Ponderings about a Law and Order DVD

Today I happened to go to what some might call a thrift store, but I don't consider Goodwill or the Salvation Army to be thrift stores. A thrift store I feel is a slightly fancier establishment where you go to find *vintage* outfits. In any case. At Goodwill I was looking at the DVD section where there was a bookshelf of DVDs. The selection was more interesting than what you might find at a regular store like Target. The selection was more eclectic and it included things like Zoolander and seasons one and three of Arrested Development, which I would have gotten but that show is on Netflix. Zoolander used to be on Netflix but it isn't anymore. There was also a movie with Tom Cruise called Collateral which looked kind of interesting. And Syriana which I don't really know what it is about but it has George Clooney in it, which made me not want to get it because I think George Clooney is an idiot. They had an interesting assortment, definitely. One thing that caught my eye was the DVD "Law and Order Crime Scenes," which features 8 episodes "personally selected by Dick Wolf." I am looking forwards to watching them sometime hopefully soon. This, by the way, is the original Law and Order and not Law and Order CI, which I refer to by just Law and Order since that's the one I watch the most even though it technically is Law and Order CI instead of just Law and Order. (I really kinda doubt that people care what I refer to the various versions of Law and Order as.) Of course, encountering this DVD made me start having some wonderings. Obviously, some person residing presumably in the county (seeing as I assume someone from outside the county would go to a different Goodwill in their county that presumably would be closer) didn't want their Law and Order DVD anymore. It makes me wonder why though, why they decided to donate their DVD to Goodwill. The DVD is from 2003 as on the back it mentions that the show had been on for 13 years. This means the DVD is rather old, comparatively, and could perhaps sort of be referred to as an antique. In a way, I guess. I feel like DVDs weren't all that common in 2003 and it almost would make more sense for it to be on a videotape. They had VCR players at Goodwill too for the record. What were the thoughts running through this person's head when they decided to get rid of their Law and Order DVD? Who was this person? Was it a man, a woman, and how old? What were their personal thoughts about Law and Order? I feel like they must have liked the show a decent amount because they sprang for a DVD of 8 episodes personally selected by Dick Wolf. That's just my inference and I could be wrong. Perhaps they were cleaning out their basement or something, wherever they happened to find this DVD and thought they ought to donate it. Maybe it belonged to someone they knew/lived with who liked Law and Order but had passed on and now this person was going through their belongings. I don't know but I really wonder. Was the DVD loved and cherished by someone who decided it was time to let go of it? Or was it someone who bought it on a whim and didn't even really like Law and Order and maybe never even really watched it in full? Who knows! I just really would like to know the whole story behind the previous owner of this DVD and why they decided they didn't want it anymore. I think it's a rather snazzy DVD case design - it has on the front over a black background (like the screen that says EXECUTIVE PRODUCER DICK WOLF at the end of every Law and Order episode) the title of the DVD in a medium gray color that doesn't stand out a lot. That consists of the Law and Order logo and a subtitle underneath it in a different font, Arial Narrow or something along those lines that says "episodes selected by Dick Wolf" except in all capitals. I think it's a nicely designed cover and not too garish although garish things certainly can have a place in life. Along the spine is a yellow portion that extends slightly onto the front and back with the words "CRIME SCENES" in black, like how it would look on police tape and superimposed over that is "Law and Order Crime Scenes" in a smaller font. On the back there is a little summary and a list of the 8 episodes featured on the DVD. My mother thinks it's not natural to wonder so deeply about the story behind a used DVD, but I still wonder. She thinks it's as simple as that someone didn't want it anymore, but I want to know the whole story behind it. I'm curious to watch the episodes and try to see why Dick Wolf decided to pick these 8 to go on the DVD. 

War movies

(they are weird.)
Last weekend I was awake sort of early so I went downstairs and looked to see what was on television. I looked through the channel guide and it turned out that on some channel there was a movie about the Vietnam War that I had not seen. Mind you, I have only seen two aside from that one that I only managed to catch the last half hour of. Unsurprisingly, this last half hour part was weird. This movie was called The Deer Hunter and it was from the 70s. I had to go look up what had happened in the earlier parts of the movie since only seeing the last half hour didn't make much sense. The movie had a number of scenes with Russian roulette which was... different. It also contributed to me thinking that it was a strange movie. If someone can show me a movie about the Vietnam War that I don't think is weird, they deserve a prize. Full Metal Jacket was weird. Apocalypse Now was even weirder and it didn't even have the virtue of having (a fat and unsightly) Vincent D'Onofrio in it. Neither did The Deer Hunter for that matter. This may be a futile effort, but I would give the movie Saving Private Ryan a chance even though it is also a war movie. But maybe it isn't weird. I wouldn't know because I haven't watched it yet. It has Tom Hanks in it. 

