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shadowkatWell, I'm off to a great start -- I promised myself no refined sugar or sweets this week -- and I made it to approximately 4:30PM today, when I bought two gluten-free slices of cake at Whole Foods. I had one after dinner with two mochi, which I think I may throw out the mochi. Mochi is a Japanese ice cream bon-bon -- ice cream covered with rice pastry dough and rice/corn starch flour. It's the flour that bothers me. I apparently allergic to any dust, even the flour variety.
But hey, I stayed away from the chocolate at work -- so progress. But I also had promised myself to not be on the internet or computer after 9PM. Sigh. Oh, well, one day at a time. Right?
Also, I have hot water tonight. So I'm guessing half a day, meant afternoon only? The super lead me to believe it was night as well -- but not complaining. Was pleasantly surprised, actually.
Here's the report on The Stabbing That Shut Down Neice's School.
Anyhow...links and other things.
1. After watching The Connors and finding it both touching and funny, I've decided the trick regarding humor is whether or not you can relate to it. Or like the people or relate to the people and situations. A lot of comedy doesn't work for me. I don't like most sketch comedy, and sappy comedy will often get on my nerves.
I love The Connors, but I did not like the revival of Roseanne and found it unwatchable. Also I couldn't watch the revival of Murphy Brown, which got cancelled, or for that matter Will & Grace, also cancelled. I also loved The Kominsky Method, but had mixed feelings about Barry (the second season was better than the first, I had troubles relating to or getting into the first season). I can't watch Fleabag, but found the early seasons of Seinfeld, Cheers, Night Court, News Radio, WKRP in Cinncinati, and Fraiser hilarious. It took a long time for me to like Big Bang Theory, until suddenly I really didn't.
Also, weirdly, I thought the British show Coupling was much funnier than Friends. As Time Goes By made me laugh, but Everyone Loves Raymond made me cringe and have to switch channels.
Chidi (the guy at work aka Lando Jr) said that he only liked comedy in which no one gets hurt. To which I retorted -- this doesn't exist. People always get hurt. Someone is always offended. It just may not be from your perspective. I hate being teased, or made fun of, or "embarrassment" comedy -- but I adore sarcasm, snark, and dry wit. Absurdist humor or gallows humor, some may call it black comedy - such as MASH, Seinfield, The Good Place's Trolly Episode...makes me laugh. I like to make fun of the painful stuff in life -- or the craziness.
My favorite comedic movies are Noises Off and Gross Point Blank, I think they are hilarious. But Airport,Dumb & Dumber, most Jim Carrey comedies (with the exception of the Mask), most Melissa McCarthy comedies, Bridesmaids, the majority of National Lampoon's comedies, Home Alone....really didn't. I thought they were cringe-inducing.
Comedy is a weird thing and definitely in the eye of the beholder, isn't it?
Anyhow, this is a round about way of saying that I enjoyed the season opener of The Connors. I felt like I was watching a well-written play with A list actors. They know their roles so well, it's like they are these people. And I almost cried during it (right now, it takes very little to make me cry -- stupid hormones.) And definitely laughed at various points. John Goodman knows how to deliver a line, as do the others.
The hospital scene in this episode is by far the most realistic hospital waiting room and hospital sequence that I've ever seen on a television show, with the possible exception of ER. The chairs, the waiting room, the crud, the rude nurses, all of it -- so on target. Thank you.
Also I agree with Jackie, if Darlene doesn't want Ben, I'll take him. I don't care what she does with David (who is a passive aggressive narcissistic asshole). Pick Ben, Darlene. David is not worth the effort. I honestly do not understand why anyone would sleep with David. He's not attractive to me at all. Ben, on the other hand...
2. Mother's Brotherinlaw aka Uncle on FB: Bernie Sanders complains about mega millionaires. Now, as you know I don't normally post about politics on FB, but has anyone looked into how much Sanders makes? He's a mega millionaire too.
Mother's Cousin's Wife: Okay, I know you normally don't post about politics, but I just looked up Bernie's wealth and he has maybe $2 - 2.5Million. So I'm curious do think that's a mega-millionaire? How are we defining this?
Me lurking on the sidelines.. "Go Cousin! I knew there was a reason I liked you!"
[Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of Bernie's. If it were up to me, Bernie, Biden and basically everyone running who is over the age of 70 and a baby boomer would withdraw from the race (with the exception of Elizabeth Warren -- she can stay). Leaving the field to far more qualified and better candidates such as Kamala Harris and Corey Booker. Although, I'm willing to make an exception for Elizabeth Warren. I'd vote for Warren, Harris, and Booker. Everyone else? Meh. With the caveat, that I would vote for a potted cactus over Trump, assuming of course he isn't impeached and driven out of office on a rail. But, I also find Uncle insufferable. This will teach me not to friend family members my mother thinks are amusing on FB.)
3. I've decided to save "Prodigal Son" for tomorrow night or the weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing episode 2. Yes, this surprises me too -- since it is not a genre that I like. But it blew me away this weekend. Watched The Connors and 9-1-1 instead, both of which were quite good tonight. 9-1-1 is at its best when everyone is in jeopardy and they are frantically trying to save people.
4. Apparently the British make better Potatoes than the Americans (my German and Irish ancestors who immigrated to the US may beg to differ).
1.Slice them first. Like most Americans, I typically poke holes all over the potatoes before baking them to ensure they don’t explode in the oven. But Jo suggests slicing a cross shape about 1/4-inch thick into each potato. This helps them release some steam, makes the interior more fluffy, and also makes them easier to slice into when they’re piping hot. [Weirdly this is what I was taught to do by my mother and I do at home. I don't poke holes in it, I slice into it. It sort of works. Cooks it better at any rate. ]
2.Bake them for longer than you think. Many recipes (ours included) recommend baking potatoes for an hour at 425°F. Instead, Jo suggests baking potatoes at 400°F for closer to two hours. The potatoes won’t burn at this temperature and the long bake means the skin will be so crisp that it’s practically cracker-like. [I microwave them because I don't have an oven at the moment and it's faster.]
3. Return them to the oven. After the two hours are up, remove the potatoes and carefully cut deeper into the slices you made initially. Then put the potatoes back in the oven for 10 more minutes. This helps to dry out the flesh further and makes it extra fluffy. [Microwaving works too.]
5. Where Pain Lives - Fixing chronic back pain is possible only when patients understand how much it is produced by the brain, not the spine.
The most significant change in evaluating chronic pain, observes Tracey, is the understanding that chronic pain is a different animal from nociceptive pain. ‘We always thought of it as acute pain that just goes on and on – and if chronic pain is just a continuation of acute pain, let’s fix the thing that caused the acute, and the chronic should go away,’ she said. ‘That has spectacularly failed. Now we think of chronic pain as a shift to another place, with different mechanisms, such as changes in genetic expression, chemical release, neurophysiology and wiring. We’ve got all these completely new ways of thinking about chronic pain. That’s the paradigm shift in the pain field.’
One explanation for the phenomenon of central sensitisation is that when an injury has afflicted some aspect of the peripheral nervous system, neurons in the central nervous system can also become agitated. This bumped-up signal-to-noise ratio can result in increased activation of calcium channels, the molecular pores that govern the flow of calcium ions across the cell membrane. This boosts the number of chemical messages travelling between nerve cells. Certain vulnerable neurons can also get a dose of NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate), opening more calcium channels, and sending even more messages whirling around the CNS. One class of drug now being evaluated in laboratory studies, an NMDA antagonist, could one day be useful in treating central sensitisation by blocking the excess ‘chatter’ that flies between overwhelmed neurons.
A final hypothesis suggests that central sensitisation reflects a type of neurobiological learning disorder: essentially, the brain is misinterpreting pain messages, which are never dismissed, but continue to travel endlessly from PNS to CNS, leaving the brain unable to set a new course. Some researchers have remarked that central sensitisation can be understood as a form of classical conditioning: just as the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov conditioned his dogs to salivate when a bell was paired with food, and then to salivate when the bell alone was heard, the body that has learned to experience pain in response to insult or injury continues to experience it in response to inconsequential stimuli.
