đș I just subscribed to Paramount+ for the year. I got hooked on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds this summer, and now I want to watch all the other Trek that I missed. I am in the middle of Star Trek: Discovery now.
\n", "date_published": "2023-09-11T09:49:50-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2023/09/11/i-just-subscribed.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2023/01/30/im-watching-the.html", "content_html": "đș Iâm watching The Last of Us. Love it.
\n", "date_published": "2023-01-30T23:28:59-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2023/01/30/im-watching-the.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2023/01/30/television-is-better.html", "title": "đș Television Is Better Without Video Games", "content_html": "Ian Bogost’s essay comparing the TV adaptation of The Last Of Us to its video game forbear was a good read. I especially enjoyed his thoughts about what content makes sense in a video game vs. a television series.
\nI don’t fully buy his argument that video game storytelling is inherently inferior to other media. It works differently, which I don’t think the author fully realizes. At one point, when descriving his experience playing The Last of Us (the video game), he states:
\n\n\nI couldnât shake the sense that the combat was getting in the way of the story, acting as filler, just there to give me something to do in between metered doses of narrative.
\n
Video game narratives are compelling, even if they are shallower than television or movie narratives, because you, the player, are put into the shoes of the protagonist. You are not watching a story happen to someone else; the story is happening to youâand it is happening right now.
\nThat’s why it doesn’t matter that all the actions you perform in a video game may fall into a video game trope, like first-person shooter-style combat or even quick-time events. That stuff is the game. Gameplay, not story, is the essential element of video games. In the best games, the gameplay, more than the narrative, is what sparks your imagination, even after you’ve stopped playing. The experience sticks with you because you did it. The story sticks with you because it happened to you.
\n", "date_published": "2023-01-30T12:53:22-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2023/01/30/television-is-better.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2023/01/26/i-finished-watching.html", "content_html": "đș I finished watching His Dark Materials season 3 last night. I found the last season to be a letdown in many ways, especially the last few episodes. I think an adaptation of The Amber Spyglass that I would like would be twice as long and cost a hundred times as much.
\n", "date_published": "2023-01-26T13:04:01-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2023/01/26/i-finished-watching.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/12/13/i-have-been.html", "content_html": "đș I have been watching Obi-Wan while at the gym because it is relatively mindless. And wow is it mindless! Seeing more Darth Vader and Obi-Wan is fun, but boy does everybody suck at their jobs on that show. đ
\n", "date_published": "2022-12-13T09:56:32-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/12/13/i-have-been.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/09/21/i-finished-watching.html", "content_html": "đș I finished watching Slow Horses Season 1 tonight. I loved it and can’t wait for Season 2. I’m wondering if I would like the books that the show is based on. I also wonder if it will get more than two seasons.
\n", "date_published": "2022-09-21T23:29:24-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/09/21/i-finished-watching.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/07/18/i-very-much.html", "content_html": "đș I very much enjoyed Stranger Things season 4. After I finished it, I re-watched seasons 1 and 2 (so far), which I have not seen since they debuted. I think they hold up well and I liked them even better than the first time I watched them.
\n", "date_published": "2022-07-18T19:44:12-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/07/18/i-very-much.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/07/03/stranger-things-season.html", "content_html": "đș Stranger Things season 4 really clicked for me. Sure, it has some clumsy bits and didn’t serve half its characters with a real story, but overall I was hooked from the start and loved every minute of it.
\n", "date_published": "2022-07-03T21:42:44-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/07/03/stranger-things-season.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/04/28/henry-winkler-breaks.html", "title": "Henry Winkler Breaks the Curse of Stardom", "content_html": "Yesterday, The New York Times published a very well-written profile of actor Henry Winkler written by Matthew Klam:
\n\n\nWhen the producers of the HBO series âBarryâ asked Henry Winkler to audition for the role of Gene Cousineau, they assured him that he was on a short list. Winkler said he was willing, as long as the list didnât include Dustin Hoffman. âBecause heâs a movie star. Heâd get it. If Dustin was on the list, I wasnât going in. They said no. I said OK.â
\nThere was no particular reason to think the two-time Oscar winner would be up for the same part, but Winkler can be forgiven for indulging in a little paranoia. Across the span of his 50-year career, he has had some highs â 1970s pop-culture saturation to rival âStar Warsâ and the music from âJawsâ â and lows, including a long stretch where he couldnât get hired, filled with the sense that heâd been typecast into oblivion.
