TV. fringe

basically, this show is x-files 2.o, but since i liked x-files, that is a good thing! the show is about a woman who works for the a government organization who works on strange cases with a crazy (literally) old scientist and his reluctant son. each week they tackle a new case, but its a show by jj abrams of 'lost' fame, so there are also some strange conspiracy goings-on thats always taking place just below the surface.

the three main characters are quite likable, especially john noble as the strange old man. the cases themselves are pretty interesting and deal with some sort of unusual fringe science (thus the name of the show). the weekly mystery is fun, but its the overarching 'pattern' that really draws you in. the first batch of episodes has come to a close and fox has picked it up for the full season, so there will be more to come. i'm certainly hooked at this point and look forward to the little glimses we see each week of the bigger picture.

AUDIO BOOKS. holidays on ice

david sedaris seems to be universally loved for his short stories and essays. ive listened to a couple of his audio books before, and actually had the pleasure of seeing him live. ive enjoyed his other stuff; i really liked a few of his short stories in 'dress your family in corduroy and denim', so i thought i'd give this one a try.
but after listening to it i am begining to wonder what the big deal is. some of his stories are interesting, but many of them fall rather flat. this one is a bunch of them that have to do with the holidays, and i must admit, i wasnt really that impressed.

BOOKS. colbert bag

you know how barnes and noble has those black and white line illustrations of different famous authors up on their walls? well i was in there recently and saw this book bag. i guess technically stephen colbert has written a book and is famous, but it still seems a bit strange...

AUDIO BOOKS. the great gatsby

it is considered a great american classic, but i had never read this book. i figured i should fix this terrible oversite, so i recently listened to it on audio book. i went in blind- i had no idea what it was about or anything. the story is set in new york's long island sound, a place that in the 1920's (when this book was written) was a haven for rich new englanders. gatsby, a self made millionaire, has devoted himself to getting back the girl he lost five years earlier to a rich man. he makes his millions and then tries to woo her back. the story is told from the voice of a man who befriends gatsby, but doesnt belong in the rich circles that the rest of them inhabit. there are trips to the city, dinner parties, and fancy drives, but all of it is shown to be so shallow.
fitzgerald does an amazing job of drawing you into this world of excess and extreme shallowness. the lost love story is captivating, but over it all is a sad sense that even if everyone gets what they want they still have nothing of value. its tragic conclusion, like that of a greek tragedy, is sad but inevitable. a truly moving story, and an incredibly interesting glance into a time long since past.

AUDIO BOOKS. making money

this is the follow-up to pratchett's other book 'going postal'. it continues to follow the adventures of moist von lipwig. he has already fixed the post office, he got it running smoothly and actually making a profit! now the king wants him to set his sights on the banking system in the city. he finds himself in the thick of a huge change happening with the local gollum population. he has to fix up the mint, stop a war, and keep himself from getting caught in the crossfire of a treason plot. its a good story, but nowhere near as good as 'going postal'. pratchett isnt quite able to recapture the fun and wrecklesness that made the moist character so much fun in his last outing. the treason plot slows things down, and the gollum story seems like it would be better suited for a different book.

BOOKS. quack shack

why didn't anyone tell me how great childrens books are now? this past weekend i went home and saw my nieces and nephew. they had gone to the library recently and came back with this gem. the book is ridiculously simple, but completely hilarious! it starts by introducing a family of words, like 'the ick family', and then takes a few pages to introduce some of the words in that family, 'chick', 'lick', 'sick', etc. and then it combines the words to make a funny image: 'chick sick' the images are great too, everything has a face on it, and their expressions are really funny! the best was 'chick kick!' which had a little duck dressed rambo-style, kicking at a couple of worms that are flying backward through the air! genius! the ack family: quack sack! the ock family: locks rock! the kids and i laughed at this book for about a half hour! i looked in the back and there is a whole collection of them- i am really eager to check out 'snow bow' next!
(more pics)

TV. season passed

each year i try out a few of the new shows that come out for the new tv season. usually i get burned and pick all the ones that end up getting cancelled after just a couple episodes (take 'do not disturb' or 'carpoolers' for example). but sometimes they are really good, and they actually stick around! usually i am interested, but the networks arent. recently though, there have been a few shows that the networks stick with, but i loose interest. i tivo shows and watch them at my leisure, but sometimes i just dont care about them any more. here are a few shows that i started with, but for one reason or another, ive decided to give up on. these are the shows that have suffered the terrible tivo fate called: season pass delete!

