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shadowkat1. Just finished reading Powers of X #3 by Jonathan Hickman and RB Silva -- and my theory was correct, the flash-forward is in reality a flash-backward to one of Moira's previous lives. The series should be called the Many Lives of Moira McTaggert, which makes me think of the Disney flick about the cat that I saw as a wee tot, The Many Lives of Thomasina. Also it falls within the time travel explanation that the quatuum physicists attempted to explain to the MCU writers -- which is that you can't change the past, all you do is create another time line or reality.
Reading this series feels a bit like reading a puzzle box - I honestly think that if you don't like to analyze things, you will be hopelessly lost. The writer doesn't tell the story directly, he sort of winds around robin hood's barn, then goes off into a labrynth style maze and does a jig.
The art is amazing and there's some interesting ideas regarding narrative and story structure that I'm thrilled by, being me -- narrative and story structure fascinates me. Some people get turned on by linguistics, I get turned on by narrative structure or the various ways one can tell a story. From a hard science-fiction perspective - not a lot new here. Although it is admittedly entertaining to see Apocalypse of all people as the hero of this world, and that in of itself does comment on how we perceive heroes, good, evil, etc.
The hard sci-fi focuses on how the humans in an attempt to fight the mutants and Apocalypse -- invent machines. The Avengers are long gone. They feel there is no other choice but to create mechanical devices to protect them -- not unlike Stark does in Age of Ultron, with disasterous results. After all whats to keep the machines from deciding to do away with the humans and take over? Not a lot. Or flip the tables, and enslave the humans? This is covered ad naseum in the Terminator series (I really want to see the new Terminator movie), Matrix Series (it's getting another film as well), and Battle Star Galatica..to name a few. Star Wars also played around with it.
The time travel bit -- focuses on how the surviving mutants decide to provide Moira with enough information to ensure she can prevent the mistakes of this time line from happening in the next one. When she's reborn -- she can stop Nimrod from coming online -- which is the mission that Magneto and Xavier give Cyclops - stop the Nimrod program from coming online.
The readership assumed it had already happened, because we thought the time line we were following in Year 100 was Moira's 10th and current timeline, but in actuality it's her Ninth Timeline. The 10th and current timeline is well the one we've been reading all along, and we're just up to House of X there -- nothing else has happened yet.
Which begs the question what is year 1000 -- is that in Apocalypse's time line, or in House of X timeline? I'm thinking Apocalypse's - that it already happened.
Fitting with the explanation about time in the Avengers -- if you go back to the past, it becomes your present and your future your past. You've created a new reality that breaks off of the current reality or time stream. Moira dies and is recreated -- in a new reality. Basically she keeps dying until she can figure out how to save the mutant race. The ultimate Russia House or Happy Death Day.
Confused yet? It's gripping but convoluted. Curious to see where they go with it. My theory is they are eventually going to take the X-men into Space, possibly another planet. But I could be wrong.
2. Walter Mercado - couldn't have predicted this -- Miami exhibit honoring the Puerto Rican astrologer who opened a window into self-care and spiritual wellness for millions of viewers
Before there were essential oils, jade rolling, Marianne Williamson, and Co-star, there was Walter Mercado. For more than 30 years, the Puerto Rican astrologer reached 120 million Latinx viewers a day on both Telemundo and Univision. Generations of Latinxs in the U.S. and Latin America grew up hearing his “consejos” (advice); abuelas religiously tuned in to his recurring segment on Primer Impacto, Univision’s top news broadcast. Recently, Anderson Cooper used him as a reference point, claiming that if Trump tweeted out Mercado’s predictions — which for 2019 included “Donald Trump, the controversial president, will face his worst year and perhaps even impeachment” — the GOP would defend it as fact. (He later added “No disrespect to Walter Mercado, who is an excellent psychic.”)
