reviewing Black Doves; Dark Matter; Dept. Q; Detective Hole; Dexter: Resurrection; Fauda; For All Mankind; Foundation; Hijack; Memory of a Killer; MobLand; Outlander; Paradise; Presumed Innocent; Severance; Silo; Slow Horses; Smoke; Star City; Star Trek: Strange New Worlds; Tehran;The: Day of the Jackal, Diplomat, Night Agent; Your Friends & Neighbors +books, films, music, podcasts, politics
George Santayana had irrational faith in reason - I have irrational faith in TV.
Chuck Todd interviews me about alternate histories
The crucial line in tonight's brilliant Episode 7 (Season 2) of Dexter on Showtime tonight came from Lila...
Dexter's being torn between the passion, honesty, and sheer liberation he feels with Lila, and the normalcy, love, and warmth he felt - and still feels - with Rita and her children. Dexter tells Lila that Rita and her family are were kept him human before he met Lila.
Lila responds - but how human was that, Dexter? How human were you? You were addicted...
And, of course, Lila doesn't know the half of it, but Dexter does, and so do we, the viewers, and Lila's point certainly rang true to me. Rita may have kept him human - but also, not deliberately but nonetheless, a serial killer...
The battle for Dexter's heart and soul is far from over, though. Dexter goes to Cody's (Rita's son's) performance at school, and very much enjoys it and the feelings it brings. Rita sends her mother packing. But Lila strikes back by burning down her studio, saying it was an accident, and calling on Dexter for support - which he cannot refuse.
Other important developments in tonight's show were among the best in the two-year series. Dexter's sister Debra is really falling for Special Agent Lundy, who may be smart enough to get Dexter even without anything Debra may accidentally reveal. And, following Lila's encouragement to be proactive, Dexter manages to get Doakes suspended in a masterpiece of manipulation.
But Doakes is not gone for good. And Lundy has come to the conclusion that the Bay Harbor Butcher's astute manipulation of the investigation means he knows police procedure as only an insider would ... And Dexter may not be quite cured of his craving as yet, either...
Edge of your seat, heart in your throat time as this stiletto superb second season of Dexter continues.
Superb video of mainstream media pundits smirking and disinforming the public about Ron Paul and his supporters...
For some reason, I find the George Stephanopoulos smug comment on ABC News at the end that Ron Paul can't possibly win - made directly to Ron Paul - the most irritating. If for no reason other than to see Stephanopolous's reaction, it would be great for Ron Paul to win at least the Republican nomination. There would be many good and profound results from that, and among them - no place close to the top of the benefits but still among them - would be once and for all exposing the damage the mass media do to our democracy, and the power of voters to overcome it.
Thanks to Lee on MySpace for bringing this video to my attention.
Meanwhile, my student Mike Plugh e-mailed me about the following New York Times article about Ron Paul today, written by Katharine Q. Seelye and Leslie Wayne. It's a fair, factual, intelligent essay on where the Ron Paul candidacy stands now, and how it got there.
As I've noted before, it's interesting that the print press by and large has been doing a much better job of reporting this election campaign, and in particular Ron Paul's candidacy, than the mainstream broadcast and cable media. Certainly, some of the television coverage of Ron Paul - Alan Colmes on Fox, Tucker Carlson and sometimes Chris Matthews on Fox - has been objective, but more often than not we get Stephanopoulos, Hannity, and their snide misrepresentations.
Possibly there is something about text - whether online or on paper - the encourages fairness and accuracy of reporting.
Whatever the reason, the election of 2008 is so far shaping up as the traditional paper press, and the Internet's, finest hour.
