Jack's Slack After the first two hours of 24 I have to say I wasn't particularly impressed. Possibly the hype killed it a little for me, maybe for the writers and producers as well. It's almost like they felt the need to net new viewers. It looked like they were filming first takes of uncomfortable exposition. Everyone in the Oval Office looked like they were learning lines as they spoke them. Maybe with one of them ear pieces Bush uses.
The bad guy switch from Assad to Fayed was okay, but not particularly surprising. The scenes with the toussle-haired all-American boy and his Arab neighbor were unintentionally hilarious. Ahmed's revelation as a bad guy was no surprise. Somebody had to be bad in the family, otherwise they wouldn't be on screen. So when he points the gun at the Norman Rockwell kid and says, "You're not my friend. You can't even pronounce my name," I waited for him to add, "Plus, just look at us. I'm like ten years older than you! Stop hanging around me! It's getting creepy." (The actor who plays high schooler Ahmed is 29.)
24 has always been funny. I'm not sure why anyone would take it too seriously. It's like watching a Bond movie and seriously thinking we should have one cool guy with a lot of gadgets solve our problems. And as I've mentioned in the past, 24 likes to use torture to define its characters. Jack Bauer is off his game because he couldn't torture as well as Assad. Jack Bauer not get information from someone using torture! Now I know how Packers fans feel watching Favre unable to complete a pass.
The first two hours did give us one great surprising and funny 24 moment. Jack, realizing he's about to die for no reason, escapes his chains by pulling his captor over and biting through his jugular. That led to the best line of the night, delivered not on screen but by Mrs BoneDaddy. "Hey, it's just like Lost Boys." (Update: Okay, hours three and four seem more in the groove. I don't think it was all that shocking, at least not to veteran 24 watchers. We've seen all this before - presidential pardons flying like frisbees, bad guys choosing suicide over capture, we've even had a nuke go off before. And do I have to remind everyone how often Jack attacks his co-workers? George Mason, Ryan Chappelle, Tony, Chase, Nina (both pre- and post- evil)? If you work with the guy, sooner or later he will at minimum taser you. It's the way they put these things together that matter and I like the way it went together in hours three and four.
Best Books of 2006 My list is late, but this year all the books included were actually published in the referenced year.
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks. I've already praised this book here, but it's worth mentioning that it hasn't faded in memory the way some genre stuff does. I still vaguely wonder, during slow moments of my day, if I could put my house up on stilts. (Brooks' zombies are poor climbers.) Each of my best books has some connection to the Iraq War. World War Z's connection is slight but not insignificant. There are several references to fatigue and depletion of military supplies and men due to Iraq, stress that leaves America vulnerable to the zombie plague. But more meaningfully, Brooks plays on a post-Iraq, post-Katrina fear that the people who are supposed to protect you have no idea what they are doing. They seem surprised by religious and anti-American violence in the Middle East and couldn't get water to flood victims. Think they could stop a horde of zombies? Hey, who's that outside?
My next book, Ken Kalfus' novel A Disorder Peculiar to the Country begins on September 11th, 2001 and ends shortly after the invasion of Iraq. Those events are just backdrop to the dark, dark comedic struggles of the main characters to divorce each other. How pitch black is this book? In the first chapter, on 9/11, both characters are secretly thrilled by the morning's events because they both believe the other has died. The ending is even more audacious. Probably a dozen or so books have literally made my jaw drop as I read them and this is one. The politics of this book sneak up on the reader. I won't give away the ending, but I will say that one of the most damning things you can do to a delusional person, such as our President, is take them at their word.
And with the most obvious connection to the Iraq War, Thomas Ricks' Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq. My main complaint with Fiasco is the title. One glance, and the title looks like it reflects a screed instead of a conclusion. Ricks is the military correspondent for the Washington Post and concentrates on the military in Iraq. Bush, in fact, hardly appears in the text. (When he does, he is out-of-touch and completely willing to play politics with the war.) I've followed the news from Iraq pretty closely since the start and Fiasco had enough new information and insight to encourage me to press on through the dense and dry writing.
Although Ricks reports on several of the atrocities and heavy-handed treatment that only increased the violence there, he lays most of the blame on the failed strategy of Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld. There was no proper counterinsurgency strategy in place because there wasn't going to be an insurgency. Counterinsurgency, where "the people are the prize," is also counter-intuitive to the dominant hit-'em-harder, round-'em-all-up mentality. A depressing, depressing book. It's hard to read about how in the weeks after the statue came down an American could walk near the Tigris and drink coffee in a cafe without much fear and not shake your head at what's happened. Like the others, Fiasco is not really for the faint of heart.
Once I gorge myself on some fiction, I'm going in search of a Washington-based, political history of the Iraq War. I'd welcome any suggestions.
From McSweeney's John Updike, Television Writer: "[Mrs Howell's] skin, at [the Skipper's] touch, shudders like a jungle leaf bearing the staccato bombardment of tropical rain." Funny as it is, it doesn't diminish my enjoyment of Updike's early stories, which I happen to be reading. (Link via PopCandy.)
It's been a typically busy year in the BoneDaddy household, so much so that I'm posting my year-end faves in the second week of January, spurred on by the idea that if lazy-ass c-dog can do it, I'd better be able to.
Music-wise, 2006 was the year of iTunes for me. Stuffing and listing old, forgotten CDs on iTunes meant I didn't buy much in the way of new albums. Yo La Tengo's I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass made me happy enough to declare it my entire Top Albums of the year list. If you're not satisfied, you can check out PopMatters' Top Sixty Albums of the Year, which contains enough MP3s to make a nice little CD. Freebie singles dominated my past 12 months. So I loved singles by Voxtrot, Band of Horses (whose song "The Funeral" I nearly deleted on first hearing before I fell for the earnest bombast, now I sing it in the car), Asobi Seksu, Delta 5 and the Raconteurs but never got around to buying the full CDs.
