Friday, August 26, 2016

Captain, ye don't have the power

We had what seems to have been a pretty extensive blackout last night. This is an impressive thing. I got off the bus at my street, and noticed that pretty much all the lights were off. A couple of businesses had emergency lights, and some houses had working footlights on the lawn (?) but that was it. So unless everyone had decided to get a very early bedtime, something was off. And even if they had, why were there no streetlights?

Like I say, this is an impressive sight. Blackness all around, light only from the headlights of cars. A pizzeria where some friendly young adults were hanging out had a couple of candles lighting it.

I'm just as glad it didn't last that long, though. Especially since I had to reset my alarm clock when the power came back on.

Still found time to watch an episode of the second season of Fargo. I'm about halfway through it. In general I don't have the time or inclination to be a genuine binge watcher.

The general consensus I've heard is that the second season is magnitudes better than the first. I wouldn't really agree. Actually I'd say that they're about equally well constructed, it's just that the first season has some x factors that grab me more. Season 2 is good, though. The central story of a small town couple in trouble after the wife hit-and-runs a member of a crime family picks up a lot of tension.

2 comments:

susan said...

Ah, Benj, you're so observant (and very droll). I loved your remark about the possibility that everyone had decided to have a very early bedtime when you saw most all the lights were out (I imagine the ones on the lawn were solar powered).

You're right it's impressive when it happens but when it does that around here I always worry they might not come back on again. I like to give myself those little frissons of existentialist dread - besides, it could happen. Usually, our infrequent power outages seem to occur for no particular reason and never when there's a storm or heavy snow.

I'm glad you're getting to watch the second season of Fargo. We saw it a couple of months ago and enjoyed it too - almost as much as the first season but not quite. Billy Bob Thornton is a hard act to follow, after all, and the rest of the cast was very strong too. I especially liked the woman who played the police officer (her dad was wonderful too) and Martin Freeman did the Minnesota accent beautifully - along with his trademark deer in the headlights stare.

Anyway, let's hope for no more blackouts. One can always go out to the country to see the stars.

Ben said...

Solar powered lawn lights. Well, I'll be.

You're right that these days power seems to go off without any other outward warning. It used to be routine to lose electricity during blizzards, and Hurricane Gloria, for one, was accompanied by recurrent blackouts. The upside of having these things separate is that you don't lose all of modern civilization during a storm. On the other hand, it does make blackouts seem more a matter of things just running down.

I loved Molly from the first season, one of the reasons I got sucked into the show. Billy Bob Thornton was great too. A Satanic villain, when well done, is truly seductive and can make you question your own moral compass. The prequel series has its charms too. The dying mother has some great scenes, and I liked Bokeem Woodbine as the enforcer from Kansas City.