Because it’s Tuesday, here’s a grab-bag of stuff that I find irritating to one degree or another. Feel free to add yours. Facebook buying Instagram for $1 billion. This pisses me off because it proves again that Facebook has become the Standard Oil of this century: It no longer has to compete with competitors; […]
Going downhill at Downton Abbey
I‘m still enjoying Downton Abbey, but four episodes into Season 2 it’s beginning to seem kind of contrived. Where the first season focused mainly on interesting characters coping with the class strictures of pre-war England, this season is devolving into plot-based melodrama. Exhibit A: This ridiculous business of Bates’ vengeful ex-wife Vera, who started […]
A little flawed, but still a masterpiece
While most viewers probably stayed for the thrilling finale of the Denver-Pittsburgh game last night, we switched over at the half to Downton Abbey. First we watched the last episode of Season One, and then the premiere of the highly awaited Season Two. With all due respect to Tim Tebow, I still think we […]
We all know a place like ‘Portlandia’
The better the TV show, the longer the time between seasons. That’s the new paradigm. (Don’t you love the word “paradigm”?) The very best shows — stuff like Breaking Bad and Downton Abbey and and now Portlandia— spend more time off the air than they do on. That’s sometimes frustrating, but not surprising. The […]
And the winner of the 2012 Emmies is …
You’ll forgive me if I post a little more praise for Breaking Bad, AMC’s excellent series about the vagaries of the meth business in greater Albuquerque. We just watched the final episode of Season Four: Superb. TV doesn’t get better than this. Movies don’t either. This episode and this season are so good that […]
A latter-day look at “Twin Peaks”
It recently came to my attention that I was the last guy in the continental United States who had never viewed an episode of Twin Peaks. It’s been recommended a number of times over the years, most recently by my son Dave Jr., who like me has unerring taste when it comes to quality […]
My very own vagina monologues
This might offend a few of my eight or so regular readers, but I plan to increase my use of the word “vagina” in day-to-day posts. I don’t make the decision lightly. In fact, I wouldn’t make it at all except for this New York Times piece detailing how “vagina” — I’m talking the […]