Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Screen Jam hasn't been a screen gem, but I still have hopes for it.
It's been clear that I can't give an entertainment blog the same dedication that I give a Dodger blog. Part of that is just the time constraints on my schedule; part of it is that my job at Variety prevents me from being completely open with what I'd like to say. As a result, my posts have been sporadic - sometimes disappearing for more than a week at a time.
Nevertheless, it's also clear that members of the Dodger Thoughts and Baseball Toaster community join me in having a passion for arts and culture, as well as an occasional ability to articulate that passion, and I still think Screen Jam and Toaster.TV can be a great home for that. So, although I have given thought to merging the Screen Jam content back into Dodger Thoughts, I'd like to give Screen Jam another shot. I actually still have very high hopes for it.
The first step has already been taken: I'm making as explicitly clear as possible what was always true - every chat thread at Screen Jam is an open chat thread. One of the great things about Dodger Thoughts is how the community keeps the discussion going without me and initiates new discussions. That same feeling hasn't crossed over to Screen Jam, but I want people to know they can. The only thing people in different time zones have to be careful not to do is spoil TV shows for those who haven't had a chance to see them yet.
Of course, one of the biggest complaints about Screen Jam is that there's no point in starting a discussion with no one going over there. On the other hand, I began Dodger Thoughts with an audience of one, so I know you can't be a slave to your audience or lack of one. But absolutely, the more the merrier. If people begin to expect ongoing chats there, I think we'll start to get momentum.
For my part, I'll try to keep the chat going by being more rigorous in posting there myself. The posts may often be super short - nothing more than conversation starters - but it should contribute to that feeling of life.
In addition, I want Screen Jam to be more than just television, more than just television and movies. This is especially important right now, trying to generate participation in the final month of the broadcast TV season. In a month, there won't be nearly as much television to talk about. So please, jump in any time and talk about a book you read, a song you like, a play you saw. I'd like to see some philosophy if you can muster it.
Finally, people have suggested inviting guest posts to Screen Jam. I'm finding myself open to this idea. I still have some questions in my own mind to answer about the logistics and the quantity, but I can see it happening - I sort of am intrigued by the idea of becoming a de facto managing editor of Screen Jam. If this is something you'd be interested in, you can let me know in the comments.
My instinct is that guest posts should strive to be of a higher quality than your average comment in terms of style and grammar - not that the comments here aren't first-rate - but you can tell me how you feel about that as well. Certainly, I'm not going to have time to edit other people's posts.
Anyway, that's where things are today. Screen Jam has been going for about eight months now, and it's been a learning experience - which is good. But now it's time to make it better. I really hope some of you will join me in the effort.
Every thread at Screen Jam is an open chat thread.
Go Screen Jams!
vr, Xei
http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/#mea=103067
My DVR handles the odd time with aplomb.
Take a load off Harry, take a load for free, take a load off Harry, and you put the load right on me.
All in all, NBC was awesome tonight. Earl was genuinely funny a couple of times and had a killer twist for the finale, The Office was just brilliant, and Scrubs continued to be inconsistent but sporadically hilarious. NBC has no competition to speak of in the sitcom world, well, unless you count ratings (as opposed to general awesomeness). Then, CBS is kicking butt.
Go to sleep little Benaiah. . .
14 - CBS's demographics skew really old though, and they haven't had a breakout hit in a long time. Procedurals are good for the networks since they can stick them in anywhere and the personal stories are unimportant anyway, however, they don't develop critical followings like higher concept stuff. NBC is going to improve in the ratings eventually, but CBS's audience is going to die out.
I refuse to name them. But they are procedurals and not CSIs.
Conversely, Screen Jam comments are dormant for a day and a half. I don't check back, and then BOOM, fifteen comments on a particular topic within an hour. It's just not as fluid and consistent as DT is.
The ending is 5
Over the closing credits, the cast sings the theme to "The Flintstones."
One of those is right because every week I need a Judd Hirsch fix.
19- You missed the ride home where they sang the Flinstone's theme song. Michael's deranged scatting over melodic breaks was very good.
Any stranger that came within five feet of me got a soccer kick to the shins.
I think he's just supposed to play chess and give the occasional clue, and maybe bring the sons closer together. He's a little to much of a nebbish on the show for my taste.
