Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion

Anne wrote: "I am in NYC right now, and yesterday my son took me to see The Book of Mormons. Now that was something else! Extremely funny, extremely well done, and rather non -PC to put it mildly. :)"

That sounds a lot of fun!

I dreamt I was in NYC with my mom tonight, I wanted to bring her to Staten Island with the ferry that sails in front of the Statue of Liberty. She wanted to clean the hotel room, WTH! :D

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "Anne wrote: "I am in NYC right now, and yesterday my son took me to see The Book of Mormons. Now that was something else! Extremely funny, extremely well done, and rather non -PC to put it mildly. ..."

Fortunately I stay in my son's apartment and he hasn't asked me to clean it yet :)

ETA: NYC is amazing as always. No wonder my son likes it here. I enjoy people-watching, and here you have all kinds of people from all over!

Oh, Anne! :) There is so much things (and people *grin*) to see in NYC!
ENJOY... and keep us posted! :)

I have, as the SO observed, turned into a news junky. Yeesh.

Johanna wrote: "Oh, Anne! :) There is so much things (and people *grin*) to see in NYC!
ENJOY... and keep us posted! :)"

Right now I am sitting on the train to Boston and watching the country and the homes of families pass by. I love looking at new places and houses and making up stories about the people living there that I will never meet, just driving by. I love travelling and seeing new places. :)

Anne wrote: "ETA: NYC is amazing as always. No wonder my son likes it here. I enjoy people-watching, and here you have all kinds of people from all over! "

Have a wonderful time, Anne! And maybe you bring back a pic of Josh's book in just another wonderful location... ;)

Karen wrote: "Calathea wrote: "Another TV Show I tried when I saw it mentioned here is Merlin. That's a lot of fun! No hard thinking required... :D"

I bought the first season for a very reasonable price and fou..."

That's exactly how I feel about the show. Charming is the right word. I love the enthusiasm that is displayed when the characters know what's blank and what white and there's no question about it. :D It reminde me a little of The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog.
The Arthur/Merlin subtext: Have you watched this episode with Lancelot? It's #4 or 5, I think. I mean, come on..., it was so obvious! *lol* And then Merlin and Gwen have there little talk about whom of the guys do you fancy... And, yes, there's a ton of fanfics.

Anne wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Oh, Anne! :) There is so much things (and people *grin*) to see in NYC!
ENJOY... and keep us posted! :)"

Right now I am sitting on the train to Boston and watching the country and ..."

Me too! One of my favorite past times when taking long drives.

Josh wrote: "I have, as the SO observed, turned into a news junky. Yeesh."

I'll like the news a whole lot better once they stop reporting every time either presidential candidate changes his underwear, with pundits debating what style/color the undies are and how that might impact poll performance. o.O

Finally got around to watching Prometheus last night. Not as good as the first 2 movies in the Alien franchise, but interesting nonetheless. (view spoiler)[The alien impregnation was way too over the top for me and the ginormous starfish-like creature that it grew into...no. Just no. The little bastards are much, much more scary. (hide spoiler)]

Season 3 of Walking Dead premieres tomorrow -- YAY!!!

I watched the movie Juno a few days ago. The weird and cheerful, but extremely catchy music has haunted me ever since... ;)

Kari wrote: "Season 3 of Walking Dead premieres tomorrow -- YAY!!!"

I hope it comes to Italy soon. It was a bit of a shock how #2 ended, but there was a bit of that Lost atmosphere, I hope it doesn't become too much a US vs OTHERS series. I like the zombies well enough :D

Kari wrote: "Season 3 of Walking Dead premieres tomorrow -- YAY!!!"

Speaking of deads ;-): Yesterday I was dragged by a friend to see the Cuban parody of a zombie movie ''Juan de los Muertos'' (Juan of the Dead, 2011) and it was hilarious.

Here the trailer, it can also give you an idea if it is something for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOqukt...

I was worried I wouldn't sleep at night, but it was so funny that I didn't notice all the blood around. My friend closed her eyes now and then.

