COMEDY. daniel tosh

this guy had a special on comedy central a couple weeks ago. i had never heard of him before that, but i tivod it and gave it a shot. and to my surprise, this guy is hilarious!

the comedians i really like are brian regan, mitch hedberg, and dane cook. i have been looking for some more quality stuff lately. i often listen to comedy cds when i drive to or back from michigan. sometimes i need something that will keep me awake.

so, i went down to circuit city and picked up a cd/dvd of this daniel tosh fellow. (as listed before, i really enjoy brian regan. one of the reasons for that is because he can be so funny with out being dirty. well, daniel tosh is about the opposite of that...) his style of comedy is very strange. like mitch, he doesnt bother with segueing from one joke to the next, he just goes through them like hes writing a list. he also has a way of making a very broad joke, and then continuing the punchline further and further into obscurity. let me give you an example: one of his jokes starts with talking about day light savings, and ends with shopping for socket covers at target. and before he gets to that last one, he has also referenced going to a bar, a pterodactyl, and brushed steel picture frames.

strange. but funny.

TV. stargate sg-1

for one reason or another, i got sucked in to this show over the past year. its been on the air for a very long time, and i always just dismissed it as a cheesy sci fi show. but then i watched it. and i soon realized the truth: it IS a cheesy sci fi show- but its really fun!!! the characters are very well written and the concepts they present in the shows are often interesting. so, having come to the party so late (its been on the air for ten years now) i have been trying to catch up with whats been going on. its not too confusing, but every once in a while there can be a reference that i dont get.

the frustrating thing is this: just as i was beginning to love this show, the sci fi channel cancelled it! argh! ive been enjoying all the new episodes this season, and the series finale was on this past friday. i was finally able to watch it yesterday. i wasnt sure what to expect, if they would go for the big ending, or just have another normal episode. how they dealt with it though, is exactly why i enjoy the series so much. heres what goes down: through a series of events that are too complicated to explain (hey, i even missed most of it) the crew on in a space ship with no shield power, and a shot has just been fired on them. before it can hit, a time bubble is created around the ship and everything stops (it makes sense in the show, just go with it...). the fired shot is about to hit them, and they have no way of stopping it once they turn off the time bubble. but since time is stopped, they have as much time as they need to figure out a solution. over the course of the episode time passes and each idea fails. but during that time the six crew members continue on with their lives, finding new hobbies, and finding new loves. by the time a solution is found, 50 years have passed in the bubble and so much of their lives have changed and brought them each into a deeper understanding and love for each other. it was actually quite touching and a very satisfying end to the show.

i guess there are still going to be a couple straight to dvd movies, and there is also the show stargate atlantis (which isnt nearly as good though). its strange to think what a rich and textured world has come from that kinda lame movie from the 90's...

WORDS. contronym

i learned a new word today! i like to think of my self as being fairly verbose in my use of the english vocabulary. i do find enjoyment from, time to time, using them 'five dollar' words. but today i came across one that really intrigued me: contronym. the strange thing is that it isnt even listed in the websters dictionary.

near as i can explain it is like this: you know what a synonym is, right? it means two words that mean the same thing (eg. broad and wide). and you know what an antonym is, right? it means two words with opposite meanings (eg. up and down). but check this out: a contronym is a word that is its own antonym! the same word means the exact opposite of itself! how crazy/cool is that?!?

some examples: apology. it means to to admit fault in what you think, but it also means a formal defense of what you think. weird, huh? another example: custom. it means something that is usually done, but it also means something that is done special. rad! if you are digging this idea as much as i do, check out this site, there are tons of them!

GAMES. starfox and wii play

in preporation for jeffry lees visit last weekend i went to gamestop and picked up a game for him. hes been mentioning for the past several months that he really wanted to play 'starfox assult', but he doesnt own a gamecube. we figured that this would be a good chance to pick it up and let him play for a while on my 'cube while he was visiting.

we ended up having some free time saturday afternoon, so he decided to pop it in and give it a try. i myself didnt play it at all, but jeffry lee thought it was pretty cool. i guess hes always had a soft spot for starfox since the first one on the super nintendo. aw, how cute.

but once he left i realized something: i had just bought this game for him to play, but i had no interest in playing it myself. so, i decided to do the reasonable thing and return it. but i also figured (or talked myself into) buying a different game would be the right way to deal with this problem. so, i picked up 'wii play'. i figured it was a good investment anyway: it comes with a free wii controller (usually $40), and a disc that has 9 games on it. all for only fifty bucks. my rationalizing mind figured its like buying a new controller and getting 9 more games for only ten bucks. i havent been able to try it yet, so i cant really say if it was worth it or not. i guess ive got my plans for this afternoon figured out!

TV. on the lot

there have been so many reality shows the past several years, and most of them are really stupid. the worst offenders have been ones about relationships and finding 'love'. but there has been a subcategory of reality shows that focus on doing something usefull. whether its a song contest that introduces us to new talent (or more often is the case: no talent), or a performance based contest that results in new interests. the new reality show on fox called 'on the lot' falls into that latter category. the set up is this: they get together a bunch of novice directors and put them through the drills of creating a short fill each week. they show the films and the audience decides whos was the best. the prize is a developement deal with dreamworks. now that sounds interesting. and so far, it has been. there have been a few episodes so far, and its really quite exciting to see some of these different people create 1-3 minute short films. some of them are very good, and others are disasters, but each one shows a unique perspective. i look forward to watching this one for the rest of the season and seeing what may become of the winning director.

hey, at the very least, theyve got to be better than brett ratner...