Chris

Granny Dragon: great post, thanks!

I've been clean-shaven (or close to it) for a few weeks now, by far the longest stretch of time I haven't been fully bearded since I was 17 I think. (I'd done a clean shave a few times since then, but probably only two or three times total, and I just let the beard grow back immediately afterwards in each case.) I guess I might as well do some kind of Movember thing now.

There is no "in universe" explanation, because things like editing and and juxtaposition of shots don't exist in life, only in film. I also don't need it justified; my reflection is about the artistic choices being made and the motivations for those choices. In some cases it might simply be "to be foreboding" or whatever, and nothing else, but I don't think that is always or automatically the case.

Welcome, new folks!

Yeah I do want to be clear that I'm not claiming this show doesn't contain shitty racial caricaturing, because it does. I just really strongly don't believe the mill shutdown in the pilot is an example of it.

You should write this in to twinpeaks@idlethumbs.net!

Tegan--interesting, thanks for pointing that out!

I totally disagree, very very strongly. It is completely impossible for me to see her action in anything other than a humane light. I am specifically talking about a first-time interpretation of it, too. There is absolutely no suggestion whatsoever that she is closing the factory for good. I know that the first time I saw this show there was absolutely no doubt for me at all about this, and the same was true the more recent time. In fact I think the only way NOT to see it favorably is if you HAVE seen more of the show and you retroactively consider this scene in the context of some of Josie's other subplots--but even then I can't see it that way. It just in no way at all carries the feeling of a Japanese (or otherwise Asian) businessperson coming in and "shutting down a factory," because it's immediately and obviously clear that she's not shutting it down for any reason other than temporary grieving. It occurs in the same episode that a school was closed, for the exact same reason, and I certainly don't interpret the principal's actions as being evocative of a rich white conservative man shutting down a public institution out of anti-government furor. In both instances, they are people who are personally affected by the tragedy and sensitive to other people's sense of grief.

I think "bullshit" often carries a connotation of intentional deception, especially when used as a verb ("don't bullshit me"), while "horseshit" less frequently suggests that.

American air carriers have very strong safety records, as do air carriers in most developed countries. There is no significant safety concern when traveling on a low-cost American carrier. An airline closing because of poor safety in either country is, I would imagine, an outlier of an event, but it also looks like Tigerair is still in operation and was recently fully acquired by Virgin Australia. I would also venture to say that most of what I've said about American carriers' financial struggles are nearly identical to those of Australian carriers. Qantas, despite what I assume you correctly state as a strong national reputation, has been suffering financial losses and embarking on severe cost-cutting measures, as well as seeking government assistance after claiming that its main competitor Virgin Australia has unfair advantage due to its foreign backing--except that Virgin Australia is also in a poor spot financially. http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/rex-coo-garry-filmer-warns-australian-aviation-is-on-the-brink-of-collapse/story-fnkgde2y-1226822417712 http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/qantas-and-virgin-australia-battle-for-market-share-good-for-travellers/story-e6frfq80-1226840662633 It appears that the same price-based competition occurs, maybe just among fewer players than in the United States, which makes sense given the United States is 25% bigger by area and has a population some 13 times higher.

I've never lost a checked bag, but I've also always avoided checking, even when it was free, because I'm just the kind of irritating person who likes to get off the plane first and get on my way as quickly as I can. As far as charging for checking baggage goes, it's not really fair to criticize airlines for charging for it. The reality is, airlines have INCREDIBLY low profit margins, and essentially all non-business travelers buy their airfare based on one criterion only: price. (Business travelers who pay full-fare, especially on business and first class, essentially subsidize air travel for other travelers.) So airlines have to compete on lower airfare above all else. Some airlines are more expensive, and some less expensive, based on a broader reputation as a "budget" airline or a higher-end airline, but they all feel the constant pressure to lower prices for whatever category of service they provide, because it's the main way to attract travelers. And since their margins are so low already, the only way to do that is by charging for services that not all travelers may need.

I think if we took on two episodes per week (either as a single podcast episode or two) per week, we'd be setting ourselves up to slip as soon as we're ever slightly too busy. We know from experience (the Idle Book Club) that taking on secondary podcasts can be dangerous, and we'd rather have a fully achievable schedule that we rarely or never miss, rather than an ambitious schedule that causes us not to meet expectations.

This just isn't true. She doesn't "take over" the factory, she inherits it, and unless I'm misremembering something, it isn't suggested that that occurs in a devious or domineering way. And she doesn't "shut it down", she temporarily pauses production—in general out of a shared sense of civic grief, and specifically because one of her employees has a daughter who is still missing. It is a purely humane act, not the work of a hostile foreign takeover, and I think it's tough to read it otherwise. Obviously there are less sympathetic and more exoticized elements to her character that are introduced as the series go on, but I don't think this is one of them. You might be referring to this parts? But since you said "literally introduced" I assume not.

In general this isn't something I have a lot of patience for. "All this stuff you found scattered and unappealing totally makes sense if you just play it for hours and hours first." I'm not playing the game as a preparatory exercise to have my mind blown six hours later, I'm playing to enjoy myself throughout. I am not a fan of "the twist" as a justification for any number of convoluted things prior to the twist. I am totally fine with works being dense or subtle or nonlinear or whatever, and I'm fine with totally recontextualizing something that is already interesting—then you make it interesting in a totally different way. That's great!

Kissed-a-Remo

God that sounds like a really goddamn fun job.

lol. Yeah, I mean, I guess that just speaks to the importance of execution and a really strong thematic core.

The Original Series is the only Star Trek I've seen much of, and one of my favorite moments in it is when it's revealed that Sulu has fantasies about being a swashbuckling swordfighter in the Errol Flynn mold, rather than the obvious choice of giving him a katana or whatever—I read somewhere that this was a conscious suggestion on the part of George Takei to avoid the easy stereotype. So I was a tiny bit bummed out when in the new Star Wars movie they gave Sulu a space katana.

(I don't think there are any in other places either though?)

I think you should just send this into questions@idlethumbs.net!

No, it should be fine. Based on the lengths I'm guessing they just took the US pilot and split it into two. The original European pilot would be longer.

It looks like the in the case of the German one they just split the normal pilot into two episodes. Should be fine.

I can understand that though. I mean obviously it's not entirely rational but I didn't see Alien/Aliens until just a few years ago and I was never super interested in checking them out because of a general fatigue with all the thematic copycats they've inspired. Now that I've seen Alien I think it's great but I can still understand the general lack of momentum towards seeing something, especially when there's so much other stuff to watch/play/read/whatever all the time.

Spandrel was it!

Welcome, additional new folks! Falafel, there are a few different services that are used to associate your avatar with a given email address and allow you to share avatars across various services. I believe our forum software uses one called Gravatar.