Apologies for the third person in the title, but I thought it would make a more informative title than "I"... Either way, you'll find here my lectures, and interviews, about freedom and media. At present, you can see
my 60-minute November 5, 2007 avatar interview in Second Life, conducted by Kenny Hubble (Ken Hudson)
my 50-minute September 28, 2007 lecture to my Fordham University class on the mainstream media mistreatment of Ron Paul
my 60-minute June 28, 2005 Keynote Address at Fordham University on "The Flouting of the First Amendment" (here's the transcript)
and videos of my science fiction
I expect to be adding new and old lectures to this series, every now and then. (You can click on the icon to the left of the > at the bottom of the screen, and then "Guide," for a complete list of available episodes.)
The videos in this series will usually be at least 30 minutes in length, and often an hour or more, in contrast to my YouTube videos, which are usually interview clips of me of just a few minutes. (Some of these "Lectures on Freedom" videos, however, may also be on YouTube, as series of 10-minute clips.)
You can also subscribe to these lectures on freedom and media on iTunes.
Note: You can see the MySpace group without logging on to MySpace, but you must log on to Join the Group. The same for the Facebook group, except you won't even be able to see the page without first logging on. (You'll of course need to join MySpace and Facebook to log on, if you're not already a member. If you do, by all means Add me as a Friend, and I'll certainly accept.)
Jake Lackner contacted me a few months ago - he and a few of his colleague students in high school (Denver School of the Arts) were making a video about violence and videogames, and would I like to be interviewed. I said, sure.
Katie Aldworth conducted the interview by phone - as professional as any network or NPR or cable interview I've ever given, and with a lot less attitude than you sometimes get. She and Jake directed this video, "Consoles and Carnage: Violence in Videogames," which she, Jake, and Maxine Gallegos wrote, filmed, and edited.
I don't agree with everything everyone says in the video - of course not, because it tries to present a diversity of views. But I think the lack of cause between violent video games and violence in real life is clearly explained - not just by me, but even more persuasively by kids who play video games themselves.
I think Jake and Katie and Maxine could teach the "professional" media a thing or two about being fair and balanced. We're lucky to have people like this growing up in our country.
See for yourself...
And here, for contrast, is my "debate" with Jack Thompson on CBNC in 2006...
The second season of Brotherhood on Showtime has been progressing well. Perhaps a little quieter than the first season, but building and percolating as the fine Irish stew of politics and crime in Rhode Island that it is.
Tommy's mistress Dana - well played by Janel Moloney - is an interesting, complex character. Tommy enjoys her well enough, but her off-the-cuff, cutting comments about the nature of their relationship keep Tommy from getting too close. And when she at last ventures a little real affection for Tommy, he pulls back ... and back to Eileen.
I think Tommy (Jason Clarke is excellent) and Eileen (so is Annabeth Gish) belong together, so I'm glad to see this. But I have feeling we may find before too long that Dana is pregnant. (No spoiler here, just a hunch - on the other hand, maybe that's too obvious.)
But it's good that Tommy and Eileen are pulling closer, with the election right around the corner, and the Mayor showing his true, backstabbing colors.
Tommy and brother Michael (can't ask for anything more in an actor than the quiet, explosive power of Jason Isaacs) are getting along better than ever, also. I'm delighted to see Michael depose his insufferable gangster boss Freddie (Kevin Chapman). But playing ball with the police like this is playing with fire, especially when Declan (Ethan Embry) is in the picture. If Michael ever finds what Declan did to him last year...
The cousin Colin (Brian F. O'Byrne) is definitely an asset to the show as well to Michael (and my guess would be Tommy, too, if need be). And Michael will no doubt soon need all the help he can get ... attracting lightning is his place in this universe.
Fionnula Flanagan, as feisty as last year as Rose, will be there to help, as well. But she won't be able to call upon Judd (Len Cariou) any more...
And the stew slowly simmers ... stirred, heated, bubbling on Brotherhood.
Powerful unlucky Episode 13 of Weeds Season 3 on Showtime Monday night, in which Nancy's dangerous profession finally begins to catch up with her kids.
It all happens near the end.
Silas gets beaten pretty badly by a gang of bikers - angry at Nancy and her team because she doesn't want to deal their inferior weed.
