What Did You Watch? 2020-02-12 (Wednesday)

[Ubiquitous]

On "D&D night" at Burrito Boarder, I watched:

Nothing.

What did you watch?

--
Watching Democrats come up with schemes to "catch Trump" is like
watching Wile E. Coyote trying to catch Road Runner.

[anim8rfsk]

Thu, 13 Feb 2020 02:30:41 -0700 Ubiquitous<web...@polaris.net> wrote:

> On "D&D night" at Burrito Boarder, I watched:
>
> Nothing.
>
> What did you watch?

Just background noise shows. Like the 24 hour Law & Order channel.

But I know Robin will bring us good things tomorrow!

--
Join your old RAT friends at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1688985234647266/

[Ian J. Ball]

On 2020-02-13 09:30:41 +0000, Ubiquitous said:

> On "D&D night" at Burrito Boarder, I watched:
>
> Nothing.
>
> What did you watch?

Almost nothing. Just:

Criminal Minds (recorded) - "Rusty" (ep. #15.7). Not neary as enjoyable
as the Rachael Leigh Cook-vs-Aubrey Plaza episode preceeding it. Still,
I did like that the killer/nutter this time was basically under the
thrall of the rabbit from "Donnie Darko"... Meanwhile, we get a bunch
of crap about Prentiss' love life that I don't care about!
Just 3 more episodes of this show to go.


Recorded for later: No more "VIKES!!1!" for now, so just "Criminal
Minds", "Stumptown", and "The Magicians"(!).


--
"Three light sabers? Is that overkill? Or just the right amount
of "kill"?" - M-OC, "A Perilous Rescue" (ep. #2.9), LSW:TFA (08-10-2017)

[Adam H. Kerman]

Ian J. Ball <IJB...@mac.invalid> wrote:

>Criminal Minds (recorded) - "Rusty" (ep. #15.7). Not neary as enjoyable
>as the Rachael Leigh Cook-vs-Aubrey Plaza episode preceeding it. Still,
>I did like that the killer/nutter this time was basically under the
>thrall of the rabbit from "Donnie Darko"... Meanwhile, we get a bunch
>of crap about Prentiss' love life that I don't care about!
> Just 3 more episodes of this show to go.

>Recorded for later: No more "VIKES!!1!" for now, so just "Criminal
>Minds", "Stumptown", and "The Magicians"(!).

What kind of monster emerges from a combination of Rachael Leigh Cook
and Aubrey Plaza? The Thing With Two Short Actresses?

[Arthur Lipscomb]

On 2/13/2020 6:05 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
> On 2020-02-13 09:30:41 +0000, Ubiquitous said:
>
>> On "D&D night" at Burrito Boarder, I watched:
>>
>> Nothing.
>>
>> What did you watch?
>
> Almost nothing. Just:
>
> Criminal Minds (recorded) - "Rusty" (ep. #15.7). Not neary as enjoyable
> as the Rachael Leigh Cook-vs-Aubrey Plaza episode preceeding it. Still,
> I did like that the killer/nutter this time was basically under the
> thrall of the rabbit from "Donnie Darko"... Meanwhile, we get a bunch of
> crap about Prentiss' love life that I don't care about!
>   Just 3 more episodes of this show to go.
>
>
> Recorded for later: No more "VIKES!!1!" for now, so just "Criminal
> Minds", "Stumptown", and "The Magicians"(!).
>
>

This will be a two day catch up. I watched:


The Magicians - "Apocalypse? Now?!; Oops!... I Did It Again" - Two back
to back episodes, and they were pretty good. Season finale level good,
even though this wasn't the season finale. First The Magicians have to
stop the Apocalypse, and that turns out to be harder than it should be
because some people actually want to it happen so they can profit from
it. Next up (mild spoilers here) The Magicians succeed in stopping the
Apocalypse, but because they are about as good at their job as the
"Legends" are at their job, they replace one apocalypse with an even
worse apocalypse, and on top of that there's a time loop thrown into the
mix. The whole self aware Groundhogs day plot was really, funny, as
were the multiple failed attempts at stopping the even worse apocalypse.


