260 thoughts on “Jack Mangans Deadpan #285: Last of the Morris

  1. SOA is staying on our DVR!!!

    if we had one.

    No trip to Ireland or a fucked up faced FBI Agent will keep me from getting my heart stabbed over and over and over…

      • Julie watched it this morning and had to tell me to shut up because I kept pointing out how terribly forced EVERYTHING was. The whole thing made so little sense. I think when she really told me to just go away was when I questioned the ending shot when she looked into the camera and said that she doesn’t give up… she looked right at the camera… the ONE camera out of like a dozen of them that were on her and told THAT ONE CAMERA the thing that the kidnappers needed to here. Man, it’s a good thing they were watching that particular channel.

  2. Yes, it is Banned Books Week. We even made it the theme of our Toastmasters meeting today, at which I spoke about the Ghost Light Podcast and introduced my speech by playing Hamlet (badly) for about 30 seconds. :silly:

    Replying to another comment above:

    Well, shoot. First time I’ve tried to tune in to a new network TV show in ages. I forgot that since I moved, the “7 Central” caveat now applies to me. I only caught the last 10 minutes of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” So, I missed the introductions of the rest of the team, and that was Extremis I saw in action. Are both of these points correct?

  3. Well, the from Texas household has so far put “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” on our “Things that do not suck” list.

    And, because I love you guys most, I bothered to put all the periods in the title. Not so much for the other Facebook peeps.

    And, if someone had made it to the Mmmmeetup a few months ago, they’d know what Extremis is 🙂

  4. J0e: Extremis is actually a virus that gives you heat-related superpowers and makes your skin glow when they are in use. It was the latter effect that I saw on screen, and that I was asking about. (The virus was a driving force of the plot of Iron Man 3, which we all saw as a group at the last MMMMMeetup. 🙂 )

  5. I need a favour from all my tabletop gamers.

    Whether we want to admit it or not, Christmas is coming. Could you do me a favour and set up something like this (http://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/Gedrak00713) so I know what NOT to give if I become your Secret Santa? You don’t need to use Board Game Geek like we did, but a list of some kind, even just emailed to me, would be great. I’d hate to give something you may already have :happy:

  6. Today’s trivia –
    TMBG’s first video (for their song “Anna Ng”) was directed by Adam Bernstein.
    He went on to directed things like “30 Rock”, “Californication”, “OZ”, “Ed”, “Scrubs”, “Rescue Me” and a little show called “Breaking Bad”.

    • I liked it okay. I feel like there isn’t any chemistry between the cast yet, but once the actors get to know each other better I think it will improve. Another nitpick, a little overuse of comic book tropes. “This is my origin story” felt a little forced.

    • I recall having the same “it’s just OK” feeling about “Doll House”. By Ep #4 or #5 though, that one really caught fire. “Buffy” also took a few Eps to really get rolling as well. I’m hoping that there is an underlaying, Whedon evil plan here. Start of by getting the standard TV audience hooked and then bring with the smart and clever, Joss-ee-goodness.

        • Along those lines, I’ve introduced the kids to the new Dr. Who and they’re hooked. While I’m delighted that they’ve taken interest in the Doctor – – pro-science, he uses his intelligence, most regenerations of him abhor guns – – it’s tough watching that ridiculous Christopher Eccleston season. Good gawd. Between the skin woman and the farting aliens. . .

    • I guess I will share this.

      This brings back haunting memories as I had a similar encounter when I was 18.
      I have no idea if he was a serial killer.
      He was in the military, maybe in his mid-20’s. Given how clearly “under-aged” I looked, he was most certainly a predator.

      I . was . so . naive.

      I had absolutely no idea what he was about or why he palled up to me until he skillfully turned the conversation into asking me if I had ever been with another guy.
      Then I had one of these dizzying “camera dollies back while zooming in” moments.
      We were literally alone in a cabin in a freak’n jungle and the reality of what was going on and the position I was in washed over me.

      Like the psyco in that article he was VERY persistent and tried to be persuasive with very “rational” sounding arguments. I suspect this is the same sort of pressure that young girls go through all the time when singled out by “alpha male” types. Fortunately, in the end, he respected my lack of interest and finally left.
      I had the shakes for the rest of that day.

      This quote –

      “I was astonished that a gay dude had lured me to a motel room, made advances, and here I was, feeling bad for him because I was rejecting him.”

      Okay, so I wasn’t lured to his place he came to mine … but I had the SAME reaction. I ended up apologizing profusely to him. I ended up feeling like I was a bad guy.

      How any of us survive the decisions of our youth is simply amazing.

      • Wow, J0e. Thanks for sharing that. I’m glad that memory isn’t way worse for you.

        “I suspect this is the same sort of pressure that young girls go through all the time when singled out by “alpha male” types.”