But Shane, who has been having a hard time of it all season, experiences something far worse. Something he pulls into being in his mind. He starts talking to Judah - his deceased father - as if he was right there, sitting at the table. (We see a hint of this earlier in the show. But it goes by so quickly, it's not really clear what happened.)
Alexander Gould has been doing a great job portraying the delightful, sparkling wit of Nancy's younger son. Until now, you could always count on Shane for a sanely refreshing remark about the insanity going on all around him.
But how much could anyone his age take? He's heard of people being killed, he's seen his brother beaten - his escape into a fantasy world of his father being alive, and providing him some protection, makes perfect unfortunate sense.
It's been sometimes said of Weeds, over the past few years, that the show does not delve enough into the ill-effects Nancy's dealings might have on her family. It's good to see the series addressing this issue now. In addition to the customary hilarity, we should be in for some riveting moments in the concluding episodes of Weeds this season.
Want to win a free, cool Weeds poster? Listen to the contest at the end of the following 3-minute podcast of this review...
3-minute podcast of this Weeds review
And still a chance to win a free, cool Weeds poster... Listen for ADDITIONAL CLUES at the end of the following 5-minute podcast ...
5-minute podcast with additional clue for Weeds poster contest
I love teaching, but every once in a while I have a day that captures the very best that can happen at a fine university. It's related to teaching, as most things are at a university, but goes far beyond that.
I've been watching, enjoying, and learning from Mike Wallace on CBS since I was teenager, back in the 1960s. Whether his sage commentary in reporting Presidential election returns, or his take-no-prisoners questions in pursuit of the truth on 60 Minutes, Mike Wallace has always been a one-of-a-kind class act.
He talked today at Fordham University. And not only answered but asked perceptive questions of the students - the kinds of questions that may well change some of their lives.
Here's how that came to be.
In my capacity as Chair of the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University, I helped hire Dr. Beth Knobel. About a year ago, we coaxed her into leaving her position as CBS Bureau Chief in Moscow and joining our Department at Fordham. She arranged for Mike Wallace to come talk to her "Innovators in Television" class today (there couldn't be a better fit), and opened the class to the entire university.
I said a few words about Mike Wallace and introduced the President of Fordham University, Joseph McShane, SJ, who provided an elegant, formal introduction. President McShane is himself a keen student of media, and aptly observed that Mike Wallace had invented a significant part of what we take today as broadcast journalism.
As Mike pointed out, it's been somewhat in decline of late on cable. (Mike insisted that he be called Mike, so I'll honor that request here from now on.)
He spoke with passion about how he confronted General Westmoreland and Lyndon Johnson about the deceptions they were spreading about the Vietnam War - no easy task for a journalist back then - and about many other signal moments in his five decades on camera.
But his most significant moments at Fordham today came when he effortlessly moved from his role as guest lecturer to his much more familiar role as astute questioner. He started by asking the students what they watch on television, what they want from television news.
But soon he was asking them about their views on mortality, the after life, whether they believe in a deity, a cosmic plan - something one might expect of an 89-year old, but not in a talk to students about his half-century on CBS.
And it was quite extraordinary. And deeply appropriate. What is a reporter, an investigative journalist, after all, if not a teacher, and sometimes of the most profound things, to the public at large.
His wife Mary, who was also a pleasure to meet, watched all of this with a twinkle in her eye.
Mike Wallace may have "retired" from active broadcasting last year. But he'll never retire as a teacher of the human species, a conveyor of its highest calling in the quest for truth, wherever you might find it.
Top notch Heroes last night - Season 2, Episode 7 - in which it becomes crystal clear that a deadly plague is this season's atom bomb in New York, and the only way to stop it is via time travel. Much like the general story of 12 Monkeys, the best time travel movie ever made. Time travelers and deadly plagues make for good stories.