I decided that I wouldn't watch anymore war movies after I wasted 3 hours watching Apocalypse Now, but it seems that I did not keep that resolution. At least this time it was only a half hour of my time that I spent watching part of a war movie. If/when I watch Saving Private Ryan or perhaps some other war movie, I will be sure to post a review of it. 

Public transporation stories, part 1: hands

Today, not even a half hour ago, I was on the bus. It was kind of crowded so I went towards the back to find a seat. I happened to sit next to some man. He was youngish and had reddish brown hair and facial hair which I thought he ought to shave. Regardless. He had some very nice hands that I noticed and I kept looking at them, trying to make it not that obvious. It reminded me of the time a few years ago when I was getting a new phone at the Verizon store. The man who was helping us also had quite nice hands and fingernails. His hands were nice and elegant looking. I was considering talking to this man on the bus. He might have been left handed. I was thinking of complimenting him on his hands and saying they remind me of Vincent D'Onofrio, and mention that if he wasn't aware of who Vincent D'Onofrio is, that he was in Full Metal Jacket back in the 80s and also recently in the Netflix series Daredevil. And I was going to ask if he was left handed, and then mention that Vincent is as well and so am I. He was reading a book for part of the ride yet I didn't catch the title of it. I saw the words on the top of one page which said "Virtues of good breeding" but that doesn't really tell me much. Eventually he put the book away and seemed to be looking out the windows. Or maybe he was looking at me. I'm not sure. He had grayish eyeballs and in the pocket of his bag there was a light purple bandana and some tea bags, or at least that's what they looked like through the mesh. I kept looking at him and trying to restrain myself from giving him a strange compliment (this is why I need to be kept away from Vincent D'Onofrio and the guy with the eyelashes because I would give them strange compliments about some of their body parts if I happened to encounter them in person, probably). I was wondering which stop he was going to get off at. Eventually, the bus came to where I needed to go and I pulled the string. It gives me a small pleasure to be the person to pull the string. It ever so slightly irritates me when someone else who is getting off at the same stop I am pulls the string before I do. It ever so slightly irritates me. In any case, I did get to be the person to pull the string on this occasion and I was getting ready to get off and it turned out that it was this man's stop too. So as I was getting off the bus I said to him, "You have nice hands." This is very reminiscent of a compliment I gave someone else out of the blue a couple years ago. Only that time I was complimenting said person's teeth. I definitely consider that to have been a strange compliment. The man thanked me for the compliment and I said "You're welcome" and got off the bus. I was quite pleased with myself. I wonder what that man thought about this... incident. Perhaps his thoughts are "Some girl gave me a strange compliment today. It was weird." I wouldn't be surprised if those are his thoughts.  

This post exemplifies my character traits of people watching and strange compliment giving, which I look forwards to doing more of in the future. 

The Law and Order Candidate: a satirical short story (Introduction)

What if Donald Trump were arrested by detectives from the Law and Order shows? This satirical short story explores that idea. 

You, the reader, will probably get more out of this story if you are familiar with the shows Law and Order SVU and Law and Order CI. In a typical episode of a Law and Order show, a crime is committed, an investigation ensues, the criminal(s) is/are arrested, they are interrogated, then prosecuted in a trial by the District Attorney. Each episode of a Law and Order show begins with a short narrated introduction statement. Kind of like how it is in the show Arrested Development.
For those of you who are not familiar with the Law and Order shows, a brief introduction to the characters you will see in this story:
Detectives Elliot Stabler (left) and Olivia Benson (right), from Law and Order SVU (Special Victims Unit - investigates sex crimes)

 Elliot is known to have anger management issues. See here. 
"In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. The dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories." 

Detectives Robert (Bobby) Goren and Alexandra (Alex) Eames, from Law and Order Criminal Intent (my personal favorite), a more psychological take on the Law and Order formula. 

Goren is sort of a Sherlock-esque character and, continuing the Sherlock comparison, Eames is more like Watson. Goren is also 6'4" and likes to psychologically intimidate people (mainly the criminals). 
"In New York City's war on crime, the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the Major Case Squad. These are their stories." 

