[S15.E01: Back and to the Future]

So, hey, Supernatural.  Welcome back for your final season.  Too bad that you started in less than stellar fashion.  While Demon Jack is more palatable than Original Recipe Jack, that's not exactly a high bar to clear.  And his name might as well be De(mon)us Ex Machima Jack, given his oh-so-convenient spells that save the day (and the boys' rather tantalizing asses).

In spite of my willing and substantial suspension of disbelief, I still couldn't deal with the town being evacuated on such a flimsy pretext or with just a sheriff and our Heroes to do it. Nope.  And Sam getting downed by the clown ghost multiple times, and the big chase scene down the street when the ghosts could simply blink in front of the group? Also, nope. 

So, Supernatural, can you please do better so I don't end up hate watching your final season?  Thanks in advance. 

I may be wrong, but I thing the male ghost with the black suit is the murdering barber from the portrait in Provenance.

[Star Trek: Picard Anticipation]

Well, since I've now been able to confirm that I'll be able to watch Picard on CTV Sci Fi (formerly Space) up here in Canada,  I can now allow myself to get excited about the new series.  Woo! Picard! Woo! Riker! Woo! Data! Woo! Seven of Nine! WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

.....sorry.

[S06.E25: China]

Huh, John, just....huh.  I was aware that the one child policy in China had created a massive imbalance in that generation's male to female population and this had led to lots of unhappily single men, but had no idea how bad some of the other consequences are.  Human trafficking of women for forced marriages, most children having no siblings, overindulged "little meatball" only children, the undocumented second children, the loss of people in the workforce, etc.  One of the alarming things I have heard that John didn't get into was how the Chinese also now have 30 million young men with no wives or children who could easily become an army.

And the horrors of the enforcement of the one child policy were just sickening, on so may levels.  Particularly that threatening, Omen-like child in the Chinese propaganda ad.

[Talking Dead: Where Chris Hardwick Got His Groove Back]

Still love Jeffrey Dean Morgan.  Still hate Negan.  He can take his pretty mouth and shove it right up his shitting pants. 

The actress who plays Judith is one very self possessed child.  She handled herself better than a lot of the adult actors do on Talking Dead.

[S11.E16: Las Vegas National Finals Night 4]

Well, while I'm fairly meh about Drew as a contestant, you can't say his win was a fluke (safety pass issue excepted).  He trained hard, prepared properly, and gave the course maximum effort.   And, for me, I'd rather see him win than one of the kids or rookies, so congrats to Drew.

And I laughed a bit at the compilation cut of Island Ninja's many failures at the salmon ladder.  

[S06.E23: Immigration]

Hey, John.  Good, funny and informative episode on a process everyone thinks they know more about than they actually do.  And, unfortunately, that includes most politicians.  And voters.  Having gone through the immigration system yourself obviously brings a whole different perspective to your observations and feelings about how fucked up it really is.  The bit about the backlog (they are just now working on applications from Mexico from 1997???!?!?!?!?) blew my mind.  I have no idea what it would take to fix something so massive that is so broken, but it will likely collapse under its own weight sooner rather than later if nothing is done.  Which won't be pretty.

And that immigration guy (Cucinelli?) can go fuck himself with a chainsaw for his "stand on their own two feet" bastardization of the Statue of Liberty poem.  Seriously.  A rusty, gas powered, really sharp chainsaw.

[S07.E10: He's Basically A Hound]

So goodbye David and Irina. Don’t let an apple hit you in the ass on the way out. 

I knew the words to Fare Thee Well to Nova Scotia from campfire singalongs long ago so that’s one task out of dozens that I can say I would have rocked  

It’s kind of weird to head into a TAR finale (albeit the Can con version) and actually like all 3 final teams. I think I’d prefer Anthony and James to win but I’d be pretty good with either of the other two also. It’s strange not to be rooting against anyone. 

[S07.E03: We'll Let the Peasants Fight for Last Place]

So was anyone else singing "Funicular, funiculay, funiculiiiii!" in an operatic voice?  No, just me?

In other news, Edmonton got a really nice edit in this ep.  Irina and David, not so much. 

[Men in Black: International (2019)]

PLOT:  predicable in most parts, completely nonsensical in others

DIALOGUE:  passable (particularly the Hemsworth/Thompson/Pawney stuff, which I understand was ghost written by dialogue fixers hired by Hemsworth and Thompson)

CAST:  best part of the movie.  Nanjani as Pawney's voice was MVP

SPECIAL F/X:  not that special

OVERALL:  it was fine.  Not good, not horrible.  With this kind of talent and budget, it should have been great.

