Heartland

I'd watch from where you left off.
Without the 2nd season, the 3rd's going to be a bit confusing.
Al worth getting hold of the Star Trek shorts that they put online just ahead of the seasons. Some good introductions to new characters & insights into the existing ones too.

In an apparent attack of The Boreds (unemployment will do that to you. Although, strictly speaking, I'm not unemployed since I quit the job I had. You might wonder who in their right mind would quit in the middle of a pandemic - and that's a really good question. The answer may involve being told during the interview process that "we want to hire people who give a shit", and then discovering that not many people actually do; or performing in-depth user analysis and discovering that fewer than 30% of customers have ever actually engaged with the product over the past 2 years (i.e. since before you were hired), and proposing strategies to address this, and being told that "this product isn't really that important to us"; or taking a leaf out of your boss' book and "asking for forgiveness rather than permission" only to discover that that only applies to your boss, and not to you; or your boss talking about one of your developers, a young lady who busts her arse to QA stuff, who never complains, always speaks up during retros, and contributes really excellent ideas about how we can improve our process, referring to her as "a worthless bitch whose contract won't be renewed"; or discovering that the CEO dropped $14m on a new (3rd) house literally days after a VC company took a minority stake in the company, a VC that you are already familiar with since they're the same people who carved up a previous company you worked for, selling the assets and kicking the people who worked there squarely in the fork. On the plus side I have learned that 3 weeks after I quit the company decided to move the product function to eastern Europe, the support function to Galway, they shut down the original office in NZ, have told everyone who worked for/with me that they have between 12 and 24 months to find new jobs (this is a way of getting out of paying severance - if you quit before your severance package activates, the company doesn't have to pay) but without any plans to replace anyone who quits, which means that Product is going to get fucked - then again, why am I not surprised?)

Anyway, in an attack of The Boreds I've been rewatching Game of Thrones, and have some serious questions. Not least of which is "if the land beyond the Wall is so uncivilised, how come the women up there are still able to find hairdressers and get their legs waxed?" Related to that, how the hell does Cersei Lannister manage to get her legs waxed while she's in the dungeon awaiting trial of charges of incest, fornication, and adultery? Also, is there a single family in that whole bloody country with a member that hasn't looked at a blood relative and got a wide/hard on? How does The Mother Of Dragons find someone to wax her legs & quim while she's riding for months through the vast tractless wastes with the Dothraki Horde? I mean, are there traveling bands of beauticians who ply their trade out there, braiding the men's hair and attending to the intimate grooming needs of the Khaleesis? Given that Cersei Lannister has given birth to 3 children, and apparently has no regular exercise regime (aside from riding her brother, and sometimes her cousin) how come she doesn't have stretch marks and boobs that look like a couple of fried eggs on a nail? If Arya Stark is actually left-handed (as she appears to be) how come her sword is on her left hip when she meets Ed Sheeran in Season 7, and why doesn't she run the little ginger bastard through as soon as she hears him singing? Since dragons are reptiles, and therefore have no ears, why do they appear to respond when Daenerys Targaryen talks to them? And honestly speaking, there's no way in hell that anything that large, that needs a runway to take off from the ground, could fly with that wingspan/mass ratio.

Therefore, in an attempt to seek a more accurate drama, I've started watching Deadwood, which is both charming and delightful, and comes with the added bonus of hearing Ian McShane say "cocksucker" every 20 seconds.

Hmmmm.... A "Game of Thrones" rewatch....cheers EB, i am sure i would have got there soon enough on my own but you had to go and put the idea in my head. thankfully my "willing suspension of disbelief" circuitry is still hanging on in there.

Game of Thrones: I'm sure we've all seen this:

markfiend wrote: ↑30 Nov 2020, 10:19 Game of Thrones: I'm sure we've all seen this:

I'd not seen that, but it is a true representation - shark jumping was definitely evident in the later seasons. The first time I watched it I got to thinking, "it's not really game of thrones - it's more "game of throne", since it's only about 1 throne. And seriously, this whole mess could have been if there'd been some decent respect for marriage vows and the taboo against incest." 2nd time around I'm struck by the prevalence of deus ex machina, which is just an excuse for lazy plot development. I don't know how close to the books the thing is, so that could be a fault of the source material or its translation to television.
I do like some of the characters - Tyrion Lannister and Varys were enjoyable, and early Jon Snow rang somewhat true. The rest of them it was difficult to develop any kind of empathy for - there seemed to be character sprawl for the sake of it. I liked the story arc with the Many-Faced God, but it left too many loose ends - it could have been a spin-off series all of its own, but it never felt fully-baked. And Brandon Stark can quite frankly fuck right off.

As it happens mrsfiend and I have also been working our way through Deadwood over the past couple of weeks.

Downloaded at Summer 21+Gb of this. Time has come to watch it all and seems funny and good time

The Fallen Madonna With The Big Boobies (by van Klomp)

Latest episode of The Mandalorian was incredible.

That's 2 on the run that have really advanced the story and the lore. Really well done.

@EvilBastard s rant against corporate sh!thousery and game of thrones wankturdery was easily the best thing I’ve read all week. Well worth my visit to The Heartland today.

