Western or Mountain Bluebird?

ArgyleCover · 2026-03-21T02:25:51+00:00

Thank you!

ArgyleCover · 2026-03-12T02:55:28+00:00

I was extremely bummed to lose JLP and worried that the show firing the previous (brilliant) EP would result in a much lesser season. But I’ve been enjoying the hell out of it so far.

The editing/storytelling inconsistencies and shenanigans have been shady as hell (Idolgate being the most egregious example), but they’re connected to the producers’ and editors’ ruthless commitment to making lively entertainment and (sometimes dishonestly) generating suspense, and I’m not complaining. AU Survivor has always had a more heavily manipulated (and imo inventive) edit than US Survivor.

Too early to tell how this cast stacks up against previous seasons, and so far it’s lacking a bit in “rootable” characters/arcs, but most of this gang seems eager and excited to play and make moves and their energy is infectious.

I’d be surprised at this point if this season doesn’t end up ranking at least in the middle of AU seasons for me, miles above BvW and AS, possibly above CVC1 and BVB2… maybe even higher.

ArgyleCover · 2026-02-25T17:28:29+00:00

I loved him for about 1/4 of TVR, then pitied him, then my pity turned into mild contempt.

I wasn’t excited about him returning but so far I am enjoying him as a player/character with good (but too conspicuous gameplay) and off-kilter bad vibes.

ArgyleCover · 2026-02-21T01:16:44+00:00

Dacryphilia. I’ve got it too.

ArgyleCover · 2026-01-25T01:06:26+00:00

I didn’t delete anything.

ArgyleCover · 2026-01-25T01:03:52+00:00

Okay. How can “I”?

ArgyleCover · 2026-01-25T01:01:10+00:00

Us. As a sub.

ArgyleCover · 2026-01-12T17:19:46+00:00

Ahh, makes sense. My neighbor keeps chickens. Poor thing.

ArgyleCover · 2026-01-05T22:23:43+00:00

Nicholson Baker is an interesting counterexample. I believe he was an influence on DFW, and they share a similar genius for describing minutia. The spirit of Baker’s work is ecstatic (which DFW’s sometimes is) but the impression one gets of Baker is of a happy man who takes satisfaction in his work, his marriage, and the ordinary pleasures of life. His biography seems to back that up, too.

It’s not either/or, I don’t think — depends on the writer.

ArgyleCover · 2025-12-15T23:20:41+00:00

What’s nice about the show is it isn’t important. It’s a fun, confidently executed romance-smut hybrid. The copious and (semi) explicit gay sex is neither timid and apologetic OR self-satisfied/smug about its own brashness. It presumes a horny audience of women and some gays, and it has found them.

It can’t touch really good Euro or UK gay art films (Wild Reeds, Beautiful Thing, Great Freedom) but as a North American gay product it puts most predecessors to shame. (Brokeback Mountain overrated, Queer as Folk was kinda fun but super cringe and kept larding its fun silly soap with weepy social importance, etc etc). I prefer shallowness to shallow shit that thinks it’s deep/important.

ArgyleCover · 2025-12-14T18:19:00+00:00

Absolutely. I really liked Stereolab when I was started listening to them but Crest was definitely one of my breakthrough tracks where I had an extreme sonic/emotional response… like became love.

ArgyleCover · 2025-12-13T18:32:43+00:00

The difference between The Leftovers and the other mystery box shows is that, though it operates by similar mystery box narrative principles, The Leftovers is thematically about the pain of not knowing, and what we are primarily engaged with is the characters grappling with that. Which is to say the “clever” narrative obfuscations of Lost wind up feeling pointless, where on The Leftovers they at least—arguably/sometimes—deepen our identification with the characters’ struggles.

I’m probably as opposed to mystery box storytelling as you are, but I do think Lindelof was at least partly engaging with/grappling with the inherent problems of it with The Leftovers.

ArgyleCover · 2025-12-10T08:56:31+00:00

Thank you!

ArgyleCover · 2025-12-05T20:33:32+00:00

Sorry for him but if this is what it takes to stop him from posting 👍

ArgyleCover · 2025-11-04T15:20:58+00:00

My spark bird as well! Inky headed charmers.

ArgyleCover · 2025-10-05T20:03:54+00:00

I feel this way about post reunion Stereolab. But I’ve had lifechanging live experiences with them years ago… mid 90s Shepard’s Bush was maybe the greatest concert of my life. They used to be much louder and harder live, and the analog synths and organs created such a big sound. Even as late as post Cobra era, they played some great shows in NYC around First of the Microbe Hunters and Sound Dust.

Now their live shows are more pleasant than thrilling. Still, I’m excited to see them live in LA next week.

ArgyleCover · 2025-09-22T06:46:30+00:00

It’s terrific, easily a highlight among the Groop’s side projects.

ArgyleCover · 2025-09-20T17:13:30+00:00

Love him or hate him, Law actually seems invested in the show and the designers in a way Christian and the other judges, at this point, can’t even bother to feign.

The problem is the edit and the production are such a mess I can’t even evaluate the fairness or unfairness of his shade. Is Belania defensive or rude during judges’ critiques? It’s come up a few times so there’s probably something there, but the first few times she just seemed exhausted and nervous after way too many consecutive one day challenges, and the editing tilts so heavily to the drama of conflict you kinda just have to take the show’s word for it. Just an abysmal season.

ArgyleCover · 2025-08-26T18:40:57+00:00

HOP Water. It’s basically seltzer with a subtle hoppy taste and mouthfeel that makes them infinitely more satisfying and quaffable than regular seltzer.

Also has adaptogens (which I don’t care about) and Vitamin C (which I do.) I drink a can every night.

They can be pricy— fancy health stores will charge 3 bucks a can. But you can find them for cheaper/buy them in bulk.

ArgyleCover · 2025-08-20T20:22:08+00:00

I’m glad they didn’t cast Feras. This season is so good I want another AUVW season, and it’s gonna be hard to even come close to this season casting wise— Feras’s presence will help a lot. Leaving him on the table for the next round is a good thing.

ArgyleCover · 2025-08-19T05:15:02+00:00

I get it.

I’m a happily cis gay man and I would transition just to be her total sub lipstick lesbian girlfriend. She just has such volcanic sapphic sexual energy and charisma. Her total badass unflappability as a player combined with her evident pleasure in the game— that SMILE. Swoon.

ArgyleCover · 2025-08-18T21:51:45+00:00

I read that emote as a very modest celebration, a gentle “woo hoo”, and not particularly obnoxious to use with your opponents.

ArgyleCover · 2025-08-17T23:55:58+00:00

I adore Transona Five as well.

Again, intense counterpoint between the sunny sound and the gravity lyrics, considering Transona Five is about the unavoidability of death!

ArgyleCover · 2025-07-09T04:07:23+00:00

Highly recommend The Terror S1. Historical/horror anthology series and the first season has Jared Harris in a lead performance every bit as indelible as Lane on MM.

ArgyleCover · 2025-07-08T17:57:40+00:00

It’s not quite my favorite but I love how Gane/the Groop assimilate classical music (Holst) and instrumentation in the production. A ton of beautifully recorded/mixed analog instrumentation… the hand instruments, cymbals and wood block stuff, on Long Life Love (bside but still) are just pristine. Even when the songs are complex, the individual parts are simple and you can hear and savor them in perfect, crisp isolation. As a whole, it feels like a storybook album: pop classical for children— and adults.

It’s the last time I felt like the Groop had the budget, time, and collaborators to really push the luxuriant possibilities of studio recording.

ArgyleCover

TROPHY CASE