Secret Life: The New Couple on the Block

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Well, although Jack and Grace are back together, I'm not referring to them. And, though Ethan and Kathy are fairly together now, I'm not talking about them, either. Plus, Leo and Camille may be pseudo-engaged now, but it's another duo entirely who is on my mind... I'm talking about Dylan and Henry. While it was only meant to be a ruse, Henry decided to get serious about dating Ben's ex-girlfriend, and I think that Dylan might buy into it - even if she doesn't like him all that much, she is the attention-seeking type. Granted, as soon as things become bearable with Alice, Henry might switch his focus, but by the time that happens we'll be dealing with a better storyline elsewhere. I hope. Honestly, I'm not worried, but it's only a matter of time before I get tired of the Ricky-Amy mess with jealousy and fake marriage and half-complaining about having to raise a toddler. I mean, I know she's kinda the center of the show, but her arc is becoming garbage. Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong...

The Secret Life of the American Teenager "Girlfriends" (S05E07): [let's get back to the new couple in a bit, shall we?] Let's start with Amy... who feels alone because Madison and Lauren are kinda in a different stage of life. [preach it, sister!] Grace suggests that they do something together, but Amy claims she doesn't have time for friends. [...the exact opposite of what she just said. good job, Amy. not.] Grace suggests she come over, help with John, and bring Jack to chill with Ricky. Amy isn't thrilled but tells Ricky the plan - and he wants to invite Clementine over, too. [I think that kinda came out of nowhere, but whatever.] When Jack picks up Grace she springs the plan on him, and he's a bit hesitant. [...just why didn't she tell him at any earlier point in the day? that's the kinda plans change that would drive me up the wall!] Clementine arrives first, and tells Amy about how Ricky used to play baseball until he got kicked off a championship team for drawing naughty pictures on the bases. [the jokes of little "third base" sketches kinda disturbed me...] When Grace and Jack show up, Clementine leaves immediately, leaving Grace to deduce that she slept with Jack. [ahhhh! of course! why would this show have two characters know each other any other way??] Shortly thereafter, Adrian arrives, having found out about the "party" when Clementine busts up Adrian's flirting party at the coffeeshop. The only thing she really does is warn Amy that Clementine is after Ricky. [according to Adrian, who ISN'T after Ricky??] 

Amy isn't the only one having friend drama going on, though. Kathy doesn't really have any female friends so when two mean girls take an interest in her, she jumps at the chance to become friends, immediately inviting them to a sleepover. [the day they meet?? I call BS!] Not being accustomed to having friends, Kathy lets them tease Ethan. [while I probably allowed something similar to happen 13-14 years ago, I at least apologized to the boy. and what teenager has a ringtone that's a bunch of beeps??] Unfortunately, hours go by and Kathy's friends don't show up. [!!!] Fortunately, Kathy's grandmother calls Ethan to comfort her, but he can only stay a little while, as Margaret is in the driveway. [when are we going to find out how Margaret feels about Ethan dating a pregnant girl??] The mean girls do show up and start talking about everything they found out from googling her, and that's the end of that. [...what? I mean, I google people before I do interviews, but not when I'm becoming friends with them!]

Alright... let's move on to Ben & Co... Alice doesn't want to pretend to date Ben. [while I agree with her, I don't think that she was all that clear about her own reasoning.] Henry finds out that Alice and Ben have been intimate, so he becomes determined to actually "date" Dylan, laying out all of the maturity cards when he meets her parents. He destroys their movie plans by suggesting the family play board games, and when she questions his motives, he says that she's wasting her time on Ben and that he really does want to date her. A kiss confirms his statement... for now. 

http://abcfamily.go.com

Ben apologized to Omar and everything got dismissed - they won't even have marks on their records. [while I didn't want to see either of them get dragged through the mud, I was disappointed that both of Ben's legal issues wrapped up off-screen and so quickly.] Omar tells Ben that he proposed to Adrian and she's been stalling. [I never see that happening... oh, and Katelyn is doing her makeup differently... makes her look older, I think.] Later, Ben tells Leo of his plans to hang with Alice (but really Dylan), but Leo puts a stop to that, claiming Dylan's dad called to find out more about Henry, so he figured out the ploy. Ben is sent to his room without his phone and Leo calls Alice... it turns out that Leo bluffed to Ben about Dylan's dad - it was Alice who told him what was going down! [doesn't it make you sick that the worst punishment these days is having your phone taken away??] Later that night, Ben tells Leo that he and Camille aren't compatible and that if she could get pregnant, she would've trapped him by now. [what a horrendous thing to say! we have no reason to believe Camille would do that!] Leo suspects Ben is drunk, but after he says that he's sober, Camille slugs him in the face and Leo laughs. Leo proposes and Camille accepts. [another wedding for Leo? ...really? I bet Betty's gonna go crazy!]

The Newroom Factroom - Amen

by Jonathan Bredemeyer

[Update: So this episode got nailed pretty hard in some circles. They REALLY dislike Sorkin's juxtaposition of combined events against one another.  The story's a story, and he gets to the point in an hour by referencing multiple events simultaneously. Admire the craftsmanship even if you disagree with the point... which was obviously missed.]

Photo: HBO

Hola, y bienvenido to this series of articles that examines whatever facts we like on Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom. If you need a reminder of what happened in this episode, it was posted last week. I'm sick of regurgitating the regular rules repetitiously each time, so read up or just be reasonable. Accurate, potentially accurate, or inaccurate, and we're off...

• Hosni Mubarack gave a 17-minute speech in which he said he would not resign amidst thousands of protesters calling for democracy in Egypt, while at the same time the Wisconsin governor was held hostage by protesters.
• [Audience:] "Accurate-smacurate" [...if this were a Studio 60 bit...] 
• Not sure why, but every journalist fluent in English felt the need to establish the speech was, in fact, 17 minutes in length. Here it is, so yes that part's true, as is all the Egypt coverage.
• It gets complicated by the Wisconsin thingamadoole. Yes, there were teachers protesting Scott Walker's proposed changes to unions, but not trapping him in a newspaper office.
• The 'trapping' probably refers to Wisconsin Senator Glenn Grothman who gets "chased, trapped by hecklers" a few weeks later.
• The Egypt government shut down the internet and left only an ISP called 'Noor' up, because it linked to their stock exchange, with 83 routers.
• Accurate
• The government absolutely did that, and here's how, but the dates in the show are not quite right. By February 2nd, the internet was back on. 
• Kahlid Salim was an underground blogger who reported updates on the revolution in early 2011.
• Incorrect... in the best way possible.
• If you thought you recognized the young Egyptian's name when he announced it over Skype, you no doubt got chills. The 'Kahlid Salim' you saw was most likely a tribute to  Khaled Saeed whose death sparked this entire revolution. On January 25th, 2011, the day the revolution started, he was dead. He died June 6th the year before. This seems to be a depiction of his role had he not been beaten to death by two corrupt police officers. Without his death, the revolutions probably would not have happened. 

Rush Limbaugh quotes and conflicts of interest of supreme court judges (based on which parties they attended) are not facts worth checking.  Although, Limbaugh uses enough sarcasm and the Kochs spread around enough money that you can find an enraging quote or an unethical money trail every other day in news reported in early 2011. Happy watching.

The Newsroom: Sloan & Will are Bullies

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

"I'm going to single-handedly fix the internet." If I had a dollar for every time someone said that... No, seriously, though, Will says this when he decides not to allow anonymous comments on their website anymore. Now, why he thought that would improve things, I'm not sure. If smart people aren't posting now, what makes you think that enforcing regulations would draw them out? Still, Will thinks he can make things better just by doing that. It kinda makes me think about how NBC is single-handedly breaking our favorite once-every-four-years hot-weather competitions. [for the hundredth time, I hate being censored, but that's the way it is.] Except, Will didn't fix things and NBC is making things worse. But, I digress. This episode was FULL of stuff. We get a TON about Will's background, we find that Don is getting more and more jealous of Jim, we have Charlie actually being gruff, and we have Sloan growing a spine. And, all at the same time, there's so much more! It was so much that I actually didn't like the episode. I understand it's a drama. I understand that it's on HBO so it gets more time than an average drama episode. But there IS such a thing as being inundated with information to the point of being overwhelmed, and I think that is what happened here. I don't know if I was the only one to feel this way, so comment and let me know what you thought.