The two heroes who can now time travel are Hiro and Peter (who absorbed Hiro's abilities). And maybe Kensei, who apparently makes a surprising appearance at the end of the episode, in the future (pretty much our time), as Adam, earlier identified as the leader of villains trying to kill the older generation of heroes. At very least, David Anders plays Adam as well as Kensei (who we thought died back in 1600s Japan in an explosion). The most likely explanation is Kensei, with something akin to Hiro's powers, time traveled/teleported out of the explosion in 1671 Japan, to the present in the United States....
Which raises some interesting questions. Did Kensei have this power all along? Does he have an absorbing power similar to Peter's? Did Kensei originate in the past or travel to the future, or vice versa?
As I've said before, I'm always in the mood for a good time travel story, and the combination of Hiro and Peter (individually) time traveling, and now likely Kensei/Adam, is enough for me start enjoying this year's Heroes more than last year's.
But there's other good stuff brewing. Claire's powers may once again be crucial to saving the day - this time, her recuperative power being the best antidote to a virus with no antidote. For some reason, I find this charming, not trite.
Matt has triumphed over his evil/misguided father, and freed Molly in the process. Niki's back in action but infected with the deadly virus. Nothing on Monica and her tv-mimic abilities last night, or Sylar and the deadly/cure brother and sister team. But with the overall story pulling together towards the deadly virus in New York - and Hiro at least back in our present if not yet in New York - Heroes is beginning to gather the irresistible narrative strength it began hinting at last year...
4-minute podcast of this Heroes review
======================================== If time-travel's your cup of tea, too, you might be interested in...
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly "a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News "Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book
Episode 7 of Journeyman on NBC tonight was really mostly about Livia - it's clear now that her role in jumping around in time is to be Dan's guardian angel, and do for him what he does for everyone else. And there was some great root canal in the teeth of time travel work tonight as Dan fights with his slightly younger self... (all time travel is root canal work, veering so close as it does to paradox)...
I liked all of that.
But what struck me most about the show tonight is what's up with brother Jack (played by Reed Diamond)? He finds out about Dan's money from the hijacker past - I love the way the show has been semi-starring that money - and begins to investigate. Paul Schulze plays an FBI agent (Richard Garrity) who comes sniffing around - was great to see 24's Ryan Chappell and the Sopranos' priest back in action (hey, he played the hobo on Mad Men, too) - and Jack tries to fend him off...
But, in the end, Garrity presses Jack, threatens him if doesn't cooperate. And Jack, unaccountably, tells Garrity the money came from Jack's brother!
Which makes no sense, based on what we've seen of Jack's love for Dan so far.
So, either, we weren't seeing right (not likely). Or Jack's love for Katie is so strong, and his resentment for Dan so great that ... no, that's even less likely.
Which leaves us with something else going on. Jack wants Garrity involved for some reason ... and that reason would be-
I wonder if it has anything to do with the tachyon scientist, who will be back in play next week, explaining his call across time to Dan ...
A very satisfying finale to Tell Me You Love Me on HBO On Demand last night...
1. Jaime and Hugo's getting back together and married was entirely motivated. I also liked the realistic way this episode built up to their happy ending. They meet in a gas station mart. Next have dinner, but don't sleep together. Instead, they talk later that night on the phone... and seal the deal. There surely were more people with broken hearts in the world before Alexander Graham Bell.
2. Palek walks out, Carolyn loses their baby, Palek comes back. A harsh arc, but it's about the only way the couple could have proceeded. What's not entirely clear is whether Carolyn will ever completely forgive Palek (I would say not - but there was no clear indication one way or another on the show).
3. Katie and David come this close to splitting, but - at last - make passionate love. This was predictable - but nonetheless satisfying.
And let me say here that Ally Walker's acting as Katie was really exceptional - last night and on the entire series. She had just the right mix of vulnerability, hope, and fatigue. All the acting on the series was excellent - the women (Michelle Borth as Jaime and Sonya Walger as Carolyn) standing out maybe a little more than the men (Tim DeKay as David and Adam Scott as Palek) (and Ian Somerhalder as Nick and Luke Farrell Kirby as Hugo with less screen time as Jaime's guys) - but it was all fine, and Ally Walker was the best of the best.
