m_thomp

I was on the verge of thinking this was too easy and not as tense as the episodes leading up to the finale. But then....

I actually burst out laughing (sorry, guys) because I was thinking of you all and your hopes that Rita would meet her maker.

As for my predictions (Jonah to kill Trinity, and Deb to find out about Dexter's nocturnal hobbies) I'm giving myself a Pitchfork 2.7 for accuracy.

Yep, that's what I was thinking as well. Not to mention that there will undoubtedly be an internal investigation about how Trinity's DNA got planted at the trucker's house. It'll come down to Masuka vs. Dexter... and Masuka knows about Rita's "affair" with the neighbor. Having her dead (or missing) now will make Dexter a person of interest. Quinn already thinks he's up to something - all they need is Angel to remember having seen Trinity at the station before. Bring up the surveillance video and boom, there's Dexter talking to Trinity. He's going to be in a big mess next season, no matter what he does with Rita's body.

And let's not forget about Deb, given that she found out about Dex's origins, as well as who his brother is, she can't be too many mental leaps away from finding out the truth.

Here's my breakdown of albums I have enjoyed (in no order):

Dan Deacon - Bromst

Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Lindstrom & Prins Thomas - II

Clark - Totems Flare

The Field - Yesterday & Today

Mos Def - The Ecstatic

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Heard tracks off and liked, but not heard the album:

The Antlers - Hospice

Califone - All My Friends Are Funeral Singers

Why? - Eskimo Snow

Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish I Were An Eagle

Dinosaur Jr. - Farm

Real Estate - Real Estate

Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains

Girls - Album

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Beware

Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care

Dolphins of the Future - tapes

Ducktails - Landscapes

Atlas Sound - Logos

3 songs I have enjoyed:

Destroyer - Bay of Pigs

Hot Chip - Take It In

Yeasayer - Ambling Alp

Another good episode! However, it would've been better had I not caught the preview from the previous episode - that was too spoiler-ridden by far! So for me it felt like a very good holding pattern to get to the pay-off line, rather than a tense game of cat and mouse.

Fortunately, I didn't catch the preview for the finale, which makes me think it's going to be intense.

I'm still banking on a Jonah Trinity-kill (although I agree it would be good, and break the usual cycle, to have the season's special guest star to survive and comeback), and the season cliffhanger to be Deb to discover Dex's other side.

That was a great episode. Did anyone else spot that Dexter didn't have his gloves on when he checked the kid's pulse? Surely that would leave fingerprints or something and thus incriminating him? I don't think that will happen, though.

One of the theories I've read regarding the big twist is that Trinity is Paul's (Rita's ex) dad. Eyebrows were raised when his parents were mentioned by Rita for no obvious reason in the last episode.

I'm not buying the twist that Trinity is Dex's true father.

I actually think the twist might be Deb, through her digging of her dad's past (Dex's mum slaughtered in the cargo container in front of him and his Ice Truck Killer bro), might find out, or suspect, as a season ending cliffhanger, about Dex's hidden side.

One thing I think will happen is that Jonah will be the one who kills Trinity, not Dex.

I don't drink beer all that often these days, but a few years back I was a bit of a beer connoisseur. My favorites include: Chimay, Leffe, Blanche de Chambly... I'm pretty big on the Belgian Trappist beers in particular.

Man's talking sense. Add Kwak and Duvel to those and you got yourself a boozy Belgian full house.

Definitely not Massuka. I mean, what are the chances of TWO forensic experts in the same department being murderers.

That was a great episode. I thought I was being really clever whilst watching the show. I called out, as soon as Massuka brought the chocolate lava cakes around, that he would spot Rita and the neighbour. I predicted the son would smash the urn.

But I just did not see those final two words coming. I had the reporter pegged as being Lundy's daughter, and she was caught up in a whole betrayal / revenge trip of Daddy never being at home and always playing the field. Not that, though.

Some great moments in that episode. The whole weirdness of Trinity's family was quite hypnotic: the knife-edge mood swing relationship of father and son; locked-up Lolita; Stepford mom. In fact the son was the only normal one.

Nice to see the reporter's entrance in the episode managed to fulfil her very obvious and appropriately inappropriate contractual obligations.

Exchange of the the ep: Massuka with Astor.

NP: Beach House - Teen Dream

So far, so good.

good to hear them reminding people how much they've pissed over nearly every other band making music this year! it's great where a band reaches a point (no matter how brief) where everything they do just sounds effortlessly good and original.

