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Feeling much better - this "Neti-Pot" thing really works. Although not the most pleasant thing in the universe. Have you ever heard of it? I haven't. What you do is fill this tiny plastic tea pot with a packet of saline solution and water - then pour the water in your right nostril while breathing through your mouth - and it flows out your left nostril - effectively clearing you sinus cavity. Fascinating.
Learned what a "pocket track" is today. ( what is a pocket track )
The Wire episode 9 - Game Day.
Not a bad episode. A bit slow in places. Bubbles storyline feels a bit cliche and predictable to me, but that's mainly because I've watched one too many down on their luck drug addict movies, tv shows, and after-school specials in my lifetime. It was a rather popular trope in the 1970s and 1980s, particularly during the whole Regan era's Just Say No to Drugs push. The fact that I've actually known drug-addicts, and share the elevator with them every single day at work (they populate the fifth floor of my building along with a lot of other people I won't mention - one gets used to it after a while) probably doesn't help.
My favorite part of the story is the cops. I find how they are diligently working to solve this case, and trap the bad guy - fascinating. Also, I rather like them. This rag-tag team of cops diligently trying to fight an impossible battle.
( spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen it and still wants to )
You know,( or rather you don't know - for how would you know? What a silly phrase that is - or at least it is in that context. How in the heck do people who don't speak English as a first language, translate that?) Anyhow, I was thinking about why people watch the tv shows or read the books they do. We do both for different reasons, depending on our mood or at least I do. Kidbro for example has no patience for pure pleasure reading, he wants informational books, non-fiction, or better literature - he struggles with reading, so he figures it might as well count. Me? I've read everything, but since I read a lot of difficult and dry stuff at work, and write it, I prefer lighter fare for enjoyment. Granted my lighter fare may seem a bit bizarre to some - considering lately I've been on a sci-fantasy/horror pulp novel kick, with frequent forays into YA sci-fantasy fiction. But that's only because I wore out the mystery novel, romance novel, spy thriller, suspense thriller, and chick-lit genres some time ago. I veer away from non-fiction, and "literature" because a)that feels like work, people, and b)it puts me to sleep, and c)I don't have to any more. But when I was unemployed and bored out of my mind or working in boring jobs that didn't use my brain? I ate that stuff up like candy. TV shows are more or less the same way.
The Wire is a lot of work. I can only do an episode a night during the week. And I can't be too tired or brain dead from work or anything else - or I won't be able to follow it. That's not to say it isn't really good or I'm not enjoying it. I am. Just that it requires a bit of work to watch. You can't just sit back and veg or go along for the ride. I spend a lot of time rewinding to catch bits that I've missed. I'll think - wait, what did I just miss there, and rewind. Casual television viewing it's not. Which is fine and well if you don't have a mentally tough or intellectually challenging occupation that wears out the old brain. Not everyone does, or not all the time. Work being what it is.
Remember having this discussion with some dude named redactor on a Buffy fan board several years back, who explained to me that he was not enjoying S6 Buffy because a)it was depressing, b)it wasn't fun, c) it required too much work. He just wanted to be entertained. He was watching it for pure
fun, not taking it all that seriously. Heck, it was just a tv show after all. He's not wrong.
At the time = I was arguing the opposite, but I was also bored out of my mind and depressed.
Now, I can sort of see his point. That's the fun thing about life, sooner or later you will find yourself on the opposite side of the argument or equation, and when you do, it can be well, an interesting education in perspective.
Learned what a "pocket track" is today. ( what is a pocket track )
The Wire episode 9 - Game Day.
Not a bad episode. A bit slow in places. Bubbles storyline feels a bit cliche and predictable to me, but that's mainly because I've watched one too many down on their luck drug addict movies, tv shows, and after-school specials in my lifetime. It was a rather popular trope in the 1970s and 1980s, particularly during the whole Regan era's Just Say No to Drugs push. The fact that I've actually known drug-addicts, and share the elevator with them every single day at work (they populate the fifth floor of my building along with a lot of other people I won't mention - one gets used to it after a while) probably doesn't help.
My favorite part of the story is the cops. I find how they are diligently working to solve this case, and trap the bad guy - fascinating. Also, I rather like them. This rag-tag team of cops diligently trying to fight an impossible battle.
( spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen it and still wants to )
You know,( or rather you don't know - for how would you know? What a silly phrase that is - or at least it is in that context. How in the heck do people who don't speak English as a first language, translate that?) Anyhow, I was thinking about why people watch the tv shows or read the books they do. We do both for different reasons, depending on our mood or at least I do. Kidbro for example has no patience for pure pleasure reading, he wants informational books, non-fiction, or better literature - he struggles with reading, so he figures it might as well count. Me? I've read everything, but since I read a lot of difficult and dry stuff at work, and write it, I prefer lighter fare for enjoyment. Granted my lighter fare may seem a bit bizarre to some - considering lately I've been on a sci-fantasy/horror pulp novel kick, with frequent forays into YA sci-fantasy fiction. But that's only because I wore out the mystery novel, romance novel, spy thriller, suspense thriller, and chick-lit genres some time ago. I veer away from non-fiction, and "literature" because a)that feels like work, people, and b)it puts me to sleep, and c)I don't have to any more. But when I was unemployed and bored out of my mind or working in boring jobs that didn't use my brain? I ate that stuff up like candy. TV shows are more or less the same way.
The Wire is a lot of work. I can only do an episode a night during the week. And I can't be too tired or brain dead from work or anything else - or I won't be able to follow it. That's not to say it isn't really good or I'm not enjoying it. I am. Just that it requires a bit of work to watch. You can't just sit back and veg or go along for the ride. I spend a lot of time rewinding to catch bits that I've missed. I'll think - wait, what did I just miss there, and rewind. Casual television viewing it's not. Which is fine and well if you don't have a mentally tough or intellectually challenging occupation that wears out the old brain. Not everyone does, or not all the time. Work being what it is.
Remember having this discussion with some dude named redactor on a Buffy fan board several years back, who explained to me that he was not enjoying S6 Buffy because a)it was depressing, b)it wasn't fun, c) it required too much work. He just wanted to be entertained. He was watching it for pure
fun, not taking it all that seriously. Heck, it was just a tv show after all. He's not wrong.
At the time = I was arguing the opposite, but I was also bored out of my mind and depressed.
Now, I can sort of see his point. That's the fun thing about life, sooner or later you will find yourself on the opposite side of the argument or equation, and when you do, it can be well, an interesting education in perspective.