Along with Jane Alexander, who was superb as Dr. May Foster, and as I've said before, has never put in anything less than a great performance in anything I've ever seen.
As I also said in my preview review of the first show, Tell Me You Love Me wasn't really about the nudity, though that certainly made for some nice scenes.
But the show was about relationships, and I'm looking forward to Season Two. Will we be seeing these three couples again? I'd say probably not, but I have no information about this. Surely May Foster will be back - with David Selby as her husband Arthur - and you can be sure I'll be posting reviews right here on Infinite Regress.
Hey, it's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it...
A splendid episode 6 of Dexter tonight - with one of the best titles going - "Dex, Lies, and Videotape".
Dexter's relationship with Lila is continuing to cure him - well, in a manner of sorts. He takes no real joy in the guy he has to kill tonight, even though the victim more than deserves it. And Dexter has the best sex he's had in the series so far - with Lila, of course - after trying to tell Rita that he actually didn't sleep with Lila last week.
Rita's a bit too quick to walk out on Dexter over this - which she does, the first time, before Dexter has had a chance to explain what didn't happen last week. And by the time they talk, Dexter tells her that he has now indeed slept with Lila - which was certainly prompted, in part, by Rita's walking out on Dexter the night before.
Although Rita looks much better than she did last year - when she looked a little sickly - I think Lila is much better for Dexter, which means all of this is a good step forward for him, by my lights.
On the downside, although Dexter manages to erase incriminating footage of him on his boat on the bay under investigation by FBI agent Lundy (Keith Carradine), Doakes is gearing up to go full snarl after Dexter again, after Dex's sister spills the beans about Dexter not being an addict. If Doakes (played just right by Erik King) and Lundy ever get together, Dexter will really have his work cut out for him...
That's practically a good enough line to conclude this review, but let me also just mention that Dexter's sister maybe falling for Lundy, whose disdain for Masuka and his taste in porn is providing some additional comic relief, in a blend of drama, passion, terror, and humor like nothing I've even seen on television before.
***August 2015: Paul Levinson and Peter Rosenthal in concert at LI-Con2 (Ronkonkoma, NY)
***December 2009: All 13 tracks of Twice Upon a Rhyme available on iTunes and Amazon
*** December 2010: Whiplash/Salvation Records releases vinyl re-pressing of Twice Upon a Rhyme sold in record stores in New York City, Los Angeles, London, Manchester (UK), and Tokyo ... re-issued in September 2011
reviews of Twice Upon a Rhyme:
“Tim Hardin meets The Zombies ... a real forgotten gem from 1972 that serves as perfect listening on a Saturday morning in November ... warm and peaceful.”
“Twice Upon a Rhyme (Happysad ‘72): I’ve seen multitudes of folkpsych wannabes hyped to the skies for their garage charm in euro lists that don’t hold a candle to this baby. “Forever Friday” is so amazing and lo-fi real I still get chills when I hear it. And the long track “The Lama Will Be Late This Year” sweeps whatever floor is left in this department.”
“... mixes the psychedelic pop of the ‘60s, a dash of Simon & Garfunkel and some expansive and imaginative arrangements which recall the Beach Boys or even Burt Bacharach in places. There’s a real warmth and love running through these cuts ...”
"Superb fuzz guitar irresistibly drizzled across several tracks ... a memorable personality indelibly locked inside the grooves ... the perfect sound track for a lethargic spring day."
"romantic, sunshine happy Americana or bluesier ... a handful of good feeling summer breeze love songs ... a touch of Santana exotic elements and a lot more fuzz guitar ... melodic and harmony vocals"
scanned copy of a letter I wrote in September 1972 to a disk jockey in Syracuse, New York, about Twice Upon a Rhyme
***November 2008: Delighted to have signed a contract last week with Big Pink in Korea, for its reissue there of Twice Upon a Rhyme! Watch here for further details.
