Comments for Simon's incoherent blog

Comment on Mad Men: Season 5, Episode 9–Dark Shadows by Rosie

Rosie — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:09:54 +0000

["Actually I agree. Sally is rather dislikeable, but she’s also a victim – you can see how her parents’ unthinking behaviour is turning her into a not at all nice person."]

I have never considered Sally to be that nice. And we can’t always blame the parents. Sometimes, individuals are that way regardless.

Comment on Mad Men: Season 5, Episode 6–Far Away Places by Riff Millar

Riff Millar — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:52:21 +0000

The entire LSD scene was brilliant. I also liked the other understated hallucinations Roger had at the party — lines that he spoke without moving his lips, which you couldn’t quite tell if he spoke them aloud or if the responses he heard were also imagined; also, the reflection in the mirror was not always in sync with out-of-mirror movements.

Amazing episode, and another amazing write-up. Many thanks!

Comment on Mad Men: Season 5, Episode 9–Dark Shadows by Simon

Simon — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:39:04 +0000

Actually I agree. Sally is rather dislikeable, but she’s also a victim – you can see how her parents’ unthinking behaviour is turning her into a not at all nice person.

And yes, Megan as a character is not too gripping. She’s chiefly served as a foil for Don’s preoccupations rather than standing up as a fully rounded personality in her own right. Still, perhaps Weiner will choose to flesh her out with some more imperfections. In the mean time, the rest of the gang have flaws enough to spare!

Comment on Mad Men: Season 5, Episode 9–Dark Shadows by Rosie

Rosie — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:34:52 +0000

I’ve never liked Sally. Or . . . I never liked how fans idealize Sally. She’s too much of a self-absorbed bully for me to really like her. I’m sorry that she has to deal with Don and Betty’s divorce. But hey . . . I had to deal with my parents’ breakup since I was a kid. I survived it. Sally will too. Let’s not get our panties in a twist over her.

Also, when will Matt Weiner expose Megan’s worst flaws? If this is as bad as she will get get . . . then I can no longer maintain any interest in her. She’s too ideal and too boring.

Comment on Mad Men: Season 5, Episode 6–Far Away Places by aarthi

aarthi — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 09:35:56 +0000

Very well-written, a real pleasure to read. I wondered too if Joan and Roger would now get back together, finally. But knowing Mathew Wiener, it won’t so predictable.

Comment on Game of Thrones: Season 2, Episode 4–Garden of Bones by Richard

Richard — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:13:11 +0000

Can I just say, bugger the spoiler warning I can’t see this series till the Blu Rays come out, but at least I can enjoy your reviews

Comment on It’s my party, and you can buy it if you want to… by Richard

Richard — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:24:05 +0000

I think it was Mandy Rice-Davies rather than Christine Keeler, but close enough and you are spot on that Cruddass’ error was not to exaggerate the influence he was peddling but to be too honest about what – and who – could be bought!

I’m not sure of the details, but I would hope that if we did move to state funding of political parties that it would be of benefit to the “runner up” parties too – the Greens, UKIP, Socialist Labour among others ought to get recognition for their support too. That would encourage turnout too, in the sense that no vote would be “wasted” if registering your support for a party actually translated into financial support for your party.

Also, cheers for the link

Comment on Being Human: Series 4, Episode 7–Making History by Richard

Richard — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 10:13:01 +0000

Good point about the ghosts although (nitpick) Alex did say that she’d been hanging around dead for ten hours (time to go through all the stages of grieving and end up bloody pissed off).

The thing with Gatiss is that he doesn’t so much “act” as “perform”. It’s very stylised and distinctly odd to watch, perfect for the League of Gentlemen; not so much for anything else. What’s disturbing is to realise that every character he plays is a variation on Auntie Val. Now try not to imagine Mycroft laying out the towels!

(To be fair, he does a Poirot and the director manages to hammer a halfway decent supporting role out of him, but the trade off appears to be the episode of Marple he’s in where *everyone* is doing it!)

Comment on W(h)ither the Lib Dems? by Pete Hague

Pete Hague — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 20:29:53 +0000

If being anti-authoritarian is part of the Lib-Dems DNA, as you suggest, then I’m sorry I’m not seeing it. Total silence on the horrid provisions in the Digital Economy Act for starters. No obvious objections to police tactics against the protestors that you inevitably get when the Tories declare class war.

I can’t see any way the Lib Dem brand can ever be detoxified from this. Maybe you lot should jump ship, join the rump Liberal party (such as it is), and basically start from scratch – if you truly believe in the principles you espouse, of course.

Comment on W(h)ither the Lib Dems? by Simon

Simon — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:24:28 +0000

Oops, wrong link – *this* is the Toynbee article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/12/sorry-shirley-williams-nail-health-bill-myths
Told you I was tired:)