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of his first television appearance, Miami’s history museum HistoryMiami recently unveiled “Mucho, Mucho Amor: 50 Years of Walter Mercado” an exhibit about Mercado’s life and career. “The museum is proud to have worked with Mr. Mercado on this project, which we undertook to recognize his long-term influence on our community, and internationally,” said Michael Knoll, the museum’s Vice President of Curatorial Affairs. “He is beloved here in Miami as a pop culture icon, and also for his meaningful impact on the lives of community members.” On the night of its August 2 opening, Mercado and the museum tapped into his extravagant style — a typical outfit might have been a lime green robe, an ‘80s blowout and large costume jeweled rings on each hand — by wheeling him in on a throne for his grand entrance. The Miami Herald called it the most “Miami moment ever.”
3. How Language Shapes Our Perception of Reality
Does an English speaker perceive reality differently from say, a Swahili speaker? Does language shape our thoughts and change the way we think? Maybe.
The idea that the words, grammar, and metaphors we use result in our differing perceptions of experiences have long been a point of contention for linguists.
But just how much impact language has on the way we think is challenging to determine, says Betty Birner, a professor of linguistics and cognitive science at Northern Illinois University. Other factors, like culture, meaning the traditions and habits we pick up from those around us, also shape the way we talk, the things we talk about, and hence, changes the way we think or even how we remember things.
Consider the below examples of how language could impact experiences:
● In Russian, there are multiple words for differing shades of blue. Would having a word for light blue and another for dark blue lead Russian speakers to think of the two as different colors? Possibly. Birner says that this could be compared to red and pink in English, which are considered two different colors even though pink is merely a light shade of red.
● If there isn’t a word–and attached meaning–to something, can speakers experience it? The Dani of New Guinea categorize colors as “dark”–which includes blue and green–and “light”–which includes yellow and red. Some studies say that people don’t actually see color unless there is a word for it, but other studies have found that speakers of the Dani language can see the difference between yellow and red despite only having one word for them.
● The Pirahã people of the Amazonas, Brazil, do not keep track of exact quantities with their language.
● The language called Guugu Yimithirr spoken in a remote community in Australia doesn’t have terms like “left” and “right.” Instead, words like “north,” “south,” “east,” and “west” are used to describe locations and directions. So if you ask where something is, the answer might be that it’s to the southwest of X, which requires speakers to have spectacular spatial orientation. Because of the vocabulary, English speakers might organize things left to right, whereas a speaker of Guugu Yimithirr might orient them in a mirrored position.
● It’s possible that you would think about events differently depending on the question you’d have to ask yourself when deciding on a verb tense. For instance, English speakers focus on whether the event has happened in the past (“Sarah talked”) or is happening in the present (“Sarah talks”). The Hopi language doesn’t require past or present tense, but has validity markers, which requires speakers to think about how they came to know a piece of information. Did they experience it firsthand (“I’m hungry”) or did someone tell them about it, or is the information common knowledge (“the sky is blue”)? Turkish speakers would also need to think about the source of the information since they’re constantly asking themselves, “How did I come to know this?” Speakers of Russian would have to decide if the event was completed or not when considering the verb tense.
● Numerous studies have shown that people who speak languages with gender markings might categorize non-gender items, say a table or a chair, based on its gender markings. This may differ the way English speakers would categorize items, which is typically by shape or size.
● Cross-linguistic differences may impact how people remember and interpret causal events, and even how much they blame and punish those connected to the events. One study conducted by Stanford researchers found that Spanish and Japanese speakers didn’t remember who is to blame for accidental events as much as those who speak English do. However, speakers of all three languages remember agents for intentional events the same. In the study, participants were given a memory test after watching videos of people popping balloons, breaking eggs, and spilling drinks both intentionally and accidentally. In Spanish and Japanese, the agent of causality is dropped in accidental events, so instead of “John broke the vase,” like an English speaker would likely say, speakers of Spanish and Japanese would say “the vase broke” or “the vase was broken.”
There are also factors so subtle that it’s hard to say whether or to what extent they impact our thoughts. For instance, English speakers think of time as something that can be counted, saved, wasted, and even lost. This would be impossible for a culture where tomorrow is viewed as a day returned and not so much another day.
The way we talk and communicate eventually lead to the ways within our culture. For instance, English speakers get to the point in speech quicker than say, a Chinese speaker would, says Birner. In English, someone might say “I want you to come to my house for dinner,” then give the reasons why we need to have dinner together. The Chinese speaker might give all the background information and build up to the punchline. The idea here is that the speaker can say what they want after they’ve explained why they want it.
