think I like season 2 best of 24. George Mason. Tony Almeida and Michelle. I like seeing President David Palmer (and later think, what would Palmer do?) and liked Lynn Kresge and somewhat Mike Novick and Aaron. I didn't mind Kim's crazy babysitting plot. and the Warner family was okay, plus that guy who was Jude in NipTuck. I was engaged by most all the characters.
this show is really just entertainment for me, huh? not a thought exercise ~
there is this, that it seems to me to dramatize
-What is (relative) value of human life? ... as certainty, specific lives vs as threat, more general (eg 20 hostages dead now or risk 100,000+ lives later?) I like seeing how Pres Palmer or Jack Bauer make decision when all alternatives are unacceptable.
and -How do you get someone to do what you want? esp, tell you what they know. opposing wills, how does one win out over the other? (again, I mainly register this as an unacceptable - unresolvable - situation. ) to which, is the only answer the show gives that you threaten them with increasing pain? maybe also on occasion that you level with them.
so, it's all rather about dealing with people, with unacceptable situations, the horrors of people. there may be no profound answers presented here but the questions are certainly ones I would or do not know how to face.

24 TV Series - Day 5: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Episode Recap | Television Without Pity: Curtis looms into the picture, and Audrey tells him what's going on. McGill orders Curtis to throw Edgar and Chloe into holding, "and then escort Audrey Raines out of CTU." Curtis refuses. "You're not behaving rationally, Lynn," he says. McGill orders the Redshirts to arrest everyone, including Curtis. You know, just to show them how rational he is. Curtis threatens to draw his weapon if the Redshirts try any such thing, and McGill orders them to shoot if he does. "This situation's already getting out of control," Curtis tells the lead Redshirt. "Don't make it worse."
McGill screams at the Redshirt to follow his order, and there's a long standoff while everyone who has a sidearm stands there with a hand on it. And just like on Battlestar Galactica a couple of weeks ago, a clash between the top brass comes down to a grunt with a gun. In this case, the guard takes into account three things: when he looks to his left, he sees a shrieking Hobbit; when he looks to his right, he sees an armed, hulking, trained killer; when he looks down, he sees a bright red shirt. So it's really a no-brainer when he says to Curtis, 'What would you like me to do, Mr. Manning?'

az- Then We Came to the End: A Novel: Joshua Ferris

last page - Page 385: Most of us followed them out soon after, and, in the end, last call was announced. The lights came up, the jukebox went quiet. We could hear the clink of glasses and the exhausted silence of the waitstaff as they began to clean up, wiping down the shiny surfaces, placing the padded barstools on top of the bar. Their work would soon be done, they could see something waiting for them at home -- a bed, a meal, a lover. But we didn't want the night to end. We kept hanging on, waiting for them to send over the big guy who'd force us out with a final command. And we would leave, eventually. Out to the parking lot, a few parting words. "Sure was good to see you again," we'd say. And with that, we'd get in our cars and open the windows and drive off, tapping the horn a final time. But for the moment, it was nice just to sit there together. We were the only two left. Just the two of us, you and me.

ok of course I like this end. but otherw just ok, skimmable.

to z0803 books ... 2 days ago:
just noticed this bk fr 57th for cust, now here it is winner of today's TMN Book Tournie, wh I just tht to check & found alrdy underway (before basketball?)
2008 Tournament of Books themorningnews.org/tob/Round2Match2: Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris, vs You Don’t Love Me Yet by Jonathan Lethem, judged by MAUD NEWTON & from the booth: “This ‘we’ thing”: sonofagun if it doesn’t work, and really well. frequently funny (irony being very much in the service of sincerity here). Then We Came to the End is looking unstoppable this year.
Round1Match3 - earlier round for Then We Came to the End, vs Petropolis, judged by ANTHONY DOERR: gimmicky but still somehow effective *collective* first-person narrator. made me laugh out loud 20 times, & scene twd end, wh BennyShassburger answrs every one of his co-workers’ qstns w quotes TheGodfather, made me fall off th couch.
& from the booth: It strikes me that Then We Came to the End is one of those books th embodies a model for the book industry.fresh voice, great cover, engaging likable author, strong PR push, award nominatns..add up to serious upwardly mobile mojo for Joshua Ferris, already had film rights snapped up.

to z0803 books... 5 days ago:
WE WERE FRACTIOUS AND overpaid. Our mornings lacked promise. Our benefits were astonishing in comprehensiveness. Sometimes we qstnd whethr worth it. We thought moving to India might be better, or going back to nursing school.

