It's Like We Were Separated At Birth

Wow, it's like we're twins or something. Yes, this was actually the inspiration for my current mustache style. I kind of laugh at myself every time I catch a glance in the mirror. It's just so ridiculous.

Tenative Schedule of Weekend Events

I talked to Dan on the telephone over the weekend. He had a variety of desired activities for his week back here in the D.

Thursday: Tap Room
Friday: Hang out and then go to Dim Sum ~11:00-12:00
Saturday: Catalog Only Farewell Show
Sunday: Brunch at John and Julie's

I'm sure there will be more details in the coming week. That is all.

A perfect example of how my lovelife goes...

Click for fullsize version

So very neutral...

WHITES are motivated by PEACE, seek independence and require kindness. They resist confrontation at all costs. (Feeling good is more important than being good.) They are typically quiet by nature, they process things very deeply and objectively, and they are by far the best listeners of all the colors. They respect people who are kind, but recoil from perceived hostility or verbal battle.

WHITES need their quiet independence and refuse to be controlled by others.
WHITES want to do things their own way, in their own time. They ask little of others, and resent others demanding much of them.
WHITES are much stronger than people think because they dont reveal their feelings.
WHITES are kind, non-discriminate, patient and can be indecisive, timid, and silently stubborn.
When you deal with a WHITE, be kind, accept (and support) their individuality, and look for nonverbal clues to their feelings.
What Color Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Much more than expected

I am really tired today. Which is surprising. We helped Jessica move yesterday, but I wasn't that tired last night, and I didn't go to bed that late, but still, I did not want to wake up this morning. Must get more coffee.

Amusements

I saw Underworld: Evolution tonight with Tess and Tim. It was pretty decent, lots of action, even if the plot was a little lacking in parts. Plus Kate Beckinsdale was naked, but the shot naked so you can't see the good parts way.

After the movie I stayed at Tess and Tim's to watch The Fifth Element, which I've seen literally dozens of times, but Tess has the "Ultimate" or "Extra-Spectacular" or some-such edition which has a trivia track along with it, so that was pretty cool.

For dinner, I ended up going out with John and Julie, and we were going to go to Texas Roadhouse, but it was packed, so we ended up going to the Clawson Steakhouse. It was pretty good, although, we were a little underdressed. There's apparently live music and dancing Weds through Sat. The band was a pretty cheesy lounge act. We left soon after the band started.

That's about it. I should head to bed as I have to help Jessica move in the tomorrow. I wanted to say morning, because relative to when I'm getting up, it's early, but it will be after noon, so it's technically afternoon, but that just doesn't seem right either. Weird.

And then Nerds begat Dorks and Dorks begat Dweebs

This weekend was a lot of fun. If not a bit nerdy. Friday, I went over to Austin's to play Magic with him and ChrisB, and then a bit later, Beckie, Jenn, Ryan, Ryan's friend and Coronado came over to watch anime.

After a while we were hungry so we went to the Redcoat Tavern where once again there was the guy with reverse sideburns. Then the girls spent the night with Austin. On his couch. With him upstairs.

Saturday, I didn't wake up until 2:00PM, so I missed going to breakfast with Austin and Jenn and Beckie. After that Austin and I carpooled to the LAN party, picking up Jordan on the way.

At about 11:00 we left there to meet hot girls at the bar. We closed out the bar with the hot girls and went back to their apartment where we spent the night.

The hot girls were Beckie and Jenn, and I slept on the floor, because we were too tired and drunk to drive home. It was a strange morning after, Jenn made gyoza and tea, Austin and Beckie had Lucky Charms. Somehow this was funnier or more interesting in my head.

Best quote of the weekend: "Is there something wrong with Austin?" -Ryan on the phone after talking to Austin who was all jacked up on Jaegar bombs and beer.

Midseason Series Premieres Part Tres

NBC

The Book of Daniel
(Friday at 10:00)
Grade: B
There’s so much stuff jammed into the season premiere, it took 2 hours to tell it, so, here’s the shortish version. Daniel Webster (Aidan Quinn; Desperately Seeking Susan [ha!]) is an Episcopal priest, with a borderline alchoholic wife, a daughter just caught for dealing pot, a gay son, and a horny adopted asian son. His sister-in-law is a burgeoning lesbian, her dead husband ran off with $3.2 million of the church’s money and is found dead with the money still missing. Oh, and Daniel talks to Jesus, in a he’s invisible but in the room kind of way. Daniel’s boss, the bishop (Ellen Burstyn) is hassling him, and his father, another bishop, doesn’t think much of him. There’s actual even more things going on, but if this has interested you enough already, maybe you should check out the show.

I like this show. Not love it, but it’s definitely interesting. What I like best is when Daniel talks to Jesus, because, it’s pretty funny usually. Jesus is a bit mysterious, and a bit cryptic. The daughter is also pretty good. What I don’t like about the show is the fact that every time they talk to or about the gay son, it has to be mentioned that he’s gay and they seem to make a huge deal of it. There’s actually a lot of different plot threads going on, and it’s a bit confusing. Though to be honest, when I watched the second episode, I was playing a videogame and not really concentrating on the TV. Anyways, I think it’s interesting enough to keep watching.

Four Kings
(Thursday at 8:30)
Grade: C+
Ben’s (Josh Cooke; Committed) grandma has died and left him a gigantic NY apartment, into which he invites his 3 best friends to live with him. Barry (Seth Green; BtVS, Austin Powers) is a music producer, Jason (Todd Grinnell) is a real estate developer working for a Trump-type mogul, and Bobby (Shane McRae) is a slacker. Ben is the serial monogamist of the group, where Barry is the perpetually put-upon loser in the love game. This is a situation that would only be found in the sitcom.

Once you get past the very Friends-like setup of the show, you find a show that’s struggling a bit to find its feet. There have been a few very funny moments and quite a few more where the jokes fell flat. You can see that there is a long friendship and familiarity between the characters though, especially in the in-jokes and strange rituals that always seems to manifest in groups that have been friends for a long time. The show is not bad, but is just so uneven, that sometimes even the good laughs are dragged down by lame setups and unnecessary selling of the joke. I really want to like this show, as Seth Green definitely has the comedic abilities, and is especially funny when playing indignant or angry, but the Jason and Bobby characters I find not really that funny. I don’t know if the writers just haven’t found good material for them, or what, but I hope that they can make a better contribution to the show soon.

Midseason Series Reviews Part Deux

CBS

Love Monkey
(Tuesday at 10:00)
Grade : A-
Tom Farrell(Tom Cavanaugh; Ed) is a sucessful A&R rep at a large music corporation. He lives music, literally, music is his life, and he has a “golden ear” for what is good. In the process of trying to get a talented singer/songwriter to sign with the label, he speaks his mind about what he thinks the label should be, and is fired for it. His girlfriend at the same time comes to the realization that Tom is not who she’s looking for and dumps him. He then tries to start his own label and continues to pursue the talent. Eventually he realizes he should be letting the talent do what’s best for them and not what’s best for him. Tom then gets offered a job at a small label run by a friend, who’s happened to have signed the guy he was after.

I really like this show. I never watched Ed much, but apparently Tom’s character is similar in many respects to Ed. Which if true, it’s too bad I never watched Ed. The supporting cast is excellent, it’s good to see Judy Greer and Jason Priestley. The writing seems good, and the music is excellent. It seems as though no reviewer can write about this show without making a comparison to High Fidelity, which for better or for worse, it does seem to draw some inspiration from, most especially the music snob slant of Tom’s tastes. I guess because I’m a bit of a music snob myself, I can relate to many of Tom’s observations about the “biz.” Maybe I just hope that there is someone out there like Tom, looking for the next great sound, not just the next Big Thing.

ABC

Crumbs
(Thursday at 9:30)
Grade: C+
Mitch (Fred Savage; The Wonder Years) is a “famous” screenwriter who had escaped his family after the traumatic death of his older brother. He returns home to help out after his mom (Jane Curtin) is released from the mental hospital for attempting to run down their father (William Devane) with a car. His father has left his mother and is having a baby with his new girlfriend. His brother still resents him for running away. Did I mention his family runs a restaurant? Mitch is in the closet, his brother Jody (the Chef) is a player, and his father secretly does the books for the restaurant when not at his new job as a new-agey massage therapist. And his mother is still crazy.

