I think I've mentioned that since living in Vail I haven't had a TV. I do, however, wait for my favorite series to come out on Netflix - "Deadwood" and the "L-word" - along with catching up on Cassavetes' movies and any others I've wanted to see. It just means that I see things a little late and on a laptop, which is in step with the significant slowing down of my media life since I moved to the mountains a year ago. And I don't mind a bit. It's sort of why I dropped out in the first place. After the re-election of Bush I had to limit my intake of talking heads and pop-culture in order to keep my anxiety at bay. It's been real good. (Hasn't been great for the grammar, though).
But, it also means that I'm not getting much news of current events besides NPR on my ten minute drive to work. So you can imagine my delight when I came home from Ultimate practice last night to the Sunday New York Times on my table. Witnessing me hyperventilate at the sections stacked, already read, waiting for me to devour, my roommate Vicky smiled with understanding and explained that it's her only connection to the outside world. Bless her. And bless her for caring. It is a homey, comforting feeling to see newspapers (especially the New York Times) lying exhausted on a kitchen table.
On the front page of Arts & Leisure was a write-up on "Deadwood." Not going to movie premiers or seeing films the night they come out is surely not something I miss. But hearing, after the fact, that "Deadwood" was on the brink of disappearing and it was only the fans that made HBO agree to a 4th season made me feel pretty removed from everything but discussing what mountain bike trail has dried out yet and where we'll be having Ultimate practice.
"HBO was going to forgo a fourth season, after it had promised Mr. Milch only six episodes (the usual is 12) and Mr. Milch passed." I sort of worship Mr. Milch for his vision, imagination, and writing. Knowing the show has been almost universally critically acclaimed, I was shocked at this news.
Fans set up anti-HBO web sites: http://www.hbonomo.com/ and http://www.savedeadwood.net/ stating they'll cancel their subscriptions should HBO forgo a 4th season. And it worked! A compromise was made, Mr. Milch will finish off the series in Season 4 with two 2-hour episodes. We still have the full 3rd season to look forward to, which started last Sunday. I love that it's out, but I'm in no rush.
I'm not the type to get into series or TV programs. I never got hooked on the "Sopranos" and I don't think I've ever seen "Desperate Housewives." If I came across "Friends" or "Seinfeld" I might watch. The following excerpt from the New York Times article hits at the core of why I love "Deadwood:"
"Based on real events that surrounded a gold rush in Deadwood, S.D. in 1876, 'Deadwood' combined down-and-dirty realism and the twisted dreamscape of Mr. Milch. A former heroin user, alcoholic and compulsive gambler, he imbued the show with all his past vices: early episodes of Season 3 feature a drunken street fight and an ill-advised interlude between two characters with a taste for narcotics.
More than anything, however, characters in 'Deadwood' are addicted to words: big, looping passages of quasi-Elizabethan prose that immediately set the show apart from the usual western repertory of variations on the word 'pardner.' 'He created a language,' said Ian McShane, the English actor who won a Golden Globe for his performance as Al Swearengen, the coarse, brutal and often hilarious owner of the Gem, a brothel and bar. 'Shakespeare might invert a sentence once or twice. David inverts it three or four times.' "
I recommend checking out "Deadwood" any way you can. If you can handle the consistently raw language, that is.
But, it also means that I'm not getting much news of current events besides NPR on my ten minute drive to work. So you can imagine my delight when I came home from Ultimate practice last night to the Sunday New York Times on my table. Witnessing me hyperventilate at the sections stacked, already read, waiting for me to devour, my roommate Vicky smiled with understanding and explained that it's her only connection to the outside world. Bless her. And bless her for caring. It is a homey, comforting feeling to see newspapers (especially the New York Times) lying exhausted on a kitchen table.
On the front page of Arts & Leisure was a write-up on "Deadwood." Not going to movie premiers or seeing films the night they come out is surely not something I miss. But hearing, after the fact, that "Deadwood" was on the brink of disappearing and it was only the fans that made HBO agree to a 4th season made me feel pretty removed from everything but discussing what mountain bike trail has dried out yet and where we'll be having Ultimate practice.
"HBO was going to forgo a fourth season, after it had promised Mr. Milch only six episodes (the usual is 12) and Mr. Milch passed." I sort of worship Mr. Milch for his vision, imagination, and writing. Knowing the show has been almost universally critically acclaimed, I was shocked at this news.
Fans set up anti-HBO web sites: http://www.hbonomo.com/ and http://www.savedeadwood.net/ stating they'll cancel their subscriptions should HBO forgo a 4th season. And it worked! A compromise was made, Mr. Milch will finish off the series in Season 4 with two 2-hour episodes. We still have the full 3rd season to look forward to, which started last Sunday. I love that it's out, but I'm in no rush.
I'm not the type to get into series or TV programs. I never got hooked on the "Sopranos" and I don't think I've ever seen "Desperate Housewives." If I came across "Friends" or "Seinfeld" I might watch. The following excerpt from the New York Times article hits at the core of why I love "Deadwood:"
"Based on real events that surrounded a gold rush in Deadwood, S.D. in 1876, 'Deadwood' combined down-and-dirty realism and the twisted dreamscape of Mr. Milch. A former heroin user, alcoholic and compulsive gambler, he imbued the show with all his past vices: early episodes of Season 3 feature a drunken street fight and an ill-advised interlude between two characters with a taste for narcotics.
More than anything, however, characters in 'Deadwood' are addicted to words: big, looping passages of quasi-Elizabethan prose that immediately set the show apart from the usual western repertory of variations on the word 'pardner.' 'He created a language,' said Ian McShane, the English actor who won a Golden Globe for his performance as Al Swearengen, the coarse, brutal and often hilarious owner of the Gem, a brothel and bar. 'Shakespeare might invert a sentence once or twice. David inverts it three or four times.' "
I recommend checking out "Deadwood" any way you can. If you can handle the consistently raw language, that is.