I'm sad as well that there will be no more The Wire. It was a singular achievement that it will be difficult to equal. The finale was a thing of beauty. So much poignancy and hopeless, futile circularity all rolled into one. Thank you Mr. Simon.

The final ep is actually 90 minutes, not 2 hours.

I saw this at Sundance and it is a pretty powerful work (if in need of a few cuts). Seek it out if it manages to get some distribution or shows up on cable.

"part of the state is in the Central time zone, while another part is in the Pacific time zone"

Unless Texas has significantly expanded, it's western most tip is actually in the Mountain Time Zone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwYFFEf_ohc&feature=related

No H's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lgcQUQZBtE

Anyone else think that the National Journal may jigger its methology on these studies just to increase its own profile? It seems somewhat odd that the presumptive nominee seems to alway be "OMG THE MOST LIBERAL" when anyone paying attention to these people's positions know that they fall to the conservative side of several other Senators. I know the "fourth most liberal Senator" (which in the grand scheme of things isn't particularly liberal) doesn't have the same punch so it makes me wonder.

Of course the courtroom scene wasn't "realistic." Writers of television fiction (particularly those unfair crammed into 10 episodes for a season) need to get the essence of reality across in a highly time-compressed fashion. There is no way Clay could go off on his little speech during direct testimony (although you would be surprised how much latitude witnesses are given at times), but you better believe that the central concepts would be interwoven into the context of such a trial and effectively brought together in a closing by a high-priced defense attorney. It was therefore accurate in its impact, if not its presentation.

Crabbing by those who do work in "the world" presented in The Wire has always struck me as silly in the context of a work of fiction and now that it has tread in my particular world it has confirmed to me that complaining about such things completely misses the point of not only the point being driven home but the very nature of televised fiction.

The "was that really him" moment I had in the show was Roscoe Orman (Gordon from Sesame Street) as Officer Oscar (coincidence?), the guy who helps out Freamon and McNulty.

TV coverage is not representative of actual tournament poker. They are "all-in fests" because those are the most dramatic hands and are therefore shown as part of television coverage. Showing someone raising three times the big blind and then taking a small pot with a flop bet just isn't compelling television so isn't shown despite being the bread and butter of tournament play. Internet poker and televised tournaments have injected millions of players into the game. It has changed its dynamics, but hardly "destroyed" it.