The Newsroom "Bullies" (S01E06): This episode takes place in mid-April, 2011. [it actually covers the second-longest period of time since the show stated, I believe.] Will is making on-air mistakes and we find out he's been having insomnia. He goes to his therapist for sleeping pill... apparently he's been paying for standing appointments for the past four years, although he doesn't go. He's so out-of-touch, in fact, that his actual therapist passed away two years ago and he's now going to be seeing Abe's son, Jack. [I'm curious as to how much Mac knows of Will's troubles... she knew who Abe was...] But, before we get to the appointment, let's look at what's been going on at work...

Charlie wants to do opposition research on Will so they know what the next TMI story will be, and Mac has Jim and Maggie get on it. Well, they start with the fact that "Maggie" filed an HR complaint about Will after he yelled at her for confusing Georgia the state with Georgia the country. [that was one of my favorite mistakes EVER last year! so many people made it! so the jokes here had me pausing to catch my breath after a while!] Anyway, a desk reporter saw and reported it as if she were Maggie. [who apparently wouldn't complain if her hair was on fire, LoL.] Maggie also thought that LoL meant "lots of love," not "laugh out loud." [um, it's not 1997, so I'm not sure what happened there... just lost a lot of interest in her character, though.] The search uncovers mainly useless information, the most interesting of which was that, in 2005, Will was offered a late-night show in LA that he didn't take. Mac gets mad at him but he reveals he was going to propose at that time, and he still has the ring in his office. [WHAAAAAT?????] In reality, however, it's new. He had someone pick it up for him so he could make a point. [biggest.eye.roll.ever.]

There's a segment of the show where Will addresses comments on their website, and after Neal doesn't have any good ones to put up on a certain night, Will demands no more anonymous comments and wants a system in place that would require names, ages, occupations, and levels of education. [again, how will this raise the quality of the comments?] Of course, three days later, someone has hacked the system and threatens Will because of an on-air segment about the Islamic Center going up near Ground Zero. Next thing you know, WIll has to have a bodyguard anytime he is someplace other than home and work. [loved him! I doubt he'll stick around but what a quippy character!] 

On April 11th, the nuclear reactor went off in Japan. Sloan personally knows someone in TEPCO and calls him, having a private conversation in Japanese where she learns that things are much more serious than the public knows. [ugh. don't like her in those glasses!] Then, Don asks her to cover for Elliot in the 10pm slot (she was his sixth choice), so she asks Will for advice on how to get on-air guests to tell the truth. He tells her not to let up on them and to keep using the facts until they come clean. Well, she goes a bit too far, badgering the TEPCO guy live. She even starts asking questions in Japanese because she accuses the translator of having ulterior motives. [well, she was probably from PR and all...] Before long, she's bringing up the "off the record" part of their conversation, completely ignoring Don, who was calling the show. [pulling out the earpiece was a bit much, though.]

facebook.com/Newsroom

Charlie is the one who actually yells at her, threatening suspension because of the "research" she quoted. (it would force an investigation of all of the reports she's done for the past two years.) Will, of course, feels responsible because he told her to be aggressive. The next day, the group finds a Japanese broadcast that talks about Sloan, which she has to translate - the TEPCO guy is stepping down. [I imagine this would also make news in English...] Sloan asks Will how to fix things. [just where did this big brother/little sister relationship come from? it kinda took me by surprise anyway!] Well, Charlie discovers that the Japanese words for "four" and "seven" sound alike, so he tells Sloan that she needs to go on-air, say that she's no longer fluent in Japanese, and that she misunderstood the numbers. [not the worst plan ever, Charlie. but geez, no integrity!] Mac doesn't think it's worth it, as the threat is now at a 7 regardless, but Will tells her to go ahead and lie on the air. Why? He might have felt bad for her career as a teacher... because, several nights ago, he forced a Temple professor to realize that others found him unfit to teach. See, Will badgered Sutton Wall, the campaign adviser to Santorum, because he's a gay man working for a candidate who believes that homosexuals are destroying the sanctity of marriage. [I don't actually know how much truth is being stretched here... watch for the latest Factroom.]

Now, back to Will's therapy appointment... we learn he doesn't exercise, eats two breakfast sandwiches before going to bed every night, used to be on anti-anxiety medication, was depressed before, has an alcoholic abusive father who he began to fight when he was in fifth grade, was a criminal prosecutor (this fact was probably disclosed before, though), and is afraid of being a bully. [yeah, again, I said it was a lot to take in!]

On a side note, we learn that Jim studied abroad in the Arctic to see penguins... he didn't know they were in the Antarctic, and when he tried to fraternize with an Inuit, he got kicked out of the program. [UNBELIEVABLE!]

Quadrennial Hot-Weather Events Descriptions I

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Ever wonder what events are in the Pentathlon? I have. In fact, I've been watching the Quadrennial Events for over twenty years and still struggle to remember the differences between Judo and Taekwondo, and why some volleyball is played on a court while some is played on the sand. So, like we did for the Snowy Sports, we wanted to explain what some of the different activities are for which you can earn shiny circles every four years when it's hot outside. [if you're wondering what in the world I'm talking about, be aware that there are all sorts of copyrights and trademarks in place for the words and images one might traditionally see used every time an international competition of this magnitude takes place. I've read a ton about who is allowed to use the "real words" and when, and I just don't want to take any chances, because I certainly didn't apply for permissions.] So, let's get on with it! Because there are so many Hot-Weather Events, we're going to break it up into parts. Below is part 1. [Update: you can find part 2 here and part 3 here.]

Archery has Men's and Women's events, both Individual and Team. Individuals start with 64 competitors who each shoot six "ends" of 12 arrows. Scores "seed" you in a single-elimination bracket, and when you go against somebody, each shoots three arrows and the best score gets you 2 points (if you tie you get 1 point each). You repeat this until someone gets 6 points (if you both hit 6 at the same time, it's a shoot-off until someone does better).
Teams are made up of three archers, and their first-round scores from the Individual event are added together to figure out their seed. Each single-elimination round allows each archer on a team to shoot eight arrows.

Athletics means Track & Field. It's really big... we're talking 24 events for men and 23 for women (they don't do the 50K speed walk)
There's the 100M, 200M, 400M, 800M, 1500M, 5K, 10K, Marathon for running.
There's the 100M hurdles (Men's is actually 110M) and the 400M hurdles. There are ten hurdles 42" high that you have to jump over in the 100/110. Knocking them down doesn't hurt your score. The 400 is just doing the lap four times.
There's the 3000M steeplechase, which has you jumping/stepping on a 36" bar (30" for women) 28 times and dealing with a water puddle (12 feet long and 27" at its deepest) seven times.
There's the 4x100M relay and the 4x400 relay
There's the 20K walk (and the 50K walk for men)
There's the high jump, long jump, triple jump, pole vault, shot put, discus throw, hammer throw, javelin throw. High jump is running at a bar and jumping over it repeatedly as it keeps getting higher, with the highest successful jumper winning. Long jump has you running at a pit, taking off at a set spot, and seeing who can go the furthest. Triple jump starts off the same way, but when you land you can jump two more times from there. Pole vault is running with a pole and using it to get yourself over a high bar, over and over until you've cleared as high as you can. Shot put is the little cannonball, which you hold near your neck to throw - you want it to go far. Discus is the frisbee-looking thing (4.4 lbs for men and 2.2 lbs for women), again wanting to get it as far as possible. Hammer throw is the ball with the wire, weighing 16 lbs for men and almost 9 lbs for women, getting it as far as possible. The javelin is the 8' spear you throw as far as possible.
Men have the decathlon: 100M, 100M, long jump, high jump, shot put on one day, then 110M hurdles, 1500M, pole vault, discus throw, and javelin throw another day.  
Women have the heptathlon: 100M hurdles, 200M, 800M, long jump, high jump, shot put, javelin throw. Scoring is done with a pretty specific formula for decathlon and heptathlon.

