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UConn James

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Everything posted by UConn James

  1. Just finished the string of "Breaking Bad." Wow. That's all I can say. Well, no. In addition to my earlier comments, I'd just like to add that one of the touches that make this series awesome, besides the writing and acting, is the camerawork. I believe there's been more time-lapse work in this than I've ever seen before, and it makes for some great, original establishment shots. Walt really is one of the more interesting characters on teevee now. He's got an obsessive streak a mile wide, a knowing smarminess to him that is simultaneously off-putting and what makes him something of an anti-hero. This Season 3 arch was just terrific, as things seemingly got more stable for Walt and Jesse, they're now into something that's a thousand times worse than anything they faced before. The quiet kingpin, Gus, is similar to LOST's Benjamin Linus character in a way.... Anyway, since the 'cooking' started, there's an unpredictable self-destructive bent (e.g. stomping on the gas and closing his eyes on the highway) whenever there hasn't been a self-preservation bent. And Walt's late-in-the-day realization that his actions aren't nearly as benign as he thought they were, nor are they now as easily rationalized away. There have been lots of times when he's had no pity for people who've brought things upon themselves, yet the shooting of the kid really brought something out of Walter. And as hard as he is on Jesse, he's been there as a kind of protective father figure / still acting as a teacher.
  2. As I remember from the time, that BPA "scare" was related to thicker plastics e.g. Nalgene bottles and some brands of baby/toddler containers.
  3. Usually have a glass of cran every day or two. Studies suggest it's also helpful against prostate problems. I have not had kidney stones, and am also thankful I haven't had the "D_____ stomach" that plagues that side of the family.
  4. I've been a Coke (especially Vanilla Coke) addict since an almost daily 20-oz vending machine bottle at the U. There've been periods where I've laid off of soda for a few months at a time or had one only occasionally. I can't recommend a diet in "empty calories" for everyone, but I'm 6'1" and about 160 and remain active so I burn it off. It's much more important to stay away from over-processed foodstuffs that's calorie- and saturated fat-dense, and then sit on ones' ass (not a coincidence that many nutritionally horrible foods tout easy or fast preparation and then, surprise surprise(!) its eaters are too !@#$ing lazy to get up and move), than carbonation and simple sugars. We're headed now into lemonade and iced tea season. With a family history of kidney stones, I really ought to be drinking more (tap) water, tho....
  5. Rob: 'I've got an alliance with Grant, with Natalie, and with Andrea. All these guys have to do is talk to each other. But they don't.' The requisite family contact episode has Mike electing to reward the people who front-stabbed him and his Purple tribe, and for all his Jesus-speak, he's very much looking forward and trying to buy some favor among Yellow members who will become jury members... with the hope/expectation that he'll be the returning player from Redemption. Right now, it makes the most sense to me, from a 'keep interest/drama alive' standpoint, to reintroduce the RI winner as the 4th remaining player. That would ensure that no one could use a hidden idol anymore, that the Yellow alliance would be pretty much shattered, and to dangle the possibility that this Purple player could win immunity or two and then have a Purple-dominated jury, along with butt-sore Yellows. Still, Mike's move didn't seem to rub Ralph or Steve the right way. Steve got his final reward... and it just didn't look like he even tried on the challenge. Like they said, he's lost ~ 40 pounds, and he was just ready to go to Pondarosa. Phillip had better hope for his "upper body strength" / "elder statesman of the tribe" type of immunity challenge to come next week. He's gotta sense that his time might be coming, and Rob's spidey-sense is going off that Phillip has something in the works.
  6. Add in the BP spill and releasing numbers they knew to be wrong. You know... we're really not far off from Orwell's "1984."
  7. It's for this reason that I really appreciate that the Red Sox owners decided to renovate/add on to Fenway rather than build some new monolith.