\n
Years ago I listened to a long interview of Henry Winkler on The Nerdist podcast1 that opened my eyes to how warm, generous, and philosophical Henry Winkler is. This profile provides some insight into those qualities, and also takes a deep diveâdeeper than I would normally expect from a newspaper articleâinto Winklerâs audition for, and his acting in an early scene, in Barry.
\nI think it is gone from the internet now, unfortunately. ↩︎
\nđș I rewatched all of Barry over the past week, and watched the first episode of season 3 tonight. So far, season 3 appears to be off to a fine start.
\n", "date_published": "2022-04-25T22:29:06-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/04/25/i-rewatched-all.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/04/20/netflix-canceled-my.html", "content_html": "đș Netflix canceled my daughterâs favorite show, The Baby-Sitters Club. I havenât broken the news to her yet, because it would crush her. Consequently, I donât feel too bad that Netflix has been beaten up by Wall Street this week.
\n", "date_published": "2022-04-20T21:03:49-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/04/20/netflix-canceled-my.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/04/19/i-started-rewatching.html", "content_html": "đș I started rewatching Barry in preparation for the season 3 premiere. It seems impossible that the last episode of season 2 to air was almost three years ago. đ€Ż
\n", "date_published": "2022-04-19T20:51:54-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/04/19/i-started-rewatching.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/04/09/friday-night-baseball.html", "title": "đș Friday Night Baseball", "content_html": "I watched about an hour of Apple TV+âs Friday Night Baseball last night.
\nThe picture quality was fantastic, both in terms of sharpness and color. I think that the MLB service also has great picture quality, too, but Appleâs streams looked better to me than Thursdayâs streams from MLB.tv. I liked the near lack of graphics and other nonsense on the screen.
\nThe announcers were sporadically good, but sometimes they were so far off topic that they didnât bother to call the game. At times they were so caught up in their own conversation that it reminded me of watching meaningless late-season games between teams with no chance of making the playoffs. I bet the announcers got a bunch of notes about this already and will try to stay more focused on the games going forward.
\n", "date_published": "2022-04-09T21:41:27-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/04/09/friday-night-baseball.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/04/08/why-does-the.html", "content_html": "đș Why does the premiere of Appleâs Friday Night Baseball have to coincide with the season finale of Severance?
\n", "date_published": "2022-04-08T21:37:16-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/04/08/why-does-the.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/03/31/bill-hader-created.html", "title": "đș Bill Hader Created a Killer to Cope", "content_html": "Rebecca Keegan wrote an entertaining and informative profile of Barry star and co-creator Bill Hader in The Hollywood Reporter:
\n\n\nIn Barry, which returns to HBO for its third season April 24, Hader plays a reluctant hitman who wants to be an actor. Barry is just really great at killing. This is not so different, Berg points out, from Hader, who became a star on SNL in his 20s almost in spite of himself, fought crippling anxiety on the live broadcasts, and really just wanted to write and direct.
\n
I am very excited that Barry is returning to HBO soon. It is a daring show on many levels. Plot-wise it flirts with show-ending (or at least show-ruining) disaster several times each season. I have no idea how the cliffhanger at the end of Season 2 will be resolved, but I am confident that the writers came up with something satisfying.
\nI love Bill Hader, too. He is amazing and deserves every bit of success he has had.
\n", "date_published": "2022-03-31T21:20:56-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/03/31/bill-hader-created.html", "tags": ["TV","News"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/03/28/rick-beato-on.html", "title": "đș Rick Beato on YouTube", "content_html": "One thing I have gotten into lately is watching videos on YouTube in which musicians talk about music. One channel/host I like is Rick Beato. He does everything from break down the music theory behind certain pop songs, to live interviews, to simply gushing about great performances and great audio production. What makes his videos enjoyable is his infectious enthusiasm for all kinds of music, and his deep respect for artists, engineers, and producers.
