Better Call Saul — Season 1 Finale: Jimmy Drops the Mic

Is this the death of little Jimmy McGill? And the birth of the chimpanzee with a machine gun known as Saul Goodman? Has Jimmy decided to follow Mike’s ungiven (to him) advice and be a good criminal lawyer rather than an unhappy legit attorney who will never feel authentically legit?  Maybe. We won’t know anything for sure about Saul’s road to Perdition (Perdition being a suburb of Omaha) until next season, but for now you can go over to Happy Nice Time People to read my thorough and insightful recap on the season finale.

Mad Men The Final Episodes Recap S7 E8

Never have I felt such pity for rich white people. Gajeez, that was a downer. Did you notice how all the major players desired something but substituted something else?

Don wanted to  fill the hole in his soul — but all he did was seduce, fuck, repeat.

Ken said he wanted to “live the life not lived” but chose to continue his pissing contest from a new vantage point.

Peggy wanted romance so bad she manufactured a madcap love story out of one not awful date.

Joan wanted to burn the place down, but channelled her anger into shop therapy.

You may read my complete recap over at Happy Nice Time People — the go to blog for television. And then you may come back here and peruse if you wish or check out my literary oeuvre.

The Americans –S3 E10 Stingers

Looks like it might be time for Elizabeth and Philip to have “the talk” with Paige. No, not the sex talk, which come to think of it would be pretty weird for them, but the we are really illegal aliens and not from France or Remulak talk.

For more on how that goes, plus the latest on Stan’s growing friendship with Henry and other developments, head over to Happy Nice Time People and read my complete snarky yet insightful recap.

(Maybe when you are done, you can come back over and click on a book in my picks above. Or if you really enjoy my commentary, you could even buy one of my books AND nothing says thank you like a brief but positive review on Amazon.)

The Three Day Novel Contest

There is a thing that exists up north where storytellers get to try their hand at writing a novel in three days. The good news is you don’t have to actual travel to Canada to do it. It can be done from your own backyard, or front porch or kitchen table. I never won. But after the first year, I turned my entry into an ebook, The Death Trip which still sells on occasion, and I have three other entries that I might do something with someday — especially the one that got short-listed. I didn’t enter last year, but who knows what I’ll do next year. Not only does the contest allow anyone who enters to feel like a writer for three days, but it’s a great way to get through a “block” and to wind up with a nice little draft or outline, so I’d say GO FOR IT.

However, one of the drawbacks is obsession. You write the thing over Labor Day Weekend, but they don’t announce a winner till god-knows-when, so the first year I drove myself nuts waiting. The first prize by the way is publication — small press but “real published” so you get major boasting rights forever and your book is sold in real stores. They even send you end on some kind of book tour with readings and everything. (At least in Canada.)

So below in honor of all who try, you are all winners and here’s a story about my first experience with the contest:

Better Call Saul — The Saddest Story Ever Told (S1, E9)

This week on Better Call Saul we all learned a very special lesson about the importance of family. Just in time for the holidays too. I don’t you about you, but I think I think I’m coming down with something that will preclude me from attending any family event or even speaking to any of those bastards  EVER AGAIN.

You may go if you wish to HNTP to read my recap in full, but I must warn you that it is the saddest story ever told and also spoilers.

(Then please come back to visit again, and/or go here and thank me for my hard work by perusing this page.)