Awkawfina Is Nora From Queens - "Savage Valley" - Episode three
continues to be funny and out there, like really out there. For this
one, super slacker Nora gets a job. But her job begins to interfere
with her being a layabout good for nothing slacker so she turns to drugs
to keep pace with everything.


This Is Us - "A Hell of a Week: Part Three" - I already forgot what
happened.


Mixed-ish - "The Charming Man - Rainbow goes on her first date for
valentines day. OK episode.


Black-ish - "The Gauntlet" - Dre learns Bow doesn't like her valentines
or any other gift he's been buying her. In a subplot I didn't really
follow, Junior gets work advice from Charlie and the bosses son.


The Flash - "Love Is a Battlefied" - Already covered.


Prodigal Son - "Eye of the Needle" - The only thing I want to say about
this one, other than how stupid it was...is there was a scene where a
character is supposed to be bringing a million dollars in cash to pay
ransom. The character shows up carrying a small duffel bag that's
clearly not even full. If I recall correctly, she was easily carrying
it with one hand. So obviously there wasn't a million dollars in the
bag. Yet later the show claims there was in fact a million dollars in
the small, not even full, duffel bag.


Crawl (Netflix rental) The first scene in this movie is a woman training
to swim for the Olympics or something, which leads to me immediately
wonder, if her swimming abilities will play a role in the plot or not.
So anyway, this movie is about a daughter (Kaya Scodelario) and her
father (Barry Pepper) who get trapped in the flooded crawl space of a
house during a hurricane, and the crawl spaced just happens to be full
of alligators. You know what, I bet that woman's ability to swim will
play a role in the plot after all. In spite of the good reviews, I
really didn't care for this movie. It was mostly background noise for
me. But if you have an enemy that you want to die from alcohol
poisoning, have them watch this movie with you and tell them to take a
drink every time the lead actresses great swimming ability is mentioned
or shown.

[BTR1701]

In article <r2401b$b1s$1...@dont-email.me>,

Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

> Prodigal Son - "Eye of the Needle" - The only thing I want to say about
> this one, other than how stupid it was...is there was a scene where a
> character is supposed to be bringing a million dollars in cash to pay
> ransom. The character shows up carrying a small duffel bag that's
> clearly not even full. If I recall correctly, she was easily carrying
> it with one hand. So obviously there wasn't a million dollars in the
> bag.

It could have been two $500,000 bills!

[anim8rfsk]

Thu, 13 Feb 2020 10:12:09 -0700 Arthur Lipscomb<art...@alum.calberkeley.org>
wrote:

> The Flash - "Love Is a Battlefied" - Already covered.

But you promised us more!

[Adam H. Kerman]

Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

>Prodigal Son - "Eye of the Needle" - The only thing I want to say about
>this one, other than how stupid it was...is there was a scene where a
>character is supposed to be bringing a million dollars in cash to pay
>ransom. The character shows up carrying a small duffel bag that's
>clearly not even full. If I recall correctly, she was easily carrying
>it with one hand. So obviously there wasn't a million dollars in the
>bag. Yet later the show claims there was in fact a million dollars in
>the small, not even full, duffel bag.

I am watching this on a it's so ridiculous it's entertaining basis. On a
previous episode, I was amused that Malcolm attempted to defuse a bomb,
then had to jump out a second floor window onto the roof of Gil's car,
which somehow didn't injure him in any way. The rest of the episode
failed to explain why the bomb was there to begin with, other than as an
excuse for the stunt.

This episode was weak, not much in the way of entertainment, but Martin
needed Malcolm to stab him in the heart because STOOPID. Naturally, the
two of them had a conversation years earlier in which they discussed
where to stab someone in the heart that won't kill them.