Recent research has revealed what many patients know all too well: chronic back pain is often accompanied by other types of pain, including headaches, other musculoskeletal disorders, temporomandibular joint disorders, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome. People who develop central sensitisation can also find light, noise or smells unusually disturbing, or display hypervigilance. Anxiety, stress and depression are problems for an estimated 30 to 45 per cent of patients with chronic back pain, and an even higher percentage of back-pain patients who experienced early childhood adversity.
If you wish to get past the terror, you are going to have to follow pain deep into its lair
One would think that opioid analgesics would be helpful in calming an agitated and dysregulated nervous system, but this premise has been debunked. In fact, to the contrary, long-term use of opioid analgesics, especially high-dose extended release drugs such as OxyContin and methadone, have been associated with the development of a particular type of central sensitisation called ‘opioid-induced hyperalgesia’, resulting in abnormal sensitivity to pain.
Despite Apkarian and Woolf’s decades-long efforts, it is likely to be years before physicians can use targeted compounds to treat the neurobiological mechanisms that lead to central sensitisation. ‘A huge clinical challenge remains to identify these mechanisms from the individual pain patient phenotype and to then target the molecular mechanism with a specific treatment,’ Woolf says.
It’s easy to see why progress has been slow: to make money in medicine, the common wisdom holds that it’s necessary to incise, prescribe, implant or inject. Pain science, dealing with complex neurological function, doesn’t readily allow for those kinds of interventions.
Historically, NIH has dedicated only 1 per cent of its research budget to pain science-related investigations. And until recently, painkiller manufacturers saw no reason to invest in very speculative research, thus unwisely diluting their shareholders’ earnings. But with opioid treatment on the skids, and profits sinking, finding new therapeutic targets is suddenly very attractive.
6. The Psychological Importance of Wasting Time -- I find this validating on so many levels, since I'm excellent at wasting time.
7. On Being a Midwesterner...
Off to bed. I hope.
But hey, I stayed away from the chocolate at work -- so progress. But I also had promised myself to not be on the internet or computer after 9PM. Sigh. Oh, well, one day at a time. Right?
Also, I have hot water tonight. So I'm guessing half a day, meant afternoon only? The super lead me to believe it was night as well -- but not complaining. Was pleasantly surprised, actually.
Here's the report on The Stabbing That Shut Down Neice's School.
Anyhow...links and other things.
1. After watching The Connors and finding it both touching and funny, I've decided the trick regarding humor is whether or not you can relate to it. Or like the people or relate to the people and situations. A lot of comedy doesn't work for me. I don't like most sketch comedy, and sappy comedy will often get on my nerves.
I love The Connors, but I did not like the revival of Roseanne and found it unwatchable. Also I couldn't watch the revival of Murphy Brown, which got cancelled, or for that matter Will & Grace, also cancelled. I also loved The Kominsky Method, but had mixed feelings about Barry (the second season was better than the first, I had troubles relating to or getting into the first season). I can't watch Fleabag, but found the early seasons of Seinfeld, Cheers, Night Court, News Radio, WKRP in Cinncinati, and Fraiser hilarious. It took a long time for me to like Big Bang Theory, until suddenly I really didn't.
Also, weirdly, I thought the British show Coupling was much funnier than Friends. As Time Goes By made me laugh, but Everyone Loves Raymond made me cringe and have to switch channels.
Chidi (the guy at work aka Lando Jr) said that he only liked comedy in which no one gets hurt. To which I retorted -- this doesn't exist. People always get hurt. Someone is always offended. It just may not be from your perspective. I hate being teased, or made fun of, or "embarrassment" comedy -- but I adore sarcasm, snark, and dry wit. Absurdist humor or gallows humor, some may call it black comedy - such as MASH, Seinfield, The Good Place's Trolly Episode...makes me laugh. I like to make fun of the painful stuff in life -- or the craziness.
My favorite comedic movies are Noises Off and Gross Point Blank, I think they are hilarious. But Airport,Dumb & Dumber, most Jim Carrey comedies (with the exception of the Mask), most Melissa McCarthy comedies, Bridesmaids, the majority of National Lampoon's comedies, Home Alone....really didn't. I thought they were cringe-inducing.
Comedy is a weird thing and definitely in the eye of the beholder, isn't it?