I'm never going to guess the other one. If not for Numb3rs, I would have a streak of not watching CBS that dates back to Northern Exposure. And I haven't watched Numb3rs in a year and a half.
Woohoo.
So, after watching Jim (yes, he pushed Karen out of the way, but still) cower away from a charging Roy, and then, that very day, scramble away from a charging Stanley, she thought the way to broach the subject was in front of a big hairy group? Really?
I did have trouble getting my breath back from laughing so hard at Dwight's power play while standing on fire. That was fantastic.
14 - Agreed. NBC has promised to go back to the Grant Tinker philosophy, "First be best, then be first." The renewal of Friday Night Lights backs that up.
17 - That's what I'm trying to address now.
28 - Disagree. The confession has been building up in her all year - she just needed the final push. If it wasn't walking on coals, it would have been something else, but the coals sort of made the moment feel perfect - even if it wasn't perfect. She was feeling alive. And to answer your question, I don't think she wasn't really calling anyone out but herself - she just was revved up.
Would it make more sense if she chose precisely the right setting to declare her feelings? I don't think so. This is The Office. People say things at the wrong time. People are clumsy. But somehow they muster greatness despite themselves.
Bob is buffeted.
Pam has sat there and done nothing for months, and it finally asploded. I loved it.
I don't know about that. Maybe the motivation wasn't about Jim, but the enthusiasm was. She felt more alive than she had in months, and all she could talk about was Jim.
"I canceled my wedding because of you."
In the end, it comes to the same thing. She may not have been calling Jim out, but she was calling their entire relationship out. She was excited about the prospects of a great life, and that life includes Jim.
Oh, and Creed gutted a fish.
And because it's a spur of the moment thing, then she's not calculating the best way to convince Jim to--I'm unclear on this point too. I don't think, as Brock does, that the ball's in his court. At least not the romantic ball. What I took from the Jim-specific part of the speech was an accusation that he'd been a negligent friend. Which, fair enough, but how can she not be self-conscious enough to know the genesis of that? It sucks when one friend falls in unrequited love with the other; it doesn't unsuck if the unrequiter really means it when she says she wants to stay friends.
36- Splitter.
I don't expect Pam to be as assertive as Jim. That's what makes Jim and Pam so great. He's so much more confident than she. I mean, cancelleing the wedding should have told Jim all he needed to know. And what did he do about it? Come back into town with Hotty McOffice.
I think Pam expected Jim to come running to her when he found out she wasn't getting married. And he didn't. And it really hurt her.
Pam's a little weak. Jim knows that.
That's not Pam. Canceling the wedding was as much as a confessional to Jim as you're gonna get...Until tonight.
Not marrying Roy was a good decision, however she came by it. If Roy were a better fit for her and she'd still left him, it's easier to draw your conclusion. Loving Jim is a sufficient, but not necessary reason to not marry Roy. Roy is reason enough.
And I still don't see what she said tonight as a confession of romantic interest. I guess she could have chickened out of that, since it came last, and since Quincy Jones's daughter was sitting right there, but that seems like it would indicate more control than we're positing.
And I think, "I canceled my wedding because of you," doesn't unambiguously mean, "I canceled my wedding because I decided I wanted you." Jim had more than one interest in talking her out of marrying Roy, to be sure, but one of them was out of concern for her, independent of her feelings for him.
I guess we'll see next week if I'm all wet, guessing what Jim's thinking. That I'm on the wrong side of Jon makes me doubt myself. That I'm on the wrong side of Brock, though, steels my confidence.
It was totally awesome! I never realized that MacGyver and Doctor Who were the same guy before, but there was MacGyver, being chased by a bunch of Daleks firing laser beams at him! "Must. Destroy. Intruders!"
I won't totally spoil the ending, but let's just say that in a game of Dalek, Paper, Scissors, paper beats Dalek...
Anyway, a few thoughts, some on-topic to the original post, and some on-topic to the Office.
1) Re: The Office, I may be in the minority that I rather like the Jim/Karen pairing. I think the writers may have had their hands forced because Rashida Jones is waiting on news of whether or not that pilot she shot is getting picked up, or so I've heard. If it is, I'd imagine she's gone. This doesn't guarentee Pam and Jim get together, just that Jim and Karen are through if she has to leave, though it certainly would help the chances for the former. I think it was handled well considering that possibility, as it's open-ended enough to permit any number of possible outcomes, but certainly has the momentum to force a change.