Official site: http://www.juanofthedeadmovie.com/lan...

It wasn't exactly politically correct: ''maricon'' (more or less ''fag'') was used quite a few times. The majority of the movies here are shown in the original language so I kept tracking it in the German subtitles: most of the time it wasn't translated, once was translated with ''bastard'' and once with ''bum/loafer''. Which is correct, but the whole macho culture goes missing.

For the rest these was a MTF transexual which was depicted as a quite ok person (I mean, as ok as the other MCs ;-).

Boats going by on the Willamette river, autumn leaves rippling in the breeze, the furniture on the balconies and in the living rooms of people's glass houses, the sky and clouds darkening towards dusk. (Portland, Oregon)

This is silly, but I'm watching my wardrobe. I changed my clothes from spring/summer to fall/winter and I have tons of new clothes. My luck is: I don't need to buy them because my parents work for fashion industries and they can keep all the prototypes. Since they make them in small sizes - and being barely 5'1" I am small - I am the only one who can wear them. Oh, the joys of not being so tall, ha ha ha ;P

Kari: I've found out the Walking Dead #3 are arriving to Italy tomorrow! Yes!

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "This is silly, but I'm watching my wardrobe. I changed my clothes from spring/summer to fall/winter and I have tons of new clothes. My luck is: I don't need to buy them because my parents work for ..."

Sounds lovely Emanuela-pd! Lucky you!

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "This is silly, but I'm watching my wardrobe. I changed my clothes from spring/summer to fall/winter and I have tons of new clothes. My luck is: I don't need to buy them because my parents work for ..."

*lol* How does the wardrobe feel under your close observation? ;-)

I'm watching "Tatort" atm. That's "crime scene" in English. It's been an institution in German TV, every Sunday evening at 8:15 p.m. for decades. I don't watch every Sunday, but sometimes, when it's the right detectiv, I succumb...^^

Calathea wrote: "*lol* How does the wardrobe feel under your close observation? ;-)"

Nervous or smug, I guess :D

Yesterday my friend took me on a driving trip in the area around Boston and we found a farmers market with a lady who sold milk and cheese from her own goats, a lady who sold fresh corn etc. So we watched and talked to them. And tasted goat milk and bought corn cobs. And then we found a quilt show, little elderly ladies who have a quilting club and showed their work, some amazing and very artistic quilts among them, and some not so ... And we had a good look at them too.

Last we ended up in Plymouth and watched the Pilgrim Stone and Mayflower 2. (And an Amish family who were doing the same, those I tried to watch discreetly so not to be caught rudely gawking).And I bought a vintage necklace made of lovely blue and grey/white, uneven, chunky beads.

And in the evening we watched an episode of Glee, which we don't have at home. Rather funny :)

Anne wrote: "Yesterday my friend took me on a driving trip in the area around Boston and we found a farmers market with a lady who sold milk and cheese from her own goats, a lady who sold fresh corn etc. So we ..."

What a lovely day, Anne.

Karen wrote: "Anne wrote: "Yesterday my friend took me on a driving trip in the area around Boston and we found a farmers market with a lady who sold milk and cheese from her own goats, a lady who sold fresh cor..."

It was. :) and I must tell how much fun I had with all the Halloween decorations, which we don't do here. We compared the ones with fake ( I hope) graveyards in their gardens, with ghosts, zombies and ghouls, spiderwebs and gargoyles (inflatable or made from scratch) and the ones with one or two pumpkins tastefully arranged with a couple of pots of chrysanthemum in seasonal colours. And all the variations thereof. :)

It's so much fun to hear about your trip, Anne. :)

Johanna wrote: "It's so much fun to hear about your trip, Anne. :)"

Yep, it sounds you're having a lot of fun. I'm going to a marriage on Saturday and the newly weds will spend a couple of weeks through the East Coast. I have to remember to ask them for pics of the Halloween decorations :)

I like the new, personal direction of the topic!

Anyway I'll add a more standard contribution.

