[TV] Madam Secretary: Season 3 Review

So my nerdy obsession with Madam Secretary continues to go strong as the show continues to push the boundaries of the sort of political and personal stories they can tell. And more and more it feels like the writers are making clever use of actual world events to add more familiar flavors to the show. And it's this last bit that does prove to be rather fun - like a lever celebrity cameo (and the show indulges in this area as well from time to time).

It has also expanded to continue a parallel story track that's straight up espionage and anti-terrorism in focus. It's still mostly think tank style of work and not necessarily the sort of high action and drama sequences like you'd see on shows like Homeland or even Designated Survivor. But it's still pretty fulfilling.

And this season certainly puts effort into raising the stakes even higher and finding new avenues to explore with these compelling characters.

[TV] Madam Secretary: Season 2 Review

So I dove right into Madam Secretary and I totally loved it. It felt like a sort of higher view of the same material tackled by shows like Homeland. Thus it's less on the front lines sort of action and more looking at the larger geopolitical picture. And that really works for me for some reason.

The second season of Madam Secretary continues on building this story and expands on it with timely real-world references, more intrigue and some major power shifts in the global arena of the show. And how they balance things out to keep the story going is a big part of the brilliance of this show.

For the most part Russia is the big focus of this season and in a very interesting way. Such shifts in power can have a number of implications for the counttry and the world at large  and this season nicely explores a number of those nuances.

It's not like everyone can ensure the security of the free world while raising a family, right?

[TV] Designated Survivor: Season 1 Review

As a guy who didn't get into 24 for one reason or another, I wasn't quite sure if I'd get into Designated Survivor. On the surface it felt like it was going to be another 24 but set in the White House, but thankfully it wasn't.

This is not to say that Designated Survivor isn't a little ridiculous as well. It's a show with a massive conspiracy at its heart and to make it work they're trying to stretch things out for as long as possible. And it seems the best way to do this is by throwing in crazier and crazier ideas to add further complexity to the larger story.

But as much as there's the conspiracy angle, the show still has a strong political drama slant to it that appeals to my sensibilities. Sure it's not as high impact as the likes of Madam Secretary, but it does have it's interesting moments. And while it does meander a bit, I think the way things were resolved does leave some interesting plot threads to pursue for the second season.

[Videos] Last Week Tonight on the Paris Agreement

So as expected, President Donald Trump has pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement. This is a big deal given the message this sends out to other countries already on the fence about supporting the fight against climate change and a willingness to take steps to reduce carbon emissions.

So of course John Oliver would tackle this breaking news item on Last Week Tonight. And it's a great video.


Paris Agreement: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

[TV] House of Cards: Season 4

The third season of House of Cards ended with a pretty striking dramatic moment that certainly promised a major shift in the power dynamics of the Underwoods. Sure, Frank and Claire's relationship was always more one of political convenience rather than open and honest affection, but that always worked for them. The increasing tensions related to Frank's role of President plus other pressures at home finally came to a head.

This fourth season really made the most of  2016 being an election year by tying the story to Frank's own re-election campaign. It was an earnest effort to draw some parallels with the political situation in the US. Sure the candidates weren't exactly the same as the actual folks who ran for president, but there were interesting touches here and there.

The third season ended with a jarring shock but this one built up to a different sort of moment of triumph. But then what else do we expect from the Underwoods, eh?

[Movies] Michael Moore in Trumpland

Around the time of the US Elections this year, iFlix added Michael Moore in Trumpland to its library or at least started heavily promoting it as an iFlix-exclusive. Michael Moore documentaries have been a bit of a mixed bag for me and I wasn't exactly excited to see what this was all about. However with Trump's victory as President, the material seemed potentially more relevant.

While I generally lean liberal in terms of political thinking, there has always been something weirdly off putting about his approach to pushing his agenda. He had been a long-time critic of the Bush Administration and it looks like he's more than ready to hound the incoming Trump administration next year.

But what was quirky about this feature was that it wasn't a typical Moore documentary. Or to be more clear, it's not even a documentary. It's a recording of a Michael Moore show of sorts, which is basically him talking to a bunch of people for a set period of time. There's some creative videos in the middle that were made to stress certain points, but for the most part it's just Moore talking to a theater full of people. Take that as you will.

[Videos] Considering Third Party Candidates

If the Philippines has nuisance candidates, the US has third party candidates - independent candidates hoping to gain the presidency while shunning both the Democratic and Republican parties. They're really easy to dismiss out of hand, but then there has to be a reason why they felt they stand a chance of winning, right?

