As expected, Hillary lost the caucuses last night, but she still holds a big delegate lead, so we'll have to hang on for more primaries. Meanwhile, new discriminatory laws were passed in Georgia and North Carolina, but many companies did threaten to boycott. I hope the laws will be challenged in court soon, but it's depressing we still have to fight so many assaults on civil rights. It's bad enough Texas's anti-abortion law is before the Supreme Court now with the possibility of the ruling being a tie. And we're still waiting on the appeal of the voter ID law in May.
Anyway, is this the first Easter that the TV networks don't show The Ten Commandments movie? I haven't paid attention, and the film's probably more appropriate for Passover. So for holiday programming Fox showed the Passion musical last week instead. I didn't watch it, not being Christian or interested. I've heard that passion plays were performed historically in medieval Europe, but I thought that was mostly because many people were illiterate and needed the Bible's events acted out to them. I don't get why you'd want to act it out now, in the interactive sense, rather than just watching The Passion of the Christ movie instead. Whatever.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Friday, March 25, 2016
Tivo fixed
I finally solved my networking issue with my Tivo. I called customer support again and they sent me a list of TCP and UDP ports that I needed to open on my router. Even though I did figure out how to do that from my computer, it made no difference to the Tivo. I thought maybe I needed to redo the Guided Setup (rather than just a plain reboot) but then I got stuck in Guided Setup with no way to exit because it still couldn't connect to my router. I gave up for a little while to watch the Apocalypse show live on my other TV, and was really worried that I'd have to call customer support for a third time. However, while I was trying to reset the Tivo wireless adapter again, I noticed that I didn't put the switch on Client, so I did that. Then I did the manual setup of the adapter using my laptop. It didn't work when I connected to the router, so I connected instead directly to the internet modem and finally success. All I had to do was connect to the Tivo's ethernet port, then it let me finish the Guided Setup at last. What a relief! Next time I guess I'll skip the Guided Setup and just be more careful about resetting the damn wireless adapter.
The Tivo finished updating its program information and now it can get back to recording my season passes again. I don't know why the router is acting up like this, when it's the same one I've had before I lost the connection.
The Tivo finished updating its program information and now it can get back to recording my season passes again. I don't know why the router is acting up like this, when it's the same one I've had before I lost the connection.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Fuck AIPAC
My sympathies to everyone hurt or killed in recent attacks in Belgium and Turkey. I just wish it wouldn't bring out ugly xenophobic rhetoric from our politicians. Hillary was pivoting toward the general and condemning anti-Muslim hate, but I'm still so annoyed with her for her speech to AIPAC. I'm mad that AIPAC is such a powerful lobby that all sorts of politicians feel obliged to attend and kowtow to Israel. Bernie Sanders skipped it only because of his campaign schedule, and apparently he gave a foreign policy interview in which he criticized BDS as anti-Semitic. So he's no better than Hillary Clinton. I would have thought that a Jewish Senator would realize that being anti-Israel is not the same as being anti-Jewish, because Israel does not speak for all the Jewish people of the world. Oh, sure, Bernie will say nice things about being fair to Palestinians in the peace process, but I already looked into his record on the topic, and he'll never vote for anything that punishes Israel at all. I've been disappointed in both him and Hillary for a long time on this issue.
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Little Prince saved
Well, I heard that Netflix rescued The Little Prince movie, but they haven't given a release date yet. I'll look forward to that, and trying to get the new And Then There Were None on DVD in April. In the meantime, I continue to have network problems with my Tivo. I was on the phone with technical support for 40 minutes today before being disconnected. I'll try again when I'm not so frustrated. Couldn't find time before because I have been trying to install curtain rods and shorten some curtains for my windows.