[Adam H. Kerman]

Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

>The Magicians - "Apocalypse? Now?!; Oops!... I Did It Again" - Two back
>to back episodes, and they were pretty good. Season finale level good,
>even though this wasn't the season finale. First The Magicians have to
>stop the Apocalypse, and that turns out to be harder than it should be
>because some people actually want to it happen so they can profit from
>it. Next up (mild spoilers here) The Magicians succeed in stopping the
>Apocalypse, but because they are about as good at their job as the
>"Legends" are at their job, they replace one apocalypse with an even
>worse apocalypse, and on top of that there's a time loop thrown into the
>mix. The whole self aware Groundhogs day plot was really, funny, as
>were the multiple failed attempts at stopping the even worse apocalypse.

I was entertained. I wanted them to do more with the Lunatics. I didn't
care for the steal the moonrock from Richard Branson plot, and they
really really really needed to clue us in on Natasha Mayakovsky's evil
plot.

Yes, the second episode was amusing. It was hysterical how Penny was
mostly written out of the episode, but he got the funniest gag. Eliot
centered episodes, now that he's free of the monster, are usually
worthwhile.

Even though the two episodes were not edited together, my on screen
guide unhelpfully lumped them into one timeslot instead of allowing me
to delete each separately as I watched it. Gah

[Adam H. Kerman]

Do they let you touch those?

[shawn]

On Fri, 14 Feb 2020 03:20:16 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<a...@chinet.com> wrote:

>Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>
>>Prodigal Son - "Eye of the Needle" - The only thing I want to say about
>>this one, other than how stupid it was...is there was a scene where a
>>character is supposed to be bringing a million dollars in cash to pay
>>ransom. The character shows up carrying a small duffel bag that's
>>clearly not even full. If I recall correctly, she was easily carrying
>>it with one hand. So obviously there wasn't a million dollars in the
>>bag. Yet later the show claims there was in fact a million dollars in
>>the small, not even full, duffel bag.

As I recall the duffel bag was shown to be close to full in the car,
but obviously less so when it came time to throw away the money as it
was all loose bills at that point. That said the duffel bag could hold
a million dollars given that the bills were $100 bills as one
character states. It could even do better if some of the bills were of
greater than $100 value.
https://www.quora.com/What-size-of-a-cube-would-1-000-000-dollars-in-100-dollar-bills-make

>I am watching this on a it's so ridiculous it's entertaining basis. On a
>previous episode, I was amused that Malcolm attempted to defuse a bomb,
>then had to jump out a second floor window onto the roof of Gil's car,
>which somehow didn't injure him in any way. The rest of the episode
>failed to explain why the bomb was there to begin with, other than as an
>excuse for the stunt.

He didn't just jump up so it's not clear that he wasn't fine. However
a fall from a second story window isn't that likely to cause major
harm unless you land badly. In Malcolm's case he did have the
collapsed car top to help soften the blow so it would be unlikely to
have caused major harm (providing not landing badly and breaking bones
like putting your arms out to try and cushion the blow.)

>This episode was weak, not much in the way of entertainment, but Martin
>needed Malcolm to stab him in the heart because STOOPID. Naturally, the
>two of them had a conversation years earlier in which they discussed
>where to stab someone in the heart that won't kill them.

Yeah, that didn't make sense. Especially if Malcolm had figured it out
and got everyone involved then they should have been able to fake the
Surgeon's 'death.' Plus by that point they knew who the Carousel
Killer was so it shouldn't have been a problem to find him without
anyone being hurt.

[BTR1701]

In article <r254c7$5bm$4...@dont-email.me>,

"Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:

There's actually no such thing as a $500K note, but there were $100K
notes at one time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_denominations_of_United_States_curren
cy#/media/File:US-$100000-GC-1934-Fr-2413.jpg

I never held one, but I did see them under glass in the Bureau of
Engraving & Printing.

[Adam H. Kerman]

BTR1701 <atr...@mac.com> wrote:
>"Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:
>>BTR1701 <atr...@mac.com> wrote:
>>>Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

>>>>Prodigal Son - "Eye of the Needle" - The only thing I want to say about
>>>>this one, other than how stupid it was...is there was a scene where a
>>>>character is supposed to be bringing a million dollars in cash to pay
>>>>ransom. The character shows up carrying a small duffel bag that's
>>>>clearly not even full. If I recall correctly, she was easily carrying
>>>>it with one hand. So obviously there wasn't a million dollars in the
>>>>bag.

