Argobot

Every fourth episode of True D must end in a gun battle. Every midpoint of True D must end with the suspect being killed by the cops before they can get answers from him which later leads to the TWIST that the dead suspect wasn't the guy behind the crime. I admit that I have been reflexively defensive of True D this season in reaction to what I see as a lot overly negative responses. It seems that certain segments of the internet really want Pizzolatto to fail and are obsessively critiquing every misstep this show makes, which makes me in turn want to give the show more leeway than perhaps I normally would. This episode really strained my forgiveness of the show, however. The case with Caspere progressed and crescendo much too quickly. Before we had time to even understand the new suspect, he was dead. (Contrast that to the Reggie LeDoux arc in season one, where there actual time to process his significance before he was killed.)It's such a clunky set up to the inevitable "we got the wrong guy" narrative the next few episodes will follow. There was still some good in the episode. For one, it was gorgeously shot. I'm also really enjoying the interactions between Frank and his wife. Infertility is a bit of a cliche, but I like that it mirrors Frank's own inability to produce a real business legacy. This man in frustrated in both his personal and professional attempts to get pregnant. Contrast that to the absolutely depressing family situation that Paul is going through. Speaking of Paul, how do people feel about his storyline? Maybe I'm off base (and please tell me if I am), but I find his story a bit unbelievable. In 2015 I just find it hard to believe that a gay man would feel such shame with his sexuality, given how much more accepting public attitudes are towards gay people (obviously bi and trans people still have a lot of mistreatment and gay people in generally are not afforded the same treatment as straight people in all areas, but we're progressing in such a way that Paul's plot feels a little overwrought to me). I suppose we are meant to assume that his mother relied on Paul to boost her own sexual self-esteem and that her sexually domineering behavior prevented Paul from expressing his own desires. Even with those hangups, I have a hard time truly believing Paul's story but if others are convinced by it and think I'm in the wrong, I'd be really interested to hear it!

To trade even more anecdotal stories: I live in Ballard and have had Lyft/Uber drivers cancel coming from downtown to my apartment claiming that the distance is too great!

Ah far enough! Out of curiosity, where were you taken cabs to and from in SF?

Sorry if someone already posted this Philadelphia City Paper article on a reporter who went undercover as an Uber driver: http://citypaper.net/uberdriver/ There is a reason Uber is half the price of a cab ride and it's not a good one. Part time and contracting labor is on the rise in this country, in part because sharing economies like Uber are becoming large forces in the labor market. Contractors are afforded very few protections and can therefore be heavily abused by companies and since contractors far and away are from lower economic classes, we should not be supporting companies that propagate their abuse. Cheap Uber fares also encourage people to not take public transportation, which will prevent cities from being pressured into actually investing in decent transit. I have a strong dislike for Uber and Lyft from a labor view, and also from a customer service view. Very few of the Uber drivers I've had in Seattle know the city well and exclusively rely on their GPS to navigate. That has created more than a few instances where a driver either accidentally took a wrong turn that added more time to the drive, or took a longer route because they were directed to by the GPS, because the GPS does not take into account time of day or construction when calculating the most efficient way to get from point A to point B. Compare that to taxi drivers, who are required to take tests demonstrating that they know how to navigate in a given area. Those tests vary in rigorousness depending on what city you're in, but overall, taxi drivers are required to know how to get around with relying on maps or GPS devices. This makes for a much better riding experience, where I never have to direct taxi drivers, but I often find that I am giving my Uber drivers directions on how to get to really basic landmarks in Seattle.

My goal is to one day recreate this (which is where I got my dumb idea from): https://storify.com/pupismyname/buttclan I also added more pictures! It's a bizarre look into all the stuff we've done over the past few months.

Lot of capital L Life stuff happening to me right now (moving to San Francisco, recovering from breast cancer surgery, starting a new job, etc). It's all exciting but also I have to get a lot done in a short amount of time. So I made this dumb thing as a way to help relax http://chrisremopicturesofstuff.tumblr.com/

Sorry, didn't mean to take a poo on the video. I am pretty excited about the new movies, and that three minute clip did a good job reminding me of how I felt watching the original trilogy as a kid. I am just afraid of letting childhood nostalgia take over, so everything about new Star Wars makes me feel conflicted. It's a dumb way to approach this!

That video makes me feel both excited to see the movie and weird about this whole endeavor because "practical effects" has now started to feel like a dogwhistle for audiences with a certain kind of nostalgia. I hate the feeling of being totally aware of being manipulated by a big studio project and still falling for that manipulation, but put me in the camp of people who will see this movie as soon as it comes out.