A local New York private pressing recorded between July 1969 and October 1971. At their best, Levinson and his crew produce dark, druggy pop music remindful of neighbors The Patron Saints or bayou obscuros Feather Da Gamba. Forever Friday, Looking For Sunsets and You Are Everywhere fit this profile. The Lama Will Be Late This Year is probably the most intriguing cut on the album, having as it does an oddly Syd Barrett-like delivery of the lyrics and some pretty unorthodox music with fuzz guitar leads.
***October 2009: Evan LeVine (Swan Fungus blog) interviews me about Twice Upon a Rhyme and more about the City Diner in New York City ... this is a short note about the interview
***November 2009: Rockit Scientist Records on St. Marks Place, New York City, stocks several copies of original 1972 vinyl Twice Upon a Rhyme
***November 2009: Jack Hobbes interviews me about my music for 40-minute podcast Out of the Bubbling Dusk
***December 2009: Pretty much the complete, frank interview that Evan LeVine conducted with me about my music, science fiction, life, much more in October 2009 ... this is the transcript, published on the WFMU blog
***December 2009: All 13 tracks of Twice Upon a Rhyme available on iTunes and Amazon
*** December 2010: Whiplash/Salvation Records releases vinyl re-pressing of Twice Upon a Rhyme sold in record stores in New York City, Los Angeles, London, Manchester (UK), and Tokyo ... re-issued in September 2011
Donny Frankel: organ; Joe Szalacsi: trumpet; Israel Esquenazi, Sasha Humek: violins;
Boris Midney: saxophone, drums
Produced & Arranged by
Paul Levinson & Ed Fox
Paul Levinson - other than Twice Upon a Rhyme and The New Outlook
2018
The First House of Mars (words only - P. Levinson - no music as yet)
I Fell in Love with a Robot (words only - P. Levinson - no music as yet)
2011
If I Traveled to the Past (P. Levinson - J. Anealio) John Anealio, home demo
Tau Ceti (P. Levinson - J. Anealio) John Anealio and Paul Levinson, home demo
2006-2018
Lime Streets (Levinson) Paul Levinson, recorded live at WZBC Radio (2006)
2000
I Knew You By Heart (Levinson - Rosenthal) Peter Rosenthal, studio demo
Alpha Centauri (Levinson - Rosenthal) Peter Rosenthal, home demo
1972
Murray the K's Back in Town (Levinson) Paul Levinson, studio demo
1971
Merri-Goes-Round (Levinson - Ed Fox) Trousers, Paul harmony, Wizdom Records
Ring Around My Rosie (David Fox) Protozoa, Paul harmony, Buddah Records
1969
Sunshine Mind (Levinson) Donna Marie, Columbia Records (also recorded by the Fuzzy Bunnies, unreleased single on Decca Records)
Teacups and Tapestry (Levinson - Boris Midney) studio demo
Snow Flurries (Levinson - Jimmy Krondes) Good News, Paul harmony, Murbo Records
Sunday Princess (Levinson - Ed Fox) Joey Ward & Paul Levinson, studio demo
Unbelievable (Inconceivable You) (Levinson) The Vogues, Reprise Records (unreleased)
1968
Picture Postcard World (Levinson) Definitive Rock Chorale, Philips Records
Lemons and Limes (Levinson) Fuzzy Bunnies, Decca Records
Love Colored Glasses (Levinson - Harris) Mikie Harris, studio demo, later recorded by June Valli
Mr. Kringle (Levinson - Harris) studio demo
Teardrops Make No Sound (Levinson - Jimmy Krondes) studio demo, later recorded by June Valli, then Jimmy Clanton, then Irish singer Martin Flynn
Waking Up to Love (Levinson) studio demo
Skyscraper (Levinson - Kaplan) Linda Kaplan, studio demo
Cloudy Sunday (Levinson - Kaplan) Linda Kaplan, studio demo
A Piece of the Rainbow (Levinson - Kaplan) Linda Kaplan, studio demo
1963
The Park at Night (Levinson - Gorman) Paul Levinson (lead) and Paul Gorman, studio demo
Alphabet Baby (Gorman) Paul Levinson (lead) and Paul Gorman, studio demo
Notes:
1. "Merri-Goes-Round" produced by Paul Levinson and Ed Fox
2. "Ring Around My Rosie" produced by Paul Levinson, Ed Fox, and Herb Abramson
3. "Sunshine Mind" produced by Jimmy "Wiz" Wisner
4. "Unbelievable" produced by Dick Glasser