\n", "date_published": "2022-03-28T21:54:18-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/03/28/rick-beato-on.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/03/25/i-love-severence.html", "content_html": "đș I love Severence on Apple TV+. It is a strange, darkly comic, slow burn of a suspense story. I thought it was a miniseries, but I learned from Wikipedia that season 2 has already begun shootingâand not too far from where I live. My mind is spinning. Where could they take this weird story?
\n", "date_published": "2022-03-25T11:55:02-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2022/03/25/i-love-severence.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2022/02/09/the-book-of.html", "title": "đș The Book of Boba Fett", "content_html": "I am sitting down to watch the final episode in the weakest Disney+ series I have watched so far: The Book of Boba Fett1. The show is flawed in many ways, but some of it is fun, some of it looks good, and it is, in all but name, a continuation of a show I do like, The Mandalorian.
\nNot a book, by the way. ↩︎
\nđș I watched the first few episodes of Hawkeye on Disney+, and that was only because I was on my iPad half the time. I think it is the weakest Marvel or Star Wars series that Disney+ has produced. The plotting is lazy and makes no sense, and at every turn it goes out of its way to undercut and ignore its title character, which is frustrating.
\n", "date_published": "2021-12-08T21:05:49-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/12/08/i-watched-the.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/11/07/the-americans.html", "title": "đș The Americans", "content_html": "My wife and I started watching The Americans this weekend. We stumbled upon it when browsing Amazon Prime Video. Itâs good to have something to watch on Prime Video, because it is criminally underutilized in my house. The last thing I watched on it was Invincible and I donât even remember how long ago that was.
\n", "date_published": "2021-11-07T23:29:29-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/11/07/the-americans.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/10/11/sex-education.html", "title": "đș Sex Education", "content_html": "My wife and I have been watching Sex Education season three. True to its title, the show actually does weave sex education into its stories and strives to impart sensible information to its audience.
\nIn one of the episodes, a trans student acts completely confused about which of the two sexâspecific (boys and girls) sex education classes that the schoolâs new, conservative principal set up that they should attend. Because the trans character is new to the show, this scene seemed like a zeitgeisty political statement that the showâs writers crammed in, rather than a story beat that grew organically out of the characters and themes of the show.
\nIn this scene, I thought that the trans character was being obtuse. After all, gender isnât sex. Bodily organs are not identities. I would imagine a transgender person would understand that better than I would. I thought that the character should just go to one class or the other without making a political statement about it. Iâm sure the character could just blow off the class without coming to any harm.
\nMy wife and I discussed this scene after the episode was over. I was annoyed by the sceneâs apparent politicism, but came to a conclusion about it that probably aligns with the trans characterâs thoughts: Segregated boy/girl sex-ed is pointlessly gendered. Bodies have sexual organs, both external and internal. It would be good to know how they work, whichever ones you have. In fact, because of this, it makes sense to teach everybody, all together, how everybodyâs sexual organs work and how reproduction works, too (pregnancy, childbirth, the whole thing). Perhaps that isnât done because kids are too immature to handle it. I bet, though, that it isnât done because adults are too embarrassed to do it.
\n", "date_published": "2021-10-11T20:18:58-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/10/11/sex-education.html", "tags": ["Thoughts","TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/09/18/i-for-one.html", "content_html": "đș I, for one, thought that yesterdayâs divisive Coach Beard dark-night-of-the-soul episode of Ted Lasso was great. It wasnât perfect, but I admired its ambition and loved every minute of it.
\n", "date_published": "2021-09-18T12:58:36-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/09/18/i-for-one.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/09/13/i-need-laundry.html", "title": "I need laundry folding TV", "content_html": "I canât clean my office because Iâm too busy to do anything with it all day, even though I am working in there, and at the end of the day I donât want to be in there anymore. I have been thinking that I should break up the mess into chunks, box part of it each day, and organize the box while I watch TV. The problem is, I donât really watch TV much anymore. When I do, itâs usually âgoodâ TV that I have to pay attention to. I no longer have mindless TV shows that are good to kind-of pay attention to while folding laundry. When I was younger and lived alone, I always had sitcoms and sports on that I didnât really care about, but were good distractions while I was puttering with something or doing light choses. That took up a huge part of my evenings. Now that I have a family, all of that is goneâmostly for the betterâbut I think I need a little of it back in my life sometimes.