24

3.3 That blows
Day 3: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM - Kyle's coke hits the fan. Literally. But it isn't carrying the V-I-R-U-S; Kyle is. Dr. Anne's secret is revealed, and boy is it boring. Kiefer applies some Sutherland Velvet pressure on Special Agent Charlie Brown and Spawn's relationship. Soul Patch goes on a field assignment that ends badly.

Somewhere on some Los Angeles freeway. As Kiefer waits for Nicole in the Kiefmobile, he starts to feel restless and cagey and basically in need of a fix. He looks at his watch and whips out his handy-dandy heroin clutch and starts doing all those necessary pre-heroin activities -- tying off his arm to find a vein, et cetera -- right there in the Kiefmobile. Now, I don't expect a great deal of realism from 24 -- especially after last season -- but I just have to interject here that in real life, drug addicts (especially drug addicts who are trying to hold down white collar jobs) tend to be extremely skilled at finding places to use without detection. Didn't anyone read Elizabeth Wurtzel's last memoir about her addiction to Ritalin? In fact, just last night when I was in the men's room of this restaurant, I automatically took note of the fact that there was an aluminum ledge right above the toilet paper dispenser that, if wiped clean, would be perfect to do lines off of. I also noticed that the stall had a very tight doorway, and no one would be able to observe me if I were going drugs there. And I haven't even touched cocaine in at least five years. Add that to the fact that Kiefer is a CIA field agent -- a breed of people trained extensively in the fine art of deception -- and it's absolutely ridiculous and implausible that Kiefer would just be shooting up in his car moments before he's about to meet an associate. And that's my lesson for the week about the nature of addiction, kids. Oh, it's also part of a new regular feature of my recaps which I call, "Is my mother really reading my recaps, or is she just pretending to?"

3-6 Escape From L.A.
Day 3: 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
p2 Michelle wants to know why they're not pursuing options that don't involve killing off their renegade rogue agent whose unconventional methods always result in good triumphing over evil.
p4. KieferKopter. Our hero notices military copters flying in formation on the radar & correctly determines going to try shooting them out of the sky. Hartmano's like, hmm, interesting wrinkle, good thing Kiefer's a human iron.
p6. Palmer is like, but Kief's sacrificed evth; Brother Palmer more or less counters that Kief's got a martyr complex & that's nice for him, but it doesn't really outweigh how eeeevil Hartmano is.

3-12 You've Got To Be Somebody's Baby!
Day 3: 12:00 AM - 1:00 AM - The baby subplot thickens as Spawn finds out that Tater Tot doesn't belong to Potato Face. The V-I-R-U-S is sold to Nina but it's really a bomb. Nevertheless, Nina and Amador both escape. Hector and Hartmano are killed.
"Well, just -a look at that girl with the lights comin' up in her eyes." was this song used in Fast Times at Richmont High ?
She's got to be somebody's baby. She must be somebody's baby. All the guys on the corner stand back and let her walk on by. She's got to be somebody's baby. She must be somebody's baby. She's got to be somebody's baby. She's so fine. She's probably somebody's only light. Gonna shine tonight. Yeah, she's probably somebody's baby, all right.
Graphic violence warning. Yay! 24. Blip blip blip blip blip. Previouslys.
Whatever, Mexico. Hector isn't dead yet. ..
Back at CTU. "We don't have an alternative; we have got to keep [Potato Face] in place!" insists Soul Patch, ordering Spawn to take care of the baby until this operation is over. "I do not want [Potato Face] distracted!" he says.
first was eager to get to the recaps by M Giant (starting at 3-20)since I've enjoyed his writing before, eg the recap of Six Feet Under finale. but now I am missing Gustave's 24 recaps. seem to suit the show, amped up? nicknames used constantly, even in quoted dialogue. just as on the show straight faces kept through the non-stop dramatic line delivery.
which, watching this, I keep thinking of these representative (what is the better word? for standouts in my memory ~ personally exemplary) dramatic lines in my formative movie-viewing:

"Markinson's dead. There is no Markinson." - Kevin Bacon to Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men.

"I'm out, baby." - Patrick Swayze, with quick dramatic turn of his head, in Dirty Dancing.

Will "The Riches" end in a cliffhanger?
Thanks to the strike, the FX series returns tonight with only seven episodes, the last of which is a cliffhanger. "I feel so proud of all the seven we've done," says "Riches" creator Dmitry Lipkin, "but I think it would be a disservice to our fans if everything ended with a cliffhanger. It would be good to perform well, and if we do, we'll be back."
"Riches" is best cable show you're not watching // Back on track for Season 2


[ TV t a t t l e . c o m ]

Lucy McDiarmid- The Treason of the Clerks:
The modern 'clerk' is determined to have the soul of a citizen and to make vigorous use of it; he is proud of that soul; his literature is filled with his contempt for the man who shuts himself up with art or science and takes no interest in the passions of the State ... Today the 'clerk' has made himself Minister of War. written with contempt for this figure, this clerk.
--Julien Benda, The Treason of the Intellectuals (Aldington translation) treason is for the intellectual to be a clerk? to engage the passions of the State?

