than on The Wire. The one really improbable sequence on The Wire was based on something that really happened.

I understood about the pre-tapped phones. But what was he proving to Bernard by reciting that long string of numbers? Or was he not proving anything but just having fun with Bernard, like when the detectives convinced that one kid that a copy machine was a lie detector?

Does anyone know what the heck Lester was doing when he met with Bernard and Squeak? What was he showing them by rattling off all those numbers?

I read somewhere that Bubbles wasn't intended as a long-term character. He's who I thought of when Bunny was talking to Carver. Look how much value Kima got from her relationship with Bubs, starting with the hat trick in season one. Something that bugged me about the Barksdale organization was that even after Avon was shot, while staking out the place where Devonne was to meet Marlo, they didn't think (or care) that Devonne might be in danger. They had to know. Stringer gets a bodyguard, and nobody thinks to tell Devonne that Marlo might be coming after her. It's another reminder that as compelling as these characters are, they're cold and ruthless.

I like Mouzone. The man had standards. This episode and the previous episode had me really confused the first time watching. All the machinations -- who's doing what to who, the Avon-Marlo-Omar war, the different motivations, everyone playing everyone else. This was definitely a "You can't tell the players without a program" kind of plot. I felt bad for Carver when Bunny told him he wasn't good police because he didn't know the street, he had no connections. It was a good speech but it felt inserted and clumsy, like something Simon wanted to get across to the audience but didn't know where to put it, and there was only one episode left.

I've heard it, but I think it was from a Brit, or maybe an old movie where people spoke Posh. :-)

Loved Slim Charles chastising those two about endangering a "bona fide colored lady". And Sunday hats -- "crowns". McNulty, at least he made it back home before the kids woke up. Kinda crappy of him to take the paper with his cell number on it. Did he not want the kids to have his number? Or was he worried that the ex would see it and find out that he'd left?

I don't watch those shows, but I was tickled to see three Wire alumnae on The Walking Dead -- Cutty, Carver, and D'Angelo.

GaT, I tried Ready Player One but dumped it. I don't remember much about it, just that I felt like I was "reading" a video game. The premise was interesting, but I guess it just wasn't for me. (I'm old.) :-)

Across Spoon River, autobiography of Edgar Lee Masters. I think I read Spoon River Anthology at about the same time that I read Peyton Place. They're similar, exposing small town hypocrisy. Masters comes across as a bit of a whiner, shallow, a self-professed ladies man, very conscious of social status, and scattered in his enthusiasms. It's a good read though, especially his descriptions of growing up in the midwest in the late 1800's, and life in Chicago in the early 1900's.

What helped me appreciate S5 was re-watching it right after a re-watch of the entire series. One of my kids was visiting for two weeks. He'd never seen the show and he loves TV, so we watched the DVDs. Jimmy's behavior (and Lester going along with it) made more sense, having the frustrations of the prior seasons fresh in my head. Didn't it start with Jimmy having to take a bus to a murder scene? Back to square one with the police department budget.

Randy, Namond, Michael and Duquan (Dookie) -- Randy is the happy-go-lucky entrepreneur, Namond is the one with all the hair and attitude, Michael is the serious one (the one you'd want at your back in a fight), and Dookie is the shy one with the big smile.

This episode gave me a bit of respect for Avon, recognizing the courage Cutty showed when Cutty said "It ain't in me", followed by Avon affirming to Slim Charles, "He a man." The look on Cutty's face -- the man was scared, and who wouldn't be? Avon trusting Cutty not to snitch, just letting him leave -- Avon knows people, way better than Stringer does. I think the only actor I recognized from other shows was Callie Thorne -- wasn't she on Rescue Me? Or maybe that came later.