Bonus points for them doing this so frequently.

This is what Amazon is telling me I bought from them this year:

Fairport Convention - Liege And Lief

Laura Nyro - Eli and the Thirteenth Confession

Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison / At San Quentin (Remastered / Expanded) (2CD)

Otis Redding - Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul

William Bell - Soul of a Bell

Sam Cooke - Night Beat

Silver Apples - Silver Apples / Contact

Deerhunter - Microcastle / Weird Era Continued

Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

Herman Dune - Next Year in Zion

Black Moth Super Rainbow - Eating Us

Plants and Animals - Parc Avenue

Anti-Pop Consortium - Arrhythmia

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

The Field - Yesterday And Today

Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo/DEV-O Live

Secret Machines - Secret Machines

Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill

Harvey Milk - Life...The Best Game in Town

Hush Arbors - Hush Arbors

AC Newman: Get Guilty

Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

Terry Riley - Rainbow in Curved Air [import]

Philip Glass - Koyaanisqatsi

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Lindstrom & Prins Thomas - II

Clark - Totems Flare

New EP just leaked...I really like it and I think you will too!

I know someone is getting me this for Christmas.

To download or not to download???

Does Graze still have the pan-pipes in it?

I was thinking of getting my wife this t-shirt for Christmas, but they don't ship to the UK. Incidentally, the picture used in that link is a bit bizarre (as is this one). I mean, I could see it being appealing to women of a subserviant nature who wanted to look good whilst in the throes of a brutal murder and who regularly shop on the internet, but outside that demograph.... kinda loses its charm.

Hooray for victim chic!

Did I imagine it, or did Trinity empty the ashes before attempting to kill himself? If he did, then I guess there will be no more 'cycle of three' kills.

How many episodes are left in the season? This should give a clue as to how close we are to seeing the Trinity / Lundy Killer puzzle being solved, or how many blind alleys we still have to go down.

What with Christmas around the corner, I had a browse at the Showtime website. Did you know you can buy the Dexter kill suit?

This close call will let Dexter off the hook as far as his "code," but serve as a warning that he needs to be more diligent in his research for future killings.

Didn't know Cryptique was the internet persona for Dex's dad

I'm not sure what to think about that. My original theory has been that Trinity is killing his sister, mother and father, repeatedly. When I saw that scene, I thought he was trying to get himself bludgened to death, making him the "father killing" victim and ending his cycle/life. And that possibly, he was reinacting the moment his father was bludgened to death. Perhaps his father was killed in a bar fight. I don't know. But then he went and bludgened that other guy, effectively ruining that theory.

Hmmm, after seeing that scene I was immediately reminded of a scene in Dirty Harry in which the killer (Scorpio) pays to get himself beat up, in order to have evidence of abuse that he could pin on the police. I thought this might translate to Trinity, but it didn't fit because Trinity doesn't have to blame anything on the police.... yet.

Reading your theory sparked another thought off. Trinity is a Deacon, a religious man, so whilst he is seeking tribute/vengence of some kind for re-enacting the deaths of his sister, mother and father, he must also be in a moral theological tangle with the Guy upstairs after committing those acts. Which could mean Trinity's own beatings are his penance for all his wrong-doings?

Anyway, the big question is: who is the coffin for?

I reckon Dex will reveal himself to Deb too. It might not be this season, but it will come. The indications, from the last episode, were that Deb has called a halt to investigating her father's past.

I can't see Trinity being Lundy's killer after the last ep either. He was too much of a mess to bump off the deer, which underlined the fact that if somethign doesn't fit his murdering template (bath, jump, hammer) then he won't do it.

The scene from a few episodes ago when Trinity insulted the guy in order to get himself beat up still hasn't been explained though...

I also enjoyed Up a great deal; I really didn't mean to denigrate it above. The opening sequence is one of the greatest sequences of the year.

I found that first ten minutes extremely moving. This was both a shock and unexpected, even whilst wearing 3D glasses, and to be honest I never quite recovered from it. As Beltmann said, it soon dipped into the usual Pixar buddy-chummy capers, but every so often they still managed to hit those heart tugging grace notes. I found, in many ways, that it was quite similar to The Station Agent.

I'm looking forward to seeing Where The Wild Things Are, I actually enjoy films that manage to polarise audiences. And judging from the comments I've read here it's causing a divide on the scale of the Sopranos' finale.