Badminton is the court sport with the racquets and the birdie, where you don't have to be the server to get a point. You win when you get to 21 points, as long as you have 2 points more than your opponent. You keep playing until someone has 2 points more than than your opponent, or someone hits 30 points. There's Singles and Doubles for Men and Women, as well as Mixed Doubles. Your world ranking sets your seed and it's all single-elimination.

Basketball has Men's and Women's. 1 team qualifies per event because of world championships and the host nation also qualifies. 7 more for men (5 more for women) qualify through regional championships. 3 more for for men (5 more for women) have a qualifying tournament. Those 12 teams are divided into two groups of six teams, and you play those five games, earning two points for a win and one point for a loss (and 0 for a forfeit). The best four teams from each set play a knockout round and the winners all move forward to the semis, with the winning teams going for the finals and the losing teams playing for third place.

Beach Volleyball has Men's and Women's teams of two. 24 teams start each event (a country can send two teams) in preliminaries in six groups of four. You play those three games, and the top 16 teams (two from each pool and then the two best third-ranked teams all go, plus the two winners of the other four third-ranked teams after they play a two-match round) play single-elimination brackets from there. A match is defined as best two-out-of-three sets, with 21 points needed to win the first and second but only 15 needed to win the third.  

Boxing has ten weight classes for Men and three for Women (this is the first time they have this sport, actually), and you can qualify through the prior year's World amateur Boxing Championships or the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships, the Continental Olympic Qualifying Events, and the host nation gets some spots as well. One person per country per weight class is the rule. Men get three rounds of three minutes to score points, or knock-out someone for the count of 10. Women get four rounds of two points to do the same. It's a single-elimination tournament, but the winners of the semis in every weight class both get first while the losers both get third.

Canoeing and Kayaking has a lot of different things. There are two categories: slalom and sprint.
Slalom has Women and Men having kayak while Men also have single canoe and double canoe. Each country can send one boat per event, which is a time-trial down a 250M whitewater course. There are 25 gates, some which you go through regularly and some which you have to go upstream to get. Touching a gate adds two seconds to your time; missing a gate adds 50 seconds to your time.
Sprint has Men's singles kayak in 200M and 1000M, Men's doubles kayak in 200M and 1000M, and Men's four-person kayak in 1000M. There's also Men's singles canoe in 200M and 1000M, plus doubles in 1000M. Women have singles kayak in 200M and 500M, doubles in 500M, and four-person in 500M. Each country can send one boat in each head-to-head event, and the number of heats depend on the number of boats in each event.

Cycling is another big one, having events in BMX, Mountain Bike, Road Bike, and Track Bike.
BMX has Men's and Women's, with each country sending up to three men and two women. Men's track is 450M and women's is 440M. Each rider does the track once to determine seedings, and then I think the process is kinda confusing, so here is what london2012.com says: "The women progress straight to the semi-finals and the men’s event continues with the quarter-finals, which are held over five runs, with points for places on each run. After three runs, the best two riders from each quarter-final progress to the semi-finals. The remaining riders compete in the final two quarter-final runs and the best two from each quarter-final also progress to the semi-finals. From here, the semi-finals in both the men’s and women’s events follow a three-run format. The top four riders from each semi-final advance to the final, where the medals are decided over one run."
Mountain Bike has Men's and Women's, with each country sending up to three men and two women. It's a 4.7km course with a 4.4m loop. You do a set number of laps (I seriously can't find the exact number!), causing it to go 90-115 minutes. All competitors in each event start at the same time and that's that.
Road Bike has Men's and Women's Road Races and Time Trials. Each country can send five men and four women for the Road Race and two men and two women for the Time Trials. Road Race is 250K for men and 140K for women, and everyone starts at the same time. Time Trials have a course of 44K for men and 29K for women, plus riders start one at a time at 90-second intervals, and the fastest total time wins.
Track Bike has Men's and Women's Sprint, Team Sprint, Keirin, Omnium, and Team Pursuit. They do these in an indoor, oval track that is 250M. The Sprint is three laps and the Keirin is up to seven riders on a track, paced by a motorcycle and then sprint to finish. The Team Sprint has 3 men on a team doing 1 lap with all three, then 2 laps with just two of them and a third lap by just one of them. Women have two people on one lap and one person on a second lap.
The Team Pursuit is 16 laps for 4 men and 12 for 3 women, and everyone rides at the same time. Getting three of your four team members across the line is your time.
The Omnium has six parts - a flying lap, a points race (30K for men, 20K for women), an elimination (where either the fastest person every lap wins or the slowest person every lap loses), an individual pursuit (4K men, 3K women), a scratch race, and a time trial (1000M men, 500M women).

Diving has four events each for Men and Women: 3M Springboard, 10M Platform, 3M Synchronized Springboard, and 10M Synchronized Platform. Each country can send two individuals for the regular events and one team for the synchronized event. Divers submit their dives in advance so that their difficulty level is known. They receive a score 0-10 from each judge and it's multiplied by the difficulty. For the synchronized events, two sets of judges are used - one set determining execution and one set determining how synched they were.

Downloadable Content and Micro-transactions

by J. Adams

Last week I briefly mentioned downloadable content (DLC) in the context of needing permanent internet connections to make sure it’s been “authorized” for use. I also mentioned my (possibly) unreasonable dislike of microtransactions. What’s the difference between downloadable content and microtransactions? 

Way back in the early days of PC gaming, the original downloadable content, beyond patches that contained bug fixes or other changes to gameplay, was almost exclusively player-made modifications (“player mods” or just “mods”) to games that supported them. I’m sure there are earlier examples, but the first one that I was ever really aware of was the venerable Sid Meier’s Civilization II. There were mods made that turned the game into a fantasy-themed strategy game, sci-fi, or modified the basic game by adding new technologies, new units, new art, or any number of new and/or improved features. These were invariably free because people were making them for love of the game (not to mention that even before all the most recent fights concerning copyright/trademark infringement, it was against the law to profit from someone else’s intellectual property). 

As the consoles also started adding internet connectivity, beginning with the Dreamcast, developers started to realize the possibilities – though the Dreamcast in particular was limited by the fact that the network adapter did not support broadband and that it used fairly small memory cards. The PlayStation 2 didn’t actually have internet connectivity out of the box, and didn’t have a network adapter until the release of Final Fantasy XI. The Xbox, however, had internet connectivity on release and the new Xbox Live Marketplace made downloading new content for games extremely easy. At this point, a good portion of it was still free, but new maps (usually sold in bundles) for games like Halo 2 were going to cost you about $10.00 (US). 

Micro-transactions are a more recent invention, developing alongside the multiplayer role-playing game market. In most cases, the game has an internal store that allows you to purchase special vanity items or even items that give your character a bonus using real money (or “points” purchased with real money as opposed to in-game currency).

Downloadable Content Takes Off

Microsoft’s Marketplace service was really the original model for DLC distribution and, since then, DLC has followed a fairly predictable pattern – a game would release, people would play it for a few months, and then new content would be released for a price. Most of the time the content was a few new multiplayer maps or new weapons, but eventually entirely new missions, quests, or game areas would be created with paid DLC. Prices ranged from $0.99 to $14.99. DLC really began to take off as the Xbox Live Marketplace grew and offered more services (for consoles), and as PC developers slowly began to realize that they could make much more money by offering DLC a few at a time for $10-15 instead of a single expansion pack for $25-30. 

