Tony Soprano spins in his shallow grave.

i just started the wire a few days ago and quickly went through two seasons. simply amazing. the story, the characters, the drama... but hey, i didn't like sopranos, so what do i know? ;-)

Thanks for the advice, peeps. I'm going to have a crack at the Wire to start with, and if it doesn't grab me I'll switch to the Sopranos after the first season.

I watched the last episode of Deadwood last night. That third series was the most amazing piece of TV I've ever seen. Each episode notched up the pressure ever higher. But am I the only one that was a little let down by the conclusion? I'm presuming they expected to have more series to go to, because it felt to me they left a fair bit of their powder dry.

I'm wondering if they knew it would be the last episode, if they wouldn't have let the carnage loose?

Oh, and I've seen a couple of episodes of Weeds and enjoyed it. It's on the list!

Sopranos all the way. Wire is good, too, but nothing beats Sopranos.

>> ^eric3579:
I'll give my opinion only because we seem to enjoy the same stuff. My three favorite TV series of all time are West Wing, Deadwood and The Sopranos. I however have never watched The Wire. I also enjoyed Carnivale, and would consider it my fourth favorite.


Well, you've totally got to watch The Wire then. Omar from that show is the true inheritor of Al Swearengen's legacy. A scheming, ruthless, brilliant, terrifying, loveable, huggable murderer.

I'll give my opinion only because we seem to enjoy the same stuff. My three favorite TV series of all time are West Wing, Deadwood and The Sopranos. I however have never watched The Wire. I also enjoyed Carnivale, and would consider it my fourth favorite.

I think the non-paying party is completely in the right here. Not just morally, which should be obvious, but legally.

Quoting this NYT article: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/15/nyregion/15tipper.html
"As it turns out, a tip is just a tip, even if you put "mandatory" in front of it.

Charges were dropped yesterday against a Long Island man who was arrested last week for failing to leave a required 18 percent gratuity at Soprano's Italian and American Grill in Lake George, N.Y.

The Warren County district attorney, Kathleen B. Hogan, said that she had determined that the man, Humberto A. Taveras, could not be forced to pay a gratuity.

Ms. Hogan said, "A tip or gratuity is discretionary, and that's what the courts have found."

It really chaps me when apologists condone this weasel behavior (mandatory tips) by pretending it's some sort of "contract" because of fine print on a menu. Yay for Internet lawyers who have no idea what a contract is. Here's a tip: the corporations want you to believe that anything they put in fine print or post on a sign is a "contract", but it's not.

From IMDB trivia, 8th from the bottom:

When composer Eric Serra showed soprano 'Inva Mulla Tchako' (who dubs the voice of the Diva) the sheet music for the Diva Dance, she reportedly smiled and relayed to him that some of the notes written were not humanly possible to achieve because the human voice cannot change notes that fast. Hence, she performed the notes in isolation - one by one, as opposed to consecutively singing them all together and they digitized the notes to fit the music. There are a few moments when you can hear the differences in the vocal tones of The Diva's voice.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'sting, bill, withers, aint, sunshine, david, sanborn, soprano, sax, bass, mustache' to 'sting, bill withers, sunshine, david sanborn, soprano sax, bass, mustache, night music' - edited by Ornthoron

1. I had an ex-boyfriend violently try to kill himself in front of me. It fucked me up and I dropped out of life for about four years. All my friends gave up on trying to get me out of my shell. As of right now, I have no physical friends aside from my family. I beat myself up about shutting everyone out so completely.

2. I also have an ex-boyfriend who is on death row and he's been there for 8 years. He killed some police officers and when they were fleeing, my friend Allen was gunned down.

3. I had a boyfriend who drowned in a lake. I don't like to call him an ex because we never broke up. He died. It's been almost ten years and I still go to his old LiveJournal and read all the entries and cry.

4. I had a terrifying experience in New Orleans when I was 16. It never showed itself to me, but made awful tapping noises all over my hotel room. Whenever I tried to wake up my parents, it would stop. I was so very very scared.. Even typing this now, I have to repress the urge to cry and turn on all my lights. I'm sweating. When I went to sleep that night, I curled against the headboard, with my back out towards the room. I woke up in the morning and took a hot shower and when I turned around, the hot water stung on my back. I looked at my back in the mirror and there were three long scratches spanning diagonally from the tops of my shoulders to my waist. Even though they had obviously bled and scabbed, there was no blood on my shirt or on the bra I had been wearing. That experience really fucked up my religious beliefs. I like to say that I'm a complete atheist, but whenever I say that, I think back to that night and I'm afraid of what an afterlife is and who or what exists in it.

5. I'm leaking breast milk all over my legs right now, but I'm ignoring the mess.

6. Mensa tried to recruit me as a little girl and it freaked me out. They sent so many letters and called to speak to me all the time. They tried to talk to me at school but I was convinced they were some kind of cult. Plus, they wanted me to spend my summer taking classes and doing homework. Crazy fuckers.

7. I had some rare kind of nerve cancer as a teenager and they cut the tumor from my chin when I was 16. The tumor and the consequent surgery left the lower part of my face numb and my lower lip a bit unresponsive. I drool on myself sometimes and when it's pointed out, I vehemently tell them I had cancer. It makes me laugh at how they scramble to apologize.

8. I used to be really into music and I've played with several bands, ranging from rock to jazz to blues to just jamming. I was really into it and I loved performing at dives and all the free beer. No one cards you when you're the band. But after my ex tried to kill himself, I fell out of that world, too. I regret that more than anything. I love music.. Now I just play for me and somehow it's not the same.

