Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 380
December 9, 2011
More Lies from Mayor "I Have an Army" Bloomberg about OWS and the Press
According to Mayor Michael "I Have an Army" Bloomberg, talking on radio this morning about the criticism he's received about preventing the press from covering his eviction of Occupy Wall Street protesters from Zuccotti Park, "We didn't keep anybody from reporting, they just had to stand to the side while the police did their job."
And how, exactly, is a reporter supposed to do her or his job when the police prevent this reporter from seeing what other police are doing?
And why, if Bloomberg and the police "didn't keep anybody from reporting," did Bloomberg after the Zuccotti Park eviction order the NYPD - his "army" - to keep their hands off reporters covering these events?
The answer, as the New York Times reported, is that a "coalition" of media representatives pressured Bloomberg into saying the right thing.
He also complimented his army aka police for doing "a great job" in their evictions at Zuccotti. Is that why the coalition of media people complained? Is preventing reporters from doing their jobs, roughing them up in some cases, not to mention the unconstitutional eviction of the Park itself a "great job"? Is Bloomberg already reneging on his order to police to leave reporters alone? Didn't take long.
Fortunately, cellphones in the hands of uncredentialed, every day people have showed America and the world the truth - people put in the hospital (one, a former Marine, in critical condition), tear-gassed, shoved up against a wall (an elderly woman) - all by police, who are supposed to protect not assualt law-abiding people.
I'll give Bloomberg this - so far, none of the worst offenses by police have happened in New York City. But pointing to a worse evil does not justify one not quite as bad, and Bloomberg by his talk and actions is well on the way to making New York, a city I was born in, lived all my life, and love, into a totalitarian town.
my interview of NY Night News about Bloomberg, OWS, the press
Occupy Wall Street Chronicles, Part 1
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
And how, exactly, is a reporter supposed to do her or his job when the police prevent this reporter from seeing what other police are doing?
And why, if Bloomberg and the police "didn't keep anybody from reporting," did Bloomberg after the Zuccotti Park eviction order the NYPD - his "army" - to keep their hands off reporters covering these events?
The answer, as the New York Times reported, is that a "coalition" of media representatives pressured Bloomberg into saying the right thing.
He also complimented his army aka police for doing "a great job" in their evictions at Zuccotti. Is that why the coalition of media people complained? Is preventing reporters from doing their jobs, roughing them up in some cases, not to mention the unconstitutional eviction of the Park itself a "great job"? Is Bloomberg already reneging on his order to police to leave reporters alone? Didn't take long.
Fortunately, cellphones in the hands of uncredentialed, every day people have showed America and the world the truth - people put in the hospital (one, a former Marine, in critical condition), tear-gassed, shoved up against a wall (an elderly woman) - all by police, who are supposed to protect not assualt law-abiding people.
I'll give Bloomberg this - so far, none of the worst offenses by police have happened in New York City. But pointing to a worse evil does not justify one not quite as bad, and Bloomberg by his talk and actions is well on the way to making New York, a city I was born in, lived all my life, and love, into a totalitarian town.
my interview of NY Night News about Bloomberg, OWS, the press
Occupy Wall Street Chronicles, Part 1
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
December 8, 2011
Bones 7.5: "Sexy Vehicle"
An extreme-weather Bones 7.5 - Bones' "first tornado," as she notes - with some great wind-blown shots, humor abounding, all topped off with Grandpa Z Z Top in town to take care of Angela and Hodgins' baby (all smiles, and delightful).
The "sexy vehicle" is Sweets' line, about a tornado-hunting truck, and what goes on inside it. They're looking for the killer of a guy who was not a victim of a storm, at least, not the weather kind. Booth is understandably protective - he doesn't want Bones accompanying him into tornado territory - and she of course doesn't want him regulating her life. I'm with Booth on this one - near a tornado is no place Bones should be - but she's irrepressible, shows up anyway, and helps work the case.
Angela and Hodgins would prefer Grandpa Top nowhere near their baby - they don't want him blowin' like a hurrciane and over-stimulating Michael with his music - but his beard has to be enjoyable for a baby to tug, and I've always found "Sharp Dressed Man" both energizing and soothing at the same time. Angela and Hodgins see the light pretty soon, and go off to help with the tornadic case.
Bones and Booth never do come to a complete understanding, which is realistic, and good news for a long-term stable relationship (the only way that two strong people can constantly agree on everything is for one or the other to repress feelings, which is a prescription for problems). Bones is more annoyed that Booth lied to her than that he was so protective. Booth sincerely apologizes about the white lie in the tornado case (not letting her know he and Sweets were off on the trail for the tornado killer), but insists that he is going to continue to be protective. Bones accepts Booth's apology, but not necessarily his protectiveness. This is an adult, serious relationship, and continues to be a refreshing one-of-a-kind in television land.
See you in January with my review of the next Bones, and maybe before then with a review of another show on the dwindling winter screen (well, there's Dexter, Boardwalk Empire, and Hell on Wheels).
See also Bones 7.1: Almost Home Sweet Home ... Bones 7.2: The New Kid and the Fluke ... Bones 7.3: Lance Bond and Prince Charmington ... Bones 7.4: The Tush on the Xerox
And see also Bones 6.1: The Linchpin ... Bones 6.2: Hannah and her Prospects ... Bones 6.3 at the Jersey Shore, Yo, and Plymouth Rock ... Bones 6.4 Sans Hannah ... Bones 6.5: Shot and Pretty ... Bones 6.6: Accidental Relations ... Bones 6.7: Newman and "Death by Chocolate" ... Bones 6.8: Melted Bones ... Bones 6.9: Adelbert Ames, Jr. ... Bones 6.10: Reflections ... Bones 6.11: The End and the Beginning of a Mystery ... Bones 6.12 Meets Big Love ... Bones 6.13: The Marrying Kind ... Bones 6.14: Bones' Acting Ability ... Bones 6.15: "Lunch for the Palin Family" ... Bones 6.16: Stuck in an Elevator, Stuck in Times ... Bones 6.17: The 8th Pair of Feet ... Bones 6.18: The Wile E. Chupacabra ... Bones 6.19 Test Runs The Finder ... Bones 6.20: This Very Statement is a Lie ... Bones 6.21: Sensitive Bones ... Bones 6.22: Phoenix Love ... Bones Season 6 Finale: Beautiful
And see also Bones: Hilarity and Crime and Bones is Back For Season 5: What Is Love? and 5.2: Anonymous Donors and Pipes and 5.3: Bones in Amish Country and 5.4: Bones Meets Peyton Place and Desperate Housewives and Ancient Bones 5.5 and Bones 5.6: A Chicken in Every Viewer's Pot and Psychological Bones 5.7 and Bones 5.8: Booth's "Pops" and Bones 5.9 Meets Avatar and Videogamers ... Bad Santa, Heart-Warming Bones 5.10 ... Bones 5.11: Of UFOs, Bloggers, and Triangles ... Bones 5.12: A Famous Skeleton and Angela's Baby ... Love with Teeth on Bones 5.13 ... Faith vs. Science vs. Psychology in Bones 5.14 ... Page 187 in Bones 5.15 ... Bones 100: Two Deep Kisses and One Wild Relationship ... Bones 5.17: The Deadly Stars ... Bones Under Water in 5.18 ... Bones 5.19: Ergo Together ... Bones 5.20: Ergo Together ... Bones 5.21: The Rarity of Happy Endings ... Bones Season 5 Finale: Eye and Evolution
Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic
The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly
"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News
"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book
Enjoy listening to audio books? Get a free audio book copy of The Plot to Save Socrates - or any one of 85,000 other titles - with a 14-day trial membership at Audible.com ... Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
The "sexy vehicle" is Sweets' line, about a tornado-hunting truck, and what goes on inside it. They're looking for the killer of a guy who was not a victim of a storm, at least, not the weather kind. Booth is understandably protective - he doesn't want Bones accompanying him into tornado territory - and she of course doesn't want him regulating her life. I'm with Booth on this one - near a tornado is no place Bones should be - but she's irrepressible, shows up anyway, and helps work the case.