As more PC games were developed and more consoles became pretty much permanently attached to the internet (with the increasing availability of broadband giving it a major push), developers began to release even more DLC. Some games would be released with the first DLC expected to come out within a month. This led to a fairly negative community reaction, with most arguments being that developers were now releasing “unfinished” games just so they could make more money selling quickly-released downloadable content. Two of my favorite games, Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 actually took “fast DLC” to an extreme – both of these games had DLC available on the day the game was released. Technically, I didn’t have to pay for the DLC separately because I had pre-ordered the Collector’s Edition and the code for the DLC was included…but who am I kidding? I paid an extra $20 for the Collector’s Edition in both cases, so I most certainly paid for that DLC right on day one. 

Personally, I don’t mind DLC – except the day one kind. That really does feel like a game is unfinished and I’m being gouged for more money. The developers of Mass Effect (BioWare – owned by Electronic Arts (EA)) claim that the game was not unfinished, and that the day one DLC (From Ashes, which included a new character, new weapon, and new mission) was developed after principal development for the game was completed – although they do admit that most of the assets for the DLC were present on the released disc because they couldn’t just drop all the new content in right on release day with no preparation. That defense makes sense, but it still leaves a fairly bad taste in my mouth, if I’m to be honest. 

I really don’t begrudge developers their DLC – in my opinion, most of these releases do improve a game, and they add more life to a game that might otherwise only hold my attention for a few months before being forgotten and uninstalled. Unfortunately the quality of DLC is not always high, and there’s no real way to know until after you’ve purchased it – and by then it’s too late.

Free-to-Play? Not So Much, Actually

Micro-transactions are more commonly found in newer games that are being released as “free-to-play,” which often means there’s no charge for downloading or installing the game (as is the case with Tribes: Ascend), or that there is an initial fee for buying the software, but no required subscription fee (as is the case with Star Trek: Online (STO) and The Lord of the Rings: Online (LOTRO)). Of course, what they don’t mention right up front (it’s buried in the agreements) is that for many features, you’re going to pay money. In Tribes, this is less of an issue in my opinion because, with the exception of cosmetic character skins, all the additional weapons, items, and other accessories are purchasable via experience points earned by playing. Of course, someone who wants to spend real money can also buy all the weapons and items right away without “earning” them through play. In most cases this isn’t an issue because this particular game has more of an emphasis on skill than which weapons you buy. 

With STO and LOTRO, however, there’s a major difference. You have access to the basics of the game in both cases. In STO, signing up for the standard subscription gives you a “stipend” of “C-points” which can be used in the in-game store to purchase vanity items, ship skins, experience point boosts, and additional character slots (a free subscription comes with two). Most of this is optional, but as the game evolves, more and more of the new content is becoming available only through the “C-Store.” With LOTRO, the micro-transactions are even more restricting, as certain quests and entire areas are only available once they have been purchased (or, again, a paid subscription is purchased). 

All three of these games are considered “free-to-play,” but when you look deeper, are they really? Tribes comes the closest to truly free to play, but with the store it has set up, the temptation to spend the money anyway (and they also offer sales to help entice customers) is very strong. STO offers all of the main content of the game (missions, ranks, basic ships) for free, but anything more advanced (additional characters, costumes, ships, items that confer character bonuses) is going to cost you money. LOTRO is, by far, the worst offender. Entire quest lines are locked out for people that don’t purchase them, so it’s probably fair to say that if you don’t pay for content in a game that claims to be “free-to-play,” you’re not getting the same experience that someone else is. Granted, they never claim that the “free” game is the same as the one someone pays for, but it’s still a little underhanded.

After all - the first hit is free.

Newsroom Factroom - I'll Try to Fix You

by Jonathan Bredemeyer


Last week's election episode was fact-heavy, so this show will be a bit lighter.  I'm skipping the rules this time, so if you're curious as to what this series of articles covers, take a time-warp. 


Getting to it...

• Don Quixote is written in Spanish.
• Accurate.
• Yep... originally.
• Background checks for gun sales jumped 42% in the month Obama was elected as compared to the year before.
• Close enough...
• The fact is taken from Time here, who actually rounded up from 41.64% ... but they had all the correct numbers from the FBI.
• The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence gives President Obama an F.
• Accurate.
• While there doesn't seem to be any digital record from the actual Brady Campaign to prove it, there are plenty of stories about the rating. 
• The rumor that President Obama's trip to India will cost $200 million dollars a day was blatantly false.
• Of course.
• The Economist went to bat on this one because it reached epic proportions so rapidly.  This was just an election trick Obama's critics threw out there exactly on the day of mid-term elections.  Snopes.com covered it well also.
• NPR misreported Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords' death in the shooting at a public event.
• Accurate
• I think most remember this one because it wasn't that long ago and was a major mistake.  There are many articles covering the fiasco, but the penance was far too light.  To say 'NPR handled the mistake well' is ludicrous, as they are the offender.  Death has lost respect in today's instant-news ecosystem and NPR should have been held far more accountable than it was.  If reporters can be fired over a tweet of a wrongful death, then news agencies should receive punishment relative to the same. 

A squeaky-clean slate for this one, which is preferable. Now if only they would cover events dealing with non-republicans...

Futurama: Hermes is Out of Control

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Not the biggest fan of this episode. I mean, I guess it was a decent way to show how you could turn a person into a robot, effectively "cloning" in a way, but there wasn't too much else going on. We didn't even have a secondary storyline going on to try and draw the attention away from Hermes trying to perpetually upgrade himself into a bigger and better... being? The one redeeming factor in this episode was Zoidberg constantly believing that the things Hermes says to him are out of friendship, not out of hate. Even after being corrected multiple times, Zoidberg just would not stop believing that Hermes is really his secret bestie... ridiculous as it would seem, it was a cute touch. Agree?

Futurama "The Six Million Dollar Mon" (S07E07): After Hermes conducts the annual performance reviews, he fires himself, deeming the biggest waste of the company's assets is actually him doing those reviews. [who would've thought? ha!] A machine replaces him and Zoidberg takes it personally, even though Hermes hated him. [and we see an extremely long sequence designed to show how fiery the curried goat was.] Hermes and his wife are out for a walk when a robot wants her skin... luckily, the police come and apprehend the guy. [maybe I'm not a Futurama aficionado, but what would that robot want with someone's skin??] We then see Hermes ask Bender for a favor. [and we're supposed to believe that Fry cares more about overhearing this conversation then jumping in the shower with an inviting Leela AND Amy??!?] Hermes wants to be part machine!

The first step is having a harpoon added to Hermes' chest. He shows the Planet Express gang, then re-hires himself because his harpoon will reach boxes that the machine can't. [okay, so machines rule. got it.] Hermes then gets an extend-o-arm added because the machine threatened to do it. [competition, got it.] Eerily, Zoidberg takes the body parts that Hermes had removed and builds a garbage Hermes to talk to. [awww!] Hermes' next step is getting Cylon "eyes" put in because he's tired of his glasses. He then promises his wife (with crossed fingers) that he won't get any more upgrades, but before long he's totally robotic, except for his brain.

photo credit: Futurama TM and © 2012 Twentieth
Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

MegaHermes has no interest in insulting Zoidberg, so Zoidberg keeps using the "pieces," and soon has a ventriloquist's dummy that he takes to comedy clubs. [I found this to be out of nowhere...] MegaHermes is filled with regret that he's still human at all, so it's time to have his brain replaced. [I also had a difficult time following the train of thought to get there...] His regular "surgeon" won't do it, so the Professor steps in, and they exhume a robot body to find parts/circuits. Of course, they picked the brain of the robot who was executed for trying to mug Hermes and his wife for their skin. Hermes' wife and son protest the surgery, but Hermes still wants to go through with it, through the threat of divorce. [intense!] The Professor decides that he doesn't want to operate, but Zoidberg volunteers, though his claws will force the dummy to do the work. [LOVE that it was set to "Monster Mash"!!!] Little did everyone realize, but Zoidberg just plops the brain into the "dummy" and HumanHermes is whole once more. MegaHermes turns into Roberto and again wants to eat Hermes' skin, even using a peeler to get some of his arm! Luckily, the skin was so saturated with curried goat that it disintegrates the robot. [I thought this was a useless storyline, really.] Hermes thanks Zoidberg against his will, and we're done!