4. How to Learn a Foreign Language as an Adult
I don't know. Learning a language is tough unless you immerse yourself. Although, I could try Spanish or Russian and easily find people to try it out on with no problems. I'm not in Kansas any more.
5. Making progress with Time Served by Juliana Keyes which is better than expected. The characters are fairly realistic and she has an interesting civil suit going on as a subplot. Rachel -- the protagonist/heroine - is working as one of many fourth year law associates investigating a class action law suit against a metals manufacturer who inadvertently poisoned all of its factory workers. And they are conducting interviews across the board. The hero, is her high school boyfriend that she left in the middle of the night -- for a scholarship at a school in NYC. Her mother gave her $3,000 out of the blue and told her to go and never look back. So she did. This takes place ten years later. He's furious at her, but...it's more of a story about forgiveness and not giving into hate and revenge. Which is why I've been reading these things -- I'm hunting for stories about letting go of hate, forgiving, and finding ways to make difficult situations work. Not letting anger and rage eat you alive, and not using violence to resolve problems -- because I don't believe killing people and giving into violence solves the problem, it just makes it worse.
I crave stories about superheroes, problem-solvers, and love over hate right now.
I also find these stories less anxiety inducing or depressing.
It's odd, this desire to explain or defend my reading choices. We live in such a judgmental and selfish society, don't we? Where people are constantly judging one another, constantly wanting what others have, and constantly competing. It's exhausting.
And yet, I feel myself doing it too. I don't know why. I think somehow along the way I was conditioned to do it. It doesn't make me happy judging others. Quite the reverse, actually.
6. Difficult morning commute. On my way to the subway, which I basically swam to - the air was thick with humidity and it was 77 degrees at 6:45 am in the morning -- I ran into every stop light (I walk to the subway). When I reached the entrance, the steps were covered with bird poop and cigarette butts, and at the bottom was a pile of human or dog poop. I'm hoping it's dog, but it looked human. We have a few homeless living in the subway, even though there is a fairly nice shelter nearby.
I see the homeless, who are insane, on a daily basis. No really, they are mentally incompetent. It's so painful to see. And a constant, ever present reminder of there but for the grace of god go I. The Bengali immigrant men tend to flood the sidewalks around the station entrance at night, in their white caftan's and hats. Also white shirts and linen pants, smoking cigarettes. Only the men. It is a rather chauvinistic and sexist culture, not that our culture is much better -- but they don't bother me, they actually pretend that I don't exist, mainly because I intimidate them. I tower over them, a giant in their midst. They all come to my waist and are fairly tiny in bone structure. They don't make tall people in Bangladesh, India -- or if they do, they haven't immigrated here.
Anyhow, after I exited the subway at Forte Green, to make my way to the train station -- my sandal strap decided to break. When I got on the train, I managed to tie it -- but it hurt. So when I got to work, I lucked out and found a sturdy bobby pin, and got back up bobby pins (not as sturdy) from a co-worker -- and McGyvered it together (as one co-worker put it). It worked, got me through the day and home. NYC is VERY hard on footwear and feet for that matter.
7. In other news, I'm contemplating attempting online dating again. But not sure what to try. There's so many. Chemistry.com, Harmony.com, Tinder (seems to be for the younger crowd), How About We, etc. It's daunting. I don't photograph well and I'm not the sort that people pick up in bars. Also, sigh, rejection. But I am lonely and would like some companionship.We'll see if I don't chicken out -- the last go around wasn't exactly inspiring.
Oh and, today is my parents' 54th wedding anniversary. They got married two years before I was born.
8. Veronica Mars.
Kristen Bell was not joking when she told TVLine earlier this month that she planned to keep doing “Veronica Mars until its Murder, She Wrote.” With Hulu’s fourth season barely a week old, series creator Rob Thomas reveals that he’s already cautiously, optimistically looking ahead to a possible Season 5.