Angela and Hodgins would prefer Grandpa Top nowhere near their baby - they don't want him blowin' like a hurrciane and over-stimulating Michael with his music - but his beard has to be enjoyable for a baby to tug, and I've always found "Sharp Dressed Man" both energizing and soothing at the same time. Angela and Hodgins see the light pretty soon, and go off to help with the tornadic case.
Bones and Booth never do come to a complete understanding, which is realistic, and good news for a long-term stable relationship (the only way that two strong people can constantly agree on everything is for one or the other to repress feelings, which is a prescription for problems). Bones is more annoyed that Booth lied to her than that he was so protective. Booth sincerely apologizes about the white lie in the tornado case (not letting her know he and Sweets were off on the trail for the tornado killer), but insists that he is going to continue to be protective. Bones accepts Booth's apology, but not necessarily his protectiveness. This is an adult, serious relationship, and continues to be a refreshing one-of-a-kind in television land.
See you in January with my review of the next Bones, and maybe before then with a review of another show on the dwindling winter screen (well, there's Dexter, Boardwalk Empire, and Hell on Wheels).
See also Bones 7.1: Almost Home Sweet Home ... Bones 7.2: The New Kid and the Fluke ... Bones 7.3: Lance Bond and Prince Charmington ... Bones 7.4: The Tush on the Xerox
And see also Bones 6.1: The Linchpin ... Bones 6.2: Hannah and her Prospects ... Bones 6.3 at the Jersey Shore, Yo, and Plymouth Rock ... Bones 6.4 Sans Hannah ... Bones 6.5: Shot and Pretty ... Bones 6.6: Accidental Relations ... Bones 6.7: Newman and "Death by Chocolate" ... Bones 6.8: Melted Bones ... Bones 6.9: Adelbert Ames, Jr. ... Bones 6.10: Reflections ... Bones 6.11: The End and the Beginning of a Mystery ... Bones 6.12 Meets Big Love ... Bones 6.13: The Marrying Kind ... Bones 6.14: Bones' Acting Ability ... Bones 6.15: "Lunch for the Palin Family" ... Bones 6.16: Stuck in an Elevator, Stuck in Times ... Bones 6.17: The 8th Pair of Feet ... Bones 6.18: The Wile E. Chupacabra ... Bones 6.19 Test Runs The Finder ... Bones 6.20: This Very Statement is a Lie ... Bones 6.21: Sensitive Bones ... Bones 6.22: Phoenix Love ... Bones Season 6 Finale: Beautiful
And see also Bones: Hilarity and Crime and Bones is Back For Season 5: What Is Love? and 5.2: Anonymous Donors and Pipes and 5.3: Bones in Amish Country and 5.4: Bones Meets Peyton Place and Desperate Housewives and Ancient Bones 5.5 and Bones 5.6: A Chicken in Every Viewer's Pot and Psychological Bones 5.7 and Bones 5.8: Booth's "Pops" and Bones 5.9 Meets Avatar and Videogamers ... Bad Santa, Heart-Warming Bones 5.10 ... Bones 5.11: Of UFOs, Bloggers, and Triangles ... Bones 5.12: A Famous Skeleton and Angela's Baby ... Love with Teeth on Bones 5.13 ... Faith vs. Science vs. Psychology in Bones 5.14 ... Page 187 in Bones 5.15 ... Bones 100: Two Deep Kisses and One Wild Relationship ... Bones 5.17: The Deadly Stars ... Bones Under Water in 5.18 ... Bones 5.19: Ergo Together ... Bones 5.20: Ergo Together ... Bones 5.21: The Rarity of Happy Endings ... Bones Season 5 Finale: Eye and Evolution
Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic
The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly
"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News
"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book
Enjoy listening to audio books? Get a free audio book copy of The Plot to Save Socrates - or any one of 85,000 other titles - with a 14-day trial membership at Audible.com ... Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
December 7, 2011
Hell on Wheels: Blood, Sweat, and Tears on The Tracks, and the Telegraph
Thought it was time that I rolled in with a review of Hell on the Wheels, which rolled out its 5th episode on AMC this past Sunday.
I gotta first say that AMC has been coming up with nothing but aces with its series. From Mad Men to Breaking Bad to The Walking Dead to The Killing and now Hell on Wheels, I'd say AMC has more top-notch series on the air than HBO and Showtime put together these days.
And Hell on Wheels is one of the best - which is to stay, every bit as good as those other four so far. Now readers of this blog will know how partial I am t to historical dramas - Rome (HBO), The Tudors (Showtime), Mad Men (AMC), The Borgias (Showtime), Boardwalk Empire (HBO) - and Hell on Wheels has carved out a niche all its own, in 1865, with the Civil War just over and Lincoln in his grave, as the opening episode tells us.
What I especially like about historical dramas is when they not only get the events but the technology and media of the time just right. Hell on Wheels is about the building of the transcontinental railroad in the U.S., so it's just bursting with technology, accurately portrayed, blood, sweat and tears at every turn.
The only long distance medium at hand in those days was the telegraph, whose poles went up alongside the tracks, and kept information and money, the lifebloods of the massive construction project, flowing. Colm Meaney puts in his best performance since Miles on Star Trek: The Next Generation (hey, another travel show) as the boss of the whole railroad operation - Thomas 'Doc' Durant - and one of my favorite parts of every episode is watching him bark messages ("STOP") to his hardworking telegraph operator. (For more on the history and early impact of the telegraph, see my 1997 book, The Soft Edge: A Natural History and Future of the Information Revolution.) The telegraph has been called The Victorian Internet, and I call it an early form of tweeting in New New Media (2009).
Dominique McElligott is beautiful and bright as Lily Bell, whose beloved husband, surveyor for the railroad, dies at Indian hands in the first episode. Durant certainly wants Lily - though he probably loves his railroad more - but it's likely just a matter of time before she gets together with Cullen Bohannan (Anson Mount), the other fine lead of the series, a former Confederate determined to kill all of the Yankees who killed his wife in their home.
There's just one of those Yankees left, at this point, and it will be interesting to see whether he remains elusive for the entire season or series, or meets his demise sooner. One of many interesting stories, subtle and powerful, that keep this railroad of a series and its viewers stoked.
Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
I gotta first say that AMC has been coming up with nothing but aces with its series. From Mad Men to Breaking Bad to The Walking Dead to The Killing and now Hell on Wheels, I'd say AMC has more top-notch series on the air than HBO and Showtime put together these days.
And Hell on Wheels is one of the best - which is to stay, every bit as good as those other four so far. Now readers of this blog will know how partial I am t to historical dramas - Rome (HBO), The Tudors (Showtime), Mad Men (AMC), The Borgias (Showtime), Boardwalk Empire (HBO) - and Hell on Wheels has carved out a niche all its own, in 1865, with the Civil War just over and Lincoln in his grave, as the opening episode tells us.
What I especially like about historical dramas is when they not only get the events but the technology and media of the time just right. Hell on Wheels is about the building of the transcontinental railroad in the U.S., so it's just bursting with technology, accurately portrayed, blood, sweat and tears at every turn.
The only long distance medium at hand in those days was the telegraph, whose poles went up alongside the tracks, and kept information and money, the lifebloods of the massive construction project, flowing. Colm Meaney puts in his best performance since Miles on Star Trek: The Next Generation (hey, another travel show) as the boss of the whole railroad operation - Thomas 'Doc' Durant - and one of my favorite parts of every episode is watching him bark messages ("STOP") to his hardworking telegraph operator. (For more on the history and early impact of the telegraph, see my 1997 book, The Soft Edge: A Natural History and Future of the Information Revolution.) The telegraph has been called The Victorian Internet, and I call it an early form of tweeting in New New Media (2009).Dominique McElligott is beautiful and bright as Lily Bell, whose beloved husband, surveyor for the railroad, dies at Indian hands in the first episode. Durant certainly wants Lily - though he probably loves his railroad more - but it's likely just a matter of time before she gets together with Cullen Bohannan (Anson Mount), the other fine lead of the series, a former Confederate determined to kill all of the Yankees who killed his wife in their home.
There's just one of those Yankees left, at this point, and it will be interesting to see whether he remains elusive for the entire season or series, or meets his demise sooner. One of many interesting stories, subtle and powerful, that keep this railroad of a series and its viewers stoked.
Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
December 5, 2011
Boardwalk Empire 2.11: Gillian and Jimmy
No shows nails it to the wall, follows through to the max with its implications, as much as Boardwalk Empire this season. There's been sexual tension between Jimmy and his mother - who looks young and hot enough for a man of any age to want to bed - from the very beginning. It finally happened last night in Boardwalk Empire 2.11.
It happened in a flashback, which was the lion's share of the episode. Although it delayed our seeing Jimmy's response to the murder of Angela and her female lover - he spent most of the episode in shock in Princeton - the flashback filled in some of the crucial missing pieces of Jimmy's story.
Jimmy's an up-and-coming successful student at Princeton, where he meets Angela and gets her pregnant. He might have had a happy life, but Gillian comes up from AC and flirts with his professor - who doesn't even imagine Gillian could be Jimmy's mother - and sleeps with him. When Jimmy sees her walking out of the room, she feigns irritation at being taken advantage of. When Jimmy sees the professor, he confronts him and soon beats the prof to a pulp - more than enough to get him expelled. Later that evening, he mostly undresses and puts his drunken mother to bed. She's hammered but not passed out, and when he leans over to kiss her goodnight - actually, already on top of her - she pulls him into all-out sex. Jimmy now has lots of reasons to want to get out this place and join the Army.
This puts Jimmy's later life - the life we've seen in these first two seasons of BE - into much clearer perspective. Nucky not Gillian is the source of the good and decency in Jimmy's personality. Gillian brings out the worst in Jimmy, and is always urging him to do the worst things. Back in present time, Jimmy almost kills Gillian when he comes back to Atlantic City, and sees his son in Gillian's hands. But the Commodore saves Gillian - who then urges Jimmy to kill the Commodore, which he does, after he narrowly escapes being killed by the Commodore himself.
As for Nucky, he's finally beginning to see the truth about Margaret - she's holding him responsible for her daughter's polio (God has punished her for her sins). At this point, Nucky would be better off without her and her guilt.
As I've said before, I see a re-alliance with Jimmy and Nucky in the future, maybe near future. Both men are low on true friends. Nucky would certainly have no problem with Jimmy killing Doyle and Manny in retribution for Angela. And Jimmy should have no problem with Nucky getting Lucky and Al out of his hair (but not killed, because history won't allow that).
But, first, Nucky has to deal with the charges against him. Van Alden's unmasking as a pyscho killer should help, and it will be good to see how this plays out in the season finale next week.
See also Boardwalk Empire 2.1: Politics in an Age Before YouTube ... Boardwalk Empire 2.2: The Woman Behind the Throne ... Boardwalk Empire 2.3: Frankenstein and Victrola ... Boardwalk Empire 2.4: Nearly Flagrante Delicto ... Boardwalk Empire 2.5: Richard's Story ... Boardwalk Empire 2.6: Owen and Other Bad News for Nucky ... Boardwalk Empire 2.7: Shot in the Hand ... Boardwalk Empire 2.8: Pups with Fangs ... Boardwalk Empire 2.9: Ireland, Radio, Polio ... Boardwalk Empire 2.10: Double Shot
And see also Boardwalk Emipre on HBO ... Boardwalk Empire 1.2: Lines and Centers Power ... Boardwalk Empire 1.10: Arnold Rothstein, Media Theorist ... Season One Finale of Boardwalk Empire Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic
The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly
"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News
"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book
Enjoy listening to audio books? Get a free audio book copy of The Plot to Save Socrates - or any one of 85,000 other titles - with a 14-day trial membership at Audible.com ...
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
It happened in a flashback, which was the lion's share of the episode. Although it delayed our seeing Jimmy's response to the murder of Angela and her female lover - he spent most of the episode in shock in Princeton - the flashback filled in some of the crucial missing pieces of Jimmy's story.
Jimmy's an up-and-coming successful student at Princeton, where he meets Angela and gets her pregnant. He might have had a happy life, but Gillian comes up from AC and flirts with his professor - who doesn't even imagine Gillian could be Jimmy's mother - and sleeps with him. When Jimmy sees her walking out of the room, she feigns irritation at being taken advantage of. When Jimmy sees the professor, he confronts him and soon beats the prof to a pulp - more than enough to get him expelled. Later that evening, he mostly undresses and puts his drunken mother to bed. She's hammered but not passed out, and when he leans over to kiss her goodnight - actually, already on top of her - she pulls him into all-out sex. Jimmy now has lots of reasons to want to get out this place and join the Army.
This puts Jimmy's later life - the life we've seen in these first two seasons of BE - into much clearer perspective. Nucky not Gillian is the source of the good and decency in Jimmy's personality. Gillian brings out the worst in Jimmy, and is always urging him to do the worst things. Back in present time, Jimmy almost kills Gillian when he comes back to Atlantic City, and sees his son in Gillian's hands. But the Commodore saves Gillian - who then urges Jimmy to kill the Commodore, which he does, after he narrowly escapes being killed by the Commodore himself.