The Exes: Phil Fools Around; The Others Dance

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Confession: I am now completely in love with the theme song. Then again, I'm fairly infatuated with the show, so go figure. I am surprised with the play-down of Eden lately (aside from giving her a surrogacy storyline), but I will admit that I like how the Core Four interact. I still don't get why Haskell keeps playing second fiddle to Stuart and Phil... a womanizer and a dork aren't all THAT exciting. In this episode, for instance, Haskell main task is to keep all of Phil's women straight for him... not exactly rocket science, and we're kinda given the implication that Phil can't be bothered to remember such things while Haskell has nothing better to do. What happened to his money-making schemes? And his alimony issues? And his dating? I vote for more episodes with larger Haskell storylines! What do you think?

The Exes "Shall We Dance" (S02E06): At the bar, Haskell stops Phil from hitting on a girl he's already been with. [because he's such a man-wh0re that he has no idea at this point.] He then runs into Karen, who actually believes that he lost her number. [honey, no.] Haskell keeps feeding Phil information on who people are, humorously doing so for Holly and Stuart as well. Later, we see that Phil has kept his streak of one-night stands, but he panics when he finds out that the latest conquest actually lives in the same building. [yep, that sounds like a nightmare!] The next day, they run into one another in the elevator. When she's not upset that he hasn't called her, he's thrilled and wants to see her again... and soon finds out that she's the female version of him - she stands him up, talks him into having sex anyway, sneaks out into the night, and claims to be going out of town on business. [anyone/everyone know where this is going??] So, when he sees her at the bar when she's allegedly away, he makes a scene, even going as far as saying that she "lost the best thing she ever had" as she walks away. [while it serves him right, I don't see him actually changing his ways...]

In the other storyline, Stuart hears that his ex-wife, Lorna, is seeing someone new and will be dancing with her at an upcoming event. Holly claims to be a sexy dancer so Stuart decides to go after all. Of course, when it comes time for the two to practice, Holly is a pretty stiff and awkward dancer., and Stuart isn't looking forward to their moment in the spotlight. [but, of course, he doesn't actually call off the plan.] At the ball, Lorna does a great job, but Stuart finds out that she hired a professional dancer to be her partner. [I don't believe that the dancer would call her out in public like that, though!] 

tvland.com

Holly falls just talking and walking, putting her out of the competition with a possible bruised coccyx. [I did like that green dress on her, though.] While Stuart is partially ecstatic, it leaves him without a dancing partner... until Haskell fills in at the last minute. They win. [what was Haskell even doing there? and how, exactly, did THEY win?? ]

Melissa & Joey: Lies, Lies, Lies

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

What was that purple and black top Mel was wearing in the first scene?? Blech. Aside from that fashion disaster, there was very little of note this episode. We have Mel dating the father of Lennox's ex-boyfriend, but only until it becomes non-taboo. How many times have we seen this, both on television and in real life? Something is only fun until there's no danger of getting caught. I'm reminded of the legacy of the Westcott Fountain at Florida State University, my alma mater. It's traditional to be thrown in on your birthday, though it's against the law. Years ago, the University repealed the rule because so many students were doing it. Well, people stopped doing it until punishment was imminent once more, and it was still the rage when I did it in 2004. Sadly, I'm even more disappointed in the Joe-Ryder storyline, as that one has ALSO been beaten to death already. So much so that I named four other sitcoms that do something similar just off the top of my head! I'm going to need Melissa & Joey to do better.

Melissa & Joey "Pretty Big Liars" (S02E10): Lennox and Haskell were supposed to meet up for yogurt but she caught him making out with another girl, so Lennox demands that nobody she know talk to anyone in Haskell's family. [you know, like all upset high schoolers do.] This is an immediate problem for Mel, who runs into Haskell's father at the coffeeshop. Mel tries being honest with Lennox about dating the man, and when Lennox flips she intends to cancel the date... until he kisses her and they decide to continue seeing one another clandestinely. [of course. because immaturity trumps.] Stephanie learns about it first, then Joe, who is tasked with keeping Lennox from finding out when she comes home while the couple is upstairs. [eh, while it was funny, I feel like it could have been hilarious.] Lennox hears a rumor that they're together and confronts Mel, who tries to talk her way out of it, almost succeeding. Of course, after that, the relationship fizzles as the duo have nothing to talk about. [booooorrrring!]

http://abcfamily.go.com

Throughout the same week, Ryder has been having a stock skyrocket. Well, he thinks so, anyway, because Joe said he'd invest Ryder's $1,000, but he doesn't because he thinks the company will tank. So, because the price tripled and then doubled, Joe has to face the music and turn to poker (and a leather jacket) to try and get Ryder the money. [always a good example, that Joe... of course, it was better than Mel's "can you call and tell them you meant to buy it?" thing. The exact same thing happened on Cheers when Sam didn't bet on a game Woody wanted to risk his life savings on and Diane suggested he call the bookie and say he meant to bet.] Anyway, just before Joe goes "all in" on a big hand, Ryder calls to tell him that the company was based on lies and is now defunct. [figures.] That's not the last lie of the day, though, as Joe claims that there's a rule in place where first-time investors can get their money back in situations like this. [come ON! Ryder! stop being so gullible!]

And, we can't forget the end scene with Lennox pretending to be Mel at a lunch with a 106-year-old constituent, who sees right through the ploy.

Quadrennial Hot Weather Events: NBC Special

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Note: we're working with a limited vocabulary, guys. This cuts out a lot of what we can cover, based on the words (and images) we can't use. We're still going to get a few articles out there, though, because these events don't happen every day!

My parents recorded the "first festivities" for the 1988 events, and I remember watching those parachuters a dozen times through the years (a quick search reveals that I've mentioned this before, too). By 1992, we were given all sorts of reading material in school about that series of competitions, so it only made sense that I'd wind up infatuated with them. In a past post I've talked about my 2004 revelation that I would never be an a great athlete, and in 2010 TheTalkingBox did a rundown of the various events that make up the snowy sports. Well, NBC figured it was a great time to recap some moments, too. [Seeing some of these old clips made me remember just how poor resolution used to be LoL!] They narrowed down the large field to twenty-five years and only the hot-weather times. They chose the 30 contenders and had the internet order them from #30 to #1. So, let's see what made the list and how the internet ordered them...

NBC Sports Special "30 Greatest Olympic Moments"
30. Pablo Morales swims to win in the 90s Spain Events after being shafted several times before. [can't say that I personally remember his history or this moment, but it's sweet.]

29. Ian Thorpe swims to win in Greece. [again, nothing in my own memory on this one.]

28. Donovan Bailey breaks the world record in a track event in the Georgia city. It has now been beaten, tho. [breaking a world record is cool and all, but if it's been broken already, is it worth noting?] 

27. The 10K in Spain - Ethiopia and South Africa women go for it and Ethiopia wins. [I thought this was a really nice clip!]

26. Jackie Joyner-Kersee pulls through in a handful of events in Spain. [I totally remember her. She was a big favorite in the reading material specifically geared for girls to have idols. I then ran track in the spring of 1993... and never again, LoL.]

25. Rowing - Steven Redgrave goes for his fifth yellowish shiny circle at the turn of the century. [I think the repeat athletes are my favorites.] 

24. Janet Evans was only 17 when she won BIG over her opponents. [She was another one who I grew up favoring, so I was excited that she was trying to make a comeback this year. too bad she's won't be competing, though.]

