"Undermining my electoral viability since 2001."

Outlandish Josh

Published on Fri, 2006-12-08 13:52

BattleStar Shining / Lost Losing

I believe I'm mostly caught up on the two network shows I follow: BattleStar Galactica and Lost. The former is having a gangbusters third season, the latter losing its edge.

It's not an easy thing to make a good network serial drama. The form demands you have 25 episodes or so, each 45 minutes long and broken up by commercials. That's a lot of chapters to fill. Network executives mess with the work in progress trying to tease out better ratings, and they're usually not looking at making a great piece of culture, just how to get more eyeballs next sweeps.

The people who work for HBO have a much easier time of it: 12 one-hour episodes with no commercials and you pretty much get to make the whole thing. Input from the parent company comes in the off-season and you've got an entity that sees the long-game of DVD sales as a big part of their margin, so they want a quality product.

That being said, it's instructive to watch what happens as one show ripens and another deteriorates.

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Published on Thu, 2006-12-07 20:31

Yeah, baby, I still got it...

I surfed past a link to OkCupid -- which does the most interesting stuff with online dating, even if I don't really do that -- so I thought I'd re-take their personality test. Turns out they think I'm the same cat as I was three years ago. I think I've matured a bit, but I can't say that this is inaccurate per se.

The Playboy
Random Gentle Sex Master (RGSMm)

Clean. Smooth. Successful. You're The Playboy.

You're spontaneous, and your energy is highly contagious. Guys therefore find you fun to be around, and girls find you compelling. You have lots of sex, and you manage it all without seeming cheap or being hurtful. Well done. You probably know karate, too.

It's obvious to us, and probably everyone else, that you're after physical rather than emotional relationships, but you're straight up with potential partners. And if a girl you want isn't into something casual, it's no big deal. You move on. BEFORE sleeping with her. Usually. At least you try to. Such control is rare.

If you're feeling unfulfilled, maybe you should raise your standards. New conquests will only be satisfying if there's a possibility of rejection.

ALWAYS AVOID: The Priss

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Published on Thu, 2006-12-07 18:50

Why I Don't Think Hillary Will Do Well

Mike beat me to it, but for anyone who thinks Hillary is an unstoppable juggernaut, just wait.

This is dumb on the merits and politically. She's talking junk on the studies and statistics: there's just positively no correlation between gaming and antisocial behavior. In fact macro trends on youth crime (falling) in relation to gaming (rising) suggest the opposite, so this is a classic solution in search of a problem. It's a purely cultural issue.

Clinton either really believes this is a pressing problem (unlikely), or else thinks she scores political points here with parents who worry about this stuff and don't quite understand the world their kids live in (likely). I think this is poor calculus given the increasing importance of younger and more technologically savvy voters, and the fact that most individuals who care enough about this to cast a vote one way or another on it are Republicans.

Also, just listen to her talk. Not. Gonna. Happen.

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Test 3

3 6 9

Authentic Experience

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Nerding Out

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