“I have a couple ideas in my head, one of which is very Agatha Christie-[esque],” he shares. “It won’t be this exactly, but some version of Murder in a Manor House. Something that is so explicitly detective-y… I want to really lean into that we are a detective show… I feel like Season 4 was the bridge season, to take us from half soap opera/half mystery show to full detective/mystery show.”
Although Hulu has yet to officially renew Veronica Mars for a fifth season, Thomas says there have been some very preliminary discussions. “They have checked mine and Kristen’s availability moving forward,” he notes. “Bottom line: If we do good numbers for Hulu, we will be doing more [seasons] for Hulu. I think they really like
the show. But I also think that they need to see that people are watching it.”
For his part, Thomas says Hulu has been an incredible partner. “I can say it was a really fun Season 4 because Hulu was digging what we did,” he says. “When a network is liking what you’re turning in it makes for a pleasant experience. And they have been incredibly enthusiastic.”
Was discussing this with someone on Facebook, who liked S4. I told her I'd be surprised if it did well going forward -- because Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell for some absurd reason decided they wanted to do Murder She Wrote/Agatha Christie except a noir version with Veronica.
Will it work?
Well..first off the people who kept it going were not watching for the mysteries or Veronica, for that matter. And a good percentage were pissed by how it ended. The half that wasn't pissed off - were signing on for more adventures between Veronica and the folks in Neptune, not Veronica a few years later in another town, with new characters, solving an isolated mystery, then moving on aka Murder, She Wrote.
Also, it's very hard to change a television series with a built in fandom that was watching for various character relationships, and not for the mysteries (mainly because Rob Thomas like most broadcast television writers sucks at writing a half-way decent mystery (hint it's the first suspect that did it). And many people watched often in spite of the lead. So changing a noirish teen soap opera to a noirish adult soap/murder mystery series to well a noirish Murder she Wrote -- mystery over six episodes format. While, yes, you might grab a few of them. Most will be upset and not come on board. Be a bit like doing Buffy without the Scooby Gang, without Spike or Angel, just Buffy going from town to town slaying a monster of the season. No...90% of the audience will jump ship. You will get the diehard Buffy character fans, and possibly a few new ones, but the fandom that kept it ticking won't come along with.
That said, I have no clue if it will continue or not. Hulu is weird. Streaming is weird. It plays by different rules. Rules that they do not share and make no clear sense.
Reading this series feels a bit like reading a puzzle box - I honestly think that if you don't like to analyze things, you will be hopelessly lost. The writer doesn't tell the story directly, he sort of winds around robin hood's barn, then goes off into a labrynth style maze and does a jig.
The art is amazing and there's some interesting ideas regarding narrative and story structure that I'm thrilled by, being me -- narrative and story structure fascinates me. Some people get turned on by linguistics, I get turned on by narrative structure or the various ways one can tell a story. From a hard science-fiction perspective - not a lot new here. Although it is admittedly entertaining to see Apocalypse of all people as the hero of this world, and that in of itself does comment on how we perceive heroes, good, evil, etc.
The hard sci-fi focuses on how the humans in an attempt to fight the mutants and Apocalypse -- invent machines. The Avengers are long gone. They feel there is no other choice but to create mechanical devices to protect them -- not unlike Stark does in Age of Ultron, with disasterous results. After all whats to keep the machines from deciding to do away with the humans and take over? Not a lot. Or flip the tables, and enslave the humans? This is covered ad naseum in the Terminator series (I really want to see the new Terminator movie), Matrix Series (it's getting another film as well), and Battle Star Galatica..to name a few. Star Wars also played around with it.
The time travel bit -- focuses on how the surviving mutants decide to provide Moira with enough information to ensure she can prevent the mistakes of this time line from happening in the next one. When she's reborn -- she can stop Nimrod from coming online -- which is the mission that Magneto and Xavier give Cyclops - stop the Nimrod program from coming online.
The readership assumed it had already happened, because we thought the time line we were following in Year 100 was Moira's 10th and current timeline, but in actuality it's her Ninth Timeline. The 10th and current timeline is well the one we've been reading all along, and we're just up to House of X there -- nothing else has happened yet.