Anyhow, this is a round about way of saying that I enjoyed the season opener of The Connors. I felt like I was watching a well-written play with A list actors. They know their roles so well, it's like they are these people. And I almost cried during it (right now, it takes very little to make me cry -- stupid hormones.) And definitely laughed at various points. John Goodman knows how to deliver a line, as do the others.
The hospital scene in this episode is by far the most realistic hospital waiting room and hospital sequence that I've ever seen on a television show, with the possible exception of ER. The chairs, the waiting room, the crud, the rude nurses, all of it -- so on target. Thank you.
Also I agree with Jackie, if Darlene doesn't want Ben, I'll take him. I don't care what she does with David (who is a passive aggressive narcissistic asshole). Pick Ben, Darlene. David is not worth the effort. I honestly do not understand why anyone would sleep with David. He's not attractive to me at all. Ben, on the other hand...
2. Mother's Brotherinlaw aka Uncle on FB: Bernie Sanders complains about mega millionaires. Now, as you know I don't normally post about politics on FB, but has anyone looked into how much Sanders makes? He's a mega millionaire too.
Mother's Cousin's Wife: Okay, I know you normally don't post about politics, but I just looked up Bernie's wealth and he has maybe $2 - 2.5Million. So I'm curious do think that's a mega-millionaire? How are we defining this?
Me lurking on the sidelines.. "Go Cousin! I knew there was a reason I liked you!"
[Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of Bernie's. If it were up to me, Bernie, Biden and basically everyone running who is over the age of 70 and a baby boomer would withdraw from the race (with the exception of Elizabeth Warren -- she can stay). Leaving the field to far more qualified and better candidates such as Kamala Harris and Corey Booker. Although, I'm willing to make an exception for Elizabeth Warren. I'd vote for Warren, Harris, and Booker. Everyone else? Meh. With the caveat, that I would vote for a potted cactus over Trump, assuming of course he isn't impeached and driven out of office on a rail. But, I also find Uncle insufferable. This will teach me not to friend family members my mother thinks are amusing on FB.)
3. I've decided to save "Prodigal Son" for tomorrow night or the weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing episode 2. Yes, this surprises me too -- since it is not a genre that I like. But it blew me away this weekend. Watched The Connors and 9-1-1 instead, both of which were quite good tonight. 9-1-1 is at its best when everyone is in jeopardy and they are frantically trying to save people.
4. Apparently the British make better Potatoes than the Americans (my German and Irish ancestors who immigrated to the US may beg to differ).
1.Slice them first. Like most Americans, I typically poke holes all over the potatoes before baking them to ensure they don’t explode in the oven. But Jo suggests slicing a cross shape about 1/4-inch thick into each potato. This helps them release some steam, makes the interior more fluffy, and also makes them easier to slice into when they’re piping hot. [Weirdly this is what I was taught to do by my mother and I do at home. I don't poke holes in it, I slice into it. It sort of works. Cooks it better at any rate. ]
2.Bake them for longer than you think. Many recipes (ours included) recommend baking potatoes for an hour at 425°F. Instead, Jo suggests baking potatoes at 400°F for closer to two hours. The potatoes won’t burn at this temperature and the long bake means the skin will be so crisp that it’s practically cracker-like. [I microwave them because I don't have an oven at the moment and it's faster.]
3. Return them to the oven. After the two hours are up, remove the potatoes and carefully cut deeper into the slices you made initially. Then put the potatoes back in the oven for 10 more minutes. This helps to dry out the flesh further and makes it extra fluffy. [Microwaving works too.]
5. Where Pain Lives - Fixing chronic back pain is possible only when patients understand how much it is produced by the brain, not the spine.
The most significant change in evaluating chronic pain, observes Tracey, is the understanding that chronic pain is a different animal from nociceptive pain. ‘We always thought of it as acute pain that just goes on and on – and if chronic pain is just a continuation of acute pain, let’s fix the thing that caused the acute, and the chronic should go away,’ she said. ‘That has spectacularly failed. Now we think of chronic pain as a shift to another place, with different mechanisms, such as changes in genetic expression, chemical release, neurophysiology and wiring. We’ve got all these completely new ways of thinking about chronic pain. That’s the paradigm shift in the pain field.’