As for Nucky, he's finally beginning to see the truth about Margaret - she's holding him responsible for her daughter's polio (God has punished her for her sins). At this point, Nucky would be better off without her and her guilt.
As I've said before, I see a re-alliance with Jimmy and Nucky in the future, maybe near future. Both men are low on true friends. Nucky would certainly have no problem with Jimmy killing Doyle and Manny in retribution for Angela. And Jimmy should have no problem with Nucky getting Lucky and Al out of his hair (but not killed, because history won't allow that).
But, first, Nucky has to deal with the charges against him. Van Alden's unmasking as a pyscho killer should help, and it will be good to see how this plays out in the season finale next week.
See also Boardwalk Empire 2.1: Politics in an Age Before YouTube ... Boardwalk Empire 2.2: The Woman Behind the Throne ... Boardwalk Empire 2.3: Frankenstein and Victrola ... Boardwalk Empire 2.4: Nearly Flagrante Delicto ... Boardwalk Empire 2.5: Richard's Story ... Boardwalk Empire 2.6: Owen and Other Bad News for Nucky ... Boardwalk Empire 2.7: Shot in the Hand ... Boardwalk Empire 2.8: Pups with Fangs ... Boardwalk Empire 2.9: Ireland, Radio, Polio ... Boardwalk Empire 2.10: Double Shot
And see also Boardwalk Emipre on HBO ... Boardwalk Empire 1.2: Lines and Centers Power ... Boardwalk Empire 1.10: Arnold Rothstein, Media Theorist ... Season One Finale of Boardwalk Empire Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic
The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly
"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News
"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book
Enjoy listening to audio books? Get a free audio book copy of The Plot to Save Socrates - or any one of 85,000 other titles - with a 14-day trial membership at Audible.com ...
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
December 4, 2011
Dexter's Take on Video Games in 6.10
Well, Dexter weighs in with his take on violent video games in episode 6.10 tonight - namely, Masuka's assistant's creation of a new video game where the player can be a real serial killer. Much to Dexter's discomfort, the list of serial killers includes the Bay Harbor Butcher - aka him, Dexter - real as can be in Dexter-land, and, for that reason alone, Dexter rips the assistant a new one for his video game. Even without the Bay Harbor Butcher, Dexter would no doubt have been nonplussed about the video game - serial killing, for him, is never a game.
Dexter also vents his rage at the part of him that is Harry, sick and tired of the advice that has gotten him almost nowhere this season. He's determined to get Travis all on his own, an understandable reaction to having been fooled by him - "he's mine" - though Travis' plan to kill not one but a whole bunch of people at the Miami Metro precinct may give Dexter no choice but to work with his team.
Debra's arc this season remains the most interesting to me. Jennifer Carpenter was on both Dexter and The Good Wife tonight from 9-10pm Eastern - giving new meaning to Edmund Carpenter's observation (no relation, he was a media anthropologist, a co-worker with Marshall McLuhan) in Oh! What a Blow that Phantom Gave Me! that only arch angels and people on television can be in more than one place at the same time. Carpenter (Edmund) was talking about the image on a television show being on millions of screens at the same time. But Carpenter (Jennifer) was on two different shows, and thus twice as many millions of screens at the same time.
Anyway, though it fun was to see Carpenter on The Good Wife, her character there was no comparison to the irrepressible Debra, who has the best foul mouth now on television. I also still think - and I have no advance knowledge of this - that Debra's en route to finally beginning to find out who Dexter really is.
We'll see in the next two episodes, which will conclude this season. In the meantime, the following are my views about violent video games, given in a debate with anti-video-game crusader Jack Thompson, on CNBC a few years ago.
See also Dexter Season 6 Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 6.4: Two Numbers and Two Killers Equals? ... Dexter 6.5 and 6.6: Decisive Sam ... Dexter 6.7: The State of Nebraska ... Dexter 6.8: Is Gellar Really Real? .... Dexter 6.9: And Gellar Is ...
And see also Dexter Season Five Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 5.4: Dexter's Conscience ... Dexter 5.8 and Lumen ... Dexter 5.9: He's Getting Healthier ... Dexter 5.10: Monsters -Worse and Better ... Dexter 5.11: Sneak Preview with Spoilers ... Dexter Season 5 Finale: Behind the Curtain
And see also Dexter Season 4: Sneak Preview Review ... The Family Man on Dexter 4.5 ... Dexter on the Couch in 4.6 ... Dexter 4.7: 'He Can't Kill Bambi' ... Dexter 4.8: Great Mistakes ... 4.9: Trinity's Surprising Daughter ... 4.10: More than Trinity ... 4.11: The "Soulless, Anti-Family Schmuck" ... 4.12: Revenges and Recapitulations
See also reviews of Season 3: Season's Happy Endings? ... Double Surprise ... Psychotic Law vs. Sociopath Science ... The Bright, Elusive Butterfly of Dexter ... The True Nature of Miguel ... Si Se Puede on Dexter ... and Dexter 3: Sneak Preview Review
Reviews of Season 2: Dexter's Back: A Preview and Dexter Meets Heroes and 6. Dexter and De-Lila-h and 7. Best Line About Dexter - from Lila and 8. How Will Dexter Get Out of This? and The Plot Gets Tighter and Sharper and Dex, Doakes, and Harry and Deb's Belief Saves Dex and All's ... Well
See also about Season 1: First Place to Dexter
Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic
The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly
"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News
"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
Dexter also vents his rage at the part of him that is Harry, sick and tired of the advice that has gotten him almost nowhere this season. He's determined to get Travis all on his own, an understandable reaction to having been fooled by him - "he's mine" - though Travis' plan to kill not one but a whole bunch of people at the Miami Metro precinct may give Dexter no choice but to work with his team.
Debra's arc this season remains the most interesting to me. Jennifer Carpenter was on both Dexter and The Good Wife tonight from 9-10pm Eastern - giving new meaning to Edmund Carpenter's observation (no relation, he was a media anthropologist, a co-worker with Marshall McLuhan) in Oh! What a Blow that Phantom Gave Me! that only arch angels and people on television can be in more than one place at the same time. Carpenter (Edmund) was talking about the image on a television show being on millions of screens at the same time. But Carpenter (Jennifer) was on two different shows, and thus twice as many millions of screens at the same time.Anyway, though it fun was to see Carpenter on The Good Wife, her character there was no comparison to the irrepressible Debra, who has the best foul mouth now on television. I also still think - and I have no advance knowledge of this - that Debra's en route to finally beginning to find out who Dexter really is.
We'll see in the next two episodes, which will conclude this season. In the meantime, the following are my views about violent video games, given in a debate with anti-video-game crusader Jack Thompson, on CNBC a few years ago.
See also Dexter Season 6 Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 6.4: Two Numbers and Two Killers Equals? ... Dexter 6.5 and 6.6: Decisive Sam ... Dexter 6.7: The State of Nebraska ... Dexter 6.8: Is Gellar Really Real? .... Dexter 6.9: And Gellar Is ...