Which begs the question what is year 1000 -- is that in Apocalypse's time line, or in House of X timeline? I'm thinking Apocalypse's - that it already happened.
Fitting with the explanation about time in the Avengers -- if you go back to the past, it becomes your present and your future your past. You've created a new reality that breaks off of the current reality or time stream. Moira dies and is recreated -- in a new reality. Basically she keeps dying until she can figure out how to save the mutant race. The ultimate Russia House or Happy Death Day.
Confused yet? It's gripping but convoluted. Curious to see where they go with it. My theory is they are eventually going to take the X-men into Space, possibly another planet. But I could be wrong.
2. Walter Mercado - couldn't have predicted this -- Miami exhibit honoring the Puerto Rican astrologer who opened a window into self-care and spiritual wellness for millions of viewers
Before there were essential oils, jade rolling, Marianne Williamson, and Co-star, there was Walter Mercado. For more than 30 years, the Puerto Rican astrologer reached 120 million Latinx viewers a day on both Telemundo and Univision. Generations of Latinxs in the U.S. and Latin America grew up hearing his “consejos” (advice); abuelas religiously tuned in to his recurring segment on Primer Impacto, Univision’s top news broadcast. Recently, Anderson Cooper used him as a reference point, claiming that if Trump tweeted out Mercado’s predictions — which for 2019 included “Donald Trump, the controversial president, will face his worst year and perhaps even impeachment” — the GOP would defend it as fact. (He later added “No disrespect to Walter Mercado, who is an excellent psychic.”)
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of his first television appearance, Miami’s history museum HistoryMiami recently unveiled “Mucho, Mucho Amor: 50 Years of Walter Mercado” an exhibit about Mercado’s life and career. “The museum is proud to have worked with Mr. Mercado on this project, which we undertook to recognize his long-term influence on our community, and internationally,” said Michael Knoll, the museum’s Vice President of Curatorial Affairs. “He is beloved here in Miami as a pop culture icon, and also for his meaningful impact on the lives of community members.” On the night of its August 2 opening, Mercado and the museum tapped into his extravagant style — a typical outfit might have been a lime green robe, an ‘80s blowout and large costume jeweled rings on each hand — by wheeling him in on a throne for his grand entrance. The Miami Herald called it the most “Miami moment ever.”
3. How Language Shapes Our Perception of Reality
Does an English speaker perceive reality differently from say, a Swahili speaker? Does language shape our thoughts and change the way we think? Maybe.
The idea that the words, grammar, and metaphors we use result in our differing perceptions of experiences have long been a point of contention for linguists.
But just how much impact language has on the way we think is challenging to determine, says Betty Birner, a professor of linguistics and cognitive science at Northern Illinois University. Other factors, like culture, meaning the traditions and habits we pick up from those around us, also shape the way we talk, the things we talk about, and hence, changes the way we think or even how we remember things.
Consider the below examples of how language could impact experiences:
● In Russian, there are multiple words for differing shades of blue. Would having a word for light blue and another for dark blue lead Russian speakers to think of the two as different colors? Possibly. Birner says that this could be compared to red and pink in English, which are considered two different colors even though pink is merely a light shade of red.
● If there isn’t a word–and attached meaning–to something, can speakers experience it? The Dani of New Guinea categorize colors as “dark”–which includes blue and green–and “light”–which includes yellow and red. Some studies say that people don’t actually see color unless there is a word for it, but other studies have found that speakers of the Dani language can see the difference between yellow and red despite only having one word for them.
● The Pirahã people of the Amazonas, Brazil, do not keep track of exact quantities with their language.
● The language called Guugu Yimithirr spoken in a remote community in Australia doesn’t have terms like “left” and “right.” Instead, words like “north,” “south,” “east,” and “west” are used to describe locations and directions. So if you ask where something is, the answer might be that it’s to the southwest of X, which requires speakers to have spectacular spatial orientation. Because of the vocabulary, English speakers might organize things left to right, whereas a speaker of Guugu Yimithirr might orient them in a mirrored position.