One explanation for the phenomenon of central sensitisation is that when an injury has afflicted some aspect of the peripheral nervous system, neurons in the central nervous system can also become agitated. This bumped-up signal-to-noise ratio can result in increased activation of calcium channels, the molecular pores that govern the flow of calcium ions across the cell membrane. This boosts the number of chemical messages travelling between nerve cells. Certain vulnerable neurons can also get a dose of NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate), opening more calcium channels, and sending even more messages whirling around the CNS. One class of drug now being evaluated in laboratory studies, an NMDA antagonist, could one day be useful in treating central sensitisation by blocking the excess ‘chatter’ that flies between overwhelmed neurons.
A final hypothesis suggests that central sensitisation reflects a type of neurobiological learning disorder: essentially, the brain is misinterpreting pain messages, which are never dismissed, but continue to travel endlessly from PNS to CNS, leaving the brain unable to set a new course. Some researchers have remarked that central sensitisation can be understood as a form of classical conditioning: just as the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov conditioned his dogs to salivate when a bell was paired with food, and then to salivate when the bell alone was heard, the body that has learned to experience pain in response to insult or injury continues to experience it in response to inconsequential stimuli.
Recent research has revealed what many patients know all too well: chronic back pain is often accompanied by other types of pain, including headaches, other musculoskeletal disorders, temporomandibular joint disorders, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome. People who develop central sensitisation can also find light, noise or smells unusually disturbing, or display hypervigilance. Anxiety, stress and depression are problems for an estimated 30 to 45 per cent of patients with chronic back pain, and an even higher percentage of back-pain patients who experienced early childhood adversity.
If you wish to get past the terror, you are going to have to follow pain deep into its lair
One would think that opioid analgesics would be helpful in calming an agitated and dysregulated nervous system, but this premise has been debunked. In fact, to the contrary, long-term use of opioid analgesics, especially high-dose extended release drugs such as OxyContin and methadone, have been associated with the development of a particular type of central sensitisation called ‘opioid-induced hyperalgesia’, resulting in abnormal sensitivity to pain.
Despite Apkarian and Woolf’s decades-long efforts, it is likely to be years before physicians can use targeted compounds to treat the neurobiological mechanisms that lead to central sensitisation. ‘A huge clinical challenge remains to identify these mechanisms from the individual pain patient phenotype and to then target the molecular mechanism with a specific treatment,’ Woolf says.
It’s easy to see why progress has been slow: to make money in medicine, the common wisdom holds that it’s necessary to incise, prescribe, implant or inject. Pain science, dealing with complex neurological function, doesn’t readily allow for those kinds of interventions.
Historically, NIH has dedicated only 1 per cent of its research budget to pain science-related investigations. And until recently, painkiller manufacturers saw no reason to invest in very speculative research, thus unwisely diluting their shareholders’ earnings. But with opioid treatment on the skids, and profits sinking, finding new therapeutic targets is suddenly very attractive.
6. The Psychological Importance of Wasting Time -- I find this validating on so many levels, since I'm excellent at wasting time.
7. On Being a Midwesterner...
Off to bed. I hope.
no subject
Date: 2019-10-01 03:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-10-01 03:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-10-01 10:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-10-02 02:15 am (UTC)Also thanks for the link to the article on Midwesterners. My SO is one by birth and we've now both been here for 16 years but I would have no better opinion on what the Midwest is like. Like many places, I suspect, it all depends on where in the Midwest you live. For example, college towns are very similar all over the U.S. Some are more upscale than others, but it depends on how close it is to a large city and how big the town is vs. where I think.
Especially with the chain-ification of U.S. retail and entertainment, I think that there are local traditions and celebrations but otherwise daily life is probably pretty similar depending on your immediate area rather than location in the country. I've lived in metropolises, large cities and small cities (though never in a rural area) in the South, West Coast, and now Midwest (and I visited often in the Northeast). I think someone once asked about moving to places sight unseen and I told them that if you live in a nice apartment/neighborhood it doesn't really matter what part of the country you're in. I have nothing to offer regarding its culture or distinctiveness.
Its landscape is, of course, relevant in marking it from other geographical spaces. I remember someone commenting soon after I got here about how flat everything is. But I grew up in Florida. Many people live in desert states. There's a lot of flat going around, frankly.