>>>It could have been two $500,000 bills!

>>Do they let you touch those?

>There's actually no such thing as a $500K note, but there were $100K
>notes at one time.

Ah.

>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_denominations_of_United_States_currency#/media/File:US-$100000-GC-1934-Fr-2413.jpg

>I never held one, but I did see them under glass in the Bureau of
>Engraving & Printing.

Oh well.

I never understood who used such large denomination notes, or how you
got one. I wouldn't even think a money center bank kept any on hand or
how long it took to get them from the Fed. Wouldn't that make a
cashier's check easier if for some reason one didn't want to wire the
money?

[David Johnston]

"You" didn't get one. J.P. Morgan himself couldn't get his hands on
one. They were only used for internal transactions between the banks of
the Federal Reserve System. And the reason they used them instead of
cheques is because it was 1934 and the bankers no longer trusted each
other not to go broke before they could pay off on any cheques they
issued. But the government was backing those 100,000 dollar bills with
gold so it didn't matter if the originating bank went broke.

Ultimately however it didn't matter because not too much later the
United States went off the gold standard. It had to because too many
people wanted to get the actual gold for themselves So the large
denomination bills were trashed except for a few kept out of historical
interest.

[anim8rfsk]

Despite popular opinion, wire transfers can be cancelled. I've seen it
happen. So can some forms of cashier's check.

[BTR1701]

They were never legal for the general public to own or possess. They were
used for intergovernmental transfers and transfers between the Fed and
banks. As to why they couldn't just use cashiers checks, I have no idea.

[Adam H. Kerman]

Thanks. I guess it was cheaper to move such a certificate versus
literally shipping gold around.

>Ultimately however it didn't matter because not too much later the
>United States went off the gold standard. It had to because too many
>people wanted to get the actual gold for themselves So the large
>denomination bills were trashed except for a few kept out of historical
>interest.

What Roosevelt did was make it illegal for creditors to demand gold,
and for individuals to hoard gold. Instead, the United States remained
on the gold standard with the Federal Reserve system itself hoarding the
gold to allow it to increase the money supply. Then the Fed purchased
gold for $20.67 an ounce, then raised the book value of gold hoarded by
the Fed to $35 an ounce. The fixed value remained until Nixon finally
took the United States off the gold standard.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fdr-takes-united-states-off-gold-standard

Nixon ended the gold standard because other countries were taking advantage
of the fixed book value of gold in the US treasury, exchanging currency
for gold backed dollars, especially during periods in which freely traded
gold elsewhere in the world was above the $35 a ounce book value.

[BTR1701]

In article <r26ji3$ljl$1...@dont-email.me>,

With 'hoard' being defined as merely possessing it. It was an appalling
overreach of government power.

It's why I laugh at those commercials on daytime TV with William Devane
pitching gold ownership because your cash will be worthless if the
economy tanks. If the economy goes tits-up again, owning gold doesn't do
you any good if the government comes after everything that has actual
value like it did before.

I guess they left diamonds and jewels alone, but there's nothing
stopping them from taking those, too.

[Adam H. Kerman]

BTR1701 <atr...@mac.com> wrote:
>"Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:
>>David Johnston <davidjo...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>On 2020-02-14 1:05 a.m., Adam H. Kerman wrote:
>>>>BTR1701 <atr...@mac.com> wrote:
>>>>>"Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:
>>>>>>BTR1701 <atr...@mac.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

>>>>>>>>Prodigal Son - "Eye of the Needle" - The only thing I want to say about
>>>>>>>>this one, other than how stupid it was...is there was a scene where a
>>>>>>>>character is supposed to be bringing a million dollars in cash to pay
>>>>>>>>ransom. The character shows up carrying a small duffel bag that's
>>>>>>>>clearly not even full. If I recall correctly, she was easily carrying
>>>>>>>>it with one hand. So obviously there wasn't a million dollars in the
>>>>>>>>bag.

