"I say go for the airtight plan."
My parents were in town last week. We had a nice visit, and some very good meals, including a bright and lemony sole meuniere at the Grand Cafe. We also saw the Tutankhamun exhibit at the DeYoung. I did a lot of reading on Ancient Egypt as a child, so I was excited. The exhibit itself was... hm. We had early tickets--entrance at 9:00 on Saturday--and I think that ended up being a very good thing, since the exhibit was set up for crowds. As it was, we got to go through the rooms at our own pace and spend all the time we wanted looking closely at the pieces, but I suspect that it would have been an exercise in craning necks to see around people at a busier time. I thought it did a good job of explaining the historical context of Tutankhamun's reign and the basic circumstances of the tomb's discovery, but the number of pieces from the tomb itself was surprisingly small. Still, I was glad to have the chance to see the pieces up close and in person; the detail and workmanship is remarkable--particularly the inlaid ivory on a chair, and the carving on the canopic jars and funerary statues. And the chair and headrests and crowns bring home how much smaller people were before the advent of modern nutrition and medicine. I wish the whole thing hadn't reminded me so strongly of Stargate, though! That's really unfair, given how badly that show butchers archaeology.
* * * * *
The Office 6.02 - "The Meeting"
This episode is all about how assumptions make an ass out of you and Michael, Toby, and Dwight me. Michael can't stand being left out, and sabotaged his own promotion. Dwight is the broken clock that's right twice a day--his relentless suspicion and eye for practical details lead him wrong most of the time, and his and Toby's stakeout of Darryl's house was pointless and counterproductive given that the clues were in the warehouse all along, but he was right that Darryl was lying. So Michael lost his promotion, and Toby had to deal with the paperwork for two complaints to corporate, because they were being too sneaky for their own good.
* MICHAEL. It is not cool to ask Oscar for tips on getting a colonoscopy! God, that was disturbing.
* I would like to see more fallout from Michael ruining Stanley's marriage--even though it was mostly Stanley's fault. The lack of it is kind of odd.
* Speaking of self-sabotage, Jim and Pam's Niagara Falls wedding location didn't pan out as well as they'd hoped, since Michael thwarted them by giving everyone the time off to go. And because everyone's making the decision based on factors beyond their control--Meredith's whims, Kelly's lamprey-like attachment to Ryan.
* Speaking of Michael and thwarting, Jim's grim post-mortem of his strategy was both heartbreaking and true: "I tried to keep Michael in the dark. I should have known he could do just as much damage in the dark."
* I'm glad that Michael's terrible back-stabbing conversation about Jim with David Wallace came out, and that Jim had an opportunity to react to it. That was awful, and was compounded by the landmines in Jim's performance reviews, which we all know were motivated by Toby's jealousy. Oh, what a tangled web we weave. I think that was the only way Michael would have agreed to the co-manager deal; out of guilt, as an atonement.
* Toby and Dwight bonding over steam engines on the stakeout was surprising and kind of cool. They have two things in common: pettiness and steam engines. Friendships have been built on less.
* It's interesting to see the way Jim's priorities have changed now that Pam is pregnant. For a long time, he didn't want to go into management, because admitting to ambition at Dunder Mifflin was tantamount to admitting defeat. But now that it's part of his life with Pam, he's trying to make the most of it.
* I give Andy points for making the most of the office refrigerator's cheese collection.
* Dwight's primal scream! I can't imagine him reacting to the news that Jim had been promoted over him any other way.
The Office 6.02 - "The Promotion"
This co-manager situation has the potential to not work, but one of the things I love so much about this show is the way it owns its plot developments, and centers them in the characters. The dual managership is going to be a disaster; we're just here to see the trainwreck, watch as it reverberates through all of the relationships in the office. (Oh Oscar, your sarcasm is a bright and shining beacon of rightness.)
So of course Michael is being petty, carving out his fiefdom, erecting a moat over what remains of his power and authority. And it's not the same when Jim teases Dwight now; he's got actual power over him. It's not the same when Jim wrangles Michael either, because part of its charm was Jim being the underdog, trying to massage the best outcome out of a bad situation. Now that Jim has to deal with Michael on a real basis, now that Jim has the power to effect some change, his frustration has a hard, sharp edge. And when Michael challenges Jim to name one of Michael's strengths, here's what Jim misses: Michael doesn't have "people skills" in the conventional sense, but his cluelessness is a form of insulation; the rest of the office attributes Jim's decision about the raise to calculation and bias. Michael may not be willing to make unpopular decisions, but that's partly because he's seen the results; Jim is just starting to learn. I'm glad to see that the new power dynamic cuts both ways, though--that it's lonely at the top (especially when Dwight is undermining you), but that for Michael, it's less lonely now that it was; that they can both share the burden of having the rest of the office hate them, and take a bracing shot from their matching World's Best Boss Mugs, and hide out in an office with the door closed and the blinds down, pretending they aren't there.