\n", "date_published": "2021-09-13T21:42:59-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/09/13/i-need-laundry.html", "tags": ["Thoughts","TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/08/27/ted-lasso-season.html", "content_html": "đș Ted Lasso Season 2 Isn’t In A Slump, It’s Headed For A Breakdown: This is a great analysis of whatâs going on with the tonal shift in Ted Lasso season 2.
\n", "date_published": "2021-08-27T13:21:06-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/08/27/ted-lasso-season.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/07/22/what-lies-beneath.html", "title": "What Lies Beneath Ted Lasso", "content_html": "Elizabeth Nelson wrote the best, most accurate take on Ted Lasso (the character) that I have ever read:
\n\n\nUnceasing optimism defines Ted Lasso. But roller-coaster mood storms, manic reveries, and seemingly deliberate head games also define Ted Lasso, the playersâ coach, and make him one of the best and most-layered characters of the peak TV era. Heâs a man who presents himself as two-dimensional, but who might actually be playing three-dimensional chess. We delight in his antics, marinate in his charm offensive, and celebrate his offbeat approach to winning the whole fucking thing. But at all times, thereâs a slight worry, one that crops up in the back of our minds, about what he might be willing to do to make it happen.
\n
People love the showâs positivity, but it also has a dark side that actually makes it good. Thereâs something just a little off about Ted Lasso, and thatâs what makes him interesting.
\nWhile Ted wins over a bunch of potential enemies in England, his wife back in Iowa canât stand his relentless positivity. Maybe you couldnât either, if you were married to him.
\nTed excels at darts because he spent every Sunday in a sports bar with his dad between the ages of ten and sixteen, when his father passed away. I donât think it is normal to bring your underage son to a bar every single week. That isnât exactly a normal childhood. Furthermore, losing a father at sixteen may have caused some emotional trauma that Ted buries deep, causing him to overcompensate with cheery paternalism in almost every interaction.
\nMost importantly, Ted fails. He failed at his marriage, he is trying and largely failing to be a good father, and he failed to produce a winning record for his team, or even keep them in the Premier League. As appealing as Ted is to the TV audience, what he is doing is not workingâor not working yetâin the world of his story.
\nWhat made Season 1 great was the surprising complexity of what appeared to be a dumb, one-joke sitcom based on a commercial that hardly anybody remembered. Season 2 starts to air tomorrow. I hope the writers didnât forget about the dark undercurrents that made their show about a nice guy work so well.
\n", "date_published": "2021-07-22T11:43:23-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/07/22/what-lies-beneath.html", "tags": ["TV","News"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/22/my-wife-and.html", "content_html": "đș My wife and I watched the first episode of Hacks tonight and thought it was a hoot. The writing is outrageous, the characters have no filter, and Jean Smart is a treasure.
\n", "date_published": "2021-06-22T23:46:05-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/22/my-wife-and.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/21/ted-lasso-season.html", "title": "Ted Lasso Season 2: Is it going to beâŠtoo cute?", "content_html": "Ted Lasso season 2 has unexpectedly huge shoes to fill. I have not been heartened by either of the two previews, which I think are veering too far into the cute end of the showâs tone.
\nI loved the first season, and hope they can keep what make season 1 so engaging keep going. It wasnât the cuteness of Tedâs cheery attitude. It was the overcoming of cynicism in everybody else that made it interesting. You need that cynicism to be there for there to be genuine tension between the characters.
\nThe previews make the think that that tension is completely gone, at least among the main cast. I hope the writers came up with new ways to explore conflicts and create drama that donât lean too much on tired TV tropes (new characters, character personality resets, and so on).
\nI just want it to be good. Ted would urge me to BELIEVE!
