JKane

+1 This isn't rocket science, and the buttons exist on the logon page! Furthermore, they *once* worked!

I took my bike down to Union Station via Metrolink. They had a dedicated bike car, was easy, except their schedule was pretty limited on Sunday. It was fun, pretty unique. I rode to the end of each spur, something like 23 miles total. Crapload of people... many of whom aren't great bike riders... making it a little difficult with so many people. Especially where they bunch up at crossings. At one point it took 5 light changes before I could get through a light. I really wish they'd decide to really do this: either find a route they can truly block off (like I'm guessing they do for the marathon) or give the cycles greater priority and have a lot less crossings, at the least. I've been downtown a good number of times over the last year. It's usually a ghost town on weekends, especially the civic center/courts/business districts, great for walking and sightseeing. Never felt threatened or in danger, even the time I cut up skid row. With a little determination one can hit all the key places (they've got great signs) and there's a great site about it. In one walk I've hit Chinatown, Olivera Street, Library tower (you can't get in, there's no public observation deck), little Tokyo, Disney Hall, and seen the fucking cool high school. Still haven't seen Angel's Flight though, so there's at least one little section I haven't hit. CicLAvia... I dunno, it is very convenient to get my bike to via metrolink (would be much more so on Saturdays...), but if they don't change the route and increase their capacity to deal with the more and more people who show up each time I might not need to go again. But IF they do or something similar happens in an area where they'll actually block off cars for an event (Hollywood!) I'd be there with bells on. Seriously, the bells might keep oblivious cunts from swerving in front of me... And while it's cool to ride on the streets and get a feel for the different areas and how they connect, it wasn't great for sightseeing. Only glanced Disney Hall and Library tower, for example. Though did ride through little Tokyo and Olivera Street was just off one end. Didn't seem to be a lot to *do* either, some places had cool music, and riding through the occupyLA area was cool, but I didn't see anything that made me want to get off and investigate.

Ha! Reminds me of trips to K-Mart as a kid. I always went and got several 'rubber repair' kits from the bike section and found a peg for them with the condoms.

My two favorites are Cracker and The Wire, is it one of them?

I always hear about these things to late or they happen when I'm out of town, but tomorrow (Sunday the 9th) a bunch of streets downtown will be closed for the third CicLAvia. Past ones seemed to go very well, I'm looking forward to finally joining in!

I went into this in great detail when it first started happening to me, was under the impression it was just me so I gave up. Lame-ass work around is having Firefox remember my login and bookmarking the login page... http://www.maleescortreview.com/forum/index.php?app=core&module=global&section=login&do=process but it would be far better if it farking worked properly!

I'm *still* using a Windows Mobile phone. I loved that years before the iPhone came out I could tether (getting DSL speed through my cell phone instead of paying for access in hotels or airports), watch movies, customize a bunch of stuff, and not need uncle Steve's permission to run any app I wanted. But I'm not too keen on the new Windows phones, because they dumbed them way down (to compete with the iPhone...). That said, I've heard a lot of great stuff about the latest update, people here might want to consider one. My next phone is likely to be Android. They usually have pretty dismal battery life but can do anything you can think of wanting to do with a phone (barely) pocketable computer. I'm just hoping for a powerful one *with* a keyboard, like ATT is rumored to be getting RSN from Samsung. I tried a Motorola Atrix for a couple weeks, liked a lot of things about it but between ATT and Motorola it was stuffed full of useless crap, was slow to get updates, locked down, and really got on my nerves with all the stupid little things that weren't customizable. The biggest problem was the price combined with the fact that at the time there was nothing that could make use of all its' processing power, both of those problems are somewhat better now, I'm sure, and with Google buying Moto it's possible many of the others are as well. I stick with ATT because I'm grandfathered into a great plan (was ATT before Cingular). If I wasn't I'd probably lean towards Verizon--their coverage just seems much better.

No, American can add a bunch of fees on top of the tax. They seem to come up more when you're not booking much in advance, or if you do anything that costs them a cent (like calling to make the reservation). They'll also probably charge you a bag fee at the airport, if you check a bag. All that said, I'm still a fan. I got something like 150k miles last year just for opening two credit cards. There's a new one now that gets you pretty much all the gold perks plus access to the Admirals clubs, though the fee is pretty steep. I'm keeping an eye on it at Flyertalk, will wait 'till it has more than a 25k mile bonus for signing up.

