yoga, books, movies, tv & too many crime procedurals – not necesarily in that order
They suck.
My plan was to go to a book club meeting tonight (The Magicians by Lev Grossman) but unless I’m feeling SERIOUSLY better that won’t happen. The book itself was interesting and borrowed pretty heavily from the Narnia mystique. Imagine if Narnia were a Real place – a place where four bumbling kids don’t manage to do everything more or less right and the inhabitants aren’t all thrilled by their presence. Imagine it had real rules with real consequences. Unfortunately the book relies pretty much on the story of the protag who’s not all that interesting (especially when compared to that original premise) and has a LOT of time devoted to him “growing up” before taking a sharp left back to the original premise (with predictably dire results). It also suffered a bit from dwelling in some minutae of this alternate fairytale-ish world such that I kind of skimmed sections. All told an enjoyable book despite an unlikeable protag.
We watched Capitalism: A Love Story yesterday. Generally speaking I’m not a fan of Michael Moore. His Sicko didn’t accurately represent the experience of MANY Canadians I knew who came over the border to Michigan to get health care they couldn’t in their country. If you want me to take you seriously, you’ve got to point out the good WITH the bad rather than glossing over the bad – which makes me feel like you’re blowing smoke up my ass. I’ve got politicians to do that so I don’t need documentarians.
In point of fact, I think he’d have been better served to make Capitalism BEFORE Sicko. Capitalism is pretty fantastic and does an excellent job of explaining how 1) we don’t actually HAVE capitalism and 2) why we don’t want it. THIS film points out all the things that are currently broken with our system and actually talks about what some people are doing to fight it. THIS is a great film. That doesn’t mean I agree with everything he says. When you’re talking about subprime mortgages, the “subprime” refers to the borrower. Some of the borrowers knew full well that they didn’t have the money to do what they were doing and did it anyhow. I don’t think that’s robbery. I also think that the consumer has to put some consideration into their actions – it’s not like these companies were out FLEECING everyone. You signed a contract – a contract which if you didn’t read, I’ve got limited sympathy.
We also watched The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo on Netflix streaming. My second viewing, Spouse’s first. You know it’s a good film when you’re still riveted after 1) reading the book and 2) having seen it once already. I fucking love Salandar. That is all.
I’m considering making this for lunch/dinner today as I picked up a lovely mango from the store yesterday. It will depend whether or not the local grocer has some fresh mint but I might just compromise.
Today is about more Netflix streaming and more Kindle books. Oh, and quality time with my Neti pot. Fuck. I hate being sick.
And then someone you know (albeit not well) gets murdered. What the fucking fuck.
Best thoughts and wishes to the Flores family. Vonnie was a ray of sunshine and deserved better.
To spend Friday night recovering from your week? Because DAMN.
On the bright side, I got most of the heavy lifting done this week. All that’s left is purging the files and fixing the paperwork. Heh. ALL.
As for now, I’m enjoying a nice cold beer, awaiting some company and contemplating which book I’ll be reading next.
As a public service announcement: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is out on DVD. If you’ve been on the fence, rent it.
I like rules. REALLY like rules. Most people who meet me would probably not expect that.
It’s true that in a lot of things I find rules to be arbitrary or not well thought out. However at work, rules are a girl’s best friend. For example: today I had a vendor show up an hour past our posted dock hours. I told them to take a hike, albeit politely and even apologetically. They were disgruntled.
This is one of those situations where the rule actually MAKES SENSE. My job is more than waiting around for vendors. The vendors stop showing up 2.5 hours before I go home so that I have time to DO OTHER SHIT. Important shit, for that matter. They groused about what the old guy in my job would do – for the record, NOT a good idea because I’M NOT HIM – and my response was “Tough shit.”
I honestly believe in the immortal words of Dalton: Be nice until it’s time to not be nice.
These guys knew full well they were after hours. Rather than apologize and suck it up, they tried to bully me. No surprise, I don’t respond well to bullying. It gets my back up. THEN, they did a B.S. song and dance for another guy at the store and got him to come to me on their behalf. To which I said “AbsoFUCKINGLUTELY not.” Because before, I’m giving you a grace – I’m new and not going to bust your balls. NOW I’M PISSED. So your options are to show up tomorrow or I call your boss. AND now I will NEVER give you a minute past my hours because you pulled this bullshit trip.
Pissing me off twice in the same shift is pretty impressive. Burning BOTH of your chances within a half an hour has to be a record. My foot in your ass, let me show you it.
I realize that no one but me is reading the internet but, despite my comfy position on the deck and a delicious Kona Longboard in hand, I’m going to post about police shows.
There are a lot of problems with police shows – the foremost being we’re INUNDATED with the fuckers. If there’s anyone in the country who doesn’t know their Miranda rights by heart I have to believe that it’s willful ignorance. There’s also quality. Between Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, The Wire and The Shield – it’s been done and it’s been done damn well. So what does that leave you with?
If you’re a network, you’ve got to go to character. You need badass writers and great actors who can sell it. If you don’t have the cable safety net (and far less stringent censors) you’ve got to make up for the fact that your show isn’t going to be all that “real.”
The Closer is a great example of this. Create a magical squad that doesn’t have exactly the same rules as the beat cops, add a quirky leader and you’ve got suspension of disbelief. It’s the same reason I can stand NCIS – the ‘military’ association means I can pretend that Abby would get away with 1/4 of the shit she actually does and I don’t care because the character kicks ass and I WANT to like the show. The actors are so good that even when they’re bad, I can forgive some shoddy (and predictable) writing.
There are a bunch of good shows (versus the first string of police shows which I’d classify as GREAT) that get away with this. The Closer and NCIS get really good ratings. The Mentalist, Psych, Law and Order and Saving Grace all have a gimmick that allows them to be outside the straight up police procedural. That’s just one of the things I think is going to kill Rookie Blue.
I watched the first two episodes. I love Missy Peregrym. I dig the fact that it’s set in Toronto. Unfortunately it’s trying to be Hill Street Blues and, man, that ship has SAILED. By this time the average tv viewer knows as much about police procedure as some of the actors on these shows, I think. So you can’t be serious and “real” and then try to throw in these ridiculous love triangles (which I could see coming a mile away) and laughable shit like a new officer not knowing what “on the job” means. Dude. *I* know what that means. You just made your main character seem like a moron. Not a good sign.
I like what the show is trying to do but unless the writing gets sharp and I mean FAST I don’t think it’s going to have legs. You’ve got to be smarter – or at least cleverer – than your audience. Rookie Blue isn’t.