23. In Greece, Hicham El-Guerrojj won for the 1500 after tripping up in the previous two quadrennial events. [no recollection of this one, but that's nice that he was even able to compete again after those - I don't know if I'd have the guts to!] 

22. Carl Lewis and the US go for the 4x100 track relay in Spain and win, PLUS come up with a world record. [I find swimming relays way more exciting than running relays, which probably explains why I have no real memory or interest here.]

21. US Men's Basketball with LeBron, Kobe, and Shaq in China. [If you know me in person, you probably are aware that basketball is one of those sports that I just can't stand. So, I never watch it, even when the quadrennials come around. good for them, tho!] 

20. Cathy Freeman running for Australia in Australia and winning. [I only vaguely have a memory of this one, but it was nice to see again.] 

19. Men's 4x200m Freestyle Swim Relay in Greece - Australia was the big favorite but the USA pulled it out. [you may recall this one... Michael Phelps was one of the guys on the team and you know you've seen clips of pretty much all of his major races. it's a heartwarming moment and I'd say it would be worth looking up on youtube or something similar.]

18. Paul Hamm, Men's All-Around in Greece - Hamm vaults and takes a messy fall. BUT, his high bar is so fabulous that he walks away with a win anyway. [tears AND goosebumps, baby! LOVE IT!]

17. Women's Beach Volleyball in the pouring rain of China: Kerri Walsh and Misty Treanor of the US beat China to win! [the rain was the memorable party here. unless, of course, you're all about the girls on the beach.]

16. Michael Phelps in Greece, 100m Butterfly, against Crocker, another American. It's close, but Phelps wins. [I don't know what made this race particularly notable, honestly. the fact that it was US vs. US?] 

15. Carly Patterson in Greece gets the win in the All-Around. [I'm actually embarrassed to say that I missed this one originally. That summer was all over the place for me, and I don't know how I didn't make it to a TV for this gymnastics legendary moment.] 

14. Laura Wilkinson in Australia wins diving, despite a foot injury. [it's kinda creepy, but I would have placed this one higher - injured athletes continuing to compete is one of the most impressive things ever.]

13. The First Festivities for the Events in China. [I'm pretty sure I've watched these four times by now. All the use of humans to make everything work was the most exciting thing ever!] 

12. Usain Bolt, in China, huge lead and big win for Jamaica. [shockingly awesome!]

11. The Men's Basketball Dream Team in Spain, including Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, and Magic Johnson, among others, had some amazing matches leading up to the big win. [again, it's a basketball thing so I don't have much background, but I know all of the names (cough, thanks Space Jam! cough) so I know this was a big deal.]

10. At the events in Australia, a Russian hadn't lost a wrestling match in 13 years, but lost to American Rulon Gardner. [wrestling is another sport I just don't pay attention to, but that's CRAZY!]

9. Michael Johnson, in the Georgia city, wins the 400 and the 200 - first person to do so AND destroys his own world record! [he's one of the big male idols that were in all of those readers, and I've particularly found it interesting when runners succeed in multiple events - it doesn't seem to be as common as it is with swimmers.]

8. USA Women's soccer in the Georgia city, beats China. [yeah... I don't really do soccer all that much, either. I guess you could say that I just prefer individual sports to team ones?]

7. Usain Bolt, 100M, in China, new world record. [I found it interesting that two moments from Usain Bolt in the same year was odd.] 

6. Muhammad Ali, in the Georgia city, gets to light the main stick at the First Festivities. Others who took part in the pass-off just before him included Evander Holyfield and Janet Evans. [I honestly don't know why this is such a big deal. Maybe it was because I didn't see it live and it has lost some significance over the years?] 

5. Nastia Liukin & Shawn Johnson, at the China competition Women's All-Around - it was neck-and-neck but Nastia wins and Shawn comes in second. [such an amazing feat! the excitement over two Americans placing was incredible!]

4. Phelps goes for 7th yellowish shiny circle in China with the 100M Butterfly, getting 1/100th second over Cavic. [I don't even know how to comprehend this small margin of victory, but it's astounding and exciting. :)]

3. Derek Redmond in Spain, 400M semifinal - injury knocks him out but he hops along until he is in too much pain to do anything but hang onto a trainer. [good for him! An interview with him is included, and he talks about how he gets more letters from the Americans now than the British, his own people. He and I both find it interesting that the Americans voted this moment so highly, but I guess it comes from that heart-wrenching moment when you don't want to see a DQ but some sort of time on your record.]

2. Michael Phelps - 4x100M freestyle - France was in the lead when a Phelps teammate made up some time and won in the end! [well, I guess relay races are a type of team event, and I like those, so maybe not all hope is lost on me, LoL. Like so many others, I had Phelps Phever last quadrennial and most likely will again.]

1. In the Georgia city, the Women's Team Gymnastics event comes down to Kerri Strug's vault. She needs a 9.493+, and falls on her first try, injuring herself. She limps back to the starting point and vaults again, unable to even leave the platform on her own, but her 9.712 wins the event for the US. [My God! The Magnificent Seven were sixteen years ago already?? I was up until the wee hours watching the gymnastics that year, and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this moment. I'll never forget it and it seems that most of America won't, either. I knew it had to place, and I have to say that I'm proud it made it all the way to the top of the list!]

Teen Mom: Catelynn & Bentley have School Woes, Farrah Dates, Amber's Back

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Is it just me, or is Bentley the cutest little two-year-old boy? Of course, it can't be that hard to be adorable on a show where your competition is Sophia and Leah... those two are so different. Not that it's their own fault... I CAN'T STAND how Farrah's mother talks to or about Sophia... no wonder Farrah wants to live a thousand miles away! It's also rather awkward to watch Amber try to be a good parent to Leah when you know that she's going to wind up in the slammer because she sucks at life. Hopefully, Catelynn isn't going down a similar path... because Tyler ain't having a wife who doesn't have a college education! I was actually a little taken aback when he expressed how he felt about that... I mean, I feel the same way, but I've got a decade on the kid. Either way, we're officially on the final wind-down for the show, as it is ending after this season. Are you even bothering to tune-in anymore, or have you already given up on these four moms? 

Teen Mom "Fresh Start" (S04E07): Amber's 60 days are up, it's probably August for Catelynn and Tyler, Maci might be in early September now, and Farrah is probably mid-August.

Farrah: Her mom is still around for the bulk of the episode, but rarely seen. Before she leaves, however, she does talk about wanting to come again soon. [ugh. it's times like these that I'm glad my mother doesn't fly. I'd go crazy if she was always trying to visit!] Her sister has gone back already. Farrah dates a new guy, Daniel, who has a big family in Austin. They go horseback riding the day before she starts school. [I can't believe she worse a dress on purpose.]

Maci: It's Bentley's first day of preschool, and he's upset about it, though he eventually does okay when they get there. [I was shocked Kyle lied to him like that! why is Maci all broken out again? and are we supposed to believe Ryan has a classical music ringback tone?] Ryan is still very skeptical that Bentley should be in preschool, plus he's running behind, so Maci has to go pick up Bentley, even though it's Ryan's turn. Ryan isn't working or going to school right now, and his mother is pushing for him to pursue 50/50 custody. [I can't stand how Ryan tries to coach answers out of Bentley!]

Photo: MTV

Amber: As her stint in rehab winds down, she makes a list of what she needs to do when she gets out: get her license, start school, move in with Gary and Leah. [part of me kinda hopes she won't be able to pass the test for the GED at this point. she's put it off forever and I'm spiteful, what else can I say?] Her therapist's advice for life outside of there? Show up for appointments. Amber's mom picks her up from the airport and she gets to see Leah the next day, presenting her with a necklace, a cup, a hat, and some socks. [odd assortment, but it wasn't exactly a tourist trip!] 