pushing daises: i joined this one right from the first episode. the story was strange, but strange in an adorable way. each episode has a narrator who speaks in rhyme, and the whole thing has a strange 'tim burtonesque' quality to it. the first season was really enchanting, the story of 'a pie maker who could bring people back to life if he touched them once, and back to death if he touched them again, and the girl he loves who he brought back to life, but now couldnt touch' was great, but i just dont care anymore. this show didnt have any new episodes after the writers strike last fall, and i guess a year later, i'm just not interested anymore. too bad, it had a good first run.

my name is earl: again, i've watched this one since it first came on. i really like jason lee, and was interested in seeing this show. to be honest though, i cant say ive ever really liked it. some of the stories were fun, and the characters of randy and joy were often amusing, but i rarely laughed, and certainly didnt care about the characters. i guess this one could have been deleted a couple of years ago and i most likely wouldnt have even noticed. it was mostly just a filler before i got to watch the good stuff: 'the office'.

chuck: the ads for this one last year looked cool, so i watched the first episode. it was a bit of fun, but what really hooked me was the fact that in that first episode they played a song by brothers martin, which is jason and ronny martin- the men behind two bands i really love: starflyer 59 and joy electric! right there, i was hooked! any show that supports my man ronny is worth me watching. so i watched the rest of the season and really enjoyed it. i would still be watching it this season, actually, but the awful truth is this: my tivo can only record two things at once, and 'chuck' is on opposite 'how i met your mother' and 'the sarah conner chronicles', so unfortunately, chuck gets cut. it looks like fox is moving 'sarah conner' to fridays in february, so i think i may give chuck another try!

ugly betty: granted, i shouldnt really even be admitting to the fact that i watched every episode for the first two seasons, huh? oh well- whats done is done. i'm not sure what i liked about the show in the first place, but what ever it was, it is long gone. and now, so is the show.

AUDIO BOOKS. i am legend

wow. this is, without a doubt, the greatest audio book i've ever listened to.
i saw the movie and enjoyed it, but hated the ending. i had heard that the book ending was a bit different, so i was curious to find out how that one went. after listening to it, i have to say that the movie really dropped the ball on this one.
the story is of robert neville, the last man alive after a deadly virus killed off the rest of the population. he struggles with survival as he finds that this virus has turned some survivors into vampires. he tries to deal with keeping them out during the night as well as what it means for him to be the last human alive. the twists and turns the story takes are unexpected, but perfect. the ending? brilliant.
as always with audio books, a lot of the fun is listening to a good story well told, and that falls on the reader to perform the material in a fitting way. so many books fail because of the person performing the book. in this case, the guy they got to read the story was perfect- alternating between gruff, confused, joyful, and many other emotions. he hits it out of the park!
i cant really do justice in explaining just how amazing of an experience it was to listen, with bated breath, to this story as it unfolded. if you have any interest at all in audio books, you MUST listen to this one!

AUDIO BOOKS. going postal

ahh, the masterpiece! after listening to a bunch of terry pratchett's books based in disc world, i must say that this is by far the best!
it centers on a crook named moist von lipwig (yes, the character's name really is moist). he is given another chance by the king, and this time he has to take on the role of postmaster and try and start up the postal service which has been in decay for many years. he gives it the old college try and much to everyone's amazement, including his own, he starts to find success! this causes the natural showman to up his game and start making ridiculous claims that he then has to try and keep up with.
the characters are fantastic, the writing is witty and crisp, and the story really drew me in- this one is a blast!

AUDIO BOOKS. wintersmith

the last of the tiffany aching trilogy, this book focuses on her encounter with the god of winter. in this story tiffany accidentally finds herself the object of the wintersmiths affections. she has to use her witching ways to try and convince this god that she isnt really that into him. if she fails? eternal winter! fortunately she has the 'wee free men' to help her out! this one is certainly the weakest of the trilogy, but it was still great fun to listen to and see how it all played out.