As far as sitcoms go, Crumbs is pretty decent. There were some good laughs, and the cast seems to work as a dysfunctional family should. The show was based on the creator’s actual family and events that happened to them, so at least the premise has a smidge of truth to it. It remains to be seen whether it will fall into typical sitcom plots and jokes, or will it rise above and be truly a show for the ages. (My money’s on the first one)

Added 11:22 PM, 01/19/06: BTW, the laughtrack on Crumbs is horrible intrusive.

Midseason Series Premieres Part Uno

ABC

Emily’s Reasons Why Not
(Monday at 9:00)
Grade: D+
So, I just read that ERWN’s production has been halted by ABC. This could mean any number of things, like they want to retool the show, but most likely it means that it will be canceled.
In short, Emily (Heather Graham) is an editor for a publishing house, and if she can think of 5 reasons why a guy is not right, she’ll dump him. She has a female friend and a gay friend. They assist her in this quest. She also has an office rival. In the premiere, she has just broken up with her boyfriend, who is also who’s book she’s publishing. She then dates the new marketing guy. He is reluctant to get physical, and has “weird” habits, thus leading to the “Reasons Why Not” and subsequent dumping. Most of the reasons are fairly shallow, except for the biggy, she thinks he’s gay and her friends gaydar concurs, while the truth is, he’s a Mormon virgin. (What?) Thus is the first episode.

In homage to the show, let me review it with Mike’s Reasons Why Not to Watch.

1. Annoying, annoying (yes, 2 times annoying) voice over and goofy-ass graphics for the “Reasons Why Not”
2. Only one reasonably likable character and one incredibly, horribly annoying character
3. Writing is, in a word, dull
4. Compared to Sex and the City in way too many reviews, usually disparagingly
5. Just not funny or remotely original

It’s not that a show needs to be original, but if it’s a sitcom, it should at least elicit some laughter. This show just did not. It also seemed to suffer somewhat from schizophrenia, jumping from a surrealistic chick-com (ala Ally McBeal) to more standard sit-com-y conventions and many other points in between and farther out. Let me give some suggestions to the producers, such as, tone down the “reasons why not”, get rid of the rival co-worker, and give her friends something to do, other than bitch about Emily’s boyfriend du jour.

And my affection, well it comes and goes

Weird fact: I have heard The Killers' All These Things That I've Done 3 separate times today. Once on my way to work, once when I got back in my car after lunch, and just now when I got back to my desk.

I had actually started a post with this title earlier, but the internet went funky at work, so it got lost, but as I had little actually in it, it really wasn't a big deal. So many clauses in my writing, it's a little ridiculous. It makes me think of Gilmore Girls which I watched last night, and where Paris is reading people's submissions and starts editing this one guy's and berating him for splitting infinitives. I think it was split infinitives... I don't know, this whole grammar thing escapes me at times. This leads me to my next thought. (Well it does, sort of tangentially, but that's neither here nor there.)

I watch a lot of TV. I used to read a lot. The thing is, TV has not displaced all the reading I used to do, it just postpones it, usually to the detriment of my sleep schedule, or lack thereof. Reading is important. Especially if you have to write anything. Most engineers I've met are horrible writers. I'm merely unsatisfactory. You know what? I'm not really sure anymore where I'm going with this. Um, kids? Yeah, uh, kids, you should read. Reading is good. Yeah, that's it.

24 Reasons To Stay Home On Monday Nights

Well, I watched the 24 season premiere last night. Usually promos for this type of thing where they tell you to not miss the first 10 minutes or the last ten minutes, and then you watch the show, and nothing happens in either of those cases, well this was the exception. I literally jumped off my couch and started yelling. There was so much packed in the first two hours and there's two more hours tonight. 24 is just one of those shows that gets you hooked. Jack Bauer is back, with a vengeance, and hard to kill, and above the law, and out for justice, and marked for death, and under siege, and under siege 2, and on deadly ground.

Chuck Norris knows Chuck Norris

Looks like Chuck Norris knows about the awesome Chuck Norris Fact generator. There's an article over at TV Squad about it.

Favorite new fact: Chuck Norris can unscramble an egg.

Mini-review: Referral Trading Sites

I've been checking my search referrals and see that I've gotten a couple hits regarding both Referral Swapper and Refstop. Here's my opinion on them.

Refstop was/is great. Lots of people to swap with, and I never had a trade not complete. I actually got my FreePSP thanks to them. My only suggestion was that they make it easier to opt out of getting asked for trades on sites you don't want to do. Recommended.

On the other hand, Referral Swapper sucked. I got lots of requests for trades, but generally from shadier people. I got scammed twice, and never completed any trades there. Not recommended.

The problem I see with the trading sites is, most people want to get referrals from reputable sites, like the Freepay ones, and if you're trying to get more than one prize within that network, it will get harder to find people to trade with who haven't already signed up for the "good" sites. So, if you got in earlier, it was probably easier, and there was a lot less competition.

This is just my take on it, and my opinions. Take from it what you may. Good luck.

Fall TV Returning Series Midseason Reviews

Midseason grades

ABC

Desperate Housewives
(Sunday at 9:00)
Midseason Grade: B
This season has been a sophomore slump if ever there was such a thing. There have been good moments, and funny moments, but overall, it’s just not the brilliant satire of last season. Everybody seems a bit meaner or something. Lynette is just crazy.

Grey’s Anatomy
(Sunday at 10:00)
Midseason Grade: A
There was an article I read a little while ago about Grey’s Anatomy with an interview with Katherine Heigl (Izzie) and from that we know that one of the interns will be leaving and Izzie will find herself in a love triangle. Should be interesting. I really like this show. There’s a depth to the characters that is very appealing.

Lost
(Wednesday at 9:00)
Midseason Grade: A
Geez, it’s been a long time since we’ve had a new episode, so my memory is a little fuzzy, but what I remember is that this show is awesome.

Alias
(Thursday at 8:00)
Midseason Grade: B-
Alias seems to have picked up a little bit of steam during Sweeps mostly due to the episode guest starring Michael Vartan. That was actually a really good episode with a few hints that Vaughn is not actually dead. Unfortunately we have rather long wait until the next new episode, sometime in March.

CBS

NUMB3RS
(Friday at 10:00)
Midseason Grade: B
Math is awesome. That’s what this show’s message really is. There haven’t been any bad episodes, but no really great episodes, and yet I always find myself looking forward to it. It’s just a solid show with intriguing characters, especially Charlie and Prof. Fleinhart.

FOX

The Simpsons
(Sunday at 8:00)
Midseason Grade: B+
Treehouse of Horror and the Christmas episodes were really clever. Most people will agree though, that the last couple seasons haven’t been as strong as some of the earlier seasons, but there are still those moments of brilliance that remind us why we keep watching.

The Family Guy
(Sunday at 9:00)
Midseason Grade: B
Thank the TV gods they brought back Family Guy. I started watching it on Cartoon Network and soon got hooked. It’s crude and occasionally very esoteric, but very funny. I think the episodes they’ve shown this season have been really great. And thankfully whoever runs the promo department hasn’t shown all the funny parts of the episodes in the promos. There’s usually some sort of surprise plotline or tangent that ends up being hilarious.

American Dad
(Sunday at 9:30)
Midseason Grade: B-
Not much to say about it, it’s amusing, and will stay in the queue, but it hasn’t been a breakout hit to me.

Arrested Development
(Monday at 8:00)
Midseason Grade: A+
I still don’t understand why people don’t watch. It’s the funniest show on TV, hands down. This last episode “S.O.B.s” or “Save Our Bluths” was awesome, skewering every silly promo idea that shows use to raise ratings, from a special “3-D” section, to a cavalcade of guest stars, and even a “live” segment.

That 70’s Show
(Wednesday at 8:00)
Midseason Grade: B
Eric’s gone, and Kelso was only around for a couple episodes. More Fez is not what we wanted. Although the episode where they stole the clown was pretty funny.

Stacked
(Wednesday at 8:30)
Midseason Grade: B+
I think the writing has been better this season than previously. Either that, or my expectations are just a lot lower.

The O.C.
(Thursday at 8:00)
Midseason Grade: B+
As crazy as the first couple episodes of the season were, the rest so far have been somewhat calmer. I don’t expect this to last as Marissa’s sister is returning, and at least according to the promos, she will be very much her mother’s daughter. As in, be-yotch! Also, in homage to 90210, they gang will attempt to get Marissa re-enrolled at Harbor so she can graduate with everybody.

Malcolm in the Middle
(Friday at 8:30)
Midseason Grade: B+
This is a show that has continued to sort of fly under the radar. Which means, either it will be canceled soon, or continue for a couple more years. It’s still pretty funny, although there’s been less Stevie and not enough Francis for my taste.