* * * * *
Jonathan Lethem on his relationship with the works of Philip K. Dick.
Ethical dilemmas involving Klondike bars.
Some handy, energy-saving tips, mostly involving cooking.
And now, on this beautiful Saturday, I have a day full of appointments for showing the downstairs flat to prospective tenants. Hopefully I won't give any of them the plague. Which I still have.
This entry was originally posted at http://danceswithwords.dreamwidth.org/141261.html (
comments). Comment at either site.
* * * * *
The Office 6.02 - "The Meeting"
This episode is all about how assumptions make an ass out of you and Michael, Toby, and Dwight me. Michael can't stand being left out, and sabotaged his own promotion. Dwight is the broken clock that's right twice a day--his relentless suspicion and eye for practical details lead him wrong most of the time, and his and Toby's stakeout of Darryl's house was pointless and counterproductive given that the clues were in the warehouse all along, but he was right that Darryl was lying. So Michael lost his promotion, and Toby had to deal with the paperwork for two complaints to corporate, because they were being too sneaky for their own good.
* MICHAEL. It is not cool to ask Oscar for tips on getting a colonoscopy! God, that was disturbing.
* I would like to see more fallout from Michael ruining Stanley's marriage--even though it was mostly Stanley's fault. The lack of it is kind of odd.
* Speaking of self-sabotage, Jim and Pam's Niagara Falls wedding location didn't pan out as well as they'd hoped, since Michael thwarted them by giving everyone the time off to go. And because everyone's making the decision based on factors beyond their control--Meredith's whims, Kelly's lamprey-like attachment to Ryan.
* Speaking of Michael and thwarting, Jim's grim post-mortem of his strategy was both heartbreaking and true: "I tried to keep Michael in the dark. I should have known he could do just as much damage in the dark."
* I'm glad that Michael's terrible back-stabbing conversation about Jim with David Wallace came out, and that Jim had an opportunity to react to it. That was awful, and was compounded by the landmines in Jim's performance reviews, which we all know were motivated by Toby's jealousy. Oh, what a tangled web we weave. I think that was the only way Michael would have agreed to the co-manager deal; out of guilt, as an atonement.
* Toby and Dwight bonding over steam engines on the stakeout was surprising and kind of cool. They have two things in common: pettiness and steam engines. Friendships have been built on less.
* It's interesting to see the way Jim's priorities have changed now that Pam is pregnant. For a long time, he didn't want to go into management, because admitting to ambition at Dunder Mifflin was tantamount to admitting defeat. But now that it's part of his life with Pam, he's trying to make the most of it.
* I give Andy points for making the most of the office refrigerator's cheese collection.
* Dwight's primal scream! I can't imagine him reacting to the news that Jim had been promoted over him any other way.
The Office 6.02 - "The Promotion"
This co-manager situation has the potential to not work, but one of the things I love so much about this show is the way it owns its plot developments, and centers them in the characters. The dual managership is going to be a disaster; we're just here to see the trainwreck, watch as it reverberates through all of the relationships in the office. (Oh Oscar, your sarcasm is a bright and shining beacon of rightness.)
So of course Michael is being petty, carving out his fiefdom, erecting a moat over what remains of his power and authority. And it's not the same when Jim teases Dwight now; he's got actual power over him. It's not the same when Jim wrangles Michael either, because part of its charm was Jim being the underdog, trying to massage the best outcome out of a bad situation. Now that Jim has to deal with Michael on a real basis, now that Jim has the power to effect some change, his frustration has a hard, sharp edge. And when Michael challenges Jim to name one of Michael's strengths, here's what Jim misses: Michael doesn't have "people skills" in the conventional sense, but his cluelessness is a form of insulation; the rest of the office attributes Jim's decision about the raise to calculation and bias. Michael may not be willing to make unpopular decisions, but that's partly because he's seen the results; Jim is just starting to learn. I'm glad to see that the new power dynamic cuts both ways, though--that it's lonely at the top (especially when Dwight is undermining you), but that for Michael, it's less lonely now that it was; that they can both share the burden of having the rest of the office hate them, and take a bracing shot from their matching World's Best Boss Mugs, and hide out in an office with the door closed and the blinds down, pretending they aren't there.
* * * * *
Jonathan Lethem on his relationship with the works of Philip K. Dick.
Ethical dilemmas involving Klondike bars.
Some handy, energy-saving tips, mostly involving cooking.
And now, on this beautiful Saturday, I have a day full of appointments for showing the downstairs flat to prospective tenants. Hopefully I won't give any of them the plague. Which I still have.
This entry was originally posted at http://danceswithwords.dreamwidth.org/141261.html (
comments). Comment at either site.