When I started this blog in November of 2005, I promised myself that I’d stick to a schedule and try to publish something twice a week. Until mid-March of 2014, I was able to stick to a schedule of twice a week postings. Since then, my postings have been sporadic at best and non-existent at worse.
I hope to get back to a regular posting schedule in mid-January 2015. In the meantime, I want to make the last post I’ll write for 2014 about a couple of things I didn’t write about:
The Legend of Korra Finale, Doctor Who, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
– The finale of Korra, if you listen to the internet, was a cultural high point never to be surpassed. I have always been a fan of the show and the finale didn’t change that. When we first met Korra, she was an obnoxious, self-centered child and when we leave her, she is an intelligent, thoughtful, sexually active adult who finds love. That sounds like real life to me, so I’m perfectly content (but sad) to see this show leave. But most importantly, I’m glad it leaves on its own terms.
– When I watched Peter Capaldi take over the Doctor Who franchise in August, I had high hopes for the series. Capaldi is an Academy Award winning actor with a remarkable cinematic history and excellent comedic timing. And yet, his Doctor Who is a mean-spirited, self-centered bully. He is extremely unlikable and I have found myself unable to get vested with his characterization. I have never said that before about any Doctor Who actor.
– Marvel’s Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. is great television whether or not you are a comic book geek. The show has introduced the “Inhumans” who will, based on Marvel’s press conference on 28 October 2014, get a movie of their own on November 2, 2018. It turns out that Skye (the agent the internet hated) is really the Inhuman, Daisy Johnson also known as Quake (the agent the internet now loves). For me, this is must watch TV.
The Congressional mid-term elections
Democrats lost control of the U.S. Senate and even more seats in the House of Representatives because they allowed their Republican opponents to make the election about the popularity of the President rather than the issues. Democrats should have reminded voters that:
1) the unemployment rate is at 5.8 (Nov 2014) and is the lowest since 2008;
2) that the stock market has never been higher;
3) the Federal deficit as a percent of the GDP is the lowest it has been since 2007;
4) the United States GDP is number one in the world and is growing at an astounding rate of 5% per annum;
5) and thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more Americans are now covered by health insurance than any other point in American history.
Had Democrats reminded voters that all of these things were accomplished without Republican party help (because Congressional Republicans walked away from their responsibility), the outcome of the mid-terms might have been different.
The movies: Guardians of the Galaxy and Maleficent
– Guardians of the Galaxy was probably the best Marvel movie since The Avengers. Like the Avengers movie, it advanced the overall arching plot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe of the Infinity Stones, which first surfaced in the movie Thor, and introduced the humanoid race called the Kree, who are important to the TV show Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Inhumans and Captain Marvel movies coming out in 2018. The Guardians movie was great as a stand alone tale, but when added to the existing inventory of Marvel movies, sets up the ultimate confrontation with Thanos and the Infinity Stones.
– Maleficent was a fantastic movie that told the tale of Sleeping Beauty from the view-point of Maleficent, depicted as an evil fairy in the 1959 Disney feature film. In the 2014 movie, Angelina Jolie is absolutely perfect in depicting Maleficent as a sympathetic and good-hearted character who was gravely wronged by Princess Aurora’s father, King Stefan. Initially seeking vengeance, Maleficent comes to care for Aurora and Aurora comes to care for her. It is a strong, powerful movie and is worth having in your video library.