[S21.E02: Season Premiere (Part 2)]

Jeez, Julie. What the hell are you wearing???  Babydoll pink lace last night and late 80’s spring formal prom dress tonight. I wouldn’t have thought you pissed off the costume department this early in the season, although Mr. Moonves did spread himself around...

In actual game comments, shoutin’ Sam must turn down the volume or I’m going to get a truck and make me some roadkill. Speaking of roadkill, I’ll also aim for that stupid squirrel too.  I’m already bored by the camp theme so I think it could be a loooong summer. 

[S21.E01: Season Premiere (Part 1)]

So another season of BB to love/hate for the summer. Very happy there’s an all newbie cast this year. Still figuring out who is who, but I don’t hate anyone yet, surprisingly. I kind of like the Tiger Daughter (Isabella?) and I’m hoping for totally shallow reasons that Jack doesn’t turn out to be a total douchebag. Geeky Girl is getting close to maxing out the annoying meter though, and the guy who got voted camp counsellor needs to throttle it down big time. 

[Forged In Fire - General Discussion]

This is one of the few competition reality shows that usually avoids the “I’m not here to make friends” bitchery  in its contestants. They may not all be as cooperative as, say, the marines taking the anchor apart, but they are usually respectful of the judges decisions when eliminated and complimentary towards the other competitors. I appreciate that wat more than the the judges were wrong I’m so much better than everyone else crap from some other shows. 

[Forged In Fire - General Discussion]

This thread is so quiet I wonder if anyone else is watching the current armed forces face off. I’m enjoying it more than expected. I like that they are making the contestants from each branch of the service make that branches service knife and dress sword for the first round. Not sure what they’re going to do when it goes to Army v Navy v Air Force v Marines..... 

[S17.E19: George Will, Martin Short, Eliot Spitzer, Bari Weiss, and Rob Schenck]

In taking a strictly originalist interpretation of the Constitution, Will and others, (Hi, Justice Scalia) essentially believe that if a right wasn't specified originally, and hasn't been added through a constitutional amendment, then the Constitution does not include or protect that right.  Will even said in this ep that the Constitution tends to prohibit the government from abridging rights, as opposed to granting them.  The problem that the originalists have always had difficulty addressing, however, is that the people who wrote and approved of the Constitution lived in a very different world than ours, and had no way to adequately address the then-unimaginable issues the Constitution would have to deal with in the future.  Jefferson et. al. may have been geniuses, but they also wrote a Constitution by white males and for white males.  I guarantee none of them were thinking about the effect gender and racial equality, internet privacy, or the technological advances in health and reproductive care would have on the country and how the Constitution, as written, should deal with that.

I also find it of interest that most originalists have their race and gender in common with the founding fathers.

[S17.E14: Finale]

Thank God Sebastian won  his collection was interesting, wearable and beautiful.  No doubt he was the best of the three.  Glad the judges valued quality over cutesy.  

I just can’t with Hester’s collection. There wasn’t one look that I or anyone I know over 12 would even think about wearing. So while she was different from the usual, which is a positive, I just don’t get the judges raving over her. 

Garo had some beautiful clothes and showed off the shape in all sizes of his models. But he lost it on execution and indecision. Although I would hire him to make me a special event dress ahead of any of the other designers 

Christian turned out to be a great choice for mentor and the new judges and host were good. I enjoyed this season of Project Runway more than the last 5 or 6 one on Lifetime. So, bravo, Bravo. 

[S11.E02: Atlanta City Qualifiers]

Normally I ignore the product placement/movie tie in stuff but actually got a kick out of the dogs and their warped wall. So cute. My favourite was the good boy who said nope to the wall and took the stairs instead. And I was glad the K9 Ninja finished the course and got a nice donation from the movie people for his dog rescue charity. 

I wasn’t sure about the speed pass top 2 competition or the mega wall at first but I’ve decided I like the “speed or greed” choice the ninjas now have to make.  Adds an element is strategy to the course. 

[Deadwood - General Discussion]

Deadwood: the Movie was a lovely way to say goodbye to some of the best characters to ever be on a tv series. Still dirty, violent and profane but also beautiful, caring and lyrical. My thanks to Milch, Olyphant, McShane, Malcolmson, Weigart and everyone else who came together to give us the chance to spend one last weekend them.  

Now break out the peaches and pour me some whiskey, you fucking cocksuckers. 

[S17.E16: Fran Lebowitz, Jonathan Metzl, Jamie Kirchic, George Packer, and Neera Tanden]

I have no idea whether anyone who watched Mayor Pete on Fox will vote for him in the primaries or general, should he become the candidate. But you don’t know the results without conducting the experiment. 