GOT was always full of holes. The steady supply of tits kept me watching. Jon Snow kept the Mrs interested. The plot was ridiculous. However if you submit to believing in a world where dragons exist then you’ll u have to trust it’s possible in this world the laws of physics behave differently than in ours. The way I see these things is that you can’t suspend disbelief for one aspect of the story on not for others. If you suspend belief to accept dragons then you have to suspend belief in everything.

Anyway, Deadwood. Such a magnificent show. So well written and brilliantly performed. And when you read up and see how much of the story is accurate to real life events it becomes all the more gripping. Sadly, and without spoilers, you are left dangling at the end. There’s no real conclusion and I was left so empty for weeks without any resolution or closure. Especially where one character is concerned (which even though it would have been historically inaccurate it would have been satisfying)

markfiend wrote: ↑03 Dec 2020, 10:05 The Fallen Madonna With The Big Boobies (by van Klomp)

[Herr Flick has mixed up the original Fallen Madonna with two forgeries and needs Helga's help to identify the real one]
Herr Flick: I have three fallen Madonnas, with six big boobies. Only one of them is real.
Helga: Only one big booby?
Flick. One painting is the original, the other two are forgeries.

Quiff Boy wrote: ↑04 Dec 2020, 10:51 Latest episode of The Mandalorian was incredible.

That's 2 on the run that have really advanced the story and the lore. Really well done.

This series has been fantastic and you look forward to each episode

Quiff Boy wrote: ↑04 Dec 2020, 10:51 Latest episode of The Mandalorian was incredible.

That's 2 on the run that have really advanced the story and the lore. Really well done.

The Stormtroopers still can't shoot for shiat though

Pista wrote: ↑06 Dec 2020, 12:31

Quiff Boy wrote: ↑04 Dec 2020, 10:51 Latest episode of The Mandalorian was incredible.

That's 2 on the run that have really advanced the story and the lore. Really well done.

The Stormtroopers still can't shoot for shiat though

They've been deliberately playing that one for laughs at times.

DJElectricDaddy wrote: ↑05 Dec 2020, 02:46Anyway, Deadwood. Such a magnificent show. So well written and brilliantly performed. And when you read up and see how much of the story is accurate to real life events it becomes all the more gripping. Sadly, and without spoilers, you are left dangling at the end. There’s no real conclusion and I was left so empty for weeks without any resolution or closure. Especially where one character is concerned (which even though it would have been historically inaccurate it would have been satisfying)

Finished watching Deadwood. Holy fuck! I'm amazed that the show ever got greenlit - the quality of the dialogue on its own would put it out of the reach of 90% of the American audience, it's downright Shakespearian in places! Character depth? Nothing 2-dimensional about any of them - there's never a point where you think "Yeah, I know how Swearengen is going to react to this", none of the characters are all one thing or another, each of them are complex, well-crafted personalities. There's no neat 2+2=4 plot development, the expected never happens, and even the unexpected is unexpected. That is a remarkable series - and then they pull the plug after Season 3? What?!

So then I'm talking to my sister who has been watching something called Virgin River. I figure, why not. I'm 5 minutes into it and boom, it hits me - this is Northern Exposure, but without the things that made Northern Exposure so good. So off I go to my friendly download site and download Northern Exposure to see if it's as good 25 years on as I remember it being. Stay tuned.

Deadwood is up in my top 5 shows of all time. A masterclass in writing, acting, staging - everything. A wonderful show, the like of which we'll probably never see again. A modern classic.

The other half and I are on Season 5 of Sons Of Anarchy - getting through a couple of episodes a day at the current rate. It started off incredible but quickly started pushing the boundaries of anything remotely resembling reality! It has exactly the same Shakespearian ambitions of Deadwood, but it doesn't quite have the brains or writers to fulfil it. I don't mean to demean it too much as I love it - it's quite an adrenaline rush - it's nonsense really, but awesome nonsense and a very fun watch - thoroughly enjoying it. It's no Deadwood though! Deadwood was one of a kind. I miss that show so much, because I'd like to fall in love with those characters all over again.

The only shows that I"d put in the same league as Deadwood would be Twin Peaks, The Sopranos, Gomorrah and Battlestar Galactica.

Totally agree on everything said about Deadwood. The Hearst character is the father of William Randolph Hearst, of Hearst Castle fame on California central coast. A magnificent estate full of the grandiosity typical of the truly self-important. Hearst was a media mogul of Rupert Murdoch proportion. I found his character compelling as it illustrates the ruthless nature of capitalist industrialists perfectly, and that those types are as old as time. Where there are people there are people to be exploited. So the next time you see some smarmy CEO with a fake plastic smile offering thin platitudes for some deviancy or other, think of Hearst. They are the one and same; an evil muthafuqer with a shiny veneer

(cough) Trump (cough)

Regarding SOA, my wife was very into that, but I objected to watch it on one simple principle. As a biker, I couldn’t stand the cliched stereotype of ‘the biker gang’. Such a tired old trope. I feel the show perpetuates the myth of the drug dealing murderous biker types originated with Hells Angels in the 60s. I’m a biker and ride with loads of other guys (and girls) who are not drug dealers or murderers or thugs of any nature. But any time a non biker thinks of a biker they think of the drug dealing gang member thanks to lazy stereotyping seen in SOA. I can’t comment on its narrative storytelling however

GoT yet again... on the 8th time of watching season 1 its easy to cut out the crap bits.