AUDIO BOOKS. wee free men

this book is actually the first one in the tiffany aching trilogy. unfortunately, i didnt know at the time, so i started with the second book first. there were a few references to events that took place before that story, so it was nice to catch up on what i had missed.
in this story tiffany first meets up with the little creatures known as the 'wee free men'. in the story tiffany's little brother gets snagged away to another dimension and she must go in after him and get him back out. along the way she meets these strange creatures and becomes their queen (as often happens). again, i was continually impressed with pratchett's cleaver wit and his characterization of these little blue men had me laughing the whole way through! 'what do we do men?' 'drink!' 'and?' 'fight!' 'and what else?' 'we drink and fight!'

AUDIO BOOKS. a hat full of sky

the only other audio book that my library had by terry pratchett was this one. its the second book in a trilogy, but i didnt exactly know that when i listened to it.
this is the second adventure of tiffany aching, an 11 year old girl who is training to become a witch. she goes to live with a witch to learn the ropes, but is always plagued by these little blue men called nac mac feegles. they are scottish and use funny terms like 'crivens!' and 'waily waily waily!' they try to help tiffany, but usually end up making matters worse. the story revolves around a scary entity known as 'the hiver' as he tracks down tiffany. a fun book- i think i found my new favorite characters: those nac mac feegles are hilarious! and stephen frears, the man who reads all of pratchett's books, does an amazing job of creating all the different characters and even does a great job with the scottish accent!

AUDIO BOOKS. thud!

i had no idea what i was missing. you know how people say 'you havent lived until...'? well now i know i hadnt lived. now that i have been introduced to the universe of 'discworld', i now realize that i can start living!
my only introduction to terry pratchett was through 'good omens' an apocalyptic book pratchett co-wrote with neil gaiman. i saw this book, 'thud!', on a shelf in the library and recognized the name (and enjoyed the cover art), so i gave it a try. it is set in discworld, a world created by terry pratchett (he has written dozens of books set in this fictitious land) that involves all kinds of fantasy characters: vampires, orcs, werewolves, witches, elves, zombies, dwarfs, etc. just about anything you can name. they all live in this world and are all used by pratchett to comment on our own culture in very comedic ways. these books are really funny! its obvious pratchett is british, because his writing has that sort of monty python style of humour (notice the british spelling).
this particular story is set in the city of ankh-morpoc and follows the watch as they try and solve a case that involves ogres and dwarfs and a historical battle in coom valley. the watch must solve the case of the dead dwarfs or face a civil war between the two species. the twists and turns along the way are brilliant, as well as the funny commentary on everything from art museums, to cell phones! this is the book that got me hooked on discworld!

AUDIO BOOKS. digital fortress

ok, i'll admit it, i got swept up in that whole 'di vinci code' nonsense a couple years ago. i read the book and really enjoyed it as i was reading it, but once i was done with it i realized just how badly it had been written. i even got suckered in to 'angels and demons'. those two books, as well as this one, suffer from the same problem: terrible writing! each chapter is only about 10 pages long and they all end in a cliffhanger, it sucks you in to the peril and quick moving pace that you forget to realize just how stupid the story really is!
digital fortress though, is not fast enough paced to distract you from the bad writing. this one is about a government organization that decrypts emails and stuff in order to catch bad guys. they run into this code that is supposedly unbreakable and they have to try and break it. as it goes along it pounds you over the head with the same basic information and constantly refers to how smart the characters are, yet when faced with a problem they take forever to solve it! most of the puzzles and challenges they face i was able to figure out as soon as it is presented, but they dont get to the solution until after about twenty minutes of guess work. a sure sign of a lazy writer: when a character explains something and then another character replies 'so you saying...' and then just rephrases what was just explained. and this happens all the time in this book! it was about a 6 hour book that could have easily been whittled down to about two hours if the characters had any brains about them at all. oh, and this is a technology based thriller, so it is wildly out of date to boot. definitely a waste of time.