Anyway, Obama nominated Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, and it disappointed me that he didn't go for a liberal, or someone younger. People say he did it as a clever chess move, nominating the very person that the Republican leaders had previously approved of. But isn't that rather cavalier and risky, with no guarantee that your plan will work? Republicans seem to be slightly waffling in their opposition, but they're still talking about waiting until at least after the election to even hold hearings. Others speculate that Obama will withdraw the nomination later to let Hillary decide. If that's true, it seems like a dickish game to be playing just to score political points. There are important cases to be decided NOW; I can't even get clear info about what kind of justice Garland would be. There was an article posted with a totally BS chart claiming that Garland was far left, but the graph was based on Bill Clinton's record, not Garland's. What a crock! Real nice "analysis" and so-called journalism. This is why we need some confirmation hearings, so we can suss out Garland's full record and define what "moderate" means.
Anyway, Obama nominated Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, and it disappointed me that he didn't go for a liberal, or someone younger. People say he did it as a clever chess move, nominating the very person that the Republican leaders had previously approved of. But isn't that rather cavalier and risky, with no guarantee that your plan will work? Republicans seem to be slightly waffling in their opposition, but they're still talking about waiting until at least after the election to even hold hearings. Others speculate that Obama will withdraw the nomination later to let Hillary decide. If that's true, it seems like a dickish game to be playing just to score political points. There are important cases to be decided NOW; I can't even get clear info about what kind of justice Garland would be. There was an article posted with a totally BS chart claiming that Garland was far left, but the graph was based on Bill Clinton's record, not Garland's. What a crock! Real nice "analysis" and so-called journalism. This is why we need some confirmation hearings, so we can suss out Garland's full record and define what "moderate" means.
Monday, March 14, 2016
Happi Pi Day
I haven't used pi in math for years now, but maybe I'll buy a pie today to celebrate. Tomorrow's going to be the Ides of March, and I wish Hillary success in Tuesday's elections. I also hope that Kos stands by finally banning all the hateful rhetoric on his site. I don't see how Daily Kos can continue with the divisive tone its had for months now. It's getting as sickening as the infighting among Republicans, and I can't stand to watch the endless debates or townhalls.
I saw John Oliver's discussion of the Apple encryption battle with the FBI. Good stuff, and I hadn't even thought about foreign governments wanting to get their hands on such a backdoor too. It's really dangerous. Sure, Apple's not a perfect company, but it's right on this issue.
Meanwhile, The Carmichael Show debuted in its Sunday timeslot. I liked those two episodes a lot more than the cheating episode. I'm not sure how many episodes are in season 2, but I hope they get good ratings. As for drama, I've given up on The Family because I couldn't even make it halfway through the third episode without getting bored and annoyed. I wanted to see The Little Prince movie next weekend, only to learn that Paramount suddenly cancelled the release. Now I don't know when it's coming out, and there's no good movies until April. So disappointing.
I saw John Oliver's discussion of the Apple encryption battle with the FBI. Good stuff, and I hadn't even thought about foreign governments wanting to get their hands on such a backdoor too. It's really dangerous. Sure, Apple's not a perfect company, but it's right on this issue.
Meanwhile, The Carmichael Show debuted in its Sunday timeslot. I liked those two episodes a lot more than the cheating episode. I'm not sure how many episodes are in season 2, but I hope they get good ratings. As for drama, I've given up on The Family because I couldn't even make it halfway through the third episode without getting bored and annoyed. I wanted to see The Little Prince movie next weekend, only to learn that Paramount suddenly cancelled the release. Now I don't know when it's coming out, and there's no good movies until April. So disappointing.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Politicking
Meanwhile the presidential race goes on, and I hate how Trump has made the discourse sink so low. At least the political ads in Texas have stopped for a while, though I can't stand that Ted Cruz won the state.
I'm tired of the Democratic primary race, with all the viciousness. Kos claims that Daily Kos will start banning people on March 15th, but even his reasonable posts on the subject get attacked by people claiming censorship. They think they own the site, and that he's trying to stop the dissent, rather than just enforce some long-overdue moderation on his site. Even the recent death of the great Tricia Wyse only stopped the pie fights for a day. The only civil political website I can find lately is Wonkette, where the Editrix does like Bernie better, but she is also firm that Hillary is good too, not evil at all. (She apparently had a big fight with her own mother about it.) I'm glad she focuses on party unity and has better moderators than Daily Kos. Plus that baby is very cute and helps take some of the sting out of the bitter campaign. I hope this will all be over soon, though you can't completely predict elections.
