I finished watching the first season of Leverage last night, and I was really very pleased with the show over all. They start the show off right, making a first episode that drew me in and kept me watching, and then pulled a fast one by having each episode a more or less self-contained story. I mean that in the sense that you can miss an episode because it’s not some damn photo-novel that needs ten minutes of “Last time on Lost” bullshit to make sure you remember what happened before and not get blindsided. Instead here, they pull a job and go home. The DVD has the episodes out of order and that didn’t present a problem for me viewing. The first two episodes and last two are the only ones that needed to be presented in order and those were presented as such.
If you can picture The A-Team mixed with Ocean’s Eleven (right now to the mock-Brubeck music) you can picture this show. Thieves go (sorta) straight and decide to help people who have problems and folks who no one else can help, and hoping that each leap… will be the leap home. Sorry, different show, they never talk to a hologram, sadly.
It’s not a direct lift, none of the characters port over directly, but you can tell that someone watched their A-Team Box set back to back with the Oceans movies. They’ve got a guy who looks like a budget version of Brad Pitt, a hacker who is geeky without being a dweeb, a cute socially anxious girl and that one chick from Coupling, so you do have something for almost everyone. They do tease out a little bit about each person’s character through out the show and I look forward to how they continue to develop them in later seasons.
When I first heard about the show, it was a criticism that the cons the crew pulls are unrealistic. That’s just people trying to sound smart, but being hugely uneducated. The only main quibble I have with the show is that none of it can be done as quickly as they show them doing it. However, I understand that events need to be compressed for TV and tension must be maintained, so I forgive them that. Pretty much, as far as I know, everything on the show could really be done. There might be some computer things that are in the realm of fantasy, I don’t know as much about computers as other things. The things I do know about though, they’re pretty much accurate… except for how much time things take.
I was impressed by the hacker character, since he plays WoW and makes fake identities with the names of people who played Dr. Who, but he’s not ever shown to be a maladjusted freak of any kind. They actually make the hacker almost human. As a result, his crush on his teammate is cute and sweet, rather than creepy and stalkerish. He’s not so much pining silently after her as much as he’s trying to feel out what her feelings might be for him. I like the other characters too, but geeks get such a hard time being portrayed as anything like cool that it’s nice to see once I a while.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Networking Socially
You'd think social networking web sites would make it easier for introverts to network socially. I would like to suggest that's wrong, or at least not quite right. As far as I can tell, I've not really networked with anyone new for more than two years. Maybe I'm wrong, but it feels that way. I'm still as bad at networking as I ever was. I’m just not good at meeting people and the groups I’ve seen don’t really work for me on pretty much any level.
I’m sure that there is probably some kind of effort I need to put forth, but all of them more or less boil down to “Stop being introverted and weird, you fuckwit.”
I’m sure that there is probably some kind of effort I need to put forth, but all of them more or less boil down to “Stop being introverted and weird, you fuckwit.”
Here is another assault of beauty...
I forget which of my friends explained that she can't really look at all my photo post because it's too much. She called it an assault of beauty, which ws nice in one way.
The Upright Carriage
If you walk with your head up high, then people say you’re too proud.
If you walk with your head hung low, then people say you’re skulking.
You can try to walk with your head perfectly level, but someone will always claim you’re holding your head too high or too low.
Personally, I hold my head in my hands while screaming “The WORMS! They’re in my head! They’re eating my goddamn brain!”
People leave me the fuck alone about where my head is.
If you walk with your head hung low, then people say you’re skulking.
You can try to walk with your head perfectly level, but someone will always claim you’re holding your head too high or too low.
Personally, I hold my head in my hands while screaming “The WORMS! They’re in my head! They’re eating my goddamn brain!”
People leave me the fuck alone about where my head is.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
I got your rape culture right here. (Or: A Time I Got Annoyed About a Compliment)
About… ten maybe even fifteen years ago, I went somewhere and spent some time with some people. The details are cloudy, except for this one girl. She was nice, cute, and things progressed to the state of making out. Things got mildly frisky, because things often do, but not to the point where leaving the couch for a more private setting became and issue. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to sleep with her, but I wasn’t against the idea. She was sort of sure though. At least she was sure that she didn’t want to advance to that stage just yet. So, a classic request “Can we slow down a bit” goes out.
Now there are two responses to that, either you slow down to a level of comfort in hopes of warming her up some more, or you disengage and look for other prospects. I was on the fence, as I said, so I slowed down, but didn’t abandon the girl or anything. She was nice, I was fine, things didn’t need progressing. Now some guys might try to turn on an ounce of pressure, hoping to break down walls, but I didn’t do that. I just went with her pace and we cuddled and made out slightly.
So far, so hoopy. Nothing happened, but I was fine with that. Later, Syd tells me that this girl talked to her and was impressed that I was so kind, understanding, and accommodating. I didn’t try to pressure her, or do anything that would be considered ungallant. I have been ungallant in the past, and will be so again, but that time I was evidently the Baby Bear’s Bed of make-out partners. However, that sort of annoyed me.
Let’s think about this for a second. This girl went to my girlfriend and said “Hey! Your boyfriend didn’t even try to rape me! I’m so impressed! He’s a keeper!”