AUDIO BOOKS. cs lewis

ive been a big fan of c.s. lewis' christian writings since i first read 'mere christianity' my freshman year of college.
i found this collection of lewis' books and figured i'd catch up on some of them. ive read a couple of them before, so two of them were new to me.
The Problem of Pain: this book goes through and tries to answer the question of why God would allow pain in this world. it was very fascinating and went in directions i hadn't expected. he spent some time looking at what perfect man was like in the garden before sin, and even spent a chapter looking at the question of if our pets will be in heaven with us!
The Screwtape Letters: i had read this one before, but it was really cool to hear it read. it just allows the mind to wander even more and imagine what is going on. this is a correspondence between two demons: screwtape, the mentoring uncle, and wormwood, the novice demon trying to corrupt his first soul. the fun of this book is that it turns the faith jurney upside down- these demons are happy about bad things, but frustrated by the good things that happen.
The Great Divorce: unlike the title suggests, this book has nothing to do with a failed marriage. the great divorce referred to in the title is actually in reference to the divorce between heaven and hell. in the story a man arrives in the afterlife. he somehow finds himself on a visit to heaven. while there he observes many people in heaven trying to talk with those who they loved on earth who ended up in hell. they try to explain to them what happened and how they can make things right. its an odd little story with some rather strange doctrinal overtones, but an interesting portrait of heaven, none the less.
Mere Christianity: what can i say, really? this is one of the finest books ever written. it is lewis' defense of chrisitanity in general. the first part of the book takes us logically through an explanation of how this faith makes sense. the second part is a study of God, and the third part is a look at how it all effects our life.

AUDIO BOOKS. grammer snobs

i had paged through another grammar book called 'eats, shoots, and leaves', which is a witty look at the importance of understanding grammar. i saw this on the audio book shelf and thought it might be in the same vain, so i gave it a shot. big mistake. this book is about grammar and the english language, but it has absolutely no wit or humor about it. it just delves into lame dissections of the smallest minutia of adverbs, adjectives, and punctuation. boring! after listening to the first disc i gave up and realized that this author is one of the big meanies she is railing against. and seriously, grammar snobs?!? i guess i should have expected what i got...

AUDIO BOOKS. there and back again

during the whole craziness and obsession that was going on while the three 'lord of the rings' movies were coming out, i always thought that sean astin was the most interesting of the whole bunch. he always seemed the most normal and accessible. the rest of the guys involved were cool too, but i was always rooting for sean and his character sam.
come to find out all this time later that he actually had written a book chronicling his experiences during the filming and releasing of the films!
the book deals a little with his life before 'lord of the rings', but only as a context for his experiences with those films. it talks about him first getting the job and then meeting the rest of the cast. he goes into some interesting anecdotes about their time together. its a very interesting and enjoyable listen, but it does suffer from over thinking. every time sean is about to express his own opinion he first apologizes and insists he means no disrespect and that this is only his opinion. at times this is a necessary reminder, but he goes overboard with making sure he doesnt offend anyone involved. and as a result, the book suffers in that it feels too edited. it feels like all the good stories were cut out at the last minute because he got worried about how the others would take it.
its watered down, but its still fun to hear about the experience from his perspective.

AUDIO BOOKS. marley and me

i was on a non-fiction kick when i checked out this audio book. i had heard some good things and knew they were making a movie about it, so i gave it a try.
now, before i get into the book itself, let me just reiterate one thing: never underestimate the importance of a good reader. i have listened to a fair share of audio books, and one important thing it who reads it. to be honest, its almost more important than the book itself. if the reader is able to convey great emotion and portray many different characters convincingly, then it doesnt matter what book it is because it will be enjoyable. a story well told is always better than a good story poorly told.
having said that, this book might have been good, but the reader totally ruined it. the unfortunate realization is that the reader is actually the writer of the book john grogan. its nice when an author can read their own stuff, but sometimes its worth getting a professional... i started listening and was so startled by the terrible reading that i almost gave up after the first five minutes! after about ten minutes i was completely mesmerized by the voice, trying my best to duplicate it with my own voice because it was so ridiculously bad. i actually got through about two cds before i finally gave up. i didnt care at all about the story, im sure the book is marvelous and really touching, but i couldnt possibly tell you why because i was just trying to repeat what was being said and trying to get the same ludicrous intonations in my voice so as to mock it better! the best way i can think to describe the voice is that it sounded like a gay lispy forrest gump. and seriously, who could concentrate with that?

AUDIO BOOKS. freakonomics

about a year and a half ago i rediscovered a very cool part of the local library: audio books! i walked up and down the isle and came across this one. i had heard a lot about it and figured id give it a try.
the book basically details how social situations effect and are effected by the economy and society in general.
some of the more interesting things covered are questions of why drug dealers still live on their moms couch, how the passing of roe v. wade might have changed this countries crime rate, how names may effect our social standing, and the most interesting of all: how superman took down the klu klux klan.
it sounds boring, a book about economics, but it was actually a very fascinating listen. it was sometimes a bit confusing to read though, due to the fact that the book has charts and graphs and in the audio version they have to explain each of them. im sure much of the information would be a ton simpler to understand by looking at the charts.