>>>>>>>It could have been two $500,000 bills!

>>>>>>Do they let you touch those?

>>>>>There's actually no such thing as a $500K note, but there were $100K
>>>>>notes at one time.

>>>>Ah.

>>>>>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_denominations_of_United_States_currency#/media/File:US-$100000-GC-1934-Fr-2413.jpg

I agree with you. I remember being told as a kid that Americans couldn't
own gold and having no idea why, but that didn't go away till Nixon
finally took us off the gold standard.

Now that I've looked it up, it sure sounds like the purchase price of
the gold was undervalued since it was held on the books of the federal
government at a higher value.

>It's why I laugh at those commercials on daytime TV with William Devane
>pitching gold ownership because your cash will be worthless if the
>economy tanks. If the economy goes tits-up again, owning gold doesn't do
>you any good if the government comes after everything that has actual
>value like it did before.

>I guess they left diamonds and jewels alone, but there's nothing
>stopping them from taking those, too.

I don't think diamonds have long term real value, given that 95% of the
world's diamonds are held in enormous vaults in London and other places.
I love how diamonds are forever but you're not expressing your love and
commitment by giving your fiance a used diamond.

[A Friend]

In article <r26q4p$sfs$1...@dont-email.me>, Adam H. Kerman

We didn't do an engagement ring. Instead, we put the money toward the
down payment of the house we're still living in. By putting down 20%,
we saved all kinds of money on mortgage insurance, back when we had a
mortgage.

Kids out there, be smart about money. De Beers doesn't care if you
starve.

[anim8rfsk]

My Dad's BFF's daughter ... decided she wanted the really fancy wedding, and
by 'fancy' we mean 'just shred the money'
Her dad finally gave up on negotiating with her and wrote her a check and
advised her to buy a house with it (!) but it was hers to do with as she
wished.
She blew it *all* on the wedding.
She got married at Xmas. They had a florist bring decorated Xmas trees. Into
the church. $10,000. Each.

[A Friend]

In article <0001HW.23F72D6002...@NEWS.EASYNEWS.COM>,

OMG

[anim8rfsk]

Fri, 14 Feb 2020 14:06:22 -0700 A Friend<no...@noway.com> wrote:

> In article<0001HW.23F72D6002...@NEWS.EASYNEWS.COM>,

Yeah

[BTR1701]

In article <r26q4p$sfs$1...@dont-email.me>,

"Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:

> BTR1701 <atr...@mac.com> wrote:

> >"Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:

> >>What Roosevelt did was make it illegal for creditors to demand gold,
> >>and for individuals to hoard gold.
>
> >With 'hoard' being defined as merely possessing it. It was an appalling
> >overreach of government power.
>
> I agree with you. I remember being told as a kid that Americans couldn't
> own gold and having no idea why, but that didn't go away till Nixon
> finally took us off the gold standard.

Roosevelt's order also led to the fascinating caper and saga of the
stolen gold double eagle coins:

The order (and subsequent ratification by Congress) outlawed the
circulation and private possession of United States gold coins for
general circulation, with an exemption for collector coins. This act
declared that gold coins were no longer legal tender in the United
States, and people had to turn in their gold coins for other forms of
currency.

The 1933 gold double eagle $20 coins were struck after this executive
order, but because they were no longer legal tender, most of the 1933
gold coins were melted down in late 1934 and some were destroyed in
tests. Two of the $20 double eagles were presented by the United States
Mint to the U.S. National Numismatic Collection.

These two coins should have been the only 1933 double eagle coins in
existence. However, unknown to the mint, a number of the coins (20 have
been recovered so far) were stolen, possibly by the U.S. Mint cashier,
and found their way via Philadelphia jeweler Israel Switt into the hands
of collectors. The coins circulated among collectors for several years
before the Secret Service became aware of their existence. The matter
came to the attention of mint officials when an investigative reporter
looked into the history of the coins he had spotted in an upcoming
Stack's Bowers coin auction and contacted the Mint as part of his
research. As a result, an official investigation into the matter was
launched by the Secret Service in March 1944. Prior to the
investigation, a Texas dealer sold one of the coins to a foreign buyer,
and it left the U.S. on February 29, 1944.

