Oct. 20th, 2019

shadowkat: (Default)
1. Somewhat stressed out this weekend -- worrying over missing credit card, visiting brother, travel anxiety, gas being out in apartment, work, etc. So am staying away from information that will add to it.

It's raining here. Cold and rainy. I watched lots of television shows, and the robot vacuum wander about my small apartment.

2. Television shows..

Emergence - oh dear lord, it takes place on Long Island, and it expects me to believe that there's a private complex and airstrip that no one knows about in the middle of Suffolk County. (I work on Long Island. I've wandered around it. It's rather populated, and airlines cover it daily, along with helicopters not to mention commuter trains, buses and cars. If you wanted to keep something top-secret? I wouldn't do it on Long Island or NYC for that matter.

It's better for me when these series do not take place where I live or near me, because my suspension of disbelief lasts longer. Such as say, Chicago or Seattle or Portland?

I'm also having issues with the evil tech company and the weaponized girl robot story, but that's just me. Granted it's fairly new in some respects.

We'll see how long I stick with this one.

New Amsterdam -- it also stretched my suspension of disbelief. Apparently the city polluted an entire neighborhood with lead poisoning by not covering up the blasting of the lead paint from a bridge. Uhm. No. That can't happen. The NYCDEP would be all over their ass. (New York City Department of Environmental Protection) not to mention OSHA. There's regulations. You can't paint a bridge or remove paint from one without testing for lead paint. Then hiring a licensed abatement contractor to remove it -- paying them to mobilze the area, put up the protective covering. Warn the people nearby, and make the public aware -- just to get the permits. The DOT requires a clearance. Also the writers of this show don't seem to realize it's not the Buildings Commission or the Bridge Commission but the NYCDEP, the DOT (Department of Transportation), and OSHA that would be alerted. I've procured abatement services for a public transportation company for over eight years, I know what is involved. Not only that I know how they handle it.

It took me out of the story. As did the whole bit about Barbers handling rudimentary health services and proscribing blood pressure pills. Uhm no. That has to be monitored by a doctor with a background in it, preferably a primary. My gastrotestinologist refused to proscribe blood pressure meds. If you proscribe the wrong dosage -- you could get sued. Also only a doctor has that ability.

Honestly, it's hard to have much respect for writers.

Stumptown -- this was more enjoyable. I don't know how realistic it was. But definitely more enjoyable. It's pure noir at the moment. Did fall into cliche here and there -- I felt I'd seen it before. But definitely different.

Also Cobie Smulders is selling it. Fun show.

Legacies -- they did a nice job of switching things up this season. I'm actually enjoying it more than last season. Alexis Denisof is a nice addition to the cast (although he looks the same age Giles was when he ended Buffy -- which makes me feel old. Denisof is about the same age or around the same age that I am). Read more... )

Nancy Drew -- I like the lead a great deal. So am sticking with it for now.
It's doing a good job of juggling supernatural elements with real mystery elements, without too much emphasis on the supernatural. The supernatural is eerily suggested and not full in the face at the moment.

It also acts as a good suggestion that something horrible happened in this small town.

So far the mood is nicely eerie, and the characters for the most part likeable or compelling. I'm wondering if Bess is going to be bi-sexual or lesbian? That would be nice angle.

In this day and age, if you do not have diversity of race, gender, and sexual orientation in teen or twenty-something shows, you won't survive. The millenials won't watch it. They won't.

It's a huge change from the 1990s, where they were told not to do those stories and people like Joss Whedon snuck them in anyhow.

So, in a way, we've won the culture wars -- at least on television.

The Good Place

Well, while there were admittedly surprises, I'd been waiting for this storyline for a bit. Also it will nicely shake things up. I can see why this is the last season, the writers are obviously running out of ideas. Some of this schitk has been done on prior series by the same writers.

And sigh, no philosophy. Chidi was underused. And Jason overused. I was ...unamused for the most part.

Read more... )

Sigh, and would you believe it? I still have television series on my DVR.
shadowkat: (Default)
1. Well, Batwoman is a keeper. Seen two episodes now -- and it is well paced, character centric, and answers questions quickly while posing new ones, with no drag.

Bonus points? It is a series about a female vigilante who may or may not be as crazy as the psychopathic killer that may or may not be her twin sister. It's basically a female version of Batman and the Joker, with a nifty twist -- are they related?

Add to this various subplots. Oh, relationship drama in vigilante superhero wrapping, grey morality abounds.

I'd say it's the best of the new dramatic series to date. At least from a pacing perspective. Or my favorite.

2. Almost Family -- I'm considering giving up on. The sisters are grating on my nerves. Actually everyone is. I kept wanting to throw things at the television set -- it can't be good for my blood pressure.

Also considering giving up on the legal procedurals, which never work for me any longer any how. Not a fan of legal procedurals. Not sure the cast on either is enough to keep me.

So to date? Evil, Sunnyside, Mixedish, Perfect Harmony, Almost Family, All Rise, Bluff City Law, the Unicorn, Bless this House -- have either already or are about to hit the proverbial scrap heap. (I can't watch everything...there's only so much time available in a week. And these things start to mount up.)

And possibly Poldark -- which I can't seem to watch without throwing things at the television set. I don't know what happened, but I appear to have turned a corner on BBC costume dramas or Masterpiece presentations. I couldn't watch The Press either.

3. John Scalzi's take on Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese's dissing of Marvel Super Hero flicks.

Apparently Coppola felt Scorsese was getting all the press on this. Honestly, I miss the days in which I was blissfully unaware of what these guys thought of films they didn't make. They aren't movie critics, they are film school geeks who made their best flicks in the middle portion of the 20th Century, when technology was still far behind the eight ball.

excerpt )

I kind of agree. Of course I find it difficult to care what Coppola or Scorsese think, having watched their films and seen the flaws. I enjoyed them for what they were. But I'd rather go re-watch the Marvel flicks. Sorry boys.

4. Three Absurd Stories Show How Badly NASA Misunderstood Women

(The first headline? Sally Ride didn't need 100 tampons for a week long mission. Honestly, I doubt she needed one. They call it a monthly period for a reason, fellas.)

5. How did this poisonous plant become one of the American South's Most Long-Standing Staples?

Hint? It's a parasite purger.


6. Explainer: Why is Turkey Fighting Syria's Kurds?

excerpt )

I've always found it confusing. But the battles erupted again right after I visited Turkey in 2000.


7. Secret Life of The Tower of London's Chief Guard

The title looked interesting. No time to read. Have fun.

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