        I think we have to instill kids with the self-confidence needed to withstand that kind of pressure and guilting, along with the savviness to distinguish genuine friends from predators and users – – without turning them into paranoid cynics.

    • “Dear Mr. Abrams. Let me tell you how to do your job for you to a franchise, that you’ve said yourself, you love so much and will do right by.”

      Meh.

      Also, every SW film has had its “cute” element. I’ve never gotten the big deal.

      • I feel like episodes IV and V had their cute elements, but were essentially films made for adults that kids could enjoy. Starting with Episode VI I felt more like the movies were being structured around the cute elements such that they were films created for kids that adults could enjoy. I seriously doubt Disney will rectify that in any way shape or form, but I’m hoping that Abrams will be able to put some of the dark edge back in.

      • The video is nicely made, but I’d agree that they mostly missed the point. All of those things matter less than having relatable, believable characters that I care about in scenes that have me on the edge of my seat.

        Frontier, grit, pah; a Jedi craves not these things.

  7. I think I’m jinxed when it comes to external batteries.

    Bought an Anker Battery from Amazon, arrived yesterday, won’t charge fully.

    Sigh (in a very trivial way)

  8. Just got this note from a guy who was doing a remodel for us before the flood hit. His house is in Jamestown, one of the places West of Boulder hardest hit:

    So far so good. Only problem is that the road is gone both above and below our property. So my tools, trucks, and tractor are stuck until the road is repaired.

    Me and pet cat, along with 25 neighbors (plus 30 or more animals) were helicoptered out of the canyon. My wife just flew in and we are busy backpacking supplies and clothing and kitty stuff out for several months – that is how long it will be before the bridges and roads are rebuilt.

  9. I’m thoroughly enjoying the WNBA playoffs.

    Go Mercury, though I have a deep fascination with Seimone Augustus, so Minnesota can win and I’ll keep watching.

  10. Ok, I’m pretty much out of here. I will have limited internet access (and time) so don’t be surprised if you don’t hear from me until Tuesday.

    Bunny out

  11. Crap joke for the day:

    Adam had been moping around all day in the Garden of Eden and God finally said, “Adam, what’s up with all this moping?” Adam told God that he was lonely. God said He could fix that, no problem. In short order he could make a partner for Adam, and she would be called a “woman.” God told Adam that the woman would collect his food, cook it for him, and care for all his needs and wants. She would also agree with all his decisions and not question his authority as head of the family. God also said that she would bear his offspring and and not bother him in the middle of the night if the kids woke up and started crying. She would never nag him and would admit when she was wrong. She would also freely give him love and passion whenever he needed it.Adam said, “Wow, that’s a great partner! What is this woman-person going to cost me?”And God replied, “An arm and a leg.”Adam thought for a minute, then asked, “What can I get for a rib?”And the rest is history. ….

  12. Here’s your fun fact for the day. I think Itunes may have finally tricked me into accepting Itunes 11 as it greeted me with some new agreement of terms when I tried to open it today.

    Certain that it is going to screw me over in the process, I am backing up some of the critical podcasts in case the new Itunes decides that I really didn’t want them even though I’ve said I have.

    So, while I didn’t manage to catch every single episode of Deapan, I have most of them. Currently backing up 323 files with a total space consumption of 8.32 GB.

    Our Dear Jack has been quite prolific.

  13. Mother puss bucket.

    Well, I don’t know what happend. I’ve still got Itunes 10.6, so I don’t know why I had to agree to anything.

    I also don’t know why it pulled my library as it apparently existed on June 18th, 2011. WTF?

    • Well, I still don’t know what happened, but thankfully, I was able to find a current copy of my Itunes database from this morning and restore from that. All the files were still there, but Itunes decided to open up some ancient copy of my library for some reason.

      I’ll be busy plucking out the gray hairs for the rest of the evening.

  14. Last night I watched Season one Ep#1 – Buffy, Vampire Slayer.

    I don’t think I had actually seen any of that first season.
    It has a real “low budget” feel to it but hits the ground running with Joss-ey character interaction.

    • For perspective – this is a small group with a very extreme opinion, forcing this action on their own political party (who at best, represent only half the US voters). So this small segment of only half of America is willing to damage our economy and add to the deficit unless the America is willing to give in to their demands.

      But if the White House gives in, what will they threaten to shut down the government for in 3 months?
      “End Gay marriage or we’ll shut the government down! Make all abortion illegal or we’ll shut the government down! Give more tax breaks to the 1% or we’ll shut the government down!”

      Typically speaking, if you give in to extortionist demands it just emboldens them to continue on that path.

  15. CW: “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” S1E1, via the ABC website. Grateful they made the episode available there for those of us who missed it on-air. Enjoying it so far, and intrigued. 🙂

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