Man in Hightower Netflix

Tue Dec 8 12:38:58 CST 2015

oops, that shoulda been "dream and nightmare" in the last sentence

On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 1:32 PM, Monte Davis <montedavis49 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Perry: The dominant recent-history / current events memes of my 1950s and
> early 1960s childhood were, as you'd expect, mostly Cold War, post-WWII US
> triumphalism, and space. All became problematic as the 1960s went on,
> creating the perfect setup for GR as "where it all began" when I was 23.
> I've been unpacking them (and their successors) ever since, with Pynchon as
> constant reassurance that burlesque and pastiche, dream and pastiche, make
> more sense of it than the historians do.
>
> On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 12:39 PM, Perry Noid <coolwithdoc at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I don't doubt that a lot of the tradecraft in The Americans is inspired
>> by former spy consultants but at the end of the day, like all historical
>> dramas on the tube, it's pastiche. Doesn't mean it's a bad thing, it's a
>> good thing, would be boring otherwise. George Smiley though makes the
>> boring bits of espionage entertaining too and I like that. It's a cut above
>> I agree but even he is pastiche.
>>
>> The meme thing Monte was talking about does make me wonder too. The
>> television news of my childhood plays back like the opening credits
>> montage. Big wall being hammered, princess being murdered, white Bronco
>> speeding on a highway, separatists being killed and buildings blowing up. I
>> was a junior in high school on 11 sep. I might not be remembering this very
>> accurately but I recall the adults being much more traumatized than me and
>> my peers that morning. Could just be that we were jaded teenagers, don't
>> know for sure.
>>
>>
>> On Tuesday, December 8, 2015, rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I do like the Americans, too. and I agree some plots seem far-fetched
>>> but when you hear about what went on/does go on in the intelligence
>>> community in real life you do wonder sometimes. both leads are wonderful.
>>> I would place George Smiley a cut above Bond and the rest. There's a new
>>> bio out on LeCarre which I hope to start soon. Knowing a bit more about
>>> places like Oxford and Cambridge really helped me understand alot about
>>> British intelligence during the Cold War and  the cast of rogues and odd
>>> ducks in LeCarre's books. The British series is of course peerless TV
>>> unlike the recent movie which was utter crap.
>>>
>>> rich
>>>
>>> On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 10:38 AM, Perry Noid <coolwithdoc at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I can tell you that myself and my friends who were born in the 80s are
>>>> well aware that The Americans is utter fiction. To me it's like Bond
>>>> or George Smiley.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Tuesday, December 8, 2015, Monte Davis <montedavis49 at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I wonder about the demographics for The Americans -- i.e., how many
>>>>> 20- or 30-somethings are getting their "historical" view of the late Cold
>>>>> War from it? I'm thinking of meme complexes such as the Wild West,  or
>>>>> "Untouchables" crime in the Roaring Twenties (both quite limited and
>>>>> transient in fact, but huge in cultural weight)... or for that matter "24"
>>>>> and some other post-9/11 portrayals of the Global War on Something or Other.
>>>>>
>>>>> I think I was paying attention in the 1980s -- and I don't remember 1%
>>>>> of The Americans level of espionage-related violence in and around
>>>>> Washington, DC. I thought the whole point of superpower empire was that we
>>>>> got to offshore the dirty work to Beirut, San Salvador, Kabul, Luanda,
>>>>> etc...?
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 10:10 AM, Monte Davis <montedavis49 at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 9:49 AM, Perry Noid <coolwithdoc at gmail.com>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Ooh that looks good and it reminds me. I also love the TV show The
>>>>>>> Americans. It's junk television and totally preposterous at times but
>>>>>>> very very entertaining.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Tuesday, December 8, 2015, Monte Davis <montedavis49 at gmail.com>
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FppW5ml4vdw
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 9:10 AM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Behind Winston's back the voice from the telescreen was still
>>>>>>>>> babbling away about pig-iron and the overfulfilment of the Ninth Three-Year
>>>>>>>>> Plan. The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound
>>>>>>>>> that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked
>>>>>>>>> up by it, moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which
>>>>>>>>> the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was of