NBC

Crossing Jordan
(Sunday at 10:00)
Midseason Grade: B-
This fulfills my Crime Scene Investigation quota, without having to submit to the plethora of C.S.I.s that invade other nights of the week. Maybe they’ll finally get Jordan and Woody together. Who knows.

Medium
(Monday at 10:00)
Midseason Grade: A-
This season has been really good. Riveting, really, although the 3-D episode was a little over-the-top and cheesy, but as a general rule, it’s one of the shows I make a point of watching live every week.

The Office
(Tuesday at 9:30)
Midseason Grade: A
I think it was really the Christmas Party episode that has sold me completely on the show. I’ve watched it a couple times and it’s funnier every time. I think the upcoming “booze cruise” episode should be awesome.

“I’ve decided to quit drinking. During the week.”

Joey
(Thursday at 8:30)
Midseason Grade: B-
Nothing much changed here. It’s been bumped down the priority list though in favor of Everybody Hates Chris


UPN

Veronica Mars
(Wednesday at 9:00)
Midseason Grade: A
Continued awesome-ness. Jury episode was slightly weak, but still a thousand times better than 99% of the other shows out there.

WB

Gilmore Girls
(Tuesday at 8:00)
Midseason Grade: A
Yay! Rory and Lorelei have reconciled! There’s a wedding date to be set! Luke has an illegitimate child! Huh? Yeah. That was kind of a plotline I didn’t expect. We shall see how it works out. Otherwise though, good season, especially the episode where Lane’s band has a meltdown at an industry showcase. (For clarification, I am not in the “Logan-haters” club, more like the “Logan-meh” club.)

Smallville
(Thursday at 8:00)
Midseason Grade: C-
I’m not sure that I can explain why I still watch this show, except for the fact that it gives me something to complain about. Aquaman episode was quite lame, Lexmas was lame, sorority vampire lesbians somehow made lame.

Everwood
(Thursday at 9:00)
Midseason Grade: A-
As usual, stellar writing, excellent direction and visuals, along with a scene stealing Bright Abbott have propelled along this season. For excellent non-soapy drama, this is the place to be.

What I Like About You
(Friday at 8:00 *Additional episode at 8:30)
Midseason Grade: C
Generally amusing, and I think Amanda Bynes is really funny. And Jennie Garth is also very funny, too bad the writing isn’t as funny as either of them. I hope there’s not a shark close to the set, as they might just jump it.

Waiting with baited breath

No, that doesn't mean I've been eating worms, but rather it's that most hallowed day for Mac geeks everywhere. The day of the Steve-note. Only another 45 minutes until the start, which means I'll be closely watching any one of a variety of sites that supposedly will have live updaates. Ah, how I long for the days of the live streaming version.

There are snakes on the motherf*ing plane!

This is the best title ever. Snakes on a Plane

Starring Samuel L. Jackson. God-damn, god-damn snakes!

One guys Snakes on a Plane blog

They're back! Midseason reviews are in.

OK, here's a update with Midseason grades for all the new fall shows. I'll put up some reviews of the new midseason shows once they premiere. Here's what I'm likely to be watching that's new. Emily's Reason's Why Not, Skating With Celebrities, Crumbs, Four Kings, Courting Alex. On with the grades.


Season Premiere Grades Part 1
Season Premiere Grades Part 2
Season Premiere Grades Part 3
Season Premiere Grades Part 4
1st Semester Grades

FOX

Reunion
(Thursday at 9:00 *Canceled)
See previous post
They are not going to show the whole season of this show, and the producers have said they couldn’t wrap up the story in the remaining episodes, so anyone watching the show is kind of left in the lurch.

Kitchen Confidential
(Monday at 8:30 *Canceled)
Original Grade: A
Midseason Grade: A
They only showed one more episode of this series before repeating Arrested Development in its place. That episode was very funny, guess starring Michael Vartan. I’m very disappointed that this was canceled.

Head Cases
(Wednesday at 9:00 *Canceled)
See previous post.

Bones
(Tuesday at 8:00)
Original Grade: B
Midseason Grade: B+
There’s some character development going on, although some of the cases haven’t been very interesting. The chemistry does seem to be working better though.

NBC

My Name Is Earl
(Thursdays at 9:00 before The Office)
Original Grade: A
Midseason Grade: A+
Long live Jason Lee! My Name Is Earl has not lost any ground, and if anything has been funnier than ever. It moves to Thursdays against tough CSI competition, and hopefully will survive.

Surface
(Monday at 8:00)
Original Grade: C+
Midseason Grade: B
Actually, I have started to get into this show. It’s not aliens, it’s sea creatures. And there’s some sort of government cover-up of these creatures. The show is good for watching when you don’t feel like really paying attention to something.

ABC

Invasion
(Wednesday at 10:00 after Lost)
Original Grade: D
Midseason Grade: C
I’m still rather behind in watching this. And just checking, looks like Invasion is staying on Wednesday, and I’m not sure where Alias is going to be. Maybe it’s being displaced by Dancing With the Stars until that run is over. Argh. Anyway, my opinion of Invasion has not been drastically changed since I haven’t watched many episodes yet.

Commander in Chief
(Tuesday at 9:00)
Original Grade: A-
Revised Grade: A-
The show hasn’t been on since Thanksgiving, but the addition of Mark-Paul Gosselar to the cast should be interesting. It is coming back, so we’ll see how the rest of the season goes.

WB

Supernatural
(Tuesday at 9:00 after Gilmore Girls)
Original Grade: B+
Midseason Grade: B
Not sure if the couple episodes I still have to watch will change the grade from the pre-Sweeps grade, but it has somewhat fallen in my rankings of what to watch.

Twins
(Friday at 9:30 *Moved to after Reba)
Original Grade: D+
Midseason Grade: B-
I think the characters are starting to gel a little, and it seems to be getting a bit better.

Just Legal
(Monday at 9:00 *Canceled)
See previous post

Related
(Monday at 9:00)
Original Grade: C+
Updated Grade: B
There are definitely some deeper issues being dealt with, and of course a lot of family stuff, but overall, it’s kept its lighthearted atmosphere.

UPN

Everybody Hates Chris
(Thursday at 8:00)
Original Grade: A
Midseason Grade: A+
Best New Sitcom of the Year. If you don’t watch, I will come over there and break your leg, or chastise you, or something.

Love, Inc.
(Thursday at 8:30)
See previous review

CBS

How I Met Your Mother
(Monday at 8:30)
Original Grade: B+
Midseason Grade: A+
All hail Barney! This has become one of my favorite shows this season. “Have you met Ted?”

Out of Practice
(Monday at 9:30)
Original Grade: A-
Midseason Grade: A-
Continue the chuckle-headery! Stockard Channing anchors the show, allowing the rest of the cast to play off her, to very amusing results. Good stuff.

Threshold
(Friday at 9:00 *Canceled)
Original Grade: A
Midseason Grade: A
I was very disappointed when this was canceled. The curse of the Friday Death Slot, I suppose. I really thought this would be the one that made it, but I guess it’s easier to believe that a government conspiracy is for their good rather than that of the people.

Joss Whedon predicts more CSI...

OMG! This article is hilarious.

Guest Columnist Joss Whedon Eyes the Future of TV

Joss has no shame. Awesome.

Post-bar New Years recaplet post

Ok, actually had a really fun New Years. Emerald Ballroom was cool. Didn't get too drunk. Sam did. He managed to hold out until we got to Austin's before throwing up in the bushes. Thanks to Darren and Marcus for picking us up when we couldn't get a cab. Thanks to Sarah for making food when we got back. No thanks to dude in blue sweater that tried to freak up on Jessica and Beckie. I'm going to drink a big glass of water now. Um. Hydration.

My Christmas Stash

My Christmas Stash
Originally uploaded by M Kawamoto.

Well, this is what I got for Christmas. I got a new set of sheets, a set of jumper cables, a tea set, a trunk organizer for my car, some shampoo, a mini first aid kit (that'll stay in the car), a long sleeve shirt, some socks, a pair of pajama bottoms, and some various other knick-knacks.

Not quite as later as I thought

Hat and Scarf in progress
Originally uploaded by M Kawamoto.

Well, I decided to snap a photo or two of the knitting project I'm working on, so here it is. Spiral pattern scarf and hat. Alpaca... so soft. Must finish before Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve...