I like the cover. I like the off-camera glance, it adds to the mystery, leylines or no leylines.

I especially like what's influenced the record, which may explain the pagan threads:

Can you go into one or two tracks on the new album? If so, can you give us the track title and brief description of how the track sounds and how it came about?

 

Guitarist, Eric Pulido: The title track, "The Courage of Others" is actually one that was written some time ago but has been re-worked recently to fit the vibe/sound of the album. Bands like Pentangle, Fairport Convention, and Steeleye Span (among others) have been a great influence.

We found out in the last episode that Lundy has a daughter. Not suggesting it was her, but, given Quinn and the reporter have been considered, it's another name to throw in the mix.

I don't think it was Quinn, though. I'm not sure what's up with him, but I can't put together why he'd possibly shoot his partner and her (ex)lover.

Ok, clutching at straws time but here's my quickly-made-up take on Quinn's potential motive.

He's lower than a snake's belly. It's a stretch but he might think he's been unfairly left out of Trinity investigations. Most people would complain to their boss, but Quinn seeks dirty justice - it keeps the headlines ticking over, which keeps his hands full with the chesticles of...

the hot, topless reporter

In light of all the talk about Pixar films compared to WTWTA, I don't know if you guys have seen this (I did a search in this thread and couldn't see anything):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvIDRoO8KnM

I was reading an article on WTWTA this morning and they mentioned that this was an extra on the Wall-E DVD. I can't see it, on account of all internet video being banned from my workplace, so hopefully I've got the right URL.

On the back of the original Tron, test footage of a WTWTA scene was created using a combination of CG and traditional animation back in 1983. The idea was to sell the concept to the big wigs at Disney in order to fund a feature film using the same techniques. The concept was rejected. The co-director of the WTWTA test footage was one John Lasseter.

Have to wait until December to see WTWTA in the UK. Boo.

I like the Quinn idea. We know he's a dirty cop.

Did anyone else groan as soon as Rita cottoned on to Dex's crash pad? I just knew that ten minutes of earache would ensue, accompanied by the crying sprog soundtrack. I also liked the way that when Rita said to Dex that he should spend the night at his apartment, Dex's eyes lit up with a kind of 'at last I get some quality killing time' look.

Also, can I start a petition to get rid of Dexter's dad? It was kind of passable in previous seasons because all he did was act as Dexter's moral compass. Now, though, he's a far less believable and easy storyline problem-solving plot device. Dexter will hit a dead end, and up pops dad to tell him the solution, or what to look for, eg the missing tape on Lunday, access to the computer drive, etc. It's fast turning into Randall & Hopkirk Deceased.

I don't mean to sound grouchy, I really like the show, but I just think the writers could help themselves to make it a whole lot better.

Oh, one more suggested improvement: more Massuka, less La Guerta/Batista love shenanigans.

Drifting slightly off-topic. There's a guy in our office, who looks really creepy (and by all accounts actually is really weird out of the office). He's a bit of a lookalike of someone equally weird. His nickname: Scorpio.

Always wanted to walk past his desk singing, "Row, row, row your boat!"

The Antlers - Two

Completely forgot about The Antlers. I like 'Bear'; there's some choice lyrics in that.

I haven't recorded any tracks in 2009, so I can't list my best ones.

 

Or did you mean my favorite tracks?

Touché! Title adjusted.

When your album's finished hook me up with the myspace/spotify link and I'll tell you what I think.

You make a Phoenix pun in the thread description and don't include them?!?

I've only heard the album once during a car journey. Immediate reaction was that it was fine, but nothing sparkling. Will revisit before deciding whether to dismiss though.

Pun was used because that particluar track (along with 1901) has been popping up a lot on other '2009 best track' threads that I've read. You people really like it, hats off!

I've seen a trailer for this on TV a couple of times and have been ... um ... intrigued:

 

The Men Who Stare At Goats

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SreufFevUSw

Read the book! Read the book!

It's from one of my favourite authors. Jon Ronson, actually made a TV documentary as a companion piece for the book called 'Crazy Rulers of the World'. The idea of the film plays up the more comedic aspects of the book - the fact that the US Government paid money for departments to investigate and implement all manner of psychic/ESP tools to help aid their armed forces is inherently funny - but the book alternates this with the sinister plotting and some downright moving episodes when it all goes wrong.