Category: Television

  • Thoughts on Rogue One and Andor

    (I guess there might be spoilers here.)

    I wasn’t sure what to make of Rogue One when I saw it in the theatre. I honestly thought I was going to see the first in a series of tentpole movies in the Star Wars Universe. Such as every two years there would be another Rouge One movie, with this gang of characters going out to cause shit against the Empire. I had no idea that I was about to see a new version of The Dirty Dozen, except on this suicide mission, everyone actually does die. And it did take me awhile to come around and think of Rogue One as a good movie. I never thought it was bad, but I did go in with an expectation that wasn’t met. Mainly, the good guys live, because the good guys always survive in Star Wars. As time went on, I did come to appreciate Rouge One, and I do think it is the best of all the new Star Wars movies. And I’m not just saying that because part VII, VII, IX, were a fumbled, muddled mass of garbage.

    The one thing that I did think Rogue One nailed from the first time that I saw it, was that this movie made the Empire evil and menacing again. After having grown up with Star Wars, and watched or read just about all of its major iterations, the Empire had become “the gang that couldn’t shoot straight.” Outside of Vader and the Emperor, they were more incompetent than evil. Rogue One reminded us all that the Empire was far reaching, powerful, ruthless, and unstoppable. Then there was that Vader scene, which was cool, but also terrifying.

    Watching the latest episode of Andor last night, I was reminded of those same feelings I had watching Rogue One when it came to the Empire. That the reach and control of the Empire is so great, there is no escape or relief from it. But Andor adds an additional element to the evil of this Empire, which is to show us the mid-level people who are the ones who truly exercise the oppression on the population of the galaxy.

    I went looking online this morning to see if others are seeing it the same way as me, and I am not alone in this view. I did also notice a debate on whether Andor is holding a mirror to the current politics of America and the rise of authoritarians in the world. My opinion is that the Empire in Andor, and Star Wars as a whole, is still using Nazi Germany as its inspiration. I think inferring anything else is a bit of projection by certain viewers. BUT! I will say that Andor’s detainment, arrest, and sentencing was eerie parallel about American mass arrests and mandatory minimum sentencing. Who cares about criminals, right? They must deserve it, or they wouldn’t be there in the first place.

    I am looking forward to seeing where Andor is going. Ultimately, we know Mon Mothma leads the Rebellion, and Andor dies, so I am curious as to how the suspense and peril will be rise as this story continues. But what is coming into focus is why people would risk everything to fight the Empire.

    (And this is when I ask you to like, share, comment, or follow this blog. The numbers have been going up, so thanks in advance. Or if you are a bot… I welcome out Bot overlords!)

  • ODDS and ENDS: Times Square Casino, ANDOR, Tottenham, and UK Prime Minister

    (A Certain Point of View)

    As a New Yorker who stayed here during the Pandemic, I watched the City empty out, especially in Midtown. Though things are getting closer to being how they were before, there are still neighborhoods in Manhattan that have not economically recovered. Office buildings are sitting semi-empty, and ideas have been kicked around for the past two years about changing these spaces into apartments as there is a housing crisis in NYC. (Though I just read that landlords are warehousing 60,000 rent stabilized units that they refuse to rent.) But the idea that seems to be picking up steam is a casino in Times Square, because, clearly, there are not enough tourist there. Or the old Times Square hookers are looking to make a comeback. If this were to happen, I know two things will come true; One, no self-respecting New Yorker will be setting foot in Times Square (not that we ever did), and Two, the Disney-ifcation of Times Square is officially over.

    I have noticed that when my friends recommend a new great show, they always add the qualifier – get through the first three episodes. I have heard this more times than I care to count, and sadly Andor on Disney+ is following the same pattern. I think it is the reason they released the first three episodes when the show debuted. That having been said, I am truly enjoying Andor. This is the Star Wars for grown-ups who grew up with Star Wars, and now know that not all issues are light and dark. This is a universe that thrives in gray. Diego Luna is great as Cassian Andor, which is not surprising as Luna is an amazing actor. (Check out him in Y tu mama tambien if you haven’t already.) As the show has progressed, I have found myself more interested in the B-plot; Mon Mothma forging and leading the rebellion. It helps that Genevieve O’Reilly has the ability to play the smartest person in the room who is hiding the fact that she is the smartest person in the room. Not to mention that there is this whole subtext of the difficulty a woman faces trying to lead an ideological and physical movement. It seems the patriarchy needs to be fought all over the galaxy as well.