That should mean something, right? Anyway, I haven't decided to go to bed yet, but technically it is Christmas Eve, but really it's still Christmas Eve Eve to me. I'm not sure if I'm going to do any last minute shopping tomorrow, although I did want to get one more thing for my dad, and I need to go to that store to get some other things... we'll see. I may just get it for him after the weekend craziness. Also, made progress on other projects. Picture soon.

Beauty killed the beast.

Watched King Kong last night with Dan, Austin, and John. I had picked up Dan from the airport and we had Taco Bell after. After King Kong we went to the Berkley Front, after dropping off John and some other errands, and had some beers and met Coronado there. Leaving the bar, we wanted to go to Jimmy John's but once again I was thwarted in my attempt to get JJs, as the downtown Royal Oak one had closed early. So we went to National Coney. When I got home, my stomach was acting up, I don't know if it was the Taco Bell, the beer or the Coney, but I spent quite a lot of the night on the toilet. Sorry about that, but that's the reason I was up until nearly 6 in the morning. That and the couple cups of coffee at the Coney.

Wrapped present today. My Dad also stopped by to drop off a few tools for the basement project. Austin also stopped by with his gift exchange present.

The movie. Yes, we're back to the movie. I liked it. Even though it was 3 hours, when it worked, it was awesome. There were only a few things that weren't spectacular, but I still really enjoyed it. Go see it. I recommend it highly.

Progress update

Here's a few pictures of my basement in the midst of my renovations. Actually it's more a finishing of what was started by the previous owner.

Before


After


Before


After


Before


After


Before


After

My Spidey-sense is tingling...

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 70% Catwoman 60% Iron Man 60% Superman 55% Robin 52% Green Lantern 50% The Flash 45% Supergirl 35% Hulk 30% Wonder Woman 20% Batman 20%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

Ah! Kelly Clarkson!

Just watched The 40 Year Old Virgin with Austin. I bought it today at the crack that is Best Buy. Also did a little other Christmas shopping. That movie is so fucking funny. I have to swear to demonstrate the passion with which I feel about the movie and it's funnyness. Is funnyness a word? If it isn't, well, I don't care.

Last night I went out with my co-workers for the "Unofficial" office party. Our company is too stingy to put one on, so we just all met at the bar, and also quite a few former employees came out as well. It was a good time, but after the bar, I had a craving for Jimmy Johns, and nothing else would satiate it. There is one in downtown Rochester, just down the street from the bar we were at, but it had closed already. That unfortunately left me with the prospect of finding another that was open. Because nothing else would do. I went to the one on 15 Mile and Coolidge and that one was also closed. I eventually ended up going all the way to the one on Main Street in Royal Oak and got a #9. Yum. My favorite. After I got home I went to bed, but after a bit, the Coke I drank kicked in, and I stayed up watching TV for a couple hours.

Back to the Christmas shopping. I still need to find something for my dad. He's hard to buy for, as he doesn't really need anything. Well, he probably does, but it's hard to figure out. Harumph. Best Buy Gift Cards for all. Bah.

Just thought I'd share

I was reading a story about King Kong and it's box office opening, and there was one line in the story that killed me.

The typically understated Gene Shalit of NBC's Today called it, um, "fabularious."

Anyway, that's it. Here's the story

Three words about Alias

Irina Fucking Derevko!

Holy Shit! Oh. Snap!

I guess they're pulling no punches now that they know the show's ending. Actually a pretty cool episode. And Jack was badass.

More proof that Passion Of The Christ is bad

Mel Gibson vs. Saddam

Focus, Daniel-san!

It's my last day of work for the year, and it's awfully hard to stay concentrated on work. I'm taking my vacation. I was going to take more vacation during the year, but I got busy at work and couldn't go anywhere. And it's one of those "use it or lose it" propositions and thus, my extended winter break. The general plan is to sleep in alot, and do some work to the basement to make it less crappy. I'll post some pictures of the work in progress sometime later.

I want a piece of pie. Ma!

Mike as a South Park Character
Originally uploaded by M Kawamoto.

Ok, this is a cool website, where you can make yourself as a character from South Park.

Make your own South Park Character

Merriment and Mestophiles

I don't really know what the title of this post means, I just needed some alliteration for it.

So, last night, we went out for Austin's birthday. We had a um, drunken time. Austin and I got there at 9ish, and drove because it was too cold to walk. We then had a lot of beers. Austin also had a few shots, which contributed to later events. A bunch of Austin's work friends came, and his sisters showed up. There was a lot of "Bringing It On" and nerd talk and other fun things and whatnot. We ended up closing out the bar. Eventually I drove his car back to my place where we sobered up a bit. Austin then decided to leave, but had to puke on the neighbors lawn first. He was then ok. He's still recovering as we speak. Well, not really speak, but as I'm writing this, but you're not necessarily reading it at that same time, but suffice to say, he's hungover, well and good.

Tonight, I'm heading over to Austin's friend Gerry's where we're going to play Unreal Tournament on the LAN. Wow, that's like, so super nerdy. It should be fun though.

-The Dork

For Jackie Whenever I May Find Her

Random rant about selling out

Ok, this totally threw me off. I was watching TV and a commercial for King Kong came on. And the music? Coldplay. WTF? That does not compute. Error. Danger Will Robinson! It's totally incongrous.

Coldplay has totally sold out, although that happened after the first album. Blech. Darnit if they don't write catchy tunes though.

I guess it's close enough now.

Since it's December, I suppose I can tolerate some Christmas music. I always like to check the iTunes Music Store every week to see what the free download of the week is.
Well, this week it's Diana Krall with a version of Jingle Bells. It's nice, swing/big band peppy music. Cool. Just thought I'd pass it along.

iTunes Link

All I want for Christmas

I'm feeling a bit greedy, so here goes.

• Buffy DVD seasons 5 and 6
  
• Zip-front hoodie, XXL
  
• Veronica Mars DVD Season 1
  
• Trunk organizer (so stuff doesn't go sliding around everywhere)
  
• Burnout Legends for PSP
  
• Mario Party 7 for GameCube
  
• Black Diamond case for PSP
  
• Chappelle's Show Seasons 1 & 2
  
• Family Guy all seasons
  

Creepy and funny

I was reading the recap of Grey's Anatomy over at TWOP today and there was a mention of a song played in the episode with a link to the video. I have include that link here. It is awesome. Well, creepy, but awesome. I may just have to buy Silence of the Lambs...

Lotion in the basket video.

Coma-toes

Just got back from Dim Sum with Austin and a couple of his work friends. Very tasty. One interesting part of the conversation was the fact that Ben (being one of the co-workers) was offended by some of the merchandise they had. Ben is Jewish, and they were/are selling Chanukah bears. The problem with the bears is that they have stitched on one of its feet a Star of David, in yellow, like the patches, during the Holocaust. Even I can see the problem with that.

So, that was just some of the converstation. I am now full and sleepy. I will have more to say at some later time.

Fly in my eye

Well, I got to see Aeon Flux last night for free, courtesy of Austin. Here's my mini-review.

Aeon Flux
Directed by: Karyn Kusama (Girlfight)

Aeon Flux is a member of a resistance movement, fighting against the government put in place when a disease killed 99% of the population. This government has been doing bad things, and Aeon is spurred to more desperate action when her sister is killed on suspicion of being a traitor. She is given a mission: Kill the chairman. This is where the story really begins get confusing but by the second half of the movie it begins to come together. It was a surprisingly short movie, only clocking in at 90 minutes, but packing a lot of action into that time.
One of best things about the movie is the visuals. The set design and cinematography are awesome looking. One of the best scenes visually is set in a park full of cherry trees in blossom.
Charlize Theron was, of course, hot. But she pulled off the action star role surprisingly well. Frances McDormand was just kind of there... she had some whacked out hair, which kind of distracted me for a minute. Jonny Lee Miller was also good, although I didn't quite remember who he was at first.
I really enjoyed the movie. The story moved briskly, there wasn't anything that seemed tacked on with no purpose, and it looked awesome. If you're looking for some (mostly) brainless action, then this is recommended.

B+

Kendall, meet Trina. Trina, meet Kendall.

Wow, awesome episode of Veronica Mars last night. Nice reunion of Charisma Carpenter and Alyson Hannigan. And the ending was a huge surprise. And the alternate ending that they had on the web was actually a bigger shock. Some things began to make more sense, that's for sure. Awesome.

Wow, I just don't know how to describe that...

Weirdest corporate promotional video ever

Courtest of The Register

Dramedy or apocalypsia?

