the mentalist and the poochies

Series 6 of The Mentalist is madness. I mean, the show was always highly improbably and at some times quite problematically formulaic. But once Patrick kills his bete noir Red John, and he really does, the show is pretty aimless. It needn't have been, but it was. I would so much hate myself if I was, for instance, Joe Adler who played the character of Wiley, this guy, who's the kind of hotshot whiz kid computer boy, brought in to zhouzh up a tired program in its sixth season. We know nothing about him except he sits in a chair all day and can do anything at all in front of a computer. 'According to his credit card activity, he...' 

Meanwhile this season is seeded throughout with not 'will they won't they' but 'when the hell will they' between Patrick and Teresa, where they keep saying minorly dumb things to each other about how they like each other a little bit. 

Nancy of course couldn't give a loose root. 

Can't wait for season 7!!!

the end of the slate culture gabfest

So, I don't really know why this has happened but the Slate Culture Gabfest has come to an end, apparently without acrimony amongst the three hosts who have been doing it for 18 years but also, apparently, in a rather rushed decision (and presumably no will on the part of Slate to experiment with a new team, for instance, though they have had plenty of fill-ins over time, in a way that made me wonder whether they were planning a personnel transition). 

Insert generic nameplate here. Oh, I just did! 

My response when they announced the death of the show, a few weeks ago, was typical denial - I just stopped listening! So there are a couple of recent eps I haven't heard, and that is after loyal listenership since at least 2013, surely earlier. But if they have been tired or uninspired, the team of Steve, Dana and Julia absolutely haven't shown it. The program is as fresh now as ever, IMO. I have long really enjoyed it.

A listener phoned in to say that one of the things they really liked about the Culture Gabfest was that it showed how to educate/enlighten without talking down to someone, and that's really true. I wonder if I can say that the CG has changed my approach in any way. It may have. It's been a bit of a beacon, and certainly most of the things discussed have not really been in my wheelhouse (though more than the films usually talked about in the Filmcast, about which I could not give two shits) but I have enjoyed the way they've been analysed. 

Now, my only Slate podcast is the Political Gabfest (there are other podcasts and they're good but it's impossible to get them on my phone). I think it's time to give up on Slate, cuz the whole thing is a subscription headache every year and it's too American for me, overall. Lots of American things are. 

red rooster outlet soon to be demolished

It's at least 42 years old. Judging by this ad from the Age 30 May 1984p. 66.

Gross, gross, gross. I wonder what will replace this building? 

perry and ferdie a few weeks ago

Ferdie is leading a gay old life. Mia and Emma have chickens now and he breaks in and steals the eggs regularly. He's always himself. 
 

some pictures from my flight a few weeks ago

 

flook in the perth daily news 1 July - 14 July 1952

I think there's one missing here, or rather, there isn't one here that should be. This was Saturday, which doesn't usually have a comics section. 

If you've been following my Flooksploration you'll possibly remember this sequence from earlier because we're back here.  

flook 16-30 june 1952 in the perth daily news

Sorry, I forgot to rustle up your fortnightly Flook. I'm also sorry to say that I've shown you a version of this previously, I'll have to find the time sometime to work out how this was patched together but I'm assuming this was something to do with the syndication of Flook in the USA... anyway, more soon.