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This blog is the work of an educated civilian, not of an expert in the fields discussed.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Weekend TV etc.



Not having HBO, I waited until the miniseries on John Adams (based on the book) was on DVD, though saw a few "extras" beforehand (some previews and such part of the freebies provided by one of the cable services). The miniseries is about nine hours, seven parts, and three DVDs. A coupon led to a reduced charged, but it would have made sense if an offer was made to supply the discount for all who rented all three together. And, time-wise, Blockbuster has a thing where you can hold items a week past the "due" date.

The rental was $12, still a lot cheaper than the $60 list price for the set. Good atmosphere, mostly lead performances (e.g., interesting head in clouds Jefferson), but probably bit off more than it could chew -- at some points, it was more like snapshots (if pretty good ones) of history. First few parts came off the best. On another front, Army Wives is somewhat based on real life* and the episode on Sunday was pretty good. But, we have another "can't have an abortion!" subplot, even having a bait and switch of sorts where you think she was about to have one. I am not abortion hungry, but it is a procedure millions have done, and it is simply misleading (with cultural/policy implications) to never show it.

Golf was also during the weekend, spilling over to today because of the need for a playoff. In fact, there was a further need for a sudden death round. Tiger Woods is still not over his injury, but managed to make the shots when he had to, including when he was down by a stroke after seventeen (I periodically checked the scores) today. The journeyman who played his latest patsy clearly couldn't quite step up to the plate, even when he only had to beat the guy in the eighteenth. Like an ace closer, TW did the job, which is impressive. It simply is not satisfying.

The guy does lose now and again, to prove his isn't a robot, but mainly just wins. This underlines his superior abilities, but for me personally I rather things be spread around.

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* The book by the same name (originally under a different one) concerns for women who look in various respects like the main characters, though the "army husband" is no show thus far. Differences are in place, not only of the more children variety. For instance, on the show, the surrogacy was secret. In real life, the woman did not just do it for the money -- she also felt a calling and was open about what she was doing.

But there is a commander's wife, soft-spoken wife whose son was abusive, and so forth in the book so far, just like on the show. A third the way through, it also is a good read -- in a fashion, like a novel.