    Okay, I’m going to lay off the Tottenham stuff. It’s not because they lost to Man United, and Ronaldo walked out the end of the game like a little whiney bitch. No, it’s not that. The team has taken up a great deal of my mental space, and I think I need to narrow it down to a more compact form. That’s not to say that I won’t be writing about the World Cup in November, or any of the Champions League stuff… It just might be a little more truncated.

    My opinion: Ozzy for UK Prime Minister.

    (Speaking of Ozzy. The life blood of any blog is engagement. So please, make sure to like this blog, or share it, leave a comment, and if possible, follow it. And for doing that, I will remind you that Randy Rhoads was one of the greatest guitarists of all time!)

  • Yup, That’s a Career – Mini Golf Course Designer

    In case you missed it, I am a stay at home parent currently. Will I return to the traditional work force? Not sure yet, but it is a thought that I keep kicking around my head, as a second income would be beneficial to our family. My old career was in arts/theatre administration, but being that I am middle aged-ish, or at least I am knocking on that door, the idea of switching careers often comes when the wife and I talk about careers.

    Recently, my daughter started introducing, or insisting, depending on the evening, that we watch these mini golf videos on YouTube. They feature two people, Brooks Holt and Elisha, who go around the country playing different mini golf courses. Some of the places they go are rather basic, while others are fascinating in their ingenuity. A few courses, which are indoors, play like a Rube Goldberg machine. The videos are fun, my daughter loves them, and it has inspired us as a family to go out and play mini golf, which has been great.

    As Brooks and Elisha go around playing golf, I started wondering; do the owners of these mini golf courses design these places themselves, or are their firms out there that do this stuff?

    You guessed it, of course there are firms. Good for them, if I might add. And I wondered how one gets in that business? I am sure some are family businesses, but do these companies go out and recruit people from adjacent fields? Like, landscape designers, or set and prop builders from theatre and film? What skills do you need to have to be successful in that line of work? (I bet there is a story there.) Looking at some of their websites, a few of the companies have been around for forty plus years, so they must be good at what they do. If there is a need, you know there will be a business to provide that service.

    Not that I’m about to start a career designing mini golf courses, but I do respect the people who do it.

    (Speaking of careers; could you help me with mine? Well, it’s more like a hobby that I hope helps me buy a new laptop. Either way, if you enjoyed this blog, please take a moment to give a like, or share the post, and a comment wouldn’t hurt. I mean, following this blog would be the cat’s pajamas, but use your discretion as to what you see as appropriate.)

  • ODDS and ENDS: The Queen, and Tottenham Updates

    (Hey! Ho! Let’s Go!)

    I don’ think there is any way to avoid this story, which is that Queen Elizabeth has died. And I don’t think the story should be avoided. In a world history sense, a head of state has died, will be mourned and buried, and a new head of state will be put in place, through a very long and old ceremony. A Ceremony that doesn’t happen very often. The Queen was of the World War II generation, though just barely, and as of such knew and participated in a world of empires and colonies. For that reason, I understand why there are people out there who have no intention of mourning her. (I am not surprised that Irish Twitter is behaving in that way.) For me, as an American, I have found the British Monarchy odd and fascinating. I fully believe, as all good Americans should, that there is no need for a monarchy, and cannot understand why a nation keeps a family in ceremonial power though they serve no functioning constitutional purpose. (I guess that makes me a pragmatic America.) Yet, as an American, I understand that there wouldn’t have been a US if not for a UK and that monarchy. But at the end of the day, I can’t shake the acknowledgment that the Queen was someone’s wife, and someone’s mother, and grandmother, and great grandmother.