No characters from the original Law and Order are present in this story, but here is the introductory narration anyways. "In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate, yet equally important groups. The police, who investigate crime, and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories."   

I consider this story to be satire, but some may consider it to simply be a bad fanfiction. Regardless, I hope you are amused at least a little bit. 

For reference, here is what Vincent D'Onofrio's (actor who played Detective Goren) hands look like:

This is the little leaning thing he does. It's a quirk of the character. 

And here is what Donald Trump's hands look like: 

Barbarism Begins at Home: a scathing critique

So, I was wasting time as usual, doing some knitting while I should have been working on homework, but regardless.. I put my music on shuffle, skipped like half of the songs that came up until Jenny Was a Friend of Mine by the Killers came on. I love that song. It's quite nice and it's also cool that it's about murder. It is from the point of view of someone who has committed a murder yet denies that he could have done it because the victim was his friend. You can take a listen here, as well as watch Flowers do some nice little gestures that relate to the lyrics as he performs the song. The song is known for its bass line, which also happens to be sort of copied from the song Barbarism Begins at Home by the Smiths, which, in my humble (read: not so humble, probably) opinion, pales in comparison to Jenny Was a Friend of Mine. First off, I think Barbarism Begins at Home is a particularly boring and uninspiring regarding the lyrics. It doesn't really have too much to say, as far as I see it. However, Jenny Was a Friend of Mine has a bit of a narrative to it regarding the events of the murder and the murderer's subsequent arrest and interrogation. Cool, right? If you're me, at least. Secondly, going together with the whole boring and uninspiring lyrics thing, Barbarism Begins at Home is like 6 minutes too long. It's so boring. So so boring. Regardless, I did decide to listen to it again (I listened to it in the past once or twice) which... well, no opinions changed. Sometimes I do get in the odd mood to listen to a song that I don't even like that much, such as... any number of the Smashing Pumpkins songs that I know (Bullet with Butterfly Wings, which is also a weird one, 1979, Disarm, Today, etc) and... that's all I can think of for right now. 
In any case, I think the Killers took an aspect from the Smiths' song Barbarism Begins at Home and turned it into part of something much more impressive. Jenny Was a Friend of Mine is quite a nice song. Flowers really conveys the emotion that the narrator in the song is feeling regarding the murder he committed. There is no such thing in Barbarism Begins at Home. Morrissey sounds sort of... drugged or half asleep or something. There's nothing interesting in the way he sings the song or in anything else about the song. Also, in Jenny Was a Friend of Mine, the bass line is a lot more defined and there's also some cool synths in that song too.

Songs about murder though. I really need some more of those in my life along the lines of Jenny Was a Friend of Mine. I wish the Killers would write some more songs about murder and such. 

Actors

Here are my opinions on an assortment of actors, some of whom I like more than others.

We'll start with Tom Cruise. First off,  he is a Scientologist which is decidedly weird. I haven't watched that many things he's been in but he's decently well known. Aside from the Scientology being weird part, I don't have a strong positive or negative opinion of him. I can't say that he's an idiot, so I guess that means I like him ever so slightly more than George Clooney (*narrows eyes*).

And with that, on to George Clooney. First off, he has aged rather well even if I think he is an IDIOT. Like personality wise. This impression comes from something I read in a magazine years ago that I just happened to pick up in a grocery store and flip through a little bit, and happened to read an interview of George Clooney in which he bad-mouthed Leonardo DiCaprio. So because of that, I have a negative impression of George Clooney as a person. I think it was totally not classy of him to say those things about Leo in an interview. I guess he's a halfway decent actor though, otherwise he probably wouldn't be so famous. I don't think I've seen anything he's been in so I can't personally say if he's a good actor or not in my opinion. But I do think he's an idiot. Coincidentally, the guy with the eyelashes looks ever so slightly like George Clooney, I suppose. 

Brad Pitt: I don't particularly care for him but he's a decent actor. Which is something I realized a few years ago when it was Halloween and a movie was on that I happened to watch where he plays a vampire. [whoa, I just remembered, Tom Cruise was in that movie too! As a vampire with long, blonde hair... it was quite something! I wonder if the hair was actually his or if it was a wig? Tom Cruise looked really interesting as a vampire with long, blonde hair... Also, thinking of that hair on Tom Cruise made me go google that movie because I wanted to see how he looked in it again, which turned up an article in which Brad Pitt describes the movie as having been a "miserable experience" for him, which was... interesting.]  