On TV, Friday Night Lights was the best show of the year. I admire how confidently they get rid of exposition. You never hear a line like, "Coach, since you only took over this job three months ago ..." Or, "Didn't we have fun when I kissed you in the truck ..." They trust their actors a great deal to tell the story. Some scenes feel so natural Mrs. BoneDaddy and I aren't sure if they're improvised or not. I thought they'd be like a regular show and wheel the crippled quarterback off stage right in week two but they haven't flinched from that story line. His attempts at sex even earned a parental advisory. The acting is great across the board, especially Zach Gilford as Matt Seracen (who uses the pronounciation "Eye-rack"). I'm also still watching The Office, although I think they missed a great opportunity when they skipped over the summer of Jim leaving and Pam breaking her engagement. Like everyone else, I fell for the popcorn fun of Heroes. I disagree with c-dog about Studio 60, however. I couldn't care about the show in the show, the characters or the mushy politics. (I stopped watching after three or four shows, so maybe it's gotten better.)
I understand they show moving pictures with sound in theaters and you're allowed to view a selected narrative in a darkened room for an admission fee. I'll certainly try to confirm this in 2007.
I can confirm that books are still being published. I'll have my Best Books of 2006 next time ... Cheers!
New Tenant in the Tardis? There are an awful lot of articles saying rumors that Tennant is leaving Doctor Who after Season 3/29 aren't true but until today I hadn't seen any mention of new casting. Rumors are what they are so I take it cum grano salis that Jason Statham (imdb) is next up as the Doctor.
Probably not worth commenting on a rumor so unlikely, Statham's film career may not have been boosted by Crank but I find it hard to believe he's looking for series tv work, yet I can't help but wonder what he'd do with the role. He was brilliant in Lock, Stock , Snatch, and proved he is a legit action star in The Transporter. But, while the Doctor is supposed to be a master of Venusian karate, action is hardly the show's calling card. I'd imagine he'd have to play the role more Turkish than Frank Martin, which wouldn't be a bad thing.
Still, I hope Tennant sticks around a few more seasons. The Doctor doesn't have enough regenerations for the role to be revolving door.
Big Game Coming The annual UConn Tennessee game starts today at 4. I've been impressed with UConn so far this year. A lot of solid role-players, a lot of chemistry for a young team and players, like Green, Hunter and Thomas, doing much better than expected. I've got them in the Final Four already. It might be a little early for them to face Pat Summit and crew, especially hobbled by some injuries. Of course, if it were easy it wouldn't be as much fun to watch.
Happy New Year! 2006 was a heck of a year in the c-dog house ... I became a father back in May (some mornings I still wake up and go, "Holy crap, two babies!"), got a new job with commute to Boston started in October (most mornings I still wake up and go, "Oh f*ck, it's 4:45am and if I don't hustle I'm going to miss my train") and 2007 looks like it could bring some more change as well ... good-bye Rhode Island?
It'd be harder than usual for me to make top 10 lists for '06 ... if I saw 5 movies this year, it's because I saw 3 in the last week while on vacation: Casino Royale, Charlotte's Web, and The Good Shepherd. I couldn't recommend Shepherd -- lots of talent just wandering around, interacting reluctantly, occasionally making a facial expression, bumping into some of the other talent, while the weighty theme slaps down on the viewer's head like a round, juicy ham. Thwok, "I'm a self-important movie, meaty and powerful," thwok. The other two lived up to expectations and, if the trailers piqued your interest, I think you could go in confident you'll come out entertained.
As far as music goes ... Panic! At the Disco irritated me -- I got the album based on a Robot Wisdom rave before I heard them on the radio and wish I'd been more skeptical. The Stolen Records have been in the cd player in the car on heavy rotation. Otherwise, I've basically had the iPod on shuffle all year ... although Say Anything's "Alive With the Glory of Love" was catchy enough that it made my commuting playlist.
TV was all about Doctor Who this year. The season 2 finale with Daleks vs. Cybermen was awesome ... the scene where the Cyberman and Dalek meet in the hallway at Torchwood and each demands the other identify themself was brilliant: "Identify!" "No, you will identify!" "Daleks do not identify!" "You have identified yourself as 'Dalek'!" "D'oh!" [I'm paraphrasing here.} The Daleks exterminated with extreme prejudice, demonstrating they are clearly the superior killing machines, but the Cybermen won the battle of wits. Dalek: "Daleks do not need style!" Cyberman: "That is evident." I watched Jericho with growing fatigue. I got back into Battlestar Galactica. I've drifted away from Law and Order (new) but still slavishly watch any of the first 14 or so seasons when they're on (all the time). Heroes, Studio 60, and the The Office are mainstays. Smallville, Supernatural, and Veronica Mars too. We got DVR this year and I don't think I could go back to watching live tv. I'm guessing in the next year or two, product placement will replace commercials as the chief tv advertising delivery method. Sony obviously has their claws in the Bond franchise, but even The Wire hawks snacky chips with ruthless abandon.
Web-wise I haven't got much new to recommend. I'm trying out LibraryThing to see if I can keep my reading list and book collection there instead of at Reader2. Reader2 has the advantage of being free where LibraryThing is free up to 200 books ... but R2 is a little clunkier and keeping track of the exact edition and cover is easier with LT. I find I'm going to The House Next Door for movie and tv reviews these days. They do a great job posting well-written and timely Doctor Who and Battlestar reviews. I check Dealnews and Dealspl.us frequently.
Nap time's over. So much for my Year in Review post. Happy and healthy to all!