In this week's Last Week Tonight, John Oliver decides to give a few third party candidates a closer look including reviewing their polling numbers, reviewing their platforms and all that fun stuff. But since this is John Oliver, the truth of the findings of his research team is both hilarious and terrifying.


Third Parties: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

[TV] Will & Grace Coming Back?

One of the lighter moments in the current US Presidential campaign was the surprise release of a Will & Grace webisode of sorts all about the 2016 US Elections. The episode in itself was hilarious and I think a lot of us felt that pang off longing to see this crazy crew on TV again.

But was that it? After so much social media hype building up to this release, it seems like a waste of good media mileage to leave things at that.

For one, they clearly had more footage than what was used to create the production. That last scene with Rosario felt like a longer bit that had been edited down. Sure they only had so much time, but they also put in the effort to write more content.

Then there's the fact that they recreated the set to a high degree of accuracy. It would have been simpler to stage the scene at a location not necessarily iconic to the show but already ready thus no need to stage. And this is more than just digging stuff out of storage. By now they would have needed to rebuild stuff.

At the very least it makes for a great test case to feel out potential audience reception before producers invest for the long haul.

Ultimately, this all hopeful speculation from another Will & Grace fan and I'm more than ready to support and sort of revival effort, even if only for some sort of a mini-series if a full broadcast season isn't feasible. We can hope, right?

[TV] Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season 2

After the fun of the first season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, you'd think this highly episodic sitcom would now slide into the comfort zone of longer-term narratives or something. But at the same time, it's undeniable that a lot of the strength of the show is how crazy and unpredictable each episode is. But not allowing the story to dominate, they've allowed the individual character stories play a larger role in things. And I think that has helped drive things forward.

The second season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine is an interesting continuation of those strong, character-driven stories but also dropping hints of longer term stories as well. In this sense it sort of reminds me of the narrative structure of Discworld where it helps to read the books in order but each stands alone well. And this is how the various episodes of the show feel like to me as they're all crazy little tales but in the end it all works out.

And I'm glad that they didn't really go for introducing a whole host of additional regular or featured players in character roles. So the show remained focused on the crazy little crew that they had already assembled.

[TV] Make Donald Drumpf Again!

So I'm trying something different with how I'm handling content here on the Geeky Guide. First I reduced post frequency to 3 times a week, but then that feels a little sad. So now I'm experimenting with simpler, quicker posts in-between lengthier ones to help me keep up post frequency while still not adding too much to my writing work load.

So this feels a little late, but I wanted to take time to re-share the video of John Oliver's Donald Trump take down on his show Last Week Tonight. It's brilliant and the sort of targeted, on-point journalism that's needed when it comes to discussing political candidates in any country. Plus the humor element really helps make the subject matter easier to digest for the average TV viewer.

So yeah, watch this video and see why we need to #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain

[Movies] The Campaign (2012)

The US political scene is admittedly something that the whole world watches to one degree or another. I suppose we can't help it - the influence of that one country on the rest of the world is rather significant indeed. And thus we all have vested interests in how the political situation there changes over time.

Now watching this political arena turned into a movie isn't quite my cup of tea, but for one reason or another I ended up watching it with Tobie and my sister during our Singapore visit earlier this year. And combining the strange subject of the movie plus the casting of Will Ferrell and Zach Galifiankis and, well, you don't get a perfect comedy for me.

And yes, I'm not a big fan of either comedic actor given more often than not I feel their humor plays more to rather base slapstick or even gross-out humor instead of actually witty comedic dialog.

Plus there are only so many jokes that you can make about political campaigns when you really think about it.

[US Politics] Welcome to a New World

This is a Tri-Blog entry that will appear on all three of my blogs - The Geeky Guide to Nearly Everything, Beyond Dinobot Island and Moonbase 8.

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Some day many years from now when people try asking me that classic question of "Where were you when Obama was sworn into office?" I'll answer as honestly as possible. I'll tell them, "I was at the office without access to a TV and our internet connection was wonky because we got hit by the W32.Downadup worm."

I know, it's not necessarily the greatest answer in the world, but it's pretty much how I'm going to remember things.

I didn't get to watch the live CNN coverage. I couldn't even get alternative sites like Justin.tv, Hulu, Joost or uStream to work for me. I guess the office was just too good at blocking streaming media and what they couldn't block was effectively stopped by the effects of the computer virus on our security infrastructure.

It wasn't a total loss, at least I got to catch news snippets here and there. I tried my best to catch comments on Twitter and I got to read the TIME.com Liveblog coverage of the event. I saw a few images on the various blogs I subscribe to via Google Reader and I noted how while the Oath was not perfect, it was certainly genuine and clearly marks Barack Hussein Obama officially becoming the 44th President of the United States of America.

