Friday Night Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Fri May 14, 2010 at 07:44:29 PM EST
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Only half of my house has power restored after 20 hours. Xcel Energy needs some serious improvement. First it's a generator, then it's a transformer, now it's who knows what and customer service isn't too helpful. Too bad there's no alternative. Who gave power companies a monopoly in the first place?

Update: 7:20 pm: Xcel gets a reprieve. They just sent a truck to my house and a very nice man tinkered with some switches in the box outside and my power is back. Only one casualty: The coffeemaker. The blow-out last night permanently killed it. I wonder if they'll buy me a new one? Probably not, but if something had to blow, better a coffee pot than one of the computers

On the TV side of things (at least one set is working) we can finally say goodbye to the New York version of Law and Order. It's moving to LA. If it's as bad as Southland was, maybe it will finally be the death knell for the prosecution oriented program.

In crime news, Tennessee wants to ban felons from owning certain kinds of dogs: [More...]

Tennessee legislators, at the urging of law enforcement officials and even animal-welfare advocates, have passed new measures aimed at curbing the use of mean dogs by criminals.

A bill awaiting Gov. Phil Bredesen’s signature would bar felons convicted of violent or drug-related crimes from keeping “potentially vicious” dogs for 10 years after being released from prison or probation. Based on studies showing that unsterilized dogs are most apt to be aggressive, it would also require that any dog owned by felons be spayed or neutered and implanted with a microchip for identification.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome (except Gloria Allred's latest attention ploy focused on Roman Polanski.) If no one paid attention to her, maybe she'd stop holding these ridiculous news conferences.

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Friday Night Open Thread | 26 comments (26 topical)

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Good News (5.00 / 2) (#11)
by squeaky on Sat May 15, 2010 at 12:34:22 AM EST

WaPo says that the Obama administration is still on track to draw down to 50,000 troops in Iraq by September 1, despite press speculation to the contrary in the past couple of days. There are now roughly 92,000 - 94,000 US troops in that country, down from 160,000 when President Obama was first elected. Another 5,000 are expected to come out in May, and the pace will pick up to 10,000 a month this summer.
What drove the speculation about a freeze of the withdrawal process? First, it seems clear that some generals have long opposed the Status of Forces Agreement and the Obama Administration's withdrawal timetable, and my guess is that their offices occasionally float news of a halt in the process in order to to keep the pressure on for a slowdown. So far, Obama has just ignored them.

Juan Cole... worth a read.....

Deregulation? (none / 0) (#1)
by gyrfalcon on Fri May 14, 2010 at 08:56:21 PM EST

Did Colorado "deregulate" the power companies? When they did that in Mass. years ago, the power companies immediately -- insanely -- fired most of their maintenance staff. Eventually, it got so bad in my Boston suburb-- constant outages, short and long, once or twice a week, which they kept insisting must be the fault of squirrels-- it was like living in a third-world country.

Now I live in VT, and the local power company is fantastic-- attentive, constant maintenance, very "green" (we have "cow power," where farms can make electricity out of their manure piles and sell what they don't need back to the power company, among other initiatives), fixes outages lickity split, and you can actually talk to a real live person on the phone!

So not all power companies are horrible, just the big ones.

Good News (none / 0) (#2)
by squeaky on Fri May 14, 2010 at 09:01:09 PM EST

On the TV side of things (at least one set is working) we can finally say goodbye to the New York version of Law and Order.

Never saw the show, but their crews littered the streets of my neighborhood for years, noisy trucks, hassle, and acting as if they owned the streets.

Good riddance.

I never cared for it... (5.00 / 0) (#3)
by desertswine on Fri May 14, 2010 at 09:44:44 PM EST

much after Lenny died.


I like Criminal Intent for the first few years. (5.00 / 1) (#7)
by observed on Fri May 14, 2010 at 10:44:43 PM EST

D'onofrio used to be so intense. Now.. eek.
He put on a bunch of weight to play Orson Welles, and hasn't lost it. He looks terrible anymore.


D'onofrio (none / 0) (#20)
by jbindc on Sat May 15, 2010 at 12:37:33 PM EST

isn't on anymore. It's now Jeff Goldblum.


That's right. He makes my skin crawl, (none / 0) (#21)
by observed on Sat May 15, 2010 at 03:54:48 PM EST

generally; in addition, his character on CI seems unbelievable. I don't know anything about police work, but I've read that actual policemen liked the character of Goren.


Goren got on my nerves (none / 0) (#22)
by nyjets on Sat May 15, 2010 at 04:56:01 PM EST

While Goren was a decent character and was well acted, he did get very annoying after a while.
I should add that I preferred LO over LO CI. (honestly, LO CI itself got on my nerves).


Detectives are supposed to annoy you-- (none / 0) (#23)
by observed on Sat May 15, 2010 at 04:58:18 PM EST

didn't you ever watch Colombo?!


I was never a big fan of the show (none / 0) (#24)
by nyjets on Sat May 15, 2010 at 06:47:12 PM EST

I was never a big fan of the show. That being said, Colombo never bothered me.