● It’s possible that you would think about events differently depending on the question you’d have to ask yourself when deciding on a verb tense. For instance, English speakers focus on whether the event has happened in the past (“Sarah talked”) or is happening in the present (“Sarah talks”). The Hopi language doesn’t require past or present tense, but has validity markers, which requires speakers to think about how they came to know a piece of information. Did they experience it firsthand (“I’m hungry”) or did someone tell them about it, or is the information common knowledge (“the sky is blue”)? Turkish speakers would also need to think about the source of the information since they’re constantly asking themselves, “How did I come to know this?” Speakers of Russian would have to decide if the event was completed or not when considering the verb tense.
● Numerous studies have shown that people who speak languages with gender markings might categorize non-gender items, say a table or a chair, based on its gender markings. This may differ the way English speakers would categorize items, which is typically by shape or size.
● Cross-linguistic differences may impact how people remember and interpret causal events, and even how much they blame and punish those connected to the events. One study conducted by Stanford researchers found that Spanish and Japanese speakers didn’t remember who is to blame for accidental events as much as those who speak English do. However, speakers of all three languages remember agents for intentional events the same. In the study, participants were given a memory test after watching videos of people popping balloons, breaking eggs, and spilling drinks both intentionally and accidentally. In Spanish and Japanese, the agent of causality is dropped in accidental events, so instead of “John broke the vase,” like an English speaker would likely say, speakers of Spanish and Japanese would say “the vase broke” or “the vase was broken.”
There are also factors so subtle that it’s hard to say whether or to what extent they impact our thoughts. For instance, English speakers think of time as something that can be counted, saved, wasted, and even lost. This would be impossible for a culture where tomorrow is viewed as a day returned and not so much another day.
The way we talk and communicate eventually lead to the ways within our culture. For instance, English speakers get to the point in speech quicker than say, a Chinese speaker would, says Birner. In English, someone might say “I want you to come to my house for dinner,” then give the reasons why we need to have dinner together. The Chinese speaker might give all the background information and build up to the punchline. The idea here is that the speaker can say what they want after they’ve explained why they want it.
4. How to Learn a Foreign Language as an Adult
I don't know. Learning a language is tough unless you immerse yourself. Although, I could try Spanish or Russian and easily find people to try it out on with no problems. I'm not in Kansas any more.
5. Making progress with Time Served by Juliana Keyes which is better than expected. The characters are fairly realistic and she has an interesting civil suit going on as a subplot. Rachel -- the protagonist/heroine - is working as one of many fourth year law associates investigating a class action law suit against a metals manufacturer who inadvertently poisoned all of its factory workers. And they are conducting interviews across the board. The hero, is her high school boyfriend that she left in the middle of the night -- for a scholarship at a school in NYC. Her mother gave her $3,000 out of the blue and told her to go and never look back. So she did. This takes place ten years later. He's furious at her, but...it's more of a story about forgiveness and not giving into hate and revenge. Which is why I've been reading these things -- I'm hunting for stories about letting go of hate, forgiving, and finding ways to make difficult situations work. Not letting anger and rage eat you alive, and not using violence to resolve problems -- because I don't believe killing people and giving into violence solves the problem, it just makes it worse.
I crave stories about superheroes, problem-solvers, and love over hate right now.
I also find these stories less anxiety inducing or depressing.
It's odd, this desire to explain or defend my reading choices. We live in such a judgmental and selfish society, don't we? Where people are constantly judging one another, constantly wanting what others have, and constantly competing. It's exhausting.
And yet, I feel myself doing it too. I don't know why. I think somehow along the way I was conditioned to do it. It doesn't make me happy judging others. Quite the reverse, actually.
6. Difficult morning commute. On my way to the subway, which I basically swam to - the air was thick with humidity and it was 77 degrees at 6:45 am in the morning -- I ran into every stop light (I walk to the subway). When I reached the entrance, the steps were covered with bird poop and cigarette butts, and at the bottom was a pile of human or dog poop. I'm hoping it's dog, but it looked human. We have a few homeless living in the subway, even though there is a fairly nice shelter nearby.