The 8-year nightmare is over and now I actually feel excited about things. These past years we've feared how the awesome might of the US has been mishandled time and time again under Bush. Obama has a very tall order ahead of him and while I doubt he can possibly live up to ALL of the hype set up over the past few months, even years, but I can see it in his eyes that he's out to make a serious change for the better.

I initially wanted to end this with the full transcript of his speech but then I'm sure everyone's doing that right now and you've probably read it a million times by now. If you haven't then I've linked to it up there and you certainly should get around to it.

You go Obama. Your country and a very significant part of the world is rooting for you.

[US] Keith Olbermann Summarizes the Bush Administration

Sure, not everyone likes Keith Olbermann, but he does certainly do his homework when he needs to in order to paint a particular picture. Some may argue he's biased, but let's take the facts he cites for what they're worth and you decide how things have gone.

As for me, I'm just glad that the 8-year nightmare is almost over. Goodbye Dubya! Don't let the door hit you on the rump on your way out!


#3 - Keith Olbermann - 8 years in 8 minutes

[Gay Rights] Keith Olbermann on CA Proposition 8

Image via WikipediaI've never really been that big a fan of MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. He has a lot of good commentary out there while at times he can also get very cheesy and over the top. Then again, that kind of subjectivity can be seen in almost every reporter or newscaster at one point in time or another.

However this video quickly hit the top of the Viral Video Chart and it's pretty powerful - Olbermann makes a very strong statement about California Proposition 8 and what it means to the world that majority of the voters in the state of California voted again the right of same-sex couples to marry.

Powerful stuff indeed.


#1 - MSNBC Keith Olbermann on Prop 8, Marriage and more!

[US Elections] Obama Won!

Image via WikipediaBarrack Hussein Obama is officially the 44th President of the United States of America after CNN and the other networks called it and John McCain conceded defeat.

We have a Democrat back in control of the White House! We finally have a member of an ethnic minority as President of the US! Man, if only he were gay, then we'd have it all!

What else is there to say? Hip hip, hurrah!

And thank god they didn't let Palin into the White House!

[Gay Rights] Vote NO to Proposition 8

Image by bobster1985 via FlickrTomorrow is November 4, 2008 in the US, also known as Election Day. While it is the day the Obama-McCain contest will finally be decided and a new US President will be declared, it's also a very important day for gays and lesbians across America and even around the world. Let's face it, despite the current economic woes, many countries look to superpowers like the US as a model for democracy and how laws should be defined. To have even a single state in the US make such a stark stance for or against GLBT rights will mean a lot for governments around the world.

For those who tuned in late, California Proposition 8 entitled Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry is a measure attempting to amend the California state constitution with the statement "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." This would run counter to the recent California Supreme Court ruling stating that Proposition 22, which added a definition to the California State Family Code that marriage is the union between as a man and a woman, was in violation of the equal protection clause in the state constitution.

Yeah, it's pretty bad.

If this measure gets pushed, this will be the first time a state will take such a strong stance against GLBT rights by making such unions unconstitutional. The constitution, whether on a state or a national level is practically a sacred thing when it comes to government. It's the very basis for all other laws and it defines the guiding principles for that government in terms of how the laws can be formed. To set in stone that same-sex couples should be denied the right to marry will impact more than just the estimated 16,000 couples who have been married in the state of California. It affects us all and will send ripples through the minds of citizens all over the US and eventually the world whether straight or gay.

In case you tuned in really, really late, I am an out and proud gay man. I don't suffer from limp wrists nor do I speak in a falsetto tone. I don't wear dresses nor do I see anything wrong in any of these things - they just aren't me. If your image of what constitutes a gay man or woman is just in the realm of stereotypes, that's just unfair. It's even worse if you make decisions like what to vote on such measures on a ballot is just inhumane and cruel.

We live in a world of infinite diversity and human nature is what drives that. You can be whoever you want to be and whatever you want to be as long as you don't harm others. Allowing two men or two women to get a piece of paper that says they're married and all the rights that come with that document doesn't hurt anyone - it just allows the same rights and privileges to other people who live normal lives, work to earn a living and have their own dreams of starting a family. It's one thing to vote on a measure that protects others against harm - to vote on a measure that takes rights away from others for no really valid reason is just cruel and vile and just plain wrong.

