Category Archives: Opinion
One of my very early posts here (God is an Iron) was about irony. It featured a pretty decent definition of the word by the dear departed, and much missed, George Carlin: “Irony is ‘a state of affairs that is the reverse of what was to be expected; a result opposite to and in mockery of the appropriate result.’”
The POTUS Putin America First…
It’s a good definition to keep in mind when considering how, for so long, a key gun rights Second Amendment argument is the vital importance of being able to stand up to a corrupt, tyrannical government…
Yet most of those folks seem to be supporting the current regime…
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Leave a comment | tags: 1984, democracy, democratic society, Donald Trump, George Orwell, irony, Nineteen Eighty-Four, post-empiricism, post-fact, post-reality, post-truth, truth, Vladimir Putin | posted in Opinion, Politics
1 Comment | tags: anger, Anyone But Trump, democracy, democratic society, disgust, Donald Trump, evil, GOP, politicians, Republican Party, stupid, stupid people, stupid stupid stupid, stupidity, Trump is a loser, Trump is a monster | posted in Opinion, Politics, Rant
Roseanne Barr is still generating the occasional headline with her antics in reaction to the cancellation of her ABC show, so I thought that, rather than just delete this post (which has been sitting in my Drafts folder), I’d set it free to roam the web. “Better out than in,” I believe the saying goes (and, yes, I’m well aware of what that then compares this post to; I stand by that comparison).
One thing I found interesting about it all was the contrast between Barr’s transgression and one made by Samantha Bee on her TBS show. There were some similarities in that both involved personal insults made by popular entertainment figures from their chosen platforms. There are also differences in content, as well as in how Barr and Bee handled themselves after.
Currently we’re in a very reactive, very polarized environment, and the Barr and Bee fracas put it all on mini display.
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2 Comments | tags: Roseanne Barr, Samantha Bee, Valerie Jarrett | posted in Opinion, TV
Lately I’ve been reading about compatibilism with regard to free will. While I’ve considered free will before, especially in the context of determinism, I’ve never explored compatibilism, and I decided it was time I got around to checking it out.
What triggered my renewed interest was, firstly, the movie Arrival (and the short story on which it’s based), and secondly, the HBO series, Westworld. Both have thoughtful science fiction with themes concerning free will (or its lack).
When one of my favorite physics bloggers, Sabine Hossenfelder, wrote a post about free will, it inspired me to write one, too. Monkey see, monkey do!
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104 Comments | tags: causal determinism, chaos, chaos theory, determinism, free will, physical determinism | posted in Opinion, Philosophy
I should probably start by hastening to add: I don’t dislike dinosaurs, either! It’s an ambiguity of English that when one says, “I don’t like X,” it can mean one has negative feelings about the ‘X’ in question, or it can mean just that one has no positive feelings for it — that one is neutral (or perhaps not interested enough to have an opinion).
It’s an easy jump from “don’t like” to “dislike,” so the phrase, “I don’t like X,” is usually taken that way. But I have wiring in my brain that makes me see it more literally — as failing to have a liking for ‘X’ — so I often have to clarify what I mean.
And what I mean is that I have zero interest in dinosaurs.
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3 Comments | tags: clowns, coffee, dinosaurs, Game of Thrones, ginger cookies, Jurassic Park, molasses cookies, pirates, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Tom and Jerry | posted in Life, Movies, Opinion, Sci-Fi Saturday, TV
I want to tell you about Assassination Classroom, an amazing Japanese anime series I discovered, but it’s going to be a bit of a challenge, because I just don’t know that much about anime — it’s not something I’ve ever watched a lot of. In fact, the anime series (as is often the case) is based on the manga series, and I’ve never gotten into manga at all.
But I was so enthralled by this anime series that I have to give it a best effort. If you like anime, or even just animated storytelling, and especially if you like hard science fiction (the good kind), you have got to check this one out.
For one thing, it’s surprisingly deep! And it made me weep.
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4 Comments | tags: anime, Assassination Classroom, Cowboy Bebop, Dark Matter (TV series), Fairy Tail, Final Fantasy, Ghost in the Shell, Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese anime, Tachikoma, The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, The Expanse (TV series), Yoko Kanno, Zoie Palmer | posted in Opinion, TV
Last post I mentioned the ABC sitcom Fresh Off the Boat, a show I’m currently mini-binging[1] on Hulu. When I wrote that, I was still very much on the fence as to whether I even liked the show. In fact I was puzzled about why I liked it at all, since it’s a fairly standard sitcom in many regards.
Ever since I’ve been paying more attention to my reactions while watching, and I’ve come to realize that it’s not a matter of being undecided — it’s a matter of having developed a strong like/dislike for the show. As I wrote with Halt and Catch Fire, my feelings are mixed, not vague.
And it turns out to really tap into what attracts or repels me to sitcoms.
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7 Comments | tags: 30 Rock, Assassination Classroom, Community (TV series), Dan Harmon, Fresh Off the Boat, Futurama, Matt Groening, Rick and Morty, Scrubs, South Park, The Good Place, The Office, The Simpsons | posted in Opinion, TV
When I first started watching TV there were only the Big Three: CBS, NBC, and ABC. We had just a handful of shows we loved and followed, maybe a few others we watched with family members or friends. Often, we just played outside.
There were various local channels, but they offered mostly re-runs, news, or sports — not much original content. It wasn’t until the Second Era, of cable TV, that original content offerings exploded into so many choices. We had to pick what we watched among all that new content.
Now the Third Era, streaming TV, with even more original content to choose among. On the other hand, also the chance to catch up on content we missed along the way!
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Leave a comment | tags: 30 Rock, Bruce Campbell, Burn Notice (TV series), Community (TV series), Constance Wu, Cougar Town, Dan Harmon, Fresh Off the Boat, Jeffrey Donovan, Jonathan Nolan, Leverage (TV series), Once Upon a Time, Person of Interest, Rizzoli & Isles, Sharon Gless, The Good Wife, The IT Crowd | posted in Opinion, TV
My last post ended up with a misleading title (oops). When I started it, I planned to rag on more than just the Fargo TV series — figuring I didn’t have all that much to say about it — but the post become a total spleen vent about that one show (with a bit of shade for Hulu). Ah, well, better out than in.
This post, and at least two I’m planning after, will fall on the other side, my good side. To Yin the Yang of the previous two posts, these will be about shows I’ve really enjoyed (or even loved).
This post is about shows I’ve enjoyed that are produced by Netflix.
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2 Comments | tags: Black Mirror, Chewing Gum (TV series), Dear White People, Eric McCormack, Grace and Frankie, Greg Egan, Justin Simien, Michaela Coel, Netflix, Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Travelers (TV series), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt | posted in Opinion, TV
Last post I recorded my love/hate relationship with AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire, and despite major problems with computer gibberish throughout the show, still found it interesting, engaging, and ultimately a show I would recommend.
Today’s main entry, FX’s Fargo (based on the Coen brothers movie with the same name), is another critically acclaimed show that I missed when it aired and which I’d been looking forward to finally seeing now that I’ve joined the ranks of the video streamers.
Sadly, I disliked it from the first episode and reached my breaking point in episode eight, which I stopped watching followed by removing the show from my Watch List.
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6 Comments | tags: Billy Bob Thornton, Coen Brothers, Fargo, FX, Hulu, Martin Freeman, Simon Pegg | posted in Opinion, TV
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