Well, at least she isn't becoming a singer.

I didn't like the episode. Perhaps too much time elapsed and I just stopped caring.

Avant-garde does not exist anymore. The very nature of the avant-garde is that society ostracizes or punishes you for your art. The artists of the Belle Époque lived in poverty and in a demimonde to subsist. They were often ignored in their lifetime.

… after learning God has left them behind to cool like so much uneaten potato salad.

I couldn't stand Mara in this. The character is a precocious child who in reality knows nothing but acts as if she knows everything. A stronger actress needed to be put into the part. I want to say Julia Stiles, but, ha ha, she is at the ripe old age of 31. Emma Watson could have nailed it. She's 22 and could play…

Read King's book On Writing. Over half of it is devoted to his life before becoming famous and there are charming passages about his wife in there and how she helped get him to where he was. He tossed Carrie in the trash and she pulled the pages out and told him he had something there.

Read King's book On Writing. Over half of it is devoted to his life before becoming famous and there are charming passages about his wife in there and how she helped get him to where he was. He tossed Carrie in the trash and she pulled the pages out and told him he had something there.

I am so glad you mentioned Kate Mara. I think she is the weak link in the show (I am finished with all 13). She cannot act and, for me at least, it affected how I reacted to her character and the goings on.

Lonesome Dove was supposed to be a very good miniseries. Also, we are treated to the adult Ricky Schroeder. I am not sure if he was Rick yet. (And kudos to Deborah Gibson for doing the same). I see it on Netflix and wonder if I should do it or just read the book as I have never read McMurtry.

Everyone loved The Thorn Birds, man.

A pithy thank you note with a sincere message to someone who treated for dinner gets you so much free food. My friends get so angry because I'll always send a note to their parents if they footed the bill.

The closest thing to a Nielsen rating for Netflix is on instantwatcher.com

Yeah, things just got away from me.

I was trying to explain the devolution of the communal experience and instead my brain succumbed to the hour on the east coast. I mostly was trying to say that the market is becoming literally so niche that our tastes are going to segment us into the types of people something like Portlandia skewers. The smorgasbord…

The Atlantic covered this yesterday. Todd's piece is more thoughtful, but there are some interesting points here.

Well, that's what I get for eating like a pig then.

You and I have joined the podcast-listening community at the same time. I have been doing it for about a year.

Down and Out in Beverly Hills was a remake of the Jean Renoir film Boudu Saved from Drowning. You can watch it on Hulu Plus if you haven't seen it. It is pretty darned good.

Funny you mention radio because I have become hooked on old-time radio lately. There are some really good radio dramas and comedies (I have been a Jack Benny fan since WWOR used to show its show before I went to school). There is a streaming service for Android I use. But it is nice to sit on the patio and just relax…

That's a good point about Twitter and one I did not think of when I was commenting earlier. When the article about Jamie Kennedy's awful New Years Eve show talked about Patton Oswalt Tweeting that it was a train wreck, I remember thinking that would be a reason for me to turn something on which I wasn't watching.