TV. do not disturb

every year around this time the new fall season starts. i usually dont try too many of them because i know i will get interested and before i know it, they will get cancelled. as a general rule it seems, i never seem to watch shows that are popular... well, last year there was this really great show on called 'carpoolers', it was written by the guys from 'the kids in the hall', and i fell in love with it! jerry o'connell was in that and he was hilarious. as i should have expected, it was cancelled. this season jerry is on a new show, so i figured id check it out. it wasnt nearly as good as 'carpoolers', but it had its charms. i watched the first three episodes and then guess what? they cancelled it! when will i learn?!?
i might have to start using the second season rule: never watch a show during its first season. most likely it will get cancelled. if it doesnt, they always seem to release the full season dvd just before season two starts, so i can catch up then!

TV. the o.c.

ive never watched this show, and always assumed it was another dumb 'beverly hills 90210' type show. i still have never watched the show, but now i have the complete series on dvd. why, you might ask? well, because diana loves it.
she has mentioned several times that she really loved the show when it was on and really wanted to see it all again because she missed many of the episodes and the entire fourth season. being the good listener boyfriend that i try to be, i remembered this. well, a couple weeks ago i found the whole series on dvd for really cheap and picked it up. i finally gave it to her friday, and now i have to deal with the fact that i will now be watching this show regularly.

maybe i didnt think this one through very well...

GAMES. monopoly party

over the years i have spent a lot of money on video games. i have a bin full and shelves full to prove it. but for some reason that i cant really explain, there is one game in particular that i keep coming back to: monopoly. ive always liked the board game, but it always takes too long and its hard to find people who want to play it. a few years ago i found a version of the game for my gamecube. its a party game and when played against three computer opponents, can be played in under a half hour. with all the great advancements in graphics and the amazingly diverse gameplay that the wii allows, i still regularly return to the simple joys that a game of monopoly brings. go figure.

TV. robin hood

ive been following this show since its first season on bbc america. the show is pretty good, its a reimagining of the story of robin hood. most of the story is the same as the one we are used to, they just spend time fleshing out the characters and telling a good yarn.
they have done a good job of creating a believable world for the stories. they usually include some decent action, and some story development. they have taken it in some great places this season, with maid marien staying in the castle with the sheriff and guy as a spy for robin, and one of the merry men, allen, as a spy for sir guy of gisbourne. i was with them the whole way through last season and this season. well, right up until the last episode. they basic story of robin hood is that the sheriff is trying to steal the kings power while he is gone to the holy land on a crusade. well, in the last episode of the second season robin and his men go to the holy land to tell him what is going on. during the episode maid marien is stabbed and killed. seriously? you killed the leading lady? it seems foolish and unnecessary for the story. im not entirely sure where they can go from here, but with that shark jumping moment, im not sure i will stick around to find out...

COMIC BOOKS. david: the shepherds song

i found this little book this summer at comic con. there was a booth that was selling six graphic novels for 20 bucks, and i found four that i wanted. i came across this one and figured 'well, i can always keep it in my classroom for the kids to read'. so i picked it up. i recently read through it to check it out, and i must say, it is amazing! the story is a short one that looks at king david and his life as a shepherd. it shows his responsibility and joy that comes with his job as a shepherd, and compares it to the time he is on the run from king saul. the storytelling is very well done, it flows wonderfully, and the theme that it works from is done in a very simple and powerful way. the art is also great, its designed to look unfinished, very much like a sketchbook. the simple story and simple art compliment each other quite well. the book is published by a little known company called lamp post publications, and is written and illustrated by royden lepp and darren brady. i look forward to checking out anything else i can find by these two guys!

WEBSITES. facebook

im starting to get it. im starting to see why so many people spend so much time on facebook. since joining facebook i have enjoyed the fact that it allows me to find some people who i thought might have fallen off the face of the earth, but i didnt really see much use for it other than that. but lately ive really been getting a kick out of reading everyones updates.

while im at work in the middle of the night i have been checking facebook on my phone during the boring half hour break i get. its been fun seeing what everyone is up to, keeping in touch with them without actually being in touch (strange, but accurate).

but i feel bad about reading everyone elses updates. the reason i feel bad is because i dont ever update my own page, and i have no desire to either. i feel like im benefiting from everyone elses work, but im not willing to do the same myself. i guess i figure that i update this blog enough that if someone really wants to know what im up to, they can visit the blog and find out.

i feel bad, granted, but not enough to do anything about it. ill just keep checking out others updates and continue keeping silent about myself. suckers...