Well, went to my 10 year high school reunion tonight... it's late so maybe I should say last night, or maybe not. Anyway, it was pretty interesting, some people are doing cool things, others making a living, and others made babies. In one of the signs of the apocalypse, a friend from high school, Bennett, has had a child, with his wife of course, but frankly he was one of the people I did not see having a kid. Crazy. Also, talked to a bunch of other folks, had several drunks make half-hearted attempts to say hi, and found out Melissa is having another baby. I suppose it could have been worse, although some amount of cliche-yness still remained, but generally people were nice.

After the reunion, Dan and I went to Austin's sister's friend's housewarming in Allen Park. There was some *awkward* there as the girl's whose house it was, apparently was having sex with one or more guys, and her ex was at the party. Ye-ouch! It was interesting to say the least. Then I was tired and dropped Dan at his car and came home.

In the third leg of this story or whatnot, Friday night we went to see Harry Potter in IMAX. That was neat, but IMAX is not really necessary, and it's more expensive. Back to the movie though, I thought it was good, although if someone had no idea who Harry Potter is, they would be very lost. Hermione is hot. That's just to get hits. Cool.

I should go to bed now. It's late.

Farewell, Sensei

Sad news to report,

Pat Morita has died.

Story

How to debate on the internet...

The succinct version. See link.

The Dilbert Blog

Worst Patient Ever!

I am sick. This sucks. I'm not sure what I have, but it definately involves a fever and a not-happy tummy. I've been sleeping most of the day, and will probably go back to bed soon. Blech.

Milhouse of cards

I actually received my PSP Wednesday, after I went to the DHL office to pick it up. Unfortunately the good times were not to last. I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow I managed to "brick" my PSP even though I was not try to do anything wrong, i.e. downgrade the firmware to run homebrew or burned games. It kind of sucks. So, I have to send it back to Sorny to have it replaced. But they're gonna send a new one, so it's cool.

Just heard the White Stripes version of "Walking with a Ghost". Weird.

I have to pick up my Birks from the shoe repair tomorrow, as I haven't been able to get there before they close during the week. I also need a haircut. Maybe I'll try the barber just down the street. I've determined that I am going to be doing a lot of errands near Christmas, because I have use or lose my vacation time by then. I need to make a dentist appointment, an eye appointment, and I might do some work on my basement then. That's when the "Hot Chicks Room" goes in. But it actually doesn't because there in *no* "Hot Chicks Room". *Wink*

I'm made of candy and butterflies and kittens...

You Are Not Scary

Everyone loves you. Isn't that sweet?

How Scary Are You?

Why must I be at work when these things happen...

I am finally about to receive the fruit of my labors as I finally got all the referrals and approval for my "Free PSP". Unfortunately, I got the shipping notice from DHL on the day they tried to deliver it (today). I was/am at work and therefore unable to sign for the package. Ergh. I guess I'll have it tomorrow. Woohoo! "Free" stuff!

BTW, thanks for the kind words on Beckie's 'blog. I appreciate it, and you shouldn't have. No, really, it's too much. I mean it. Really guys. No, knock it off. Seriously guys, keep it down. Shut it already! Whoa. Sorry, got a little carried away in my fantasy "Mike Love-fest".

My kung-fu is better than yours!

That's it. Just this picture.

Arr! Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum... makes me dumb.

Stolen from various...

You scored as Captain Jack Sparrow. Roguish,quick-witted, and incredibly lucky, Jack Sparrow is a pirate who sometimes ends up being a hero, against his better judgement. Captain Jack looks out for #1, but he can be counted on (usually) to do the right thing. He has an incredibly persuasive tongue, a mind that borders on genius or insanity, and an incredible talent for getting into trouble and getting out of it. Maybe its brains, maybe its genius, or maybe its just plain luck. Or maybe a mixture of all three. Captain Jack Sparrow 75% Indiana Jones 71% The Terminator 67% Neo, the "One" 63% The Amazing Spider-Man 58% William Wallace 58% Batman, the Dark Knight 58% James Bond, Agent 007 54% Maximus 50% Lara Croft 42% El Zorro 38% Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0 created with QuizFarm.com

Did I forget to mention...

I don't think I ever posted anything about this weekend's dorkness. Well, anyway, Austin and I drove up to East Lansing to visit our friend John Machiorlatti. I think it only took just over an hour to get there. My car is teh fa5t3r. (Sorry to lapse into "leet" speak there. It's de rigueur when talking about your car on some of the forums I'm on.) So, back to the point. We were meeting up to play Magic: The Gathering, and also to see the house that John's parents had bought for his brother and him to live in and fix up while in Law School for the next 3 years. Both John and his brother (Dan?) are first years at Cooley.

We played Magic for a couple hours and then decided to get some dinner. We went looking for Mongolian BBQ, we eventually found it, not realizing it was in Okemos. There was a pretty long wait, so we wandered next door to Best Buy for a couple minutes. Eventually we got to eat, and it was good.

We then played a couple games after dinner and John also prodded Austin and I to buy firearms. John has a lot of guns, and I've been to the range with him a couple times, but I don't know if I want to actually own a gun. Then I might have to get a gun rack, and a pickup truck, and a hound dog, and chewing tobacco... and it goes on and on. Eventually we managed to say goodbye and head home. Austin has to work early Sundays so, we got back home around 11 and he went home.

I watched Hitch over the weekend. I signed up for the Blockbuster Online for one of the "Free iPods" or whatever (I can't remember which site it was for) and so I've been catching up on some movies. I also had Crash and Ocean's 12. I should be getting Lemony Snickett today.

-The Dork

In life, as in poker...

Sometimes as the game progresses, you have to lower your starting hand requirements.

I played poker with Austin and some of his friends last night. I've played with these guys before, and did pretty poorly the last couple times. This time though, I watched some Celebrity Poker Showdown just before I played, and some of the luck must have rubbed off. I ended up winning $5 for coming in second. I was pleased with my play. I actually ended up taking out 2 guys on one hand. That was sweet.

-The Geek

I see a little silhouette of a man...

Scaramouge! Scaramouge! Will you do the Fandango!

Please, for the love of all that is holy, you must watch this flash video. It is what happens when you mix LOST and "Weird" Al's version of Bohemian Rhapsody. Watch. Watch like the wind!

Lost Rhapsody

I almost peed my pants I was laughing so hard.

Another picture or two for you...

These pictures are from the party I went to on Saturday. In one, there's me and a cowboy getting ready to drink from the luge. In the second, there's Wacko Jacko pouring the "Jesus Juice" down the luge for Pippi Longstocking and a cowboy.

So, in a recap of my weekend activities, Friday night I went to Catalog Only's Hall-o-ween Bash. It was a lot of fun. "Penetration" played an awesome set. They covered "Don't Fear the Reaper." I gotta have more cowbell! One of the other bands I really liked was Sons of a Gun. I met the guy that does the paintings for CO's albums too. I'll put some of the pictures from that up on Flickr when I get a chance.

Saturday during the day I did some housework and raked the leaves in my front yard. For dinner I went with John Perri to the City Cellar in Birmingham. John was doing another of his secret-shops. Fisher was originally supposed to go, but got hung up doing stuff with his brother. The food was really good although I probably wouldn't go there normally as it was rather pricey. Mmmmm... bacon-crusted grouper.

Saturday night I went to a party at a house in Warren. It's the friend of a friend of Karla's (my neighbor across the street). There was a keg, the ice luge, 1000 jello shots (of which I had over a dozen) and some good munchies. Kim (whose house it was) also had a fire pit in the backyard. I ended up leaving there about 1:30, as I was pretty tired.

Sunday I watched TV all day and went to my parents for dinner. I watched 4 episodes of I Love the 80s 3D. It was excellent. It's a little scary how much of the stuff I remember from back then.

I'm a little disappointed that the new Treehouse of Horror isn't until next week. At least I'm getting a little caught up on everything I have recorded. I think one of my hard drives is starting to go though... I get some serious stutter on playing back some files, and the drive access light goes nuts. Weird.

-The Geek

I promise. More content next time.

Here's a picture of me with "Jordan" at Catalog Only's Hall-o-ween Bash. Awesome.


*Please note that this is not actually Jordan. It's a guy dressed as Jordan. He won the costume contest.

Fall TV Returning Series Reviews

Let’s consider this their 1st semester grades. It's a good thing I'm grading on a curve...

ABC

Desperate Housewives
(Sunday at 9:00)
Season Grade: A-
Not as strong as the first season, mostly due to the mystery not involving all four of the ‘Wives but still with a lot of good performances and writing. There must be an even bigger mystery than just the dead girl in Chicago and the guy locked in the basement of Mrs. Applewhite’s, because it’s not that much of mystery any more.

