What I Watched: Justified Season 5. With one more season in this show, and then 2023’s launch of Justified: City Primeval., there is still more than enough Timothy Olyphant “the fast-drawing, slow-talking, Stetson-wearing Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens from Kentucky” to go around.
The fifth season begins with an influx of a bunch of people related to my all-time favorite Justified hillbilly: Dewey Crowe. (In one of the first few seasons, Dewey opined that, “These are rock-hard times for Dewey Crowe,” and it killed me and I’ve been saying that ever since.) A branch of Crowe cousins — including Darryl, the de facto leader; his sister Wendy, the brains with the law degree; and Kendal, their teenage brother — leave their Florida swamp home and move to Harlan. They pretty much get in everyone’s way — taking Dewey’s brothel business from him, horning in on Boyd’s bumbling drug cartel, etc. — and murder or try to murder a whole bunch of people while doing it. It does not go over well.
What I Read: The Only Purple House in Town by Ann Aguirre. It is one of those semi-realistic books that have just a touch of magic. It was fine; I like more magic and less realism, but I am an escapist reader. Here is the blurb:
Iris Collins is the messy one in her family. The “chaos bunny.” Her sisters are all wildly successful, while she can’t balance her budget for a single month. It’s no wonder she’s in debt to her roommates. When she unexpectedly inherits a house from her great aunt, her plan to turn it into a B&B fails—as most of her plans do. She winds up renting rooms like a Victorian spinster, collecting other lost souls…and not all of them are “human.”
Eli Reese grew up as the nerdy outcast in school, but he got rich designing apps. Now he’s successful by any standards. But he’s never had the same luck in finding a real community or people who understand him. Over the years, he’s never forgotten his first crush, so when he spots her at a café, he takes it as a sign. Except then he gets sucked into the Iris-verse and somehow ends up renting one of her B&B rooms. As the days pass, Eli grows enchanted by the misfit boarders staying in the house…and even more so by Iris. Could Eli have finally found a person and a place to call “home”?
What I Listened To: Oscar Scheller – Practice Run; Black Delta Movement – 303; and French 79 – Memories (Diskay Remix).
Thank you for playing Brain Drain! How are you, dearest ones? Darling DeadSplinterites, what’s going on? Please do share with us!
Saw the last two Craig Bonds (which I didn’t see in the cinema because the reviews were kind of meh.)
Spectre could have been a complete and utter farce with the plot partially ripped from the not-so good Bond parody Goldmember.
No Time To Die was okay. No Casino Royal, but it okay.
Saw a Aussie Comic named Jenny Tian on YT discussing the varieties of being an immigrant in a strange land (in this case Australia) which I found amusing.
I’m still a fan of the first Bond . . .
I saw this story from John Oliver about Chuck E. Cheese that I guess was on his show last year. It’s pretty funny if you’ve ever been to one, and shows some of the Waffle House style melees that happen there.
https://www.lastsqueaktonight.com/
I’ve taken kids there for birthday parties, but they were stripped down versions without the animatronics, and mostly just the arcade. And the pizza, which was the worst I’ve ever had.
I watched that too. John Oliver’s true talent is taking something utterly mundane and making it a. interesting and b. hysterical.
My daughter had one birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. It went just fine, but there are far better options now (Dave & Busters, plus we’ve got numerous local D&B imitators springing up in formerly lifeless malls).
I, too, hosted a birthday party for my son at a Chuck E. Cheese. The kids enjoyed it; I found the flashing lights, machine noise, anamatronic singing, and child screams to be overwhelming.
Kids love it, and I guess it’s about the same price as a lot of other options, so I can see why parents would have a party there. We ended up never doing it but did have parties at places like trampoline gyms and laser tag, which are pretty much just as loud and crazy,just no tickets and cheap prizes.
I think I told you all that I had that (former boy)friend who was an architecture student and we went to Disneyland (LA) on a class assignment. The built environment. We also went to a Chuck E. Cheese when they were just starting out, I think. It was very suspicious, two men about 21, unaccompanied by children, but they let us in. It was Chuck in all its animatronic glory. And the arcade. And this sort of pool filled with balls that the kids would jump into and then jump around. I loved it, but I love children in general, and being around children, and not in a creepy or predatory way.
Now I live a block from one and I wouldn’t enter it at gunpoint. Its biggest problem is, say there’s a birthday party for a child. The birth father will show up, and so will Mom’s current boyfriend. And the other invited parents will have similarly complicated romantic histories and will know the celebrants through sometimes unsavory conditions. And these parties will go on until something like 11 pm on a school night. Knives, guns, fistfights, it’s a dirty free-for-all.
They really should teach parenting in the schools but since the NYC public schools have a truancy rate of like 35% and no one seems to care, and this must be a lowball estimate, the ones who would most benefit from these classes wouldn’t be there to attend them anyway.
…I think reacher wrapped up pretty satisfactorily…& I just about got around to finally getting around to trying slow horses…which is certainly a change of pace if arguably in the same lane…or an adjacent one, anyway
…also enjoyed “the creator” which is a nicely packaged collection of tropes strung together by somewhere other than hollywood in what I’d claim was an interestingly different way
…&…ummm…the alice network by kate quinn…not the first sort of thing I generally pick…bit too much grounding in actual historical unpleasantness of one sort or another…but the titular network is one of female spies working with the resistance in occupied france…from a “present” view point a few years after the conclusion of the second world war but with liberal helpings of recollections across both
Reacher will be a future Brain Drain; I look forward to your further insights when it posts.
I enjoyed the Reacher finale, too. I was worried we’d lose another Special Investigator, but no.