TOYS. lego batman

this past weekend i quick stopped in at a toys r us and happened to see this. its a seven foot tall batman made out of legos! it was on display along with all the latest batman toys tied in with the new movie. it was really cool.

TV. americone dream

each year ben and jerrys ice cream company makes a new flavor or two based on a celebrity. this year its 'good bye yellow brickle road' with elton john. but last year was the one that really peeked my interest: it was called 'steven colberts americone dream'.

steven mentioned it several times on the colbert report, and it sounded really good: its ice cream with fudge, carmel, and bits of waffle cone in it.

always wanting to support mr. colbert, i wanted to get some and try it, but it was never around. yesterday though, i finally spotted it and picked one up! i tried some last night, and ive got to say, its really good!

TV. last comic standing

one of the shows i love to watch over the summer is 'last comic standing'. its not like most other reality shows, i think, because its actually entertaining to watch! this show doesnt dig too deep into the contestants personal lives, and leaves the fake drama out (for the most part), instead it just lets the comedians do their comedy and lets us enjoy some really funny stand up comedians give it their best shot.

now that the casting call portion of the show is over, its time to get down to business. this past thursday was the first elimination round, and it was a good one! there are a couple comedians who i really enjoy and am pulling for. the funniest in my opinion is a guy named jeff dye. very funny. but, im going out on a limb here, and im going to make a prediction: i think this will be the first time in six seasons that a woman will win the show. and that woman will be iliza shlesinger. she is hysterical. in the first head to head challenge she faced esther ku and a duo called 'gods pottery' and blew them both out of the water. keep an eye on her, i think shes going all the way.

COMEDY. nick swardson

recently i heard a really funny clip from this guy on a mix cd. he had this funny bit about how he has started saying 'party' all the time. it became his response whenever someone would ask him something. 'hey, want to go to the club?' 'party'. diana and i really thought it was hilarious. she didnt know who the comedian was, but i recognized his voice from different movies ive seen him in. i didnt know his name, but i new he was one of the guys who was always hanging around david spade (who i think is hilarious).

we happened to be wandering around target when i noticed that they had his comedy cd. it was only ten bucks, and included his cd and a dvd of some of his comedy central specials. so, we figured we would give it a try.

turns out, hes not really very funny. his 'party' bit is his best. the rest of the cd is quite lame. it even includes a couple 'skits', which is so old school. most of his humor revolves around fart jokes and dirty stuff thats not very funny. i guess i could see this appealing to 13 year old boys, but we were sorely disappointed. there are some funny observations on old people near the end, but five minutes of good jokes are not worth the fifty five minutes it takes to get to it.

NEWSPAPER. main street coffee house

a few years ago i used to live in salt lake city. while i lived there i attended a church that was a bit unusual; it was a church, but also a coffee shop used as an outreach ministry in salt lake city. i really loved it there, and almost all of my fond memories of utah stem from that place. i recently rediscovered an article that ran in the baptist press about the coffee house! it even features a picture of me back when i used to have long hair (dang, i miss that...). here is a quick snippet from the article, and the link to the rest of the article and photos:

SALT LAKE CITY (BP)--It's no secret that there's something about a cup of good coffee that helps people connect -- whether on Sunday morning at church, around a neighbor's kitchen table or over a mocha latte at the nearest Seattle-based coffee emporium.A new church in downtown Salt Lake City has taken the concept one step further. Realizing relational-based ministry can't be confined to a traditional church schedule, the fledgling Summit Church set up the full-service Main Street Coffee House offering varieties of fresh coffee drinks as an avenue for touching lives throughout the week.