Grey’s Anatomy
(Sunday at 10:00)
Season Grade: A
I like this show a lot. There’re a lot of subtle hints of the personalities at work, and the relationships, past and present. While I find Dr. McDreamy’s wife to be annoying I can understand her role in the show. Carry on.

Lost
(Wednesday at 9:00)
Season Grade: A
This season has continually made my brain explode. Literally. Every freakin’ new thing they learn about the island just compounds the mystery. The stupid “countdown of doom” clock. Strange magnetic fields. The Others. The tail section survivors. It all keeps adding to the aneurysm that’s about to pop in my head. And I love it. I hate Ana-Lucia but I think that’s intentional. I don’t know, I just have to keep watching, and that’s what I want and need out of this show.

Alias
(Thursday at 8:00)
Season Grade: C+
No Michael Vartan. Expectant mothers gambling. Baltazar freakin’ Getty. Sloane getting off scot-free. The list of reasons why this season is less than good is long and getting longer. I think there have been good parts of episodes, but no episode has been awesomely good.

CBS

NUMB3RS
(Friday at 10:00)
Season Grade: B
Being the only CBS show I watch that came back, I remain faithful, if just a bit belated at times. Generally the show had been good, the mysteries cool, but the only thing I just haven’t been a fan of is the new characters. Diane Farr is ok, but the cocky guy just gets on my nerves.

FOX

The Simpsons
(Sunday at 8:00)
Season Grade: B+
Chucklehead business as usual. They need a good Mr. Burns episode though. I think Treehouse of Horror should be good.

The Family Guy
(Sunday at 9:00)
Season Grade: B
Funny, funny stuff. Still not to the level of the Simpsons’ best seasons, but still really good.

American Dad
(Sunday at 9:30)
Season Grade: B-
Not consistently funny, but when they hit the mark with total inappropriateness, it usually leaves me rolling.

Arrested Development
(Monday at 8:00)
Season Grade: A+
I cannot praise this show enough. And what makes it great are really the little things, like the faux-James-Bond theme music “For British Eyes Only.”

That 70’s Show
(Wednesday at 8:00)
Season Grade: N/A
Season premiere next week. Will report back later.

Stacked
(Wednesday at 8:30)
Season Grade: N/A
Not sure when it premieres. Presumably in a couple weeks.

The O.C.
(Thursday at 8:00)
Season Grade: B-
Dra-ma! I guess because they only had 4 weeks before baseball they decided to cram a bunch of stuff in, but quantity /= quality. I hate Dean Evil and that other chick and Summer is still good, but Marissa needs a sandwich and Ryan is being a dumbass while Seth just is. Hopefully things will get better in this half of the season.

Malcolm in the Middle
(Friday at 8:30)
Season Grade: A-
After getting the shaft timeslot-wise for the last couple years, Malcolm moved to Friday, which, while not much of an improvement, lessens its chance of being preempted by football or something else. So far this season, there have been some excellent episodes, especially the one where they went to Burning Man or the one where Dewey is smoking.

NBC

Crossing Jordan
(Sunday at 10:00)
Season Grade: C+
Nothing too spectacular here, but generally solid episodes. If you like it, you’ll enjoy this season.

Medium
(Monday at 10:00)
Season Grade: A-
Watch this show. That’s all.

The Office
(Tuesday at 9:30)
Season Grade: B+
The Office has really grown on me. Oftentimes it the “laugh because it’s so uncomfortable” moments that get me.

Joey
(Thursday at 8:30)
Season Grade: B-
This season has been pretty “meh.” It still seems to be missing something. And I can’t figure out what.

UPN

Veronica Mars
(Wednesday at 9:00)
Season Grade: A
OMG! I, like, totally love this show! Like wow, it’s awesome.
No, seriously. The writing is good, the continuity is amazing (for us geeks who care) and the acting is good. Even Duncan is better this season.

WB

Gilmore Girls
(Tuesday at 8:00)
Season Grade: B+
Having Rory not in Yale has been a challenge I think, as so much of Rory’s motivation came from schoolwork. I’m so glad that Luke and Lorelei finally are together though, hope it isn’t a Moonlighting-jump-the-shark decision though. They still need more Lane though.

Smallville
(Thursday at 8:00)
Season Grade: C+
This season has been a definite step up from last season. It’s somewhat less gay, and Lana is less wooden/annoying. There have been missteps, like continuing to have Lois around, and the Aquaman episode was kind of lame. I also don’t know how many more times I can stand it if Lex just keeps appearing out of nowhere, or someone angrily bursts into Lex’s office. Better, but still not as good as it should be.

Everwood
(Thursday at 9:00)
Season Grade: A-
Everwood continues to be one of my favorite shows. It’s well acted and well written. There’s so much depth and growth in the characters as well. Bellisimo!

What I Like About You
(Friday at 8:00 *Additional episode at 8:30)
Season Grade: C
Val got married and Holly is with Vince. Bleh. There’s still funny parts, but I don’t get real excited to watch.

I *Heart* Things in 3D

So, I've been watching I love the 80's 3D and in the 1982 episode they were talking about the first affordable home VCRs that came on the market. And the one that everyone was holding up while discussing the VCR was the same exact one we had when we first got a VCR. The exact same Quasar (that's a name from the way-back machine) VCR that we got in 1983. The same stupid top-loading design. The same corded remote. The same faux wood cabinet. I might have said "day-mmn!"

-The Dork

Class, lets review.

Well, since it's now deep enough in the fall TV season for some series to be showing repeats in the ramp up to November Sweeps, I thought I'd catch you up with my current thoughts on the new series and even just the latest seasons of favorites. I think for now, though, an update of new series will have to do.

FOX

Reunion
(Thursday at 9:00 after The OC)
Original Grade: C-
Updated Grade: N/A
I stopped watching after partway through the first episode, I can’t speak to how the rest of this season has been.


Kitchen Confidential
(Monday at 8:30 after Arrested Development which you should be watching anyways)
Original Grade: A
Updated Grade: A
This show kept me laughing for all the episodes shown this season before baseball interrupted. All the casting really works, the writing is good, and is unpredictable enough to keep things interesting.

Head Cases
(Wednesday at 9:00 *Canceled)
Original Grade: B-
Updated Grade: C+
This show was canceled after only 2 episodes, so it didn’t have much time to either rise above or sink below, but it just didn’t do much of anything. As TWoP said, “The thing is, the show wasn't bad. But it also wasn't good. It was so totally, incredibly "meh" that the black hole of apathy its two aired episodes created has quite possibly rent a tear in the space-time continuum.”

Bones
(Tuesday at 8:00)
Original Grade: B
Updated Grade: B-
I’m going to reserve any serious judgment about Bones until I’ve seen more than 3 episodes, because I liked it, but there are still some things that bug me about it. Hopefully the upcoming episodes will address some of the shortcomings.


NBC

My Name Is Earl
(Tuesday at 9:00 before The Office)
Original Grade: A
Updated Grade: A+
My Name Is Earl has moved to the head of the class as the best new comedy this season. All the wacky, screwball antics of Earl and his brother have me constantly rolling. His ex-wife is also hysterical. I was bummed that this week was a repeat. I always look forward to watching it, it’s the first thing I’ll watch if I was out that night.

Surface
(Monday at 8:00)
Original Grade: C+
Updated Grade: N/A
I haven’t watched beyond the first episode yet, so I will give an updated grade once I watch a couple more episodes, which may or may not happen, depending on how bored I get. Apparently a lot of people like it.


ABC

Invasion
(Wednesday at 10:00 after Lost)
Original Grade: D
Updated Grade: C-
I’m willing to give Invasion a second chance, as after watching the second episode, there’s a bit more intrigue, although sometimes there a scene that needs a Western Union agent because of how badly it telegraphs the plot twist. According to what I read online, the Sheriff is one of the better characters and makes the show worth watching. We’ll see, I still have several episodes I haven’t watched yet.

Commander in Chief
(Tuesday at 9:00)
Original Grade: A-
Revised Grade: A-
Still one of my must-watches of the week, although hopefully they can come up with a better way to showcase the political infighting and backstabbing in D.C. politics than to have Templeton hatch some plot that ends up backfiring on him. We get that he’s evil, move on already.