Master of nuance and scruple,
Pray for me and for all writers living or dead;
Because there are many whose works
Are in better taste than their lives;
because there is no end
To the vanity of our calling: make intercession
For the treason of all clerks.
--Auden, 'At the Grave of Henry James'

clerk, soul of a citizen, statesman, political animal, man of the polis, worldly cares. activist.
/vs/ the man who shuts himself up with art or science.

The 'soul of a citizen'- how ardently Benda's contempt comes through even in translation. Yeats had such a 'soul' in the Seanad, speaking on the coinage, or the condition of schools, or fire prevention. Eliot had the same soul in the Criterion, opining on Owsald Mosley, Harold Laski, Parliament, education, public buildings, agriculture, and money. Nothing human was alien to them; no current issue was too remote or too dull. nothing human was alien to Eliot?
Wanting, in Eliot's phrase, to have "some direct social utility," wanting to turn a fragmented group into a community of neighbors Auden, wanting to save civilization ~Yeats, all three poets "betrayed" the intellectuals.
Yet even while making "vigorous use" of these citizens' souls, they did not feel the "contempt" Benda ascribed to them for the inhabitants of the ivory tower. Yeats's poetry is filled with admiration for the person "shut up" in art.
The position of many lyrics in The Tower, The Winding Stair, Last Poems, The Waste Land, Four Quartets, and Auden's poems of the early forties, is not simply nonactivist, but- like Benda's- anti-activist. These great poems form a response to the more engaged speeches and minor poems, and recant their "treason." treason to engage the passions of the State. the human. the worldy. treason against? ~ art ~ ?

As they confront the limitations and fallibility of art to do what, what were we expecting~hoping that art could do? and we find it limited, we find it fails, the poets define it more positively.
The power of art increases proportionately as the burdens placed on it diminish. and then it does what, what is its power?
As less is demanded of art, as it is burdened with less idealism, and therefore less likely to disappoint and disillusion, it has freer rein to do what it can do, which is to create a model of a saved world, in which, as Auden says, crowds are communities and sins forgiven.1
The work of art, so understood, represents the world that the poet can "save" completely; there, at least, he can create a perfect order that no war, no dictator, no historical change can ever ruin. It embodies a community in which every fragment finds a place; it is the aesthetic equivalent of the twigs bound by the fascia, the discrete, isolated citizens who make up a nation. A verbal League of Nations, it has the qualities that the actual saved civilization was to have had, according to the poets' more activist moments.
Untainted by human imperfection, the work of art is more perfect, and more permanent, than any small circle of friends can ever be. that seems a strange thing to say, ~ the perfection of a poem is what we'd have wanted in a circle of friends?

There is nothing wrong in this whole world.

You don't know what's in my heart.


There is nothing wrong in this whole world.

You don't know what's in my heart.


There is nothing wrong you don't know.

What's in my heart this whole world.

You don't know nothing is wrong:

The effect of beauty ... is good to the degree that, through its analogies ... the possibility of regaining paradise through repentance and forgiveness is recognized. Its effect is evil to the degree that beauty is taken, not as analogous to, but identical with goodness ... and the conclusion drawn that, since all is well in the work of art, all is well in history. But all is not well there.
_ W. H. Auden, The Dyer's Hand (New York, 1962), 71.
As less is demanded of art, as it is burdened with less idealism, and therefore less likely to disappoint and disillusion, it has freer rein to do what it can do, which is to create a model of a saved world, in which, as Auden says, crowds are communities and sins forgiven. Lucy McDiarmid

There is nothing wrong in this whole world. "Even though there is so much to be unhappy about in this world, we should try to create something amazing and beautiful and interesting despite all of the problems." Chris Cobb




You Don't Know
What's in My Heart [Then We Came To the End by Joshua Ferris, Chp 1]
WE WERE FRACTIOUS AND overpaid. Our mornings lacked promise. At least those of us who smoked had something to look forward to at ten-fifteen. Most of us liked most everyone, a few of us hated specific individuals, one or two people loved everyone and everything. Those who loved everyone were unanimously reviled. We loved free bagels in the morning. They happened all too infrequently. Our benefits were astonishing in comprehensiveness and quality of care. Sometimes we questioned whether they were worth it. We thought moving to India might be better, or going back to nursing school. Doing something with the handicapped or working with our hands. No one ever acted on these impulses, despite their daily, sometimes hourly contractions. Instead we met in conference rooms to discuss the issues of the day.