\n", "date_published": "2021-06-21T16:59:11-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/21/ted-lasso-season.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/06/09/i-am-looking.html", "content_html": "đș I am looking forward to watching Loki tonight or later this week. Truth be told, it is the Disney+ Marvel series I have been least looking forward to, but I am bored with TV right now, and think it will be fun.
\n", "date_published": "2021-06-09T13:13:57-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/06/09/i-am-looking.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/05/20/lossless-music-discussion.html", "title": "Lossless Music Discussion on ATP Podcast", "content_html": "The latest episode of Accidental Tech Podcast has a great discussion about lossless music, which is coming to Apple Music next month.
\n", "date_published": "2021-05-20T12:58:30-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/05/20/lossless-music-discussion.html", "tags": ["Audiophile","Gaming","TV","Keyboards"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/05/18/webex-has-virtual.html", "title": "WebEx has virtual backgrounds?!", "content_html": "A software update at work pushed out the virtual backgrounds feature for WebEx. Since my home officeâat least the part of it that is behind me and not under my controlâ is a mess, I enabled it.
\nSadly, it looks pretty awful. The background mostly leaves a halo around me un-obscured; sometimes it clips portions of my face or shoulder off. I have a very high-end laptop and a âvery goodâ Logitech webcam (all webcams are terrible, I think), so I have concluded that WebExâs technology is way behind Zoomâs, which does the virtual backgrounds flawlessly. I think I will leave virtual backgrounds on, for privacy reasons, and hope no one minds the weird visual side effects.
\n", "date_published": "2021-05-18T09:47:26-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/05/18/webex-has-virtual.html", "tags": ["Audiophile","Gaming","TV","Keyboards"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/03/31/the-sopranos.html", "title": "đș The Sopranos", "content_html": "My wife and I started watching The Sopranos a few days ago, and we are hooked. Both of us watched the show sporadically while it first aired, but didn’t catch much of it. Back then, I subscribed to HBO only during free trials I received from switching cable providers after I moved, so you could imagine I didn’t catch that many episodes. Now we subscribed to HBO Max to watch something else, and are likely sticking with it for a long time now.
\n", "date_published": "2021-03-31T23:40:05-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/03/31/the-sopranos.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/03/25/the-falcon-and.html", "title": "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier đș", "content_html": "I watched episode one of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier this week. Itâs a show about two MCU characters I donât particularly care that much about, so it wasnât something I was really looking forward to, but I pay for Disney+ anyway and thought I may as well check it out. Reader, I liked it!
\nMy first impression is that it looks like it cost a zillion dollars. Special-effects-wise, it looks on par with the Marvel movies. Based on that alone, I could see why Disney originally wanted it to premiere first, before WandaVision and whatever other Marvel shows are being developed.
\nMy second impression is that I appreciated that it was trying to tell a Black story as well as a super hero story. I am not optimistic that Samâs (The Falconâs) family side story is going to be anything but predictable, but it is nice to see an attempt to give the character some grounding in reality. Race is an issue that touches everything in American life, unfortunately. In some ways, it would be disrespectful to Samâs character and to the audience not to address that in some way.
\nI donât have anything bad to say about the Winter Soldier part of the show, but it isnât as interesting to me. I expect it to follow a predictable âantihero almost, but doesnât quite, make goodâ formula, but maybe the writers will surprise me.
\nPredictability aside, Iâm just glad to have something new and fun to watch.
\n", "date_published": "2021-03-25T11:55:12-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/03/25/the-falcon-and.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/03/04/gen-lock.html", "title": "đș Gen: Lock", "content_html": "I watched Gen:lock over the past week. I was disappointed that it introduced a premise-breaking plot development in the penultimate episode. My beef is 100% spoiler-y.
\nThe shows is a mecha anime. Its premise is that, in some future war in which big robots piloted by people fight each other, a new type of mech is developed that is remotely controlled by very rare, very special kind of person. That person must bind her mind to the mech through a lot of hand-wavey technology called gen:lock.