I'm a gay geek and I'm proud of both words in that term. But neither term alone defines who or what I am - a person is a lot more than a label. When you talk about me, you're talking about the sum total of my life experiences thus far and everything I've ever said, thought or done. It's also everything that I might do in the future and what I might accomplish. You don't get to judge me based on a stereotype or a notion or even just an inkling of who and what I am. Even more, you don't get to deny me my rights and take them away.

I may not live in the US anymore, but I share the concerns that every other gay man or lesbian or whatever else is affected by Proposition 8 feels right now. You don't own marriage just because you're heterosexual and your religious denomination has a sacrament called marriage - that's why there are civil marriages and church marriages. Sure, religions get to decide who or what gets to be married and thus some churches support polygamy while others require monogamy. That's none of my business. But civil marriages are defined by the government and laws are supposed to be decided without religious bias. That's why there's a separation between Church and State!

Tomorrow you're voting about more than just a stereotype or what makes you feel "comfortable" based on your sensibilities or your upbringing or whatever you learned in Sunday school. You're voting about the lives and futures of thousands of same-sex couples in the state of California and thousands more across the country and around the world. You're voting on whether or not it's okay with you to take someone's rights away. Today it's just the right to marriage, but who knows what else might be next.

We live in a world where people get to vote regardless of gender and people get to marry regardless of race or color. Why is it so hard to make the same consideration for homosexuals?

Think about all this when you cast your vote tomorrow Californians. Think about the lives you're going to change with this one vote. Vote responsibly and in consideration of human rights and the fundamental rights of all people, man, woman, gay, lesbian, or whatever else is out there in this wonderfully diverse world.

Vote NO tomorrow on Proposition 8! Vote NO to discrimination!

[US Elections] Canadians Prank Sarah Palin

I don't know how authentic this is, but either way it's a really funny concept which just gets even better if it really happened.

To top it all of, it was Canadians who did it! Yeah man!


#1 - Sarah Palin Got Pranked

[Viral Video Chart] The Vet Who Did Not Vet

While I do tend to post a lot of videos here on the Geeky Guide, especially those that I see making waves on the Viral Video Chart, in more recent weeks (months?) I've been generally avoiding the more political ads. You have to admit that the internet is simply overwhelmed with such videos and it's getting really old really fast. A part of me just wishes that the US elections were over and done with already so we can move on with our lives.

Then again, there are those more interesting ones that pop up here and there. Not, they're not from the official political campaign groups since those ads are way too cheesy. Instead they tend to come from the more creative and independent minds of the denizens of the internet, who take all the time and effort to put together interesting animated shorts, quirky songs or whatever in order to support their side of the political arena.

This next clip is pretty interesting and most definitely quirky. It reminds me of all those classic nursery rhymes we all listened to in our youth and yet it summarizes of a lot of the classic arguments raised against Sarah Palin, hehe.


#2 - The Vet Who Did Not Vet

[TV] Political Items of Interest

As the 2008 US Presidential Elections draw nearer, naturally the airwaves (and at the same time the viral video world) are being flooded with political advertisements, news features and satires. This week is definitely no different, but there are two items of particular interest.

First up is a Public Service Announcement (PSA) encouraging people to register and vote in the coming elections, which is a pretty good thing. It's also swamped with celebrities, which is also pretty to look at, haha. The ad was supported by the DiCaprios and tries to be non-partisan - but you can judge that for yourself.


#2 - 5 Friends

And then there's this fun jab by the Simpsons about what it might be like to try and vote for Obama in the coming elections...


#13 - Homer Simpson tries to vote for Obama

[US] Don't Mess With Dave

Image via WikipediaI'll always respect David Letterman as a late night talk show host. He may not be as universally appealing in terms of his sarcastic or often lowbrow brand of humor, but he is clearly an intelligent guy and one of the more skilled interviewers I've seen on television today. He really knows how to manage his guests and he can steer the conversation into rather interesting places.

Having politicians on the show is not an uncommong thing - in many cases it seems a key part of any campaign for anyone aiming for the higher positions in the US government. Such appearances are key to getting your message across to key demographics and at the same time showing the candidate's more "human" side to the average US viewer.

At the same time, you really don't want to cross these same hosts since they can steer public opinion the other way as well. Case in point - John McCain is now experiencing what happens when you cancel on Dave Letterman at the last minute, leaving Letterman to get back at the guy in the only way he can - by adding him into his routine for the days and weeks to come. Maybe it would have worked better if McCain had picked a better reason to cancel instead of needing to suspend his campaign in the interests of needing to rush off to save the US economy, hehe.


#2 - David Letterman Reacts to John McCain Suspending Campaign