Mistake of the Day

If you are going to shop at Target or Meijer, do not wear a red polo.

My Week in Chicago

I spent last week working downtown and commuting from my parents house in the suburbs by Metra.  I've worked in the city before, but usually just for one day.  It was odd that I was able to do it for an entire week.  Before I went, I viewed it as an unusual opportunity to catch up with a few friends that live and work in the city.  But the experience was odd for a different reason.    

I think its partially because when I was young I always saw people standing at the Metra stop and it seemed like a very grown up thing to do.  It seemed like that something business people did.  It's definitely not something I ever dreamed of doing.  It's more like a childhood conception than a childhood dream.  It's something you picture yourself doing when you get older.  

That conception died a long time ago and I've gotten used to what my modern day conception of work is, well because I live it everyday.  But for a week I was able to live my childhood conception to see if it matched reality.

For the most part it did not.  I pretty much felt like I was secretly posing as a member of a group which I did not belong.  There were many reasons for this.  First of all, everyone knew where to stand; which platform and where the doors would open.  Second, I didn't have a monthly pass, which set me apart from everyone else.  Third, everyone seemed to know what to do; where to find the open seats and not to pick the seats that directly faced the sun while on the train.  For the most part, I felt like a tourist who is trying to fit in which is ironic because this was my hometown.  I was doing enough to just fit in.  

My second impression of commuting was how herd-like it was.  People walking out of the train station seemed like cattle being herded through specific gates then subdivided at each intersection.  Some would split off left, some would go right, and some would go straight.  All of which was decided by red lights, green lights, blinking orange hands and white walk symbols.    

And that leads me to my third impression, "What do all these people do?"  I remember that after campaigning in a town of less than 10,000 I drove into Springfield and I thought briefly, "Wow, Springfield is actually a pretty big town.  You can go to a Target and Best Buy.  They have a lot of restaurants you can try too."  It was like adjusting your eyes to the darkness after being in a bright room.  So after a while things seemed normal.  I had the same reaction when I was walking to work one day, "Wow, Chicago is a large city."  But instead my reaction was,  "What do these people do?  What jobs do they have?  How can this many people have jobs down here?  Is there really that much work to be done?"  Then, you realize that you only see the people in one of the Metra stations and this doesn't include car commuters or EL or Pace riders.  It's at this point where I start to realize maybe I've spent too much time in Springfield, because Chicago just seems to large.    

Which leads me to my final realization that while I've grown older the commuter life and life working in a big city still remains a conception, just a different one from my youth.  I can't live it just for a week.  To me, I was still just an outside posing as a commuter.  It's a conception which was interesting to see and experience, but I'll be okay with my 10 minute walk to work tomorrow, rather than the 2 hours of commuting per day. 
       

Homeland

This week I went through the whole season of the Golden Globe winning Homeland.  I had to because it was about to expire on Showtime On Demand.  It's an interesting way to watch a TV series because it feels like a need, instead of a want.  It reminded me of the weekend in college when I watched the whole first season of the Sopranos.  It was the exact opposite situation, I wanted to watch the whole thing.  Every episode would end and I would hesitantly turn off the TV only to turn it back on and play another episode.  The situation I found myself for Homeland felt different, it felt more calculated.  I needed to watch a certain amount of episodes each night or not be able to see the whole season.  That being said I enjoyed the first season of Homeland.

Homeland is definitely a show that is not afraid to run through plots or story lines.  In topic, it reminded me of the failed AMC show Rubicon, which I loved in concept.  It unfortunately was uneven.  It was about a group of intelligence analysts working in this nondescript building.  I loved the set, because it wasn't fancy with 3D graphics or streamlined design, it looked like it had been lived in since the 60's.  Rubicon thrived on conspiracy theories and questions who was on who's side, much like Homeland.  However, Homeland began its series the exact opposite of Rubicon.  In Rubicon, the show slowly and painstakingly built momentum, to the point where the audience is asking "When is something going to actually happen?" It would just leave these points that had to mean something, but nothing would come of it for episodes at a time.  Homeland, on the other hand, is a show that is not afraid to run through plot.  They would drop a small hint, like a glance or a small line, in one show and completely resolve it in the next.  