\nThe problem is, we learn three things in the final two episodes of season 1 that make the pilots unnecessary:
\nIf one pilotâs mind can be copied, without harming her, and then bound to any number of mechs, then why do we need the pilots at all, once youâve got the first oneâs mind copied? If the pilots arenât really necessary, why havenât the characters in charge of the gen:lock program figured that out yet?
\nIâm not sure I will pick it up again when season 2 comes out. Maybe this kind of anime isnât for me.
\n", "date_published": "2021-03-04T18:08:02-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/03/04/gen-lock.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/02/20/mo-willems-and.html", "title": "Mo Willems and The Storytime All-Stars Present: Don't Let The Pigeon Do Storytime!", "content_html": "đș My wife and i accidentally found the Mo Willems special, âMo Willems and The Storytime All-Stars Present: Don’t Let The Pigeon Do Storytime!â, on HBO Max earlier this week. We watched it with our kids this afternoon, and we all loved it. It is so joyous and nutty and fun that we got sucked into it right away. Mo Willems is a treasure.
\n", "date_published": "2021-02-20T15:18:53-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/02/20/mo-willems-and.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/02/11/after-a-long.html", "content_html": "đș After a long work day, I finally caught up on âWandaVision.â It is weirdly delightful. I like to think that cast was having fun with its nutty premise.
\n", "date_published": "2021-02-12T00:44:35-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/02/11/after-a-long.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/01/29/fullmetal-alchemist.html", "title": "đș Fullmetal Alchemist", "content_html": "While I have been working a ton lately, I canât work every second of the day. I have been watching the âFullmetal Alchemistâ anime series (there are two), mostly late at night, to unwind.
\nI watched the entirety of âFullmetal Alchemistââwhich is the first anime adaptation of the mangaâfirst. Because it veers widely off of the plot of the manga (which, since I am not a manga reader, I donât care about), it seems to be widely considered the lesser of the two adaptations. I think that sells it short. There are lots of sad, thought-provoking episodes, especially toward the beginning of the run, in which characters and the audience question what it means to be human, and what is the value of a human soul. These questions build up to big ideas and set pieces by the end, which is satisfying. There are some structural problems with how the story is toldâmostly in the way the timeline, pacing, and character balance shift between the beginning, middle, and end of the seriesâbut there is no problem that majorly detracts from the series as a whole. You could quibble that a lot of the theory behind how the magic system works doesnât make any sense, which is vital to the overall theme of the series. Consider, however, that it is a magic system, you have to suspend disbelief quite a bit to begin with, and of course it doesnât make perfect sense.
\nI am almost done watching the second adaptation, âFullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhoodâ, which stays true to the manga plot and is generally lauded as the better of the two anime series. At this point, I donât think of it as âbetterâ but it certainly is much different. The stakes in âBrotherhoodâ are much higher, the characters are more tightly integrated throughout the series, and the tone overall is funnier and less sad, despite the raised stakes and some (somewhat) more mature relationship elements between childhood friends/teenage-phenoms Edward and Winry. Despite these advantages, âBrotherhoodâ is far more cartoony in style, which I donât prefer. It uses chibi (super deformed) style far more heavily than the first adaptation did, which I find distractingâthe characters are often blowing their stacks in anger or are extremely embarrassed or go into some of other extreme, but emotionally and visually, that takes me out of the story a bit. That is a relatively small demerit, however, and it is offset by the increased complexity of the story.
\nI am eager to see how âBrotherhoodâ ends, and would recommend that everyone try watching both series, especially the first one, because it is very good despite being the less-loved one.
\n", "date_published": "2021-01-29T16:02:08-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/01/29/fullmetal-alchemist.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2021/01/29/little-voice.html", "title": "đș Little Voice", "content_html": "My wife and I recently discovered the Apple TV+ show âLittle Voiceâ and very much enjoy it.
\nIt is different in pace and tone from other shows (like âCurb Your Enthusiasmâ) that we have been watching lately. While there is a lot going on in each episode, the pace feels slow and thoughtful, as if the show is focused mainly on the growth of its characters and on illustrating (a version of) the New York City music scene. I would not recommend watching âLittle Voiceâ for its main plot, because it appears to follow the well-worn path of âtalented-but-unknown artist slowly becomes successful.â That said, there are a ton of great character moments throughout.