1 comments (posted on below post 3/17/08 9:11 pm)
"The imperatives directed at the poet require him not to make the dark cold surroundings disappear, or to transform them magically, but to face them and act in spite of them. "Still" means "nevertheless" as well as "always." The poet persuades with full awareness of his context. In the act of persuading and singing in spite of circumstances, the poet creates his own world. Like the river's valley in the second part, the poetic landscape here comes into being gradually as the poet invents it. But the surrounding world cannot be wished away, or even distanced. Balancing creative energy against binding circumstances, Auden insists on the abiding reality of "unsuccess" and "distress." The reality of the good, saved world is assured by the poet's creation? by what is in heart?, but it must endure in the midst of the desert and frozen seas this whole world which the poet can never change." Lucy McDiarmid

Why do you think though that "art" is responsible? Something strange what is the strange thing? in the need to "free" art so that its redemptiveness can be actualized. . . . I read the Dyer's Hand early and "But all is not well there" stayed. to me I suppose it is strange that anything is asked of art, that any burden is placed on it, any rein given it. (because to me it all institutions are strange? strange. not familiar. not of the homeland. not what they should be. 'Ah Humanity.' is everything wrong? Poetry makes nothing happen.)

But I agree the cost of what is in your heart in these days will dear is still necessary. the cost of what is in one's heart (or: MY heart? ) - what is its cost? its cost while dear - the cost is dear - is necessary - needed? by whom, for what. is that to say?: the cost while dear is worth it. worth it to keep what is in one's heart. keep. sake. In spite of . . .
the cost here, then, is that what is in one's heart (or: MY heart) may take one to sleep, with kings and counselors. is that the cost, mc?

"Strangely huddled at the base of the wall, his knees drawn up, and lying on his side, his head touching the cold stones, I saw the wasted Bartleby. But nothing stirred. I paused; then went close up to him; stooped over, and saw that his dim eyes were open; otherwise he seemed profoundly sleeping. Something prompted me to touch him. I felt his hand, when a tingling shiver ran up my arm and down my spine to my feet.
The round face of the grub-man peered upon me now. “His dinner is ready. Won’t he dine to-day, either? Or does he live without dining?”
“Lives without dining,” said I, and closed the eyes.
“Eh!—He’s asleep, aint he?”
“With kings and counsellors,” murmured I."

lovely, thank you.

24 epis 2-14 Day 2: 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM TWoP recap by Gustave:
Electric Blue Kiefer. 24. Previouslys. The "mission" depends on Raggedy Marie now, according to Syed Ali, but Justin Al-Guarini is flying the plane over L.A. with the B-O-M-B in it. did he know he d n have the real bomb? I don't think so. did Marie switch the bomb? what was the plan, for it to go off at the airport? Kiefer katches him before the plane gets off the ground, but a fake B-O-M-B is found inside. The real B-O-M-B is still at large. I repeat, the real B-O-M-B is still at large.
John Cougar Mellencamp has left the building after a particularly jamming concert at the Hynes Auditorium in Boston, Massachusetts. This tour is really for the fans, y'know? Roadies break down the set, put all the sound equipment into those wheeled cases, and load it into a van while interns at the Emerson University television station who are recording the concert for a simulcast pack up as well. Security finds a male stalker backstage who bears a striking resemblance to Justin Guarini, so they remove him. Oh, wait. It's Norton Airfield. The fake B-O-M-B is scanned for clues, and Kiefer tries to question Justin Al-Guarini, who unfortunately doesn't speak any English. Kiefer requests an interpreter. I repeat, Kiefer requests an interpreter.
I like the auditorium Mellancamp has left the bldg bit. why, what is that? sort of a parody of talking as if something is obvious & being wrong ~ but, no, the joke is that the airport set looks like an auditorium, right? ~ but I like the adopting of a persona, getting into it
Over at that secured area at Norton Airfield, Cate is getting bored hanging out and waiting to have unspoken chemistry with Kiefer again.

24 Day 2: 1:00 AM - 2:00 AM:
SeventhCoralSnake loses consciousness. 'Dammit!' shouts Kiefer as he uses some Whatever Technology on the dashboard to find the nearest medical center. I like the consistent "Whatever technology" [ eg -He starts to call CTU to get him Whatever Technology location information about the snipers. He checks his Whatever PDA to confirm that he's received the satellite photos. ]
..pulls up to this clinic that looks like one of those managed health care facilities like "Health First" where you pay ten bucks to get a doctor to give you antibiotics if you have a cold. It's like the real-life equivalent of your college infirmary. Like, they can't remove your appendix or anything, but you can lie down on one of their cots if you have menstrual cramps. My stepfather, who used to work in one, calls them "Doc In A Box."

