Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Dan Wetzel on another day - another Olympic scandal. Were the Olympics always this corrupt or are we just paying more attention now?

- Blackrock's top 25 equity holdings. May be just me but still don't trust Ray Dalio or China.

- Tucker Carlson still a must watch. Currently at 2.3 million as I type this.

- Interesting - Warner Brothers, Discovery in talks to license original HBO shows to Netflix. Just like the gypsy woman Irish guy predicted!

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Growing up in the 1970's we believed many silly things like quicksand being a huge danger (and plot device for almost every TV show) and that evil geniuses would build their lairs under active volcanoes but probably the most insidious belief it turns out was that pubic hair was natural and acceptable... So HBO Max thinks an Amy Schumer docuseries is a reason to subscribe to the streaming service? Really? Good luck with that... "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." - George Bernard Shaw... Meat Whistle would be a great name for a band... The new season of Porlandia is going to be on FIRE!!!... 2020 has had so many twists, turns, deaths and unexpected outrageous situations that nobody will care about what George RR Martin's imagination can cook up for the next Game of Thrones book (as if the lousy final season of the HBO series didn't already kill any interest in the new book)... "As I know more about mankind, I expect less of them." - Samuel Johnson... 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris featured a live pigeon-shooting event. It never appeared in the Games again. If the Olympics ever come to NYC maybe they could bring that back... Just a reminder but 9-years ago yesterday the Rapture was supposed to have happened. It didn't... HBO should reboot the show Entourage but just make it a pseudo documentary (The Office style) about Charlie Sheen's every day life... The "current net migration rate for Iraq in 2020 is 0.308 per 1000 population." That means more people are moving to Iraq than leaving it. That's something the States of California and New York can't claim. Think about that for a minute... Just a reminder but 10-years ago Vice President Joe Biden promised a growing economy with 250,000 to 500,000 new jobs each month. That never happened (well at least not under President Obama). Maybe those jobs were Raptured?...  The 1982 Grammy nominees for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance were Wendy O Williams (of the Plasmatics), Lita Ford and Pia Zadora. I would love to watch a documentary about how that came about and the lasting damage done by it to women in Rock... Of all the Thompson gunners, Roland was the best...

Top 5 - Moments from A Band of Brothers

If your looking for something to binge watch - why not revisit the HBO classic Band of Brothers. Here's what I consider the Top 5 scenes from the mini-series:

1. Spiers takes command of Easy - the scene of Spiers jumping through the smoke to assume command from Lt. Dike gives me chills every time.

2. Liebgott translates the defeated German General's speech to his men. A poignant speech which showed the German soldiers as similar to the men of Easy Company. The humor of Captain Sobel having to salute Major Winters was the cherry on top.

3. Easy Co takes the Eagles Nest. It was nice to see the guys enjoy some well earned R & R (and spoils of war - including a nice cache of booze for Captain Nixon).

4. Easy takes out the German 105s at Brecourt Manor - Dick Winters should have been awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions that day.

5. Crossroads the Island charge. 

Watchmen

Recently completed watching viewing the HBO series Watchmen and I really enjoyed it. Then again I started off as a fan of the Alan Moore graphic novel and to a lesser degree the 2009 movie adaptation by Zach Snyder.

My girlfriend, not familiar with either the graphic novel or the 2009 movie, dropped out from watching after 2 episodes. Just too much information is assumed to be known by the viewer and without that knowledge the series could seem disjointed and weird.

Also understand that Alan Moore was not exactly best pleased with the re-imagining of his universe. Then again I think it would be bigger news if the curmudgeonly Alan Moore actually praised something.

Anyway - I give it two thumbs up. (Although not sure how they'll manage a second season based upon the ending of this one.)

Sesame Street and PBS

HBO has announced that new episodes of Sesame Street will now only be available on HBO Max and that the streaming of old episodes will also only be available via their service. And with that announcement goes the Democrats biggest defense against PBS losing public taxpayer funding. Remember when Mitt Romney brought up cutting funding to PBS - the cries were "He wants to kill Big Bird!"