And see also Dexter Season Five Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 5.4: Dexter's Conscience ... Dexter 5.8 and Lumen ... Dexter 5.9: He's Getting Healthier ... Dexter 5.10: Monsters -Worse and Better ... Dexter 5.11: Sneak Preview with Spoilers ... Dexter Season 5 Finale: Behind the Curtain
And see also Dexter Season 4: Sneak Preview Review ... The Family Man on Dexter 4.5 ... Dexter on the Couch in 4.6 ... Dexter 4.7: 'He Can't Kill Bambi' ... Dexter 4.8: Great Mistakes ... 4.9: Trinity's Surprising Daughter ... 4.10: More than Trinity ... 4.11: The "Soulless, Anti-Family Schmuck" ... 4.12: Revenges and Recapitulations
See also reviews of Season 3: Season's Happy Endings? ... Double Surprise ... Psychotic Law vs. Sociopath Science ... The Bright, Elusive Butterfly of Dexter ... The True Nature of Miguel ... Si Se Puede on Dexter ... and Dexter 3: Sneak Preview Review
Reviews of Season 2: Dexter's Back: A Preview and Dexter Meets Heroes and 6. Dexter and De-Lila-h and 7. Best Line About Dexter - from Lila and 8. How Will Dexter Get Out of This? and The Plot Gets Tighter and Sharper and Dex, Doakes, and Harry and Deb's Belief Saves Dex and All's ... Well
See also about Season 1: First Place to Dexter
Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic
The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly
"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News
"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
Dexter's Sister on The Good Wife 3.10
Television has come a long way from the days when a star could not be on more than one series in the same season. Tonight, Dexter's sister - or, more precisely, Jennifer Carpenter, who plays Debra so well on Dexter - was not only on Dexter, but on The Good Wife, at exactly the same time. I'll review Dexter in my next post.
On The Good Wife 3.10, Carpenter plays a "Professor of English" who is fired by the Provost, who's accused by Alicia's firm of sexual harassment, pc-bigotry (the professor is a conservative), and religious bias (she's a fundamentalist Christian outspoken in her views against abortion). The story line was factually inaccurate about what provosts of universities can do - they cannot summarily fire professors without faculty and dean concurrence, unless the prof violates the university code of conduct, and even then, the prof is entitled to some sort of hearing. And the mix of offenses was jumbled. Only Michael Fox as Canning made this weak segment at least a little interesting, and then-
All hell broke lose with an unexpected twist that shook up the fundamental set-up of this season's Good Wife, and will likely change it forever more. The creators of this episode deserve big kudos for not starting the episode with the apparent shocker, and instead lulling us into a sense of tedium and even irritation with the story line about the professor that made the shocker that much more of a punch in the solar plexus.
Alicia, on a break in the professor/provost arbitration proceedings, discovers that her daughter Grace has tried to call her 12 times. Alicia returns the call, gets no answer, and within seconds we're pitched into a frantic search for Grace.
Canning is truly helpful, Peter mobilizes the police, but it's Kalinda who finds Grace - being baptized. Grace's phone was in her back pocket - she ass-dialed her mother, happens to everyone. Alicia, Peter, and Grace hug - which Will, who has come over to Alicia's house to help, sees. He thus doesn't protest when Alicia later tells him, in the office, that it's "just too much" for the two of them to continue with their affair. The thought of what could have happened to Grace, when she was missing, his put her heart in keen touch with her family - including Peter.
Diane is of course happy, though Will doesn't correct her when she says he did the right thing to end it with Alicia. Kalinda asked Grace not to tell her mother that Kalinda found Grace, but you just know that sooner or later Alicia will find out, which means her relationship with Kalinda should be repaired.
And speaking of repair, how long with it now take for Peter and Alicia to get back together - in bed, and even as a fully married couple?
One person who's incorrigible in all this, though, is Canning. Once he learns that Grace is ok, he uses Alicia's absence to look through her papers, and gets evidence which wins him and his client the arbitration. (Poor Deb always has problems with legalities.) That was about the only good thing in the arbitration case, in an episode which was otherwise superb, and was especially superb because of the sudden contrast with the arbitration.
See also The Good Wife 3.1: Recusal and Rosh Hashanah ... The Good Wife: 3.2: Periwigs and Skype ... The Good Wife 3.7: Peter vs. Will
And see also The Good Wife Starts Second Season on CBS ... The Good Wife 2.2: Lou Dobbs, Joe Trippi, and Obama Girl ... The Good Wife 2.4: Surprise Candidate, Intimate Interpsonal Distance ... The Good Wife 2.9 Takes on Capital Punishment ... The Good Wife 2.16: Information Wars
Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic
The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly
"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News
"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
On The Good Wife 3.10, Carpenter plays a "Professor of English" who is fired by the Provost, who's accused by Alicia's firm of sexual harassment, pc-bigotry (the professor is a conservative), and religious bias (she's a fundamentalist Christian outspoken in her views against abortion). The story line was factually inaccurate about what provosts of universities can do - they cannot summarily fire professors without faculty and dean concurrence, unless the prof violates the university code of conduct, and even then, the prof is entitled to some sort of hearing. And the mix of offenses was jumbled. Only Michael Fox as Canning made this weak segment at least a little interesting, and then-
All hell broke lose with an unexpected twist that shook up the fundamental set-up of this season's Good Wife, and will likely change it forever more. The creators of this episode deserve big kudos for not starting the episode with the apparent shocker, and instead lulling us into a sense of tedium and even irritation with the story line about the professor that made the shocker that much more of a punch in the solar plexus.
Alicia, on a break in the professor/provost arbitration proceedings, discovers that her daughter Grace has tried to call her 12 times. Alicia returns the call, gets no answer, and within seconds we're pitched into a frantic search for Grace.
Canning is truly helpful, Peter mobilizes the police, but it's Kalinda who finds Grace - being baptized. Grace's phone was in her back pocket - she ass-dialed her mother, happens to everyone. Alicia, Peter, and Grace hug - which Will, who has come over to Alicia's house to help, sees. He thus doesn't protest when Alicia later tells him, in the office, that it's "just too much" for the two of them to continue with their affair. The thought of what could have happened to Grace, when she was missing, his put her heart in keen touch with her family - including Peter.
Diane is of course happy, though Will doesn't correct her when she says he did the right thing to end it with Alicia. Kalinda asked Grace not to tell her mother that Kalinda found Grace, but you just know that sooner or later Alicia will find out, which means her relationship with Kalinda should be repaired.
And speaking of repair, how long with it now take for Peter and Alicia to get back together - in bed, and even as a fully married couple?
One person who's incorrigible in all this, though, is Canning. Once he learns that Grace is ok, he uses Alicia's absence to look through her papers, and gets evidence which wins him and his client the arbitration. (Poor Deb always has problems with legalities.) That was about the only good thing in the arbitration case, in an episode which was otherwise superb, and was especially superb because of the sudden contrast with the arbitration.