2) Re: Screen Jam as a whole, I think that one thing to consider is perhaps widening your own spectrum of posts, Jon. To quote one of my favorite bloggers: "So please, jump in any time and talk about a book you read, a song you like, a play you saw. I'd like to see some philosophy if you can muster it." :)
I'd agree that guest posts could work (dibs on Heroes! No? Aw, shucks). I don't know if this is possible with the Toaster software, but if you've frequented some of the SBNation blogs (as an example), they have a nice feature where commenters can write 'diaries,' which are basically just extra posts linked on the sidebar. Particularly good ones can be moved to the main blog's page by the administrator. Not sure if this is possible, but that'd allow additional discussion topics.
Also, it might be worthwhile to toss up 'open-threads' on shows/events you don't necessarily watch yourself. It might bring more commenters over? Just sort of thinking out loud, here.
Anyway, I do think that the endeavor of Screen Jam is a worthwhile one. It's a good read, though most of the shows I watch don't get a lot of "talk-time" here. Here's to hoping things pick up.
"Jim I called off my wedding because of you, and now we're not even friends. And things are just, like, weird between us. And that sucks. And I miss you. You were my best friend before you went to Stamford. And I really miss you. I shouldn't have been with Roy, and there were a lot of reasons to call off my wedding. But the truth is I didn't care about any of those reasons until I met you. And now you're with someone else, and that's fine, that's whatever. That's not what I'm. . . I'm not. . . Okay my feet really hurt. The thing that I'm just trying to say to you Jim, and to everyone else in the circle, I guess, is that I miss having fun with you. Just you. Not everyone in the circle. Okay. I am going to go walk in the water now. Yeah. It's a good day."
Which is where, the first time through, I really lost what perceptiveness I'm capable of, I think because I had a visceral reaction to her having what, if I were Jim, would be a mortifying conversation to have publicly. Because I found it unpleasant, it stands to reason that it couldn't have been in Pam's character, since I dig Pam's character. I can accept that I was projecting what may be a hypersensitivity to public humiliation, but the whole thing was a seriously heavy Jazz chord. And my ears are delicate.
I'm not sure this changes the basic equation made plain in Casino Night, though. Jim knows that she never wanted to stop being friends. He told her he wanted more, she said she couldn't. It's the first time she seems to express regret (instead of guilt or pity) for having rejected him, to him, which is a step farther than I'd allowed previously. But she's not literally saying she wants another shot at being more than friends. She's literally saying, three times, that she misses what they were before the night she rejected him. She pulls up short of declaring a romantic interest.
I guess I'm conceding Jon's point that in The Office, people say things at inopportune times. Is there any more pain or some different flavor of frustration that can be piled on top of Jim for having falling in love with Pam? He gets all the rejection possible from having, "laid it all on the line, twice." Then he gets away from Pam and discovers career ambition and meets a nice woman. His new boss screws him into having to return to the scene of his humiliation. Pam pushes him to be more committed to the new woman, at which point the new woman gets clued in to their history resulting in hours of talking about their feelings. Which is when he gets to watch Pam go back to Roy. Who, thanks to newly inspired Pam's inopportune confession number one, enters stage left with murder in his heart. Inopportune confession number two affords him a bus ride back to work with an unamused, sunglasses wearing girlfriend while a bus full of people who're privy to his private business sing the Flinstone's theme song.
And yet, she's worth it.
I'm also a big fan of Jim/Karen, so you're not alone underbruin.
I'm a fan of Jim-Pam and Jim-Karen.
I think Pam felt on some conscious or unconscious level this season that you have to love yourself before you can truly love someone else, which is why she needed the breather after her breakup with Roy. But what she's missed out on (Jim) also has weighed on her all year. I think you saw those two forces come together last night, and that the walking on coals basically set her free from the first one.
At least temporarily. It wouldn't surprise me if the Pam character woke up the next morning exhilarated or with utter horror at what she had done, or both.
http://tinyurl.com/yrfezh
1. Going back to the first comment, One Hundred Years of Solitude is my favorite book, I read 5 times before I lent to a girl I never saw again, but I think a discussion would be difficult based on the fact that most people would mix up all of the characters due to the fact that there seem to be only 5 names for 50 people.