Johnny Depp: He is kind of strange looking especially nowadays but I liked him in Edward Scissorhands.

⚝ James D'Arcy ⚝ : first off, he is my favorite actor, I think. He is tall and British and NOT an idiot like George Clooney is. I.e., he's good natured and doesn't say unsavory things about other actors in interviews in men's magazines. Also I think his last name is cool looking. D'Arcy. (not D'arcy, or Darcy, or d'Arcy. It's D'Arcy.) 

Leonardo DiCaprio: one of the actors I like enough to consider trying to watch a number of films he's been in. With other actors I don't care about doing that as much.

Vincent D'Onofrio: considering the past content of this blog, maybe he should have gone at the top of the list. (also, as an aside, I have put all the actors with similarly structured last names together - D'Arcy, DiCaprio, D'Onofrio)

Mark Ruffalo: a second rate version of Vincent D'Onofrio who voice sounds like he doesn't move his tongue around in his mouth enough when he talks. He was in the movie Zodiac which I thought was pretty bad. I guess it wasn't totally his fault though; it was whoever wrote the screenplay. 

Patrick Dempsey: apparently his bad behavior is what cause Shonda to kill his character off on Grey's Anatomy. And he likes racecars. And he is from Maine. I guess he's kind of decent looking even if he doesn't have a first rate personality. I wonder what Grey's Anatomy would be like had he not gotten killed off. 

Daniel Craig: first off: James Bond! He was also nice in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I've seen some other things that he's been in as well. 

For the record, if you're interested in reading this interview of George Clooney, I think it was in a men's magazine, published within the last... 10 years, at most.
For now this post is completed, but if I think of other actors in the future that I haven't included here, I might add them to this little list of actors and my opinions of them. 

Movie review: Se7en

I like writing it Se7en just cause it kind of looks cool, to me at least. In any case, I watched this movie finally; I had been wanting to watch it for awhile and this afternoon I finally did. Mostly it was the murder/serial killer and detectives aspect of it that interested me. This was also directed by David Fincher, who directed Fight Club (I think?), Zodiac (I know, and it was rather disappointing), and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (which I really liked). That makes him probably one of the directors I've watched the most films of, at least off the top of my head. 

In any case, I thought going into this I might probably keep comparing it to Law and Order, and I kind of did. I would say this was a good movie, which is odd because I thought Zodiac was really bad. But TGWTDT was really good. I'd put Se7en as better than Zodiac, definitely, but maybe not quite as good as TGWTDT. Brad Pitt was in this movie; I have no particular preference towards him as an actor, but I guess he's a decent actor. It reminded me of the time a few years ago when it was Halloween and Interview with the Vampire was on and I happened to watch that, which was the first movie of Brad Pitt's I had seen and made me come to the conclusion that he was a decent actor, even if I don't particularly care for him (I care for Leonardo DiCaprio, though). I guess he did a good job in Se7en, even if his character was kind of an unsophisticated jerk. 

It was a pretty decent movie although I think perhaps it could have had more... substance, or something. Maybe I wish I liked the characters more? I know with a movie there's not as much time to really endear the viewer towards the characters as there would be in many episodes of a tv show (hello, Law and Order), but I guess I've just been used to watching tv shows where you get repeatedly exposed to the same characters. This movie was sort of similar to the stuff that happens in Law and Order, but it had more drama and it was a bit grittier. I definitely noticed the general look of the film was consistent; the cinematography and colors, which is a thing I also noticed in TGWTDT (lots of blues, darkish colors to convey the Swedish setting and the darker tone of the movie), so perhaps it's a Fincher thing. This movie didn't completely WOW me like Shutter Island did, so I'd say Shutter Island was better although Se7en was definitely decent and not a waste of time. I thought some of the tortures the serial killer used were... interesting. I liked how the interrogation room was rather similar in general appearance to the one in Law and Order - the same square tiling on the walls, and the Navy chairs (!). The colors were darker though, a bit more green, whereas in Law and Order the colors of the interrogation room are more of a light grayish blue. 

I do wish there were more information given about the setting, rather than it just being some ambiguous inner city type place. I don't think it was supposed to be NYC because the badges weren't right. I guess it was intended to not take place in a specific, real, city. Maybe it was Chicago? Not that I even really have a clue what Chicago looks like, but it's the second thing that came to mind if it doesn't seem to take place in NYC. I guess it's because I'm used to Law and Order and the NYC setting is definitely an essential part of the whole Law and Order-ness of it. 