9. I play piano, clarinet, alto and soprano recorders[Hey, those are real instruments, too!], cello, violin, guitar, bass, any stringed instrument really, drum kit, hand drums, etc etc. I haven't really found an instrument I couldn't play. I like to sing a lot. My baby loves it when I sing. That pleases me greatly!! He's my number on fan.

10. I was expelled the last semester of my senior year from high school for doodling in my notebook a stick figure with a crude gun pointed at its head. It was accompanied by the sentence "I hate chemistry." The teacher walked by and saw it, seized it and dragged me to the principal. I was arrested for threatening students with a handgun. [My drawing wasn't specific, I mean, it could have been a sawed-off shotgun?? It was more of a sideways L..] I got 9 months of probation and had to get my diploma by correspondence. It was hilarious and fucked up all at the same time.

11. I had a neighbor freak out on cocaine and whatever else that guy was on. He came over and kept my roommates and I hostage and screamed at us about "sounding out" at night. He also put my roommate's Diamonda Galas CD on and played it full volume. That's what got the police there. Thank God for Diamonda's screeching voice or my other neighbor's wouldn't have called the cops. He also tried to strangle our cat. When the police finally busted down the back door, he was screaming about how he would kill us all. The cops took him to the ground and he told them he was the mayor and they would be fired. Heh.

12. I've been the victim of rape many times. I wonder sometimes if I have an aura that tells people it's ok to hurt me like that..

13. When my baby cried for almost 7 hours straight, I honestly contemplated smothering him. I feel evil because of that.

14. I had a college reading level by fourth grade and teachers would get upset that I wanted to read during recess. I read the same books as my mother and father and of course, some had "questionable" content. Whenever they confiscated one of my books, my dad would get royally pissed and scream at them over the phone. I still love to read. I read compulsively. I read all the labels of everything I buy just because. When I take a shit, if there's nothing to read, I read the back of the shampoo or whatever is close by. To my utter shame, I have read harlequin romance novels. I'll read anything within arms reach, even if it's utter shite. I really love a good book, though. Don't get me wrong!

15. I won a national short story contest for children when I was 12. The story was about a demon who disemboweled hapless victims during one cold winter night. I only really remember one part where the entrails steamed in the snow. What the fuck was wrong with those judges??

16. I talk way, way too much.

17. I have CPS involved in my life because I tested positive in my urine for marijuana when I went to the hospital to deliver my son. I hadn't smoked pot in almost six months. The CPS people call me a liar, but I'm not fucking lying. I read that pot can sometimes be detected up to 90 days after, but it had been twice that. Now I have to go to counseling twice a week for 6 months and they randomly drop by and drug test. They assess my whole house each time and write it up when I don't do the goddamn dishes. I hate CPS. Where were they when I was being abused as a child? Why didn't they care about rape and physical abuse? They ignored me when I begged for help..

18. I'm often way too candid.

19. I hold a grudge like a mother fucker. I try very very hard not to hate certain people. But I often fail.

20. I really love VideoSift. I used to be really into IRC. I have a long history of communicating and making friends over the internet. But the Sift is my favorite. I stopped for a long time and it was really hard not to come here and browse. I would find myself absent-mindedly typing the url. Oi.

21. I'm really into Facebook. It's the only way I talk to my estranged family and friends.

22. I love music, if you can't tell by the stuff I sift. Any and all types of music, except for bad music. Har har. Farhad's queue is one of my favorite places to peruse.

23. When I bare my soul to people, it never ever turns out right.

24. I tend to over-punctuate!!@!!!@1!!11!1!@!111one

25. I love to smile and be cheerful. I find humor in even the most dire of tragedies and I often get flack from that. People don't understand it, I guess.

Thank you. You are truly awesome!

In reply to this comment by Ornthoron:
>> ^vairetube:
I didn't know bob newhart played the trumpet so well ~2:48

That is Lew Soloff, one of the worlds loudest trumpet players. The second soloist is Branford Marsalis on soprano sax if I'm not mistaken. I own the live album this is featured on, and it seems to be recorded directly from the mixing board of this particular performance, as I recognize the solos and even the accidental feedback towards the end.

*promote

>> ^vairetube:
I didn't know bob newhart played the trumpet so well ~2:48

That is Lew Soloff, one of the worlds loudest trumpet players. The second soloist is Branford Marsalis on soprano sax if I'm not mistaken. I own the live album this is featured on, and it seems to be recorded directly from the mixing board of this particular performance, as I recognize the solos and even the accidental feedback towards the end.

*promote

and i've never actually watched bsg so i can't give an opinion. i'm still getting through sopranos, just started the 3rd series, and i love it so much i'm having to slow down. i don't want to get to the end.

just remembered another good show: damages. just the 1st season. extremely gripping.

still not seen this programme. it's next on my list, after i finish the sopranos.

yeah, i'm slow to catch on.

This really all comes down to one thing: some TV shows transcend the medium, and some stay in it and only merely elevate it a bit (which isn't saying much). Maybe family guy is sort of ok, but like Battlestar, its not GREAT, so get over it. And as far as them taking that pathetic whack at the sopranos at the end, I dont think McFarlane should really be shit-talking the narrative stability of a show like the Sopranos. The Sopranos gave us years of concomitant narrative grace and experimentation, which sadly cannot be said for one single episode of family guy.