24 Epis 1.15 : 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM | TWoP recap by Gustave:
Hotel room. Faux-licity Elizabeth, aide to the president (she has long curly hair like character Felicity from show of that title) and TakeOnKief Alexis Drazen are making sweet tender love. They're crossing one of the bridges of Madison County. They're tasting each other's General Foods International Coffee. I don't get that one. They're having an Aviance night. or that. They're learning Victoria's secret. And the sex is so sweet and nasty that she's unleashed the curls from her bun. It's magical. It's sensual. It's empowering. This is not your average drunken sex with some guy you meet at TGI Friday's in Memphis, Tennessee. This the kind of sex that a fourteen-year-old girl thinks she's going to have when she grows up, gets a job as a stewardess, and moves to an apartment of her very own. This is 'unicorn' sex. She's never known passion like this before. He's so into her. Or…is he?

24 recaps | Television Without Pity
1-15 ...Faux-licity isn't evil; she's just sleeping with the enemy....

24 epis 2.1 Day 2: 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM | TWoP recap by Gustave:
Fords, Fords, Fords. Ford pick-up trucks. Ford minivans. Ford sports cars. The Ford Mustang. The Ford Thunderbird. Twenty-four hours of Fords. Go out and buy a Ford. Seriously, you've got time. You can totally drive down to the dealership right now, since this commercial is going to last for years. In fact, we're not going to start this show until you go out a buy a Ford. We're waiting. The following takes place between 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM. Events occur in real time.

Ji Yeon transcript - Lostpedia:

(On the freighter, Desmond and Sayid hear a repeating noise)
DESMOND: How long's that gonna go on for, eh? Can't they just fix whatever the bloody hell's causing that?
SAYID: That sound is not mechanical.
DESMOND: What, you think somebody's doing that? Somebody's just banging those pipes again and again?
SAYID: That's exactly what I think.

(Ray enters)
RAY: Gentlemen, thanks for your patience. The captain would like to see you now.
(Ray leads Desmond and Sayid on deck)
SAYID: Where's the helicopter?
RAY: Lapidus is running an errand.
SAYID: What kind of errand?
RAY: I'm a doctor. I don't know where he's going.
SAYID: Did he go to the island?
RAY: You know anywhere else he could land?
(Desmond notices Regina, as she walks covered in chains)
SAYID: What's he going to do there?
RAY: I said I'm just a doctor.
SAYID: What did Lapidus say?
RAY: He didn't say anything to me.
SAYID: (frustrated) What is he doing there?

(Regina is about to jump off the side of the freighter, Desmond runs towards her)
DESMOND: Hey! Hey!
(Regina jumps, Desmond and Sayid go over to look at her)
DESMOND: That woman just jumped over the side of the ship!
(The crew do not seem interested)
DESMOND: Don't just stand there! What's the matter with you people?
HOODED GUY: What's wrong with you? Get the rope!
DESMOND: Why aren't you doing anything?
(Captain Gault comes)
DESMOND: Bring a rope!
SAYID: Get a rope!
DESMOND and SAYID: Get a rope!
GAULT: Stop!
DESMOND: She just jumped!
GAULT: It's over! She's gone! Everybody get back to your posts. That was an order.

(Gault approaches Desmond and Sayid)
GAULT: I'm captain Gault. I suppose you two have a few questions.

------------Act 5 (On the freighter)

GAULT: So what can I do for you?
SAYID: What?
GAULT: You boys said you wanted to speak with me.
SAYID: Let's just start with why a woman jumped over the side of your ship, and you did nothing to stop it.
GAULT: I didn't jump in, or order my crew to jump in, because I didn't want to lose any more people.
DESMOND: What exactly is going on here?
GAULT: Some of my crew has been dealing with... what might best be described as a heightened case of cabin fever. I think it's got something to do with the close proximity of the island.
SAYID: Why don't you turn around, then?
GAULT: I've tried, but we have a saboteur on board, and he's done one hell of a job on my engines. I've got my crew working around the clock to repair them.
SAYID: And then you'll take our people home?
GAULT: Then we move to safer waters... Those are my orders.
SAYID: And I don't suppose you'll tell us who gave you those orders?
GAULT: Sure, I will. Charles Widmore.
DESMOND: This is Charles Widmore's boat?
GAULT: That's right. You know him.