Now Big Bird has moved his nest to a gold-plated gated community.

Don't get me wrong - I do not see defunding PBS (and NPR for that matter) as a big deal because of the relatively low amount of tax funds we're really talking about. And I do see the value of the children's programming on PBS for kids whose parent can't afford to give them iPads as playthings.

But if President Trump ever wanted to defund PBS and NPR - now that Big Bird has flown the coop - it would be the perfect time to announce to cuts.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Norman Borlaug - the man who helped feed the world

- Heh Heh

- Physics is cool - the bead chain experiment

-  Cool - David Simon's pitch to HBO for The Wire

- Much has been made about Hollywood LOUDLY threatening to move TV and movie production out of Georgia because of the new abortion law. But do you recall how QUIET Hollywood was when they moved TV and movie production completely out of the US because of the passing of Obamacare?

- Did Trump just revolutionize healthcare in the US and nobody notice? Love this change. One thing I'd add - any unused HRA or FSA funds should be able to be rolled into IRA or 401k retirement plans at the end of the year without penalty. "Use it or lose it" is so silly and wasteful. Maybe this change will even help the Hollywood hypocrites to move some of their TV and movie productions back to the US.

- So awesome!

Game of Thrones Season 8 (Spoilers)

The Pitch Meeting does a humorous job of explaining some most of the failings of Season 8. (If you're not familiar with the Screen Rants Pitch Meeting videos - do yourself a favor and dive in.)

As for me the whole progression of Season 8 and the waiting for the sixth and seventh books from George RR Martin has been a bit exhausting. I own copies of all five of the current books on my Kindle and also a box set of the books. I've read each book at least twice but after Season 8 of the HBO show and years of waiting for the next book to come out I'm pretty much done with Game of Thrones. I can see myself maybe picking up the new books in a decade or so (if they ever come out) but definitely not anytime soon.

I have to think David Benioff and DB Weiss the TV producers and showrunners have to be privately pissed off at George RR Martin. When they started this project 9 or 10 years ago they had to have thought Martin would have at least the next book in the series done by now. But nope! Benioff and Weiss had to basically just wing the past two seasons and most of the show's fan's displeasure has been focused on them when I think George RR Martin is where the blame should really rest.

Think of it - if George RR Martin died tomorrow the first line of his obituary wouldn't say he was the author of the Game of Thrones series but that he failed to write the final books!

One minor detail that I'm curious about was if casinos and betting sites had a prop bet for who would sit on the Iron Throne at the end of the season - did they pay off for Bran or for no one? Technically Dany touched the Iron Throne but didn't sit on it before Drogon melted the damn thing. The Iron Throne ceased to be before Bran became king.

I'll just add that to the long list of things that were never resolved or explained.

Deadwood (the Movie)

Alan Sepinwall has a must read article on the upcoming Deadwood HBO movie for any self-respecting Deadwood fan.

The movie is made all the more poignant by the fact that show creator David Milch is suffering from Alzheimer's.

The movie debuts on HBO at the end of May and I can't wait!

George HW Bush

George Herbert Walker Bush has passed away at age 94. He was a true gentleman of great character who spent much of his life in service to his country whether it be in uniform as a Navy combat pilot during World War II or in various government or elected positions culminating with his service as the 41st President of the United States.

His passing comes just 8 months after the death of his beloved wife of 73 years Barbara Bush. The photo to the left is of George and Barbara on their wedding day.

As a simple example of how great a person George HW Bush was - five years ago he shaved his head in support of the son of a secret service agent battling cancer. It should be noted that George and Barbara lost their first daughter Robin to childhood leukemia.

Many of the articles you will read today will speak about 41 as a one term President. If those articles do not mention H. Ross Perot you can be sure that you are reading an article from an outlet that is biased or incompetent. Perot's entry into the 1992 election as a third-party candidate is what cost Bush re-election.

Perot won almost 19% of the popular vote that year (the most ever by a modern third-party candidate). So any eulogies that ignore that piece of history should make you think twice about ever trusting that media outlet again.