WB

Supernatural
(Tuesday at 9:00 after Gilmore Girls)
Original Grade: B+
Updated Grade: B
I still like this show, although it’s not at the top of my must-watch list. One of the problems that I can see coming for this show is whether or not the season’s story arc will actually advance any from the various episode plots. As of now, none of the episodes have really addressed the arc. If they can bring a more “Buffy-like” story arc in, it might deserve an upgrade.

Twins
(Friday at 9:30 *Moved to after Reba)
Original Grade: D+
Updated Grade: C+
After watching a couple more episodes, I began to reconsider my original grade. It definitely has been less flat than the first episode was. Some of the jokes are a bit too easy, but there have been occasional bursts of creativity in the writing. I guess I expected a bit more from the creators of Will & Grace, but I guess they used all their good jokes in the first couple seasons of W&G.


Just Legal
(Monday at 9:00 *Canceled)
Original Grade: B-
Updated Grade: B
I was disappointed that this show was canceled after only 3 episodes. I thought that the characters were starting to find themselves in their roles, and the plotlines could start to flesh them out. Unfortunately it was not given that chance.

Related
(Wednesday at 9:00 and also Monday at 9:00 in place of Just Legal)
Original Grade: C+
Updated Grade: B
This show has grown on me. Stupid WB chick shows. Ergh. The chemistry of the sisters is fairly realistic, even if some of their situations seem a little ridiculous. Still normal family dramedy stories, but I’m strangely hooked.

UPN

Everybody Hates Chris
(Thursday at 8:00)
Original Grade: A
Updated Grade: A
I think Everybody Hates Chris is going to bump Joey down the priority list when it gets to the point where there’s conflicts. Everything about this show is great, his school friend, the local bullies, his mom and dad, his siblings. The show is tremendously funny and warm. The only fault I can find is the stupid “every-body ha-ates Chris” chorus in the middle of the show. Do not watch Survivor or CSI. Watch this show.


Love, Inc.
(Thursday at 8:30)
Original Grade:N/A
Updated Grade: F
As I said before, this show stinks. I only am giving it a grade to satisfy the grading requirements, otherwise I wouldn’t bother. And I don’t think many other people are either.

CBS

How I Met Your Mother
(Monday at 8:30)
Original Grade: B+
Updated Grade: A-
How I Met Your Mother seems to have found it’s stride. I love Barney. He total makes the show. He’s kind of the “Kramer” of it. Marshall and Lily have also managed to find their niches. Of course that leaves the biggest problem which is, if Robin isn’t the mother, than who is it, and how will they resolve it and how quickly. This isn’t really that important though as the journey there is pretty enjoyable.
(Obligatory Barney quote: “Flight suit-up!”)

Out of Practice
(Monday at 9:30)
Original Grade: A-
Updated Grade: B+
Only a slight down grade for Out of Practice, because it seems that the plots haven’t been very imaginative. Otherwise, it’s been very funny and Henry Winkler is as usual, hilarious.

Threshold
(Friday at 9:00 before NUMB3RS)
Original Grade: A
Updated Grade: A
Keeping the scary factor up, Threshold has continued to creep me out. And that’s a good thing. One of the best things about the aliens on Threshold has been that they are intelligent, street-smart and because of their near-normal outward appearance, disturbing. The writing has been good, the acting is good, and I don’t even think “Data” whenever Brent Spiner appears.

Always take backup...

On the radio this morning they were talking about "backup husbands/wives", i.e. the person whom you may have arranged to get married to at a specific point if neither of you is in a relationship. This made me ponder my own rapidly approaching backup date. I find it rather unsettling. For one, there's a certain lack of clarity as to the seriousness of the arrangement. I'm also very comfortable in my current living situation. (Maybe a little too comfortable). There's also the fact that this arrangement was made in a rather drunken state almost 5 years ago, with the certainty that we would most likely find other suitable life-mates.

30 is sneaking up on me pretty quickly, and although I didn't expect to be married by now, I thought that I'd at least have some sort of reasonable prospect lined up. Sadly, as is my way, I have not really attempted to find a partner, whether through laziness, apathy, fear of rejection, shyness, or even lack of confidence. Maybe what's holding me back is the backup plan.

Now, don't get me wrong. I like Jessica a lot. I care for her deeply and I would never give that up, but the more I depend on the backup plan, the more likely I am to be hurt or disappointed if or when I am not needed as the backup.

I suppose making this realization is just one small part of rectifying the situation, but that doesn't really matter if none of the rest of it gets followed through with. I hope that I am able to make some progress. Maybe this is all generic psychobabble, maybe I'm wrong, maybe I don't really know what I'm talking, but I know me, and this has been weighing on my mind for a while.

Well, that was kind of heavy for a Tuesday. I promise more rainbows and ice cream next time.

[insert clever post title here]{increase originality factor}

Anyway, I went to lunch yesterday with Jackie. Originally we made lunch plans so I could give her the money I owed from the birthday limo party. Then it just ended up being a day that her boss was on vacation, so she was free to get lunch. We went to the Monogolian BBQ that's close by over here (near my work). The food was good, and Jackie and I had a very nice time talking about work, and not work, football, and Johnny Spirit and lots of other things. It's always good to get out of the office, although I usually end up going out for lunch anyways. I guess that's all. Aight.

There is no Dana, only Zuul!

You fit in with: Agnosticism Your ideals mostly resemble those of an Agnostic. You are fairly ambivalent towards any religion or spiritual connection. You lead a very busy life and find hat religion and spirituality are unnecessary to your life. 40% scientific. 40% reason-oriented.

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I am broken... not.

Personality Disorder Test Results Paranoid |||||||||| 34% Schizoid |||||| 30% Schizotypal |||||||||||| 42% Antisocial |||||| 22% Borderline |||| 18% Histrionic |||||| 26% Narcissistic |||||||||| 38% Avoidant |||||| 26% Dependent |||||||||| 34% Obsessive-Compulsive |||||||||||| 42%

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TV Series Premieres Part umm... I don't know.

So, I watched the first episode of Surface. My review is below. But I'd like to talk about a few other things first. Like Lost. Last nights episode was pretty cool. But man, I need my fix. I don't know if I'll be able to handle 3 weeks without Lost. That'll be rough. And Veronica Mars was excellent again, even if it was a fairly calm episode, it certainly laid the groundwork for a lot of things to go down. And thanks to VM's mom whose drinking finally paid off in helping out Veronica on her case. I thinks that's all I have for now.

-The Geek


NBC

Surface
(Monday at 8:00)

This is show is many things. Which things I’m not sure. It’s supposed to be a family oriented alien invasion show. The pilot leads off with middle/high school age kids drinking and wakeboarding at night in Dawson’s Creek… I mean Wilmington, N.C. Actually it doesn’t really matter where they are, just that one kid, sees something in the water he can’t explain. Then there’s a submarine in the Antarctic that is missing it’s crew, and a random Russian Scientist is there to inspect the mysteriously empty vessel for the U.S. Navy. The location then changes again to SoCal where Marine Biologist lady (Lake Bell… yes, that’s her name) is going to be taking a submersible deep to study life around geothermal vents in the ocean floor. She ends up being jostled by a big sea creature rising out of a very deep hole, and no one believes she saw something down there. In the fourth of the increasing implausible and confusing plot threads, a Louisiana scuba diver and his brother are out spear-fishing near an oil platform when his brother shoots another of these sea creatures and is dragged bottomward to his death. Eventually we get back to the Dawson’s River kids, who sneak out late at night and find in the water, what we assume to be either eggs or immature versions of the sea creatures. The one kid ends up putting it his parents aquarium where it eats all the fish and breaks out and hides. I guess this kid is going to befriend it. Anyway, we wind up the show with evidence that these sea creatures are huge and are recent additions to the planet. All in all, it’s entertaining but forgettable, and suffers from technical and societal inconsistencies. One of the most grating things to me was when MB lady was in the submersible, she refers to the seeing something on “RADAR” which is incorrect, underwater you use “SONAR”. That and the multiple, confusing plot threads make the show less enjoyable. I’ll probably watch what episodes I have recorded already, but I may delete them if I need the room.

C+

Season Premieres part 424334.... whatever

So, anyway, I ended up picking up another show to watch. Well, 2. Maybe more, I don't know. I've recorded several episodes of Surface, but have not had the chance to watch any of them. I decided to check it out based on the recommendation of a co-worker. Also, I've been watching Everybody Hates Chris because I have a free slot while The O.C. is off for baseball. I also have ended up watching Related on the WB because I am a 'ho for anything WB. In the midst of this, I also checked out Love, Inc. on UPN after Everybody Hates Chris, because Busy Phillips is on it, I shouldn't have bothered. To paraphrase the J. Geils Band, Love, Inc. Stinks!