  8. I, for one, didn't think that penalty was nearly enough. Taking a taxi for a couple-mile jaunt while the others playing by the rules have to hoof it through steep terrain should have been an automatic last-place. I did believe that was Kent's intention --- get there via taxi and hope that just one other team is too winded / tired to get there before their 30 minute penalty was up. Perhaps, to fulfill his wish from earlier in the day, Kent ought to have punched himself in the face.
  9. Myself, I would have taken the opportunity to stuff his mouth full of it. Just for my own personal knowledge / satisfaction.
  10. Probably more unnecessarily than is justified. I'm sure Clinton and the military at the time was under a similar dread of a repeat of Carter sending forces into Iran, or what happened to him in Somalia. And at the time, they went with the less risk, but less-certain bombing. This has been in planning since last September, when they learned the location of his hideout. And last Monday, Obama was also given the option of a drone attack, but chose the SEAL invasion. And at this point with what OBL has done, you'd think any president would choose an active assault and go in with the elite team and not go with a relatively passive attack and allow for another possibility of survival and escape.
  11. I've read that the remaining helicopters --- two were apparently detonated on-scene, on purpose --- were engaged by Pakistani fighter jets as they were leaving. They weren't told about this mission because of tip-offs that have happened in the past, and so, they were responding to an airspace invasion. I won't be surprised by the Pakistan govt claiming foreknowledge to, as you said, save face. Also wouldn't be surprised by us backing up this claim. They've got to assure their people their military is capable (i.e. imagine that being Indian invasion team at, say, a nuclear site), and the U.S. can hardly afford to embarrass Pakistan, even as a one-off high-level catch like this. That SEAL team was no doubt expecting to lose guys, either from OBL's people or from a somewhat "friendly-fire" incident. And it's a testament that these guys willingly and frequently accept this degree of risk. It wasn't announced immediately, as such. He was killed last Monday. And yeah, as this sinks in, the feelings get complex, especially for those who were on-scene or knew someone who was killed on 9/11, the Embassy bombings, U.S.S. Cole, etc. Celebration like we saw last night is understandable, but it misses the mark a bit. It's not as if the GWOT is now magically over, like some cartoon where once the head bad guy is defeated, all of his toadies/henchmen go *poof* and disappear in smoke.
  12. Huh. I didn't know the cable itself could do that.... I actually got a no-name $4 HDMI cable from amazon.com for hooking up my laptop to the HDTV and it's worked perfectly.
  13. So glad Kent finally was sent packing, as a result of his own stupidity / brashness. The episode started out with him saying repeatedly that he feels like 'punching someone in the face today.' And in the kitchen challenge, I was so rooting for him to take a first swipe at Big Easy. Zev and Justin obviously aren't from WNY or NE, from that shovel-out on the Matterhorn. Bad form! Really looked like they would lose after that. That chocolate gnome challenge was pretty cool. I'd always wondered how they did things like that. The mix-up was a little unclear and I was feeding the dog during that part. Did they settle what happened there? Looked like Big Easy was saying that Vixen took the wrong gnome from the freezer b/c Flight Time had already done a feet section, and she'd been behind b/c she was going slowly and then suddenly she was all caught up. I just wonder if the taxi ride that shouldn't hadn't occurred, would there have been a possible penalty for that? Kind of similar to when the Globetrotters took the wrong bag in Japan, and yet, there was no mention of the malfeasance. They had video to review who took what, right? So, here in the penultimate airing of AR, I was happy to see the Pinks take their leave, and we now have four teams left that have played well, fought through adversity, and I wouldn't mind seeing win... well, "played well" minus Flight Time's display of his public urination skills.
  14. I'd imagine that could happen any number of ways. Loose wire connection, bad weld, fried.... You've got two other HDMIs, right? Is this going to be a problem for how many HDMI devices you use? It may not even be worth paying to investigate at an appliance repair place, given the life span of these things. Just goes to show that in cases of electrical device problems, it's always helpful to do some basic process of elimination experiments before assuming that you've got a dead product. I would expect that an explanation is in order to the lad... and an apology & make up treat if any punishment was given. I admire that he did "confess" when he knew that might result in some negative things --- do remind him that you're proud that he had the fortitude to take responsibility. So many kids these days would've never said a word.