I was just a bit surprised how little of that 15m showed on the screen. Must've all been eaten up by the TWELVE EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS! Seriously, I noticed that right away in the opening credits, it kept going and going... it was like a hilarious in-joke. Only it was real. And each of them, I'm sure, had notes upon notes for the VFX that ate up all the time early on with stupid minutia, leaving no time to fix things when the final assembly went so wrong for many of the shots. But my biggest problem is nailed by the review I linked... "It's the end of the fucking world and you're gonna be a stupid, selfish, teenage shit, huh?" Because of Daddy issues? What, did Jane Espenson also "help" this script?! I think they really missed a huge opportunity, imagine how much more epic and powerful the start would've been if everybody in that party died horribly! Nobody in network TV has the balls, of course. But I would've stood up and cheered, made it #1 on my Tivo right fucking then.

Never thought much of Ramsay until I saw this the other day: Now I have some respect for him. Never heard of the other guy, though he's easier on the eyes. I'm with TY though, IF I cooked the only celebrity chef who's name I might seek out on something is Alton Brown, because I assume he'd have something to do with the quality and function of anything he put his name on (I don't think he has put his name on anything yet). Since new episodes of Good Eats have been sparse lately I've also been watching America's Test Kitchen on PBS. Not quite the same vibe but similar in some ways, and I'd probably check their equipment reviews first if I were looking to buy kitchen gear.

I usually love everything HBO, but I think you've nailed my problem with Boardwalk... I've never read about or traveled to Atlantic City, nor do I care to. So it just didn't manage to catch me, even though I watched all of season 1. I'm sure for east-coasters there's inherently more interest. Love me some Treme though!

Absolutely loved this review of it! The Bromance of the Century Honestly, I really think the reason to watch Terra Nova is going to be the relationship between Jim Shannon and his new leader, Nathaniel Taylor. An hour into the pilot, they're already holding hands — see screencap at left. I honestly can't wait to see the shmoopy fanvids that people are going to make about the Nathaniel/Jim relationship. And what's great about it is, they both really are interesting characters who seem to have a healthy respect and distrust for each other. It's not just that they seem to throw sparks whenever they're together. But yes, there are lots of sparks — as soon as Jim arrives in the dinosaur land, he and Nathaniel come into conflict over whether Jim can be a cop. And Nathaniel is like, "You can't be a cop until you prove yourself by taking off your shirt and climbing the fence so I can watch you cut vines with a big machete." So Jim does, and Nathaniel takes the rest of the day off so he can watch shirtless Jim climbing around. Because that's part of what Leadership is about. Then Jim saves Nathaniel's life from a random shooter guy, and Nathaniel decides to make Jim a cop after all — but first they trek into the wilderness together so they can stand on a mountaintop and talk about the future. Finally, the two men go dinosaur jousting together, and then Nathaniel helps Jim save his dumb kid. It's the bromance of the century! Oh, and here's the scene where Nathaniel Taylor looks at Jim Shannon's crotch and then looks back up at his face, before saying, "Come on. Let's take a drive." --They have the clip on the page, it's hilarious. There's also something in "General Avatar's" voice that does actually sound a bit suggestive. Does he play for our team? Overall, I was underwhelmed by the show. None of the VFX are great, 25 years after Jurassic Park and not only did they not exceed it, I don't think they managed to match it once. And the dinosaur shots are a lot better than many other shots, some of which are so bad they made me wince. But by far my biggest disappointment was how petty everything is, despite the epic setup. Instead of any time to see the wonder of the new world or mourn the ruined one left behind it jumps into a bunch of kids too stupid to live, unfortunately not all dying. Yet while I initially thought the paradox would create an idiotic setup, the is it/isn't it aspect is pretty interesting to me. But I worry that any interesting plot points like that could be drawn out for 5 or more seasons and go nowhere, ala Lost. I'll give it a few more episodes but may well give up after that. On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised by Pan Am.

I watched it and liked it as well, hard to say why (it's no Skins), but it was certainly more interesting than shit like The Cape we got here last season...

Yeah, I'd have to say he's about the only character left I give a shit about after finishing Dance with Dragons. His was certainly the most interesting story in it. I wasn't that into Daenerys BEFORE she spent a whole fucking book mewing about "woe is me, heavy is the crown of this little podunk backwater", AS JON did much the same on the wall! Seriously fail to see why it's taken two nigh-endless books to get nowhere now.

I'm planning to go to the upcoming one in Huntington Beach, will it compare at all? Don't suppose there'll be a 'gay tent' in the O.C....