[S17.E16: Fran Lebowitz, Jonathan Metzl, Jamie Kirchic, George Packer, and Neera Tanden]

Since Fox can/has edited footage from CNN, MSNBC, CPAC etc, I don’t think avoiding being on that network will prevent it from happening again. To me that’s not a compelling reason to boycott Fox News.  It’s the only news channel for millions of voters and going on Fox for a live event like  a town hall is one of the only times a democratic candidate can reach them mostly unfiltered.  It also feeds into the Republican narrative that the dems don’t care about Fox viewers and/or are too scared to step outside their “fake news” bubble.  A whole lot of people on the right feel the same way about MSNBC that people on the left feel about Fox 

This kind of hurts to say, since I respect Elizabeth Warren way more than Bill Maher, but she’s wrong and he’s right on this issue. 

[S17.E14: Jay Inslee, Moby, Kara Swisher, Bret Stephens, and Bakari Sellers]

Good show, as it was nice to have reasonably coherent panelists speaking without shouting over each other.  But New Rules, well, ruled.  My only previous contact with ASMR has been very limited, but I knew enough to know it annoyed me.  When Bill started in on it, I was like, nope, and ready to stop my recording.  But then the camera pulled out to show Moby doing the various weird (supposedly soothing) sounds, and I started giggling.  Lost it further when they showed the two male panelists losing it too, and then the dildo stirring ramen came, and I was laughing so hard the cats still are hiding somewhere.   

[S06.E08: Opioid Abuse and Richard Sackler]

Ok Jon. Now that’s an episode worthy of an Emmy submission. Use that tits and dragon money!  While Omar and the Vulture chilled me to the bone with the uncaring greed, Heisenberg terrified me with his intense menace.  I may have wet my pants a bit. And then Richard Kind comes along with his millions of goofily unique “l don’t knows” and all is well again. 

[S06.E07: Mobile homes and Frank Rolfe]

Hi, John. I’m a bit late to the party this week due to a dvr failure to record. (“Stupid plastic piece of crap!”). Mobiles, aka trailers aka manufactured homes, is not a topic I would have expected you to cover.   Sorry to say that it was not your most entertaining show. When the best part is the 3 minute ad parody at the end, you know this won’t be this years Emmy submission. 

[S06.E06: World Wrestling Entertainment and Vince McMahon]

1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

Just curious: Is that the term for it or just what you call it?

The closest I've gotten to watching wrestling is GLOW on Netflix. I didn't know anything about it, so John's show was interesting and informative. I also appreciate the info people here posted.

That's a good point. I always thought wrestlers got into movies just as a career move and to make more money, but to get health insurance was something I never considered.

I hope fans at Wrestlemania will show us that they watched this ep by chanting and/or holding signs.

Butthole facewash just came to me.  ASFAIK, it's not a standard term.

[S09.E16: The Storm]

Negan can rescue all the stupid kids and cute dogs left in the zombie apocalypse, but it won’t change who he is, what he did or justify his continued existence. But that doesn’t look like the show runner feels the same. Next season seems destined to be Negans redemption arc. Oh goody. 

Clearly no one on the show has actually been in a snow storm or dealt with actual winter weather. It takes days of freezing temperatures before a river will ice up at all, much less thick enough to walk on. If it was cold enough for  zombiesicles then exposed human skin should have been frost bitten in about 5 minutes. And the fireplace flue failure at Alexandria should never have happened.  Because these people are supposed to be the smart survivors not the idiots who would ignore  basic maintenance of their homes for the upcoming winter months. 

And if the Kingdom refugees were just going to abandon their horses and mules anyway, they actually had a whole lot more than just a days worth of food at the Sanctuary. Just saying. 

[S06.E06: World Wrestling Entertainment and Vince McMahon]

 Hey John. Well I knew it was in evitable that you would have to spend some time on the Barr summary of the Mueller report but thank you for keeping it to a minimum. I am already tired from the week long freak out by left and right  over a four page highlight sheet. 

While I am not a huge wrestling fan myself, I grew up with someone who was, and kind of still is, obsessed by the WWF/WWE, and I saw more than my fair share of Wrestlemania pay per views back in the day. Years later it is sad to see that so many of the wrestlers who made McMahon a billionaire being thrown away by him like an empty Coke can out a car window. Not too funny John. But the shot of that asshole getting a butthole face wash did lift my spirits just a bit. And if anyone at the upcoming Wreslemania starts chanting “Health Insurance!” or waves a sign that says “Less Spandex More Retirement Accounts”, I need to know about it.