\nThe main draw of the show is the music, most of which are songs written by series co-creator Sara Bareilles. There is a lot of music performance in each episode. All these sections look great, sound great, and are integrated completely naturally into the story. However, they serve as the primary reason why the pace is slow. If you donât like the music, then the show will not be for you.
\nOverall, I think that âLittle Voiceâ is under-rated. It didnât blow up like âTed Lassoâ (which is, indeed, great) or âCentral Parkâ (which is also great), but is my third-favorite Apple TV+ series thus far.
\n", "date_published": "2021-01-29T11:14:42-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2021/01/29/little-voice.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/08/13/i-finally-watched.html", "content_html": "đș I finally watched “Picard” this week. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I thought the ending was a mess and a cop-out. I was king of hoping for the “Logan” version of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (something dark and elegiac and serious from start to finish) but “Picard” started that way and retreated into magical Star Trek silliness. I’m not sure I’ll be on board for season 2.
\n", "date_published": "2020-08-13T22:26:48-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/08/13/i-finally-watched.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/07/14/i-rewatched-the.html", "content_html": "đș I rewatched the first episode of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” last night to gauge how approve would be for me to watch with my 8-year-old daughter. Considering she doesn’t know what “war” is (lucky her), it might be a bit hard for her to get into. I think it is worthwhile, though, because the series is rich and complex while still being fun enough for kids.
\n", "date_published": "2020-07-14T10:30:35-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/07/14/i-rewatched-the.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/01/23/cool-star-trek.html", "content_html": "đș Cool! “Star Trek: Picard” is getting some good reviews, like this one.
\n", "date_published": "2020-01-23T09:31:17-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/01/23/cool-star-trek.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/01/20/the-morning-show.html", "title": "đș The Morning Show is actually pretty good", "content_html": "I was sick all weekend and, consequently, watched way more TV than usual. I watched most of the Apple TV+ series “The Morning Show”. From what I had heard about it online and in various podcasts, I had anticipated a disappointing, underwhelming drama that grasped for, but never reached, Aaron Sorkin-esque heights.
\nI was pleasantly surprised, however. I liked it quite a bit. If this is mediocre TV, then much of what I have been watching the past couple years must be truly bad.
\n", "date_published": "2020-01-20T10:09:28-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/01/20/the-morning-show.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2020/01/09/russian-doll-is.html", "content_html": "đș âRussian Doll" is a really trippy take on the Groundhog Day-type plot. It has managed to get really, really weird now that I’m close to the end. (No spoilers, please!)
\n", "date_published": "2020-01-09T00:38:10-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2020/01/09/russian-doll-is.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2019/12/16/watchmen-which-ended.html", "content_html": "đș “Watchmen”, which ended last night (spoilers ahead if you read the linked article) is easily the best sci-fi/fantasy show I’ve since since “Westworld” season 1. I actually hope HBO either (1) doesn’t make a season 2, or (2) gives several years for something that equals it to be developed, because “Watchmen” was just perfect.
\n", "date_published": "2019-12-16T16:50:28-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2019/12/16/watchmen-which-ended.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2019/12/02/watchmen-is-still.html", "content_html": "đș “Watchmen” is still fantastic. I’m going to miss it once season one is overâwhich is really soon.
\n", "date_published": "2019-12-02T23:12:56-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2019/12/02/watchmen-is-still.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2019/11/22/i-watched-bears.html", "content_html": "đș I watched Bears from Disneynature tonight with my kids. The photography is just incredible, and it is exactly the sort of thing I want to get my kids interested in. My daughter loved it so much she drew a picture of a bear. đ»đ
\n", "date_published": "2019-11-22T21:27:47-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2019/11/22/i-watched-bears.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2019/10/28/i-remain-excited.html", "content_html": "đș I remain excited for the “His Dark Materials” series. The last preview I saw made me wonder if it would be more goofy than good, but this teaser, in which author Philip Pullman provides some soundbites, has pulled me back in to being into it.