TV. the andromeda strain

a couple weeks ago there was a two part mini series on a&e called 'the andromeda strain'. i was quite excited to see this. ive been a big fan of this story for a while, and was eager to see how they would update it.
its based on an old book by michael crichton, the author of 'jurassic park' and 'sphere'. i read the book years ago back when i was in high school and really loved it. i also discovered soon after that there was an old movie based on the book that came out in 1971. the story itself is very technology based, so it is very dated.
the story goes like this: a satellite crashes down in a small utah town and something inside it kills almost everybody in the town. an old man and a baby live, but everyone else exposed to it dies. its up to a group of scientists and military men to try and make sense of it and figure out what should be done. there is a lot of discussion about what the virus is and how we can get rid of it before it effects anyone else. its a very intriguing premise and tensely written. the old movie did a pretty good job of portraying the story and the race to figure out what happened, but a lot of technology and how we look at viruses has changed since the early seventies, so it was certainly time to update the story.
the mini series was pretty good, they did a nice job of keeping all the basic elements but modernizing it to todays scientific and political climate. the story still clips along at a good pace, though the inclusion of a rogue journalist seemed a bit unnecessary. also, they seemed to have dumbed it down from it original level. in the book and old movie there is a real sense of trying to learn what it is and examining all options. it really seemed like the scientists were intelligent people logically working through the situation. on this version they just seem to make crazy jumps in logic and then go with it, and somehow each jump is exactly correct. also, they changed the ending quite a bit, which was a disappointment. one of the great things about crichtons books is that he rarely drops the ball with the ending (steven king could learn a lot from this guy...) but they always seem to change it when they turn it into a film (dont even get me started on how crappy the altered ending was for 'the sphere'...)

TV. colbert report

i watch the colbert report often. its absolutely hysterical! i love colberts persona as a right wing pundit. the reason i bring up this show is because steven recently had a guest on who had some interesting and insightful things to say. colbert always plays it for laughs, but i was intrigued by what his guest, george will, had to say: "the difference between conservatives and liberals comes down to the basics of freedom and equality. republicans favor freedom and are willing to accept certain inequalities for a free market, democrats favor equality of outcome and are willing to sacrifice certain freedoms for that end."

TV. attack of the show

recently on 'attack of the show' they had a special kevin versus olivia week. the week was filled with fun little games that they played against each other. the played rock paper scissors, ran a maze, raced on rascal scooters, and did tons of other stuff. another part of the week was a bunch of different themes an challenges they had to accomplish. one of the days they did the whole show blindfolded, which would be really tough, considering they usually do the whole show reading from the teleprompter.

one of the shows they did the whole time in fat suits! they often make fun of fat people on the show, and figured that this was their way of apologizing. the great thing was that the fat suits looked really good! with full suits and face make up they looked quite believable. who ever did the make up did an amazing job!

usually they are so skinny, so to see them in the full fat suit and all was quite funny. they played it up the whole show and tried to do break dancing on the floor and everything. these sorts of funny bits are why i still love this show!

(be sure to check out other 'poke it with a stick' contents here!)

TV. cancelled shows

each year they present new shows and do their best to try and hook us on the show. i already watch too much tv, but still, sometimes they get me. but what i am finding out more and more each year is that my viewing habits are quite a bit different than the rest of america. each week i see the top twenty rated shows, and i always find, with rare exception, that i dont watch any of them!

each fall (and now winter) they try and hook me in with their new shows and im sick of it. im not sick of the new shows, thats the problem. i fall for it and watch a couple episodes and get hooked, just like they wanted me to, but then i find that each year all the new shows i started watching get cancelled! argh! the networks have recently started to announce their new schedules for the fall, and i find that so many of the shows left off the list are the ones that i love the most. oh, cruel fate, what have i done to deserve this?

here is a list of the shows i fell for that wont be returning:

carpoolers. i am especially sad to see this one go. they say some shows are unique and need to be given a two episode try, like arrested development or the office. well, this show was one that needed a full season try. at first i didnt care for it and was going to delete it off of my tivo, but then it suddenly started to click and i realized i loved the interplay of the four leads and their life and work together. it was created and written by some of the guys from 'kids in the hall', so if you are familiar with that show you will understand that this show was a little strange at times. jerry oconnell was hilarious, as well as the other guys, especially marmaduke.

cavemen. this show had a lot of bad buzz when it was on, but i actually thought it was a little bit funny. the actual situations the characters got into were lame, but the premise of stereotyping cavemen as a lower class of people really good. it could have really dug into social issues, but too often just reverted to lame sex jokes. too bad, but i wont really miss this one that much.

notes from the underbelly. argh! this show was really fun. it was a pretty basic premise, that of a married couple getting ready for the birth of their first child. the woman who played the lead is really hot, so that made it a lot easier to watch... the best part was the single friends of the main couple- maybe they should build a show around those two instead. hmm...