During the first year of the investigation, seven coins were seized or
voluntarily turned in to the Secret Service and were subsequently
destroyed at the Mint; an eighth coin was recovered the following year
and met the same fate. In 1945, the investigation identified the alleged
thief and his accomplice, Switt, who admitted to selling the nine
(located) coins, but said he could not recall how he obtained them. The
Justice Department tried to prosecute, but the statute of limitations
had passed. A ninth coin was recovered and destroyed in 1952.

The one missing double eagle was acquired by King Farouk of Egypt, who
was a voracious collector of many things, including imperial Faberge
eggs, antique aspirin bottles, paperweights, postage stamps and coins,
of which he had a collection of over 8,500.

In 1944 Farouk purchased a 1933 double eagle, and in strict adherence
with the law, his ministers applied to the United States Treasury
Department for an export license for the coin. Just days before the mint
theft was discovered, the license was granted. The Treasury Department
attempted to work through diplomatic channels to request the return of
the coin from Egypt, but World War II delayed their efforts for several
years. In 1952, King Farouk was deposed in a coup d'etat, and many of
his possessions were made available for public auction (run by
Sotheby's) including the double eagle coin. The United States government
requested the return of the coin, and the Egyptian government stated
that it would comply with the request. However, the coin disappeared and
was not seen again in Egypt.

In 1996, a double eagle surfaced again after over 40 years of obscurity,
when British coin dealer Stephen Fenton was arrested by U.S. Secret
Service agents during a sting operation at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in
New York. Although he initially told investigators he bought the coin
over the counter at his shop, he later changed his story. Under sworn
testimony, he insisted the double eagle had come from the collection of
King Farouk, though this could not be verified. Charges against Fenton
were subsequently dropped, and he defended his ownership of the coin in
court. The case was settled in 2001 when it was agreed that ownership of
the double eagle would revert to the United States government, and the
coin could then legally be sold at auction. The United States Treasury
issued a document to "issue and monetize" the coin, thereby making it a
legal-tender gold coin in the United States.

When the coin was seized, it was transferred to a holding place believed
to be safe: the treasury vaults of the World Trade Center. When the
court settlement was reached in July 2001, only two months before the
Trade Center was destroyed, the coin was transferred to Fort Knox for
safekeeping.

On July 30, 2002, the 1933 double eagle was sold to an anonymous bidder
at a Sotheby's auction held in New York for $6.6 million, plus a 15%
buyer's premium, and an additional $20 needed to "monetize" the face
value of the coin so it would become legal currency. This brought the
final sale price to $7,590,020.00, almost twice the previous record for
a coin. Half the bid price was to be delivered to the United States
Treasury, plus the $20 to monetize the coin, while Stephen Fenton was
entitled to the other half. The auction took less than nine minutes.

(Note: the article says the coin was taken to the WTC upon seizure, but
it actually spent about six months at Secret Service headquarters
undergoing forensic tests to verify its authenticity. I was allowed to
briefly hold it-- with gloves, of course-- during that time.)

[Adam H. Kerman]

BTR1701 <atr...@mac.com> wrote:

>(Note: the article says the coin was taken to the WTC upon seizure, but
>it actually spent about six months at Secret Service headquarters
>undergoing forensic tests to verify its authenticity. I was allowed to
>briefly hold it-- with gloves, of course-- during that time.)

Great story; thanks

[Jim G.]

Ubiquitous sent the following on 2/13/20 at 3:30 AM:
> What did you watch?

THE MAGICIANS / 5x05 / Apocalypse? Now?!

[Kady punches a dude. Margo misses cocaine. Yawn.]

"Well, if it's just branding, it means they're not really crazy, right?"
"My dad always said that they were batshit insane, and he married my
mom, so he had a pretty high bar for mental instability."