\n", "date_published": "2019-10-28T13:37:05-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2019/10/28/i-remain-excited.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2019/10/24/i-watched-the.html", "content_html": "đș I watched the premiere episode of “Watchmen” a couple days ago and am still a little shaken by it. I am not sure I liked it, but it certainly made an upsetting and confounding impression on me.
\n", "date_published": "2019-10-24T18:10:50-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2019/10/24/i-watched-the.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2019/10/24/i-got-to.html", "content_html": "đș I got to watch it a bit late, but I was please that “The Good Place” returned to form in their last episode. I have thought that Season 4 has felt tired so far (the new characters really don’t help), but last week’s episode was sharp and funny. I hope tonight’s is as well.
\n", "date_published": "2019-10-24T10:22:33-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2019/10/24/i-got-to.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2019/09/26/i-am-excited.html", "content_html": "đș I am excited that âThe Good Placeâ is returning tonight. This season will be its last. I hope they nail the ending. đ€
\n", "date_published": "2019-09-26T14:42:57-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2019/09/26/i-am-excited.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2019/09/16/i-didnt-think.html", "content_html": "đș I didn’t think I would like “Good Omens” but I definitely do. It is funny and I really like the cast. I’m about halfway through it, so I hope it stays as amusing as it is at the start.
\n", "date_published": "2019-09-16T23:18:39-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2019/09/16/i-didnt-think.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2019/05/21/westworld-season-looks.html", "content_html": "đș “Westworld” season 3 looks fascinating. I’m excited, as always, to see where this show is going, and can’t wait to see Aaron Paul play off of Evan Rachel Wood and (hopefully) Jeffrey Wright.
\n", "date_published": "2019-05-21T12:35:02-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2019/05/21/westworld-season-looks.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2019/03/22/i-am-super.html", "content_html": "đș I am super late to it, but I may just like “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” even more than “The Good Place”. (I don’t even know myself any more!)
\n", "date_published": "2019-03-22T13:06:43-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2019/03/22/i-am-super.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/10/04/how-is-the.html", "content_html": "“How is The Good Place so Good?" This is relevant to my interests.
\n", "date_published": "2018-10-04T10:40:42-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/10/04/how-is-the.html", "tags": ["TV","News"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/09/14/143736.html", "content_html": "đș I think I need to re-watch “The Good Place”. (It’s available on Netflix.) And, hey, there’s a behind-the-scenes podcast for the show, too!
\n", "date_published": "2018-09-14T10:37:36-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/09/14/143736.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/05/24/im-enjoying-the.html", "content_html": "đș I’m enjoying the “remix” version of “Arrested Development” season 4 a lot better than the original version. I’m sure time passing and my expectations being lowered helped, but I prefer to see all (most) of the characters in the same episodes.
\n", "date_published": "2018-05-24T12:16:47-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/05/24/im-enjoying-the.html", "tags": ["TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/22/am-i-the.html", "content_html": "Am I the only one who kept thinking “Jake Jortles”* during the Pats/Jags game tonight? đ (* Jason Mendoza’s assumed identity in the latest episode of “The Good Place”)
\n", "date_published": "2018-01-21T20:43:13-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/21/am-i-the.html", "tags": ["Thoughts","TV"] }, { "id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/05/my-prediction-for.html", "content_html": "đș My prediction for “The Good Place” series finale (which hopefully will be several years from now): The whole thing is Michael’s “Bad Place”. He’s the one being tortured. Holy forking shirt balls!
\n![](\"http://mjdescy.micro.blog/uploads/2018/5c584937a1.jpg\")
\n",
"date_published": "2018-01-05T17:47:09-04:00",
"url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/05/my-prediction-for.html",
"tags": ["TV"]
},
{
"id": "http://mjdescy.micro.blog/2018/01/05/my-wife-and.html",
"content_html": "đș My wife and I are really enjoying “The Great British Bake Off”, “The Marvelous Mrs. Mazel”, and “The Good Place” lately. It is still really hard to watch anything with a baby in the house, though.
\n", "date_published": "2018-01-05T00:38:39-04:00", "url": "https://micro.mjdescy.me/2018/01/04/my-wife-and.html", "tags": ["TV"] } ] }