Couple of things
- OK, my hometown is acting silly. I mean, really people ... you passed a resolution opposing Athens getting a medical school? One of the most dysfunctional local governments in the state can manage to get together to publically denounce an entire city? Bravo guys, bravo.
- Wow. Chip Pettigrew all but says the Athens Banner-Herald is complicit with terrorists. It's safe to say his position is, well, absolutely moronic. But kudos to you Chip for producing the weirdest letter in quite a while.
- I don't know where I come down on this. I think the War in Iraq has been terribly mismanaged as well, but I don't like the concept of the legislative branch, regardless of who is in power, micromanaging how the commander-in-chief does his job. For instance, I'm not sure how you could instruct our troops to only fight al-Qaida when they aren't entirely sure who's even shooting at them anyway. Furthermore, from a logistical standpoint, if you can't get the votes to end a filibuster for a non-binding resolution, how will this more severe action stand a chance of seeing a vote? Make no mistake, I'm not a fan of this war or how it's been prosecuted, but I also think the proper way to bring it to an end is to win some more elections, namely that one for the right live in a big white house in Washington that'll happen in Fall 2008.
- As an aside, I was correct in thinking that Roy hadn't changed and was still an idiot. Of course, now he's going to kick the tar out of Jim, so there's that.
- Blake went to Paul Broun's announcement speech at the UGA College Republicans meeting, and it's safe to say he's a bit wacky, a little inconsistent and kinda out-of-touch. Socialized medicine? Really? We're dragging that tired line out again? And Blake calls him out on his gross ignorance regarding the PeachCare situation. Plus his illegal immigration bit is worth a laugh if you're interested. How this guy is kin to the other Paul Broun is beyond me.
- I think this is a decent little idea.
- I've said it before, but Jackson County thing is ugly ... and terribly vague. The only thing I know for certain is that Dwain Smith looks more foolish with each passing day (and subsequent quote to the press).
- Wow. Chip Pettigrew all but says the Athens Banner-Herald is complicit with terrorists. It's safe to say his position is, well, absolutely moronic. But kudos to you Chip for producing the weirdest letter in quite a while.
- I don't know where I come down on this. I think the War in Iraq has been terribly mismanaged as well, but I don't like the concept of the legislative branch, regardless of who is in power, micromanaging how the commander-in-chief does his job. For instance, I'm not sure how you could instruct our troops to only fight al-Qaida when they aren't entirely sure who's even shooting at them anyway. Furthermore, from a logistical standpoint, if you can't get the votes to end a filibuster for a non-binding resolution, how will this more severe action stand a chance of seeing a vote? Make no mistake, I'm not a fan of this war or how it's been prosecuted, but I also think the proper way to bring it to an end is to win some more elections, namely that one for the right live in a big white house in Washington that'll happen in Fall 2008.
- As an aside, I was correct in thinking that Roy hadn't changed and was still an idiot. Of course, now he's going to kick the tar out of Jim, so there's that.
- Blake went to Paul Broun's announcement speech at the UGA College Republicans meeting, and it's safe to say he's a bit wacky, a little inconsistent and kinda out-of-touch. Socialized medicine? Really? We're dragging that tired line out again? And Blake calls him out on his gross ignorance regarding the PeachCare situation. Plus his illegal immigration bit is worth a laugh if you're interested. How this guy is kin to the other Paul Broun is beyond me.
- I think this is a decent little idea.
- I've said it before, but Jackson County thing is ugly ... and terribly vague. The only thing I know for certain is that Dwain Smith looks more foolish with each passing day (and subsequent quote to the press).
posted by Jmac at 7:15 AM
20 Comments:
Re: Augusta
If given the choice between Athens and Augusta, most people will choose Athens and that's precisely why Augusta is all in arms about that damn med school.
"The Office meet shark, shark, Office...jump Office, jump!"
How did The Office jump the shark last night? Nothing was totally outlandish, which is what I understood jumping the shark to mean -- nothing was on par with the Fonz actually jumping a shark.
From wikipedia:
Jumping the shark is a metaphor that was originally used to denote the tipping point at which a TV series is deemed to have passed its peak, or has introduced plot twists that are illogical in terms of everything that has preceded them. Once a show has "jumped the shark," fans sense a noticeable decline in quality or feel the show has undergone too many changes to retain its original charm.
Nothing was illogical about Roy's outburst and the plot was totally consistent with all that has come before last night's episode. They set Roy up as a person who only superficially changed (i.e., "You know what I think is sexy -- Pam's art.") and last night his true colors were apparent once more. They made the re-break-up of Pam and Roy believable. The quality wavers, but it isn't consistently worse than in the beginning.
I, for one, feel sorry for Toby.
Now, I'm biased toward Augusta seeing that it's my hometown and all, so I think it's not a bad place. However, it's absolutely absurd that their commission - which, again, can't agree on anything - decides to get all behind a resolution which poormouths Athens-Clarke County and MCG.