So all in all, it wasn't a waste of time although perhaps it could have been somewhat better. But it was definitely better than Zodiac. But not better than TGWTDT or Shutter Island. I am kind of curious what the movie would have been like if Leonardo DiCaprio had played Brad Pitt's character. Although in 1995 he probably would have looked a little young for the role. But let's say, theoretically, the movie was made in... 2003, and Leo had the role. I wonder how it would have been like. 

This blog goes political (sort of)

(but only for a short time... by no means am I turning this into a politics blog. Don't worry. You can keep tuning in to see my ramblings about tv shows and the like)

So. What a debate. More in groan-inducing why can't this election be over already, but anyways. As you know, our favorite guy with the eyelashes is a Republican. A conservative. A right winger. (At this point I don't know other ways to say Republican) So, naturally, I don't agree with him on political stuff for the most part. But at least he doesn't support Donald Trump. However, I was watching a clip from an appearance he did on tv after the debate offering commentary/analysis on Donald Trump's performance. The guy with the eyelashes thinks that Donald Trump won the debate last night because he managed to not completely self destruct. Which I have to respectfully disagree with. I don't think that the fact that he managed to not completely self destruct means that he won the debate. Sure, he could have done worse but the fact that he didn't do worse =/= won the debate. Sorry, guy with the eyelashes. I think you're intelligent and probably a decent person, but I have to disagree with you here. (not that it really matters, I just felt like spouting this all out even though there's hopefully 0 chance that the guy with the eyelashes reads this because if he did how embarrassing would that be? Especially given my other post all about eyeballs and eyelids and eyelashes. Although that was a couple of months ago at least.) 

But I still like you for your eyeballs and eyelashes. Please don't ever trim your eyelashes and/or get brown colored contacts. 

Types

Apparently, I have two types, it seems. Or let's say, three. In no particular order:

Type 1: middle aged (30s-40s or so) men with graying hair to some degree (in some cases this degree is completely white) and blue-gray eyeballs. Think the guy with the eyelashes (who will remain unnamed even though that certainly hinders the use of him as an example) and Anderson Cooper. Oh, Anderson.. Note: this does not, I repeat, not, include George Clooney. I think he's an idiot although I will admit that he has aged rather well. But I still think he's an idiot.
Type 2: delicate male model types. I apparently have a particular soft spot for blondes. Tall, thin, pale, delicate and sort of European looking, if you will.
Type 3: actors, particularly British ones and/or ones with last names like D'Arcy / D'Onofrio (or rather, how he looked about 15 years ago... yeah, I know I'm shallow) / DiCaprio (he also kinda looked better at least 10 years ago than he does now. Again, I know I'm shallow).

I just thought I should put this out there.

We'll stay forever this way...

This is not a post about Titanic even though the title is a line from the song My Heart Will Go On (which maybe is stuck in my head a little bit at the moment or something). 

This is a post about tv shows. Yay, more musings on tv shows. 

I'm about to reach the end of the three original seasons of Arrested Development. The fourth season (and now, apparently a fifth?) was added on years later on Netflix. I'm not sure if I'll watch it. I assume they intended for the show to end after season 3 and therefore any additional ones are kind of... iffy. If that makes sense. This can also apply to the Millennium Trilogy and how recently a fourth book written by not Stieg Larsson has been published. And it also applies to the final (10th) season of Law and Order CI. All three things ended, and then were revived later. (4th season of Arrested Development, 10th season of CI, book 4 in the Millennium series) 

I figure, I enjoyed the original run of these things so why possibly let the later additions to them be possibly disappointing? Hence the "We'll stay forever this way..." title to the post. I'm going to purposefully avoid consuming the post scripts, if you will, or perhaps you can call them epilogues... well, you get the idea. That's how I consider them, at least. So that I don't have to worry that the additions won't live up to my expectations. I'm okay with how the things originally ended so I don't necessarily need to watch the epilogues and see an additional ending. 

Although of course perhaps I wonder what happens to the detectives, or the Bluth family, or Salander and Blomkvist after their respective original stories ended, I'm okay with just leaving it at that. The fear of disappointment is greater than the desire to know what happens in the post scripts. 

Also, an update on Criminal Minds: haven't been watching that since I got into Arrested Development, but seeing as I only have like two more episodes of that left, perhaps I'll start back into watching Criminal Minds. I think I'm in the middle of season 6 or so. Maybe like 1/3 into that season. Something thereabouts.