(Gault leads Sayid and Desmond into a room, gets a metal box out of a locker, and puts it on the table)
GAULT: Do either of you know what this is?
SAYID: It's a flight data recorder, otherwise known as a black box.
GAULT: That's exactly what it is. Now here's the funny thing. This black box comes from Oceanic Flight 815. A salvage vessel recovered it from the bottom of the ocean. It took a considerable amount of Mr. Widmore's resources to procure it. It was found with the wreckage of the plane, along with all 324 dead passengers. (to Sayid) That's not the complete story, as you are well aware, Mr. Jarrah, given the fact that you're standing here, breathing... The wreckage was obviously staged. Now can you imagine what kind of resources and manpower go into pulling off a feat of that magnitude? Faking the recovery of a plane crash? Putting 324 families through a grieving process based on a lie? But what's even more disturbing... where exactly does one come across 324 dead bodies?
And that, Mr. Jarrah, Mr. Hume, is just one of the many reasons we want Benjamin Linus.

4-7: "Ji Yeon" 2008.03.13 - TWoP Forums:
From Zap2it.com: Juliet must reveal some surprising news to Jin when Sun threatens to move to Locke's camp; Desmond and Sayid meet the ship's captain and begin to get an idea of the freighter crew's mission.
-And how about that captain? A man who speaks openly and frankly and gives real answers. I don't know how to act.
-Why shouldn't we trust the Captain? (note on floor, to Desmond & Sayid) Is it because he gives straight and honest answers unlike everyone else?

(On the freighter. Ray leads Sayid and Desmond to their new room)
RAY: So what do you think of the captain?
SAYID: He was surprisingly forthcoming.

many recaps using those words: lost "surprisingly forthcoming" -ggl

"The Wire" vs. "The Sopranos" vs. "Deadwood"
Three critics debate which HBO drama by a guy named David is best, David Simon's "The Wire," David Chase's "The Sopranos" or David Milch's "Deadwood." yup yup

Anonymous said...
I've felt that Deadwood and The Wire are sort of complimentary, in that one shows the building of a community as institutions are being established, and the other shows the community 150 years later when the institutions have deep roots. In Deadwood, there's optimism; people are building something that's going to last. In The Wire, there's pessimism; their institutions did indeed last, but there's nothing left to build, and the institutions have been around for so long that there's no hope that they can change.
Almost all of the institutions on The Wire are captured by an individual in Deadwood. Bullock -> the Baltimore police. Swearingen -> drug dealers and politicians. Wu -> the Greeks, international traffickers. Alma -> addicts like Bubbles. Mrs. Bullock -> the Baltimore schools. Merrick -> the Sun. I suppose Frank Sobotka doesn't really have a predecessor, and while Deadwood had many business owners, The Wire never really tackled business as an institution.
So once those institutions are established and unchanging, how can they be escaped? Only by burning the whole thing down, which is the direction I felt Deadwood was going.

"The Wire's" finale was the antithesis of "The Sopranos"
"The finale," says Alan Sepinwall, "provided closure by the barrelful for all the human characters -- in many ways, it was the antithesis of 'The Sopranos' ending -- but the one character whose fate remains very much up in the air is Baltimore itself. When the cycle turns round and round -- when a Bubbles escapes the junkie life only to be replaced by Dukie, when Carcetti sells out every last principle in order to become governor, when the keys to the police department are taken from Cedric Daniels and handed to Stan Valchek -- what can be done to save the city (and, by extension, America)? Can anything? Or was Bunny right last week when he said that there was nothing to be done?"
Baltimore Sun slams finale, saying it's more suited for the Hallmark Channel
David Simon reflects on the end // On McNulty's fate // More Simon
Finale was perfectly satisfying // "Wire" ended at just the right time
"Wire" finale "not crappy" after its worst season // No neat package
Sad, lovely, poignant // Final 20 minutes was an "unapologetic fan service"
ABC News profiles Omar Little // What if "Survivor" met "The Wire"?
Final montage: A shot-by-shot commentary // Chris: I don't have cable
David Simon is Dickens, David Chase is Dostoevsky and Larry David is...
HBO puts up a "Wire" virtual wall // More "Wire" venting
Behind the scenes: Watch filming of the final "Wire" scene
What are the greatest moments? // BET's Top 10 // Top 15 Brilliant Moments
7 "Wire" stars reflect on 5 seasons // Steve Earle will play playing Waylon
"Stuff White People Like" pays tribute to "The Wire"
HBO puts "Wire" specials "The Last Word" & "The Odyssey" on YouTube
Philly City Hall gets Omar, Bunk, Dukie, Haynes, Freaman, Carver to show up