Catelynn: This is apparently the longest Butch has been out of jail in 20 years, and it hasn't even been three months. [I don't even know what to say about that...!] Catelynn hasn't gotten everything in for school yet, and Tyler and friends pressure her to get everything done in time - the semester starts in about a month. [they sleep in their regular clothes?? gross.] She starts to feel overwhelmed, and when Tyler goes to the hairdresser with his mother (who is going without a perm for the first time since Tyler has been alive), he expresses his concern that maybe she won't be attending college at all. That's not cool with him, but she does make an appointment to talk to someone in financial aid, so maybe she's back on track.

Newsroom Factroom - The 112th Congress

by Jonathan Bredemeyer

This was an election episode, so lots of things to check.  The winners and losers are accurate [almost], so the focus will be on less obvious more important details...rules:


Facts are chosen because they were/are critical to Sorkin's storyline.  These are determined to be accurate, potentially accurate, or inaccurate.  This is based on internet research from primary sources (and even Wikipedia when they do it best).  Luckily, with the scene set in modern day, these things are available via the web.

The fun:

• Lance Orton, a t-shirt vendor, was alerted to the bomb by a Muslim named Aliou Niasse and then called the cops.
• Dead Accurate.
• Down to the sources, it's almost as if this reenactment was outlined from Wikipedia [maybe that just means everyone got it right?], but the part about first appearing on a Pakistani blog first doesn't seem to be true, or is at least too obscure to find.
• http://thinkprogress.org/security/2010/05/05/95219/senagalese-muslim-vendor/?mobile=nc
• Bob Bennett loses his primary race to Mike Lee in the Republican primary in Utah.
• Inaccurate
• Actually, this one's hilariously wrong, so wrong that Senator Lee himself called HBO's co-president to get it corrected.  Yes, Lee won, but didn't beat Bennett in a primary.
• The line about the 14th amendment had to get into the show, and early enough to be included in Will's motivation to go after the Tea Party, so a bit of creative license is used to move up this topic.  Lee is upset about the political attack, not the incorrect fact.
• "I hope that's not where we're going, but you know, if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking towards those 2nd Amendment remedies." -Sharron Angle for U.S. Senate, Nevada.
• Almost Accurate
• Because Sorkin has McAvoy calling himself the 'media elite,' let's hold him to it.  The original quote is longer than that, containing text before and after this quote [not to mention making Harry Reid the 'target'].  The least they could have done was include ellipses to indicate that wasn't the end of her sentence... but that would have destroyed Will's next line that she was suggesting a violent overthrow of the U.S. government.
• This is nit-picking, and nearly every other blog got this wrong as well, including the one Newsnight used, apparently.
• 18,000 World War I troops were side-lined by VD during the war... everyday.
• Probably Accurate, some misrepresentation
• The number seems accurate according to the site below. No, the number is not due to AIDS/HIV like the show implies, but gonorrhea and syphilis.
• http://med-dept.com/vd.php seems to be the show's source.
• 18,000 men contracting V.D. daily is outrageous, unless you consider how many of them entered the war with a disease. There was a 'competition' of sorts between the states to keep down their numbers of infected men entering the army. The numbers were published by the federal government for every one million draftees who reported to camp.  The numbers for the first two sets show approximately 84,000 V.D. carriers.
• Since the United State mobilized 4.3 million men during the war, it follows that these, plus the newly infected, could number up to the tens of thousands being treated at a time on some days.
• Bryce Delaney, who has a rating of 97% over 10 terms in Congress, lost to a dentist in the Tea Party. 
• Fabricated
• Bits of fact dribble in, but it's hard to gather evidence for this one.  The dentist referred to is most likely Paul Gosar who was a Tea Party candidate and did pull off an astonishing win in Arizona which dentists are happy about, but not against a massive incumbent.
• This is further substantiated by the fact that, of all the members of congress who cosponsored  H.R.2559, there's only one republican: Thomas Rooney of Florida.  He's still serving in Congress today.  
• PS: This bill wasn't introduced until July 2011... can't imagine it played a major role in the Republican primaries of 2010...
• Koch Brothers facts.
• Probably true, slightly exaggerated
• The Soros vs. Koch's debate rages on today and will come up again this year for sure.  In the context of the 2010 elections, this is a fairly comprehensive comparison:
• http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2010/09/opensecrets-battle---koch-brothers.html
• Scott Walker put $75 million of his own money into his campaign, making it the most expensive gubernatorial election in Florida to date.
• Accurate
• http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/Governor_Scott_Fundraising_162308466.html
• The show doesn't clarify if it's the most expensive gubernatorial race in the country's history or the state's history.

From the deseretnews.com article: "Phillips described the conversation with HBO as "cordial" and said Lee was told the show has fact checkers but this apparently slipped passed them."  It's tough to catch all this stuff.  HBO fact checkers: email us if you want help.  Everyone else, we'll duke it out in the comments.

Cake Boss: Skydiving, Writing, Easter with Mama

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Who realized that Cake Boss was wrapping up for the season already? I, somehow, managed to miss that fact before these episodes aired. But, no worries, TLC is about to serve up some new stuff for us to cover, including United Bates of America and Big Tiny, though the latter might not offer much that their other dwarf families haven't already. Anyway, let me start by reminding you that you can send well wishes to Buddy's mother with the hashtag #CakeBossMama or check out the wishes collection page. I personally hope that the family makes peace with what's coming, as Lou Gehrig's disease is devastating. :(  On a similar note, the line that stands out the most to me in that episode was Grace pointing out that, for a family who is around cakes ALL THE TIME, they still get very excited over them! Now, the cake they were looking at when she said this is pictured below, and it IS a sight. But more about that when we get there...

Cake Boss "Cakes on a Plane" (S05E15): [yes, that's really what they titled this one.] Some skydivers want to jump out of a plane WITH A CAKE and eat it mid-air. They'll be falling 120mph, which is "another level of crazy." [I'll say!] They offer Buddy a tandem slot, but he says he has to ask his wife. [...and then nothing else is ever mentioned about it. I was expecting someone to say SOMETHING... otherwise, why not just edit out that part?] They need to make the cake aerodynamic and deflect wind, so they plan with some ideas and get started with a wooden structure. They're going to use a couple of leafblowers to test the wind effects on the cake... only they make frail cakes on purpose to laugh as Marissa, Maurizio, and Anthony hold the barely-stacked cakes. [sometimes, I like the pranks at Carlo's. sometimes, notsomuch. this occasion fell in the latter.] OBVIOUSLY, the cakes blow apart and get all over the kids, one at a time. [I'm surprised the second two even bothered.] The guys take baths in the giant sinks, fully clothed. [this was funny.] They do a pound cake shaped like an oblong bomb for the real cake, because it's the sturdiest thing they could think of. [odd, but I have no better suggestions!] Buddy did think about covering the cake in cereal treats to make it stand up better, but that would have defeated the purpose of being able to tear through it and eat it in-flight. The end result ain't winning any beauty pageants, but function over form this time! The guys who deliver the cake stick around to watch the skydivers, and while they have trouble seeing the action, the fondant covering flies off almost immediately, but everyone is able to grab some of the cake before they deploy their chutes. [either Joe started skydiving way younger than 18 or he's a very young-looking 58!]

Tessy, SisterLisa's daughter and Buddy's goddaughter, won a writing competition, so she gets to be a character in a book about New Jersey. Lisa wants a cake made that they can present to everyone when Tessy is awarded her trophy, and Tessy wants the theme to be the friendship between her and her pal, Lexi. [the s'mores in the microwave were particularly notable.] The whole family goes to Central School in East Hanover, NJ to present the cake. [fairly straightforward story with no twists here.]