And friends, right there, that’s your rape culture. When a simple act of not trying to pressure someone into sex is thought to be so astounding that it’s worthy of meritous mention. It manifests itself in smaller ways, and bigger ways, but the fact that I backed off at the request to back off and adjusted my levels to suit her needs was evidently something out of Amazing Tales and I should be on the cover getting attacked by some sort of Penis-Squid monster with a fishbowl on its head… it just annoyed me slightly. I wasn’t annoyed at the time, because it’s always useful to have a reputation as the guy you can feel safe with, but it annoys me that it’s that easy to be considered a safe smooch.
Now there are two responses to that, either you slow down to a level of comfort in hopes of warming her up some more, or you disengage and look for other prospects. I was on the fence, as I said, so I slowed down, but didn’t abandon the girl or anything. She was nice, I was fine, things didn’t need progressing. Now some guys might try to turn on an ounce of pressure, hoping to break down walls, but I didn’t do that. I just went with her pace and we cuddled and made out slightly.
So far, so hoopy. Nothing happened, but I was fine with that. Later, Syd tells me that this girl talked to her and was impressed that I was so kind, understanding, and accommodating. I didn’t try to pressure her, or do anything that would be considered ungallant. I have been ungallant in the past, and will be so again, but that time I was evidently the Baby Bear’s Bed of make-out partners. However, that sort of annoyed me.
Let’s think about this for a second. This girl went to my girlfriend and said “Hey! Your boyfriend didn’t even try to rape me! I’m so impressed! He’s a keeper!”
And friends, right there, that’s your rape culture. When a simple act of not trying to pressure someone into sex is thought to be so astounding that it’s worthy of meritous mention. It manifests itself in smaller ways, and bigger ways, but the fact that I backed off at the request to back off and adjusted my levels to suit her needs was evidently something out of Amazing Tales and I should be on the cover getting attacked by some sort of Penis-Squid monster with a fishbowl on its head… it just annoyed me slightly. I wasn’t annoyed at the time, because it’s always useful to have a reputation as the guy you can feel safe with, but it annoys me that it’s that easy to be considered a safe smooch.
I got your rape culture right here. (Or: A Time I Got Annoyed About a Compliment)
About… ten maybe even fifteen years ago, I went somewhere and spent some time with some people. The details are cloudy, except for this one girl. She was nice, cute, and things progressed to the state of making out. Things got mildly frisky, because things often do, but not to the point where leaving the couch for a more private setting became and issue. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to sleep with her, but I wasn’t against the idea. She was sort of sure though. At least she was sure that she didn’t want to advance to that stage just yet. So, a classic request “Can we slow down a bit” goes out.
Now there are two responses to that, either you slow down to a level of comfort in hopes of warming her up some more, or you disengage and look for other prospects. I was on the fence, as I said, so I slowed down, but didn’t abandon the girl or anything. She was nice, I was fine, things didn’t need progressing. Now some guys might try to turn on an ounce of pressure, hoping to break down walls, but I didn’t do that. I just went with her pace and we cuddled and made out slightly.
So far, so hoopy. Nothing happened, but I was fine with that. Later, Syd tells me that this girl talked to her and was impressed that I was so kind, understanding, and accommodating. I didn’t try to pressure her, or do anything that would be considered ungallant. I have been ungallant in the past, and will be so again, but that time I was evidently the Baby Bear’s Bed of make-out partners. However, that sort of annoyed me.
Let’s think about this for a second. This girl went to my girlfriend and said “Hey! Your boyfriend didn’t even try to rape me! I’m so impressed! He’s a keeper!”
And friends, right there, that’s your rape culture. When a simple act of not trying to pressure someone into sex is thought to be so astounding that it’s worthy of meritous mention. It manifests itself in smaller ways, and bigger ways, but the fact that I backed off at the request to back off and adjusted my levels to suit her needs was evidently something out of Amazing Tales and I should be on the cover getting attacked by some sort of Penis-Squid monster with a fishbowl on its head… it just annoyed me slightly. I wasn’t annoyed at the time, because it’s always useful to have a reputation as the guy you can feel safe with, but it annoys me that it’s that easy to be considered a safe smooch.
Now there are two responses to that, either you slow down to a level of comfort in hopes of warming her up some more, or you disengage and look for other prospects. I was on the fence, as I said, so I slowed down, but didn’t abandon the girl or anything. She was nice, I was fine, things didn’t need progressing. Now some guys might try to turn on an ounce of pressure, hoping to break down walls, but I didn’t do that. I just went with her pace and we cuddled and made out slightly.
So far, so hoopy. Nothing happened, but I was fine with that. Later, Syd tells me that this girl talked to her and was impressed that I was so kind, understanding, and accommodating. I didn’t try to pressure her, or do anything that would be considered ungallant. I have been ungallant in the past, and will be so again, but that time I was evidently the Baby Bear’s Bed of make-out partners. However, that sort of annoyed me.
Let’s think about this for a second. This girl went to my girlfriend and said “Hey! Your boyfriend didn’t even try to rape me! I’m so impressed! He’s a keeper!”
And friends, right there, that’s your rape culture. When a simple act of not trying to pressure someone into sex is thought to be so astounding that it’s worthy of meritous mention. It manifests itself in smaller ways, and bigger ways, but the fact that I backed off at the request to back off and adjusted my levels to suit her needs was evidently something out of Amazing Tales and I should be on the cover getting attacked by some sort of Penis-Squid monster with a fishbowl on its head… it just annoyed me slightly. I wasn’t annoyed at the time, because it’s always useful to have a reputation as the guy you can feel safe with, but it annoys me that it’s that easy to be considered a safe smooch.
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