    Yes, Tottenham Hotspur has yet to lose a match, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to complain about the team. On Wednesday, Spurs kicked off their Champions League campaign against Marseille, and I noted earlier that I know absolutely nothing about Marseille other than they are from France. But I was able to easily watch the match live on Paramount+ while my kid was running around the playground. (You hear that Peacock?!?! Take a lesson from Paramount+ and learn how to stream matches live!) What I saw was Tottenham starting off shaky again, but holding it together, again. Thank god for the Richarlison pick up from Everton during the off-season, as he was the only player showing some life out there. I apricate the win, but I’m beginning to get nervous for Son. For the past couple of seasons Kane/Son was an unstoppable team on the pitch: If Kane wasn’t scoring then it was Son, and vice versa. Hell, Son was tied with Salah last season for the Golden Boot in the Premier League. But, thus far, Son has had seven appearances and 0 goals. I was looking forward to this Saturday when Tottenham played against Man City, to see if Conte was going to make more of an effort to get Son involved, but with the Queen’s passing, all matches this weekend have been postponed. Just going to have to wait another week and wonder.

    (Yo! I see you! And if you want to help me out, then take a moment to like this blog, or share it, or leave me a comment about how Dejan Kulusevski is the real difference maker this season for Spurs. All would be apricated.)

  • The Late Night with David Letterman Opening

    If the kid is on Summer vacation, then I am on Summer vacation.

    This is a rule that I made up for this Summer. What this really means is that I am not going to the gym, and I am staying up late at night. In both respects, it has been very successful. My pants are getting tighter, and I have watched an enormous amount of odd and entertaining things off of the Roku when I should be sleeping.

    Last night, like a bolt of lightning striking a tall tree, I had a thought, “I wonder if the old opening from Late Night with David Letterman is on YouTube?” We all know the answer is yes, but what I was looking for was the specific one that I saw when I first saw in the late 80’s. I found this one, which feels correct.

    Watching it last night, a couple things came back to me. First, it was remembering my older brothers telling my Dad about this show. All of us in my family have a good, if slightly off kilter sense of humor. They were trying to explain to the old man about this talk show that did these weird bits like Top 10 Lists, a monkey with a camera on its back, a Velcro suit, and the host was this smart-alecky guy. It sounded like it was right up our alley, but it came on during the week, really late.

    Growing up in Texas, Carson was on from 10:30pm to 11:30pm, followed by Love Connection from 11:30pm to midnight.  Then Dave came on, when it was way too late for any normal person to be up. My brothers are nine and seven years older than me, so they were in college, and had the time and constitution be to loyal viewers. I was still in grade school, and our home only had one large tv in the livingroom. But, in my 6th grade year, which made me 11 or 12, my parents bought me a little 18” black and white TV, for the purpose of playing my Nintendo, thus avoiding confrontations of who was going to watch Cheers or play Legend of Zelda. And I did play video games on that little TV.

    And I also started watching Dave.

    I was probably the only 6th grader in my school district that could hum the Late Night theme song, and knew who Larry “Bud” Melman was. I was able to hide my clandestine viewing from my parents, but I think they caught on, yet didn’t care. (I kept making good grades, so where was the problem?) That show started influencing me on how I thought about humor, about being just a little strange and idiosyncratic, and also being a little normal while having a few things that are off. Like, how Dave dressed. He wore the talk show host’s uniform – shirt, tie, sport coat. Yet, as Dave wore that, he also had on sneakers, and khaki pants, and his hair was short but unkept. He had all the pieces of normalcy, but was still a little off.

    The second thing that came to me when I watched the opening of Late Night, was that this intro is still how I think about New York City. When I envision this place, I think about it at night – the buildings shutting off their lights, the cabs rolling down nearly deserted streets, and the bars during the week when it’s late and there are just a handful of people in there. And the bar in the opening, “Old Town Bar and Restaurant” I now realize that I have been in there a handful of times, and it still looks the same. In fact, I noticed that at the end of the L shaped bar, there is a guy in the corner sitting with a drink and talking to the bartender. That’s my favorite spot in any bar to sit, which now makes me wonder if this is where I came up with/stole the idea?

    After watching the intro, and getting a heaping helping of nostalgia, I started to wonder when I started my fascination with New York City? I feel like I always wanted to be here. Was it watching Ghostbusters? Night Court? Was it because this is where artist came to be artists, and I wanted to be an artist? I’m sure it was a compounding effect of all of these influences.

    Either way, I live in New York City now, and I don’t know if I can live anywhere else. It’s the only City where a subway ride entitles you to rub up on strangers.

    (And, hey, ummm… If this is blog is making a fancy tickled, then if you could take a moment and give a like, or a share, and comments are always welcomed.)