What it does not have are a lot of trees. It has some forests and parklands but anything south of Chicago is a lot of farmland. But when I grew up in Orlando, it was also a city surrounded by farmland and citrus groves. Some of the nearby counties are still heavily agricultural but the last 50 years have been an example of urban sprawl building over former groves and farmland.
In short, I think rural and small towns everywhere are more alike than disinctive, as are large cities.
no subject
Date: 2019-10-01 12:38 pm (UTC)Speaking of old guys, somebody ought to tell Trump to resign (the more he talks to anyone the closer he gets to impeachment) and that his drape hairdo ain't workin' no more. If everybody could see the effect of his lies and bad behavior as plainly as his scalp, he'd be gone in no time.
no subject
Date: 2019-10-01 12:58 pm (UTC)Agreed.
Unfortunately, Trump's a narcissist, and loves attention too much to resign. He's not a Nixon - say what you will about Nixon, he wasn't a narcissist and did at the end put his country first.
According to Wiki, Warren is 70, so she's about five to six years younger than the others. Trump was 70 when he was elected. Sanders is 78, Biden is 76, Trump is 73 -74.
no subject
Date: 2019-10-01 01:09 pm (UTC)When I was a kid many people talked about driving a big nail into a potato so it would bake faster. Since the nails were plated it probably was not a good idea.
no subject
Date: 2019-10-01 03:38 pm (UTC)"When I was a kid many people talked about driving a big nail into a potato so it would bake faster. Since the nails were plated it probably was not a good idea."
Not to mention the lead and rust poisoning.
I started slicing them up just to get them to fit in the microwave safe pan. But if they fit, I just poke holes with a fork. There really is no difference.
no subject
Date: 2019-10-01 11:00 pm (UTC)What I like about this series is the off kilter sense of humor. It's almost "Monk as a drama". Malcolm is in an absurdly dark place, and he's forced to have a sense of humor about his situation or he might implode. There are some bleakly funny scenes in this episode that work surprisingly well. I also like Martin's cheery outlook. He's the smiling-est, peppiest serial killer on TV.
The downside: I think I see a potential "plot twist" coming a mile away. I hope I'm wrong...
no subject
Date: 2019-10-01 11:10 pm (UTC)And...if the plot twist you see coming a mile away is..."that Malcolm helped his father do the crimes, and called people to the house so his father could kill them" -- yes, that is sort of told to us in the pilot. It's not supposed to be a shocker. There's a heavy indication that the Surgeon was grooming Malcolm to be a serial killer, and Malcolm rebelled. The Surgeon even says that to him in the pilot and Malcolm states it himself. It's his greatest fear of becoming his father. (Hence the title - "Prodigal Son")
I don't mind plot twists that I see coming, mainly because that means they work. I'm impossible to surprise -- I watch soap operas to be surprised. If it doesn't work it takes me out of it. What fascinates me about this series is it is focused on why these things happen not the what or who so much. But why Sheen did it, and why Malcolm fears he will...and their emotions for each other.
Also, we may respectfully disagree on this for the following reasons:
1. I find Criminal Minds unwatchable. I hated that show after trying the first two episodes of it -- one with the spider rapist. (Bleach). We shall speak of it no more. Spits at it. Bad show. I pretend it doesn't exist. Sort of like the Bachelor.
2. Wasn't a fan of Monk, tried it. Didn't enjoy it. Yes, I know, I'm weird, but there it is. I didn't like Psyche either. Tried both. Made it through one season before I got very bored.
3. I adore the cast of Prodigal son and the character bits. The Pilot surprised me, because of the characters. I could watch Tom Payne, Lou Diamond Phillips, Bellamy Young, and Michael Sheen read the phone book.
no subject
Date: 2019-10-02 03:02 am (UTC)I'm not going to debate the relative merits of Criminal Minds. I've always liked the cast. Depending on the writer and the guest star of the week, the episodes range from somewhat intriguing to completely unwatchable. (But what the hell, I've been in since late s1, and I might as well stay to the end.)
No, what I meant was that Criminal Minds has its own (presumably FBI-authentic) vocabulary for defining serial killers; words like "unsub," "stressor," and "annihilator" are old hat in CM, and that's why their usage in Prodigal Son doesnt feel quite as fresh to me.