One of the things that keeps me from Screen Jam is that much of what my wife and I watch has been tivo'd from previously in the week, by at least a day or two - so I'm afraid to come here to discover information that I didn't want (yet).
Finally watched Lost last night and my wife thought that the whole Jacob thing was lame, but I thought it kind of worked. It at least worked in the context they've been playing up lately that maybe they're all really dead and this is hell (or whatever mystical non-life plane that works for you). Right after the week where two separate outsiders tell us that they found the wreckage of the aircraft with the bodies inside they come back with a Ben backstory and his dead/ghost Mother (which immediately reminds us of Jack's dad/ghost).
We also get a snippet of Richard looking the same age in Ben's youth as now and turning out to be the leader of "original inhabitants" that wiped out the hippie commune knows at the dharma initiative. Oh, and Locke!
So at least there was some meat on that bone. Certainly it poses as many new questions as it answers, but that works...at least for me.
I believe Penarol1916 has identified what I call "The White Shadow dilemma."
New post up top.
Re: the longer episodes. I hope they keep it the same with an occasional 45 min. episode here and there. I wouldn't mind if there were more episodes, but I think one hour every week would produce some weak episodes and would put a lot of pressure on the writing to come up with random event after random event.
Recently finished a book, "Life of Pi," about an Indian boy ("Pi") that is on a ship along with many zoo animals being transported to a Canadian zoo. The ship sinks and he is the sole human survivor, spending the largest part of the book on a life boat with a Bengal Tiger.
I'm still trying to wrap my mind around whether I could even recommend this book to others. It spends the first 100 pages giving you backstory that seems like it could have been done in 20. The story, proper, doesn't really start until the ship sinks. (I'm not giving anything away here, the cover of the book has Pi and a tiger in a lifeboat together). So you have to be patient to get to the real story. And then the story of survival that he goes through, sometimes feels like you are the one on that boat for days on end, running to weeks, then months....well, again, patience helps.
It reminds me in a curious way to the movie, "Unfaithful," with Richard Gere and Diane Lane. The majority of the movie is that of enduring Diane Lane being unfaithful to Richard Gere and his increasing jealousy as he slowly (very slowly) discovers it. It was a death march until the end when it has a surprisingly satisfying ending. During that whole movie, at no time did I think that it would end in a way that would make me feel like it actually "paid off" my sitting through it...but it ultimately did that.
In much the same way, Life of Pi is ultimately satisfying with an ending that ties much of the book together much better than I thought possible as I endured another day at sea with Pi...but it did so, and even more completely than Unfaithful did. So can you recommend a book that feels like an endurance contest but has a great ending? Does it justify your patience? I still don't know, but I'm glad I read it.
Jim should stay with Hotty McOffice until Hottier McOffice joins the show.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie, A Very Long Engagement) is directing, so it should be at least visually appealing.
I have watched that key scene about 6 times now, and it is just awesome, it works on so many levels from the editing (the only flash of Karen is when Pam mentions that "it is fine" that Jim is with someone else) to the dialogue (I love when Pam starts to struggle for words after that admission she changes the subject: "My feet hurt" which harks back to her "Wooo I am saying a lot of things" after mentioning hypothetically seeing Jim ) to the acting (Jim's stunned silence). It is pretty ideal, even if it did feel like a hell the first time through. The best thing is that it is so earned. "Feisty New Beasily" has made mistakes(Roy redux), had some low points (the art show and Dwight comforting her) and even been a little smug (her teasing of Jim when he was staying up late with Karen everynight) but we have seen her try to grow up and improve.
Season 2 was about Jim reaching his breaking point and finally laying it out there- albeit with a backup plan of transferring- this season Pam didn't break, she grew. The who yelled at Jim because Phyllis saw them roughhousing or refused the graphic design school offer from Jan, never could have stood in front of that circle and been emotionally honest. While she didn't admit that she loved him (thankfully, that would be a bridge too far) she pretty clearly laid out how important he is to her. As gorgeous and funny as Karen is, Pam just blew me away last night. Jim looked like a deer in the headlights, and for good reason.
i haven't seen the office enough but it sounds like your making good points, the seen i really liked was the inflatable sumo wrestling seen. classic.
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