Tried the first 2 episodes of House of the Dragon.
It’s good. Excellent eye candy. Good acting. I’m just not yet sure if the story really works. I feel like they’re trying a “Daenerys, take two”. Of course, the dragons predominantly up front is fun. Also seems like George RR Martin is involved. I hope he can keep this one on course. I really, really did not like the nasty turn that happened in GOT… regarding Daenerys. You could almost see actors like Peter Dinklage telegraphing “man, I don’t want to say this, but here goes.”
well, we watched The Golden Girls on Hulu Plus at a friend’s house.
(no way would we ever pay for that….we are budget viewers)
bottom line: it was really, really funny.
however, here is our question:
what happened to TV theme songs?
currently, they are mostly absent.
why? more time for commercials?
we would bet you remember
several and could sing them
word-for-word if they
actually had words.
Apparently they said before release that they had changed aspects of the show to “better reflect the world we live in.” Excuse me? One of the biggest aspects of Tolkien’s work is the world-building. Middle Earth didn’t reflect the real world when it was originally written either because it wasn’t supposed to. Making fantasy reflect reality is bad in general but even worse when you’re tinkering with someone else’s creation.
They need to make a “Bord of the Rings” From the lampoon book.
With Frito, Dildo, & Bimbo - and let’s not forget the dreaded BallHog…
All the Best,
Jeff
Watched a PBS show: A to Z, the history of writing.
I’ve always been interested in writing and printing and how it related to our history and development.
Very interesting that in old Rome, because of the inexpensive cost of papyrus, and the speed at which it could be written on, a scroll/book could be purchased by most of the population. Rome got the technique form Egypt. They put it into wide spread production.
There were libraries and most everyone - including slaves could read.
With the fall of Rome, papyrus distribution came to an end.
In Europe parchment was the only medium for text. Now a book cost the equivalent of a modern middle income house.
A book was measured in how many sheep had to die to make the thing. The spine of a book? That’s where the backbone of the animal was.
A very involved process of stretching and scraping the hide was needed to make it.
Then came paper, the the making of it part of a capture from a conquest.
Then woodblock carving of entire pages to print on a press.
Then Gutenberg in the mid 1400s with movable type and the press to use it.
What the show didn’t mention was that movable type, using ceramic characters, was first used in Korea some 200 years before it was “invented” in Europe.
Without Gutenberg there would not have been a scientific revolution.
They also didn’t go on to mention the linotype. The next revolution in 1884, by Mergenthaler, in the US. Which could cast a “line of type” in a single shot (a slug). This was used for basically all printing till the 1980s or so.
If you see a publication printed before the 1880s, it was set one letter at a time, by hand.
If you read anything printed before about 1980 it was printed using a linotype to set the type.
Nat. Geo. magazine was one of the last big publications to stop using hot type.
All the Best,
Jeff
Freedom of the press - Belongs to those who own a press…
Watched the finale of Better Call Saul last night. It wasn’t as bad as Dexter’s finale or anything, but I found it to be disappointing. I was expecting a bittersweet ending (like Breaking Bad, for example) and instead, I got a bitterbitter ending. Bleak and depressing, roll credits. It just didn’t do much for me.
That said, it’s still one of the best TV shows ever made, and the excellent writing is the biggest reason why. The journey was fantastic.
Started watching Lucifer. (Based off of a comic-book series if you didn’t know) The humor was good. The writing was initially pretty good. About halfway through Season 3 the writing starts to really take a nosedive though. I think I’m done.
Originally, the character Chloe Decker was the “straight man” to Lucifer’s antics. She’s a career cop, is good at her job, and takes life pretty seriously. But about halfway through Season 3 I noticed she was starting to be written as a dumb blonde, a ditz. It doesn’t make sense for the plot and it isn’t good for the dynamics of the show’s humor. Very unfortunate choices by the writers
now watching Alfred Hitchcock Presents from some DVD’s left at the Dump (recycling center).
black & white, short, and to the point. the best part (to me) is AH making fun of commercials.
I plan to catch the final season soon. Knowing Jimmy’s perpetual run of tough luck, I wasn’t expect it would end well. Especially since we see the flash forwards very early on, him working at a Cinnabon.
I’m into the 2nd season of Handmaid’s Tale. This is a tough series. Amazing to think it debuted in 2016. There are people today who would feel right at home in that dystopia.
Really funny & quirky sense of humor on Alfred. Amazing, considering the time. The early, bleeding edge of television programming. Serling was another ground breaker. So many terrific stories. About a handful are duds. The first reboot in the mid 1980’s was pretty decent. The other two that followed (2002, 2019) were terrible.
guys, i am serious.
if you have not already, check out Alfred.
you will know within four minutes
if it is your “cup of tea” since that covers his
introductions to the episodes AND epilogues.
these presentations have me smiling most days.
Even for those who say “meh” at first view, they need to let him “gestate” in their mind. He has a very special blend of comedy. Wit & deadpan, unpredictably mixed.