See also The Good Wife 3.1: Recusal and Rosh Hashanah ... The Good Wife: 3.2: Periwigs and Skype ... The Good Wife 3.7: Peter vs. Will
And see also The Good Wife Starts Second Season on CBS ... The Good Wife 2.2: Lou Dobbs, Joe Trippi, and Obama Girl ... The Good Wife 2.4: Surprise Candidate, Intimate Interpsonal Distance ... The Good Wife 2.9 Takes on Capital Punishment ... The Good Wife 2.16: Information Wars
Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic
The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly
"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News
"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
December 3, 2011
A Progressive Libertarian in the Occupy Wall Street Age
It's been 3 and 1/2 years since I posted I Am a Progressive Libertarian, which received some 60+ comments, most in 2009 and 2010, most by people who argued that I wasn't really a libertarian, which I maintained I really was. The gist of my position is we need (a) less or no government in regulation of communication, technology, etc., and strict enforcement of Constitutional provisions of government's capacity to wage war, collect data on citizens, etc., (b) more government involvement in providing health care (I see protection from microbial parasites or disease as akin to protection from human invaders), and (c) payment for necessary government by taxing the super-rich (as a goal, no taxes from any person or business earning less than $1,000,000 per year, greatly increased taxes for all people and corporations earning more than that per year).
How does that position play in our Occupy Wall Street age?
1. The resurgence of direct democracy that is the mainspring of Occupy Wall Street is a straight-up staple of any libertarian philosophy. Direct democracy intrinsically reduces government by replacing representatives of the people (in Congress, in state houses, and in city halls) with the people themselves as decision-makers. See Occupy Wall Street, Direct Democracy, Social Media for more. The failure of Congress to reach an agreement on budgetary issues this year is further evidence of the decline of representative democracy. Referenda to recall or remove elected government officials, calls for a Constitutional Convention, and General Assemblies at Occupy sites are expressions of this new direct democracy. Note that The Tea Party, which often presents itself as a conservative libertarian movement, is explicitly focused on electing representatives, meaning that, unlike Occupy Wall Street, The Tea Party is not pursuing direct democracy (though both movements arise from a common refusal to accept business-as-usual from current officials and representatives in government).
2. Police brutality against protesters in Occupy Wall Street sites across America is precisely the kind of government trampling of communication - and abrogation of First Amendment rights to peaceably assembly - that the progressive libertarian seeks to prevent, restrain, punish, and stop. Similarly, the obstruction of the press from covering the Occupy Wall Street eviction in New York by Mayor Michael "I Have an Army" Bloomberg is an outright violation of the freedom of press provision of the First Amendment. The failure of President Obama to condemn all of these violations in the U.S., and of Governor Jerry Brown to do the same in California, is yet another example of the exhaustion of representative democracy in our digital/street age.
3. The 99% vs. 1% focus of Occupy Wall Street is exactly what I have in mind with the goal of no taxes for any person or business earning under a million dollars per year, and sharp increases in taxes for all earnings above one million dollars per year. Bank of America's decision to rescind its plan to charge $5 a month for use of debit cards is a small but first explicit victory of the 99% over the 1%.
In sum, the progressive libertarian approach is not a call for yet another political party. It is, rather, a philosophy, a perspective, which I see as consonant with Occupy Wall Street and hope will ring a bell with those seeking less government in our political lives and more government responsiveness to our human needs, financed by the super-wealthy. As a citizen, I intend to continue to shine an uncompromising light on the government's escalating violation of our First Amendment rights.
See also I Am a Progressive Libertarian and The Occupy Wall Street Chronicles, Part 1
-Paul Levinson, PhD
Professor of Communication and Media Studies
Fordham University Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
How does that position play in our Occupy Wall Street age?
1. The resurgence of direct democracy that is the mainspring of Occupy Wall Street is a straight-up staple of any libertarian philosophy. Direct democracy intrinsically reduces government by replacing representatives of the people (in Congress, in state houses, and in city halls) with the people themselves as decision-makers. See Occupy Wall Street, Direct Democracy, Social Media for more. The failure of Congress to reach an agreement on budgetary issues this year is further evidence of the decline of representative democracy. Referenda to recall or remove elected government officials, calls for a Constitutional Convention, and General Assemblies at Occupy sites are expressions of this new direct democracy. Note that The Tea Party, which often presents itself as a conservative libertarian movement, is explicitly focused on electing representatives, meaning that, unlike Occupy Wall Street, The Tea Party is not pursuing direct democracy (though both movements arise from a common refusal to accept business-as-usual from current officials and representatives in government).
2. Police brutality against protesters in Occupy Wall Street sites across America is precisely the kind of government trampling of communication - and abrogation of First Amendment rights to peaceably assembly - that the progressive libertarian seeks to prevent, restrain, punish, and stop. Similarly, the obstruction of the press from covering the Occupy Wall Street eviction in New York by Mayor Michael "I Have an Army" Bloomberg is an outright violation of the freedom of press provision of the First Amendment. The failure of President Obama to condemn all of these violations in the U.S., and of Governor Jerry Brown to do the same in California, is yet another example of the exhaustion of representative democracy in our digital/street age.
3. The 99% vs. 1% focus of Occupy Wall Street is exactly what I have in mind with the goal of no taxes for any person or business earning under a million dollars per year, and sharp increases in taxes for all earnings above one million dollars per year. Bank of America's decision to rescind its plan to charge $5 a month for use of debit cards is a small but first explicit victory of the 99% over the 1%.
In sum, the progressive libertarian approach is not a call for yet another political party. It is, rather, a philosophy, a perspective, which I see as consonant with Occupy Wall Street and hope will ring a bell with those seeking less government in our political lives and more government responsiveness to our human needs, financed by the super-wealthy. As a citizen, I intend to continue to shine an uncompromising light on the government's escalating violation of our First Amendment rights.
See also I Am a Progressive Libertarian and The Occupy Wall Street Chronicles, Part 1
-Paul Levinson, PhD
Professor of Communication and Media Studies
Fordham University Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
December 2, 2011
Terra Nova as Good Biological Science Fiction
As Terra Nova chugs along to its season conclusion - perhaps series conclusion as well - it seems like a good time to assess what went wrong and right with the show.
Time travel is the central foundation of the series - people traveling from the future back to the prehistoric past. But as a continuing time travel story, replete with the paradoxes of time travel - if I travel to the past to make my current world better, and I make the change in the past which does make my current world better, then why in my better current world, where I was growing up, would I have wanted to travel back to the past in the first place - Terra Nova offered little. That general scenario was never Terra Nova's - the travel to the past is just to find a better life - but Terra Nova so far has not picked up on any other paradoxes, which are like fruit for the picking in time travel stories.
Dinosaurs ala Jurrasic Park are also an obvious mainstay of the series, and Terra Nova did pretty well on that score, though no great shakes. The smaller screens of even today's big screen television sets are just no match for dinosaurs on the big movie screen, and dinosaurs do even worse on iPads.
But one area in which Terra Nova has excelled is in its thoughtful treatment of the natural world in the past - not just special effected dinosaurs - or what is otherwise known as biological science fiction. A recent episode featured big insects outfitted with spy devices, an earlier episode had memories lost because of micro-organisms, and with Elisabeth's high tech medical knowledge playing a role in just about every show, the organic has really flourished in this series.