I don't get how anybody could equate those things. The first two use satire to say important things and to take a stand. For example... The last two (plus Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck) will say absolutely anything that will help them earn another million dollars or keep another $10k of that million in the bank, no matter the long-term consequences, hypocrisy, or downright sleaze they must perpetrate--while saying that *they* are the true patriots and are speaking for the average joe (or for justice, morality, etc). It is the very height of cynicism, I can think of no better word yet that one is sorely lacking without at least a string of expletives to multiply it. And the people who don't bother to inform themselves and choose a right from wrong, who sway like leaves in the wind in constant gusts of Fear Uncertainty and Doubt... you are mission fucking accomplished. A vast middle class too busy with petty fears and manipulations to notice or care that you are rapidly slipping from middle class and will be the first American generation to have a financial outlook worse than your parents. But if this thought crosses your mind as you sit on crap Ikea furniture stuffing your maw with Cheetos, some new distraction always comes. What never seems to come is the critical reasoning to say you know, that's bullshit. Somebody stands up and says something, you start to think they may be right, then a network of multimillionaires owned by one of the worlds wealthiest billionaires tells you no, no, that's wrong, the real problem here is [whatever is either a distraction or of benefit to the oligarchs], you're not convinced they're right either, but it's enough to get you to sit back down and reach for the remote. Thus ends the dream that was America. Not with a bang, just the dusty crunch of a sat upon Cheeto.

HAHAHAHAHAHA! God I love the Brits! Wish they had one for Mormons too... (j) believers in the ability of magic underpants to protect one from harm;

I could kind of understand that when he was a serious journalist. But now that he has his own talk show complete with segments with Snooki, it sure seems to me THAT is out the window...

I know a great dentist in North Hollywood, anybody needs his name, PM me.

I read touching stories about the day, as experienced by New Yorkers, on both Joe My God and Bill In Exile, teared up a little at both, but firmly agree with the sentiment Scott ended his piece with: Editors note: I’m going to use this tenth anniversary to make this the last time I post about 9/11 during the life of this blog. As a nation we’ve wasted and corrupted anything good that might have come from this horror and the annual rolling out of the tears and hand ringing and rending of garments on this date have simply become too much to stomach. The people who died ten years ago today in New York City, Washington D.C and Shanksville Pennsylvania deserve to rest in peace and to be mourned and remembered by their families and loved ones. But this country no longer has any right to use them as its own national martyrs. We forfeited that right long ago. As Paul Krugman wrote in his NY Times blog this morning, “The atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons. A lot of other people behaved badly. How many of our professional pundits — people who should have understood very well what was happening — took the easy way out, turning a blind eye to the corruption and lending their support to the hijacking of the atrocity? The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it.”

I'd say the first three seasons of Torchwood were all better, but episodes 7-10 of Miracle Day were pretty good--for American TV.

I'm a big fan of Torchwood but had been really disappointed so far. The first 6 episodes sucked, especially Mekai Phifpher (don't care to find out how to spell it). All this week-ass stuff where they're pointing out the differences with Wales or acting out every stereotype they can think of. BUT I forced myself to keep watching, and the 7th and 8th episodes are fucking GREAT! Unfortunately, that leaves just two more and with ratings being kinda meh they may well be the last two ever. Is anybody else starting to notice that Jane Espenson's name on a show means it'll fucking suck as long as she holds the reins, then start to rock as soon as she's hired away to start another show off on the wrong foot?

He's a married man claiming to be trying to protect the 'sanctity' of marriage by voting against our civil rights *while* cruising for hookers on Craigslist, it's pretty much the definition of hypocrite by my understanding, even before you add in that it's male hookers! As for trying to be all 'big tent' and inclusive... I understand there's fear and stigma and much difficulty accepting being gay, but those that turn into bullies railing against what they themselves are, I see nothing wrong with them not finding acceptance in either group (gays or mundanes). Especially after they've made a career of working against us for power (politicians) or profit (religious types) and only come to us when they finally get caught with their pants literally down.

When I first glanced through this story at other sites I thought the kid sounded like a hustler milking the situation for all it's worth. The way they ended up with the guy's blackberry, iPad and cash sounded a bit fishy with his sister sounding like his pimp. But KY's take on it is much more charitable; truth is probably somewhere in between. But as for the politician, FUCK HIM (and not in the way he's looking to pay for!). I agree that a professional escort should have discretion as their #1 quality, but this stupid hypocritical sack of shit is paying some kid on Craigslist $60--because he's cheap too--and bragging that he's somebody. Deserves everything he gets and more! That this seems to be your average Republican yet we keep losing good Democrats like Spitzer and Wiener for much less criminal or hypocritical stuff (well, OK, I think Spitzer did several prostitution prosecutions) is getting on my nerves!

It's a cute idea but who bothers watching whole porn movies any more, especially the talky parts? Most porn I see are couple minute clips through aggregation web sites, or maybe flipping to wherever there's actually action between the 3-4 channels in the 'spa'. Was thinking though, from back in the olde days of internet when we'd read erotic stories, maybe people could post their favorites. I remember one or two that were memorable, maybe see if I can dig up and start a thread. Might go down in flames too.