Breaking Bad Withdrawals

[JTP]

Hey, everyone-
I'm back like bad money after a long hiatus. Laid off for awhile. Any BB fans here? I'm missing my show. It's going to be a long time until season 3, but at least there will be one to look forward to. Surfing the channels on my basic cable is pretty depressing. I was hoping the "reality" shows were just a passing fad, but they seem to have almost taken over the television. Dog the bounty hunter? Operation Repo? Spoiled Bitchy Housewives of Wherever? Do people actually watch that crap? Thank Thor, I have a stack of good books to read!

 

[Altron]

I've been watching Cake Boss on TLC... I guess it's reality TV, but it's pretty cool, and the guy starring in it is half a mile down the street from me.

Otherwise, Deadliest Catch is usually pretty good. And I'm excited for the new seasons of The Office and 24 in a few months.

Got some books too... Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert came out with a new one! It's called "Paul of Dune" and it's about the Muad'Dib jihad that occurs between Dune and Dune Messiah. Gonna be awesome! I know it's blasphemous, but I like their Dune books more than the originals. Frank Herbert just got a little out there... he was more interested in philosophy and just being kinda out there than in telling a compelling story. I guess one of the few series that at this point in my life, I'm at the point where it's interesting, but I feel like I'll appreciate it more when I'm older. Dune Messiah, The Fountainhead, and Foucault's Pendulum are those books. As someone who read the first nine Wheel of Time books before hitting puberty, I'm not used to not being able to understand books.

What books you got lined up JTP? Any good sci-fi adventures?

And what's BB?

 

[pc_builder]

I think he meant Breaking Bad, which I have never seen. I've been watching cartoon network, history channel, and discovery lately. Got a few books to read, but I've been putting them off.

 

[Winky]

Mr Clean is one bad mutha Fucka!

 

[Leslie]

We've been watching Discovery, History, and the Food Network. I've never seen Ace of Cakes before, but I must say it was a pleasure.

I have a giant stack of books, though. I am not working much lately so they will fill the boredom void. At least till the kids are home for the summer.

 

[catocom]

I've watched an episode or 2 of BB, but I can see the same stuff in town, frequently, for real.
Kind of dull, after RL.

been watching news. There ain't much to watch these days.

I did like 'night at the museum' though.

 

[MrBishop]

Hey JTP!
Welcome back

 

[2minkey]

too bad they killed off jessie's girl. (ha ha) she was kinda cute. even with bangs.

 

[Luis G]

We're watching the rock of love series, I know it is reality TV but it makes me laugh really hard. So mission accomplished for that show, even if it is stupid.

 

[JTP]

Thanks, good to be back.
I've only missed one episode of Breaking Bad in 2 seasons. Some of my acquaintances refuse to give it a chance because illegal drugs are featured. Ostriches put their heads down in the sand. If you give the show a chance, you'll see it does not in any way glorify meth, heroin, etc. It is a violent, dark drama with comic relief moments. The writing and acting are up there with Rome, Deadwood, and shows of that caliber. There are no clear-cut good guys/bad guys like so many shows have. The main character has a Jeckyl/Hyde personality that is very interesting. There are many themes and threads woven into the plot, including the outrageous cost of health care, why some drugs are socially acceptable and some aren't, the outrageous profits and bloody violence that accompanies the illegal ones, who profits the most from the black-market, the interconnections between actions, the role of coincidence influencing outcomes, and others. Yeah, I wish the writers had kept Jane alive for a few more episodes at least.
We will see more of Gus, Saul, and Mr. Clean next season.
Don't read as much science fiction as I used to, but will check out the new Dune novel. My stack is mostly non-fiction history, geography, environmental science, water management texts, etc., but I have a couple of Ambrose Bierce mysteries by Oakley Hall and a couple of Flashman novels by George MacDonald Fraser left to read.

 

[catocom]

the one I saw started with a young kid on a bike, after one gang threatened
another, and the kid rode up after the other turned around and sat at corner street,
Then the kid circled and the guy told him to get lost, then from behind, the kid
blows him away.

All ya gotta do it watch news, and it's real life.

 

[spike]

Yeah, I wish the writers had kept Jane alive for a few more episodes at least.

Yeah, she was cool. And who would have guessed her death would have indirectly lead to the teddy bear in the pool and and hazmat crews they'd been foreshadowing for awhile.

It was crazy how they left everything in shambles at the end of the last episode.

This is definitely one of the best shows on TV. I haven't missed one episode yet thanks to it being On Demand. The ATM machine episode stands out as one of the most memorable for me.

Some of my other top shows are Rescue Me, Nip/Tuck, The Riches (canceled but they still show repeats), Weeds, Fringe, and Dexter.

 

[JTP]

I kind of liked Jane, too, just to look at her. Poor Jesse fell for her hook, line and sinker. Wish I could afford OnDemand. Probably just save up and get on DvD.
Funyuns Rock, Dude!

 

[POStech]

Last book I read was Generation Kill. Good book and HBO did a good 7 part show based on it.
Currently reading Rainbow Six. Figured I've played enough T.C. games I might as well read one of his books.
Next book (which I finally found a few weeks back) is One Bullet Away by Nathaniel Flick. Flick was one of the Marines in the book Generation Kill.

 

[JTP]

I was at the neighborhood store today to get my fix of Funyuns, nicotine, and caffeine. There was a bunch of youngsters hanging out in front. They parted like the Biblical Sea for Moses. I flatter myself to think it was my gravitas, but more likely it was superficial stuff, like my Motorhead T-shirt, ass-stomping biker boots and steely-eyed glare that they noticed. The ten of them could have had me down and dead in a minute if they wanted, but they're brain-washed like all the rest of us. One of them squeaked, "Hey, Bro- buy us some beer?" Of course, I ignored him, entered the store, made my purchases, and left. It's just so sad how young kids (don't say "these days" or I'll gouge out yer eyeballs) have no Fathers to hang with. My Dad spent as much time as he could with me. He wasn't always easy to be around, -hell, rarely- but he wasn't abusive, was always FAIR, and he taught me to be tough and strong, but not vicious. There's a great big difference between. Kids, especially teenagers, need Dads.
So many of these unwanted kids are growing up without a rudder, without an anchor of any sort- the next generation of gang-bangers and serial killers. If any of you have kids, I can't tell you what to do or how to raise them except spend time with them, DO THINGS WITH THEM-you don't have to be all namby-pamby and affectionate, hell- call them on their bullshit, give them grief, challenge them -just don't be INDIFFERENT. Don't let them grow up by the latch-key and unwanted. That's just asking for trouble.

 

[Inkara1]

"these days"

 

[JTP]

Inkara1- Your eyeballs are safe, especially since you're on the other side of the continent.
My point was that there have always been unwanted kids. It's a by-product of sex. Everyone likes to get laid, but few are ready, willing and able to be responsible parents to the offspring. Don't say "these days" because it's nothing new- been going on since the dawn of civilization. In Old England and other places, the first-born male child inherited the estate, all the other kids were left to their own devices- usually to join the Army, Navy, Church, or Crime. Chinese and others routinely (I've heard) kill female offspring.
What really bugs me is the cavalier attitude towards sex. We have developed many forms of birth control, but there are still people who are against using it. You would think that birth control would be one of our main agendas- on a planet with limited resources and a population of humans growing out of bounds- and there are people who are totally opposed to using birth control. It puzzles me. We need condoms and spermicide, etc. Not more "food to feed the starving" or plans to colonize other planets.

 

[JTP]

Q: Why do vasectomies cost so much?
A: Because no expense is too great when it comes to saving the human race from over-population!