new amsterdam. this one is about an immortal who has lived for hundreds of years and is now a detective living in new york, kinda like a csi: highlander. in full disclosure, i must admit that ive never actually seen this show. it is one that i saw commericals for and thought was a great premise and was looking forward to seeing it, so i tivoed all eight episodes. there still on there now, but knowing its cancelled i will probably not waste my time and instead just delete them. shoot, i was looking forward to watching them this summer.

back to you. i was never much of a 'fraiser' fan or an 'everybody loves raymond' fan, but for some reason this looked like fun- and it is! the show was hilarious, the writing was witty, the actors were great, and it had a lot of promise to grow into something classic. and really, it had fred willard as a weather man, how could it go wrong?!?

scrubs. this one is a bit different because its not really being cancelled. well, it is being cancelled by nbc, but its being picked up by abc for one last season. so, im not really mad at all about this one, im actually happy because nbc was planning on just killing it. thank you abc!

TV. the indiana primary

last week we here in indiana had a presidential primary for hillary and obama. it was an important primary, but for some reason one of the polling counties took forever to get their results in. it just so happened that that county, lake county, is the very one i live in! oh what fun! for much of the night on tuesday there were news people questioning why my county hadnt turned in results yet, some of them even questioning if there was some wrong doing going on. the highlight to me though, was the mention my county got the next day on the daily show!

GAMES. back on the horse

a while ago i was really obsessed with playing mario galaxy, which i had gotten for christmas this past year. i was eager to play it once i got home from christmas break. i had already put almost 30 hours into it, and was loving it greatly. i brought the wii home and then it happened: the wii broke. nooooo!!! well, let me clarify, it didnt actually break, it still ran quite smoothly. the only problem was that it would not eject the disc that was in it, wii sports. i made the foolish mistake of traveling with it while a game was still inside the system. oops.

for the past two months i have been periodically turning on the wii and pushing eject to no avail. but, with the grace of God, it ejected the disc yesterday! hurrah!!! so last night i finally got to play mario galaxy again- the first time since january 2! and it was glorious...

TV. mad men

after reading so many great review of this amc channel original show, and after it, and its leading man, both won golden globes, i figured i should check it out. over the past several weeks amc has been rebroadcasting the episodes in their original order, so i tivoed them. this past weekend i had a little extra time, so i took the plunge and watched the first three episodes.

first a little background: the show is set in the 1950s and follows the a handful of employees of a new york ad firm. it shows the life and working work of the 'big city' back when women were suppossed to have a roast and a drink ready for their husbands the moment they arrived home from work.

its cool to see the period recreated so perfectly- the offices look perfectly like the retro-futuristic look of the 'modern' 50s, all the cars are huge and wing tiped, and all the men drink like fish and smoke like a chimney. seeing all the characters smoke non stop is such a stark difference from how things are today that its very strange to see. also, its quite jarring to see all these men so openly harass and look down on the women in the office, and show little respect for the wives at home. im sure the rolls are exaggerated, but its still quite strange to see.

so far the storyline has been interesting, watching all the different men deal with the pressures of the job, and trying to deal with their emotions in such a restictive setting. these men arent allowed to show any emotion other than confidence. the ways they deal with whats going on often is the cause of their problems, and often leads to relationships becoming even more distant.

the story is engaging and the perspective on the time period is interesting. it seems they have gained a new viewer.

TV. craigs a citizen!

after a couple years of him joking about it, craig ferguson finally became an american citizen! hes always had jokes like 'i better be careful what i say, they could deport me!' and just a few months ago he challenged everyone to ask their local mayor to accept him as an honorary citizen. he finally took the test, and he passed! last week they showed him at a mass meeting being sworn in, and now he is a full fledged citizen, he can vote and everything!

as a way of celebrating him now being an american, he had on a really cool scottish band called the wicked tinkers. its a cool band made up of guys playing drums, bagpipes, digeridoos, and other strange and fun instruments. they have been on the show once before, they performed on the show as a tribute to his father soon after he passed away. it was really a very moving episode, to be honest. but this time they were there to celebrate! and boy, did they. craig even loosened his tie, grabbed a drum, and joined in! they actually played two songs, and it was a riot! it was fun to see craig genuinely excited and loving it- it was very contagous!