The finale I did not like was Fargo. Or rather one specific part of Fargo. It’s tough to explain without spoilers. So, spoilers ahead …
STOP NOW IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS
I was very disappointed in one death. It was unnecessary (the victim had been rescued), it violated protocol (you don’t advance into an unknown situation unless there’s reason to believe there’s immediate threat to life — see point 1 — you wait for backup), and the confrontation was stupid (You don’t want to kill him? Okay, I disagree, but put a bullet in his fucking leg.) Plus it really seemed like the old racist trope of who gets killed.
Fargo will also be a future Brain Drain – looking forward to your thoughts on it at that time.
I know what you mean – it felt like it was more there for the feels than anything else.
But then the final scene — I thought that was about as astounding as anything I’ve seen. The closest comparison I can think of – more in terms of structure than plot or characters – is the long final scene of the second to last episode of Reservation Dogs, which was also absolutely riveting and compelling.
The final scene was amazing, though I have reservations about Ule’s fate considering what he did. But nothing in that scene really required the gratuitous death that I found so off-putting. And frankly, that death would have been easy to rewrite to make it less gratuitous — hell, simply have Roy drag Nadine down into the tunnel, forcing Witt to follow.
I don’t think his role was thought through enough — in an earlier episode he ran into other major characters by complete coincidence in a way that had a major impact on the plot not just once but twice.
uhhh…..you know that wierd corner of youtube?
i think im in it again
yep….i know this corner
this corner is where the good stuff hides
The Knows song, very strange, but fascinating. I like the dopamine fellow’s song. Keep broadening my musical options, Farcy – I like your corner.
nothing short of death will stop me sharing the stuff i find
i am happy you apreciate it tho
is better that way
I read that Purple House book too! Did you read the others in series? I’m not sure if I will.
I also read Novice Drangoneer by E. E. Knight. I don’t recommend it. It was mediocre for a fantasy novel. I liked the protagonist. But the book drags in places, the world building is vague and none of the other characters are memorable. They barely matter. She’s so young and the “dragon dancing” part shows up halfway in the book. It took me by surprise as it borders on burlesque entertainment. Written by a man, it comes off as pedophilic to me.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44062010-novice-dragoneer
Dragon dancing! I wonder if that’s something like the Katy Perry “Teenage Dream” Super Bowl “Left Shark” performance that thrilled the nation, and indeed the entire world.
@HammerZeitgeist, I do not think that I will read the rest of the series, it worked as a one-off for me. Now – I am maybe 20% into your recommendation of Fourth Wing (The Empyrean Book 1) by Rebecca Yarros – and I love it so far. I foresee many bookovers* in my future (*a hangover from staying up way to late reading a book you can’t put down).
I’ve been on a hunt to fill the void that her books have left… 3 dragon themed books later and no luck.
Thanks to you guys I started watching the first season Reacher.
Damn you… now I have another show I HAVE to watch.
i for one….feel very little guilt
the first season is so good tho
the second is ok
Seconded.
I have to confess I gave up halfway through the first season. It was sort of the Superman problem – he just seemed to outclass the villains by too much too often.
dude might be a little op
……
but you know….if youre gonna have a hero fantasy…why hold back?
There’s more than a bit of superhero going on, not the least of which is his physique, which would be impossible to maintain while living as a virtual nomad. I mean, even a throwaway line about having a national gym membership (also providing shower opportunities) would help with that. Plus a knapsack with a change of clothes wouldn’t be a bad thing. But I overlook those gaps in logic. I will say the show is incredibly popular with women. I am reliably informed that lots of them are checking out the books and talking about it at the library.
Muhahaha!
Last night, I took advantage of my solitude since the wife is staying overnight in Blacksburg with her friend due to a meeting and I decided to watch FAST X, which is the 10th (!) installment in the Fast & Furious franchise. Anyway, the story of FAST X is loosely-based on a combination of HAMLET, Malory’s LE MORTE D’ARTHUR, and Kurosawa’s SEVEN SAMURAI. Except with car crashes and explosions. Many many explosions. Cinematography is provided by Stephen F. Windon, who is best known for the classic G.I. JOE: RETALIATION, and there are lots of juicy cameos, including Helen Mirren (not joking) who is best known for BARBIE and SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS.
Acting was as you would expect from such a stellar cast, and the pivotal moment is when Vin Diesel delivers the line, “You made one mistake…you forgot to take my car.” High drama indeed.
I give the movie 4.5 Lamborghinis out of 5.
Still waiting for Fast V Furious V Jason V Freddy V Star Wars
LMAO “including Helen Mirren (not joking) who is best known for BARBIE and SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS.”
huh?
okay…..what the fuck is this youtube? and why is it so nice?
That’s great. It feels like a raunchier version of some of the animated segments of Peewee’s Playhouse, which were great in their own way.
I watched all but the last episode of The Brothers Sun…
It is a fun ride if you like kung fu movies with a little dark comedy mixed in.
Listening to new Dandy Warhols
and of course, the latest Armageddon Update:
But what if Christ had a vindictive sense of humor? “You crucified me? Let me introduce you to your once and possibly future President Donald Trump. Good luck. Enjoy your Hell on earth.”
Oh no.
In the Big 80s I used to visit a friend who lived in a very beautiful apartment on the southern end of Tompkins Square Park. (He was a kept man. He had a much older male client, or whatever, who owned the apartment.) As night fell the homeless who were camping there would ignite the trash barrels on fire and otherwise rampage. It was actually kind of harmless and we’d pull up seats and make cocktails and watch the mayhem out the park-facing windows.
I can’t believe that this actually happened. But then Giuliani came along and was like “Out, all of you.” And then the park became the home of Doggie Halloween, among other wholesome activities. Which it still is, but it’s also become a little Needle Park-ish. I didn’t realize that it has turned into a huge public toilet. It’s another place I’d currently never take a child of mine.