Cake Boss "A Bittersweet Homecoming" (S05E16) [season finale]: Buddy's mom is back from Florida and reiterates that there are no erotic cakes at Carlo's. [LoL!] She's not doing that well and is suffering from ALS, which is taking away her motor skills. About 18 months ago, her hand started bothering her, and she suspected carpal tunnel... but surgery didn't help things, so she saw more doctors and the Mayo Clinic finally diagnosed her. [boo!] She has less energy, can no longer write, and is close to needing 24-hour help, though she doesn't want ANY help until it's absolutely necessary. [poor woman. so many elderly folks are horrified at the thought of needing care.] We see part of a doctor's appointment, where she's walking more slowly and having a difficult time straightening her right hand. To cheer her up a bit, Buddy wants to make her a new style of cake for Easter (which Madeline is hosting this year). They use caramel buttercream with a swiss meringue. [that was a BEAUTIFUL cake! such an innovative take on a simple look!]

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Secret Life: Before, During, and After Church

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

When there was a knock at Adrian's door, I was almost positive it was going to be Ben... ready to move into the condo to try subverting his father's rules about not dating Dylan while under his roof. This probably would have been a much better idea than allegedly dating Alice while Dylan pretends to date Henry... there's no way that would be believable more than twice. Ben aside, though, some other strange things took place this episode. For instance, Ethan and Kathy... what, exactly, are we supposed to believe that the BadBoyVirgin sees in the PregnantFreshman? And how many different cars can we see two teenagers "hang out" in during a single episode? At least they finally kissed once! In another case, while it was nice to see the focus on sexuality relax, how big is racism about to get?? Adrian's question to Omar, "how did you grow up with pigmentation and trust in the system?" makes me worry just a bit. What makes her say that? Growing up with an absent father and an often-away mother, it's not like the girl saw legal issues in her family. So why bring it up? So it can become an issue, I'm guessing. Secret Life, we know you've beaten the pregnancy horse, the teen sex horse, and the fragmented families horse, but please stop with the sexuality and racism before you're in too deep.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager "Holy Roller" (S05E06): Ethan is out with Kathy (just sitting in Margaret's car), telling a story about a time his dad accidentally stabbed him in the leg. [you know, so we remember that he's not just a thief in foster care, he's a troubled thief in foster care.] He also shares that his mother left one day "to get frozen peas" and never came back. [double-troubled, got it.] Kathy tells him that she doesn't want something like that for her daughter, and that she'd prefer to never see her again than be a disruption around holidays and birthday. [I can completely see that point.] We also learn that Kathy and her BabyDaddy met at the state spelling bee. [to prove that even smart kids make mistakes.] Margaret comes out and tells them that they can't be alone in her car, then invites Kathy to join Ethan, Amy, and Ricky the next morning, not explaining what the occasion is. She's reluctant but goes for it. [I would have never trusted someone's mom like that when I was in high school...] Ethan and Kathy re-establish that they're "just friends" by not kissing.

The next morning, EVERYONE is in church. Yep, we have drifted Kathleen, not-interested George, wanting-it-to-be-over Tom, excited Grace, Buddhist Alice, Catholic Henry, wanting-to-impress-everyone Ben and Adrian, guest organist Ethan (whose experience includes a hockey game), accepting Ricky, hesitant Kathy, ever-angry Amy (pissed that George and Adrian are in the sanctuary), along-for-the-ride Omar, and the tardy Jack and Madison. Grace flips upon seeing Madison, screaming "what the hell is she doing here??" while Ethan tries to play "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" but it turns into some seventh-inning-stretch music. [disaster all around. but I liked it.] Grace then storms out, with Kathleen and George following her, making Amy feel loved even less. After church, Jack's dad tells him to apologize to Grace, ask her to take him back, and to stop pressuring her to have sex. [just laying it all out there!] So, Jack goes to Kathleen to talk about proposing to Grace, but she says that they both need to grow up some more before making such a mature decision. [Kathleen is such a liberal in this moment! but man, the last thing this show needs is ANOTHER engagement!] Jack then tells Grace that he brought Madison to church because he wanted to make Grace as crazy as he is. They make up, but it's not clear whether they're back together. [I'd bet on it coming, though. and probably aiding in the Ben/Dylan/Henry/Alice shenanigans...] Across town, Ricky tells Shaker that they don't want a big wedding. Amy then tries to tell Margaret the same, but it ends up more as a "I don't want two weddings, but I can't tell you or my mom not to throw one." Problem-solving Margaret decides that she'll talk to Anne, so Amy has to explain a little more, ultimately saying that she doesn't want Anne at her wedding because she "isn't the mom she grew up with." [oooooh.... rough!] 

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Later, when Ricky and Amy get home, they talk to George, who has watched the DVD of their failed elopement. [even if you borrow your daughter's laptop without asking, what would make you decide to run a DVD that was in there??] He doesn't let on that he knows, though he does question them a little more than normal. After church over at Adrian's, Omar's mother comes to the door, just "making rounds" in the neighborhood. [no.way.is.this.believable!] She invites them to attend her church in the future, or really any meal, so she can get to know Adrian. She even suggests that "Gay Grace" might be a match for Omar's sister, Janie. [hmmm. not only will that last part not fly, but I was kinda happy about Adrian and Omar not being together anymore. Something tells me they're inching back together anyway.]

Elsewhere, Leo tells Ben that he will not be allowed to date Dylan while he lives there. At the same time, Dylan relentlessly begs her father to let her see Ben again. Luckily, Dylan's mother caves when Ben phones and asks for one more chance. [while I can't promise that I won't do similar things with my kids when their father has a different perspective, I'm sick of it with this girl.] Well, the conversation goes that Dylan could pretend to date Henry and Ben could pretend to date Alice, when they'd really be together. Ben immediately buys it and clues in his pals. [no, Henry, no! stop!]

Quadrennial Hot Weather Competition Time!

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Confused by the title of this article? I'm very sorry. But, I'm going to try to follow the rules regarding all of the copyrighted words which surround that big series of activities that begins this Friday and runs until August 12th. Oh, and no pictures, either, as all of the symbols associated with the event are also trademarked. We'll see how this goes...

Now, we've talked about such quadrennial activities before, like in early 2010, when the "snow varieties" were taking place. We didn't say all that much about them, but they ARE a big event and they DO only take place every four years. While I'd love to cover those "first festivities" and maybe talk some about the wacky coverage that we'll be getting in the US (particularly on the West Coast) and the strange camera angles and commentary that sometimes ruin what could have been fabulous and memorable moments, it's going to be nearly impossible to do such things. But, we do have a couple of articles planned anyway. One will look at the NBC television special, "30 Greatest Olympic Moments," which is an hour-long set of clips and background on some of the greatest hot-weather sports memories. Another will be a companion piece to the aforementioned snowy explanations - we think you deserve an explanation of what, exactly, the events are. Note, this is different from just what the different "sports" are, because the differences within are quite daunting at times. After seeing how those do, we have a few other ideas in mind, but we'll have to play it by ear... and see how tiring it'll be to come up with alternate wordings as necessary, too.

Comic-Con 2012: Booths & Displays

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Time for one final Comic-Con roundup! I don't know if we saved the best for last or not (let us know!), but in this post we're going to showcase some of the displays we saw this year, whether they were in Exhibit Hall, surrounding the Convention Center, or around San Diego. I skipped some that were fabulous in reality but didn't really photograph fabulously, as well as some that would require many images to get the full effect. If you're interested in everything, you can still check out the full album.  

There was a sneaker going down the road!

photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

there were real snakes in the Indiana Jones area!

photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

you can buy a Jedi costume! 

photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

 Total Rekall car

photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

so much Iron Man!

photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

 I was giddy when I saw this in the distance! It's Castle Grayskull!!

photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

 G.I. Joe motorcycle

photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

  Lego Darth Maul!

photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

there was SO MUCH publicity for the upcoming The Hobbit!

photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

these guys looked SO real!

photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer

this was taken at the Falling Skies booth! the harness wiggled as it came down!

 let's call it a display of adoration, but I just had to include this backpack!

photo: Jonathan Bredemeyer