***Spoiler Alert:  If you haven't watched any of this season this is where I will start talking about the plot.***  

For example, in Episode 4 Carrie and Brody have a small flirtation.  Something I expected the writers to develop over the course of the season, but by Episode 6 they are together and by Episode 7 the relationship is over.  I can see why they did so fast because it entangles the two main characters for the rest of the series.  It connects the two halves of the show, something Rubicon failed to do until too late.  

Homeland also accomplishes something remarkable, it gets the audience to see things from the eyes of a terrorist.  It presents a 360 view of Brody's journey.  Brody is not a some automatized, one-dimensional character set on destroying the world.  He has reasons and struggles and is not always sure he is doing the right thing.  You can tell that he is struggling to fit back in, like anyone who has been held captive for 8 years would, but more so he is dealing with the reality of what he has vowed to do.  It helps that the audience is unsure of whether or not he is a terrorist throughout the season.  I, like most viewers, suspected it all along, but the show does enough to leave doubt in your mind and makes Carrie just Beautiful Mindish enough to believe that maybe she's chasing ghosts and creating plots.  In this way, it is like Rubicon, where you guessing who is on who's side.           

The Characters/Actors

Damian Lewis plays Brody with just the right amount of oddity that gives viewers the correct amount of suspicion.  Lewis has an unsettling, unnaturally natural look, which plays right into who his character is.  Claire Danes is wonderful as Carrie a driven, bipolar intelligence officer who as set her sights unknowingly on the right person.  To her, her job is not a job its a calling.  In a way, she has as much motivation as a terrorist.  It is a matter of life and death to stop the next attack and she is willing to sacrifice her career, social norms, and practically everything else to do it.  When she is playing by the rules it feels like a dog that is leashed but not happy about it.  As a Firefly fan, its always good to see Inara (Morena Baccarin) in a TV show.  She plays a wife (Jessica Brody) struggling to deal with the fact that her husband (Damian Lewis), who was presumed to be dead, is now alive when she, not so secretly, had moved on in her life with his best friend.  This plot, which is secondary to the main Carrie-Brody plot, is seamlessly integrated into the story.  The best character is Saul (Mandy Patinkin).  He is the character everyone wants to be; a smart, weathered intelligence veteran who is always composed and looked upon for advice.  The only answers he doesn't have are the ones at home.    

Season Conclusion

I did not at all see it coming that Tom Walker was still alive.  I also loved that after Tom Walker's capture was botched, it was Carrie who saw him as a ruse and that there was a larger objective in Abu Nazir's mind, something which made a lot of sense to me.  This elevated the whole show in my mind, the masterstroke Abu Nazir was trying to accomplish perfectly complimented Brody's guardedness and Carrie's growing paranoia and insecurities.  It was fun to see it all come together, to the point where Brody is in the room with a bomb and his finger on the trigger.  Now, and this is definitely a spoiler, I knew that he couldn't do it.  I think.  When I was watching the show I was thinking there is no way he does this, you can't kill a main character in Season 1.  But the show dragged it along enough for my mind to wander and think, we'll maybe they are pulling Dexter with a season long protagonist/special guest star.  I think this is an example of how the show puts that little bit of drama and doubt in your mind.  It's odd but in a sense, you almost want him to pull the trigger because everything works out for the main characters.  Carrie can prove she not insane.  Brody would get his revenge.  But this doesn't happen and Brody's daughter talks him off the edge.  Carrie is utterly destroyed and Brody convinces Abu Nazir of a grander plot.  Brody survives and Carrie loses.  

