Tag: movies

Downton Abbey

favorite downton abbey moment: hit it and car accelerates from 27 kmh to 35 kmh.
2013-02-28: Some shit early drafts:

As Daisy hands the knife to Mrs. Patmore, Daisy’s hand slips, stabbing Mrs. Patmore 7 times in the neck, chest, and arms. Mrs. Patmore falls to the floor, pulling the roast and pan with her, bleeding profusely, dead, covered in red-bliss potatoes. Daisy, horrified at the accident, backs up and slips on the roast, falling, and hitting her head on the open cast-iron stove door. She, too, is dead.

Enter Mrs. Hughes.

2015-04-23: cute

2019-05-21:

2022-02-08: this is 100% true. Gilded Age is Downton Abbey but in NYC.

HOUSEHOLD SERVANT: I’m still worried about Rich Lady.

OTHER HOUSEHOLD SERVANT: Don’t be! She’s rich, ain’t she?

BUTLER: Didn’t you two talk about this earlier this episode?

OTHER HOUSEHOLD SERVANT: That was last episode.

BUTLER: It blurs together for me. I wish we had some subtext. Instead, we just keep saying the same plot points until whatever it is resolves at the end of the season. Oh, well, would one of you take this turtle soup with shellacked truffles up to the dining room? Do not make eye contact with anyone, including the turtle!

heavy sf

currently watching: torchwood: miracle day
there are 10 episodes. i am at episode 6 and things got heavy. like, really heavy.

this is well put together and deserves far wider distribution. catch it on netflix.

Portlandia

this show is very painful. not sure yet if i can overcome the loathing to like it 🙂
Portlandia
Portlandia is getting better indeed. i am watching season 2 now, and it is much improved from the painfully drawn out skits in season 1. far from being just a sendup of hipsters, it is perhaps one of the best shows at capturing the zeitgeist.

Dog domestication

Canines have had 36 ka to co-evolve with humans. Plenty of time for canines to domesticate humans as a food source, mainly via the cunning puppy dog eyes.
2012-12-06: How to make dogs from foxes in 8 generations (and “dragons” from foxes)

2018-12-15: This fictionalization of the domestication of wolves was surprisingly good.

2020-06-06: Foxes becoming dog-like

When the foxes moved from the forest to city habitats, they began to evolve doglike traits, potentially setting themselves on the path to domestication.

2022-02-08: Dog / Human co-domestication

Based on claims that dogs are less aggressive and show more sophisticated socio-cognitive skills compared with wolves, dog domestication has been invoked to support the idea that humans underwent a similar ‘self-domestication’ process. Dogs do not show increased socio-cognitive skills and they are not less aggressive than wolves. Rather, compared with wolves, dogs seek to avoid conflicts, specifically with higher ranking conspecifics and humans, and might have an increased inclination to follow rules, making them amenable social partners. These conclusions challenge the suitability of dog domestication as a model for human social evolution and suggest that dogs need to be acknowledged as animals adapted to a specific socio-ecological niche as well as being shaped by human selection for specific traits.