>>>>>>>>> course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given
>>>>>>>>> moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any
>>>>>>>>> individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched
>>>>>>>>> everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire
>>>>>>>>> whenever they wanted to. You had to live -- did live, from habit that
>>>>>>>>> became instinct -- in the assumption that every sound you made was
>>>>>>>>> overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.
>>>>>>>>> From *1984*
>>>>>>>>> <http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/AuthorSpecAlphaList.asp?BkNum=143>,
>>>>>>>>> by George Orwell
>>>>>>>>> <http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/AuthorTotalAlphaList.asp?AuNum=61>
>>>>>>>>> .
>>>>>>>>> Published by Unknown in 1948
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 3:23 AM, Kai Frederik Lorentzen <
>>>>>>>>> lorentzen at hotmail.de> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> THE TUBE
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Oh ... the ... Tube!
>>>>>>>>>> It's poi-soning your brain!
>>>>>>>>>> Oh yes....
>>>>>>>>>> It's dri-ving you, insane!
>>>>>>>>>> It's shoot-ing rays, at you,
>>>>>>>>>> Over ev'ry-thing ya do,
>>>>>>>>>> It sees you in your bedroom,
>>>>>>>>>> And --- on th' toi-let too!
>>>>>>>>>>             Yoo Hoo! The
>>>>>>>>>> Tube....
>>>>>>>>>> It knows your ev'ry thought,
>>>>>>>>>> Hey, Boob, you thought you would-
>>>>>>>>>> T'n get caught ---
>>>>>>>>>> While you were sittin' there, starin' at "The
>>>>>>>>>> Brady Bunch,"
>>>>>>>>>> Big fat computer jus'
>>>>>>>>>> Had you for lunch, now Th'
>>>>>>>>>> Tube ---
>>>>>>>>>> It's plugged right in, to you!
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> (Vineland, pp.336-337)
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I'm watching too much TV too, but the thread simply asked for
>>>>>>>>>> this song. And isn't it amazing how Pynchon anticipated 'Smart-TV?'
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On 08.12.2015 05:14, John Bailey wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> A lot of people are loving Mr Robot (which I haven't seen). In the
>>>>>>>>>> Black Mirror vein I believe.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 2:31 PM, Perry Noid <coolwithdoc at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> And oh yeah I did like Breaking bad but that was another one whose ending
>>>>>>>>>> annoyed me. The penultimate episode worked better as an ending imo. They
>>>>>>>>>> filmed the first season in Albuquerque during my final year at UNM and my
>>>>>>>>>> compatriate played the bratty kid in the first episode so it was a mandatory
>>>>>>>>>> watch. Show got harder for me to watch after moving out of Albuquerque. Was
>>>>>>>>>> like becoming the outsider and seeing the city with a different perspective.
>>>>>>>>>> Was a dirty place for me and it became clearer when recognizing the
>>>>>>>>>> landmarks with a sufficient physical detachment from the place. I dunno, the
>>>>>>>>>> show felt really icky. Great show though overall.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On Monday, December 7, 2015, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Breaking Bad was superb. I don't know Luther.  Is on Netflix or Amazon?
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On Monday, December 7, 2015, Allan Balliett <allan.balliett at gmail.com>
>>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Perry - What about Luther ? Or The Wire? You didn't like True Detective?
>>>>>>>>>> Or the "recent" BBC Sherlock Holmes shows? I agree about Man in the High
>>>>>>>>>> Castle. Too many of the binge tv series get sidetracked into unimportant
>>>>>>>>>> character stories. (Good to see that Luther is getting a second coming as an
>>>>>>>>>> American series. If its anything like the clip I saw on Late Night the other
>>>>>>>>>> night, it's going to be a good un.)
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> -Allan in WV
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On Mon, Dec 7, 2015 at 7:22 PM, Perry Noid <coolwithdoc at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> When it comes to teevee, sopranos and mad men spoiled me. Nothing else
>>>>>>>>>> has really satisfied me.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On Monday, December 7, 2015, Perry Noid <coolwithdoc at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I couldn't make it through the first episode.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On Monday, December 7, 2015, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Ten episodes in, and just tolerating it. Way too slowly paced and full
>>>>>>>>>> of irrelevant personal drama interactions.  I haven't read the book, but I'm
>>>>>>>>>> sure the plot is more important in the book than it is in this show.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> David Morris
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> -
>>>>>>>>>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>
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