UPN

Everybody Hates Chris
(Thurdsay at 8:00)

Everybody Hates Chris is the chronicle of Chris Rock's middle school days. Chris has been transferred to an all-White school, and is socially awkward besides the whole race issue. There's trouble with the school bully, mis-perceptions about his athletic abilities and lots of other things that keep him down. It's a really well done show, very funny, and the actor that plays Chris is excellent. Highly recommended.

A

WB

Related
(Wednesday at 9:00)

4 sisters living in New York. A lawyer, a therapist, an event planner and a student. A father about to remarry. One of them is pregnant, one is getting kicked out of her sublet, one has just broken up, and one has changed majors from pre-med to experimental theater. These are sisters with issues. It's ok, nothing ground breaking or original, family drama at it's normalest. Related is a step up from the schmaltyness of Seventh Heaven plus the actors and actresses can actually emote with some modicum of skill. I may get bored after a while, but it's a worthy diversion if you have nothing else to watch.

C+


P.S. In case you didn't know already, Just Legal and Head Cases were canceled. Ouch.

One More Thing...

Well, I'm checking in regularly on the Steve Jobs live event where apparently there've been a couple of product announcements. New iPods, 20Gb and 60Gb with video out capability. Also iMacs w/built in iSights. Cool. And also an Apple branded remote with neat software. I think there's some more stuff to come, also there's a new version of iTunes Music store where you download videos and even TV shows. Neat.


I was also reading the recap of last week's Smallville episode, and just remembered something. There's a part where Clark and Chloe are driving up to LuthorCorp and in the background is a big ass bridge. Where is there a gigantic bridge in the middle of Kansas! WTF! Stupid filmed in Vancouver show.

-The Geek

A few words...

Oh. My. God. I felt like ass yesterday. I don't know how much I had to drink or even what it was, but I felt lousy. It might have been the tequila. Or any of the other various drinks I had, but I was pretty drunk Saturday. It still was an awesome time. Thanks to Jackie and Sarah for arranging the Limo-bus. I think I might owe them money for that. I promise to post or email some pictures soon also. I won't quite do the blow-by-blow account of the evenings debauchery, but a few bullet points might help.

• Pre-party with snacks


• Bus ride w/Pucker


• Tiki Bob's


• Longest Bus Ride Ever back to Jackie and Sarah's


• Passing out on the loveseat (but not the ottoman)


• Throwing up at 7 in the morning


• Tim Horton's for donuts and coffee on the way home

Sunday evening I went to my parent's for dinner, although their kitchen is still not done. They're supposed to have at least some of the counter done today though, even if the sink won't be working. After that I came home and just watched TV, and went to bed reasonably early. I still didn't wake up on time this morning though. Oh well, shit happens.

It's my Birthday!

It's not that important a birthday. Or at least not psychologically, not like turning 30 will be next year. But that's a different thing altogether. For that I have actual plans. I think for the last couple years I've been talking about going to Hawaii for my 30th, so I guess I have to buckle down a little bit and save some money for the trip.

Of course yesterday, I went and bought myself a GameBoy Advance SP for my birthday. I have a GameBoy already, but it doesn't have the backlit screen, so it's hard to see. The new one is much better. I got this poker game a couple weeks ago for it and have been playing that alot. I also bought the new Franz Ferndinand and My Morning Jacket albums. I'm listening to them now. I like it/them.

Last night I also ended up going out with Austin for a beer and some food. I didn't really have any dinner at the normal time, and so after Austin got off work, I gave him a call because he mentioned he might be doing something after work. He wasn't but then suggested the Redcoat Tavern to get some food and a beer, because their kitchen is open until close. Awesome. Austin's friend Alex also came by and hung out. I had a good corned beef sandwich and Alex got this calamari dish which was good that I had a taste of. It was a good time, pretty low-key.

I guess that really all for now.

-The Geek

Share my pain...

I watched Smallville last night. I'm not sure why I continue to torture myself with it. I think it was fine when Dan was around so we could bitch about it together, but now, I have no one to share the pain with. I'm not sure what's worst, the bad acting, the barely veiled homo-sexual tension between Lex and Clark, the continuing presense of Lois, the non-chemistry between Clark and Lana or just the lame-itude of the FotWs(Freak of the Week). It's torturous. I think the only reason I watch it now, is because of TWoP.

Moving on, I also watched Alias. That was at least good. Actually it was very good, even though they totally stole the plane boarding gag from some other movie (and I'm totally blanking on it, it's not Air Force One, but I'm not sure what it is, wait, looked it up, it's Executive Decision, just needed to remember that it had Steven Seagal in it). Other than that though I thought the rest was good. I totally thought that evil dude would totally say it was Sloane that giving orders, but he thought he'd be better off pulling a Daedelus.

One more thing, check this out Lost fans... The Hanso Foundation. Awesomeness.

-The Geek

The Highlight of the Scientific Calendar!

It's that time of the year again. The winners of the 2005 Ig Noble Awards were announced last night. Highlights are the results of research into whether people swim faster in water or syrup and also what the internal pressures are when a penguin poops. Awesome.

-The Dork

A long time ago, we used to be friends... / Mis-"Orientation"

Watched Veronica Mars last night. And Lost. Awesome. Or rather, Emosewa (it's a TWoP thing).

I was reading the forums at TWoP last night on Veronica Mars, and they were going crazy, much of the postings just commenting on lines, looks, VMs fashion choices, and of course there was much of the conspiracy-type talk. Interesting, but as much as a fan of the show that I am, I don't know that I could devote that much time discussing it. Maybe I'm just a fan of too many shows, and if I obsessed on only one show it'd be different.

Speaking of other shows, Lost was freakin' sweet. I knew something was up with Michelle Rodriguez's character. The Locke flashbacks were cool also. It's kind of funny that they can make his face look younger, but when you see his hands, you know he's an old guy. Kate Segal was also really good. I just about didn't recognize her even though I'd seen her name in the credits.
Sometimes suspending your disbelief is a "leap of faith" for this show.
I hope somebody else noticed the polar bears in the orientation movie. Also cool was that the scientists who founded it were U of M professors. I wonder if any of the staff for Lost went to U of M?
Anyway, very good episode.

-The Geek

I am cold and precise

ISTP - "Engineer". Values freedom of action and following interests and impulses. Independent, concise in speech, master of tools. 5.4% of total population.

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Main type	Variant

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Enneagram Test Results Type 1 Perfectionism |||||||||||| 46% Type 2 Helpfulness |||||||||| 33% Type 3 Image Awareness |||||||||| 36% Type 4 Sensitivity |||| 16% Type 5 Detachment |||||||||| 33% Type 6 Anxiety |||||||||||| 43% Type 7 Adventurousness |||||||||| 33% Type 8 Aggressiveness |||| 20% Type 9 Calmness |||||||||||| 50% Your main type is 9 Your variant is social

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A few kind words for my friend Veronica

I watched the season premiere of Veronica Mars last night (because it didn't get recorded until Sunday when they showed the repeat) and yeah, it's like, wow, like, totally awesome. Some surprises, but still the same Veronica Mars. Though most of the episode was a flashback of events from the summer, it was pretty good, until the end when I had a total "WTF!" moment. This is going to be a very interesting season.

BTW, Charisma Carpenter as Dick and Beav's former-Laker-girl step-mom, awesome!

Also. I must buy the first season DVDs of Veronica Mars. Hmm. Maybe as a birthday present to myself.

-The Geek

Very Sleepy

Well, I am tired.

I went out last night with Jessica and Beckie and went to the Necto in A2 for Ryan's birthday. It was a good time, we finally met the mysterious "The Colleague". The Gays were very nice to us, although I think "The Colleague's" (boy?)friend was a little scared of Jeff. I can't remember who else I met, I think there was a Tim and there were some girls, and lesbians and drag queens and Long Islands and Denny's. I can only assume that Beckie and Jessica made it home safe, judging from Jessica's blog.

Then today, I went over to Al's place to watch the Wolverines triumph over the Spartans. Al is this guy I met last week at Karla's party who brought the luge. Anyways, I watched the game, ate some food, had some beers and played horseshoes. I am a horrible horseshoe player. Whoever said close counts in horseshoes was wrong. You have to be pretty damn accurate from a long distance to score any points. Chris is over now, catching up on some TV. I'm just tired. And kind of hungry, I didn't really have any dinner.