  15. Dude, this is being discussed 15 posts down under the title "Rick Gosselin gives Bills an A+." It's not like it's hidden. Why do people here have to actively create work for the moderators? Come on!
  16. "MADE IN CHINA" Still have the receipt for the Blu-Ray player?
  17. Nice to see Joe-the-6-pack write in the Shoutbox that Logan loves the PR attention she's gotten and that she "would do it again." !@#$ YOU, JOE. Seriously. !@#$ YOU!!!
  18. Possible. Have you tried it on the HDMI-1 or -2 input ports? Have you tried using a different HDMI cable? (Is it the same cable you used for the PS3?)
  19. For those following it, Ms. Logan is speaking about the attack for the first time tonight on "60 Minutes."
  20. I would've certainly felt better about this draft if they'd drafted Stocker instead of Searcy.... That said, it seems pretty good otherwise. And if the intention is to sign a decent TE like Boss in UFA --- and more than intention, they need to actually DO it --- then I can dig this draft. But, as Mr. Wolf said in "Pulp Fiction," Bills fans probably shouldn't go sucking each other's richards just yet. Because while something might look good inside shiny packaging at the store, it's another thing entirely when you open that package. And it's yet another thing when you give that tool to your co-worker who may --- or may not --- know how to use it.
  21. Hmm. Could be b/c she's not a supercilious, smarmy, elitist !@#$. I mean, that could play into it. Just a thought. Also, that over the next year-plus, any pol that Obama touches outside of traditional blue states is going to turn to **** in Nov. 2012 as more people come to see the worsening effect his policies have had on hiring, the price of gas, the national debt, etc. B/c there's that too.
  22. At the time, I thought Mike Mularky was a chickenshit quitter. But as more time passed, it reveals just how smart and lucky was his move to get the !@#$ away from this backward franchise and its aimless owner.
  23. I think he just made a grammar mistake with a misleading/unspecific subordinate clause. Would have been much clearer to write, "Also not to be overlooked: Chargers, Bills and Browns. The Browns now have two first-round picks in 2012." This would be like: "Waiting in the doctor's office were Tim, Bob, and Tina, who was suffering from a vaginal yeast infection." The clause does not apply to the first two subjects. It's complicated a bit by sports team names being a plural case in American English, so "have" is used, which in sentences like this, is ambiguous as to whether the verb is plural case b/c it's being applied to all three subjects, or b/c it's being applied to one of the subjects (Chargers, Bills and Browns) that happens to be a plural case.
  24. I do believe that this is what pisses me off the most about how the so-called BPA strategy played out this year. Kelsay was so astonishingly bad and has such an outrageously stupid salary that you have to wonder whether Kelsay is like the Silence on "Doctor Who" --- an entity that controls many human actions and operates right out in the open because people forget all about them the moment they can't see this particular alien anymore.
  25. I just finished the third to last of season 2, where [yellow-fonted for spoilers] the girl drowns in her own vomit, and Walt just watches. Holy ****! I mean... Holy ****!!!" Been up all night b/c I just couldn't stop watching. I now don't feel quite so bad that BB/Bryan Cranston won for best drama over LOST/Matthew Fox. This show is so gritty, so real. So much better than all the fabricated Hollywood crap where people talk in perfect sentences and everything always ties up... life isn't like that. And it's such an amazing dynamic of almost... rooting for Walter to be successful in his drug production. Up to this point, that's largely because of his family, his situation, and the rationalization similar to what Walter makes --- that someone's going to supply meth and make a lot of $, so it might as well be him so he can provide for his family when he's gone. I just wonder how much longer this dynamic of rooting/sympathy for Walter can last. Here toward the close of S2, I don't see how this show can end well for Walter. All of the things he's done cannot/ought not be rewarded on-screen.
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