DJElectricDaddy wrote: ↑13 Dec 2020, 20:26 Regarding SOA, my wife was very into that, but I objected to watch it on one simple principle. As a biker, I couldn’t stand the cliched stereotype of ‘the biker gang’. Such a tired old trope. I feel the show perpetuates the myth of the drug dealing murderous biker types originated with Hells Angels in the 60s. I’m a biker and ride with loads of other guys (and girls) who are not drug dealers or murderers or thugs of any nature. But any time a non biker thinks of a biker they think of the drug dealing gang member thanks to lazy stereotyping seen in SOA. I can’t comment on its narrative storytelling however

I've heard pretty much the same response from someone else with a similar background. It's clearly a layman's fantasy of what it is to be in a biker gang. I get that the stereotypes must get real old real quick. As a causal viewer with no such personal associations I'm enjoying it as a bit of mindless entertainment at the end of a hard day - nothing more or less. Looking out now for what to watch next - we're rapidly running out of options.

DJElectricDaddy wrote: ↑13 Dec 2020, 20:26 Regarding SOA, my wife was very into that, but I objected to watch it on one simple principle. As a biker, I couldn’t stand the cliched stereotype of ‘the biker gang’. Such a tired old trope. I feel the show perpetuates the myth of the drug dealing murderous biker types originated with Hells Angels in the 60s. I’m a biker and ride with loads of other guys (and girls) who are not drug dealers or murderers or thugs of any nature. But any time a non biker thinks of a biker they think of the drug dealing gang member thanks to lazy stereotyping seen in SOA. I can’t comment on its narrative storytelling however

i wonder how much of a back hander Sonny Barger took to not get medieval on their asses? i
cant imagine my friends in the HA England allowing something like that to be filmed here. very disrespectful i thought.

Lovecraft Country was an interesting watch. I loved HPL's stories in my teens, and as gamers, both my wife and I have immersed ourselves in board games and video games based in his universe. So we're into that whole thing. I loved it to begin with but felt that it ran out of steam halfway through. My other half loved it right up to the end - she enjoyed it more than I did, I think.

Possible I'm late to the party on this one, but I came across this last night while poking about in bits of Netflix I normally don't poke around in. Short films, 5-15 minutes long, unconnected so you can watch them in any sequence. Some of them are ok, some are genius - favourites so far are 3 Robots and When the Yogurt Took Over, and Sonnie's Edge is superbly dark. If you like science fiction and dystopia, this will be up your street.

And 3 Robots still has me giggling.

Phantasmagoria wrote: ↑13 Dec 2020, 06:44 Deadwood is up in my top 5 shows of all time. A masterclass in writing, acting, staging - everything. A wonderful show, the like of which we'll probably never see again. A modern classic.

The other half and I are on Season 5 of Sons Of Anarchy - getting through a couple of episodes a day at the current rate. It started off incredible but quickly started pushing the boundaries of anything remotely resembling reality! It has exactly the same Shakespearian ambitions of Deadwood, but it doesn't quite have the brains or writers to fulfil it. I don't mean to demean it too much as I love it - it's quite an adrenaline rush - it's nonsense really, but awesome nonsense and a very fun watch - thoroughly enjoying it. It's no Deadwood though! Deadwood was one of a kind. I miss that show so much, because I'd like to fall in love with those characters all over again.

The only shows that I"d put in the same league as Deadwood would be Twin Peaks, The Sopranos, Gomorrah and Battlestar Galactica.

Watched SoA back in the day - it's ok, but I agree, it's definitely nonsense. I watched it after finishing Breaking Bad, which I think in some ways it tried to mimic - central identifiable character who gets himself way over his head in something that spirals out of his control. You can identify with Walter White - the guy is just trying to make sure his family is provided for, and he slowly sheds his humanity as the tool that he was using to provide for them starts to use him as its tool. The scene with Jane (won't spoil it for you in case you've not seen it), where he can go in two directions and he ultimately chooses the one that's right for him, but not so good for her, is the tipping point. There's no going back for him after that.
But SoA doesn't look like any MC I know. Granted, most of the ones I know are biker clubs, not "1-Percenters" - regular people with regular jobs who ride bikes. I did used to work with a former HA in London who was invited to leave when his chapter discovered he was gay - he reckoned that it used to be a good place to be if you were outside the mainstream, but that in the years prior to his departure it had "got a bit up its own arse" thanks to influence from the US side. Had some interesting stories about gun battles with the Bandidos around the old HA club house in Camden.

Yeah Breaking Bad......totally epic. Brilliant from first episode to the last.

Back to Deadwood. What did y’all think of the movie. Made 10 years after the show got cancelled, quite an achievement. Did it do enough for you to wrap up the show?