To each his own, obviously. (none / 0) (#25)
by observed on Sat May 15, 2010 at 07:11:36 PM EST

For me, there are many episodes of CI which are extremely vivid in my mind, years after seeing them. I know the plot synopsis of many of the early episodes, the dramatic scenes, the turning points, etc. I can't think of another TV show which made a similar impression on me.
The way Goren could get into the head of criminals was very subtle, compared to other cop shows. For instance, there was one show involving funny business at a crematorium which leads to evidence of a contract killer's work.
Goren knows who the killer is, but the guy is so methodical, so perfect in all details, there is no way to catch him. What happens is that his perfectionism is turned against him, by planting suspicion that he left some evidence at his house.
The scene where the killer falls apart psychologically as he tries to find the missing tooth is riveting and felt totally right to me.

SVU is the one I'm embarrassed to say I used to watch a lot. It's almost like torture porn.
Sometimes there may be public service value in the topics they cover, but man is it icky to watch! Also, the character development on SVU is far weaker than on original or CI, and some of the main actors are just terrible---Ice-T, the guy who plays Munch, and the guy who plays Creighan (sp).


: Fair enough (5.00 / 0) (#26)
by nyjets on Sat May 15, 2010 at 09:50:58 PM EST

You are right, everyone has there taste. I loved original law&order (I will miss that show), you loved ci.
I will say this, I do disagree with your comments about the acting on SVU. I think the three actors you mention are good.
I can not disagree with you concerning the ick factor with SVU (mind you, I find that CI has its own ick factor in its own way).
There are some episodes of SVU that do make me go yuck and I will never ever watch again. They have however, as of late done a good job in not having every episode being icky. They only do about 5 episodes or so a season that are truly icky. The majority of the episodes have varying degree of ick :)

Gosh (none / 0) (#4)
by squeaky on Fri May 14, 2010 at 09:46:10 PM EST

Not sure who Lenny is, but I wouldn't be surprised if he died on my street. What a plague those guys were....


Lenny = Jerry Orbach = Broadway (5.00 / 1) (#15)
by EL seattle on Sat May 15, 2010 at 02:50:48 AM EST

(and Off-Broadway) The Fantasticks, Chicago, etc., etc.

And also 42nd Street


I think Lenny was (none / 0) (#5)
by Jeralyn on Fri May 14, 2010 at 10:19:33 PM EST

the guy who played Baby's father in Dirty Dancing.


Jerry Orbach. (5.00 / 4) (#6)
by Anne on Fri May 14, 2010 at 10:25:19 PM EST

Really liked his work.


: One of Joey Gallo's (none / 0) (#8)
by jondee on Fri May 14, 2010 at 11:03:44 PM EST

show biz pals. Talk about going right to the source to research the "gritty realism" of the streets.

Sounds like the power company (none / 0) (#9)
by jimakaPPJ on Fri May 14, 2010 at 11:06:02 PM EST

may have had a surge that kicked one phase of the 240 VAC power feed off line. At least that would explain why some plugs had power and others didn't.

And it is a wonder they sent someone. The fuse box, actually the circuit breaker/ac distribution box in today's world belongs to you, not the power company. So you may get a bill.

As to any damage caused by the surge, if that is what it was, I don't think you can claim anything as long as their distribution network was "reasonable and customary." But it's worth a call and a letter.

Please keep us informed.

Setup? (none / 0) (#10)
by squeaky on Sat May 15, 2010 at 12:11:14 AM EST

Hard to believe that Obama would have done the bipartisan schtick only to strengthen his attack after a year and a half of "attempting" to appease the GOP, aka triangulating for the fun of it (D maj congress).

Now he will hammer the GOP until they start behaving... lol

A girl can dream....

: Obama's rhetoric has always been (5.00 / 1) (#16)
by MO Blue on Sat May 15, 2010 at 10:33:25 AM EST

different at Democratic fund raising events. Don't think he will change his "people on the left" and "people on the right" approach anywhere else.

Nick Clegg's statement (none / 0) (#12)
by cymro on Sat May 15, 2010 at 01:00:53 AM EST

Don't take offence at our coalition. Its aims are liberal

Spammer at work (none / 0) (#13)
by shoephone on Sat May 15, 2010 at 01:13:04 AM EST

on this thread.

Ah, no wonder L&O was canceled. (none / 0) (#14)
by observed on Sat May 15, 2010 at 02:09:55 AM EST

I forgot about Jeremy Sisto. I think he has some cult following ( I saw him in the truly horrible Paranoia 1.0 and read lots of gushing comments about his acting), but I am totally unimpressed with his "Method" mumbling. The partner was bad too, but in a less noticeable way.

I wasn't aware of this one of the (none / 0) (#17)
by MO Blue on Sat May 15, 2010 at 10:41:21 AM EST

teaparty's objectives.

There are signs that tea party calls to repeal the 17th Amendment -- taking the selection of U.S. Senators out of the hands of voters and putting it in the hands of state governments ... link

I much prefer andgarden's movement to eliminate the Senate altogether. Now that is a deficit reduction measure I could get behind.

Oh, good lord. Fighting Bob and Belle (none / 0) (#18)
by Cream City on Sat May 15, 2010 at 11:14:56 AM EST

Case La Follette and Teddy Roosevelt and so many more are turning over in their graves.

We really do need to teach these people some U.S. history they must have missed along the way -- that it was Republicans who really pushed for direct election of Senators. Now they want to put it all back in the hands of party bosses and machines?


: They probably believe that they will be (none / 0) (#19)
by MO Blue on Sat May 15, 2010 at 11:34:07 AM EST

party bosses and control the machines. IOW they don't want those messy voters to get in the way of their choices.