Treme
You know what I find annoying? The fact that I have to download iTunes to my netbook in order to get the drivers needed to recognize my iPod Touch. I wanted a light, easy-to-use interface that wouldn't bog down my machine, but both Music Monkey and CopyTrans Manager both require the drivers to even *see* my iPod. What's the sense in that? Ugh. So I just downloaded iTunes anyway.
I also watched Treme yesterday (not on HBO, *coff*) and I thought I would offer my opinion. Created by David Simon of The Wire, it's set in New Orleans after Katrina.
First off, I am one of those viewers who will patently Not Get and Not Care about all the references to music being the heartbeat of the city. I dislike Jazz. I fast forwarded through all the musical scenes on the show. I realize that one of the main characters is a trombone player, but no, I can't help it. I don't like the music, sorry.
Since it was only the pilot I can be patient and see if it improves. We've only just been introduced to the characters, but right now it feels like multiple short stories woven around the storm -- and we don't even know these people enough to even care that one woman's brother is missing after the storm, or that Wendell Pierce's character hasn't called his children who are in another city.
I realize I speak from an outsider's POV, but this is set three months after the storm. There are places in New Orleans even now that remained decimated. I don't quite see how all these characters aren't in more distress. Hardly anything was done 3 months after.
I'll wait and hope to see the stories weave together. I would have preferred it if we actually got to see the woman searching for her brother, or when Wendell Pierce's character's kids left. As it is we hear about, not see it, which makes for boring TV.
And then there's Steve Zahn. His character is beyond annoying as the hipster, DJ, historic music afficionado, who blasts "real" New Orleans rap through his house windows at maximum volume to presumably show the male couple who moved in next door and are fixing the house up that people who showed up after the storm are beneath the "real" New Orleans residents. Or something. That's what I got out of that scene.
He plays the disheveled and unkempt dude you meet at parties who wears throwback T-shirts and ironic vintage-framed glasses and who will tell you just why your musical tastes suck because they aren't like his.
Ironically, the character I already dislike is the one who got the most character description last night. Perhaps he was easy to figure out because he's so two-dimensional.
Annnyway, the one thing about The Wire I loved was that although I myself was not a inner-city Baltimore drug dealer, I could still watch it without needing a cheat sheet to understand what was going on. Once you picked up the slang (the Game, packages, burners, hoppers) you understood.
So far with Treme, one of the most interesting moments in the premiere was completely lost on those of us not from the city. After John Goodman's character says that he can't eat the lemon ice because he was loyal to somewhere else, the restaurant owner goes into her purse and pulls out what looked like to me as a Hostess pie. It was a local brand, though, called Hubig's.
What we outsiders don't know is that the place John Goodman's character was loyal to, Angelo Brocato’s Original Italian Ice Cream Parlor, was closed for a year after the storm. And the pie was a symbolic moment we outsiders missed because the Hubig's bakery didn't open again until 2006, making that pie she gave John Goodman's character very rare indeed.
I guess I'll have to follow along with the Times-Picayune blog here, to understand everything, which is slightly annoying.
On The Wire, poverty, classicism, racism, and hopelessness were universal, and didn't need explanation. You might have wondered what the hell "lake trout" was, but it didn't bring you out of the enjoyment of the show. I feel that with Treme, I'm going to need to have my computer sitting next to me in order to interpret important moments I don't realize are important. That's the show's major flaw.
Of course, it was only the pilot. I hope it improves, though. It won't stop me from watching. I'm glad to see Wendell Pierce, Clarke Peters, and especially Homicide's Melissa Leo back on screen.
I also watched Treme yesterday (not on HBO, *coff*) and I thought I would offer my opinion. Created by David Simon of The Wire, it's set in New Orleans after Katrina.
First off, I am one of those viewers who will patently Not Get and Not Care about all the references to music being the heartbeat of the city. I dislike Jazz. I fast forwarded through all the musical scenes on the show. I realize that one of the main characters is a trombone player, but no, I can't help it. I don't like the music, sorry.
Since it was only the pilot I can be patient and see if it improves. We've only just been introduced to the characters, but right now it feels like multiple short stories woven around the storm -- and we don't even know these people enough to even care that one woman's brother is missing after the storm, or that Wendell Pierce's character hasn't called his children who are in another city.
I realize I speak from an outsider's POV, but this is set three months after the storm. There are places in New Orleans even now that remained decimated. I don't quite see how all these characters aren't in more distress. Hardly anything was done 3 months after.
I'll wait and hope to see the stories weave together. I would have preferred it if we actually got to see the woman searching for her brother, or when Wendell Pierce's character's kids left. As it is we hear about, not see it, which makes for boring TV.
And then there's Steve Zahn. His character is beyond annoying as the hipster, DJ, historic music afficionado, who blasts "real" New Orleans rap through his house windows at maximum volume to presumably show the male couple who moved in next door and are fixing the house up that people who showed up after the storm are beneath the "real" New Orleans residents. Or something. That's what I got out of that scene.
He plays the disheveled and unkempt dude you meet at parties who wears throwback T-shirts and ironic vintage-framed glasses and who will tell you just why your musical tastes suck because they aren't like his.
Ironically, the character I already dislike is the one who got the most character description last night. Perhaps he was easy to figure out because he's so two-dimensional.
Annnyway, the one thing about The Wire I loved was that although I myself was not a inner-city Baltimore drug dealer, I could still watch it without needing a cheat sheet to understand what was going on. Once you picked up the slang (the Game, packages, burners, hoppers) you understood.
So far with Treme, one of the most interesting moments in the premiere was completely lost on those of us not from the city. After John Goodman's character says that he can't eat the lemon ice because he was loyal to somewhere else, the restaurant owner goes into her purse and pulls out what looked like to me as a Hostess pie. It was a local brand, though, called Hubig's.
What we outsiders don't know is that the place John Goodman's character was loyal to, Angelo Brocato’s Original Italian Ice Cream Parlor, was closed for a year after the storm. And the pie was a symbolic moment we outsiders missed because the Hubig's bakery didn't open again until 2006, making that pie she gave John Goodman's character very rare indeed.
I guess I'll have to follow along with the Times-Picayune blog here, to understand everything, which is slightly annoying.
On The Wire, poverty, classicism, racism, and hopelessness were universal, and didn't need explanation. You might have wondered what the hell "lake trout" was, but it didn't bring you out of the enjoyment of the show. I feel that with Treme, I'm going to need to have my computer sitting next to me in order to interpret important moments I don't realize are important. That's the show's major flaw.
Of course, it was only the pilot. I hope it improves, though. It won't stop me from watching. I'm glad to see Wendell Pierce, Clarke Peters, and especially Homicide's Melissa Leo back on screen.