I see the homeless, who are insane, on a daily basis. No really, they are mentally incompetent. It's so painful to see. And a constant, ever present reminder of there but for the grace of god go I. The Bengali immigrant men tend to flood the sidewalks around the station entrance at night, in their white caftan's and hats. Also white shirts and linen pants, smoking cigarettes. Only the men. It is a rather chauvinistic and sexist culture, not that our culture is much better -- but they don't bother me, they actually pretend that I don't exist, mainly because I intimidate them. I tower over them, a giant in their midst. They all come to my waist and are fairly tiny in bone structure. They don't make tall people in Bangladesh, India -- or if they do, they haven't immigrated here.
Anyhow, after I exited the subway at Forte Green, to make my way to the train station -- my sandal strap decided to break. When I got on the train, I managed to tie it -- but it hurt. So when I got to work, I lucked out and found a sturdy bobby pin, and got back up bobby pins (not as sturdy) from a co-worker -- and McGyvered it together (as one co-worker put it). It worked, got me through the day and home. NYC is VERY hard on footwear and feet for that matter.
7. In other news, I'm contemplating attempting online dating again. But not sure what to try. There's so many. Chemistry.com, Harmony.com, Tinder (seems to be for the younger crowd), How About We, etc. It's daunting. I don't photograph well and I'm not the sort that people pick up in bars. Also, sigh, rejection. But I am lonely and would like some companionship.We'll see if I don't chicken out -- the last go around wasn't exactly inspiring.
Oh and, today is my parents' 54th wedding anniversary. They got married two years before I was born.
8. Veronica Mars.
Kristen Bell was not joking when she told TVLine earlier this month that she planned to keep doing “Veronica Mars until its Murder, She Wrote.” With Hulu’s fourth season barely a week old, series creator Rob Thomas reveals that he’s already cautiously, optimistically looking ahead to a possible Season 5.
“I have a couple ideas in my head, one of which is very Agatha Christie-[esque],” he shares. “It won’t be this exactly, but some version of Murder in a Manor House. Something that is so explicitly detective-y… I want to really lean into that we are a detective show… I feel like Season 4 was the bridge season, to take us from half soap opera/half mystery show to full detective/mystery show.”
Although Hulu has yet to officially renew Veronica Mars for a fifth season, Thomas says there have been some very preliminary discussions. “They have checked mine and Kristen’s availability moving forward,” he notes. “Bottom line: If we do good numbers for Hulu, we will be doing more [seasons] for Hulu. I think they really like
the show. But I also think that they need to see that people are watching it.”
For his part, Thomas says Hulu has been an incredible partner. “I can say it was a really fun Season 4 because Hulu was digging what we did,” he says. “When a network is liking what you’re turning in it makes for a pleasant experience. And they have been incredibly enthusiastic.”
Was discussing this with someone on Facebook, who liked S4. I told her I'd be surprised if it did well going forward -- because Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell for some absurd reason decided they wanted to do Murder She Wrote/Agatha Christie except a noir version with Veronica.
Will it work?
Well..first off the people who kept it going were not watching for the mysteries or Veronica, for that matter. And a good percentage were pissed by how it ended. The half that wasn't pissed off - were signing on for more adventures between Veronica and the folks in Neptune, not Veronica a few years later in another town, with new characters, solving an isolated mystery, then moving on aka Murder, She Wrote.
Also, it's very hard to change a television series with a built in fandom that was watching for various character relationships, and not for the mysteries (mainly because Rob Thomas like most broadcast television writers sucks at writing a half-way decent mystery (hint it's the first suspect that did it). And many people watched often in spite of the lead. So changing a noirish teen soap opera to a noirish adult soap/murder mystery series to well a noirish Murder she Wrote -- mystery over six episodes format. While, yes, you might grab a few of them. Most will be upset and not come on board. Be a bit like doing Buffy without the Scooby Gang, without Spike or Angel, just Buffy going from town to town slaying a monster of the season. No...90% of the audience will jump ship. You will get the diehard Buffy character fans, and possibly a few new ones, but the fandom that kept it ticking won't come along with.
That said, I have no clue if it will continue or not. Hulu is weird. Streaming is weird. It plays by different rules. Rules that they do not share and make no clear sense.