I went to see a beautiful reflection about time by the Swiss-Canadian filmmaker Peter Mettler, who was there and told us about the making of this impressive movie:
http://www.theendoftimemovie.com/

I would've loved being on that driving trip, Anne!

Because I'm a horror buff, I always hunker down in October and watch as many scary movies as I can. Caught the last half of Cloverfield the other evening. I loved the concept -- monsters invading NYC! -- but didn't much appreciate the filming technique --POV characters rushing madly about with hand-held cameras. Last night, I tried watching an odd Korean monster flick, The Host, but it was too long on camp and too short on chills.

Oh, Cloverfield, I watched it at the movie theater and went home slightly hung over :) I liked the concept too.

The closest thing I get to scary watching is Ghost Hunters. I adore the show.

Lou wrote: "I'm not a big fan of scary movies, and absolutely hate gore-fests, but I love an old school suspense. Hitchcock is still one of my favorites."

I despise slasher films as well as horror novels that rely on blood and gore, so I'm always on the lookout for movies and books that are frightening without being overly violent. I like being creeped out, not grossed out.

Jen wrote: "The closest thing I get to scary watching is Ghost Hunters. I adore the show."

I used to watch it too, until there was too much "Did you hear that? Did you see that?" and nothing for the viewer to hear or see! I do like "The Dead Files," though. It has a satisfying chill-factor.

Susan wrote: "Elizabetta wrote: "Six Feet Under, one of the best written TV shows ever! I also like Deadwood, Sons of Anarchy, and Breaking Bad, oh yeah."

We have a SOA thread if you want to chat! :) I just cau..."

Hey Susan! Sorry I didn't see your comment before. I'll check out that thread. Deadwood got me a serious crush on Tim Olyphant. Man, that guy with his shirt off, so fine :) He's on a new show called 'Justified' which is great too. Check it out.

Antonella wrote: "I went to see a beautiful reflection about time by the Swiss-Canadian filmmaker Peter Mettler, who was there and told us about the making of this impressive movie:
http://www.theendoftimemovie.com/"

This looks wonderful. I'll keep an eye out for any viewing opportunities in my part of the world. Thanks, Antonella!

It was.

The filmmaker is the same who managed to make for GreenPeace a 40 minutes not spoken documentary about the Alberta Tar Sands, and make it absolutely interesting. It also won different awards. See here:
http://www.petropolis-film.com

I watched the 2nd presidential debate last night, and without getting partisan here, can it be possible that there are really, truly undecided voters this late in the game?

Because when they interview those "undecideds" they do not sound undecided. They all pop out with the predictable party line of the candidate they say they are "leaning" toward.

Given how much information is available -- and even how much MISinformation is available -- the idea of anyone being totally neutral at this point seems nonsensical to me. A decade ago maybe that would have been believable? But now?

Josh wrote: "I watched the 2nd presidential debate last night, and without getting partisan here, can it be possible that there are really, truly undecided voters this late in the game?

Because when they inter..."

Yep. Sounds unbelievable. The information is even available here on the other side of the world. Haven't seen the 2nd presidential debate yet, but watched the debate between Biden and Ryan last week...

Binders full of women. *snorts* Sorry, but it's so objectifying, if that's even a word.

Josh wrote: "I watched the 2nd presidential debate last night, and without getting partisan here, can it be possible that there are really, truly undecided voters this late in the game?

Because when they inter..."

I usually like the town hall debates but last night I found most of the audience questions and the way they were posed annoying. It also seemed to me audience members were given an opportunity to 'support' their candidate via their 'unbiased' question.

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "Binders full of women. *snorts* Sorry, but it's so objectifying, if that's even a word."

Try this Emanuela:

http://bindersfullofwomen.tumblr.com/

Elizabetta wrote: "Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "Binders full of women. *snorts* Sorry, but it's so objectifying, if that's even a word."