Monk could be mind-deadening formula, but when Tony Shalhoub bounced off someone on his level--like Stanley Tucci or John Turturro--it could be a lot of fun...
no subject
Date: 2019-10-02 12:26 pm (UTC)Eh, I posted on this in a new post, but will copy what I said here, in case you missed it:
"As an aside, I don't expect any of you to agree with me, so far I haven't found a soul who does...highly frustrating that, but it is what it is. Finding folks who love the same things I do is difficult and always has been. I don't really know why this is, just that it is. And when I do find them, they love it in a way that...well is bewildering to me.
Examples?
When I was in Junior High or High School, can't remember which, I adored the television series "Fame", which was directly opposite Magnum PI. Guess what everyone else adored?
And in Elementary School? I was in love with Battle Star Galatica and Battle of the Planets. Guess what everyone else loved? Three's Company, Laverne and Shirley, Dallas...
I did however have friends who loved The Monkeyees...so hey, on out of four, ain't bad.
And in the 1990s-00s, when I fell in love with Buffy, I had to go online to find fellow fans of the show. Everyone I knew thought I was insane for loving Buffy.
Conversation with co-worker about television?
Co-worker: So, I tried Prodigal Son. Me (getting excited): And? Co-worker: I walked out after five minutes, found it unwatchable.
I got irritated and felt the need to deride The Good Doctor, which he loves (I don't) and All Rise (which I thought was badly written).
Co-worker: To you. ME: It is completely unrealistic in regards to court room procedure. Co-worker: Not from my perspective. Me: Okay, you're right this is completely subjective. And honestly, here's the thing when I don't like something, I move on. Life is too short. Co-worker: And there's so many other things to watch out there.
I love Prodigal Son right now -- I kept re-winding. It puzzles me, because as you may or may not have figured out by now -- generally speaking, I despise serial killer legal procedures. I have not been able to get through one of them since I think Prime Suspect and the Profiler back in the early 00s and 1990s. I burned out. And Criminal Minds? Bleach. I hated that show. (Didn't help that it started out with Mandy Pantikian, who is one of those actors that I always felt an overwhelming desire to punch, or the rest of the cast which I did not like. Casting is key with these sorts of series.) And I despised the CSI series, the NCIS, the Law & Order series, all of them. I even avoided the Netflix series Mindhunter. Along with the superior Hannibal. So I have no idea why I like this one -- I think because it is a psychological character piece. And I find the central character fascinating in various ways -- there's something about the actor and the character that hits my story kinks hard.
We're like that. We like things for deeply personal reasons that we often don't understand ourselves. It just speaks to us on a certain level.
For me, what will often pull me into a show is the characters relationships with each other, the actors, and the characters themselves. Plot has never been something that makes or breaks a show for me. Mainly because most, if not all plots have been done before. Some people are plot oriented. I've always cared more about the characters. As you can see from the list of television shows above. If I was into plot, I'd have been watching Magnum PI not Fame. I think in patterns, which is probably why I'm liking Prodigal, I kind of identify with a character who thinks in patterns -- he's solving the cases by hunting for the pattern. Or not. I have no clue. Nor does it matter. But it would be nice to find someone else who liked it out there...
Bob Hearts Abishola is the other one that I'm really enjoying right now. I adore the characters and the actors playing them. It made me laugh hard tonight. So hard I started to cough which I often do when I laugh really hard.
Normally, I'm not a Chuck Lorre fan -- took me a long time to like Big Bang Theory, found it annoying most of the time. And I didn't relate to the characters. I knew them, but didn't relate to them and the dumb sex jokes got on my nerves. Two and a Half Men? Also didn't like. But I loved Kominsky Method by Lorre, and I love this series -- I laughed really hard during the episode. It was funny.
But I haven't seen anyone else mention it. And no one at work. So if you stumbled upon it and like it, give a shout or murmur. If not? Mosey on by, I'd rather not feel the need to verbally spoke you with a fork."
no subject
Date: 2019-10-02 02:46 pm (UTC)Also, don't tell me what the plot twist is that you see coming from a mile way. Do not ruin this show for me or I will spork you with a fork.