Final Thoughts

It will be interesting where they take the show next season.  There is no longer a guessing game on whether Brody is with Abu Nazir or not.  He is.  There is also not going to be a threat of a bomb or attack, because Brody's plan is more sophisticated than a crude weapon.  Next season will have to be smarter in that sense.  The question of where Carrie fits in is the biggest.  Without a job and some of her memories, what will she do.  I'm sure become more obsessed with Brody is the answer further complicating her "I'm in love with him, but I suspect him of being all I'm here to protect against" feelings for him.  I'll be watching, but I'm not ready to embrace this show like Breaking Bad or Dexter through the first 4 seasons.  I'm not sure, but there is something that hasn't convinced me yet that this is a show that belongs in my top tier.  Hopefully next season will convince me.   

Going to the Darkside (My iStory)

Last week, I did something I thought I would never do, I got a Mac.  Yes, for the first 27 years of my life I was a solid PC user.  I scorned the alien looking iMacs when we got them at school, which now somehow remind me of the crystal skulls in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

I joked about putting 'i' in front of everything.  Where are my iKeys?  Can you get the iDoor?  Where is the iToilet?  But alas, I've become one of the many; maneuvering the trackpad, rambling about ergonomics, and thinking about how to connect all my devices, if I had any.  So how did I go from anti-i to writing this post on an MacBook?  It's actually not that interesting, but I'll tell it anyways.  (Dynamic storytelling right?)    

So two weeks ago my Asus laptop shut down and wouldn't restart.  It was a hardware problem and replacement parts were not worth the trouble.  So I was needed a new laptop quickly because I definitely wasn't going to rely on my desktop which seems more ancient every time it turns on.  I did my research which always had MacBooks at the top of ratings, but I had been thinking about a move for a little while now.  I should step back.

The one thing I regretted about the Asus was that when I bought it, I bought it as if it were a desktop.  When I was shopping for it I wanted it for its use as a gaming machine, not as a portable computer.  I liked the Asus, but it was heavy, took a long time to boot, and didn't have much battery life (because of the great graphics card).  So I thought that the next laptop I buy I want to be mobile and light.  No fancy graphics card.  No huge screen.  Gaming was for desktops not laptops.

Okay back to modern day.  I had been thinking about getting something a lot faster and portable.  I had considered it could be a Mac, but never really thought about it until my Asus went down.  The clinching factor for me was seeing how many people had Macs and raved about them.  It seemed everyone had one and love it.  So thank you everyone for you feedback, you've probably cost me about $400 more than I would have spent.  I hope the check is in the mail.  I'm actually quiet pleased with the MacBook so far, even if it was more expensive.  But I had a realization that this wasn't about what was a better computer, but about what was it i needed (an iNeed).  Five years ago it was a laptop that could be a decent game machine.  Now, its a computer that can play the occasional game, but more importantly be easily used for web surfing, word processing, and other more basic computer functions.  

It's only been this weekend, but I'm learning how to use the trackpad, figuring out the shortcut keys (I don't know if I'll get used to copy and paste with command), and transferring data.  I wouldn't say the transfers been seamless (I didn't realize how many games are not made for Macs and it really sucks starting from scratch on iTunes playlists), but its just what I've needed so far.  I'm hoping to get Windows 7 on here to so I can use my old versions of Word and games.  Once that happens I'll be able to fully evaluate my decision.  I wonder if this isn't a gateway to other iDrugs (iPhone, iPad).

B-Day

I'm taking a B-Day break today.  More to come...

Trade Deadline

March 15th is the NBA trade deadline so the question for the Bulls is are they going to make a move?  In my mind there are three options: the big deal, the small deal, or nothing.  The big deal would be a superstar deal for the league's best center, Dwight Howard.  A small deal would be for a shooting guard/wing player who can score.  Nothing obviously would be staying pat.  I believe they will do option #3, nothing.  I also believe this is the best option at this time.  The Bulls season can be summed up by one question, "Can the Bulls beat the Heat?"  That is what any trade speculation has to address.  (Just for fun here's a link to pictures of how other NBA players would look with Noah's hair.)