"Wire" writers use Time mag to urge jurors to acquit nonviolent drug cases
In a Time magazine piece, Ed Burns, David Simon, and George Pelecanos, Dennis Lehane and Richard Price admit that "we write a television show. Measured against more thoughtful and meaningful occupations, this is not the best seat from which to argue public policy or social justice." The writers then go on to urge their audience to make a difference in the drug war: "If asked to serve on a jury deliberating a violation of state or federal drug laws, we will vote to acquit, regardless of the evidence presented. Save for a prosecution in which acts of violence or intended violence are alleged, we will — to borrow Justice Harry Blackmun's manifesto against the death penalty — no longer tinker with the machinery of the drug war."
"Wire" should've cut Baltimore Sun -- the weakest and worst-acted subplot
John "Commissioner Rawls" Doman: "People always say, 'You're gay, aren't you?'"
David Simon talks to "Fresh Air" // Simon loves being TV's "angriest man"
Clarke "Lester Freamon" Peters talks about a possible "Wire" movie
Simon responds to criticism of his newspaper portrayal
Finale leaked on Web // More "Wire" chat // Finale is unlike "Sopranos"
Remembering Robert Colesberry, Simon's "Wire" partner/Det. Ray Cole

[ TV t a t t l e . c o m ]


Confessions of The Wire virgin | Organgrinder | Guardian

Why is "SNL" having trouble mocking Barack Obama?
From Fred Armisen's Bert-like portrayal of Obama to Robert Smigel's stale "TV Funhouse" cartoon, "Saturday Night Live" can't seem to make the Democratic presidential candidate funny. "Can anyone spoof or mock Obama with any deadly (or funny) accuracy? Is the man comedy-proof?" asks Tim Goodman. Echoing those sentiments, Nonso Christian Ugbode adds: "If you are going to make fun of a person–in the very loving, truly nostalgic all-American SNL tradition -- lay all your cards on the table, including that race card. Can we see some Obama celestial choir skits? Can I get some Barack Obama and the Hope-ettes a la Gladys Knight and the Pips? I mean come on, I came up with those on the fly, imagine what I could do with a staff table?" PLUS: Obama jokes about calling Lorne Michaels in protest.


Did "SNL" prompt the media to scrutinize Barack Obama?
Did "SNL" act as a de-facto assignment editor to journalists enthralled by his candidacy? According to the Associated Press, media coverage of Obama became sharper and more pointed in the week following "Saturday Night Live's" return to the airwaves with a skit spoofing the media's coverage of the Democratic presidential campaign.


[ TV t a t t l e . c o m ]

EYE M SICK: They *Hate* Paradox?!
In recent podcasts, Damon and Carlton have gone out of their way to badmouth the notion of chronological paradox. Yet I counted at least three such paradoxes in The Constant. There were two predestination paradoxes -- i.e., Eloise the rat knowing her way around the maze before being taught the correct route, and Penny keeping her same phone number for eight years. hrmm?
There also was an ontological paradox -- i.e., the correct settings for Daniel's time machine having no discernible origin. right ok. circular. he knows what #S to tell Desmond to tell hiself bcs Desmond has already told him.
I try to do away w this by supposing th Daniel did determine the #s without Desmond, but this just saves him some time*. but then once Desmond has visited, Daniel will not determine them on his own -- & of course in 2004 Desmond has always already visited. hmm. comments I read seem to want to treat this as if there are two pasts - the one before, up until Desmond in 2004 goes back to visit, and the one after, now different. this is logically offensive to me. not able to articulate why? it supposes layers of time, sort of treats it as if there is one real timeline (that we watch in the show, that Desmond experiences) where Desmond goes back to visit Daniel and only after that, in 2004, has the past changed. but then it is not really the past that changed, bcs if it had then there could not be a 2004 in which Desmond has not yet visited Daniel in 1996. you can't pick one timeline & privilege it as the real one and then go tinker with the past & say it does not proceed from there into the 'real' timeline.
well something like that.
this is why I tend to dislike time travel stories. always seem to ignore time AS time.
with one exception: Charlotte Sometimes. wh obeyed this rule: two girls can change places *only* bcs neither already is alive in the time she is travelling to. you can't be you twice over. no no no.
Anyone curious to read more about the distinction might want to check out my post on the subject.
ok check that out, seems to be speaking on the level ~
It seems to me that Damon and Carlton are using "paradox" to mean "changing the future." As the foregoing suggests, however, there are many chronological paradoxes that *don't* involve such changes. right. Sometimes, the paradox simply entails effects preceding their causes in time due to time travel, which seems to be the case on Lost. Could someone (you) please ask Damon and Carlton to stop throwing the baby out with the bathwater? I fear they're unintentionally leading viewers astray with their repeated rejection of all paradox, without exception...

ps is it possible (or does show make clear otherwise) that Daniel had already found the correct #s before Desmond got there? he gets excited about Eloise, so it seems that's the first time he had run that experiement, but maybe he already had the #s?