I'm tired of the Democratic primary race, with all the viciousness. Kos claims that Daily Kos will start banning people on March 15th, but even his reasonable posts on the subject get attacked by people claiming censorship. They think they own the site, and that he's trying to stop the dissent, rather than just enforce some long-overdue moderation on his site. Even the recent death of the great Tricia Wyse only stopped the pie fights for a day. The only civil political website I can find lately is Wonkette, where the Editrix does like Bernie better, but she is also firm that Hillary is good too, not evil at all. (She apparently had a big fight with her own mother about it.) I'm glad she focuses on party unity and has better moderators than Daily Kos. Plus that baby is very cute and helps take some of the sting out of the bitter campaign. I hope this will all be over soon, though you can't completely predict elections.
Zootopia
I saw Zootopia and liked it much more than I thought I would. From the trailers, the premise looked pretty boring to me: just the usual cutesy CGI-animated stuff full of slapstick and shallow pop culture. However, the movie was actually good, with nuanced characters, social themes, and an interesting plot. I liked Jason Bateman playing the sly fox Nick Wild, who apparently has been a con-artist since he was 12 years old. Nick reminds me of the devilish characters Bateman played as a child, on Silver Spoons and It's Your Move. At least Bateman's not playing a totally slimy jerk this time. Nick charms and hustles people for a living, but he has vulnerabilities beneath his cool exterior, and he's learned to live this way because of anti-fox prejudice. I liked the complexity of the world, and how Judy had real character growth and an arc that had nothing to do with romance. We need more movies like this, and I'm glad it was successful at the box office.
On TV lately, I'm sad that The Muppets ended, and its low ratings make it doubtful that the show will be renewed. Just as doubtful are Sleepy Hollow and Second Chance, but I hope that the current plots will get decent endings before cancellation. I like that the Apocalypse show is finally revealing stuff about Grandma's survival bunker, as well as the connected family ties, though it's still a little confusing. At least the nun got some development with her history of being homeless, but I still don't like her being setup for romance with the priest. I tried watching The Family, but I'm not sure I'll stay with it, since they dropped the whole plot about the DNA test. I'm looking forward to when The Carmichael Show returns; I need a comedy in the midst of all the March Madness basketball.
On Monday, something went wrong with my Tivo, so it didn't record Lucifer, and I had to watch it online instead. I wish the angel plot would be more prominent than the procedural cases; I still don't care much about the Palmetto case. My Tivo's wireless connection typically goes down when there's a thunderstorm or blackout in my area. I thought I got the wireless network fixed, but the Tivo is still showing a connection error, so I'll have to call customer support tomorrow when I have time, I guess.
On TV lately, I'm sad that The Muppets ended, and its low ratings make it doubtful that the show will be renewed. Just as doubtful are Sleepy Hollow and Second Chance, but I hope that the current plots will get decent endings before cancellation. I like that the Apocalypse show is finally revealing stuff about Grandma's survival bunker, as well as the connected family ties, though it's still a little confusing. At least the nun got some development with her history of being homeless, but I still don't like her being setup for romance with the priest. I tried watching The Family, but I'm not sure I'll stay with it, since they dropped the whole plot about the DNA test. I'm looking forward to when The Carmichael Show returns; I need a comedy in the midst of all the March Madness basketball.
On Monday, something went wrong with my Tivo, so it didn't record Lucifer, and I had to watch it online instead. I wish the angel plot would be more prominent than the procedural cases; I still don't care much about the Palmetto case. My Tivo's wireless connection typically goes down when there's a thunderstorm or blackout in my area. I thought I got the wireless network fixed, but the Tivo is still showing a connection error, so I'll have to call customer support tomorrow when I have time, I guess.
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