The Big Deal
The purpose of the big deal is to unite Adidas superstars Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose.  In the process the Bulls would need to take on Hedo Turkoglu and give up most likely Deng, one or two big men and draft picks.  Your starting line up would look something like Rose, Brewer/Hamilton, Turkoglu, Boozer, Howard.  The reason why they will not do this now is, why blow up the core of your team when you have the best record in the league?  The Bulls are a top 3 team in the league right now and save for the Heat and possibly the Thunder, have the best chance of winning the title.  You never know what can happen between now and the Finals so just ride it out with this unit.  The Heat probably beat the Bulls in a seven game series more times than not, but that's why we play them because almost nobody would have picked the Mavericks to win it all last year. 

While I'm against this trade now, I think the Bulls should into this in the offseason, depending how the playoffs go.  I don't believe Howard will be dealt by March 15th because I think Orlando thinks it can still keep him with the right players and incentives so he should still be available.  Assuming the Bulls and the Heat match up, a lot will be riding on that series.  If the Bulls win, no question they will not go for any Howard offseason trade.  If they lose that's when things get interesting.  You then have to ask how close were the Bulls?  How did they lose?  Were they dominated? Were the Bulls a few last second shots away from winning?  If it's clear the Bulls will be unable to defeat the Heat, well then you get the trade done if you can.    Although Chicago might be back off Howard's list so that might be the end of this discussion.  

The Small Deal
The purpose of the small deal is to insert some instant offense to take some of the load off Rose.  With Hamilton's and Deng's ailing, another wing player would bolster wing player rotation and the scoring.  This option seems popular because the Bulls team that lost last year to the Heat doesn't seem that different from this unit.  If last year's team couldn't get it done, why can this year's team?  My answer is two-fold.  One, and this is the easy way out, but you can't predict what will happen in the playoffs.  Maybe the Bulls find fire and roll all the way to a title.  Maybe Lebron gets injured.  Maybe, maybe, maybe... but the bottom line is this team has a good shot at winning the title and a few bounces could put them over the top.  Two, Rip Hamilton.  Okay he's injured now and we don't know how fragile he is, but the Bulls looked good with him early in the season and he would be a nightmare for Dwayne Wade.  If Rip is healthy he could be that little bit to put this team over the top.      

Will a trade happen?  I don't believe this will happen because the Bulls would probably need to give up one of their bigs (Boozer, Gibson, Noah, Asik) to get anyone of value in return.  This is something they don't want to do because their advantage on the front line is something they can hold over Miami.  Once again, I think the Bulls just ride it out and hope Deng and Hamilton recover to make a playoff run.

Nothing
Nothing might not be the flashiest answer, but I think it is the right answer.  It is the safe answer.  You see how far this team can go and decided what needs to be addressed in the offseason.  This is a team with incredible depth and chemistry.  I don't think the Bulls want to break it up while they are sitting on the best record.  That being said if the right deal comes along of course they should make it.  The end goal is winning a title and if Bulls management finds the right deal they should make it, but I just don't believe that deal is going to be out there in the next few days. 

Dexter Season 6

Spoiler Alert:  Although it has been many months since the finale, there will be spoilers later on in my post, but I will warn you before I start revealing what happened in the final episodes.  

This weekend I was able to catch up to the season finale of Dexter.  Overall, I thought this season felt scattered and it almost seemed like guest stars were being pushed out there to get us to keep watching.  Colin Hanks, Mos Def, and Edward James Olmos are the three big guest stars.  I thought Mos Def and Olmos are reliable and play well.  Meanwhile, I like how Hanks plays a guy straight-laced looks, but always has a bit of darkness in his eyes.  

This season's big theme was religion.  In each season there seems to be something which tempts Dexter to stray from Harry's code.  In Season 1 it was being free of the code and being his Dark Passenger with his brother.  In Season 2 it was truly exposing himself to someone who understood and developing a new code.  Somewhere around Season 4 the motivation to break the code came not to unleash the Dark Passenger or let it be understood, but to control it.  So in Season 6 Dexter tries to control the Dark Passenger for his son through religion.  The other main story line is Deb's ascent both in terms of her job, but also her importance to the overall plot.