5. "Picture Postcard World" and "Lemons and Limes" produced by Ellie Greenwich and Mike Rashkow
Sundial Symphony (Donny Frankel and Robbie Rist) record Paul Levinson's music
2016 "Merri Goes Round" (P. Levinson - E. Fox) Robbie Rist lead, HappySad Records (digital) 2015 "Today Is Just Like You" (P. Levinson) Donny Frankel lead, HappySad Records (digital) 2013 "Looking for Sunsets (in the Early Morning)" (P. Levinson - E. Fox) Donny Frankel lead, HappySad Records (digital) Recordings of "Looking for Sunsets (in the Early Morning)" (P. Levinson - E. Fox) by other artists: Protozoa (Buddah Records, 1973), James Harris (demo, 2007), Jha Voice (demo, 2011), Catherine Asaro (demo, 2012), Sundial Symphony (HappySad Records, 2013)
I posted something about the following on my MySpace blog last year ... but here we are again, and I'm still not liking Eastern Standard Time - the loss of one hour of daylight, at the end of the day - one bit... So I'll make the complaint here again...
Many of my posts here are cheerful ... I especially like being cheerful about television because it irritates so many people... But with my clocks soon to fall back an hour, as per Eastern Standard time, I gotta say that I really can't stand Standard time.
It's not that I don't like standards (well, actually, I'm no big fan of them either, if you'd like to know). But what aggravates me no end is how early it gets dark when we shift to Standard time.
Some people - including my wife - think the too-early fall of night is well worth the extra hour of sleep in the morning. I never get enough sleep anyway. An hour more doesn't make much difference to me, if I'm up until 3 or 4 in the morning (as you can see by the time stamp on many of my posts).
But what I do care about is driving home in the evening - no, not even evening, more like late afternoon - and it's pitch dark outside! I know, the winter is coming, it's gonna be even darker outside pretty soon anyway, but why deliberately make it worse?
If it's cold outside, and we had a way of regulating the world's temperature, and someone said let's make it even colder - would we do it? Would any sane nation or person?
I used to hear, when I was a kid, that the farmers had something to do with this - but I never got exactly why the farmers cared about so much about getting an extra hour of light in the morning, anyway. The crops and the cows couldn't care that much, one way or the other. (My wife just told me that the farmers were responsible for Daylight Savings time - ok, so maybe this change tonight is not their fault. Whose fault is it, then? What constituency is Congress trying to serve here?)
The deeper point is that we shouldn't be messing around so much with time ... it's unhealthy, as any time traveler can tell you...
Or, if we do, let's extend the daylight even more. Let's have as much sunlight as we can in the early evening...
And if we're a little more tired in the morning? Go off someplace quiet, if you can, take a little catnap, and dream of how nice the snow will look all agleam and beautiful in six o'clock sun...
Infinite Regress reader Phil Holland brought the following Edwards ad to my attention. I could live without the irritating music, but otherwise the video does a good job of showing the double-speak and waffling in Hillary Clinton's positions.
Yes, I'm in favor of writers getting as much money as possible for their work - I'm a writer (published novelist, nonfiction and textbook and op-ed author), and I have no allergy to money, believe me - but television writers going on strike makes no sense for at least three reasons:
1. Television viewing is declining. Writers want to get a piece of the Internet, DVD, mobile phone action. Makes perfect sense. But it doesn't make sense to adopt a strategy that will drive even more viewers away from network and cable television, which is still the primary venue for television.