"Okay, you guys do that. I'm gonna go get some stay-awake supplies. I
have a muffin recipe with a special ingredient that is guaranteed to
keep us alert for five days."
"What is it? Meth?"
"Oh, excuse you. It is an organic, locally-sourced natural stimulant
that got me through every finals week, and it is definitely not meth."
"That's exactly what I would say if I was trying to get us to take meth."

"I just wanna stab someone."
"I haven't heard you this bloodthirsty in...well, not that long, but
still, it's notable."

"Look, guys, if you're looking for some sort of inspirational speech on
why you should stay and fight, I can't help you. It's gonna suck, and
even if we do succeed, which we might not, it's not like we're gonna get
any credit. The world ends, I end with it, knowing that I did everything
I could, because I won't be able to live with myself otherwise."
"Julia's right. She really does suck at inspirational speeches."

"Did you put the guards to sleep?"
"Yeah, but I'm a little confused why you aren't snoozing too. The only
thing stronger than that spell is...oh, my God. Are you on meth?"
"You know, it sure as hell seems like it."

"Uh...guys? I think we just broke the moon."

Harmonic convergence is coming, and that would be Very Bad. So it's time
to move the moon to keep it from happening. So the gang reunites and has
an all-nighter...times five. Because they need moon brain.

Along the way, Penny saves his muffins.

Grade: B+

THE MAGICIANS / 5x06 / Oops!...I Did It Again

[Margo and Eliot have a bad day. Eliot has a bad day.]

"NASA estimates just hours before the first pieces reach our atmosphere.
In a tweet, the president stressed the need for calm, saying, 'We will
fix the moon decisively. The American people have absolutely nothing to
fear.'"

"Feeling the wrong kind of boned right now."
"At least the Harmonic Convergence isn't happening anymore."
"I just have this bad feeling."
"Hey. We'll figure out how to stop this. I mean, on the off-chance the
president doesn't."

"Okay. I found a spell that can hold the pieces in suspension, we
just...right, good to assume we can all do sphincter magic?"

"If these loops sent us back even a little earlier, we could stop Marina
from bad-touching this whole situation, but we can't."

Time loop! First it's Margo and Eliot and then just Eliot. It's all
traced back to something that they did on Fillory, with Margo getting
kicked out of the loop after getting all Margo-y.

But Josh loves time loops and gives Eliot the start to the final
solution, which ultimately involves a Kraken. And Josh also loves
Kraken, too. In the end, it all came down to knocking out Marina, which
THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE THE FIRST TIME. And along the way, Todd has a
REALLY good time during the loops, but has no way of knowing it. Because
life is just unfair to Todd.

High marks for: the way that all of the fails were presented

Low marks for: this episode follows IMMEDIATELY on the heels of the last
one, but the writers seemed to have quickly forgotten that the gang
should still be SEVERELY sleep-deprived.

Grade: B+ (even the Trump jabs worked for me because they seemed to be
as good-natured as possible and didn't seem at all vicious and mean to
me, which is VERY unusual when it comes to this sort of thing)

--
Jim G. | A fan of the good and the bad, but not the mediocre
"I'm really glad we're at this place in our relationship where we can
dig up graves together without having to talk." -- Major Lillywhite, iZOMBIE

[Micky DuPree]

Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> writes:

> The Magicians - "Apocalypse? Now?!; Oops!... I Did It Again" - Two
> back to back episodes, and they were pretty good. Season finale level
> good, even though this wasn't the season finale. First The Magicians
> have to stop the Apocalypse, and that turns out to be harder than it
> should be because some people actually want to it happen so they can
> profit from it.

Kinda like real life.

> Next up (mild spoilers here) The Magicians succeed in stopping the
> Apocalypse, but because they are about as good at their job as the
> "Legends" are at their job, they replace one apocalypse with an even
> worse apocalypse, and on top of that there's a time loop thrown into
> the mix. The whole self aware Groundhogs day plot was really, funny,
> as were the multiple failed attempts at stopping the even worse
> apocalypse.