I admit to having a soft spot for biological science fiction - three of my novels pictured below delved into these themes (The Consciousness Plague about the loss of memory, and The Pixel Eye about squirrels outfitted with spying chips). And I indicated in a piece on the History Channel about the evolution of science fiction a few years ago that I expected biological science fiction to be the next wave (replacing physics as the leading science-fiction science).
If Terra Nova does get a chance to continue - which I hope it does - it would do well to more prominetly mine this rich vein of stories.
See also Terra Nova Debuts Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
Time travel is the central foundation of the series - people traveling from the future back to the prehistoric past. But as a continuing time travel story, replete with the paradoxes of time travel - if I travel to the past to make my current world better, and I make the change in the past which does make my current world better, then why in my better current world, where I was growing up, would I have wanted to travel back to the past in the first place - Terra Nova offered little. That general scenario was never Terra Nova's - the travel to the past is just to find a better life - but Terra Nova so far has not picked up on any other paradoxes, which are like fruit for the picking in time travel stories.
Dinosaurs ala Jurrasic Park are also an obvious mainstay of the series, and Terra Nova did pretty well on that score, though no great shakes. The smaller screens of even today's big screen television sets are just no match for dinosaurs on the big movie screen, and dinosaurs do even worse on iPads.
But one area in which Terra Nova has excelled is in its thoughtful treatment of the natural world in the past - not just special effected dinosaurs - or what is otherwise known as biological science fiction. A recent episode featured big insects outfitted with spy devices, an earlier episode had memories lost because of micro-organisms, and with Elisabeth's high tech medical knowledge playing a role in just about every show, the organic has really flourished in this series.
I admit to having a soft spot for biological science fiction - three of my novels pictured below delved into these themes (The Consciousness Plague about the loss of memory, and The Pixel Eye about squirrels outfitted with spying chips). And I indicated in a piece on the History Channel about the evolution of science fiction a few years ago that I expected biological science fiction to be the next wave (replacing physics as the leading science-fiction science).
If Terra Nova does get a chance to continue - which I hope it does - it would do well to more prominetly mine this rich vein of stories.
See also Terra Nova Debuts Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
December 1, 2011
Bones 7.4: The Tush on the Xerox
It was great to see Ralph Waite back on Bones 7.4 as "Pops," Booth's grandfather Hank, in a sad, beautiful episode about the passing of Booth's father, and how Bones helps Booth comes to terms with it, in a way that brought tears to Booth's and certainly my eyes. But I'll get to that in a minute.
First, a shout-out to a nice toochas oyfen tish - or more precisely, tush on the xerox - which, while not solving the case, helps swing it in a enjoyable direction, a take-off of sorts on Murder on the Orient Express, in which an ensemble of suspects seem guilty (one of whom with the tush in question), but the killer turns out to be someone else. It's been a fine Fall season for the toochas - what with Manny's primo pronunciation of the word over on Boardwalk Empire - and it was good to see Bones lend a hand.
But back to Booth's father. Bones is at first at a loss in how to how to help Booth deal with the loss of a father whom he hated in many ways and with good reason. Hank, in a powerful scene, tries to get Booth to see that Hank is grieving over the loss of his son - Booth's father - and the guilt Hank feels for the way that Booth's father turned out. This affects Booth, but just barely. He accepts a small box that his father left for him, but doesn't open it. It's left for Angela to give Bones the best advice, as she usually does - just draw on who you are, Angela says, you're the one Booth loves.
And Bones does just that. Applying her knowledge of quantum physics, and its paradoxical view that all times - present, past, and future - exist simultaneously when the universe is looked at in a certain way, Bones gets Booth to see that the good times he had with his father (for they weren't all bad) are with him right now. That includes one of the best days of his life - when his father took him to a Phillies game - and Bones' quantum mechanical acumen is confirmed when Booth opens the box, and finds (among other meaningful things) that his father had saved those very two tickets to the baseball game. It had been an extraordinary day, a time worth never forgetting, for Booth's father, too.
As this was an extraordinary episode for Bones. Everything is better through the lens of Bones and Booth being together. More vibrant, more keen, more quivering. And making the loss of Booth's father the focus of that lens upped the payoff. Where and when else on television can you see quantum mechanics, controversial and ambiguous as a hard science, used to such clear and uplifting effect in a human relationship? Only by Bones on Bones, and in a show in which the dimensions of an ass-bone, as Booth puts it, also play a significant role.
For another story about quantum mechanics and human relationships, see The Chronology Protection Case.
See also Bones 7.1: Almost Home Sweet Home ... Bones 7.2: The New Kid and the Fluke ... Bones 7.3: Lance Bond and Prince Charmington
And see also Bones 6.1: The Linchpin ... Bones 6.2: Hannah and her Prospects ... Bones 6.3 at the Jersey Shore, Yo, and Plymouth Rock ... Bones 6.4 Sans Hannah ... Bones 6.5: Shot and Pretty ... Bones 6.6: Accidental Relations ... Bones 6.7: Newman and "Death by Chocolate" ... Bones 6.8: Melted Bones ... Bones 6.9: Adelbert Ames, Jr. ... Bones 6.10: Reflections ... Bones 6.11: The End and the Beginning of a Mystery ... Bones 6.12 Meets Big Love ... Bones 6.13: The Marrying Kind ... Bones 6.14: Bones' Acting Ability ... Bones 6.15: "Lunch for the Palin Family" ... Bones 6.16: Stuck in an Elevator, Stuck in Times ... Bones 6.17: The 8th Pair of Feet ... Bones 6.18: The Wile E. Chupacabra ... Bones 6.19 Test Runs The Finder ... Bones 6.20: This Very Statement is a Lie ... Bones 6.21: Sensitive Bones ... Bones 6.22: Phoenix Love ... Bones Season 6 Finale: Beautiful
And see also Bones: Hilarity and Crime and Bones is Back For Season 5: What Is Love? and 5.2: Anonymous Donors and Pipes and 5.3: Bones in Amish Country and 5.4: Bones Meets Peyton Place and Desperate Housewives and Ancient Bones 5.5 and Bones 5.6: A Chicken in Every Viewer's Pot and Psychological Bones 5.7 and Bones 5.8: Booth's "Pops" and Bones 5.9 Meets Avatar and Videogamers ... Bad Santa, Heart-Warming Bones 5.10 ... Bones 5.11: Of UFOs, Bloggers, and Triangles ... Bones 5.12: A Famous Skeleton and Angela's Baby ... Love with Teeth on Bones 5.13 ... Faith vs. Science vs. Psychology in Bones 5.14 ... Page 187 in Bones 5.15 ... Bones 100: Two Deep Kisses and One Wild Relationship ... Bones 5.17: The Deadly Stars ... Bones Under Water in 5.18 ... Bones 5.19: Ergo Together ... Bones 5.20: Ergo Together ... Bones 5.21: The Rarity of Happy Endings ... Bones Season 5 Finale: Eye and Evolution
Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic
The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly
"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News
"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book
Enjoy listening to audio books? Get a free audio book copy of The Plot to Save Socrates - or any one of 85,000 other titles - with a 14-day trial membership at Audible.com ...
