I think about a world to come where the books were found by the golden ones, written in pain, written in awe by a puzzled man who questioned, "What are we here for?" All the strangers came today and it looks as though they're here to stay.

-David Bowie "Oh! You Pretty Things"

Monday, August 22, 2011

Spoiler Alert: True Blood S04E08

That's two weeks in a row that I wasn't able to get a Spoiler Alert post up before the next episode aired. Lucky for me, there are probably a bunch of people out there who don't have HBO and have to wait a couple of days to watch the new episodes. To all of you, I feel like less of an idiot. To all of the rest of you, you have my sincerest apologies.

1. Regarding Jessica

Here are the answers to the cliffhanger from last week. Jason saves Jessica, and instead of killing Jason she kisses him passionately. Bill is, as expected, tormented by the fear that he brought about Jessica's true death and guiltily mentions that he clearly underestimated Jessica's strength in chaining her up the first time. Oh, and the shot fired off outside was Jason shooting one of Bill's guards in the shoulder.

Here's the one that will possibly have the biggest impact: The guard that Jessica attacked is completely and utterly dead. Bill acts as if this can be swept under the rug because these people knew what they were getting into and their families will be compensated. But Jessica knew Bucky's child, and we know that murder on the job does not go forgotten by the family. Someone may want heads to roll for the death of Bucky.


Bill believes that Jason may pose a problem when it comes to the murder of Bucky and requests that he not report Bucky's death. Bill couldn't be further from the truth. Jason cares for Jessica, so it probably never occurred to him that he should report a crime that would almost certainly result in the final death of Jessica. Nevertheless, Bill's request suggests that he's not entirely confident that he can protect Jessica with the "a witch made me do it" defense in a post-Russell Edgington world.

2. Two Taras

There aren't, literally speaking, two Taras. When I say two Taras I am referring to the fact that Tara could go either way on this whole witches versus vampires thing. When the possessed Marne suggests that the only way the witches can be safe is to kill all vampires (a defense that is strangely similar to George W. Bush's proclamation against terrorists), Tara declares that she is completely on-board with such a genocide.


But then again, Tara seemed kind of weirded out when she found out that the protection spell she thought she was getting involved in was a murderous spell intended to kill vampires regardless of their participation in the molestation of the coven. And let's not forget that Bill saves Tara's life in the cemetery battle.


3. Regarding Luna's ex

Other than the fact that Luna's ex is described as a werewolf, and the only significant new werewolf we've been introduced to is Marcus, there were two clues that Luna and Marcus used to shack up in this particular episode. First of all, Marcus explains that his backyard has gone to seed since his ex-wife moved out. Second, we see Marcus on the phone leaving a message to someone regarding stopping by and tucking in his baby. If that wasn't enough, then surely it was obvious when Marcus showed up at Luna's house while Sam was there.


All of this actually seems to have something to do with Alcide's future, if you ask me. When Alcide helps break up a fight and speaks his mind regarding a couple of issues, Marcus declares that Alcide has an alpha in him. This makes sense, especially if we consider his "lone wolf" thing an after-effect of not fitting in with a pack that already has an alpha. This will, inevitably, put Alcide and Marcus at odds in the future. Of course, Marcus already has a couple of possible outs: 1. Luna can call his parole officer and get him put back in jail, 2. his aggression toward Sam could get him killed by Sam, 3. he gets involved in vampire/witch politics and gets killed. But there's always that chance that he oversteps a boundary and Alcide challenges him. In nearly all possible futures I see Alcide as the leader of this pack soon.

4. "All is possible."

While Eric and Sookie are in their blood-passion trance, Eric says, "All is possible."


Perhaps he only means that two individuals, high on one another's blood, can totally lay under a snowy sky with no clouds. But let's consider the things that we might consider impossible in this very episode. Hoyte, while yelling at Jessica, suggests that a vampire and a human having a baby is impossible (and then he says that his momma was right and blames all "fangs" for his anger, which will probably turn into something big very soon). Eric laying under the sun for any extended amount of time would be impossible. Bill states that it would be impossible for him to glamour anything that is not a human being. And then there's that whole thing Sam said a long time ago about how a shifter cannot shift into a human. One of those has already been proven possible. What other things do you think might be proven possible in the future?

5. The Cliffhangers

Lafayette is possessed by the vengeful ghost of the woman whose child was killed because of how ridiculous the father thought a bi-racial relationship is. But where is Tio Luca? We saw him exit Lafayette, but we also saw Gabriella exit Marne a few times only to follow her around wherever she goes. Sookie gets shot and rescued by Alcide (after using her powers for the first time in a long time - is this an omen?). When Bill feels Sookie getting shot, the moment of pause allows the witches to silver him and capture him. Eric also feels Sookie getting shot, only to become the lap dog of Marne. Things are getting messy!

See you next week!

Arnold 365, Day 234 (Total Recall)




Banner by Adam Friedli.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Thursday TV Tournament: Match-up 21 Results

Today's match-up is between thirty-first seed, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season Six, Episode Nine, "Dee Reynolds: Shaping America's Youth," which aired November 11, 2010, and fifteenth seed, 30 Rock Season Five, Episode Twelve, "Operation Righteous Cowboy Lightning," which aired January 27, 2011. The results are in:


I think that Adam Friedli nailed it when he said, "I love It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but this episode is just not nearly as strong as others from the season." Meanwhile, this is the episode of 30 Rock that knocked the trampoline episode of Community out of the running. I hate to see an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode fall off the chart, but to get into the Elite Eight you have to be one of the absolute best episodes of all season.

Tune in next time for tenth seed, 30 Rock Season Five, Episode Four, "Live Show," which aired October 14, 2010, and seventh seed, The Office Season Seven, Episode Nineteen, "Garage Sale," which aired March 24, 2011. It should be a good time.

Rejection Letter Rejection Letter


Replace "companies" with "company's" and you've got yourself one fantastic piece of writing. Special thanks to The Poke for this gem. The original article, "Rejection Letter Rejection Letter" can be seen here.

Arnold 365, Day 233 (Total Recall)




Banner by Adam Friedli.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Publication History: Sharon Robideaux: The Examined Life

This is one of the couple of things I've had published that I am the least embarrassed about. The writing isn't terrible, but that's not what I'm talking about. The article I wrote for the Grand Valley State University magazine titled "Sharon Robideaux: The Examined Life" is one of my favorites because it was the right thing to do. Sharon Robideaux was one of my favorite writing professors that I ever studied with, but she wasn't a tenured faculty. When I wrote this piece, it was my intent to make a case that her Visiting Professor status should be renewed. The last sentence I wrote was, "Visiting Professor she may be, but for the sake of Grand Valley students, let's hope that her visit is extended indefinitely." When the article was published Professor Robideaux had already been let go from Grand Valley, so the article turned into my way of saying, "You did the wrong thing, Grand Valley. You should have renewed her contract."


I know it's either difficult or impossible to read the text on this file, but the original is accessible by simply clicking on the picture. If that is too small, then drop me a line and I can transcribe the file. Or don't read it. Depending on your interest.