Molly Lambert continues to write great stuff about True D, this time specifically on Ani: http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/cult-of-personality-rachel-mcadams-brings-ani-bezzerides-to-life-on-true-detective/ I agree with Lambert's point that there is a lot to Ani's character that we don't generally get to see with female characters on TV. This season of True D is really trying something different from season 1, and it's genuinely interesting to watch. I usually cannot stand when people say to not criticize a a TV show until you've seen all the episodes, because it generally reads as a excuse to by pass bad writing or plotting, but I really do feel that some of the criticism against True D needs to be pulled back a little until the season has run its course.

That's cool! She'll also be pretty close to Olympia, which I think has a similar vibe to Lawrence (I've been to both places a few times and generally enjoyed the experience).

That's exciting! Happy that stuff is working out for your daughter. I have an aunt and uncle who live near Lakewood. It's a nice area, although not super convenient for getting to Seattle (about an hour away with no traffic, and there's usually traffic). On the plus side, that area is definitely a lot cheaper than Seattle and she can probably find a really nice apartment for a reasonable price. The negative of course is that there's a lot less going on, although I keep hearing that Tacoma is becoming more of a vibrant city as people start to leave Seattle and relocate to cheaper areas.

Yeah, Happy birthday!!

If you walk a few blocks down to Pike Place Market, you can eat at my favorite downtown place in all of Seattle: http://www.piroshkybakery.com/index.html Or, you can walk a few blocks past Olive Way and get into the Belltown area, which has some nice, trendy restaurants.

1. and 2. - the answer is Ray's Vinci partner

Whoops! My mistake on the apoplectic scene! I like how feminine the masculinity of season 2 is getting. Ray and Frank have no where near the extreme machismo of Rust and Marty in season 1. I get the sense that Frank really loves his wife and really wants a baby, and that to me feels like a more nuanced take on men and make feelings. Ray's character also has little bravado, which he knows and doesn't seem to mind. Paul and Ani have their own issues with masculinity, but I'm less confident in where their story lines are going. I think the show is trying to set them both up as being sexually damaged by their parents, which is a nice circle to Ray and Frank's attempts to be parents.

I'm going to agree with Chris and say that I also did not think apoplectic was out of place. Frank has delusions of grandeur and it makes sense that he'd use that vocabulary. Ray is then just repeating the word and it's not entirely clear if he knows what the word means. Nice little bit that demonstrates their relationship. In general, I'm really liking this season. Loved the opener with the sad cowboy. It's interesting to watch a mystery show where the muster feels like background noise to all the characters, who are really taking center stage this season. Please, please let the opening tag of this cast be Paul saying "is that a fucking e-cig?"

Haha, did this result in anything good? Mine searched for "video games" first, which led to a two very confusing clips that left me completely baffled. It's great that even though your first prompt is "murder," the game allows you to begin searching for whatever word or phrase you want.

It's true that Her Story doesn't have the most nuanced plot, regardless of what ending theory you ascribe to, but what it lacks in nuance it certainly makes up for in gameplay. If the game was weaker mechanically, maybe then it would be harder for me to overlook it narrative, but since the mechanics are strong, it really doesn't matter. I think that's why the ending of the game fails for me, because it takes away the interesting mechanics and all you're left with is the plot. (The other reason why the ending bothers me is because I think it really pushes towards one particular theory and I'm disappointed that it's not left more ambiguous.)

I actually really liked the bit with the knives. It felt like an honest portrayal of a woman in position where she is painfully aware of here physical limitations in comparison to her male peers who have likely never felt afraid for their safety in the way that a woman in Ani's job must feel every day. Reminded me of that Margaret Atwood quote about men being afraid that women will laugh at them and women being afraid that men will kill them. Much more preferable to your standard Strong Female Characters who would never hint at their vulnerabilities. And at least Ani didn't talk about being raped!

It's clear from the very voyeuristic way that scene is shot that the audience is meant to believe that Ani feels shame or guilt over what she is watching. That makes even more sense when compared to the other scene of Paul watching the male prostitute, since it is heavily implied that he harbors his own shame over his sexual desires. The equation isn't necessarily "likes rough sex = messed up" but more "denies or feels guilty about her true sexual desires = messed up." It's similar to Marty's own sexual hangups from season 1, where he struggled with a very obvious Madonna/whore complex that poisoned all of his relationships with women. Every character on this show (except for maybe Frank) is being dishonest with themselves about who they truly are and that is a major cause of their emotional damage. I was a little worried in the first episode when Ray was introduced as having murdered his wife's rapist, but was quickly assuaged when in the second episode, his wife flat out tells Ray (and by extension the audience) that Ray's assault on the rapist was for no one but himself. It makes me more confident that these other sexual issues will be handled in a smart, nuanced way and that in future episodes we will learn more about Ani's history and her relationship with her sister, which should help us understand more why she is the way she is.

What are some of the male-hating overtones you're referencing here? I'm curious because I don't read her in that way.

How do you explain