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
First, a shout-out to a nice toochas oyfen tish - or more precisely, tush on the xerox - which, while not solving the case, helps swing it in a enjoyable direction, a take-off of sorts on Murder on the Orient Express, in which an ensemble of suspects seem guilty (one of whom with the tush in question), but the killer turns out to be someone else. It's been a fine Fall season for the toochas - what with Manny's primo pronunciation of the word over on Boardwalk Empire - and it was good to see Bones lend a hand.
But back to Booth's father. Bones is at first at a loss in how to how to help Booth deal with the loss of a father whom he hated in many ways and with good reason. Hank, in a powerful scene, tries to get Booth to see that Hank is grieving over the loss of his son - Booth's father - and the guilt Hank feels for the way that Booth's father turned out. This affects Booth, but just barely. He accepts a small box that his father left for him, but doesn't open it. It's left for Angela to give Bones the best advice, as she usually does - just draw on who you are, Angela says, you're the one Booth loves.
And Bones does just that. Applying her knowledge of quantum physics, and its paradoxical view that all times - present, past, and future - exist simultaneously when the universe is looked at in a certain way, Bones gets Booth to see that the good times he had with his father (for they weren't all bad) are with him right now. That includes one of the best days of his life - when his father took him to a Phillies game - and Bones' quantum mechanical acumen is confirmed when Booth opens the box, and finds (among other meaningful things) that his father had saved those very two tickets to the baseball game. It had been an extraordinary day, a time worth never forgetting, for Booth's father, too.
As this was an extraordinary episode for Bones. Everything is better through the lens of Bones and Booth being together. More vibrant, more keen, more quivering. And making the loss of Booth's father the focus of that lens upped the payoff. Where and when else on television can you see quantum mechanics, controversial and ambiguous as a hard science, used to such clear and uplifting effect in a human relationship? Only by Bones on Bones, and in a show in which the dimensions of an ass-bone, as Booth puts it, also play a significant role.
For another story about quantum mechanics and human relationships, see The Chronology Protection Case.
See also Bones 7.1: Almost Home Sweet Home ... Bones 7.2: The New Kid and the Fluke ... Bones 7.3: Lance Bond and Prince Charmington
And see also Bones 6.1: The Linchpin ... Bones 6.2: Hannah and her Prospects ... Bones 6.3 at the Jersey Shore, Yo, and Plymouth Rock ... Bones 6.4 Sans Hannah ... Bones 6.5: Shot and Pretty ... Bones 6.6: Accidental Relations ... Bones 6.7: Newman and "Death by Chocolate" ... Bones 6.8: Melted Bones ... Bones 6.9: Adelbert Ames, Jr. ... Bones 6.10: Reflections ... Bones 6.11: The End and the Beginning of a Mystery ... Bones 6.12 Meets Big Love ... Bones 6.13: The Marrying Kind ... Bones 6.14: Bones' Acting Ability ... Bones 6.15: "Lunch for the Palin Family" ... Bones 6.16: Stuck in an Elevator, Stuck in Times ... Bones 6.17: The 8th Pair of Feet ... Bones 6.18: The Wile E. Chupacabra ... Bones 6.19 Test Runs The Finder ... Bones 6.20: This Very Statement is a Lie ... Bones 6.21: Sensitive Bones ... Bones 6.22: Phoenix Love ... Bones Season 6 Finale: Beautiful
And see also Bones: Hilarity and Crime and Bones is Back For Season 5: What Is Love? and 5.2: Anonymous Donors and Pipes and 5.3: Bones in Amish Country and 5.4: Bones Meets Peyton Place and Desperate Housewives and Ancient Bones 5.5 and Bones 5.6: A Chicken in Every Viewer's Pot and Psychological Bones 5.7 and Bones 5.8: Booth's "Pops" and Bones 5.9 Meets Avatar and Videogamers ... Bad Santa, Heart-Warming Bones 5.10 ... Bones 5.11: Of UFOs, Bloggers, and Triangles ... Bones 5.12: A Famous Skeleton and Angela's Baby ... Love with Teeth on Bones 5.13 ... Faith vs. Science vs. Psychology in Bones 5.14 ... Page 187 in Bones 5.15 ... Bones 100: Two Deep Kisses and One Wild Relationship ... Bones 5.17: The Deadly Stars ... Bones Under Water in 5.18 ... Bones 5.19: Ergo Together ... Bones 5.20: Ergo Together ... Bones 5.21: The Rarity of Happy Endings ... Bones Season 5 Finale: Eye and Evolution
Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic
The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly
"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News
"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book
Enjoy listening to audio books? Get a free audio book copy of The Plot to Save Socrates - or any one of 85,000 other titles - with a 14-day trial membership at Audible.com ...
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
November 30, 2011
Occupy Wall Street Chronicles, Part 1
I offer ongoing commentary about Occupy Wall Street, September 27 through November 23, 2011. The commentary first appeared in 15 blog posts - dates, titles, and links to the text of the blog posts are listed below. Main themes include Occupy Wall Street as a resurgence of direct democracy, police violation of the First Amendment in their violence against protesters and the press, failure of the Obama administration to protect the rights of Occupy citizens attacked by munipalities, and much more. The audio podcast is about 55 minutes in length. It is intended as both analysis and eyewitness to one of the most important revolutions in human history. Further chronicles will appear here in subsequent months.audio podcast: Occupy Wall Street Chronicles, Part 1
Sept 27, 2011 NYC Police Disgrace Themselves in Brutal Treatment of Wall Street ProtestersOct 6, 2011 Advice to President Obama: Join Occupy Wall StreetOct 16, 2011 Occupy Wall Street, Direct Democracy, Social Media: A Thumbnail History of Media and Politics Since Ancient AthensOct 21, 2011 Obama Should Call in National Guard to Restrain NYPD in Occupy Wall StreetOct 26, 2011 No Expiration Date on First AmendmentOct 29, 2011 Into the Mind of a Conservative BullyNov 2, 2011 Bank of America Bends to Will of the PeopleNov 10, 2011 Open Letter to Governor Jerry BrownNov 13, 2011 Lame CBS Broadcasts Only First Hour of Republican Foreign Policy DebateNov 15, 2011 Mayor Bloomberg's Poor Understanding of the First AmendmentNov 16, 2011 Violation of First Amendment to Cover Up Violation of First AmendmentNov 20, 2011 What OWS Has Shown Us about Bloomberg, Jerry Brown, ObamaNov 20, 2011 Jay Carney (and Obama) Have It All Wrong about Police and OWSNov 20, 2011 Failure of Budget Super-Committee Shows Further Decay of Representative DemocracyNov 23, 2011 First Amendment Trampling Bloomberg Caves: NYPD Ordered to Let Press Do Its JobMy television interviews about OWS ... with Chuck Scarborough on NY Nightly News ... on FOX 5 NY ...
Relevant movie ... Tiffany Shlain's Connected moive Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
Levinson at Large
At present, I'll be automatically porting over blog posts from my main blog, Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress. These consist of literate (I hope) reviews of mostly television, with some reviews of mov
...more
- Paul Levinson's profile
- 340 followers
