(no subject)

1. Obscure British Slang vs. American Slang by way of Ellen DeGeneres and Hugh Laurie.

Examples:

Chuffed to Bits

Chin Wag

Ba-Donka-Donk

Flossing

Shawty

2. How to Use Occams Razor without Getting Cut

( excerpt )

In other words, sometimes a cigar isn't just a cigar.

3. Television roundup.

* Emergence -- ugh. Extremely frustrating series that is thisclose to being cancelled from my DVR. (It's also apparently not doing that well in the ratings and is unlikely to make it to a second season. So, it's thisclose to being cancelled period, not surprising.)

What's not working?

( Spoilers )

* My relationship dramas in descending order...all of which appear to have been renewed or will survive. To be fair, they are all better written than Emergence. Apparently relationship dramas are easier?
( Read more... )

* 9-1-1 is getting a spin-off, 9-1-1 Lone Star State. It's basically a procedural with relationship drama intertwined, but everybody tends to remain happy for the most part.

* The Good Place -- very weak season to date. Reminds me a lot of S1, which I'd given up on and got coaxed into retrying. I'm glad I did -- S2 is worth it.
But alas, Michael Schur has a juvenile sense of humor complete with fart jokes. Watching this series is a bit like watching frat boy humor meets philosophical humor. Sometimes it is frat boy humor (which I could do without) and others philosophical whimsy (which more please). It is worth noting that I haven't been able to watch any of Schur's other series and this is the only one I've watched all the way through.

This episode? Frat Boy humor. There was a little philosophical whimsy, but blink and you miss it.

I discussed the sitcom with my neice, who enjoys it more than I do. She likes the thoughtlessness of it. It's light and frothy. Also she's in love with Jason.
(This is the girl who preferred Angel over Spike, and she is just 15...so her taste may get better with age.)
( Read more... )

* All Rise

Well considering Bluff City Law (the rival procedural) has been cancelled. (Big surprise -- it was boring.) This one has potential. I like the characters and the legal procedural stuff isn't cringe-inducing. I do get pissed at times, but everything ends well. Also the cast is quite good and the characters developed in an interesting way.

*Stumptown is possibly the best of the new dramas at the moment. And the most consistently interesting and compelling. I liked this episode which delved more into Gray and the Cop's backgrounds and motivations, less focus on Dex. Dex basically helps them clean up their mess. ( spoilers )

Sigh too many television series, too little time. But I wanted to veg this weekend.
And not spend additional money renting or seeing movies. I'm at a loss, there's nothing I really want to see in the movie theaters or theaterically at the moment.
Or nothing I want to pay money to see.

4.Also dragging my butt on buying a bible or a torah bible. (I own several bibles or have, the only one I can find is the Catholic Bible). I guess I figure I can make due for a bit longer in the Bible Study Group that I'm in. (Bible Study by Unitarians (who are either recovering Catholic's/Protestants with baggage or Unitarian with little Bible knowledge and prejudices against it) with a Minister who only can talk about the old testament not the new one. This is a trip in of itself.)

Religion is like politics -- people are so close-minded regarding it, also self-righteous in a really annoying way.( Read more... )

You really can't discuss religion or politics effectively without pissing folks off.

Cancel Culture

Cancel Culture

( excerpt )

What Obama States About Cancel Culture -- and how it is NOT activism

( excerpt )

Reminds me of a discussion I had with a co-worker recently...

Coworker holding up pencil: what is this?
ME: A pencil.
Coworker points to erasure: what is this?
Me: An erasure.
Coworker: People make mistakes. We all do. We're human.

The NY Times has a series of fascinating articles on this...

Those People We Tried to Cancel? They are All Hanging Out Together

( excerpt )

Almost Everyone Worth Knowing Has Been Cancelled By Someone

( excerpt )

Best takeaway?

Kimberly Foster, the founder and editor in chief of For Harriet, has taken aim at the idea more broadly in a video called “We Can’t Cancel Everyone,” in which she points out that isolating people does not undo harm they’ve done.

She said in an interview that it was necessary to differentiate between individuals who said offensive things and the institutions that stripped people of their humanity — the latter being far more destructive.

“Changing culture meaningfully means approaching folks from the standpoint of ‘these harmful ideas you are perpetuating need to go,’” she said. “We’re not going to accept this anymore. But the people themselves can be recovered.”

Here's her full statement:

"We Can't Cancel Everyone" (Watch on YouTube)