His feelings about Perot aside, Bush was gracious and classy in defeat as this note to Bill Clinton shows.

HBO has an excellent documentary on the life of George HW Bush named simply 41. The documentary is completely narrated by 41 and goes through every aspect of his life - from childhood to the Presidency. When Perot is mentioned you can hear that hatred still for the man who Bush blames for not having a second term as President. Perhaps the only person Bush had those feelings about.

George HW Bush and George W Bush, of course, were just the second father-son to hold the office of President. They joined John and John Quincy Adams in that rare accomplishment.

I think history will look very favorably on George HW Bush and on his Presidency.

One of my favorite what-ifs in history is the fact that before picking Dan Quayle as his Vice President, Bush briefly considered giving that slot to Clint Eastwood instead. That's 100% true. Can you imagine how history would have been different if that happened?

Rest in peace you great and honorable man. Barbara is waiting for you.

Andre the Giant

Watched the HBO documentary Andre the Giant and I give it two big thumbs up! If you were a WWF fan in the 1980's you knew Andre was the man. If you are a fan of the movie The Princess Bride you got a glimpse of the gentle spirit behind the "brute squad".

If you don't want to take my word for it - the documentary also has a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Spielberg

I watched the HBO documentary Spielberg the other night and I came away very unimpressed. After a few days of thinking on it I'm upset that I wasted my time on this love-fest piece of pap.

Yes Steven Spielberg was a historically great director. Helming such movie classics as Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan.

But of the last 10 films he directed only 2012's Lincoln stands out. And that stands out more for the acting of Daniel Day-Lewis than anything else. And his last 10 films include all-time shit-fests Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and 2005's War of the Worlds (which may be the worst big-budget movie I've seen in my life).

Maybe HBO felt that Spielberg needed an ego boost and that's fine and dandy but I didn't need to be a participant in the circle-jerk. And you don't either. Don't waste your time on this "documentary".

I don't mean to be all "what have you done for me lately" regarding Spielberg but perhaps what bugs me most was how whitewashed the whole thing was. Spielberg's friend and fellow director John Milius wasn't even mentioned. I mean that guy, among other things, wrote the Indianapolis speech for Quint in Jaws. If Milius was whitewashed out of Spielberg's history what other things also were left out in this "documentary"? Again - don't waste your time.

Bill Simmons / The Ringer

Hard to argue with this assessment of Bill Simmons and his new media platforms:

There’s no buzz. 

How long until HBO cancels Bill Simmons? It’s gonna happen, hell, the new regime scrapped the second season of “Vinyl” after the show had already been picked up. You see the ratings sucked. And TV lives by statistics, they trump friends every time.

There is no buzz. Am I alone in being surprised by that realization? I admit that I've watched all four episodes of Any Given Wednesday (Simmons' HBO Show) but other than people wondering if Ben Affleck was drunk when he ranted against Deflategate - there's been no buzz about the show. None.

My guess is the HBO gives Simmons plenty of runway because his audience is for the most part technically savvy and the type HBO wants signing up for HBO Go. But would anyone be surprised if HBO cancelled his show and instead asked him to work on half-hour 30 for 30-type sports documentaries instead?

I listen to his podcast regularly and I've added Keepin' It 1600 to my rotation as well but could care less about the half-dozen or so other podcasts Simmons' group has launched.No interest whatsoever! And The Ringer itself? I admit that I've never even been to the site. Just as damning is on Twitter I've never even seen a link to any articles I felt were worth my time Tweeted out. Just no buzz whatsoever.

To be fair - I'm going to add The Ringer to my blogroll and give it a fair chance to win my traffic (not like that's going to make or break their site). I've just found myself surprised this morning that after all that speculation about what Bill Simmons would do next after ESPN - there has been no actual buzz for his new media platforms.

No buzz at all!

Deadwood

The rumors are out there for a new Deadwood movie. Count me as unimpressed. Not only do I not think the logistics will work out to align all the stars for a movie - I'm not sure even as a big Deadwood fan that I want it to happen.