oh and the line I really like is Oxford Daniel all dismissive of Desmond at first:
"why didn't I just help you there, in the future? why put you through the, um, the headache of time travel? you know? just seems a little unnecessary?"
esp I like 'unnecessary' - his inflection, love Daniel's inflections - a physicist takes necessity seriously: what is and is not. there are reasons for things.

also v much like Desmond looking around, as Daniel explains he wears his protective labcoat to shield from radiation: "Do I get one?"
(mom: the dialogue is so good. said this each time we saw this, first to me, then to dad)

"The Other Woman" | The A.V. Club
The first time Juliet appeared on Lost, back in the first episode of Season Three, the episode started with a domestic scene that was meant to deceive us into thinking we were at an off-island location. But we weren't. The first Juliet-centered episode (the terrific “Not In Portland”) started and in a sterile facility that looked like one of the island’s Dharma stations. But it was actually Miami. So when “The Other Woman” started with Juliet confessing to a therapist that it feels strange being “a celebrity,” why did I turn to my wife and say, “Oh man. She’s one of ‘the six.’”? Given the history with Juliet episodes, I should’ve known better.
Tonight’s flashback—like tonight’s episode—was more informational yes wh I liked than scintillating. Outside of the introduction of Harper—who also appeared in the present-day island action, stepping out of the shadows to deliver a message from Ben to Juliet—and the minor revelation that Ben feels he “owns” Juliet, not much happened in the flashback besides dot-connecting. I like dot connecting. consistency w old (eg whispers, mention of the tailie kids taken by Others) & the filling in re Goodwin etc

via Blowing Smoke: Here is the place where my liveblog Lost is
this is a Sepinwall commenter - via link there. and links here to Sepinwall, AV Club their Lost coverage is new to me, Poniewozik. And of course, the episode's Lostpedia page.

LOST 4.5 The Constant - Lostpedia: Sayid and Desmond meet certain people on the freighter whilst the latter experiences some unexpected side effects from the trip.

Lostwatch: Groundhog Day on Christmas Eve - James Poniewozik - TIME


What's Alan Watching?: Lost: The time-traveler's girlfriend


'Lost' Dueling Analyses: The Constant - Celebritology

4-5: "The Constant" 2008.02.28 - TWoP Forums p1 -This was the best episode of this show that has ever happened ever in the universe of ever. -That is probably the best episode of Lost yet. And they didn't fuck around with the secret surprise at :47 into it. what was that?
such enthusiasm for this episode. I found it compelling, well-paced, but not... not full of intrigue, interest. hmm.

Long Live Locke.: S4Ep5 - "The Constant" Subtraction of Years From My Life
As I'm sure you've already guessed, I--like millions of other people--love love LOVED "The Constant." I would rank it as my #2 favorite episode of the series (with #1 remaining "Walkabout," Locke's first flashback).

Completely 'Lost': SLAUGHTERHOUSE 815
Our favorite star-crossed couple was reunited in another dazzling Desmond-isode that referenced Kurt Vonnegut’s brilliant Slaughterhouse Five. The main character Billy Pilgrim is “unstuck in time” -- the same phrase used by Daniel Faraday (in 1996) to explain what is happening to Des, when he begins to simultaneously experience his present (landing on the freighter with Frank and Sayid) AND his past (as a soldier in the Royal Scots. Billy Pilgrim’s time problems begin when he inexplicably survives a plane crash, after which he becomes unstuck, traveling back and forth between his past, where he is a German prisoner of war during WWII; to his present, as an optometrist in the fictional Illium, N.Y.; to his future in a “human zoo” on the planet Tralfamadore. As Vonnegut explains, via his narrator, Tralfamadorans see in four dimensions, while we only see in three. “All moments, past, present and future always have existed, always will exist.” Sadly, Billy Pilgrim’s pet phrase “And so it goes” only pops up 106 times in Slaughterhouse Five. Another two would have been perfect for “Lost” fans. push the button ev 108 min
ON THE BOAT
The unseen Captain of the freighter sounds like an ominous, threatening figure. In production notes he is referred to as Capt. Gault -- a reference, perhaps to John Galt in Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. That character (a captain of industry) designs a new motor (powered by ambient static electricity), survives a plane crash -- Doesn't everyone? -- and creates a secret society in the mountains of Colorado that is protected by a “privacy shield” which makes it invisible to the outside world. It was Galt’s intent to provide a refuge to like-minded individuals, who will stay there until the outside world has been transformed.
comments
-Another thing I found interesting was the difference between Faraday in 1996 and 2004. In 1996 he was much more assertive and kind of an obnoxious jerk. In 2004 he's empathetic and a little timid. What happened to change him?

The Bastard Machine : "Lost" - The Spoiled Bastard.

Lost | Recap: ''Lost'' in space-time |Doc Jensen | Entertainment Weekly | 1