Try this Emanuela:

http://bindersfullofwomen.tumblr.com/"

I have seen it, lol. You know, in Italy we've just had 20 years of Berlusconi and his sexist remarks, it's something he could have said :)

I don't know. It's the first time it ever really occurred to me how out-moded the idea of an undecided voter really is. It's always been a little suspicious but now? I can see that there could be people who are frustrated with their options or divided between social and economic interests (or at least think they are) but this idea of someone completely undecided in the age of the internet and all social media? If you're that far underground and are so little interested in educating yourself this close to the election...?

Wow.

I can't help thinking some people just REALLY want to be on TV.

It's possible the people who label themselves "undecided" are actually so fed up or apathetic, they have no intention of voting -- at all, for anybody.

K.Z. wrote: "It's possible the people who label themselves "undecided" are actually so fed up or apathetic, they have no intention of voting -- at all, for anybody."

It could be, and that's scary. I don't know what's the atmosphere in the US, but here in Italy if we could set the Parliament on fire these days, we'd do it. Every single day there's a "surprising" scandal involving a different party whose elected members have wasted money on their own personal expenses. If I had to vote TODAY, I'd probably cry in frustration and I'd vote by exclusion. If the people who don't vote could be counted toward unassigned seats in Parliament, the day of the elections I'd go on vacation abroad. I know WHO I want to vote, I don't trust them, unfortunately.

Anyway, I always vote in the end. Stupid me. :)

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "Anyway, I always vote in the end. Stupid me. :)
...."

I don't know about that. Maybe it does come down to voting for the lesser of two evils, but I'd still rather be a driver than a passenger. ;-)

Yes, lol, it's what makes me go every time. I have one tiny chance to speak my mind, so I do.

Josh wrote: "Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "Anyway, I always vote in the end. Stupid me. :)
...."

I don't know about that. Maybe it does come down to voting for the lesser of two evils, but I'd still rather ..."

Yup. I think it's usually about voting for the lesser of two evils unfortunately...

Undecided voters aren't necessarily undecided between Obama and Romney. Most, I believe, are undecided between their main party candidate and not voting or voting for someone more fringe. Someone from a focus group was even quoted after the debate last night saying "I was undecided between voting for Romney and not voting at all ..."

A rather lazy media fails to make this distinction so people make the natural assumption the indecision is between the two main candidates when it's really not. As KZ pointed out, "undecideds" are just trying to decide whether or not to bother.

What with all the behind-the-scenes machinations of politicians, PACs and lobbyists, the broken promises and outright lies, the partisan bickering that's becoming increasingly virulent and resulting in legislative logjams -- hell, the whole insular and out-of-touch nature of governmental goings-on -- it's understandable why potential voters would throw up their hands in disgust. I've become pretty cynical myself.

That said . . . when I see one party pandering to the lunatic fringe of its constituency and threatening further to erode our rights, plain old fear motivates me to vote. :(

I think one of the most interesting lessons in the last few years has been the realization that no battle is ever won. Even things that we take completely for granted -- child labor laws, a minimum wage, reproductive rights -- you name it, the war is not and will never be over. There may be no current battle waged, but sooner or later everything goes back on the table.

When people talk blithely of amendments to the Constitution...you know that you can rely on NOTHING, no right -- not even the right to have a say -- to remain permanent.

Part of the responsibility of being a citizen in a democracy is to accept that you have to remain ever vigilant to protect all those democratic rights.

Excellent points, Josh.

It's very odd to hear myself say this, but if this election were JUST for the president I might not go to vote this time. Not because I'm undecided -- I'm not -- but because my vote will mean absolutely nothing in this state. This state's electoral votes will go to the guy I DON'T want, no matter what I have to say about it.

But there are also local elections and charter amendments -- most of which I also *probably* can't influence -- and I'll go cast my ballot for the chance to speak up about those.

I want direct representation. To hell with the electoral college!

this discussion about politics
gives me hope
there are some savvy people writing here
thank you
thank you
thank you!
i'm an old white guy who likes Obama
and i don't want the oval office taking orders from an angel named Moroni
is this crazy, or what?
rj ray