Of the last three season, Season 4 with the Trinity Killer was the best, probably of the series.  Season 5 was disappointing, but decent.  Season 6 seemed lost and ultimately challenged me to wonder if I still care what happens.  I'm not sure if I'm losing interest in Dexter or Dexter is just less interesting.  I was glad to find out that  Dexter will most likely be ending in two seasons.  I think it could give the show an extra lift to make it once again a great show.  (On a side note: I've become more and more convinced that TV dramas must end before too long or otherwise the drama becomes unbelievable.  Too much happens to the characters it becomes as ridiculous as Deb stating that she was engaged to a serial killer who tried to killer her, who by the way was Dexter's biological brother and she watched another one of her boyfriends die in front of her by the same person (who she thinks) killed her brother's wife.  But for some reason she has to go to therapy for taking down a guy with a gun in a bar.  This is why, while I believe Breaking Bad is as good as ever it must end.)

SPOILER ALERT.  Please do not read below if you have not seen Season 6.

I believe the overall plan of Season 6 was a sound and good one.  The main plot points were the big reveals that Professor Gellar (Olmos) had been dead the whole time (I was truly surprised)  and that Deb finally catches Dexter in the act (Was truly not surprised and didn't like how it was done).  I also think that using religion as Dexter's temptation from Harry's Code was a good idea.  Tempting him with the idea that he can be rid of his Dark Passenger though Brother Sam's (Mos Def) example and through saving Travis (Hanks) to give his son a good life was a good source of drive.  I also thought the struggles Deb goes through with being the new head of Homicide was probably the best part of the whole season.  Jennifer Carpenter since Season 4 has done an increasingly good job and Season 6 she continues to grow the character of Deb.  In fact, Deb is really the only character that grows in this season.  But this season like I said I struggled to keep caring.  

First off, I have to say that I along with most people did not like the whole Deb in love with Dexter plot that grew in the last couple episodes.  I thought that the fact Deb and Dexter were not biologically related left a door strangely open from the beginning of the series.  But I thought that door had been shut through the past 6 seasons of interactions between the two.  It never seemed like they were anything else but brother and sister, biological or otherwise.  I don't think this made sense and Deb seemed to make less sense when she said that she had always looked for men who were Dexter or the opposite of Dexter.  I was thinking that this doesn't make sense in terms of the boyfriends I remember her having and maybe she's been in her head a bit too much because she could probably justify anyone in either category.

Second, I'm not sure what was the deal with the odd road trip episode with Dexter's brother (Christian Camargo) and  the Trinity Killers son (Brando Eaton) .  At one point of the episode, I thought who else is going to show up Sgt. Doakes (Erik King), who left the show too soon, or Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits).  It almost felt like a reunion show (even though he already had his high school reunion in the first episode).  

Third and most important, I've become concerned with Dexter's (both the show and the character's) lack of care for the detail, which used to be very important.  Just concerning the last episode I have the following questions: why didn't Travis take Dexter's kid at the apartment with only the babysitter watching rather than risk a tricking extraction at his day care?  How was Dexter able to escape the police and detection from the tower after knocking out Travis?  How does he get him to the car in broad day light with nobody (including cameras) noticing?  Why would Dexter choose the church to kill Travis when he knows Deb knows he will be there?  Additionally, there seems to be small things that don't make sense.  Like when Dexter sets up a scene outside of the art museum for Travis and is unseen.  You're telling me there aren't any cameras outside an art museum?  Additionally, throughout the season, there seem to be characters who are developed for no reason this season; new detective Mike Anderson, the various interns, and Batista's sister/Dexter's babysitter.  None of these characters really have much to do with the plot except for Batista's sister who plays a utilitarian role.

But the last scene of the season makes me most hopeful.  What will Deb's next reaction be?  How will Dexter explain it?  Will he reveal everything (doubtful) or just hide behind some new explanation (likely)?  What will this do to Deb?  Hopefully, the show will be able to build on this moment more than it did after Rita died.  Even though the show has gone down in my view, I'll still be watching.