I did like the Groundhog Day loop a lot, and got a dark chuckle out of
Eliot's dire inner fear turning out to be a mostly false alarm.

> This Is Us - "A Hell of a Week: Part Three" - I already forgot what
> happened.

Kate had an abusive boyfriend in the past, and an unsupportive husband
in the present. Pretty good, actually.

> Mixed-ish - "The Charming Man - Rainbow goes on her first date for
> valentines day. OK episode.

I liked the whole peer pressure story line. I never got such specific
instructions as a box of chocolate raisins, though.

> Black-ish - "The Gauntlet" - Dre learns Bow doesn't like her
> valentines or any other gift he's been buying her.

I liked it a lot, because I don't see the point of people of similar
levels of wealth buying each other gifts that they could have bought
better for themselves.

Also, right now, they're playing it for laughs, but if Dre really is
emptying out the IRAs to go on spending sprees, that warrants a serious
exploration somewhere along the line.

> In a subplot I didn't really follow, Junior gets work advice from
> Charlie and the bosses son.

I followed the what (give Junior bland advice), but not the why
(criticize Junior for coming up with a bland presentation).

> The Flash - "Love Is a Battlefied" - Already covered.

I guess it was supposed to be funny. I'll give it credit for being a
bit different.

-Micky

[Arthur Lipscomb]

On 2/20/2020 9:16 AM, Micky DuPree wrote:
> Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> writes:
>
>> The Magicians - "Apocalypse? Now?!; Oops!... I Did It Again" - Two
>> back to back episodes, and they were pretty good. Season finale level
>> good, even though this wasn't the season finale. First The Magicians
>> have to stop the Apocalypse, and that turns out to be harder than it
>> should be because some people actually want to it happen so they can
>> profit from it.
>
> Kinda like real life.
>
>> Next up (mild spoilers here) The Magicians succeed in stopping the
>> Apocalypse, but because they are about as good at their job as the
>> "Legends" are at their job, they replace one apocalypse with an even
>> worse apocalypse, and on top of that there's a time loop thrown into
>> the mix. The whole self aware Groundhogs day plot was really, funny,
>> as were the multiple failed attempts at stopping the even worse
>> apocalypse.
>
> I did like the Groundhog Day loop a lot, and got a dark chuckle out of
> Eliot's dire inner fear turning out to be a mostly false alarm.
>

And Penny's fear turned out to be fully justified!

>
>> This Is Us - "A Hell of a Week: Part Three" - I already forgot what
>> happened.
>
> Kate had an abusive boyfriend in the past, and an unsupportive husband
> in the present. Pretty good, actually.
>
>

Maybe it was because I wasn't paying close enough attention, but I
didn't notice her husband being unsupportive.

[Micky DuPree]

Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> writes:

> On 2/20/2020 9:16 AM, Micky DuPree wrote:

>> Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> writes:

>>> The Magicians - "Apocalypse? Now?!; Oops!... I Did It Again"

>>> [....]

>>
>> I did like the Groundhog Day loop a lot, and got a dark chuckle out
>> of Eliot's dire inner fear turning out to be a mostly false alarm.
>
> And Penny's fear turned out to be fully justified!

They don't give Penny his due. And I'm still chuckling at the line from
a while back about Travelers ending up being taxis for their friends.

>>> This Is Us - "A Hell of a Week: Part Three" - I already forgot what
>>> happened.
>>
>> Kate had an abusive boyfriend in the past, and an unsupportive
>> husband in the present. Pretty good, actually.
>
> Maybe it was because I wasn't paying close enough attention, but I
> didn't notice her husband being unsupportive.

"Whenever I look at Jack, I get sad." Or something like that. He just
wasn't into the whole parenting of a vision-impaired kid because they'll
never be able to watch _Star Wars_ together. Toby's getting better, but
it wasn't what Kate needed to hear at that point. Once you have a kid,
it's not about you anymore. If Toby needs to talk to a professional to
deal with it, fine, he should say so, but he needs to get his head in
the game.

-Micky