2. Writers are not exactly starving - it's not as if they would slip into poverty if they didn't go on strike. The economic circumstances are not dire enough to warrant a strike.
3. I think, in general, that writers are an elite enough group that they don't need a union. The worker being taken advantage of by the greedy capitalist just doesn't ring true or apply to the television writer.
So, I hope the WGA does not strike - and, if they do, that they come to their senses quickly.
Full disclosure: I make more income from being a professor than being a writer, but I'd never go on strike as a professor, either.
The BarelyPolitical.com team - Leah Kaufmann as songwriter/singer, and Ben Relles producer - turns its satirical attention to Ann Coulter in the above video. Except, rather than the Obama Girl videos which we were fun, this Coulter video has a much deserved serious political bite to the satire. (Well, the Giuliani video had a little of that bite, but this Coulter performance has much more.)
Obama Girl Amber Lee Ettinger - who I was pleased to have lecture in my class at Fordham in September (along with Ben Relles) - makes just a quick cameo appearance in this production. Instead, Kaufmann takes front and center stage - not only as singer and songwriter, as she was in the Obama Girl videos, but as the singer we can see.
Kaufmann is easily the leading satirical lyricist around these days. "Perfect me, make me petty, I want to be hateful like Ann Coulter...," Kaufmann beseeches Coulter, picking up on her comment that Jews need to be "perfected"...
I'd say Kaufmann, judging by her talent as a writer, singer, and now a performer, is already there.
And BarelyPolitical.com continues in its work as the best new-media satire operation around.
And in the latest denigration of a network's own post-debate poll results by someone on that very network -
Chris Matthews just mentioned on MSNBC's Hardball that Barack Obama won the poll that MSNBC conducted after the Democratic Presidential debate on Tuesday-
To which Chuck Todd, MSNBC's "official" pollster replied - that poll was done with cell phones, via which Obama's supporters could keep pounding the call keys...
To which Matthews responded - like in the 1936 Literary Digest poll...
To which I will respond:
No, Chris, not like that 1936 poll at all, which was supposed to be a poll of a randomly selected part of the voting population, but was skewed or biased because it was conducted from lists of automobile owners and people who had telephones in their homes, and only very rich people had those luxuries in those days, so the Literary Digest poll wrongly showed the Democrat FDR losing...
Which has nothing in common with MSNBC's post-election poll - except that it, too, was conducted by phone. But it was never designed as a randomly conducted poll.
What Chris should have said to Chuck Todd: wrong, callers can't cast votes more than once on the same phone...
Well, at least Ron Paul now has company - now Obama's supporters, like Ron Paul's, are discounted because they participate in a poll that a network conducts, and then expresses no confidence in because they don't like the results.
With not that many episodes left in this feisty third season of Weeds on Showtime, it was good to see Nancy and Conrad doing just what they should be doing on this past Monday's show.
Nancy has progressed from not being over her deceased husband in the first season, to not being completely comfortable with having sex with her secret narc-agent husband Peter in the second season, to having lots of sex on this third season - mostly with Matthew Modine's Sullivan Groff.
She seemed to have enjoyed this - at least, in the physical sense, with Sullivan - but certainly without any real, deeper passion.
Conrad's another story completely. They've been attracted to each other, almost from the beginning, and no doubt even love each other. Circumstances and bad luck of one sort of another have kept them apart. But Episode 12 brought them together for one of the best endings of an episode in the three-year series (or perhaps, happiest ending would be a better way of putting this - the other endings are all excellent, just kicks in the solar plexus, rather than occasions for applause).
But, being the suspicious sort that I am, I'm hoping what we saw on Monday isn't a setup for something bad to happen to Conrad and Nancy in the remaining episodes this year...
In this new, fast, hot, dangerous world of Showtime television, happy endings can be very short lived...
The crucial line in tonight's brilliant Episode 7 (Season 2) of Dexter on Showtime tonight came from Lila...