I have strong feelings about the Office's whole Jim-Pam-Roy storyline in general...namely it sucks. It's driving me away from the show each and every time they bring it up. I felt last night's episode WAS outrageous as the Office used to be all about the funny and now we get some guy rioting in a bar and threatening the life of another...YEAH! That's comedy!
Sometime last season the writers of the Office must have been called into the dark, dank bowels of the NBC creativity-sucking department and were told by the half-man, half-ogre that runs the place that because the Office's ratings were a little low they needed to "'Friends' it up." Hence this boooooooring, lame, stupid, comedy-eliminating story line with Jim and Pam. Last night was my breaking point. I just can't take it anymore. Bye bye Office...I mourn your loss, now if you'll excuse me I have to watch "30 Rock" which is still all about comedy.
As for "Augusta v. Athens: The Reckoning" I didn't read the story to say the Augusta Commission was bad-mouthing Athens...I just think they are scared to death that an Athens med-school would lead to an all out exodus of students from the Garden City. They're just protecting their turf but utlimately its just lip service. As my source in the A-U-G tells me - "we'd be fine if it's just a 'branch' campus in Athens", they just don't want MCG to close up shop in Augusta.
OK, you can dislike The Office because of that particular storyline, but you do realize that ...
1. It's been consistently that way since the beginning of the show;
2. Folks have criticized that storyline for going on too long, and now it appears some sort of resolution might be coming up and you're decrying that;
3. The incredibly overwhelming majority of the people who watch the show actually find that storyline endearing, me included (though I'll concede they're dragging it out a bit);
4. The Office is consistently one of the most positively reviewed and ratings-grabbing shows on NBC, and has been that way for the past two seasons;
5. The writing hasn't changed at all and, despite the recent focus on that storyline, the show is still funny. Did you see the Jim posing as a vampire bit last week? Tell me that's not comedy.
I must quibble with some of your statements:
1) The first season and for most of the second season the Jim-Pam storyline was nothing more than glances or subtle insinuations which took up no time and no lines of dialogue...the tide turned in that episode where Jim has that heart to heart with Michael on the boat...that's where it started to lose me. And then the season finale last year and premiere this year...OYE...I knew the show was dead when the promos featured the death-tolling line "On a very special Office" and they showed Jim and Pam kissing. At the beginning it was nothing but funny but more and more they started adding in these dramatic, Friends-ified elements that take up huge chunks of time and dialogue...that's what kills me. The only reason to tune in anymore is for Dwight.
2) I do not doubt that the reviews are solid but I thought I had read that the ratings were still not where NBC wanted them to be.
3) No doubt the vampire thing was enjoyable - but last night's was ABYSMAL...it's the show's horribly erratic nature that I find so annoying. Maybe NBC could flash a warning before each episode "WARNING - This is a Jim/Pam episode" and then I would know not to watch.
In the end - I'm not telling YOU not to watch I'm just saying I'm done with it.
Interesting discussion... especially since JJ Abrams was the writer of last night's episode.
Dang, Stanicek. Thank God you're a good kisser, because we disagree on damn near everything else.
Loved it. LOVED IT.
If I am the voice in the wilderness then so be it. At least I know The Realist is on my side...oh and God...God's on my side too.
God is on Ralph Hudgens' side, not yours.
This is totally unrelated to the blog post but I wanted to take a moment to complement jmac and everyone who comments on this blog for the civility that is characteristic of the discussion. After reading the reaction that Adrian got from his letter to Flagpole, I realized what a rare thing this blog is given its eagerness to discuss such things as politics and religion. I don't know any of you but I've been reading and occasionally posting for several months and have found this blog to be an amazing resource for helping me be an informed Athens resident. Keep up the good work everyone!
Yeah, we rock -- tell us something we don't know.
Thanks Rich. I really appreciate that.
It's sort of fitting that you passed on such kind words during an engaged debate over The Office.
I suppose we're definitely big-tent or something. :)
Don't office romances usually begin with glances and subtle insinuations?
I mean, not that I've been in any... uh... yeah.
Also, I don't want to read in between the lines, so how is the proper way to end the war being a Presidential victory?
This blog: Dang, you're right, Rich. This group *is* pretty civil. I wasn't really surprised by the comments on my Flagpole letter because that's business as usual on the Internet; much, much worse gets said on certain other local discussion sites, so I've learned to not take anonymous flamers personally.
I've stopped watching "The Office" because the storyline has just dragged on too long.
Adrian:
While I, like you, am not surprised by the comments you received, they sadden me because I'm sick of how people these days use the distance created by the internet and the interior of their vehicles to say and do things that they, in their cowardice, would never be willing to say and do to others in person. This blog has encouraged me that it is possible for people to disagree strongly with each other while still respecting one another.
More like an entire city getting together to denounce one of the most dysfunctional local governments in history.
Worse than the Herodians of Jerusalem, circa 1st century AD?
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