Can you think of any series or movie that was resurrected after 10 or so years that was satisfying or successful? The whole thing makes me think it would be a flop somewhere between Rescue from Gilligan's Island to Godfather III.  Sure there have been a few science fiction franchises like Star Wars, Aliens and Terminator that have been able to take breaks from the storyline but Deadwood is based upon historical characters. Do you want to see Seth Bullock talk about alfalfa farming? Me neither. Although I do admit a Teddy Roosevelt story line would be interesting but how would that involve Al Swearengen?

I think I'm just going to enjoy my re-runs on HBO Go.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- The Shawshank Residuals. Interest look behind the scenes of the movie business.

- Amazon's tactics confirm critics fears. Not sure how I feel about this just yet. Wouldn't it be natural for Amazon to put books from companies they have deal with in the front of the queue?

- Troy Tulowitzki responds to sign stealing allegation with epic trolling

- Classic HBO Shows now on Amazon Prime. YES!!

- More Gazans blow themselves up than are killed by Israel. Yes some people will insist to blame Israel first. Just like some people say Koch brothers are to blame for Climate Change and high cholesterol.

- What we actually know about Benghazi.

- Steve McQueen gives John Wayne a drunken hug

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Jason Sudekis has been attached to play IM Fletcher in the long rumored Fletch Won prequel. If you've read the Fletch books I think this is a good choice.

- Game of Thrones honest trailer. A history test with dragons and boobs!

- Heh heh - "When he's [George Clooney] drinking, he considers himself a close personal buddy of the President."

- Cool - a wetsuit design that stops sharks from eating swimmers

- Amazon and HBO ink exclusive deal.

- Heh heh - Three stages of curiosity

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

As others have pointed out if Rutgers ended up with Ben Howland instead of Mike Rice the men's basketball program will actually come out ahead in this mess. Come to think of it - anyone they hire will be an upgrade... The Beeriodic Table of Elements... Internet fact of the day - Alaska is so big that it could fit the State of New Jersey into it 75 times... I think it is unfair that Charlie Brown finally got to kick the football but Elmer Fudd never got to kill the wabbit... Many people have heard of Talk Like a Pirate Day but did you know that April 23rd is Talk Like Shakespeare Day?... I signed back up for HBO last Sunday so that I could watch Game of Thrones. I think Justified is the only other show on TV that I would pay money to watch... Prediction - the Patriots will acquire Tim Tebow for a 7th round draft pick and then trade backup QB Ryan Mallett for a 2nd round pick (making Tim Tebow Tom Brady's backup). The Jets will HATE dealing with New England but the 7th round pick will be better than releasing Tebow and getting nothing... Happy 42nd birthday to Framingham's own Lou Merloni...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I normally like crunchy food but not when that food is Sausage Egg McMuffins... Another reason to like Kevin Durant - him playfully swatting the ball out of Kate Upton's hands... Combined the total area of the 27 countries that make up the European Union would still only cover half of the USA.... Cool - Pop Icons in a Different Light... With summer upon us here's a handy tip. In the wilderness dusk with crickets chirping in harmony - if you count the number of chirps in 15 seconds and then add 40 you'll get the air temperature in degrees Fahrenheit... Heh heh - its funny because it is soooo true...  One of my favorite little factoids - "Britney Spears" is an anagram for "Presbyterians"... Classic - Toy Story meets The Wire... Acifex is a product pronounced "ass-effects" whose possible side-effects could include gas, infection and constipation. That always cracks me up... This is also funny (to guys at least) because its true... I'm not really upset that HBO and Game of Thrones had a bust of President George Bush on a spike. I am upset that they switched actors playing Mountain Clegane between seasons 1 and 2... Interesting - How do they decaffeinate coffee?

Hemingway and Gellhorn Take Two

In an earlier post I described how Ed Wood bad the HBO production Hemingway and Gellhorn was.

I was pleased and amused that Ken Levine reached pretty much the same conclusion.

The Wire

It has been exactly 10-years since The Wire debuted on HBO.

Maxim had an excellent oral history of show. Must reading for any real fans.